Yamaguchi was walking through a small alley when it happened.

He was walking with his phone in his hand, his eyes fixated on the screen. His fingers eagerly typing away, hoping that he had enough time to send his message before his battery ran out.

He only had 7% left and he knew his phone could shut down at any moment. He was supposed to be in front of the McDonalds right now, where he had agreed to meet his best friend, but he had missed the bus. He was just about to text Tsukki that he would be a little later when he saw that Tsukki had already texted him.

Tsukishima: I have to cancel our plans today. My uncle and aunt decided to drop by. I have to stay home. Sorry.

Yamaguchi immediately wrote back a reply.

Yamaguchi: It's okay, don't worry about it. See you tomorrow!

He was just about to hit sent when a brute force suddenly pushed against his shoulder. He let out a surprised yell and stumbled back. The only reason that he didn't fall on the ground was the wall behind him, as he roughly fell against it. He looked up, still trying to find his balance, confused and slightly annoyed, only to meet the eyes of a big, muscled boy.

Yamaguchi's eyes widened.

In front of him where three guys, all with a determent smirk on their faces. The one that has pushed him was definitely the biggest, and Yamaguchi knew he was strong too, judging by how hard he had shoved against him. They all stood uncomfortable close to Yamaguchi, cornering him against the wall.

It was immediately clear that they hadn't accidently bumped into him. Yamaguchi knew these kind of people. They had this certain aura around them, this certain superiority. The way they smiled at him, the hungry look in their eyes, the way that their chest was pushed forward and their strong arms where put against their sides, it where all signs that told Yamaguchi to run away right now. These guys where trouble. They reminded him of older times. Bad times.

The big guy did a step forward, leaning over Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi automatically did a step back, but immediately realized that wasn't possible when you already stood against a wall. Fuck. A few flashbacks to his middle school hovered before his eyes. Fuck, he really didn't want this now. His fingers tightened around his cell phone, wishing that Tsukki was here.

"Hey," the big guy said, "look out where you walk, will you?"

Oh yeah, right, Yamaguchi thought. Because I was the one that pushed you, and not the other way around.

Of course, he didn't say that. He looked at the ground, hating himself for looking so weak, and talked to his shoes.

"I'm sorry," he said.

He looked up for a split second, avoiding the eyes of the guys in front of him, and tried to do a step forward. "I'm sorry," he said again, this time more determent, "I have to go now."

He tried to run.

His miserable attempt to escape was stopped almost immediately, as one of the guys pushed him back against the wall. It wasn't a hard push, but it was a warning: don't try that again.

Yamaguchi panicked, his eyes traveling from one guy to another, his back against the cold stone wall. There was nobody else in the ally, and Tsukki wouldn't just appear out of nowhere to rescue him. He was alone, he was very screwed, and he was terrified.

Still, he wasn't going to just let them do what they wanted with him. He wasn't the old Yamaguchi anymore, right? He wasn't a scared middle schooler, he was the pinch server of Karasuno, and he wasn't going to be intimidated by some assholes.

"What do you want from me?" he asked. His voice was loud, but it was still trembling. Of course, they noticed that. They always noticed everything.

"Oh, oh," the boy to the right said, "You're trying to act though, heh?"

Yamaguchi flinched. "I just want to get out of here," he said. Shit, that sounded way to desperate.

The guys laughed.

"You don't think you can just walk away, after you pushed me, right?" the big guy asked, raising his eyebrow.

Yamaguchi didn't know what to say. Why could he never talk back?

"I told you," he said, his hand tightening around his cell phone, "I'm sorry. Now please let me go."

The big guy smirked. "How are you going to pay me back?"

"Pay you back?" Yamaguchi let his guard down for a second, confused by the question. The guy to the left suddenly snatched Yamaguchi's phone out of his hand.

"Hey!" he yelled, trying to snatch it back. The guy held it out of his reach, victoriously waving it around.

"Give that back," Yamaguchi yelled. He was angry, but he didn't have enough courage to forcefully take his phone back.

They guy on the left gave it to the big guy in the front. "Maybe I'll take this as an apology for pushing me."

"You can't!" Yamaguchi yelled out. "Please, give it back."

Why did he always sound so miserable and weak when he was angry?

"Let me see," the big guy said, shamelessly scrolling around on Yamaguchi's phone. The conversation with Tsukki was still open, and all three where now reading it like it was the most interesting thing ever. Yamaguchi clenched his hands into fist. He didn't want this. He really didn't want this. But he was too scared to do anything.

"You seem to be very close with this Tsukki guy," one of them said, "a little bit to close, maybe, hmm?"

Yamaguchi gasped. No. They couldn't possibly know about that.

"Please give my phone back," he said, his voice already sounding like he lost the fight, "that is private okay?"

The big guy laughed, about to throw a nasty comment at Yamaguchi's face, but was interrupted by the guy on the left.

"Wait an minute," he said, looking from the phone screen to Yamaguchi. "You are Yamaguchi."

Yamaguchi was confused. He couldn't do anything else than nod.

A big smile appeared on the guys face. "You are little Tadashi."

Suddenly, everything clicked. Yamaguchi looked the guy in the eyes and realized that he knew this person. This was one of his old classmates. One that he never wanted to see again. He forgot to breathe for a second, his mind going into overdrive. Shit, now he was shaking too.

How could this situation possibly get any worse?

"I know this guy from middle school," the boy explained to the other ones. "He was already lame back then. I didn't recognise him because of those ridicules clothes."

He looked Yamaguchi dead in the eyes. "What did you want to do, huh? Look strong? You really think you can pull off a tank with those puny arms of you?"

Yamaguchi shamefully bow his head. Of course, they had to get him on that one thing that he was insecure about. He looked at the ripped jeans and the black tank top that he was wearing. He stared at the leader bracelet around his left arm. he fidgeted with the metal cord that hang from his trousers.

"I thought they looked cool," he mumbled. He did really think they looked cool. He felt confident wearing them. Now that confidence was basically reduced to zero.

All the guys burst into laughing.

"Oh my god," the guy on the left said, "Tiny Tadashi is trying to look cool. This is the funniest shit I've seen in years."

Yamaguchi closed his eyes, feeling smaller than ever. All he could still hope for was that he wouldn't cry, but he could already feel the tears building up behind in eyelids.

"What is this?" A voice suddenly said, forcing Yamaguchi to open his eyes again. He recognized that voice, but he couldn't immediately place it. It wasn't from one of those assholes, right?

Behind the three boys stood a brought figure with his arms crossed. "What are you guys doing?"

Yamaguchi didn't even process what the guy was saying. The only thing he could do was stare, unaware of his mouth that was hanging open.

Right before him, with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up, his bare arms crossed and a dangerous glare in his eyes, stood the ace of Aoba Josei, Iwaizumi Hajime.

He just stood there, steady as a rock, looking down on the three boys that had cornered Yamaguchi. He wasn't necessarily taller than them, but he still looked down on them.

You could feel it. He was stronger then them. He stood above them. It was something about how he was standing there that made him look like that.

Still, the boys didn't give in.

"None of your business," the big guy said, "leave."

Iwaizumi didn't move a muscle. He clearly didn't feel threatened. "I have no intension in leaving," he said, calm and firm, "so if you don't want to be in my presence, I suggest you leave instead."

The big guy now completely turned around, turning his back to Yamaguchi. "You wanna fight, huh?" he yelled.

Iwaizumi just shrugged his shoulders. "I'd rather not. But if I have to…" He did a step forward, ready to throw a punch, but instead of attacking the big guy, his arm reached for Yamaguchi's phone, snatching it out of the hand of Yamaguchi's old classmate. Iwaizumi didn't look at the screen and just held in firmly in his hand. "This isn't yours."

Yamaguchi just stood there, nervously waiting for the outcome of this. He was still shocked by the fact that the ace of their rival team was standing up for him.

The three guys seemed to be overwhelmed by Iwaizumi's confidence and power, but still didn't back out.

"You bastard," the big guy yelled, "I'll crush you!"

Yamaguchi flinched. Iwaizumi's glance didn't change. He didn't say anything either. He just stood there, ready for whatever would come for him.

Even Yamaguchi felt intimidated by Aoba Josei's ace. He unconsciously pressed himself further into the wall, like he wanted to be invisible.

The tension between the three guys and Iwaizumi was sharp as a blade. It seemed like they could jump on each other at any moment now.

Still, Yamaguchi had the feeling that that wouldn't happen. He looked at Iwaizumi and he couldn't help but think that there was something greater about him. Something bigger than just fake confidence and macho-behaviour.

This guy was the real deal.

And the three boys that had threatened Yamaguchi seemed to notice that too.

"Jurou," one of them said, "let's just go."

The big guy turned to his friend with a nasty glare. "What!?"

Luckily, the other one tuned in too. "Come on. He isn't worth it."

The big guy, Jurou, looked at Iwaizumi once more, but then luckily backed off.

"Fine," he said, his voice low and full of anger. "Let's go."

They all walked away, giving Yamaguchi some room to breathe. He did a small step forward, but Jurou roughly pushed him back to the wall again, just with one hand. Yamaguchi groaned when his back hit the wall, but still felt relieved when he saw the three boys leaving. He couldn't help but stare at them as they walked of, their silhouette slowly getting smaller. He finally felt like he could breathe again, and for a few seconds he completely forgot that he wasn't alone.

"Here is you're phone," Iwaizumi said, pulling Yamaguchi back into reality. Yamaguchi turned around, a little startled, and reached for his phone. With the familiar piece of electronics in his hand he suddenly realized that he should thank his saviour.

He bowed down, maybe a little bit too much, and closed his eyes. "Thank you so much for helping me!"

"It's okay, it's okay," Iwaizumi said, brushing it off, "get up already."

Yamaguchi got up and squeezed the phone in his hand like his life depended on it.

"Really," he said, "Thank you."

"No problem." Iwaizumi had already lost his intimidating body language, looking relaxed and at ease now. His eyes looked calm and unfocused, till they suddenly sparked up a little. "Hey," he said, "wait…"

He stared at Yamaguchi with open eyes. "I know you," he said, surprised by his own revelation, "You are Karasuno's pinch server."

Yamaguchi felt his cheeks turn red. "Yes," he said, "I'm Yamaguchi Tadashi."

Iwaizumi held out his hand for Yamaguchi to shake. "I am Iwaizumi Hajime, nice to meet you."

Yamaguchi giggled. He just couldn't help it. This situation was just so strange. After all the tension and fear that he had felt, shaking hands with the ace of a powerhouse school felt unreal.

Yamaguchi's small hand got squeezed by Iwaizumi's firm grip.

"I already know who you are," Yamaguchi said while letting go of the aces hand.

Iwaizumi smiled. Yamaguchi was kind of surprised, seeing a smile on a face of someone who he only knew as a scary and dangerous opponent. "Is that so? Well…uh…Yamaguchi was it, right?"

Yamaguchi nodded.

"What are you doing here, if I may ask? Being cornered by those assholes couldn't be your goal, right?"

A shy and shameful smile appeared on Yamaguchi's face. "No," he said, "I was actually going to get eat lunch with a friend of mine. I just wanted to take a short-cut."

He ruffled through his hair with his left hand. "Actually, that friend just texted me that he can't even come today."

"Ah," Iwaizumi answered, "you too, I see."

Yamaguchi looked at him in surprise.

Iwaizumi smiled, and it threw Yamaguchi off guard again.

"I am in the same boot as you," The ace said, "Trashkawa ditched me for some girl."

Only after a few seconds did Yamaguchi realize that 'trashkawa' was Oikawa. A small chuckle escaped from his mouth. Tsukki was going to love this story.

"You're still planning to get something to eat?" Iwaizumi asked, ignoring Yamaguchi's chuckle.

"Yeah," Yamaguchi said, shrugging his shoulders, "I guess so."

"mind if I join you? we are both on or own, we could just as well go together."

This was something that Yamaguchi didn't see coming. At all. He just stared into space for a few seconds, but then realized he had to answer.

"Eh," he said, hoping that he didn't sound nervous, "Sure."

Iwaizumi put his hands in his pockets. "Where do you wanna go?"

"Just mcdonalds?" Yamaguchi asked, simultaneously questioning if this was actually happening. "I don't have lots of money, sorry."

"seems fine by me," Iwaizumi answered. "let's go then."

They walked out of the alley, side by side.

Yamaguchi was confused, a little scared even. He had always seen Iwaizumi as a dangerous opponent, but next to that, also as an unreachable athlete, better then he could ever dream to be. Someone to look up to. Someone you admired from a distance, maybe even envied, but not someone you lunched with.

And yet, here they were. About to eat something together like they were the best of friends. It honestly felt really strange, but all Yamaguchi could do now was go with the flow and hope that he didn't fuck up.

One way or another, He would have a hell of a story for the team tomorrow. Hopefully it would be one with a happy end.

Welcome to my first Iwayama fanfiction! I hope you liked the first chapter. Please leave a review if you can, It would make my day.

Next chapter: Staring into the beautiful eyes of the ace of a rival team is completely normal right?