A/N: First attempt at writing here... thanks

Chapter 1: Nice to Meet You

Today is supposed to be a good day, however, It is an understatement to say that Iwaizumi is pissed, because he's pretty much sure he's beyond that right now as he stomps towards the gym for a volleyball tryout.

At his first year in high school, he wanted nothing more but be a student and to play volleyball with his childhood friend, Oikawa Tooru. Certainly, that friend of his, is a famous guy, wherever he will go, he will always be surrounded by girls and flocked by anything cute, and Iwaizumi doesn't care, they can all throw themselves at his friend so long as they don't disrupt their play or be an inconvenience to him.

His first week was normal, and he was quite thankful that Assikawa (that's what he calls him) was one class away from him, that means he can live his life peacefully, but it seems Oikawa has a lot of time to spare as he goes to Iwaizumi's room whenever there's no teacher, the pretty boy will barge in and disturb his friend only to talk about volleyball and some video game stuff. Iwaizumi noticed afterwards how his female classmates will stare at them when they chat and he realized, the next day when he came to class, several of them were asking him about Oikawa.

At first, they were simple queries and can be answerable within his limits, but it went on and on, up to the point that it annoyed him, then it evolved with them asking him to give Oikawa, some goodies or ask his number, and Iwaizumi doesn't want to, with his personality, he will never apply as a messenger/ matchmaker/ delivery man for his childhood friend.

Another thing, it's not his fault that he looked 'annoyed' all the time, even when he's not, but majority of this days, he is quite irked. But, girls took it as him being rude and somehow, they had a bad impression about him, but Iwaizumi didn't care as long as he gets his peaceful time.

Even so, a month has passed, some girls from his class were still persistent, they wanted Oikawa, so they thought, somehow, they should pass Iwaizumi's taste, like hell he cares who that Assikawa choose, he's not even sure if his childhood friend is ready to try going out again after his recent break up with a girl he dated for a while, (her reason was because that 'shitty guy likes volleyball more than me'), but still, the raven haired boy tried his best to avoid such favors and let Oikawa be flocked and surrounded by girls, that guy loved attention anyway.

Iwaizumi was at the court for an after school practice, after some sessions, he decided to get a drink at the vending machine near it, his mind was thinking about the last volleyball match he watched as he pushed a button for a drink, he was thinking deeply, and was trying to remember the name of the team.

"Excuse me." He heard a girl's voice from behind him, somehow, he got irritated. Great...now they even get to follow me, If they want to see Oikawa, they can go, why shouldn't they just bother him. "Uhmm...Excuse me."

Iwaizumi glanced behind him to face whoever girl it is, at first he was quite stunned because, she is a beauty, honey colored eyes, light auburn hair on a mid rise pony tail, and she's wearing a PE uniform, she was looking at him like she was trying to know who he is, and Iwaizumi thinks he saw her somewhere too, but never mind that, he knows this girl's gonna ask a favor again. "Look. I told you guys, Oikawa's in court so you can go to him, okay? I had enough."

The girl just looked at him, with puzzled eyes. "Huh?" Then suddenly her feature lightened. "Oi! Classmate! Haha, you're that popular guy every girl in the room is looking for!" She said, surprising Iwaizumi.

"Huh? Popular?"

"Oh, wrong, I think your friend is the one that's popular." She suddenly remembered, Iwaizumi sighed. "That pretty and flashy boy from class 6."

"Yeah, Oikawa's my friend, but I think he'll talk to you, he talks to anyone anyway, so just go directly at him and adore him all you want." Iwaizumi scratched the back of his neck as he looks away, wishing this girl would just stop.

"Seriously, classmate - " The girl started, causing Iwaizumi to look at her. "I was just wondering how long you'll stare at the vending machine because apparently, your drink's already there since a few minutes ago, and also because I'm thirsty and I'm in a hurry, so I hope you move aside and let me get a drink too." And then she ends her dialogue with a sarcastic smile.

That's when he remembered, he was blocking the vending machine, immediately he bent down and got his drink, and moved aside. The girl, immediately dropped her money on the slot and pushed for the drink she likes. "Sorry 'bout that." Iwaizumi said as he watched the girl.

"Anyway, classmate, that's rude...you don't even know me? We're like neighbors, you know? I sit behind you." She said as she gets her drink.

"Oh? We're classmates?" Somehow that surprised him.

"'Cuz you're always looking in front, anyway, I don't know your name too, so we're kinda truce, because we've been neighbors for a month and we don't know each other." She said as she opens her drink, somehow, Iwaizumi got curious about her, so when she started to walk, he followed. "My name's Kozue Rui, your name?"

"Iwaizumi Hajime." He answered, he looked at his side and saw the court, with his mates warming up.

"Oh. You're a volleyball player too." She said and he glanced back at her. "Me too! Though I started late in middle school-" she glanced at the other court. "Looks like they're starting."

"Yeah...gotta join them."

"Uh-huh, nice meeting you, Iwaizumi-san...see you tomorrow!" She said and waved goodbye at him as she jogs towards the other way. He, on the other hand, was quite surprised, is he that obnoxious to not be familiar with someone who sits behind him?

The next day came, and Iwaizumi is planning to check if Rui did really exist in their class, he enters the room slowly and that's the first time he noticed the chair behind his, there was no occupant but a bag was placed on the chair.

"Rui-chan! You really did that? That's cute!" Somehow hearing that name, gives him a breather, so he wasn't imagining a nonexistent pretty classmate, he glanced at the girls whom he heard her name and that's when he saw her, looking quite nice with her uniform and her hair down. She was talking with those girls while she shows a bracelet-like thing.

Her eyes moved and then met his that were staring at her, that's when she flashed him a bright smile. "Oi! Iwaizumi-san!" She called and that caused him to blush and he froze on his spot as Rui walks towards him.

"Y-yoh!" He stuttered and gave a flat smile at her, afterwards he sat on his chair and pretended to read something while Rui talked with her friends again.

After that day, Iwaizumi can't help but observe Rui, in fact she's actually quite a charismatic fellow in their class, whenever he sees Rui, she was always flocked around by the female population of their class, she was always attentive in their math class and she's always talking about female issues, (that's what he hears whenever he passed beside her to go to his seat), she seems like a very interesting person but he can't find any topic to talk to her with. Her skills in math is amazing, Iwaizumi watched as Rui solved a problem in the board fast, sure and magnificent and even their teacher notes her exceptional skill, he was doing well but compared to her, he is a cat and she is a lion. She is a great example of a girl with looks and brains at the same time.

On one occasion, while Iwaizumi was checking out a new RPG Oikawa suggested, one of his teammates, Takahiro, came into the classroom and was looking for him.

"Yoh?" Iwaizumi was quite astonished to see him.

"I can't accept defeat yesterday, we need a rematch today." Takahiro said as he sat in front of Iwaizumi, earning all of the latter's classmates' attention.

"Iwaizumi got into a fight?"

"I knew it, he looked mad all the time anyway."

Iwaizumi sighed as he heard his classmates talk, this arm wrestling thing is just a bet his mates had yesterday to see who'll buy ramen for that day.

Takahiro then placed his arm on Iwaizumi's desk, waking the latter from his reverie "I know I'm good at arm wrestling so I need to know if yesterday isn't a fluke."

"Really? And we have to do this now?" Iwaizumi was pissed, slightly more than used to.

"Yes, because its a vacant period for both of our class." Takahiro made his arm wrestling stance, Iwaizumi was actually reluctant, however, rejecting the challenge could imply that yesterday's win is something that can't happen again.

"I knew Takahiro's gonna ask a rematch, Iwa-chan." Iwaizumi's vein popped out as he heard that voice and girls' squeals after that. "Hello!"

"Eh? Oikawa-san?" Takahiro was surprised as he saw the pretty boy lean on the door frame with several girls on his side now.

"This fight will be equivalent to two whole ramen." Iwaizumi said as he pulls his sleeve up to his elbow.

"Sure." And that was the start, their hands collided, Takahiro has a good grip but it didn't last long since Iwaizumi really has strong arms and he slams down Takahiro's arm, somehow the spectators were in awe.

"Iwa-chan's scary." Oikawa comments as he moves closer to the two, Iwaizumi stood up and met with Oikawa. "The treat includes - ouch, what the hell?!" He was stopped as Iwaizumi hit him in the head.

"I remember hearing that you were suggesting a rematch yesterday, is this your idea?"

"No it isn't!" Oikawa said as he rubbed his head and girls came to his side and he was alright again, Iwaizumi sighed and looked around, that's when he saw Rui, looking at him, she has a somehow inquisitive look but later on she smiled at him when she noticed Iwaizumi saw her staring afterwards she went back to her seat, He never knew if he gave out a good or bad impression to her, maybe the latter since he looks gruff all the time.

Iwaizumi just came in class a second before the bell rang, he was late because practice was quite brutal yesterday and he actually forgot his assignment in math.

"Damn." He mutters as he checked his workbook, he almost pulled his hair out of annoyance, but of course, he won't do that.

"Hey, Iwaizumi, is something wrong?" He heard Rui ask behind him.

"Nothing." He answered, thinking of a way how to quickly end this assignment while the teacher's still out, suddenly he felt a weight on his shoulder.

"Ohhh, you don't have an assignment." He almost jumped when Rui spoke as she leans on his shoulder, her face too close for comfort.

"Uh, yeah, so stop hovering so I can do it." He tried to focus and felt Rui move away from him, which is quite a relief because she'll see how red he is if she stayed that way. However, a few seconds later he felt something heavy hit him on the same part she was leaning a while ago.

"Here, copy mine." Rui said cheekily as she offered her workbook.

"No, I'm fine." (Of course he's not but he's embarrassed to copy her assignment, especially hers...)

"I know you went home late last night, so it's not your fault." He glanced behind as he heard her say that. "Told you I play volleyball too, when we were closing the court we saw the boy's court still open, so I figured."

"Yeah, yesterday's quite gruesome." Iwaizumi said remembering all the running they did.

"So copy mine, it's no big deal anyway, it's not an exam so it's alright." She offered again, Iwaizumi gets the book from her hands.

"Are you sure its alright?" Iwaizumi asked again. "Thanks."

"No, I'll ask you a favor." Rui smirked and Iwaizumi was reminded about girls and Oikawa.

"Are you going to ask me about Oikawa? Fine then, since I owe this." He sighed and opened the book.

"No, I'm not, what the hell will I do with an information about that guy?" She answered. "You can treat me lunch, and I'll totally be happy." She adds. Iwaizumi almost dropped his pen when he heard Rui's last statement, the girl on the other hand scampered towards the door and sneaked her head out. She immediately turned around to look at him. "Oi, what are you still spacing out? You need to hurry because I saw sensei on the hallway!"

That brought Iwaizumi out of his reverie and he hurriedly filled out his workbook.

"So in getting the x, you need to square that y and then add it to 5." Rui said as Iwaizumi copies her seatwork. "You need to understand that too, you can't just copy."

"Hey, I know this. I just forgot about the seatwork." Iwaizumi said as he hurriedly copies hers.

"Really?" Rui sighed, then rests her chin on her hand.

"Well, you borrowed my math workbook because you think yours is missing and because of that I forgot to study for it."

"Yeah, yeah, its my fault, but that doesn't relieve you from buying me a yakisoba bread."

"Rui-chan?" Someone called, earning both their attention. "Oh, Rui-chan, can you help us with our algebra assignment?"

"Now, those are the ones always copying...yet you don't complain." Iwaizumi whispered and Rui just smirked at him. After that time, when he bought her lunch, they started having some conversations, she wasn't hard to talk to anyway, sometimes he asks about math and sometimes about volley ball, she was really nice and Iwaizumi admits that he might have a crush on her. Might.

"Its fine, I love helping damsels in distress." Rui answered and Iwaizumi sighed, though sometimes her answers bewilders him, like she enjoys seeing girls happy, or sometimes she'll blurt out how good looking a girl is, rarely did he heard her talk about a male crush or maybe she never even talked about one, maybe she's just a pure hearted girl.

They have an after class practice in volleyball today since they'll be choosing regulars, the senpais said Iwaizumi, together with Oikawa, have a big chance landing a regular's position. He went outside the court for a bit to wash his face, and on his way back, he saw a volleyball thrown out of court number two.

"So that's where the girls' team practice." He muttered and was about to turn around.

"Oh? Iwaizumi?" Iwaizumi was stunned to see Rui as the one who got out of court two to get the volleyball that was thrown out of the room.

"Rui?" He looked really surprised and Rui jogged her way to him, carrying the ball on her left arm.

"I saw your game a while ago, you're a good spiker!

"Oh..ahhh, Thanks." Iwaizumi was definitely blushing, unintentionally his eyes looked around before stopping to glance at her which lead him to stare, hair on a messy pony tail, slightly big shirt and those shorts revealing her long and nicely shaped legs that got all his attention.

"I'm a spiker too." She squealed, a thumb pointing to her chest.

"Really?" He answered, his eyes still located downward. "You're really a spiker?"

"Yes, why?" She looked at him puzzled, he looked away as his face is quite beet.

"Nothing, are you choosing regulars too?"

"Oh no, it's a shame because the girl's volleyball club never joined any inter-school competitions, we're merely a club, so no need for that, they say." Suddenly Rui's eyes glinted. "I came exactly when you were about to spike, that was cool."

"Thanks. Really." Iwaizumi's not used with girls complimenting him, it was always Oikawa, so now he looked uneasy and awkward.

"Mind if you practice with me? I want to learn that spike or better yet return it!" Iwaizumi was surprised, that was bold of her to ask.

"Practice? Its fine." Iwaizumi doubted for a bit, in middle school, He's known to have powerful spikes that were not returned easily, plus his spikes are painful, he heard some say. "But I guess the spiking part's not gonna happen."

"Why?" Rui looked curiously at him. "What's wrong with the spiking? Is that just a fluke?"

"Of course I can do that repeatedly with the right conditions." Somehow he sounded irritated.

"Then why not?"

"Well, I've never practiced with a girl so I don't know how to adjust." He sighed. "I'm sure you can spike very well in a girl's team, you - " Iwaizumi noticed that she frowned at him.

"Say that again."

"Huh?" Iwaizumi was the one puzzled now. "What's that?"

"That last sentence you said. Can you say it again?" Rui sounded demanding and annoyed, perplexing Iwaizumi a lot more.

"You're playing on a girls' team?"

"Heh. So you think I'm fine because I'll just be playing with girls, is that it?" Rui's hand was placed on her hip while the other holds the ball.

"Ahh, yeah...after all girls play dif - awawawaw..." Iwaizumi was cut off when Rui suddenly walked up to him and pulled his ear down. "What the hell?"

"You don't know how capable I am for you to say that so don't go Alpha male on me." Rui pokes his chest as she talks. "I can do well even with boys as my opponents."

"What? I was say - "

"No! Enough! Seriously...I'll prove that to you." Rui glared at him then stormed off and jogged back to her court leaving Iwaizumi rubbing his ear and puzzled as to what annoyed her.

"What did I say?"

Iwaizumi was still thinking about his incident last night with Rui (and her nice legs) he kept on analyzing what he could have said wrong, surely they say that sometimes, anything that comes out of his mouth is rash plus the fact that he looks intimidating, but he was careful with her and he didn't say anything offending, he thinks so.

"Rui!" Iwaizumi's head whipped towards the side where he heard her name called, she was all smiles as she talks to her gal friends and while she was on her way to her seat behind him. When her eyes went on his direction, Iwaizumi saw how Rui's smile turned into a frown.

Women and their complexities...

"Oi? What did I do?" He muttered as he turned around to face her.

"I don't know." Rui answered, eyes looking sideways and not at him.

"Alright, whatever it is, I'm sorry. Is that fine?" Rui slowly looked at him. "Happy?"

"No, I'm not happy until I prove to you that I'm on par with you." Rui huffed, and Iwaizumi thought that was cute when she slightly puffed her cheeks.

"Fine, but how can you do that?"

"Have a match with me." Rui said as she rests her chin on her hand. "Let's have some one on one."

"What? You sure about that?" Why do people always want to challenge me?

"What's with that skepticism? I can hold my own against you." She huffed again. "My motto is as long as everything is calculable, its not impossible. I've learned volleyball that way, so I'm confident."

"That's a nice motto, kinda like you used math to learn the sport." Iwaizumi comments.

"I did. Some probability and some geometry." Rui smirked. "But that will be applicable in a game, since my mind is kind of fast paced when it comes to math, I can deduce using permutations and probability the possible positions and attacks of the opponent and use it to postulate a possible response plan."

"That's geeky, you can do that off court, you know?"

"Yes, you can. But I can do it while on court." Iwaizumi's eyes widened and he wore the expression 'WTF and You're kidding?' Which caused her to smile triumphantly at him. "Watch me on an official game, and you'll know."

"Seriously?"

"I'm kidding." Rui grinned at him and made a 'bleh' expression. "But I'm good, I'm telling you."

"Good morning class." The two of them stopped talking as the teacher entered.

"Well...can't wait to watch you play then." Iwaizumi smirked as he glanced at Rui, who was looking at him.

"Yes, but we'll play later, right?" She returned the smirk, and that dialogue caught Iwaizumi off guard because it sounded quite different and sexy... "Oi? What's wrong? you're all red."

"Tha - " he breaths out to calm himself. "Never mind."

"Heads! My serve!" Rui said as she checked the coin. They were playing on court number one, where the boys always practice,

"Alright." Iwaizumi moved into position while Rui grabs her ball.

"Ok, here I go."

"Yeah, go ahead."

Rui dribbled the ball, and then suddenly, she threw the ball on air, then she leaped and hits the ball. Iwaizumi froze on his spot, slowly he looked and the ball marked the floor telling him it hit inside, he was stunned not because he can't return that ball but because...

"Did you just...? You did a jump serve?"

"Yep! Is it nice?"

"Yeah, its good." Iwaizumi said as he checked the mark it made. "Can you do it again?"

"Of course, it's not a fluke you know." And she did that serve again.

"Never said it was." But this time he returned it, and they rallied, gaining points from one another, after at least 3 sets with no clear winner and forgotten points, Iwaizumi made some spikes but they weren't that good, maybe because they're having a one on one game. Rui suddenly requested for a time out as she rushed to the bench and chugged the water she brought, while Iwaizumi chased a ball that rolled away.

"Are you ready, again?" Iwaizumi walked towards the other side of the net, bringing a ball that was thrown outside, his arms crossed at his chest, his face was again wearing that mischievous smile. "So, that I'm on par issue?"

"Ok. I'll train harder, I swear!" She pouts as she sits on the bench, Iwaizumi sat beside her though while staring at the court across them.

"You're good, that's no joke." He said.

"No...I mean, I want to beat you, and your spikes weren't like the one I saw. You gave me around 40% of that."

"40% huh?" Iwaizumi reached for his jug and drank from it.

"Maybe last time was really a fluke?" He almost sputtered his drink when she said that.

"Listen, I told you, I can do that again." Rui smirked when Iwaizumi sounded irked again.

"But you held back. That's annoying."

"Look, Girls play differently from the boys so you don't have to - "

"Stop. Don't say that, I'll just get riled up again. If I can't beat you, you should at least show me how its done, right? So I can do it to others, that's gonna make me look cool!"

"If you want to look cool ask Assikawa." Iwaizumi muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing." he glanced at Rui, her hair was quite disheveled, some beads of sweat on her forehead but she looks really pretty and all even after a tiring game, she's probably a good match for his friend but somehow a part of him doesn't want the two of them to interact. "But seriously that jump serve is annoying." Iwaizumi said before he stood up from the bench. He gets back on the court to pick up the balls and place them back on the storage. "But it's returnable."

"I can do a jump serve, I've been a pinch server before so it's kinda my trump card but you were able to return it, however, I can't return your jump serves the way you do mine. I'll do well next time." Rui stretched for a bit and helped him clean the court. "Geez, it's so late." She said as she peeped at her watch.

"Go ahead and get changed, I'll finish the rest." Iwaizumi said as he pushed the cart of balls in the storage room. After both of them were finished, they closed the gym and started walking towards the campus exit.

"Hey, where do you live?" Iwaizumi asked as the two of them went out of the school grounds. "Its late, I'll walk you home."

"There's no need for that, I can pretty much take care of myself." Rui tapped his shoulder. "And besides I live at that dorm, close to Aoba Josai." She points a nearby dormitory, around a few establishments before their school.

"It's fine, I'll just walk with you up to there and head up to the station."

"Well , Ok." Rui started walking and so did he, and they were talking about their favorite international volleyball teams and some sports brands. She stopped by near the building and waved a hand to him, saying this is her stop, Iwaizumi waved a hand too and watched her enter the dorm before he walked towards his destination.

Since Oikawa is busy being fed by his fans, most of the time, Iwaizumi spends his lunch on the rooftop, before with his other male classmates but this days, Rui accompanies him most of the time.

His point of view of her is changing quite a bit as she seems to be a lot more talkative than usual, then she'll open up that she likes games too, which is a good thing for him since they can have a lot to talk about now, she also loves cars and she's more on to action films than chick flicks, Iwaizumi's glad that she's like a male friend too, and that maybe...if maybe there's a chance, he won't have a hard time with her.

"You're like my BFF now." Rui said while they were eating lunch which surprised Iwaizumi. "We get along very well."

"Huh?"

"That means best friend forever, ok?"

"I know that." Iwaizumi answered as he sipped from his juice, to say that he was kind of just kind of disappointed that she already labelled him as her best friend (talk about friendzoning...) he's not yet sure if he likes her, but, she's probably the first girl to ever get this close to him, in junior high, he kinds of annoy them due to his brashness, but Rui is kind of special? However, before his feelings develop, she already stopped him. Best friend forever, huh...

"And you're my kind of guy." Rui added causing Iwaizumi, to almost choke.

"What? A minute ago I'm your BFF and - " he sipped from his juice again.

"Hey...I was saying, If I'll be a guy, I'll totally be like you." Rui said as she looked puzzled with his reaction. "What were you thinking?"

"Rui!" Rui looked up at one of their girl classmates who hurriedly walked towards her. "Yukio-senpai is outside and he wants to talk to you!"

"Yukio-senpai? Who's that?"

"Rui! He's the basketball team's captain, the most handsome 3rd year you can ever see!" The girl squealed.

"Ahhh! I remember." Rui said as she places her chop sticks on their place. "He's the one who asked me to be the manager of their club."

"And so? You agreed?"

"Nope...told him I have a club already." Rui smiled at the girl. Iwaizumi was watching the scene unfold before him, wondering how this Yukio-senpai looked, he don't know any third years except for his mates in volleyball.

"But Rui! You got to meet him!" The girl pulled Rui up and away from her chair.

"Wait! Wait! Oi, Iwaizumi come with me." Rui grabbed Iwaizumi's hand pulling him too.

Seriously, why would he come? Rui should know that this Yukio-senpai will probably confess to her, why did she even dragged him here? and to think this Yukio wanted to meet in the empty corridors. Iwaizumi was on the stairs on his way up, when he saw Rui and that Yukio-senpai, he was stopped on his tracks and decided to eavesdrop for a while.

"Rui, I've always admired you and the reason why I wanted you to be our manager is so that I can get close to you, but they said that you already have a club, so..." Yukio bowed his head. "Please go out with me."

"Uhmmmm..." Rui scratched the back of her neck which is uncharacteristic of her. "Sorry senpai... but I'm not really interested in guys."

"Huh?" Yukio lift up his head. "You mean you're not ready yet?"

"Uh, no...I mean, I'm not into guys." Rui sighed. "Well...I'm sort of...more attracted to girls."

Iwaizumi made sure he cleaned his ears right this morning, and he made sure he ate lunch to avoid hallucinations caused by hunger, so he's sure he's hearing everything right.

"That means...Rui...are you...?"

"Yeah, a tomboy." She smiled and then everything came dawning at Iwaizumi, the reason why she was very much interested with girls, she was competitive with guys and she told him he was her kind of guy. "Sorry about that." She bowed and then was about to descend the stairs and was surprised to see Iwaizumi who was as surprised as she is.

"Rui."

"Oh, Iwaizumi! Let's go." Rui rushed down and yanked his wrist again, dragging Iwaizumi downstairs.

"Is that true? You're a...?"

"Yeah, Why? I thought you know about it since you talk to me like how you talk to your guy friends." Rui said as she slowed down since they were on the first year floors.

"Oh." Iwaizumi was surprised, it was like he was played the biggest prank of his life.

"Why? Is there a problem?" Rui looked worried as she asked, but Iwaizumi just smirked at her and roughly tapped her back causing her to almost fall.

"No there isn't." Iwaizumi then ruffled her hair causing her to glare at him.

"What are you doing?!" Rui tried to fix her hair.

"What I should've done before." Iwaizumi gave out his malicious grin before he entered the classroom leaving a flabbergasted Rui outside.

So now he knows why he felt that way, it's because she is one of them...

I had this uploaded in Ao3 hahaha,

please read and let me know what you think