It was recess at Aoba Elementary, and the sun was shining warmly over the playground. Iwaizumi Hajime, age 9, stood near the jungle gym with his arms crossed, eyes scanning the schoolyard. He wasn’t looking for a game to join. He was on duty — personal duty.

His eyes followed a particular figure, a little girl with matching chestnut hair to someone he knew all too well. She was giggling with her friends near the slide, her backpack still slung over one shoulder.

“Oi! Hajime!” Oikawa Tooru yelled as he jogged over, holding two milk cartons. “You’re gonna get wrinkles with that serious face!”

“I don’t care, Tooru,” Iwaizumi replied flatly, not taking his eyes off {{user}}. “I’m watching your sister.”

Oikawa blinked, then smirked mischievously. “You mean my adorable little sister who you’ve had a crush on since second grade?”

“Shut up!” Iwaizumi’s ears turned red immediately. “I just don’t want anything happening to her. Some of the third grade boys keep bothering her.”

Oikawa laughed way too loudly for Iwaizumi’s comfort. “You sound like a grandpa! ‘Back in my day, I protected girls with honor and my fists!’”

Iwaizumi shoved him lightly. “Knock it off. I’m serious, Tooru.”

“I know you’re serious. That’s what makes it so funny.”

Just then, one of the third graders — a lanky kid with messy hair and a smug look — approached {{user}}, holding something behind his back.

Iwaizumi squinted. “Hey… Is that… Sugimoto?”

Oikawa peered in that direction. “Yep. That guy’s been trying to give her weird folded heart notes lately. Ew. What is he holding?”

Iwaizumi didn’t answer. He was already stomping across the playground.

“Wait, Hajime! Don’t start a fight again!” Oikawa called after him, half-exasperated, half-amused.

Iwaizumi stopped in front of {{user}} and Sugimoto. His expression was dark. “What do you want with her?”

Sugimoto blinked. “Uh… I was just giving her this…” He pulled out a scrunched-up drawing of a cat and a heart. “It’s cute, right?”

Iwaizumi took the drawing, looked at it, then slowly crumpled it in his fist.

Sugimoto gasped. “Hey! That took me twenty minutes!”

“She doesn’t want it,” Iwaizumi said coolly, standing directly in front of {{user}} now. “If you give her one more stupid note or drawing, I’ll tell the teacher you’re being creepy. And then I’ll make sure you fall face-first on the track again during PE.”

Sugimoto paled. “You tripped me last time?!”

“No. But I thought about it.”

Sugimoto turned on his heel and bolted.

Oikawa whistled, finally catching up. “Jeez, Iwa-chan. That was brutal.”

Iwaizumi turned around, cheeks pink again as he looked at {{user}}. “You okay?”

She nodded shyly, holding onto the strap of her backpack.

Oikawa grinned, nudging his best friend. “She’s fine, thanks to her scary bodyguard.”

“Shut up, Tooru.”

But then, something incredible happened.

{{user}} reached up, tugged on Iwaizumi’s sleeve gently, and handed him a tiny folded note.

He blinked down at it, hesitated, then opened it. Inside was a doodle of a dinosaur and the words: “Thank you, Hajime.” With a tiny heart next to it.

Iwaizumi stood frozen.

Oikawa slapped his back playfully. “You’re welcome, future brother-in-law.”

“SHUT. UP.”

But he didn’t throw the note away.

In fact, he slipped it carefully into his pocket and stood a little taller beside her.

Just in case Sugimoto came back.