Chapter Text
Tohru Oikawa, the Japanese-born setter for CA San Juan was married. His teammates couldn’t believe it. Oikawa had barely turned 22. They had never even seen him look at a woman, let alone have a girlfriend. Yet here he was, back from a three-week break with a shiny new ring hanging from a chain around his neck, nonchalantly chattering about California weather and showing people pictures of the Bolivian salt flats as if all he did on his vacation was sightsee and not legally bind himself to another person.
Finally, the libero on the team couldn’t bear it any longer and interrupted Oikawa’s complaining about LA traffic. “Dude, did you get married?” A hush fell over the gym. The captain gave the libero a dirty look, but everyone could tell he was also curious about the answer.
Oikawa stopped talking and absentmindedly touched the ring, “Yes, I got married when I was in California. Anyways, as I was saying, the traffic in LA is brutal and there isn’t any kind of public transportation, so you have to…”
“We know traffic is bad in Los Angeles. We’ve all seen the beginning of La La Land. Tell us about your new wife.”
“Yeah is she American?”
“How did you guys meet?”
“Is she beautiful?”
Oikawa was getting bombarded with questions from all of CA San Juan, even some of the managers and trainers joined in. A weaker man would have cracked and called his wife on the spot to satisfy everyone’s curiosity, but Oikawa merely shrugged and said they valued their privacy.
“You know how cagey we Japanese are about our personal lives,” he said with a dismissive wave.
That’s all information the team got. Oikawa’s new wife was Japanese. The only other question he would answer was, “Is she beautiful?”
“The most beautiful person in the world,” Oikawa replied, nodding solemnly.
After that first practice back, Oikawa stopped wearing his wedding ring out in public, tired of getting asked questions he did not want to answer. Some players even started to think they had hallucinated the entire thing. However, those who saw Oikawa around in the dorms were able to confirm that he did actually wear the ring around his neck when he was home, frequently playing with the chain while watching game tapes in that weird crouched position he sits in.
Oikawa’s marriage also coincided with his promotion to starting setter for CA San Juan. As expected, many volleyball fans throughout Argentina were enamored with the handsome foreigner. And because Oikawa only wore his wedding ring in private, fangirls flocked to the young, seemingly single setter.
After a game in Buenos Aires, his teammates looked on jealously as he signed autographs and flashed cutesy little peace signs for selfies with adoring fans. Finally, he was dragged back onto the bus by the captain and plopped down in his seat, taking his wedding ring out of his pocket and fastening it around his neck.
One of the younger team members, who was particularly jealous that a married man like Oikawa was attracting all the fangirls rudely asked, “Doesn’t your wife get mad that you pretend to be single for the fans?”
Oikawa shifted uncomfortably in his seat before replying, “I’m not pretending, I just value my privacy. She’s probably used to it anyways. I’ve been doing this since high school. It doesn’t mean anything.”
His teammates quietly filed away the fact that Oikawa’s been dating his wife since high school, shooting each other curious looks, wondering what kind of woman would tolerate her man being constantly fawned over like this.
“Dating is one thing. Being married is another,” said the captain quietly from the front after a long, awkward silence. The entire team turned their heads towards their captain in surprise. Having been married for nearly a decade, the captain was indeed qualified to dole out advice, but he never meddled in his players’ personal lives, frequently shooing away those who pestered Oikawa about his mysterious wife.
Oikawa remained silent, pensively running his finger over the metal of his wedding ring.
The next match was a home game in San Juan. The stands were packed with fans wearing the club’s trademark blue, Oikawa’s jersey being the most popular. Bright pink “Marry me, Oikawa-san!” signs were everywhere. Oikawa’s teammates cringed as he went to greet the adoring masses. However, instead of the high-pitched squeal they were used to hearing when Argentina’s most popular setter stepped onto the court, a quiet hush fell over the entire stadium.
The San Juan players looked at each other, confused. Perhaps Oikawa was doing a new bit with his fans? Suddenly, the sunlight pierced through the stadium’s glass roof and Oikawa’s teammates saw what had silenced their supporters. Shining around the neck of one of the Argentina’s most eligible bachelors, was his wedding ring.