I stare out the bus window, my leg anxiously bouncing up and down as houses pass through my vision. It's the first day of the tournament and the nerves have kept the bus silent during the whole trip. We should have practiced more. We aren't ready for this, but I can't let regrets bother me. It won't help me now regretting my actions.

When we arrive we wish the boys good luck and head in the direction of where the girls' games are. There are boys and girls from all different schools here all warming up to play volleyball. I feel a bit intimidated, but I try not to let it bother me. The key word "try."

"Oh my gosh! There he is!" Ima exclaims quietly to her sister.

"He looks more like a prince in real life!" Ito responds in the same tone.

Yui nudges me and I look over to see none other than Tooru Oikawa in an Aoba Johsai jacket chatting with a swarm of girls, laughing gleefully. Yup, just as I thought.

"You girls are just the sweetest!" he exclaims. "I'll make sure-"

He stops when his eyes meet mine. I feel my face grow warm as his eyes widen in recognition. Well, there goes my plan of never seeing him again.

"Oi, Trashykawa!" a voice booms, and Oikawa flinches, looking away from me to a dark haired boy wearing the same jacket as him.

"Oh, hiya Iwa-chan," Oikawa says with a wave and nervous smile. I smirk. It seems he's intimidated a bit by his teammate's glare.

"We have to warm up, come on," his teammate says.

"But-" I see him look over at me again briefly until his teammate grabs him by the collar of his jacket.

"You can talk to your fans after our games," the boy tells Oikawa as he drags him away.

"Iwa-chan! I can walk by myself," Oikawa complains as they disappear around the corner.

Just then Yui punches me in the arm.

"Ow," I complain, rubbing where she hit me.

"See, I told you he has a thing for you!" Yui exclaims. "He kept on staring at you."

"That's probably because he was surprised to see me again, especially at a volleyball tournament," I respond,rolling my eyes.

"I think its fate that you two met," she giggles as we walk through the crowded hallway.

"I think the word you're looking for is coincidence," I mutter.

***

I wipe the sweat off my forehead as I stand, knees slightly bent, on the court. We are losing badly. No matter how many times I receive the ball, we seem to just barely score, and those are the times I am able to receive them. We have already lost the first set, and the second set is at match point for the other team while we have 21 points.

I watch with narrowed eyes as the opponent setter's eyes glance to where they want to hit it. I glance at the spiker coming in for the kill. Judging by where the spiker is spiking from and where my teammates are, I dart across the court. The girl spikes the ball and I dive. Yes! It ricochets off my forearm up into the air.

"Nice recieve!" I hear a few of my teammates yell. I quickly hop to my feet as Yui spikes the ball, and it gets blocked by two girls' wall.

I dive for the ball again, but I'm too slow. I lay on the ground with my arms outstretched as the ball bounces away. I watch the ball roll away just laying there on my stomach, my arms still outstretched. I then slowly get up onto my knees, my head down as I hear cheering from the other team. My teammates are quiet as the realization that we lost sinks in.

If I had only been just a little bit faster, I could have recieved that ball. I could have recieved a lot more. We could have won if only I had done better. My last year playing volleyball and we don't win a single game.

I look up at my team. Haruka and Ito are crying.

Stay strong, Asuga. It will hurt the underclassmen even more if they see the third years cry.

I look over at Yui. My best friend's face is void of emotion. We make eye contact and I nod at her. She nods back and looks at the sullen faces of our team.

"Okay girls, let's grab our stuff and head out. The next teams need to warm up," she tells us. I can hear the slight waver in her voice as she speaks. She's trying to hold in her emotions as well for the benefit of our girls.

We head out and stop in an empty hallway to collect our things.

If only I had practiced more, if I had tried harder.

"I'm gonna head to the bathroom," I tell Yui. She nods, understanding my underlying reason for getting away from the group.

I slowly walk down one of the hallways finally finding a vacant dead end. Leaning against the wall, I slide down and lean my head on my knees.

I made so many mistakes today. Yui was really looking forward to this. She really believed we could do well, and I ruined it. She barely could score because I was unable to receive a lot of the spikes they hit at us.

I feel tears slide down my face as I sit on the ground.

"Why is it that every time I try to talk to you, you're crying?" I hear a voice. Even before I look up, I know who it is. Now for the real question to be answered.

"Oikawa, how did you find me?" I question, looking up at him as I wipe the tears from my eyes.

He's leaning against the wall next to me, his arms crossed. There's a small smile on lips but a hint of sadness and pity in his brown eyes. His brown hair is damp with probably sweat, and he's wearing his school volleyball jacket but has donned a black knee pad with a white knee brace on the other leg, hinting that he's just finished a game.

He just shrugs. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm at a volleyball tournament. What do you think it could be?" I reply.

"From what I saw, you still played remarkably," he comments.

"I could barely receive their spikes," I state. "And how would you know?"

"My game finished early so I thought I'd check how my newest friend was at volleyball," he says, nonchalantly. "Like I said, you did well for how inferior your team was to your opponents, no offense. I heard that team has gotten to at least the semifinals for the past couple of years. Not many players could receive that many of their spikes."

"It still wasn't enough, although I guess I should take that compliment seeming that your the famous setter from Aoba Johsai," I mutter.

He laughs uncomfortably. "So you do know who I am," he affirms.

"I made the connection a few days later when one of my teammates was fawning over you in Monthly Volleyball," I tell him.

"You know when I saw you today and realized you played volleyball as well, it kinda hurt my feelings that you didn't recognize me," he declares.

Well that's kinda egotistical.

"It also kinda made me happy," he admits as he slides down the wall to sit next to me. "People in volleyball and at my school always treat me differently since they think I'm some kind of celebrity. It was nice talking to someone normally for a change."

"I wouldn't really call our conversation at the park normal," I assert. "Neither is this."

He tilts his head back and gives me a side glance, a grin tugging on his lips. "I still like it much more."

My cheeks unintentionally flush at his statement and I stare at the wall in front of me. We sit in silence for a few seconds until Oikawa speaks up again.

"So you go to Karasuno," he mentions. "I thought the name Azumane sounded familiar. The ace with the long hair, am I right?"

"Yeah, Asahi is my brother," I confirm.

"And Daichi Sawamura?" Oikawa adds, giving that same sideways look at me as my head snaps to look at him in surprise. "The boy's captain. He's the one, isn't he?"

I'm silent as I look away from the brunette next to me, twisting one of my brown french braids in my hand. "Yeah," I mumble. "He's the one."

He nods at my confirmation. "How's that been going?"

I shrug listlessly. "No change."

"They haven't started dating?" Oikawa inquires.

"No, they're both too afraid to make the first move and confess, I guess," I answer.

"Are you doing okay?" He asks. "Are your grades getting better?"

"I'm slowly making progress. I'm studying a lot for it," I tell him, surprised that he remembered and cared enough to ask. "I guess the one good thing about losing today is that I have more time to study. What about you? Your team is favored to go to the finals."

"Oh, I'm gonna make sure we get to the finals and finally win it this year against Shiratorizawa," he declares with a glint in his eyes. "I have to win."

"I'm guessing you trained a lot for this," I say.

He nods. "I trained almost everyday. Usually for a few hours."

I finally give him a smile. "Well, I really hope you win then," I tell him. "Unless your playing Karasuno cause then I have to root for my brother."

He looks at me with an almost surprised expression on his face, a blush dusting his cheeks. Then, a wide smile forms on his face. "Well if your wishing me luck then I have to win, and just so you know, if I do verse your brother's team, I don't plan on going easy on them." His smile turns in a smirk on that last comment.

"Hey, Shittykawa!" A voice from the other end of the hallway startles both of us as Oikawa springs to his feet. I see the same boy who dragged Oikawa away earlier today walking toward us with a glare on his face.

"Oh, hi Iwa-chan!" Oikawa exclaims.

"So you ran away to talk to your fans," he accuses. "Just reject their love confessions and come on. Our next game is soon."

This makes me snort with laughter as I stand up and lean against the wall.

"What's so funny?" the boy asks.

"I'm not one of his fans," I say giggling. "And I definitely wouldn't confess my love to him."

"Who are you then?" The boy glances down at my Karasuno uniform in confusion.

"I met her at a park a few weeks ago when she was crying," Oikawa explains.

"Hey!" I exclaim, slapping him in the back of the head. "Don't just go around blabbing that I was crying to everyone or else I'll start calling you 'Shittykawa' as well."

"Ow," Oikawa says, rubbing the back of his head. "You're just like Iwa-chan."

The boy looks back and fourth at the both of us with a hint of a smile on his face. "I kinda already like her," he says to Oikawa, pointing at me. "The name's Hajime Iwaizumi. I'm pretty much this idiot's babysitter since he doesn't know how to stay out of trouble."

"I'm not a child, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa argues.

"Asuga Azumane," I reply, ignoring Oikawa.

"Azumane?" Iwaizumi questions as if recognizing my name.

"Her brother is the ace on the Karasuno boy's team," Oikawa explains before I can.

"Oh, anyway, Oikawa, say goodbye. We have to go," he states.

"Okay, okay," Oikawa replies then turns to me. "I'll see you around, Asu-chan. I hope you're rooting for me." He gives me a wink and catches up to Iwaizumi.

"You really shouldn't run off like that," I hear Iwaizumi tell Oikawa. "I had to waste my time looking for you."

"You're not my mother, Iwa-chan," Oukawa says, light-heartedly. "I knew when I needed to be back."

Their bickering voices fade as I'm left standing in the hallway alone.

***