Heyy! I entered this story in the HaikyuWA, so if you want you can vote! I'd really appreciate it :)

I wrote half of this in the middle of the night so there could be mistakes that even Grammarly overlooked!

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''Did you see that, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa exclaimed, pointing proudly at his younger sister. ''I taught her that!''

Oikawa Azumi successfully scored a point with her powerful jump serve and the whole team and the supporters on the stand cheered.

''Only one more!'' Saiko, the setter of the team, yelled, and Azumi took a deep breath, trying to concentrate for the next serve.

Iwaizumi was sure she felt a lot of pressure. Every volleyball player, except the libero, knew the feeling of having the last serve. The serve could make the difference between victory and loss. The opponent wasn't far behind, and Azumi's team could lose momentum if she failed to get the ball over the net here, which could be critical for the team.

They were only one point away from the finals.

Iwaizumi looked down from the stand and saw Azumi look up to him. She smiled, and he smiled back. Her smile was like a light that would never go out. That was what Iwaizumi thought, but later on, he learned that the only light that would keep shining was the sun.

Azumi let the ball bounce on the ground twice before spinning it and letting it bounce a third time.. It was some sort of ritual she did before every serve. It helped her focus and it also calmed her down. After catching it with ease, she took another breath before throwing it into the air. Her eyes followed the ball carefully.

At moments like these, Iwaizumi thought Azumi looked so similar to Tooru. They were both totally into volleyball and would never give the sport up for anything. Azumi was a middle blocker, and not a setter, but she was still very observant and knew what to do while standing on the court. She was both captain and ace. She was Oikawa's sister after all. They practised so much together so Azumi's talent didn't surprise Iwaizumi at all.

Her serve was hard to receive. She used a lot of strength, but there were obvious differences between her and her brother. Oikawa had more power, and he could also control the course of the ball perfectly. He would always aim at the weakest receivers, while Azumi couldn't aim at all and solely focused on power.

Due to that, the libero was able to receive the ball fairly well. But despite that, no matter how good the setter was, she would never be able to get a decent toss out of that.

''Chance ball!" Yukina, the wing spiker of Aoba Johsai, called. ''Give it to me!''

Azumi received the ball nicely and Saiko gave a good toss to Yukina, who spiked the ball with amazing power onto the ground on the other side of the court. The referee blew the whistle. Not even a second after that, the gymnasium was filled with cheers and applauds.

That day, the Aoba Johsai women's team advanced to the finals. 'That would be just the start.' was what everybody thought, but that wasn't true.

For Azumi, that match was the end of her volleyball career.

On the day of the finals, Azumi fractured her ankle during the last set. Her teammates didn't know what to do. It came as a huge shock, and they didn't know how to react. The whole gymnasium was filled with silence, waiting for someone to begin with talking.

That someone was Iwaizumi.

Iwaizumi had never been so fast, not even to save a ball from falling onto the ground during a match. Withing mere seconds, he had moved from the stands to the court, where Azumi was lying on the ground, crying and moaning in pain. He forced himself through her teammates and dropped to his knees beside her, Oikawa not too far behind him. Iwaizumi could immediately see that the position of her ankle wasn't normal. Tears streamed down Azumi's face and she breathed uncontrollably fast.

He could see that she was in incredibly much pain, which also hurt him. Iwaizumi had never felt so helpless before. The only thing he could do was cup her face and tell her to calm down, while Oikawa was calling an ambulance.

The game was put to a stop. It would be resumed at a later date, and Aoba Johsai's team won. Even without their ace and captain, they were strong. Azumi didn't even came to watch the match that day. She felt too depressed to even watch it on her television. It reminded her of how her volleyball career ended.

Something she didn't want to be reminded of.

After few months, when Azumi became a second-year and Iwaizumi and Oikawa third-years, Iwaizumi spotted Azumi near the gymnasium. She was just standing there, peeking inside. The expression on her face made Iwaizumi's chest tighten.

It pained him to see her longing to play so badly while she wasn't able to do so. The whole summer break, she wasn't able to go anywhere or do anything. Since a few days, she was able to walk without a cane or crutches, but she still limped a bit. To her, playing volleyball was now just a fleeting dream of the past.

Iwaizumi knew she was just as passionate about the sport as her brother was, and that made it only worse for her. Loving something so much, but not being able to do it hurts so much.

It was the same for everybody. Iwaizumi was no exception.

He loved Azumi, and they were together now for about 1,5 years, but at the moment, he wasn't able to do anything. Iwaizumi wanted to call out to her, to embrace her, and tell her it was going to be okay, but he knew that'd be a lie. He knew that it would only hurt her. He had known her almost just as long as he knew Oikawa, and he knew she needed space, yet he didn't want to give it to her. He wanted to support her, he wanted her to lean on him.

He wanted to her to count on him, but she did everything herself, and Iwaizumi also didn't know what he could do to help her. He felt guilty for not being able to do anything for her, even though she said he didn't need to do anything. Iwaizumi still wanted her to accept his help, even though she'd always decline.

Just like her brother, Azumi was stubborn, which annoyed Iwaizumi a lot. He wanted to know more. He wanted them to tell him everything he didn't know, everything he couldn't know. What were they thinking about? What's going around in their heads? Especially now, he wanted to know what Azumi was thinking, so that he'd be able to help her.

Azumi spotted Iwaizumi and smiled softly. Iwaizumi smiled back, but the gesture wasn't completely sincere. He remembered very well, that the smiles of the old Azumi were much brighter. Azumi was still Azumi, but she had changed a bit. Slowly recovering, both physically and mentally, she was turning back to her old self, but Iwaizumi didn't believe that she'd ever fully go back.

It was simply impossible.

Azumi couldn't walk straight, and her dream was shattered.

Of course, she'd not become her old self again. There had been changes, and the differences between then and now were too great. Even though she'd probably never go back to the overly enthusiastic Azumi again, Iwaizumi wouldn't stop loving her.

He didn't care if she couldn't walk straight or that her movements were now limited. Even if she wouldn't be able to walk at all, it wouldn't matter to him. She was still Azumi, that was all that mattered.

Azumi limped at her boyfriend. She was slow, and Iwaizumi could see how hard she was trying to walk normally. He wanted to help her, but held himself back. He knew she wanted to overcome this herself, so he'd only assist her when necessary.

''Hajime, what are you doing here?'' Azumi asked. ''Everybody else is already inside the gym.''

''I wanted to talk to you.'' Iwaizumi replied. ''I knew you'd be here, next to the gymnasium. I already told Oikawa that I'd be coming later.''

Azumi frowned. ''You sound so serious.'' She whispered. ''What do you want to talk about? Did something happen?''

Iwaizumi shook his head and grabbed Azumi's shoulders firmly. ''I want to talk about you.''

Azumi blinked. ''About me?''

He squeezed her shoulders slightly and looked straight into her eyes. Azumi pressed her lips together when she saw the troubled look on Iwaizumi's face. ''Hajime?''

Iwaizumi was normally pretty good at concealing his feelings, but in front of Azumi, that wasn't necessary. This time, he wanted her to know how he felt. How helpless he felt, how restless he had been, and his anger, which was directed at both her and himself. He wanted her to know all of it.

Azumi tensed up when Iwaizumi suddenly pulled her against his firm chest. ''I'm sorry, Azumi.'' Goosebumps rose on her skin when she felt his warm breath against the skin on her neck when he spoke. ''I'm sorry.'' he repeated.

Azumi didn't know how to react. She didn't even know why he was apologizing, although she knew that her injury had something to do with it. ''Hajime.'' She whispered. ''Wh-'' ''Let me finish first.'' Iwaizumi interrupted her as he pulled away from her. ''Can I?''

Azumi nodded slowly, looking closely at Iwaizumi's face. She couldn't make out how he was feeling. His expression consisted of a mixture of anger, frustration and sadness. She had never seen him like this before, which scared her a bit.

''You had a hard time after you broke your ankle. You spend a lot of time at your house, not feeling like doing anything. You said you wanted to be alone, but I wanted to help you, you know?'' Iwaizumi spoke softly. ''I couldn't do anything, and even if I tried, you wouldn't let me. That hurt. You were not the only one who was desperate.''

Azumi's eyes widened noticeably. She never knew that he felt that way, and she never meant to make him feel like that. She opened her mouth, ready to say something, but Iwaizumi pressed his palm against her lips, preventing her from saying anything.

''I'm not done yet.'' He said, and Azumi looked at him with watering eyes. She knew where this conversation was going, but she still decided to let him finish. After seeing her nod again, he knew he could continue. Iwaizumi lowered his hand, letting it hang next to his body.

''I heard from Oikawa that you're crying at home.'' He muttered. ''Yet you're always walking at me with a smile. It's okay not to smile. It's okay to tell me how you really feel. You don't need to act around me. I know you think it'd bother me, but I want you to depend on me. You can come complaining to me anytime, anywhere. Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you?''

Iwaizumi sighed, seeing Azumi getting emotional. Cupping her face, she made her look into his dark eyes. ''I'm always here for you.''

Those words made her tear up. Iwaizumi never had the intention to make her cry, but it was too late now. Tears were streaming down Azumi's face as she was sobbing quietly. She put her hand over her mouth to muffle the sounds and stepped forward, pressing her forehead against Iwaizumi's chest. She understood how he felt, but she also had her reasons. Some may consider them silly, but to Azumi, it was important.

Iwaizumi wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. Looking over Azumi's shoulder, he could see Oikawa glancing at them as he stood in the entrance of the gymnasium. The brother seemed to be a bit concerned and send his teammate a questioning look, asking if everything was okay. Even though Oikawa could be incredibly arrogant, he still cared a lot about his sister.

Iwaizumi waved at him, gesturing that it was fine and Oikawa nodded before entering the gym. Azumi gripped her boyfriend's shirt as she continued to cry. She needed to let it all out after holding it in the whole time and the fact that she was with Iwaizumi made her feel at ease while she was still feeling sorrowful.

Iwaizumi placed his hand on the back of her head and stroked her hair gently. ''You're strong, Azumi.'' He mumbled. ''But it's okay to rely on others, to rely on me. So the next time you feel miserable, I'll lend you my shoulder. Call me and I'll be there.''

Azumi hiccuped and buried her face further into his chest. ''Hajime, you don't need to apologize.'' She croaked. ''I-I didn't realize it at all. I didn't realize how you felt. I never meant to hurt you in any way, Hajime! I'm so sorry!''

Iwaizumi smiled and patted her back a few times, trying to calm her down. Having said this, he felt relieved, like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He had wanted to tell her this so many times, but he never got to say it. He constantly refrained himself from saying anything the moment she saw her. She never talked about the injury. She obviously didn't want to. The pain reminded her already of it every day, so she certainly didn't want to hear anything, but Iwaizumi finally got to say it.

When Azumi pulled away, she wiped her eyes and after she took a deep breath, she grabbed my shirt again. ''I got your shirt dirty.'' She muttered. ''Sorry, Hajime.'' She tried to wipe the black smudges off the fabric.

Iwaizumi grabbed her wrist, pulling it away from his shirt. ''It's fine.'' He said, not minding it at all. ''It doesn't bother me.''

Azumi didn't seem very satisfied, but before she could say anything else, both of them suddenly heard a ball bounce, and Azumi looked over her shoulder while Iwaizumi looked past Azumi. A volleyball was rolling away from the gym, where yells were now coming from.

''Oikawa, you go get it!''

''Why me?'' They heard Oikawa whine. ''It isn't even my fault!''

''Just go!''

Iwaizumi sighed in annoyance and stepped a bit forward when Oikawa left the gymnasium. ''Oi, Oikawa!'' He shouted, catching his attention. ''I'll get the ball!''

Oikawa smiled and gave him a thumbs up. ''You're coming then, Iwa-chan?!'' He yelled back, making sure we could hear him from this distance.

Iwaizumi nodded and Oikawa went back into the gym. Turning back to Azumi, he saw her rubbing her forefinger against the skin under her eyes, wiping the mascara smudges. He sighed and took her chin in his hand, turning her face to him. He raised his other hand to his face and licked his thumb before doing what Azumi failed to do herself.

She squeezed her eyes shut so Iwaizumi didn't actually poke his finger into her orbs. After he was done, he wiped his fingers with his shirt and put his hand on her head. ''All done.''

Azumi opened her eyes and muttered a 'thank you' before putting a strand of her hair behind her ear. ''I've kept you here long enough.'' She said, smiling faintly. ''You should join your team. I don't want you to miss practise because of me.''

Iwaizumi pulled his hand back and cupped her cheeks instead. ''I don't care if I miss a little bit. I find this more important.'' He said back, stroking his thumb over her cheek. ''Are you going to be okay now?''

Azumi smiled a little bit wider and nodded. ''I'm just going to head home now.'' She replied. ''I'm going to be fine.''

Iwaizumi couldn't suppress a little smile himself. ''I'm going back with Oikawa after practice. We still have to finish something for school, so I'll see you tonight again, okay?''

Azumi nodded again. ''Then I'll see you later.''

Iwaizumi grinned and leaned forward, pressing a quick kiss on her lips before letting her go and walking to the gymnasium. ''Bye!''

Azumi turned around to see Iwaizumi going inside, and chuckled when she saw Oikawa going to him already. When she and her brother made eye contact, Azumi waved at him and Oikawa enthusiastically waved back.

She felt really fortunate to be surrounded by those two. She may not always have appreciated it, or noticed it, but they really cared and worried a lot about her. Azumi really thought she didn't deserve their attention, especially when she kept them at a distance for quite some time, but she was glad that she spoke with Iwaizumi.

She felt stupid for being selfish and acting self-centered, thinking she could go through this alone without anyone's help. She felt stupid for not thinking about how her behaviour affected them. After all, accepting help was fine. It was totally fine, and she understood that now because of Iwaizumi.

Upon hearing the door of the gymnasium close, Azumi looked up and saw Iwaizumi standing in the doorway, smiling at her. Azumi smiled back in response, feeling tears well up again.

The only difference between these tears and the tears from before was that these were tears of happiness.

''Bye.''