There were many reasons to be annoyed during the early mornings. Usually just waking up would do it for many people, perhaps missing breakfast or even waking up with a hangover would start anyone's day off on a sour note but Iwaizumi's day started off with having to listen to three morons talking about bets they were making on different staff members sleeping with each other.

"My money is on Yachi and Hinata, they're always making puppy eyes at one another!" Makki exclaimed through a mouthful of bagel.

Nishinoya the orthopedic surgeon smiled as he threw his lab coat over his shoulder, "Man, If I had a hundred bucks on them I would be so rich, right Asahi?" The short man slapped his hand against a much taller man walking alongside him as they left the changing room.

Asahi shook his head vigorously, "It isn't nice to make bets on our coworkers!"

The door behind the pair closed as Nishinoya's laughter echoed from behind it. Mattsun laid back onto the bench and rested his head in Makki's lap as he let out a loud sigh, "That big guy sucks the fun out of everything," He snickered.

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes at his two friends as he put his phone on silent and stuffed it into his pocket. "He has a point you know, if the two do actually like each other and they hear about the bet the attendings are making on them then it could keep them from pursuing a relationship," He glanced over his shoulder at Oikawa for a moment before continuing, "Just let things run its course and keep your mouths shut."

"Bleh," Makki stuck his tongue out at Iwaizumi as he gently played with Mattsun's hair, "Such a party-pooper Hajime."

Iwaizumi's face flushed red. Why the hell did Makki call him by his given name? "W-What?"

Oikawa let out a little yawn as he patted his cheeks, "He just likes you, he doesn't mean anything by it Iwa-chan."

Makki smirked, "Oh? I forgot you're a bit more of a formal guy compared to us. Calling you Iwaizumi all the time is kind of annoying so can I just call you Hajime or Iwa-chan?"

"I already have one moron calling me Iwa-chan I don't need another one. Hajime is fine I suppose but don't surprise me like that again..." Iwaizumi cleared his throat and tugged at his collar a little bit as he began to get ready to do his final check on his patients for that day. It had been a long day working in the ER after some of the staff decided to not show up after a night of shots and poor decisions.

"Ha, I'm the only one who can call him Iwa-chan!" Oikawa blew raspberries at Makki as he straightened his posture.

Mattsun tilted his head to look over at Oikawa, "You also get the privilege of being an oblivious idiot too I suppose," His brown gaze lifted up to meet with Iwaizumi's, "Say, you wanna go drinking with us tonight?"

Ever since he had stepped foot in this hospital Iwaizumi had been dreading the moment someone would ask him that very question. If he said no then he would be hounded for an answer to why he was acting like an old man but if he said yes and went out with them then he would be breaking his promise to himself and his daughter. Either answer he gave would cause rumors to get around wouldn't it? Maybe he could go to the bar with his friends but just drink fountain drinks and water? No, that wouldn't do because he would be pressured into having at least one drink. Iwaizumi felt a bead of sweat form at his brow as he struggled to answer this one simple question.

Oikawa's brown head popped into view as the man pushed himself between Iwaizumi and the two men sitting in front of him. "Well~" He began in a singsong tone of voice, "I was thinking we should bring little Sachi out for some shopping and then head back to his place to help unpack as a little housewarming party. How's that sound, Iwa-chan?" He twirled around to face Iwaizumi and winked, holding a finger up to his lips.

Iwaizumi didn't want to admit it but Oikawa really did just save him from humiliation. Iwaizumi gave the man a kind-hearted smile, "I think Sachi would absolutely love that. She would want to show off her toys to you guys if you woundn't mind... that or play princess and knights with you."

"I think I would make a fantastic knight," Makki placed a hand against his chest.

Mattsun sat up and stretched his arms high above his head, "I think that sounds like a better plan to be honest. I hate waking up with hangovers anyways."

"Great!" Oikawa exclaimed as he threw his arms up in the air and began to usher their friends out the door. "Now, Let's go save some lives today!"

Before Oikawa reached the door, Iwaizumi quickly caught up to the man and gently tugged on his sleeve to stop him. Oikawa stopped in his place and looked down at his sleeve before meeting Iwaizumi's gaze. His brown eyes were wide and brimming with curiosity as he tilted his head to the side quizzically, allowing a little tuft of hair to cover his left eye. "Th-Thank you..." Iwaizumi mumbled breaking eye contact and looking down at his shoes as he ignored the warmth spreading across his cheeks.

"Hey," Oikawa turned his body and leaned down so that he could meet Iwaizumi's gaze once more. He was smiling as he held a little thumb up, "Your secret is safe with me Iwa-chan."

Iwaizumi mustered the courage within himself to pull a small smartphone from his pocket and held it out to the taller man, "You can uh- you can call me Hajime too if you want but just make sure you don't throw this phone off the roof gain."

Oikawa's entire face went red as he robotically grabbed onto the little gift with both hands and bowed his head a bit. "I won't, I promise!" He then looked away from Iwaizumi as he mumbled something under his breath.

Iwaizumi cleared his throat as he straightened his posture and began to head towards the door that separated him from the rest of the hospital, "Don't try to kill anyone today Shitty-kawa."

"R-Right!"

There wasn't really any real reason as to why he gave Oikawa that phone. It was laying around the house being unused and collecting dust in one of the millions of boxes littering his floors. He believed that passing some kindness down to the tall brunette asshat would maybe make his stressful week a little bit better and hopefully it worked. Iwaizumi quietly greeted the nurses and doctors who waved at him and entered his department with a little smile on his face. Today was going to be a good day for him and even if his day started off on an annoying note, he was going to make today a day he will remember.

"Iwaizumi sir!" Alisa stood up from the front desk and waved over to Iwaizumi, smiling with excitement. "Come look what Mister Kuroo sent our department for your surgery well done the other day!"

His boss sent them something for not killing a patient? Strange. He approached the desk and peeked over the edge to see a little fruit and muffin basket near the patient files. Yachi sat behind the desk stuffing her face, having drool practically spilling from the corners of her mouth. Iwaizumi greedily snatched up a cranberry muffin and took a bite from it. "They're so good Mr. Iwaizumi..." Yachi gleefully wheezed as she swallowed down her mouthful of muffin she had been engulfing.

Alisa rested her elbows on the desk and beamed up at Iwaizumi, "We saved the cranberry one for you since we noticed you eat them all the time. We even gave Miss Furukawa and her daughter the two blueberry ones and they were so pleased with them! They're just so delicious," Alisa sighed as she stretched her long arms across the desk and stretched.

"Right, right," Iwaizumi absently nodded along to what his nurse was saying as he started to peel the wrapper from his muffin. "Wait, what?" He tore his eyes from the delicacy he held within his left hand and glared at Alisa, "Tani is awake and you guys didn't think to page me?"

Yachi's face turned a bit pink as she glanced up at Iwaizumi, "Well it was only an hour ago and we already ran all the standard tests on her and everything checked out so we didn't think it would be such a big deal but we will definitely page you from now on whenever a patient wakes up!"

Iwaizumi pinched the bridge of his nose as he put his muffin back down, "Did you check her BP, pupils, and -"

"And her speech and motor functions?" Alisa hummed as she grabbed a patient file and pushed it into Iwaizumi's chest gently. "We checked everything and she is completely fine sir, you did an excellent job and I would love to accompany you on your next surgery but you have a patient that just transferred in from a hospital outside of Tokyo."

Iwaizumi was impressed to say the least. He actually had two competent people working alongside him. Maybe this change wouldn't be as bad as he thought it would be. Sachi loves the daycare here and she would probably love the schools once she is able to enroll in one. "Thank you Miss Haiba, let me know when something seems off about Tani. If she seems off in any way then-"

Alisa let out a fruity laugh as she began to wave Iwaizumi off, "Yeah yeah Mr. Boss-man, now go check on your new patient! She's been patiently awaiting your arrival!"

She gave him a gentle push from behind the counter as she waved him off. Man that woman was quite pushy sometimes isn't she? Iwaizumi scanned over the paper and felt a lump form in his throat. The woman was pushing fifty-eight and had a tumor the size of a golf ball. She was transferred due to the medical staff being unable to help treat her properly. With the place that the tumor rested, she was already acquiring vision loss. This was going to be a tough case given her age and depending on how much vision she even had left she would possibly be left blind after any sort of surgery. He tapped a knuckle against the woman's door and entered when she gave him a short greeting. "Ms. Sato Ayumi?" Iwaizumi opened the door and stepped inside.

On the bed rested an older looking woman with short, straight black hair and thick eyebrows that resembled almonds. The had stress wrinkles beneath her eyes but outside of those little lines she didn't appear to be a day over forty. She smiled quietly at the bed below her as she held up a hand, "That's a fake name actually kiddo," She snickered. Something about her whole demeanor and face seemed oddly familiar to Iwaizumi as he got closer to her. Her chocolate brown eyes were exhausted and her snide little grin sent a shiver down her spine. There was no questioning it, she reminded Iwaizumi of someone else but he just couldn't quite put a finger on it yet.

"Uh," Iwaizumi looked over the patient file once more to find a real name hidden somewhere among the pages but with this proved to be fruitless he lowered the file and crossed his arms over his chest. "Then, what is your name ma'am? I'm Iwaizumi Hajime and I will be your doctor from now on."

"Oh come on," She moved her hands to point to her taunting little smirk. "You don't see the family resemblance my son shares with me? Matsukawa Haya is the name and I'm sure you can figure out why my name isn't on that chart."

Matsukawa? Like Mattsun Matsukawa? "Holy shit..." Iwaizumi breathed out loud before he began to violently flip through her chart, "Does he know about your diagnosis?" Iwaizumi exclaimed as he tried to figure out how the hell he got stuck with his friend's mother.

Haya let out a little jovial laugh, "Of course not, don't you think my little boy would be in here with me right now if he knew? He may not look it but he's a momma's boy through and through you know."

What was he supposed to say to Mattsun? 'Hey man, your mom's got a serious case of a golf ball sized tumor that is slowly taking her vision and her chances of surviving something like this even with surgery are kinda slim. Oh but don't worry man, I'm the reason she either lives or dies?' So much for a good day, huh? Iwaizumi ran a hand through his hair as he began to think about the eighty gazillion ways that having Haya Matsukawa as his patient could go wrong. If she passed under his supervision he could kiss his friendship with Mattsun goodbye. If he messed up her surgery then Mattsun will probably just pummel his face in. Who knows, maybe even Makki would join in on it too? He felt his stomach twist up as his thoughts became a jumbled mess.

Haya Matsukawa let out a dreadful sigh as she leaned back against her pillows and rubbed her temples, "Listen, Hajime... I can call you that, right?" She spoke softly as her expressionless eyes stared up at the white ceiling above them. Iwaizumi stopped pacing and looked over at Haya as she spoke, "I know you're in a tough spot right now but the last thing I wanted was to be transferred to this hospital. The one outside of the city couldn't provide me with surgeons who have done the surgery before so my daughter begged dear little Tetsurou to let me come to this hospital so that I can get the VIP treatment. I don't want Issei to know about my condition until we know that things will be looking grim for me, if he finds out sooner then he will throw his career away to stay by my side. He has overcome so much in his life it would break my heart if he sacrificed his life for my own."

Iwaizumi felt his shoulder's droop down as he slowly seated himself at the end of her bed still holding his muffin. "I guess I can relate to you on that. If I was in your position I don't think I would have it in me to tell my own daughter about my diagnosis."

"Oh?" Haya beamed as she pushed herself back up to a sitting position, "You have a child of your own?"

Iwaizumi slid his phone from his pocket and pulled up a photo of Sachi holding flowers her grandparents had bought her for valentines day, "She's young but I worry for the day I'm no longer there to watch over her..." He carefully took Haya's hand and slid his phone into her palm.

She held it up about a hand length away from her face and gave Iwaizumi a warm smile, "My god, she is so beautiful! You're gonna have your hands full with that one! My Issei was the sweetest boy. When he was around her age he used to go out into the garden and pick flowers for his sister and I and he told us that we were the only women he needed in his life," She laughed nostalgically and held Iwaizumi's phone out to him almost smacking him in the face with it.

Seventy-percent of vision loss at the least... Iwaizumi felt his heart fall a bit deeper into his chest. Her odds for being able to see again didn't look great but he needed to try his best for Mattsun and his family. "Mattsun must have been smooth with the ladies growing up huh?" Iwaizumi tried his best to not think about the odds of Haya's survival as he tried to continue their talk.

Haya burst into a fit of laughter as she grabbed onto Iwaizumi's arm to keep herself from falling over, "Heavens no, the boy is gayer than Taiga Ishikawa!" She wiped a tear from her face as she continued, "He was a reserved and anxious boy through most of his childhood so when he expressed an interest in my dear Takehiro I was so happy. Takehiro helped Issei thrive and become the type of person he always admired; one with confidence and with purpose."

"Mattsun was reserved and anxious?" Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow at Mattsun's mother, barely believing a word she said. Compared to the man he was now, Iwaizumi could barely picture Mattsun as the quiet and worried child she was talking about. "Makki changed him that much?"

Haya nodded, "Issei loves that man with his entire being. Takehiro is like my own son at this point, I just wish the two could get married officially... It's the one thing I would like to see or at least hear before I pass away."

Mattsun loves Makki with his entire heart and soul? Iwaizumi thought back to all the times he had seen the two together. One wouldn't have realized that they were a couple right off the bat but after spending time around the two men, even Iwaizumi could agree that Mattsun didn't look at anyone else like he looked at Makki. What the two of them had was special and it was that once in a lifetime type of love that many never get the opportunity to experience. He smiled somberly as memories with Wakumi began to flash through his head. It had been a few years since that day but her death still affected him. He wanted to be able to move on but it was so hard to get over your first everything. Your first kiss, your first love, your first marriage, first kid, first anything and everything. She was his once in a lifetime love and perhaps there werne't going to be anymore for him.

"Mom!" A young woman slammed open the door causing Iwaizumi to jump up from where he stood. She was a taller woman, probably just about an inch shorter than Iwaizumi and like Haya she had those oddly shaped eyebrows.

Haya allowed her hand to fall to the bed as she happily looked over to the door, "Keon! What took you so long to get here?" She exclaimed and held her arms out.

Keon Matsukawa brushed past Iwaizumi without a second thought as she threw herself against her mother and gave her a giant hug. "I got stuck in traffic after bringing Kyo to school and I had to avoid being spotted by Issei and Takehiro."

Haya laughed a bit as she ran her hand across her daughter's black hair before she motioned to the end of the bed where Iwaizumi had once been sitting, "I was just talking to my new doctor. He's friends with Issei, Takehiro, and Tooru so he's already part of the family! Call him Hajime."

Iwaizumi's face became warm as Keon turned around and embraced him pushing herself up against him closely. "Thank you so much for taking my mother in as your patient and for dealing with my idiot brother, Hajime."

Alright, Mattsun's family was a bit too friendly and personal compared to the tall and quiet man. Thankfully he had never been embraced by Mattsun before and hopefully he never would be but being called by his given name on three separate occasions and being hugged so tightly was really beginning to push him to the edge. He really wasn't going to have the best of days and it kept getting worse by the hour. He awkwardly patted Keon on the back as he leaned his face away from her head, "Iwaizumi is just fine as well by the way," His voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke.

His pager began to buzz in his pocket allowing him a chance to gently push Keo off of his body in order to check it. It was from Oikawa asking him to head to the locker-room. "Is it my son?" Haya asked quizzically.

"No, Oikawa actually."

Keon took her spot next to her mother on her bed and began to text someone as Haya spoke, "You can tell Tooru and Takehiro if you wish as long as they don't breathe a word about it to my Issei."

"Right," Iwaizumi nodded quietly as he placed Haya's chart down on the table nearby and said his farewells.

She was ordered a new scan to see if her tumor had grown at all since her last one and Alisa was placed over her case as the head nurse seeing how Yachi would probably cry from all the friendliness and touchiness that the Matsukawa family displayed. It would have been nice to sit and talk to Haya all day about Makki and Mattsun when they were younger but Iwaizumi felt as if his body were getting heavier with each step he took. He was going to have to lie to his new friend from now on and be as evasive as possible if Mattsun asked any questions about Iwaizumi's new patient. Could he talk to Oikawa and Makki about it if he ever got the chance? With the way Haya spoke about the two men, she was quite close to them so it could hit them just as hard as it would for Mattsun. God must really love putting Iwaizumi in such shitty positions, doesn't he? The big guy was probably munching away on a bag of popcorn while he and the Angels laughed at Iwaizumi Hajime's miserable life unfolding before them like some sort of soap opera. He hadn't been at this hospital for longer than a month, yet he was already having to be in the middle of family drama because of the fact his friend's mother was adamant about her son not finding out about her illness. Iwaizumi pushed open the door to the ground floor and found himself walking through the lobby. The giant tree continued to snatch his attention away from the families in the waiting area and the interns who rushed by him even after the few weeks he had been there. He stood at the base and looked up at the little ornaments that the patients and staff had made. There were names of the children in the pediatrics ward on little plastic ornaments, others had family photos thanking the staff for their hard work while the rest were glittery and left untouched so that the bright white lights wrapping around the tree glistened against the sparkling ornament's surface.

"I find it to be a bit tacky," A familiar voice sounded near Iwaizumi causing him to rip his attention away from the tree standing before him. He looked over his right shoulder and found his gaze rest on a tall, black haired stoic faced man. He truly was his mother's twin, wasn't he?

Iwaizumi turned his body to face his friend, his heart heavy and his fingertips numb. "Mattsun..." His voice trailed off a bit. His eyes wandered down his friends body realizing that the tall man no longer wore his scrubs but now adorned his everyday clothing that consisted of a pair of jeans, an old and worn down looking white sweatshirt and a blue scarf. Why was he dressed like this? Had he found out about his mom already? But if he did,, who would have told him about Haya if it wasn't him or Kuroo?

Mattsun raised a hand into the air and spoke in the same monotonous voice he always used, "That's my name," a small smile formed on his lips before he pointed to the tree and spoke again, "I think if we dropped the sparkly ornaments it would look better. I know you haven't been here that long so you don't know the story behind the tree but with every patient we help during the holiday season they make a little ornament in order to thank everyone."

Why was he talking about the tree? Iwaizumi frowned a little bit as Mattsun passed by him and stood at the base of the tree with his lips pursed ever so slightly. His thick, black brows furrowed together as his brown eyes searched the faux limbs of the tree for something. "Are you okay?" Iwaizumi cautiously stepped forward to stand at his friend's side, ready to place a hand on the man's back in order to comfort him if needed.

Mattsun raised his brow at Iwaizumi and tilted his body away slightly as his hands began to probe at the ornaments in front of their eyes, "Uh yeah, why the hell do you ask? You're acting like you've seen a ghost or something Iwaizumi... oh, here it is!" He beamed as his hand shot inside of the tree rustling the limbs and shaking the ornaments around his arm.

After a moment he yanked out a little foam shaped train with a picture glued onto it. It was older than dirt with the way the corners of the photo slowly peeling off from the little foam frame it sat in. Mattsun held the photo out to Iwaizumi with a smug look as he placed his index finger against the photograph. It was a little boy with the brightest smile stretching ear to ear. He looked oddly familiar with his fluffy brown hair and giant butterscotch colored eyes and little simples. He seemed so delighted as he pointed to his leg that was wrapped up in bandages and below the photo read a simple little message in the messiest handwriting known to man, 'Thank you Mr. Oda for the new knee! -Oikawa Tooru'. Iwaizumi felt his lips pressed together as he fought back a laugh. Was this really that tall shithead he knew? He looked almost the same as he did back then but his face had slimmed out over the years and his eyes had almost seemed to have shrunk down in size.

"Hey, why the hell are you showing him that!" Oikawa's shrill voice sounded as the tall man shoved Iwaizumi to the side and ripped the photograph from Mattsun's hand Iwaizumi felt the pit in his stomach widen even further as the little muffin he had yet to eat rolled across the floor. "Whatever happened to having some privacy around here it seems like everyone is wanting to talk about me without my permission!" Oikawa furiously shoved the little decoration back into the tree and punched his friend in the chest.

"Oh come on now," Mattsun winced as he lifted his hand up to rub the spot Oikawa had hit. "You're little Iwa-chan looked down so I wanted to show him your goofy ass picture you hide every year."

Iwaizumi straightened himself up as he glared at the two men. "What the hell was that for Oikawa?" Goodbye little muffin.

Oikawa narrowed his eyes at Iwaizumi and redirected all of his anger towards the short man, "Why aren't you dressed for the outing yet? We were supposed to leave like thirty minutes ago!" He strode across the ground and placed his finger against Iwaizumi's scrubs and made a gagging sound, "Don't tell me you come to work dressed like this every day?"

Iwaizumi glanced down at his watch. His eyes widened as father time finally caught up to him. It was the end of his shift already? He was supposed to take Sachi out with his friends that evening to go shopping and to celebrate his new job and home. How could he have forgotten about that already? His gaze shifted from Oikawa over to Mattsun and once again his heart felt as if a weight were tugging on it again. He didn't know about it yet so perhaps Iwaizumi should keep things quiet for now until his mother was ready for Mattsun to know about her condition. For now it was best to act like nothing was wrong.

He brushed Oikawa's hand away from his chest and sighed a little bit, "Time just got away from me is all," He forced a laugh.

Oikawa tilted his head back and narrowed his eyes slightly. Before he could say a word though, Iwaizumi excused himself and made his way to the locker room. As he slid his scrubs off of his body and buttoned his shirt and pants up he couldn't help but think back to Oikawa's little photo hidden in the tree. Mattsun had noticed his mood was off and he had gone out of his way to make him laugh with that funky little photo. Friends were a hard thing to come by in adulthood. Many believe that the friends they make in high school will be by their side forever, and for some that is the case but for many others in the world those friends grow apart as they mature and begin their new lives. Others however never grow up and remain stuck in the past making every friendship they touch suffocating to be in. After Wakumi's death, Iwaizuimi learned who his real friends were and unfortunately he didn't have the support he needed when he uprooted his daughter's life in their old home in order to start anew in Tokyo. Now though, unlike before, he was finding new friends who went out of their way to make him feel as if he was wanted and needed. It was a beautiful and refreshing start to his new life. He was so thankful for this opportunity. Perhaps he should buy his friends something tonight as a little thank you? A small smile crossed his face as he thought about handing those annoying men something he thought they would love. Just imagining their smiles made him forget about the problems from earlier that day. He wanted to focus on his friends and daughter tonight and so he would be.

"You ready yet handsome?" Makki leaned against the locker to the right of Iwaizumi with a little smirk plastered on his face. "I enjoyed the gun show but I think I would enjoy getting some dinner more," He stuck his tongue out.

"Stop gawking at me and let's go Takehiro."

******************************

I apologize for any grammar or errors you have encountered in this chapter. Being botht the writer and editor of my story is hard since I won't always notice my mistakes. I tried my best to clean everything up but there are many mistakes I probably didn't catch so I apologize for them.

So I know that hearing Iwaizumi talk about Wakumi might be a bit annoying but it will start toning down here soon. I just wish to reiterate the themes of solace really quick before continuing on towards the future. Iwaizumi's story line is about finding love after years of grief and guilt and Oikawa's story is about healing and finding reasons to love life again more or less. So these are two different stories I have to tackle but I'm trying my best to portray things well enough.

Next chapter of Solace is going to be a bit different and it will actually include a trigger warning before the chapter begins. Please be aware that I put these warning for those who have suffered through sexual, physical, and mental abuse and that each warning will be different depending on what abuse is shown. I have never done trigger warnings before so if they should say anything in specific please let me know!

Please have a good night!

-Anri