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  <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2019-09-07:3560623</id>
  <title>hermeszeppeli</title>
  <subtitle>hermeszeppeli</subtitle>
  <author>
    <name>hermeszeppeli</name>
  </author>
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  <updated>2020-08-30T22:39:01Z</updated>
  <dw:journal username="hermeszeppeli" type="personal"/>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2019-09-07:3560623:4024</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://hermeszeppeli.dreamwidth.org/4024.html"/>
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    <title>Sorry excuse</title>
    <published>2020-08-30T17:14:50Z</published>
    <updated>2020-08-30T22:39:01Z</updated>
    <category term="bad ending"/>
    <category term="internalized homophobia"/>
    <category term="pining"/>
    <category term="iwaoi"/>
    <category term="angst"/>
    <dw:mood>depressed</dw:mood>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>0</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">&lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;Story written for the prompt &amp;quot;At the last moment&amp;quot; for the Challenge Explorers, Chapter 1, week 2 by Landedifandom&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Rating: SAFE&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Warning: internalized homophobia&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Wordcount: 1110 w&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;SORRY EXCUSE&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Iwaizumi doesn't know when&amp;nbsp; his feelings for Oikawa shifted in something else, but he remembers the moment he noticed them.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;They were by the pool at school, and a ray of sunshine hit  Oikawa's wet legs for just a moment.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;i&gt;I want to lick those thighs!'&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Iwaizumi thought.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;i&gt;'...Fuck.'&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;It was the summer of their first year in high school.&lt;br /&gt;-&lt;/p&gt;      &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He had tried to rationalize that thought at first, making crazy hormones take the fault.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Oikawa was training too much for his own good to notice the change.&lt;br /&gt;That was a way more serious problem that need his attention.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Iwaizumi had to get his shit together before he let his best friend ruin his health because he was too busy panicking.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;So he cast those useless thoughts aside.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;-&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&amp;ldquo;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Why did you hit me so hard Iwa-chan!&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Even if Oikawa's confidence was more show that anything else, he still needed to be kept on check.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&amp;ldquo;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Because you deserve it,&amp;rdquo; replied everyone else in the gym but him.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Even if that was indeed, part true, it wasn't just that. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;i&gt;'Because that's a more acceptable way to touch you in front of others rather than what I'd actually wanna do to you'&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Iwaizumi couldn't fool himself for long.&lt;br /&gt;He knew that wasn't healthy and it wasn't Oikawa's fault if he wanted to rip his clothes and-&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Fuck.&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;This was getting out of control.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;     &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;He had never been homophobic in his life, but this was different. It was about him. It was about them.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He was a traitor.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Would Oikawa behave the same towards him if he knew?&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Would they shrug this off, like everything else, or would this break their friendship forever?&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He couldn't risk it. He couldn't tell him.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He was a sorry excuse for a friend.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;-&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Iwaizumi loved volleyball, if that wasn't obvious enough.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He understood that he would never become a pro player, but that didn't change his feelings towards the sport.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;'It's not like you can stop loving something because it's out of your reach. Even if would make things easier.'&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;     &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He was a disappointment as a friend, but thankfully not as a player.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;That was his role that he took very seriously.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He was just a stepping stone for Oikawa's future, and he would make the best of it.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Oikawa only needed to be patient, take care of his body and work hard like he always did.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Soon enough, others would notice what Iwaizumi knew all too well.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He was certain of it, and he was going to be the best at making that talent shine for everyone to see.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;'He's not a genius. A genius is someone that succeeds with little effort. Oikawa is better than that.'&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;It was useless, if not downright dangerous to let him know, and obviously embarrassing. But nonetheless true.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;'When are you going to tell him, you traitor?!'&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Every time Iwaizumi's heart skip a beat at something Oikawa did, that thought would rang in his ears.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;At the end of a match, or when they where alone at home, or when they where watching a movie together, or when they spent the night at the other's house.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;'You owe him the truth. Don't be a coward.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt; &lt;em&gt;No. Not yet. It's not the right time.&lt;/em&gt;&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He couldn't risk it.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He didn't know how Oikawa would take the knowledge that his childhood friend lusted on him.&lt;br /&gt; It would make hard to play together, it would get in the way of the whole team, it would get in the way of Oikawa's career. He needed to be at his best to be scouted.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He couldn't do this to him. He was his friend, he had to help him.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;'I'll wait until the last moment to tell him.'&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He wasn't running away. He was being logical. He was also selfish, because that meant stay by Oikawa's side a little longer.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;-&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;The plan was simple: wait until their last tournament as third years.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;After getting in the Nationals together, after winning versus Karasuno.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;That would mean the world for them.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Then, their lifes as students will get too busy with exams, and they'll graduate soon.&lt;br /&gt;Oikawa will go to Tokyo and continue on his career, and they would call each other from time to time.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;They'll laugh at that memory, shrugging it off as a teenage crush.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Yeah.&lt;/font&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;   &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;-&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;But they lost.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;No matter how much effort they put into it, they lost.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Oikawa was flawless.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He was fast enough to prepare for that last destructive spike, and if their wall hadn't changed the trajectory, maybe... but they had lost.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Iwaizumi cried.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He had let down Oikawa for the last time.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He was trying to compose himself again when he noticed Ushijima talking to  Oikawa.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;He overheard part of the conversation.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&amp;ldquo;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;You should have went to Shiratorizawa&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;It was true.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Everyone had held down Oikawa, &lt;em&gt;he&lt;/em&gt; had held him down.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;-&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;It was their last day of high school.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;There had been no scouting for Oikawa.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;There were a lot of girls that confessed to him, leaving him with no bottons on his jacket uniform. He had watched the scene from afar. Oikawa had refused all of them.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;As they where going back home from school together for the very last time, Iwaizumi thought that this was his last chance to tell him the truth.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;They were going to different universities, this, this was the right time to tell him and get it over with. He stayed silent too much, so it was Oikawa that broke the silence.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&amp;ldquo;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Oi, Iwa-chan, do you want to tell me something?&amp;quot; Oikawa nudged at him,&amp;quot;you're so silent it's creepy!&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;     &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&amp;ldquo;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;I can tell you now,&amp;quot;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt; Iwaizumi looked away, putting his sweaty hands in his pockets.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&amp;ldquo;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;what is it?&amp;quot;&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Oikawa's tone was unusually gentle.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&amp;ldquo;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;You know, Shittykawa, I had a crush on you during our first year in high school&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Oikawa&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt; stopped in his tracks, and Iwaizumi stilled as well.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&amp;ldquo;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;You &lt;em&gt;had&lt;/em&gt;?&amp;rdquo;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;There was something in Oikawa's voice that made him panic.&amp;nbsp;He forced a laugh.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&amp;ldquo;&lt;font face="Verdana, sans-serif"&gt;Ha ha, kind of embarrassing yeah? I didn't tell you because it would get in your head, you know. Hormones really mess you up... disgusting.&amp;rdquo;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;    &lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;He started walking again just to have an excuse not to see Oikawa's face.&lt;br /&gt;Oikawa stayed behind, but then he heard his footsteps approaching and his usual overly cheerful tone.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;quot;Hahaha! Too bad! I don't have buttons anymore! You should have told me sooner, Iwa-chan&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm" lang="en-GB"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=hermeszeppeli&amp;ditemid=4024" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
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