Sorry it's a super short one but I've had this half-written for a while now and I haven't had the inspiration to finish it properly so have this little thing while I try and figure out where I'm going with this plot lol

"My...hand?"

Oikawa would have rolled his eyes if he wasn't so nervous, but his heart beating in his throat as he wrapped his fingers around Iwaizumi's now-cold ones, pulling the spiker's hand from his shoulder and bringing it closer to his own face for inspection. The skin over the knuckles was bloody and torn, and for a moment Oikawa couldn't breathe. "Iwa-chan," he finally gasped out, trying to think of what could have caused the extensive injuries. "What happened?"

Iwaizumi squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, taking a breath and letting it out slowly. Oikawa shifted his feet anxiously, his mind racing with possibilities and confusion. Finally the ace's gray eyes opened again and met Oikawa's gaze. Iwaizumi said with a sigh, "Ushijima showed up. I punched him."

Oikawa felt for a moment as if he was the one who'd gotten punched. It almost felt as if Iwaizumi's words had literally slapped him across the face.; he didn't know what to think. His mind was screaming something, but he couldn't hear the words. He wasn't even sure if there were any words to hear. "Wha…?" he gaped, unable to think of any other way to respond.

Iwaizumi let out another deep breath, his eyes flicking away from Oikawa's face as he mumbled, "I didn't want to tell you...that Ushijima was here…" Oikawa had to strain to hear the words, as Iwaizumi's voice kept getting lower, "...or that I lost my composure over it, and…" Iwaizumi trailed off, flexing the injured hand that was still in Oikawa's grasp.

Oikawa couldn't take his eyes off of the torn skin. "You punched Ushiwaka...why?"

"I just…" Iwaizumi hesitated, then said in one breath, "I didn't like him coming to your house or calling you or having anything to do with you after what he'd already done."

"Calling me?" Oikawa echoed, then he remembered the numerous calls he'd been getting throughout the day. "That was him?" For a moment he felt sick, his stomach clenching in anxiety.

"That's why I didn't want to tell you," Iwaizumi murmured, now meeting Oikawa's eyes. "Because of that look. I don't want you to be afraid." He pulled his hand from Oikawa's, lifting it to show the bloodied knuckles. "See?" he said, a half-smile on his face, "I can protect you."

Oikawa leaned forward, wordlessly embracing Iwaizumi. The spiker staggered a bit before hesitantly returning the hug, and Oikawa leaned into the shorter brunet, bending his neck to hide his face in Iwaizumi's shoulder as he felt tears start to pool in his eyes. He wasn't sure why he was crying; it could've been from the fear of Ushiwaka coming again, or from the happiness that Iwaizumi had protected him and would always protect him. It could've been from the sadness that had been balled up inside of him for the past few days. It could have been anything, really.

"You ok?" Iwaizumi asked softly after a bit, his breath warm against Oikawa's neck.

Oikawa sniffed, and gave a shaky laugh. "Are you ok?" he asked, "You're the one who got hurt."

Iwaizumi laughed back, his next words teasing but in a gentle way, "Well, you're the one who's crying."

Oikawa pulled away from the hug, wiping at his eyes. "Sorry," he mumbled, "I don't know why."

"Don't apologize," Iwaizumi said.

Oikawa reached out to take his hand again, curling his own fingers around Iwaizumi's. "Are you sure you're ok?" Oikawa asked, glancing up at Iwaizumi's face, which bore no trace of pain. "We should get this cleaned up, anyway. Come on."

Ignoring Iwaizumi's softly grumbled complaints, Oikawa led the spiker to the bathroom. He kept a loose hold on Iwaizumi's fingers, unwilling to let go of his hand despite his underlying fear of irritating the injured knuckles any further.

"It's fine," he heard Iwaizumi mumble. Oikawa didn't turn to look, only tightening his hold on his Iwaizumi's fingers as his mind raced with fear both for himself and for his best friend.

I'm still trying to figure out this plot. Hit me with some ideas: what do you want to happen, what conflicts do you want to arise, what situations do you want to see? I'm a little lost in my own sauce here

Thanks for reading so far, please review!