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Oikawa dove into the cockpit of an apparently busted scout ship, trying to slow his breathing to something less heavy and more controlled. The alarm blaring overhead hurt his ears and made it difficult to concentrate and he closed his eyes to try to think. He had to be getting close to the control room; unless he got turned around because of that last explosion. Opening his eyes, he caught sight of the blackness of space beyond the transparent ceiling.
Oh how often he’d longed for this moment, seeing the stars up close, literally leaving his world behind. Memories of nights laying on cool, damp grass looking into the abyss above flitted through his mind. How long ago that all seemed now. A whole lifetime ago.
And in some ways, he supposed, it was.
He was no longer Oikawa Tooru, former setter and captain of the Seijoh high school volleyball team. He was Agent O, of the M.I.B. In short, a nobody who’d saved the world at least once already and had nothing to show for it except a formerly new suit now tarnished with burn marks, a torn sleeve and some viscous liquid that he didn’t want to think about.
He’d learned very quickly that his idealization of life beyond Earth was just that; an ideal. The reality was the vastness of space was filled with dangers far outweighing the imaginations of the fiction he’d read or watched as a kid. A few preconceived notions were accurate, fueled by “insider knowledge” from those who’d come in from the outer realms, but a fair amount was purposeful misinformation, sometimes in jest and sometimes for more nefarious means.
Oikawa shook his head. He couldn’t sit dawdling over memories. He had a job to do and a partner to save.
Iwaizumi had, unsurprisingly, been more than dubious when Oikawa came screaming to him about the organization he’d been contacted by. Apparently, it wasn’t just “big brother” who watched the inter-waves for tips and tracking. MIB monitored for potential recruits and Oikawa was right up their alley. The only stipulation he’d placed was that Iwa-chan be allowed to join and partner with him.
He’d just had to convince him it wasn’t a joke or a sugar influenced dream. Which, understandably, had been quite the challenge. Once he’d actually gotten him to the recruitment center, the next bit of convincing was easier than Oikawa had anticipated. The memory brought a lump to his throat whenever he allowed himself the indulgence.
“Why wouldn’t I come with you? I’d rather leave the world behind than you leave me in it alone.”
It was one of the most romantic things Iwaizumi had ever allowed to pass his lips. And so they’d joined, trading names for letters, Agents O and I, rookies to the MIB.
Taking a deep breath, Oikawa emerged from his hiding spot, pistol drawn. What he really wanted was his de-atomizer but that, ironically, had been blown to smithereens. He jumped to the ground, hurrying across the bay floor to the exit he hoped would take him to the main hall and up to the control room where he could reroute the ship and free Iwaizumi from his cell.
“There he is! Stop him!” Or at least that’s what Oikawa thinks they said. His Vuteroian was a bit shaky still and the bastards didn’t exactly like to sit and talk over barley tea and noodles. They were more the shoot and ask no questions later type.
Oikawa picked up the pace, just managing to dodge a shot and cursing the MIB for not supplying actual body armor. Sure, the black suits looked good and were effective on Earth as a symbol of authority (with humans at least), but in the midst of a firefight? Not so much.
A shot rushed past his head and while it scared at least a year or two off his life, it did have the fortunate result of blasting open the door he no longer had time to try to crack the code for. He rushed past the flaming wreckage (earning another singe to his jacket) and shot blindly over his shoulder, hoping it would at least stall his pursuers. Rounding another corner, his patent leather shoes pounding against the grate, he spied the control door.
Finally.
He dashed up the stairs, surprised to find the door unlocked. Heart pounding, he opened it and stepped through, his gun drawn to put down any Vuteroians in his way. Only he didn’t need to since any in the room were already dead. He looked up from the bodies, shock rolling over him as though he’d been tased.
“Iwa-chan?!” he shrieked, staring slack-jawed at the man who until that moment he’d believed to be stuck in a cell in the underbelly of the ship.
“Who else would it be?” asked his grumpy partner. Then he added with a smirk, “Wow, you look like shit Tooru.”
Oikawa frowned, crossing his arms. “Nice way to greet the man who’s trying to save your ass.”
“Keyword: trying.”
“Rude, Iwa-chan. How the hell did you get out anyway?”
Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. “You think all that training was for nothing? I’ve got skills, idiot.”
Oikawa sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He slammed the door using his sonic screwdriver (look, let him live a fantasy) to melt the lock. It wouldn’t do much against a cannon blast but Oikawa was banking on the door being reinforced against invaders. He was right, if the resounding clank from the other side was anything to go by.
“Got a plan?” he asked, stepping next to Iwaizumi.
“When do I not?”
“When you got captured and imprisoned?”
“Part of the plan.”
Oikawa scoffed. “Ok, even if that were true, why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
Iwaizumi smiled, smug. “Because you were part of the plan, too.”
Oikawa let his gears grind on that one until the pieces fell into place and he growled, “You used me as bait?!”
“Calm down, Shittykawa, I knew you’d be fine.”
“I could have died Hajime!”
“Any of us can die at any moment, right? And besides, at least you’d have gone in a blaze of glory like you always claim you want to.”
Oikawa grabbed his shoulder roughly tugging him to face him. “You… are an insufferable ass,” he muttered, then leaned forward laying a kiss to his lips. “But also a fucking genius.”
Iwaizumi hummed agreement, far too pleased with himself. He hit a few more buttons, then took Oikawa’s hand, walking calmly to an escape pod. Swiftly he buckled Oikawa then himself in, hit a few more buttons to secure the hatch and they were off, blasted away from the ship proper. Through the portholes, they watched as the ship shuddered then imploded in on itself.
Oikawa whistled. “Black hole self destruct, huh? Read the theory, never seen it in action.”
Iwaizumi nodded, reaching over to thread their fingers together and gave him a squeeze. “Another job well done. Let’s get home and showered, I feel like I could sleep for a week straight.”
Oikawa agreed. If they’d earned anything tonight, it was a shower, a meal, and their bed. And really, those and the man next to him to share them with were all he really wanted anyway; finally seeing the stars up close was merely a bonus.