CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

      The month of July brought with it the summer, sweltering heat and a long summer vacation. The month of July also brought heartbreaking change for Misaki. The divorce was finalised and her dad moved away to Tokyo. It was done, then. It was over. Misaki's relationship with her father was now tainted and it was never going back to the way it was. But Iwaizumi and Oikawa were right there with her as they always were. And boy, she was thankful for all they did for her. (Even if Oikawa did it in his usual annoying way)

     Things were going to be different now. But it was good. Sometimes, they had to be different to work. And maybe now, everything would be better than it had been.

     However, Misaki wouldn't let this month be tainted by her bad experiences with her dad. It was a good month. The start of a summer break, regular volleyball practice, eating ice-cream nearly everyday. And of course, it was her and Oikawa's birthday month.

      July 20th was a special date. As kids when their moms had figured out that they were born on the same day, Misaki and Oikawa started having joint birthday parties, which weren't exactly fun when it came to deciding a theme. In high school though, the parties had stopped. Instead, the day was spent with the volleyball team who turned surprisingly nice for the day. Misaki and Oikawa exploited the hell out of that.

    Even if Misaki pretended to hate it, she wouldn't deny that sharing a birthday cake with Oikawa could be pretty damn fun. Especially when they started their weird competition of who could give the better gift. Last year, it had been her, managing to snag a signed jersey of his favorite player from the current national team. The year before that it was him, giving her a collector's edition of her favorite book series.

      This time though, Misaki had let her procrastination take over and ended up not finding a gift till the last moment. And now that it was the night before their birthday, she was really regretting it. But bless her mom.

      "Why don't you make him something homemade? I'm sure he'd like that."

     And so she was in the kitchen, ingredients spread over the counter, ready to make cookies; and later on, a silly handmade card. Her mom watched with a smile, leaning against the kitchen entrance.

      "Instead of standing like a statue, Mom," Misaki said as she kneaded the cookie dough. "You could help me with making these?"

      "I thought you wanted to do it alone," Her mom said teasingly, the wisps of sadness in her eyes slowly fading away. "Do you really want me to help?"

      "Yes, please."

      If her mom didn't help her, Misaki would not be finishing the cookies on time. The mother-daughter duo worked in tandem, giggling and passing each other the half made and the done alien-shaped cookies over to each other. This was much better than that period where they had not been talking. Her mom, at least, had been much gentler in dealing the harsh blow that came with the divorce. But they were okay now and that was all that mattered.

      Once the cookies were in the oven, her mom practically kicked her out of the kitchen, forcing her to go to her room and work on that damn card.

      As Misaki exited the kitchen, she pulled out her phone from her pocket and checked the time on her phone.

      10:20 pm. Two more hours to go.

      Once she was back in her room, Misaki pulled up the chair to her desk, grabbing an empty sheet of white paper as she sat down. Now, if there was one thing about Misaki that was very clear, it was that her artistic skills were non-existent. The only things that she could draw well were stick figures and a basic flower and leaf. Beyond that, her drawings looked like they were made by someone who had only just learnt to use a pencil. That was why she stayed away from art, almost having failed art class back in middle school.

      But she did have good handwriting and she was good at remembering her kanjis. Hopefully, this card would not turn out like her old attempts at making something artsy. Those deserved to be in the trash.

     A few minutes after Misaki had started writing a short message on the inside of the card, there was a knock on the door.

      "Can I come in?" Her mom yelled through the door. "You aren't too busy, are you, Misa?"

      "No, no," Misaki yelled back. "Come in, come in!"

      The door opened and Misaki heard her mom's footsteps entering the room. She put down her pen and turned around, to see her mom placing a small, neatly wrapped box. Judging by the size of the box, it was really impossible to gauge what was actually in it. Misaki felt undeniably curious seeing it.

      "Is that my gift?" She asked, still staring at the box. It either contained some books or other stuff that size. "Can I open it now?"

      "No," Her mom patted the top of the box. "Open it when it's midnight. I know you're gonna stay up till then. I didn't exactly know what to get you, but I think you'll like it. Hopefully."

      "I'm sure I'll like it," Misaki answered with a grin. "I already feel like opening it now."

      "Don't you do that," Her mom warned. "So how's that card going?"

      "Well, it's going, Mom. But I'll figure something out."

      Almost an hour later, she was done with the card. Letting it remain on her desk, Misaki got up from the chair and moved to lay down on her bed. Now, there was just an hour left to go and all she had to do was wait for the time to pass by.

     And then the clock in her phone showed the time. 12:00AM. Midnight. At 12:01AM, Misaki's phone rang, the ringtone echoing loud and clear in the silence of her room. She sat up straight on her bed, not even looking at the caller ID. She didn't have to; she knew who was calling.

      "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MISA-CHAN!" Oikawa yelled through the phone.

      "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OIKAWA!" Misaki yelled back, laughter lacing her voice. This was such a silly tradition. But, it was so them. Every year, without fail, they shouted their birthday greetings at each other on the phone. Sometimes, they'd get scolded by their parents. But still, they did it.

      On the other end of the line, Oikawa burst into laughter. His laughter sounded undeniably free and so gleeful, that it almost sounded childlike; this was his laugh without any hidden intentions and Misaki was sure very few people had the privilege of hearing this. She considered herself very lucky that she got to hear it. She just loved this sound, as rarely as she got to hear this.

      Even as she was admiring his laugh, she was laughing herself. "Why are we laughing like this?"

     "I don't know. I guess I'm just happy," Oikawa answered. Misaki swore she could hear the smile in his voice. "And of course, it's our birthday too."

     "Aww, I make you happy? You flatter me," Misaki said in a half-teasing tone. In a more serious tone, she added, "You make me happy too. Loser."

     "Hey! Don't insult me on my birthday! That's mean!"

     "Oikawa, I'm never gonna stop. As my best friend and the person who I share my birthday with, you're gonna have to suffer."

     "You wound me, Misa-chan. You really wound me." (Misaki could literally imagine the pout on his face.)

     "Yeah yeah. You know, since today's our birthday, you are allowed to be very honest with me. Like very honest."

    "I don't have a death wish. And besides, I have nothing bad to say about you. You're the best for me."

    'The hell-?' Misaki thought, feeling very confused as her heartbeats suddenly quickened. Compliments from Oikawa really did mean instant gratification for her heart. "You know flattery's not gonna get you anywhere?" She said out loud. "But thanks, I guess."

      "Anyways, I think we should hang up now," Misaki added, pressing a hand over her fast beating heart. "You and I both are gonna have other calls to attend to. I'll see you tomorrow?"

     "Yeah, you will," Oikawa replied. "I'll come pick you up, Misa-chan. You know, Iwa-chan refused to walk with us? He's so mean."

     "That's because you made him carry all the gifts your fangirls gave you last year. He's really not gonna walk with you after that. But anyways, we'll see tomorrow. G'night Oikawa."

    "Good night, Misa-chan!"

      The day started off normally. Except it wasn't really normal. From the moment she woke up, Misaki had been fielding calls and messages from many people. July 20th happened to be an unknowingly busy day for her, even though it was for her birthday. Having already answered more than five calls and multiple text messages from her relatives and friends before 7:30 AM, Misaki was ready to put her phone on silent.

     But before she could do so, Oikawa called her again. Happily, she picked it up as she finished tying up her shoes.

     "Happy birthday again, Misa-chan!" Oikawa said, sounding a little too lively for the early morning. But his excitement was justified because she was almost the same.

     "You too," Misaki answered, grinning widely, as she stood up from her bed. "Are you outside? You should come in. Have some cake."

      "Only if you feed me," Oikawa said teasingly.

      Misaki felt her cheeks flush. But still, she managed to give a pretty normal answer. "Sure, why not. But you have to feed me in return."

      At the end of the call, she heard Oikawa spluttering. "T-that's...o-okay."

      "What's with that reaction? Did you suddenly decide to play coy?"

      "Hey! You're still mean! Even on our birthday."

      "Nothing's gonna stop me from being mean to you, loser. Not even our birthday."

       Misaki let out a soft laugh, as she stretched out her free hand. "Just come in now. I'm getting out of my room."

      "Okay, but you better do what you just said," Oikawa declared firmly. "I'll hold you to it."

      "I never break a promise, do I?" Misaki said. She stood up from the bed and grabbed her backpack from her chair, before she made her way out the door of her room. "You better be downstairs waiting for me."

      "I'll be here," Oikawa answered.

      Misaki had only taken a few steps out of her room when she heard the bell ring. Seconds later, she heard the sounds of her mom opening the main door of the house and a bright, annoyingly cheery voice wishing her good morning.

     And another moment later, her mom yelled out, "Misaki, Tooru's here!"

     "I'm coming!" Misaki yelled back. A smile unintentionally made its way to her face. She felt really happy today. It didn't take her very long to climb down the stairs, eyes immediately meeting Oikawa's. His face visibly lit up as he saw her. The gift in his hand looked clumsily wrapped, but judging by the way it looked, Misaki guessed it was some sort of clothing.

     'I wonder what it is,' She thought as she finally stood in front of him, bearing a wide smile of her own.

     "Happy birthday!" Oikawa greeted with a really bright smile.

     "You too, Oikawa, you too!" Misaki extended her hand out for a fist-bump, which he promptly did with his free hand.

      Her mom smiled, watching the interaction between the two. "Well, I've got some reports to file for work, so I'm gonna leave you both alone. Happy birthday again and have fun today."

     "We will!" Misaki and Oikawa said in unison.

      After watching her mom walk back into her room near the hallway, Misaki beckoned for Oikawa to follow him.

      "Come on," She said. "The cake and the gift both are in the kitchen."

     "What are you giving me this time? My gift will probably be better though," Oikawa said as he took off his shoes at the entrance and then followed her towards the kitchen.

     "We'll see, we'll see."

      *

      Misaki had to thank her mom. She had neatly tied up the box of cookies and even added a ribbon. The silly card that Misaki had made was kept next to the box. A piece of the cake she had last night was cut and kept on a plate.

      Misaki grabbed her gift first and handed it over to Oikawa along with her card. "Happy Birthday, loser. Hope you like this."

      "Happy birthday to you too, Misa-chan," Oikawa handed his gift to her, still smiling at her. At the count of three, they opened their gifts at the same time.

      Very gently, Misaki tore off the wrapping paper at the same time Oikawa pulled off the ribbon off the box. Setting the wrapping paper on the table, Misaki took a proper look at the gift. It was a scarf; not just any type of scarf though. It was a simple, but pretty blue crochet scarf. A major part of the stitches were a little flimsy, but those at the end were perfectly done.

      'Did he actually make this?' Misaki thought as a strange warmth spread through her heart. 'What the hell?! Since when can he crochet?'

      "Oikawa, did you crochet me a scarf?"

      "Misa-chan, you made alien cookies for me?!"

        Realising that both of them had spoken at the same time, they burst into laughter.

        "Oh god," Misaki said, covering her face with the scarf as she kept on giggling. "You go first. Did you actually make this on your own?"

      Oikawa was laughing too. "Mom helped me with the last few bits, but I did make this on my own."

      Misaki kept on covering her face with the scarf, careful not to pull on it too hard. 'He made this for me? He actually sat down and made it for me? What? This...I'm... "You...this is the most heartfelt thing anyone has ever given me. You win for sure this time. Tell me though; when did you even learn how to do this?"

      "I told you I would win, Misa-chan," Oikawa said, snickering. "And I just picked it up, seeing mom do it."

      "Do you really have to be good at everything you do?" She asked, making a slight noise of frustration.

     "Yes," He promptly replied. "But you made me alien cookies. And wrote me a card. Ooh, let me read that card first." He kept the box of cookies back on the table and opened the card.

      'Oh god, I hope what I wrote wasn't too cheesy,' Misaki thought. 'I tried making it as truthful as it could be. I sure hope it's not too much.'

      As always, it was difficult to gauge Oikawa's expression, beyond that half-smile that was on his face. She couldn't really get a feel for what he was thinking. Someday, Misaki would be able to figure out all his expressions. Someday.

      Oikawa finished reading the card and his eyes met hers. Almost instantly, he pulled her into a tight hug, her face almost smacking against his chest. Now, this was not what she was expecting.

     "U-uh, Oikawa?" Misaki's voice sounded muffled, even to her own ears. "Did you like the card this much?"

      "I love it," He sounded uncharacteristically serious. "It's perfect. Thank you so much."

      "Oh. I'm glad you feel that way," Misaki replied. "That makes me happy."

      'Misa-chan, you have no idea how happy it made me,' Oikawa thought silently. 'Everyday you do things that make me like you even more. You...you have no idea what you make me feel.'

      "Do you want to eat the cake now, Oikawa?"

      "That depends. Are you gonna feed it to me?"

      "I guess I am. You know I don't like breaking promises."

       ('Yeah, I think I'm definitely falling more in love with you, Misa-chan.')

     "I can finally understand why Iwa didn't want to walk to school with us."

       Misaki looked down at the bag of gifts she had ended up carrying. For Oikawa. Because of his damn fanclub that had mobbed them. Even when it was summer vacation and they shouldn't really be at school. Somehow, she had been roped into carrying some of the gifts too, even when it was her birthday too.

      Now that they were at school and escaped from the mob of his fangirls, Oikawa and Misaki were walking towards the clubroom. "If there are chocolates in this, I want at least half of them."

       "Don't worry, Misa-chan," Oikawa said with a grin. He himself was holding two bags. "I'll share them all with you. But you have to say. My fangirls are pretty nice."

       "Yes, they're nice," Misaki answered. "But the next time they mob us like today and make us late for practice, I'll kill you."

       "Misa-chan! You could at least be a little nicer," Oikawa whined in his usual way. "And didn't you text Iwa-chan and the coaches? They'll let us off for today."

      "Iwa would still hit you though," Misaki answered plainly. "We should walk faster. You still need to change."

      As they neared the clubrooms, they found themselves slipping into random conversation, like usual. The sun was shining bright today, few clouds were present in the sky. Misaki didn't know exactly what this feeling was; she couldn't really describe it. But somehow, she felt like today would be a really good day. And not just because it was her and Oikawa's birthday. There was something else. Whatever it was, it had gotten her into an indescribable good mood.

      A dazed smile slowly covered her face as she nodded at whatever thing Oikawa was saying. But she did not realise that his piercing brown eyes were watching her so very carefully.

      Oikawa knew Misaki was always in a good mood on the day of their birthday, but never had he seen her with a smile like the one on her face. If he was being honest with himself, he really liked it. Almost too much. Not that she didn't smile enough usually; but there was just something about the way she just seemed relaxed. This strange crush (or love? Was it love?) had him unintentionally noticing Misaki and he hadn't even realised that till now. He really really was screwed.

      Oikawa didn't expect her to return his feelings though; as far as he knew Misaki would never think of him in that way, let alone even have a crush on him. No matter how many other girls confessed to him, he really couldn't see himself returning their feelings, now that he had such a strange and annoying crush on his best friend. Besides, the Spring High was soon and before that, they had a whole slew of practice matches. He still needed to perfect his serves. He couldn't really be thinking about dating and love and all that now.

      This next tournament...they had to win it.

      'But today's not the time to think about it,' Oikawa thought to himself as he told Misaki about the gift his sister had given him. They were already walking up the stairs that led to the clubroom, having just been on time.

      "So, Misa-chan, do you think they've got a party planned for us?" Oikawa asked as they walked past the door of the tennis club.

      Misaki snorted. "After last year's disaster in the gym? Do you really think the coaches would have given permission?"

      "I don't think last year was a disaster," Oikawa remarked.

      (It was a disaster.)

      "Easy for you to say," Misaki said, a slightly annoyed look on her face. "You weren't the one who got cake in your hair or your ears or on your clothes or in your nose."

      "Alright, alright, I got it," Oikawa raised his gift-bag holding arms in defeat. "No surprise parties for you."

       "I didn't say I would mind one though," Misaki replied as they stopped in front of their clubroom door, which was shut. As expected. "I just don't want it to be a repeat of last year. Don't want cake or streamers in my face. Or hair."

       She opened the door. That very instant, a multitude of voices yelled in unison.

      "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

      Misaki and Oikawa, both pretty surprised by the loud yell, nearly crashed into each other before steadying themselves. Of course, that action caused laughter to break out amongst those of the team that were present in the clubroom.

      "I told you they'd react like that," Hanamaki said, snickering. "Tell me you got a picture."

      "I got a picture," Matsukawa smirked widely.

      "Hey!" Misaki and Oikawa said in unison as they entered the gift room. Almost everyone from the regulars team was there. Yuki, Kindaichi, Kunimi, Watari, Yahaba, Hanamaki and Matsukawa; they were all there. And of course, Iwaizumi who Misaki thought might have something to do with this. Him and Yuki.

      Judging by the way Yuki had that strangely pleased look on her face and how Iwaizumi looked rather proud of himself, Misaki was starting to think they had worked together to plan this. Bless Iwaizumi though; there weren't any heavy decorations in the club room apart from a few balloons and streamers. One chair was piled with gifts and one had a cake box kept on top of it.

     "Here," Misaki handed over the bag of gifts she was holding to Kindaichi as she sat next to him and Kunimi.

     "Uh Misaki-senpai, what is this?" Kindaichi asked in confusion; Kunimi peered at the bag over his shoulder.

    "Gifts from our precious captain's fangirls," Misaki answered, a half grin. "I'm guessing most of them were chocolates. You guys can take some. It's my gift."

     "Oi, Misa-chan! Those are mine!" Oikawa protested. "I want those!"

     "No you don't, Shittykawa," Iwaizumi added with an amused smirk. "You couldn't even finish the chocolates you got last year."

     "Oh boy, last year was fun," Hanamaki said as he started laughing loudly. Everyone except the first years (all of whom looked curious) joined in on the laughter.

     "I think I still have some of the pictures," Matsukawa added, snickering.

      Misaki turned towards him, glaring intensely. "Mattsun! You promised you had deleted those!"

     "Uh, what exactly happened last year?" Yuki asked, sounding slightly confused. "Did something bad happen?"

     "No, no, it was nothing bad," Hanamaki added with an amused grin. "It started with the party poppers. You see......"

     Suffice to say, the rest of the day was spent embarrassing both Misaki and Oikawa. 

I thought the previous chapter was going to be the longest one I wrote, but this one hit 3.7K words before I decided to end the chapter here. As for what was written on the birthday card, you can leave it to your imagination; it can be anything you want it to be. The birthday celebration of last year that was mentioned in this chapter might be posted as a oneshot once I've finished this book lol. But I can tell you that my favorite part of writing this chapter was writing a little bit of pining!Oikawa and there's going to be a lot more of him in the upcoming chapters. 

Also shoutout to Sav for helping me with this chapter <3 <3  

Till then, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!