Gold || Oikawa Tooru x Reader

Chapter Twenty-Four: Not Going Back to Watch Failure

"(F/N)!" Oikawa barrelled down the hall towards the female ace who was being supported by her libero. Iwaizumi and her brother weren't far behind.

"Can you take her to the healing centre?" Moto asked.

(F/n) was biting her lip so hard that she could almost be drawing blood, her eyes cast down to the floor and sweat beading on her forehead. Oikawa nodded, and her brother pushed past him, switching positions with Moto.

"Oi, Cap, one thing before I leave." Moto's hand slid from (F/n)'s waist, to which her brother replaced for support. "Volleyball is a game where your heads are held up. You can't play with your eyes on the ground."

The aces breath hitched, and Moto nodded to the boys before heading back into the gymnasium.

As they helped her limp down the hallway,
(F/n) finally spoke up.

"I hate myself." Her voice was hoarse. "I'm such a horrible captain, abandoning my team like this. I shouldn't even be a captain. I don't think I should be a captain anymore."

She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand as tears began falling down her cheeks,

"Are you fucking serious?" Hajime snapped. "Please don't tell me you're serious. If you are, I'm going to punch you."

"H-hey, pip-squeak, threatening won't really pick her spirits up." (B/n) sweatdropped, squeezing her waist reassuringly. An irk mark appeared on Iwaizumi's head at the nickname.

"(F/n)!" Oikawa frowned at her, and she lowered her head, casting a shadow over her eyes. "Don't say that! Pushing yourself to your absolute limit during a game shows how instinctive you are. It shows your willingness to play the game and willingness to sacrifice yourself just so your team pulls ahead. You guys did such a good job at acting. Everyone believed it. And you guys pulled ahead because of it. You were so good!"

"I want to make it to nationals!" She burst out, her fingers digging into her brothers shoulder. "More importantly, I want to make it beside my team! I don't want to sit out and watch them fall by themselves. If they fall, I want to fall with them. Is that too much to ask for?" Her voice wavered, and she let out a small hiccup.

The boy's were shocked into silence.

The girls team back in the gymnasium seemed to have lost their nerve. First their muscle, then their backbone, wiped out in just two games. Hana was ruthless on the court, teaming up with Kazehaya constantly.

Iha and Tengan didn't hold back. Each one of Iha's sets were set with deadly precision, and every one of Tengan's spikes were unblocked.

When Yada finally switched back onto the court, replacing Kazehaya, the little ball of energy was racing around, clearly wanting revenge and putting as much power as she could into her spikes.

Seki's nervousness was exchanged for fury. She looked up to her captain a lot, wanting to become the next ace more than anything. Suddenly having her friend and mentor torn away from the match wasn't something she was going to let slip by her or cause her to weaken.

"They took out the leader of the pack and they all seem stronger than ever." Ushijima muttered, earning several looks from his teammates, as he seemed to be speaking a little more than usual.

Tendo nodded in agreement. "They all seem furious. Geez, they're all monsters, aren't they?"

"They might even be better than the boy's team." Tsutomu piped, earning glares from the rest of his team. He shrunk back into his seat a little.

The set ended with Shiratorizawa winning. Seijoh's team gathered around, talking to each other and casting glares at different players.

Arata caught Shiratorizawa's boy's teams stares, and narrowed her eyes, sidling up next to the vice captain. The boy's team sweatdropped.

Makki snickered, nodding towards their enemy team. Matsun smirked. "I think the girls caught them staring."

"Ooo~! Busted!" Makki sang.

"Oi, Iha, Tengan!" Arata gestured for her two classmates to join her. "Move a little further from the net with your spikes. Once the other team catches on, go as close as you comfortably can. I want them to know we mean business."

-------------------------------------------------------

The girl sat in the foyer by the front, slowly taking off her volleyball shoes. She wasn't allowed to use her left hand for a week, or play volleyball for a week either.

Her eyebrows were furrowed, her eyes blank and only focused on her hands. Her legs were beginning to bruise, and of course everything hurt like hell. Luckily, she'd avoided serious head injury.

"Are you going back to watch?" Oikawa asked her, his hands stuffed in his pockets and watching her carefully.

"I'll put too much pressure on them." She muttered. "I don't want to go back and watch them fail. Especially when I'm right there, being unhelpful."

"Luckily, you won't have to." Iha's voice was chipper. Oikawa and (F/n) jumped at the sound of the setter, turning to look at her.

The team looked like they'd just come back from battle. Hana was in front of the group, her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. Yada was literally vibrating, along with most of the other first years other than Kazehaya. Seki was crying along with Enomoto.

Tengan's eyes sparkled as she said four words.

"We're going to nationals."

HA! GOT U! BETCHU GUYS THOUGHT U WERE GOING TO LOSE BECAUSE OF THE CHAPTER TITLE! GET PRANKED!

*Various siren noises in the distance. Karasuno lights on fire. Bokuto starts crying and Tsukishima watches the world burn*

Im sorry and you're welcome