I flinch at the name, making Asahi's eyes narrow.

"I swear, if he did something to you-" he starts.

My eyes widen. "No no no," I cut him off, waving my arms. "Tooru - he would never do anything to hurt me."

"Okay," Asahi mutters, not quite convinced. "Honestly though, I probably wouldn't have the guts to do anything to him anyway. How do you even know him? And how do I not know about this?"

"Its a long story," I tell him.

"I got time," he shrugs as he sits on my bed and leans against the headboard, waiting for me to start explaining myself.

I grimace and lay back, staring at the ceiling as I tell Asahi everything. From the day I met Oikawa to today, and as usual, besides a few personal details like Oikawa's personal problems and my crush on my brother's friend.

"What made you reject him?" Asahi asks when I tell him about Oikawa's proposition from today. "Yeah, the guy is a conniving asshole to me, but to you, from what you've told me, he's actually a pretty decent guy. What's the catch?"

"I-" My face flushes and I try to think of a way to explain it Asahi. "I like someone else."

Asahi's eyebrows shoot up. "And who may that be?" he asks.

"None of your damn business," I retort.

"So it's someone I know then," he states with a grin, knowing that he's getting to me.

"That's exactly why it's none of your business," I glare. "Why don't you go and bother someone else? Oh right, you're too much of a wimp to talk to any other girls besides me and Kiyoko-san."

"Hey now, that's just mean," he says with an uncomfortable chuckle as he scratches the back of his neck.

"Yeah yeah, you big baby," I reply with a laugh.

"So he chickened out after you told him and he ran away?" Asahi asks, changing the subject back to my problem. "That's kind of rude."

"Yeah," I mutter. "Although it might have been awkward at first, I still wanted to be friends with him. I guess he doesn't feel the same."

"That's too bad," he sighs. "I was wondering why you seemed happier than usual recently. I guess he was the reason."

"I guess," I say, twirling my pencil and taking a look at one of my math questions.

"Well all you can do is just keep pushing forward," he tells me. "If he doesn't want to be around you anymore since you rejected him, than it's not worth you being upset about it."

"Yeah that's easy to say, but he was just-" I sigh and rub my eyes. "He became important to me. He was there for me, and I'm gonna really miss him."

"You have other people who are there for you," he reminds me, softly. "You have Mom and I. Yui has been a constant in your life for years as well and so have some of the other girls on your team. Remember you're not alone."

"I know," I say. "Thank you."

He smiles at me, reaches over, and ruffles my hair.

"Hey!" I complain. "Stop that. Your so annoying."

"You still love me," he chuckles.

"Unfortunately," I huff. "Now get out of here. I gotta do my homework. I still gotta keep up with everything even though I've already sent all my applications in."

"Speaking of which, I found this in the mailbox when I got home today," he grins, holding up a while envelop.

I gasped. "What the hell? Why didn't you give it to me as soon as you got in?" I snatch it out of his hands and look at it. It's from the American university. "Oh my god! I'm afraid to open it."

"Oh, who's the wimp now?" he says with a grin.

I tear it open and unfold it, skimming over the words. Asahi waits gauging my reaction. I'm quite for a few moments until I speak up. "I didn't get in," I mumble.

Asahi sighs. "I'm sorry, Asuga," he says.

"Its alright," I tell him, laying down the paper. "I knew I had a small chance of getting in."

"Don't worry," he tells me, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. "You still have a lot more chances. With the amount of effort you put into your grades, I'll bet you'll get into the rest of them."

"I hope so," I sigh.

***

It's the day before the tournament and I can tell none of the boy's volleyball players are focusing on school. I passed by the hyper ginger first year bothering the tall blonde wearing glasses who looked very annoyed. Even though Ennoshita believed he wasn't going to see any time on the court he was still nervous for his teammates. Asahi has been a mess for the past few days, but I've noticed that for a while now.

One who I could tell was extremely nervous was Daichi, but of course he was covering it up with a smile like any good captain would. A few of us could tell including Suga, Asahi, Yui, and me. We knew that he was going to eventually open up to one of us about his nerves since he knows pushing down his emotions would hinder his playing. But it wasn't his two best friends or the girl he likes that he decided to talk to.

I make my way down the hallway during lunchtime. I'm meeting Yui and Mei on the roof for lunch since I had to drop off a few papers at the teacher's lounge.

"Asuga-chan!" I turn around as I hear someone calling my name from behind me.

I immediately flush when I notice who it is. "Oh, Daichi-kun, hello," I reply.

"How have you been?" He asks me. Just the look on his face tells me that he wants to ask about a certain Aoba Johsai student he saw me with yesterday. Suga already asked me about it earlier as well.

"I'm okay. I've been better," I tell him. "But I should be asking you that since tomorrow's the big day."

He smiles nervously. "Yeah," he mumbles. "Although I'm trying to seem confident about it, I can't help but feel really nervous."

"That's understandable," I tell him as I lean against the window. "Just try not to let it get to you. The best way to have a clear mind going onto the court is-"

"To not keep my emotions bottled up, yeah I know," he cuts me off. "That's kinda why I wanted to talk to you."

"What do you mean?" I ask. "I'm surprised you're not talking to Suga about this since he's you're best friend. Plus, I have to admit, he gives the best advice."

"Yeah I know, but Suga isn't the one I've been keeping something from," he tells me.

I give him a perplexed look. "Then what are you keeping from me?" I question.

"I- uh..." he mumbles, glancing away. His cheeks are dusted with a light pink color as he looks up at me. "I kinda like you, Asuga-chan."

***