The dreading sound of the whistle echoes through the air.

"Shit."

I look down at my hands, struggling to figure out why I can't get the ball to where I want it to go.

"Just a little tighter to the net next time." I feel a hand rub my shoulder with sympathy, I look up at Nanami who is giving me a small smile. 

You don't have to hide that you hated my set.

 I nod, "I'm sorry I'll fix it next ti-."

I cringe at the sound of the whistle blowing again.

 This time it's for a substitution. The new transfer student stands in by the sideline, her head held up high and her dark eyes glowing with confidence that I wish I could have. She is holding up my number, signaling to switch with me. I smile sadly at her as we switch and walk towards the bench.

The girls on the bench all look at me with deadpan expressions. Are they sympathizing with me? Are they happy that I get to feel the shame of being benched? Or do they just not care?

I take a big gulp of my water and wipe my forehead with the towel the manager gave me. 

My tosses lately have been terrible. I struggle to push it far enough for the outside hitter, and I just can't seem to connect with my hitters. 

..Or maybe it's always been this way, and I've never cared this much about it.

The Aoba Johsai girl's team has always just been mediocre. Well, that's because most of the girls who tried out were just there to get closer to the boys from the volleyball team, or to just have something to do.

And the boy's volleyball team? They're a whole different story.

A powerhouse team led by the 'Grand King' (or the narcissist) Oikawa and their ace Iwaizumi. They usually get very high in their prefecture while we could only dream of getting into the quarterfinals.

"Nice set, Maia!" Yuki, the libero, cheers as they make a point right on the first play. Maia actually is in a second year but she came last week when school started. She became friends quickly with the team, especially Yuki. Being a foreigner made her the talk of the school too, adding to the fact that she literally stands out, being 5'9 and all.

I stare off into space, deep in my thoughts, until the last whistle brakes my trance.

Seems like we won.

 I should've watched the game, learned from Maia, or maybe just helped out in some plays. I could've taught Maia our hand signals when they got confused and helped her with her rotations. I could've just watched for the sake of cheering them on.

But I didn't. 

We get into a team huddle and the coach gives us his usual after-practice pep talk, except this time its more devastating than motivation to me: "amazing job today girls, I have been thinking about this for a while, but we should make some changes into our lineup that will greatly affect our team."

I glance at Maia quickly to see her with her chin up, beaming. Her bleached hair is up in a bun that has almost completely loosened and her mascara was smeared beneath her eyes, making a stark contrast to her bright smile.

 Coach continues with the words that I have been dreading to hear, "From now on, Maia will be our main setter."

 He then faces me with a sympathetic smile, "don't get discouraged, Suzuki, if you work harder you will be able to gain playing time back."

What a nice way to tell me that I suck.

I nod and look down to hide my disappointment. I can feel Nanami glancing toward me in the huddle, but looks away to congratulate Maia. As the team walks to the girls' locker room, my ears blur out all the cheering.

Tears well up in my eyes.

I deserve it, don't I? I mean, I never take this seriously so this is what I get. There's no reason to cry, not like how I used to. I genuinely thought I was past this. The point of me not caring is to not cry. But look at me now.

Shit, I can't cry. Not here.

Before Nanami reaches me, I run over to the boys' locker room. This is the only place I won't bump into a girl from my team, not even Nanami who I know will go looking for me. Just in case, I text her and tell her that I went home right away.

I walk into the silent locker room, my phone's screen being the only dim light in the room.

I find a corner and sit on the floor, trying to maintain my breathing so I don't bawl my eyes out. I grip my phone so hard that I'm surprised it doesn't crack.

Coach's words repeat in my head again: "If you work harder you will be able to gain playing time back." 

That's a load of bull. Maia, from whatever foreign country she came from, was known for her skills and was at the top of her league. No matter how hard I try I will never be good enough. Its too late now. 

The darkness of the room weighs in on me and my frustration comes up like an uproar in the form of a silent sob. I place my head on my knees to cover the tears pouring out of my eyes.

It's not fair, I should've known and I would've worked harder. I don't want to go back to how I was before. I'm just scared. I'm scared to care again, to be destroyed again. 

My head jumps up as I hear the door creak open and loud footsteps fill the silence of the room. 

This makes no sense. The boys' team doesn't start practicing until next week. 

"Iwa-chan don't be so mean, of course I went home after school....what no. Makki-chan told you? FINE I STAYED TO PRACTICE A BIT! YOU DONT HAVE TO SCREAM, GEEZ!"

That annoying voice. 

Is that Oikawa? As in the 'Grand King' Oikawa? Why would he be here?

Shit, this is bad. If I get reported for being in the room, I will get taken off the club, then I can never dream of being main setter ever again. 

Or worse, what if I see him naked?! Isn't that illegal? 

I frantically look around, hoping for some kind of escape but I'm at a corner.

His footsteps get louder. Just one turn and he'll see me. "Yeah I heard the girl's team won today, seems like the new transfer student is a good asse-"

He stops talking once he spots me. He slowly gets into view in the darkness and I can see that he's shirtless. "Um- I'll call you back Iwa-chan." Wide-eyed, he hangs up the call and I look away as quickly as I can.

"Suzuki? Is that you?" I don't respond and he chuckles, "I never took you to be a pervert."

How does he know my name?

Seems like either the darkness doesn't show my face enough for him to see that I am crying, or he's an asshole and couldn't care less.

I can't figure out which one it is.

I finally speak up, "Its not what you think! Its just-I mean- you're not supposed to be here!" I stand up from my corner to become more leveled to him, but continue to look down.

He starts talking in the dumb, cunning voice that he does, "I should be saying that to you. This is the BOYS locker room, stupid." I finally look up at him and he realizes what I was doing here.

"You're crying."

"No I'm not."

"You look like you just bawled your eyes out. Not your best look."

Asshole.

I sigh, "look, you probably wouldn't know this, but there's this thing called getting insecure about your skills. It happens to the most of us."

He laughs, "The transfer student took your spot and you're crying? How weak."

I sigh, "Well you've surely never been replaced by an underclassman."

His eyebrows raise, "How you would know that?"

"You're the 'grand king'," I retort , "not all of us have the natural skills and much less the confidence that you have."

"Look Suzuki-chan, we don't really know each other, but I do know that nobody gets far with just talent. You're just lazy."

"You did not just say that."

He makes that same stupid face again, "yeah, I did." He smirks, proud of himself.

He doesn't take things seriously, does he?

I cross my arms, unimpressed, "has anyone told you that you're a crappy guy?"

"All the time."

I look down again, but this time with a smirk, "whatever, I guess Yuki-chan was right about you then."

That should get him.

Oikawa tenses up. Yuki was his girlfriend until recently, but she broke up with him in front of everyone in this club in a meeting we had. Something about him not giving her enough attention. He just laughed it off, but I'm pretty sure it hurt him somehow.

His smile drops, "you don't know anything about that."

He's right, I'm not that close with Yuki, all I know is that she's a libero and started volleyball because of him. Which is stupid because she dumped him in the end.

I shrug, "whatever, it's getting late and I need to go."

I start to walk to the door but stop when I feel Oikawa's warm fingers wrap around my wrist. I quickly turn around and face him.

"Wait, Suzuki-chan, Maybe we can help each other."

The abrupt contact somehow reminds me that he's still shirtless. I feel the blush rushing through my cheeks and I force my arm out of his grasp.

"How are you gonna help me? And, uh, put on a shirt, it's making me uncomfortable."

I turn away to face the dark hall to hide my embarrassment.

I hear a slight chuckle on his behalf, "right."

As he grabs his practice shirt from his locker he says, "I can help you get your spot back on the team. But you're gonna have to put in the effort. There's nothing I hate more than working with lazy people."

I take a minute to take everything in. Having the Great King Oikawa help me practice? I've never even thought of that being a possibility.

"Why would you want to help me?" 

He closes the locker and walks toward me, "because if I do, then you'll help me get back together with Yuki-chan."

Authors Note:
Hey everyone!!! I wasn't able to find the name of Oikawa's girlfriend who left him but Yuki is based on her. Just so you know lol. This is my first story so I hope you enjoy it! If there are any mistakes let me know and I'll try to fix them.