Chapter Text
Yamaguchi Tadashi: Hey we still on for drinks
Iwaizumi Hajime: Yea sry got stuck
Iwaizumi Hajime: See you in 10
The bar was pretty empty, which meant Yamaguchi could see Iwaizumi right when he walked in. He could also see everyone gawking and laughing as Iwaizumi's shoes made a horrible, obnoxious sound in between a squeak and a squelch with every step.
"Hey," said Iwaizumi. "Sorry I'm late."
Yamaguchi gave him a look that was probably equal parts anxiety and concern. "Iwaizumi. When you said you got stuck, you didn't mean traffic, did you."
"Nope," replied Iwaizumi. "Shoes were stuck to the kitchen floor, along with half a hotdog."
Yamaguchi grimaced. "This is worse than the other thing you told me about."
"Nah. That moved. I had time to get my stuff out of the way," explained Iwaizumi. "Hang on, I'm gonna go grab a drink before—"
"No!" Yamaguchi shook his head frantically, hoping to save his friend (and himself) from more unwanted attention. "Stay here! I'll go. It's on me."
I guess I embarrassed him, Iwaizumi realized. He took some napkins and pressed them onto the bottom of his shoes. They stuck easily.
Should make them stop squeaking for now.
Iwaizumi took a sip of water and waited for his friend.
The bar had filled up. It was late. They were a little drunk.
Maybe more than a little.
"AND!" shouted Yamaguchi, slapping the table hard. "He wush—he was naked! And then two! Of his friends! Naked too!"
Iwaizumi cackled. "Holy shit! Yamaguchi! Your parents!"
"Ugh I KNOW," Yamaguchi complained, letting his forehead hit the table. "Ow. And they said, they said, I should be 'more outgoing, like them!'" He didn't even bother to lift up his head when he made the finger quotes.
"Am I becoming a shut-in or something," Yamaguchi grumbled. He was too depressed to make it a question. "Should I quit gaming?"
Iwaizumi's expression turned serious. "You're not. We're hanging out right now. And you were just telling me about those people you met last week."
All of a sudden, Yamaguchi's eyes sparkled. "Yeah! They're my friends! And I'm super healthy! And my grades are really good! Really, really good! So good!"
"Yeah you're nothing like my roommate. Uggghhhhh. UGGGHHHH." Iwaizumi groaned. He downed the rest of his beer and slid the empty glass against the other ones on the table. "I had to call him 'Garga the Destroyer'. I said I'd call him that if he took a goddamn shower."
"Your roommate is Garga the Destroyer?" Yamaguchi couldn't believe it.
Iwaizumi frowned. "You know him? God, is he some really famous... video game... person... or something?
Yamaguchi snorted. "Yeah, right. Well. He's famous on the server 'cause he's really, really bad. Like. There's a video on YouTube of him walking off four different cliffs. For five minutes."
"Seriously?!" Iwaizumi smacked his own forehead. "Iunno why but I feel waaaay worse now."
"He's leaving! Don't feel worse, man! I'm jealous you get to live alone now..." Yamaguchi trailed off.
"Yeah. It'll be good. Great. Roommates are the worst, Yamaguchi, the WORST," Iwaizumi declared. "'Cept you. You'd be cool."
Yamaguchi gave his friend a sad smile. "Nah, I'm pretty lame. All I do is go to class and play video games..."
"Jeez, Yamaguchi," Iwaizumi snapped. "Th' hell d'you mean 'I jus' go to class and play video games'? You have great grades. You're funny. You're good at cooking and you have your weird animal sixth sense thing."
This made Yamaguchi laugh. "I think that's only because they think I'm as threatening as a sheet of paper." At this, his face darkened. "Pretty sure my roommate's friends think that too. There was a party yesterday and they were so loud. So loud. I threatened to call the police."
"Sounds pretty threatening. What happened?"
"I was like an animal at the zoo. They were all 'ooh, is this your nerd roommate' and 'hey, why don't you wear glasses' and 'do all your friends look like you'? I ran into my room and got back online."
Iwaizumi scrunched his face in disgust, then sighed. "If your school wasn't over an hour away we could be roommates! We wouldn't be stuck with these shitty roommates!" And he got riled up again. "I jus' wanna normal apartment with a normal roommate so I can go to school and get a job. Normal job. 'sall I want!"
Yamaguchi nodded. He remembered Iwaizumi being something of an anomaly in high school because he was so, well, normal. He did a little bit of everything, and while he wasn't great or spectacular at any one thing, he was fairly decent at all of them. He played in a few of the school volleyball team's matches as a starter for some matches and a substitute in others. He was pretty friendly with everybody, and vice versa. He got straight B's in class, and teachers didn't particularly pay more or less attention to him than any other student. He ate the same lunch every day. Even the girl he once dated was... nice. Seemed like a good person. But Yamaguchi couldn't even remember her name, let alone what she looked like.
Just then, Yamaguchi realized they've been quiet for a while. He didn't know how long he spaced out, but there were definitely more empty glasses on the table than there were before he started thinking about high school.
He checked the time. "Damn. Gotta go. Last train," he told Iwaizumi.
"You, yurgonna be okay 'ere?" Iwaizumi slurred.
"Yeah. But are you?!" Yamaguchi laughed, trying to make sure his friend could at least sit upright.
"'sfine. Walk later. Sober," Iwaizumi replied.
"Dude. Text me when you get home."
Iwaizumi shooed his friend away. "Go. Train. Text. Okay? Okay."
Yamaguchi nodded and waved goodbye.
Ughhhhh, home. Don' wanna stick, was the last thought Iwaizumi remembered having that night.
There was a loud CRACK! and Iwaizumi threw his pillow over his head.
A thunderstorm. His head hurt.
... Except the sky looked very blue and very bright outside his bedroom window.
Maybe some of the bookcases toppled over, now that all the bags of trash and dirty laundry his roommate left in front of them were finally gone.
He got up to investigate.
The floor and walls were as gross as ever, but there was no sign of damage.
... Except the big hole in the front door and all the splintered wood around it.
Something dark was blocking that hole outside. Iwaizumi opened the door.
RAWWRRRRRRRRR
He shut the door, closed his eyes and counted to five, then opened the door again.
A tall, brown-haired man about Iwaizumi's own age stood there with a warm smile and his arms outstretched, as if waiting for a hug. He wore dark-rimmed glasses, an oversized navy blue sweatshirt emblazoned with the name of the university Iwaizumi went to, black jeans, and white high top sneakers with mint-green stripes.
He also had a pair of horns on his head.
Iwaizumi thought it all looked rather stylish, somehow, though he never really understood fashion. Are horns a thing now? He couldn't remember if any of his classmates wore headbands like that. Or maybe they were clip-ons.
He was wondering if he could get a closer look when the man announced, "Iwa-chan~! I'm here!"