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Day Two~ Choking
If someone were to tell Iwaizumi that the Aoba Johsai campus was unsafe, he would have laughed in your face. Especially for someone of his size. Unfortunately, there’s always someone bigger than you, and Iwaizumi learned that the hard way.
Volleyball practice had just ended and he was parting ways with his teammates. Usually, he’d walk with Oikawa, but the dumbass was out sick with a head-cold he’d gotten from his nephew, so alone it was.
The ace stops when he hears rustling in the bushes behind the gym, turning to investigate. He lets out a choked gasp as a man jumps out, shoving him hard against the concrete. His head bounces off of the sidewalk, sending pain throughout his skull. A second man comes up from behind him, bending down and grabbing a hold of his shoulders, keeping him flat against the ground.
Iwaizumi starts to panic, afraid of what’s going to happen to him. He struggles, watching as the first man walks over to him slowly, his hands covered by gloves and his face covered by a ski mask. Terrified tears are welling up in Iwaizumi’s eyes, falling down his cheeks as scared whimpers escape his lips. The man straddles Iwaizumi, falling to his knees and smiling at the teen.
“You ready, kid?”
Before he can comprehend what’s happening to him, Iwaizumi feels hands around his throat. He lets out a panicked noise, his eyes widening in shock and fear. His hands fly up to his attacker’s wrists, his fingers clawing at the hands that are squeezing tighter and tighter against his neck.
He can’t breathe. Air refuses to enter into his respiratory system. And it hurts. Oh, god, it hurts. The man is only squeezing harder and harder with every second, causing black dots to spot Iwaizumi’s vision. He starts to lose consciousness and accepts his fate. He’s going to die here.
Fuck, Oikawa is going to be crushed.
I’m sorry, Tōru…
There’s a shout and a loud bang, and all of a sudden the hands against Iwaizumi’s throat are gone. He coughs violently, heaving air into his lungs. With a gasp, he rolls over onto his side, vomiting along the sidewalk.
“Oh, my God, Hajime!”
Iwaizumi feels hands on his shoulders again and cries out in terror, sending him into another fit of coughing.
“Hajime, it’s me! You’re okay! I’m not going to hurt you!”
“M-Mattsun…?”
“Yeah, it’s just me. Come’re.”
Matsukawa helps Iwaizumi sit, rubbing his back as he fights to catch his breath. The men who’d attacked him are long gone, meaning that Iwa is safe.
He’s safe.
Mattsun pulls Hajime close to him, letting him cry into his shoulder. He can’t imagine how scary it must have been for him.
Matsukawa had stayed late after practice to help one of the first years with his spikes. After finally locking up the gym, he waves goodbye and makes his way home. In the distance, he sees three figures, one holding another down, a third with his hands around the second one’s throat. He speeds up, and as he gets closer, he recognizes the figure on the ground as his best friend.
“HEY! LET GO OF HIM!”
Matsukawa sprints at the man on top of Iwaizumi, hitting him hard. They both go flying, and both of Iwaizumi’s attackers scramble to their feet and run away, leaving the two high schoolers alone.
“Hajime! You need to breathe. Take some deep breaths.”
Iwaizumi tries so hard, he really does, but he can’t seem to get a full breath into his lungs. He doesn’t realize he’s hyperventilating until Matsukawa grabs his face, instructing him to breathe.
He does.
Sweet oxygen fills his lungs, clearing his head and calming his body. He slumps against Mattsun, whimpering quietly as a hand raises to rest at his throat. It hurts like a bitch, pain flaring with every breath. The younger teen reaches his hand up to card his fingers through his friend's hair. He pulls out his phone, thinking about how he’s going to tell Oikawa about what’d just happened.
You see, Oikawa and Iwaizumi are more than just friends. They’re soulmates. No no. Not the whole mark identifying bullshit, but the kind where you just know that you’re going to spend the rest of your life with someone. The two are a package deal, and as much as he’d hate to admit it, Iwaizumi really needs Oikawa right now.
“Mattsun, what the fuck? I told you I’m sick.”
“You’re fine. You need to come down to the school. Now.”
“Not happening. Let me sleep.”
“Oikawa, someone jumped Iwa.”
“Wh-What?!”
“They tried to kill him. Please, just come here.”
“I’m on my way.”
The call ends and Matsukawa sees Iwaizumi look up at him. He opens his mouth to say something but winces before looking back down.
“Can you talk?”
Hajime shakes his head, rubbing his bruised throat. Mattsun can’t imagine how much it must hurt.
After ten long minutes, the two hear yelling across the road. Hajime whimpers in fear, curling up to Matsukawa and gripping onto him. It’s not until he hears a familiar voice that he relaxes.
“IWA-CHAN!”
Iwaizumi looks up, his eyes widening when he sees Oikawa sprinting towards them. He bursts into tears, ripping himself out of Matsukawa’s arms and throwing himself at his best friend.
“Oh, my god, Iwa-Chan! What the fuck happened?!”
“Some guys tried to choke him out.” Matsukawa responds, pushing himself to his feet, “I found them and pushed them off. They ran off. Probably afraid of getting caught or something.”
Oikawa looks up, tears rolling down his face, “You saved Hajime’s life.”
“I-I- No!”
“Yes, you did!”
Matsukawa realizes that he did, in fact, save Iwaizumi’s life. This realization and the fact that if he hadn’t been there, Iwaizumi probably would have died, sends him into a fit of tears.
The three teens walk back to Iwaizumi’s house, the two tallest supporting the Iwa as he’s far too weak to walk such a long distance.
As they enter through the front door, a large dog jumps up on Iwaizumi, his tail wagging and tongue waving as he pants in glee. Iwaizumi smiles lightly, scratching the golden retriever behind the ears. The two others get Hajime settled on the couch under a blanket, his dog’s head in his lap and his cat on the headrest behind him. Matsukawa makes some hot chocolate while Oikawa calls Hanamaki, informing him of what’d happened.
“Kawa? I thought you were sick.”
“I am, but something happened so it doesn’t matter.”
“What on earth happened that made you stop wallowing in self misery?”
“Makki. Iwa-Chan was attacked.”
“What?!”
“Some guys tried to choke him. Mattsun found him. He pushed them off and they ran away.”
“Holy shit. I’ll be there soon. You guys at Iwa’s place?”
“Yeah. See you soon.”
“See you.”
It’s only a matter of minutes before Hanamaki’s at the front door, frantically questioning Iwaizumi, only to be answered by Oikawa as the former is unable to speak. Makki’s heart breaks as Matsukawa tells him what he’d seen. Iwaizumi starts to cry again, burying his head in Matsukawa’s shoulder.
The entire night is devoted to comforting Iwaizumi. His three best friends fill him up with hot drinks and okayu, putting on a Godzilla movie and cuddling him until he falls asleep. Matsukawa is subconsciously holding onto Iwa, afraid that if he lets go, he’s going to lose him. He looks up when Oikawa stands, dreading the question he knows is coming.
“Can I take Iwa-Chan upstairs?”
“Kawa…”
“Issei, he needs to be in his own bed. You know that.”
“Please, Kawa…”
“Iwa-Chan is okay, Issei. He’s alive. You’ve gotta relax.”
He feels Iwa being lifted from next to him and impulsively reaches out and grips onto his wrist, a whimper being torn from his throat. Oikawa takes a good look at Mattsun, seeing how his eyes are wide with panic.
Hanamaki sighs, pulling his boyfriend away from Iwa so Oikawa can take him to bed. Issei puts up a bit of a fight, and a lot of tears are shed, but he eventually gives in, falling into Makki’s arms, trembling.
“I know it’s scary, Sei. I can’t imagine how scared you must have been.”
Makki continues to stroke his fingers through the curly black hair, bringing comfort to the anxious boy. Finally, at 12:47 am, Matsukawa finds peace in sleep.
The entire night is spent with Oikawa watching over Iwaizumi and Hanamaki watching Matsukawa. Both have very obvious nightmares, but luckily, neither wake up.
In the morning, the entire house is woken by a shrill cry. Matsukawa jumps to his feet, racing upstairs and slamming Iwa’s door open. Iwaizumi cowers, burying his face in Oikawa’s chest.
“It’s okay, Haj. It’s just Mattsun.”
Iwaizumi looks up, seeing the panicked expression on Matsukawa’s face. He calms significantly, pulling himself out of bed and wrapping Mattsun in a big hug.
“Sorry, Issei.” He rasps, easing both of their panic by burying his face in Issei’s shoulder.
The two just hug for what feels like ages until Hanamaki comes up and forces Matsukawa away from Iwaizumi, insisting that they need to go home to get ready for practice. As soon as the door is shut behind them, Matsukawa breaks down, turning and making a grab for the handle. Unfortunately for him, Hanamaki is faster, and he places himself in front of the door before wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s waist, lifting him up.
“NO! LET GO OF ME! STOP IT! HIRO STOP!”
His screams are bloodcurdling, making both Oikawa and Iwaizumi cover their ears. It’s a lot, and Iwaizumi is already going through so much.
The screams die down into quiet sobs before disappearing altogether as Hanamaki leads Matsukawa outside and out the door, leaving Oikawa and Iwa alone. Oikawa watches as Hajime’s eyes fill with tears, the clear liquid making its way down his tan face. Oikawa wipes them gently, pressing a kiss to his head.
“You’re okay, Hajime.”
After a long, mostly one sided, discussion, as it’s still very difficult for Iwa to talk, the two decide to go to practice, agreeing that as long as he’s not shouting, he should be fine. On top of that, Oikawa’s need to protect Iwaizumi is far stronger than his cold, so he’s honestly feeling okay.
The two make their way down to the school, seeing the first years nervously glancing over to Matsukawa who’s on the floor curled up against Hanamaki. As soon as they walk in, Yuda snorts, telling Iwaizumi that he hadn’t know he was, “into that.” Iwa tilted his head, wincing at the pain it caused. He was truly confused, and looked over to Oikawa who was red with rage. Before he was able to say anything, a scream came from across the gym.
“HAJIME!”
Matsukawa is flying towards him, in his arms within milliseconds. Hanamaki is quick to follow, pulling the boy away from Iwa and scolding him.
“You saw him a half an hour ago. You have to calm down.”
Mattsun shakes his head, burying it in Hanamaki’s shoulder. Iwa croaks out an apology to Mattsun, putting his head down in guilt. This snaps Matsukawa out of his anxiety, and he yells at his friend.
“You did nothing wrong! You didn’t ask to be jumped!”
He realizes what he’d said and runs out of the gym, afraid that Iwa will hate him for telling everyone. Hanamaki sighs, following him.
With them gone, Oikawa prepares to chew Yuda a new one, but it seems he’s already put two and two together as he bows deep, apologizing for making such an inappropriate comment.
“I’m so confused. What’s going on?”
Iwa sighs, clearing his throat and placing a hand on his neck.
“Someone tried to murder me last night. Issei saved my life.”