The broken ace

(Warning: This will contain: depression, anger, fighting, crying, the feeling of giving up, friendship breakups, and a sad ending!)

Asahi sighed deeply, sadness and doubts had started to cloud his mind again, it seemed even worse this time round since things had been going so good for so long. He ran a hand through his long brown hair and tried to ignore the voices in his head telling him to give up. Why was he still like this?

He put a hand against his locker as the memory played in his mind, the ball coming right to his hand thanks to the first year Kageyama and the satisfying noise it made as he hit it with all his might...just to have it crash harshly down on their own side. Even Nishinoya, the best libero the team ever had couldn't save it.

Date tech...

The name haunted him and every time he even imagined going up against them again, all he could see was the iron wall. He honestly didn't even know why he had come back...he still couldn't beat them...and now the team had the monster duo of Hinata and Kageyama who were the only ones who could score a point. If anything...he should just be decoy...or not there at all...

"Hey Asahi! You better hurry up or we are gonna be late!"

The tall man snapped out of his stupor to look at the smaller male running directly at him. His dark black hair standing up right with the one small spot of brown that made it even more wild, his bright eyes and happy smile like a bright beam of light. Sure the boy had a temper tantrum every now and then but he was still amazing, especially at boosting morale.

"Hello Nishi...I think I might sit this practice out, I have a headache and...I don't think I'm in the right mind set for it right now."

The smaller male paused and his face suddenly hardened like he had just witnessed a grown man stealing a old ladies purse. "Don't tell me your getting all mopey again. Look I really like you Asahi but you gotta get out of your head! Crap happens and we move on!"

"I know that..." The taller man but his lip, he absolutely hated fighting with his friend. It always hurt worse when it was Nishinoya, though at that point in time he really didn't know why, maybe because all they had been through with each other?

"Obviously not! You can't miss practices because everyone needs you! We rely on each other and work together for wins! How can we do that if your not even trying?!"

This time Asahi couldn't even answer, arguing in the hall like this brought back the past to well and it made his stomach tie into knots. Why was he putting himself through this horrible turn of events a second time?

His eyes looked to the ground in shame and sadness, he'd have to quit again. It was the only thing he could do for the team and his mental health, he'd still cheer them on from the back rows but he just couldn't play anymore. All of this was just proving that...

"Your thinking about leaving again aren't you?...how could you do that to everyone huh! How could you do that to me! I came back because of you ya know!"

Asahi bit his lip not wanting to make the smaller male more angry than he already had. This was going poorly and by now the yelling had attracted a small crowd. This was exactly like before...no...wait there was something different. What was it?

The brown haired mans eyes landed on Nishinoya and to his surprise the small boy was crying, tears running down his face in angered waterfalls. He looked so hurt, like he had been completely betrayed by someone he cared about which he technically had.

"Nishi-"

"No don't. Don't say another word. Y-you...I like you a lot! Like more than...the other guys. T-this really hurts okay! I just ugh! I'm so mad at you!" The black haired boy stomped his foot and he was unable to stay in that spot any longer so he took off, running god knows where just to get away...away from his friend, his teammate, his crush...

Asahi was drawing a blank, maybe he should ask Daichi for help or Sugawara? No this was his mess not theirs, besides he'd have to confess his thoughts of leaving and that would just make more issues. He shook his head and started to chase after his friend, the words the smaller male said now starting to actually make sense in his head.

It took him only around ten minutes to find Nishinoya but it felt like he had been running forever with sweat forming on his face and his breathing rushed. He was barely able to shout the boy's name, making him pause to turn around. "You can't just leave after saying that. Do you...like me as in like a romantic way? And...I'm sorry. I'm just sorry. I can't keep doing this. You have others who can hit a monster quick attack, why do you need me?"

"We need you because your our ace. The one w-who boosts our chances of winning by striking fear into the other teams hearts. You can keep doing this! You j-just won't. This is your last year Asahi! Your wasting it!"

"...I'm sorry. Your right, I'm scared. I hate feeling like I'm the reason everyone's loosing. How can I strike fear when I am barely able to keep it together? And you didn't answer my first question..." He took a step closer to the smaller male with caution, his heart was breaking at the sight of his friend in such a state.

"...you just do...and yeah okay! I like you! I...like you in a way that makes me nervous cause I don't know what others will think. I like you in a way a girl normally l-likes a guy and it scares me! I've always leaned towards girls but you, your a exception..."

All this new information was making the brown haired man regret saying anything. Now he knew Nishinoyas true feelings and he was absolutely shattering them. If he said he liked him back would it be the full truth? Would it make things worse or better for their team and game play? "This is a lot."

"Please...don't leave Asahi."

"I..." How could he even bring himself to finish his sentence after getting a love confession like that? After basically having this perfect human beg for him to stay? "I'm sorry...I can't."

"Of course you can't...., if your quitting then you can kiss our friendship goodbye...i-it doesn't matter how I feel towards you. I would never hang out with a quitter. I hope you know, what your loosing Asahi...."

With that Nishinoya ran off again, leaving him alone, his mind screaming at him as he crashed to his knees and a few tears rolled down his face. He knew exactly what he was loosing and it stabbed at him like a thousand knives.

This time, he had actually lost all hope, there was no coming back, no changes of heart, and he never once got to dive deeper into those feeling he had only scratched the surface of with the smaller boy....he'd forever be alone. The broken ace.

The end