"Nice game Kaz! You were on fire out there!" Bokuto grinned at the girl as the four boys came down from the bleachers.

"Thanks Bokuto! I'm glad you guys could come." Kazane smiled back at them as they hugged. Her and Kuroo fist bumped as Akaashi offered her a small smile and a nod. Kenma was just playing on his device, but he too was thinking about how awesome she is.

"Hey where's that dude you added to the chat?" Bokuto asked suddenly, and Kazane giggled.

"He's playing right now too, probably."

"Nice," Kuroo smirked, "Anyway, you excited for Nationals?"

"Absolutely!" Kazane grinned, nodding happily.

"Kazane! Come on, let's load the bus." Azusa said, so Kazane looked at her in surprise but nodded before turning back to her friends.

"Sorry guys, duty calls." She gave them a smile and a wave as she jogged to load the bus. Kuroo frowned.

"No one else is going to load the bus, why'd the captain tell her to?"

"I noticed that as well." Akaashi muttered, standing beside him as they watched Azusa chat with the #2.

"It's because she feels threatened by her," Kenma spoke up, his game now in his pocket as he watched Azusa as well. "She's taking advantage of her position to make Kazane's life harder because Kazane is a better player than she is and has replaced her and her friend."

"Dude, that's fucked up."

"Language, Bokuto-san."

"Oop, sorry Akaashi! But I'm not wrong though..." The owl boy pouted at the setter, who sighed.

"No, you're completely correct. It is not okay to use your position to make other's lives worse." Akaashi said, frowning.

"We should confront her-"

"That might not be the best idea," Kenma muttered, causing their eyes to fall on him, "four boys that were talking to the person she doesn't like trying to convince her to be nice will most likely have the opposite effect of what we want."

"Yeah, and might get more rumors going about her." Kuroo pursed his lips.

"More rumors?"

"Yeah, she texted me about how her teammates had thought she was sleeping with the entirety of their boy's team because one of them saw her exit the gym with all of them really late at night, like what?" Kuroo scowled, "if that makes them think something like that, it won't take much for us to make it worse."

"True."

"So we can't do anything?!" Bokuto asked in desperation.

"I don't think we'll need to." Kuroo pointed at how number three had an angry expression as she exchanged heated words with Azusa.

"Why are you so fixated on making Kazane do everything herself?! I get she's a first year but we have four first years! You never even ask them to do anything." Hado demanded lowly but harshly.

"What are you talking about? Of course I spread the work around the first years! Yesterday it was Kimura who loaded u-"

"No, it was Kazane." Ejiri butted in, standing beside Hado as she crossed her arms. "She's been doing everything. Never even asked why she was the only one having to do it."

"I told you she isn't doing everything-"

"I have to disagree." Aguni sighed as she shook her head, "Lately, Kazane is the last one out of the gym because she's cleaning and putting things away while we all leave."

"Why are you picking on her, Azusa?" Hado asked softly as the captain bit her lip, her eyes trained on the floor.

"We shouldn't be talking about this here," Chiyako said, glancing around, "we can talk later when we get back to campus."

"Alright." Ejiri frowned, understanding where she was coming from but still wanting to know. "But we're going to talk about this as soon as we get back." She gave Azusa a pointed look as the other four third years walked out of the building.

Azusa followed after the first years, her hands in her pockets as she thought about what she was going to tell her friends.

To be completely honest, the reason she was making Kazane do everything lately was because she was getting back at her for stealing her playing time and Hado's.

Azusa didn't want to admit it, but she was scared of losing her position. Not only that, but to a first year. She couldn't wrap her mind around how Kazane was so good, better than her, even though she had been playing longer than Kazane had.

She hated that she wasn't as good as her, hated that she wasn't the one her teammates relied on as much as before. Azusa's strong suit was dependability, her teammates always knew they could count on her to get the receive, get the spike, all of it. She had their backs.

But now that Kazane had come, she wasn't their backbome anymore. She was just a weapon, and she didn't like that. Now, it felt like Kazane was their backbone.

Sighing, Azusa got into the bus and sat beside Chiyako, her earbuds in so she wouldn't have to talk at all.

The ride home was silent, almost everyone passing out from how tired they were. Kazane, however, was still awake and texting on her phone.

•••

🦎

Congrats Kazzy! Ready for the big leagues?

Absolutely! I can't wait, especially since we'll be in the same place so I can watch you guys!

Dude that'd be awesome!

We'll watch you too!

🦎

I'll be cheering the loudest~

•••

Hey Kaz, have you noticed your captain having you do more than usual?

Huh?

I guess, but it's not a big deal.

OoooooooooO

Somebody saw something

Spill

Not here

???

Dude.

Hey Kazzy-boo, come back soon okay?

I can't really control the speed of the bus lmao, but I'll run back to the dorm if that's what you're asking.

That works!

•••

Hey, it's Oikawa

Can you come over this weekend?

Oh, I suppose so

I can probably stop by

Btw I still have you in my contacts as well as Iwaizumi so you don't have to say it's you 😂

Oh 😂

Actually

I was hoping you could spend the night?

Um, I'll have to ask my parents since I normally spend my weekends with them.

Any reason for this request?

You probably know we lost to shiratorizawa

Again.

Idk, I just...

Oh, I understand.

How about I spend Friday night at yours and we can have all day Saturday?

Really? That sounds great!

Thanks Kaz

Sure thing Oikawa 😊

Will Iwaizumi be joining us?

Idk, I'll ask.

Okay, lemme know when you find out!

Later

Yeah, later Kaz.

•••

When they arrived back at shiratorizawa, the girls unloaded their stuff and went their seperate ways, Kazane running off to her dorm.

Meanwhile, the third years all went around the back of the gym. "So, let's get this over with," Ejiri said, her hands behind her head as she glanced around, her eyes settling on their captain. "What's going on with you?"

"I..." Azusa looked away as she pursed her lips. "I know what I'm doing isn't right, but... I don't like the way she just prances around all the time. The way things are, she's the center of attention because of how good she is."

"That's to be expected." Chiyako sighed, "I get it, I wasn't exactly happy that she replaced me as ace at first, but then I got over it."

"Yeah, we should just be happy that we have more of a chance to win now." Ejiri said, "We'll have more chances to play with Kazane in. But I'm not sure what you mean when you say she prances around. She's a genuinely nice person, a bit naïve at times but still."

"I know that it's weird and isn't exactly what we pictured our third year as," Hado smiled at Azusa, "but what if we win nationals? Even if it is because of Kazane, we're still a team. The victory she brings, we all share a part of that. And don't forget that."

With that said, Azusa broke down. The third years all smiled, knowing that she was sorry and that she was going to change.

Hado and Chiyako hugged their best friend as Ejiri and Aguni walked off, leaving it to the two to calm their captain down.

"Thanks you guys." Azusa sniffled slightly as she wiped her tears. Chiyako and Hado both grinned at her, slapping her back playfully.

"Sure thing Cap'n!"