#i ahve so much summer course work im behind in but that's why all nighters exist LMAO

[knightofameris]

bitter endings - aoba johsai

✎ setting. Spring Inter-high Aoba Johsai vs. Karasuno ✎ gender. Female ✎ contains. Kindaichi is referred to as Yuutarou/Yuu but also just Kindaichi lol (you’re his older sister), curse words, you are... mom of Aoba Johsai so now Iwaizumi is no longer mom and dad but just dad, god bless your soul ✎ wc. 4k

✎ summary. And so, your three years as the manager of Aoba Johsai slowly comes to a bittersweet end. It’s more bitter than sweet until your walk home. (Four separate endings depending on who you pick :3c)

✎ ameris’ notes. i could NOT stop thinking about this plot idea SOOOOOO i wrote it. 

sweet beginnings: hanamaki || sweet beginnings: matsukawa || sweet beginnings: iwaizumi || sweet beginnings: oikawa

Enjoy!

❝ new beginnings are often disguised as painful endings ❞

The air’s thick with tension as members of Aoba Johsai’s volleyball team warm up before their match against Karasuno. Despite the fact that they won against them during the Interhigh match, it was way too close of a call. Even you didn’t expect that out of Karasuno’s team; afterall they were always known as “The Flightless Crows.” 

With a deep breath, you walk up to your younger brother, Yuutarou, and give him a quick elbow jab in the side.

“Ack! Nee-san!” Yuutarou glares down at you despite the grin on your face. The rest of the team glance over at the commotion caused by the two Kindaichi siblings. Kunimi is sure to grab the water bottle you give him so he could walk away as you lay torment on your younger brother.

“Relax, Yuu! Also,” you pinch his cheeks despite his attempts to stop you, “when’d you stop calling me nee-chan, come on Yuu!” 

“Now, now, Manager-chan!” Oikawa walks over, wrapping an arm around you. “Don’t go bullying our middle blocker.” You roll your eyes at him, feeling hints of a flush going up to your face. 

“He’s my brother, I can do anything, also you stink! Get off me!” You try shoving Oikawa off of you but his grip on your shoulder didn’t relent, he just laughed. To the rest of the team, this was normal. Afterall, you are one of the few that wasn’t a fangirl over Oikawa Tooru. Mostly because of the fact that you’ve spent the last three years getting to know him and the other third years. But you would be lying if you said he wasn’t pretty. He is pretty, but he’s a pretty bastard. 

A thwump of a ball hitting the back of Oikawa’s head echoes along with a pained grunt coming from the captain. 

“Get off of her, Shittykawa, we have to start heading over, anyways.” 

You look over, only to give Iwaizumi a thumbs up as a thanks despite his scrunched up face as he glares daggers at Oikawa besides you. You go ahead and start packing up the bottles into the carrier and collecting anything else the boys may have missed. 

You take your time, to make sure the boys didn’t leave anything behind and as you zip up the bag a pair of feet enter your line of vision. You glance up to see Hanamaki standing there and the two of you are now one of the last ones to hang around. 

“Thanks for that,” Hanamaki says. You tilt your head, confused as you place the bag strap on your shoulder. “You helped relax the team a bit.” 

You smile a bit, walking in step with him, “Well, I’m just doing what I can so you guys can play to the best of your abilities!” 

“Where would we be without our manager?” Hanamaki chuckles, a lazy smirk on his face as he looks down at you. 

“At the bottom of a ditch, maybe,” you joke back. The two of you walked in silence as you enter the main court, ready for the match against Karasuno. 

Both teams begin warming up, doing practice spikes, serves, and receives. While you begin prepping your notebook along with setting water bottles and towels on the bench for easy access, you notice your hands shaking. You curse when a few of the bottles clatter to the ground. You’re unsure why you of all people were feeling the pre-game jitters. It’s not like you are the one playing. 

Surprisingly, and yet unsurprisingly, one of the new members came to help pick up the bottles. Even if he is the slightest bit terrifying, you know that Kyotani wouldn’t do anything towards you. 

“Thanks Kyotani-san!” You smile at him. He grunts in response, going back to doing warm ups. Yahaba watches the entire ordeal as he sets up a few balls for Kunimi. It is strange to see Kyotani act so normal around you. Well, as normal as he can be. Sure at first he was a little rude but now, he does what you ask and helps out when need be. 

“How’d she even get on Kyotani’s good side?” Kunimi asks. 

“Well,” Yahaba begins to explain, setting another ball as Kunimi goes to stand beside Yahaba deeming his warm up satisfactory, “She’s the only one that Iwaizumi-san finds terrifying. And since Kyotani only listens to Iwaizumi, I guess he sees her as the top of the chain.”

Kunimi narrows his eyes, “Didn’t realize we were a pack of dogs.” 

A loud sigh leaves your mouth as you notice Oikawa trying to piss off Karasuno’s setter, Kageyama. As he laughed maniacally at Kageyama, who’s laying on the floor, you march up to hit him on his head. 

“Shittykawa, go do your warm ups and stop trying to be a bully!” You scold. You immediately bow to the Karasuno team, who only nod in response with slight fear. “Sorry about him!” 

“Aw! Manager-chan! You’re the bully here!” Oikawa whines. You send him a glare and he could only quickly back up with fear in his eyes. “Iwa-chan~ Manager-chan’s being scary!” 

“Shut up and practice some serves!” Iwaizumi barks. “And maybe you should call her by her name.” Matsukawa and Hanamaki are sure to throw in more jabs towards their captain.

You walk back to what you were doing before, only to see Yahaba about to do something stupid. You toss your head back with a groan. Just a bit longer as the mom of this team. Truly, you wondered what it’d be like if you left Iwaizumi to deal with everyone here. 

Yahaba tosses a ball towards the new Karasuno manager. Knowing exactly why, you immediately came between the ball and the new manager, who is only slightly intimidated by you. 

“Yahaba! Stop being an idiot and-”

“Watch out!” 

A ball flies out of nowhere, about to hit you but before you know it, Shimizu, the other manager, blocks the ball for you. You blink, stunned. 

“Thank you, Shimizu-san, and sorry about him,” you bow apologetically again, before grabbing the ball Yahaba tossed and storming over towards him. Your brother watches with curious eyes behind him. 

“This is why the first year manager-in-training quit! Because you keep doing weird shit!” You scold Yahaba as you recall trying to recruit another manager before you graduate. With that being said, you shove the volleyball into his arms and walk away. 

“Geez,” Yahaba glares at your receding form, “she’d be more attractive if she wasn’t so mean all the time.” 

“Oi!” Kindaichi’s face scrunched up so much that it was honestly on the same level as Iwaizumi’s pissed off face. “That’s my sister you’re talking about.” Yahaba looks away with a shiver, despite the fact that he was one year younger, Yahaba realizes he shouldn’t badmouth you in front of your brother.. 

Then, before you know it, Coach Irihata gathers the team around giving a pre-match pep talk. You hold the clipboard in your hand tightly as you stand facing the team as well. But then all eyes were on you. 

“Oh!” You widen your eyes, realizing that you should say something. “You guys all practiced hard, so this is the moment you’ll see whether or not your work will bear fruit. But now’s not the time to have any regrets with whether or not you practiced hard enough, because you did. But do your best to leave it all on the court and have as little regrets as possible, yeah?” 

“Yeah!” They shout back, Oikawa walks up beside you with a playful smile on his face. You smile back before turning to look back at the team. Mainly the other third years and your brother and his friend, Kunimi. But you are sure to give each member a reassuring smile.

“Thank’s Manager-chan~! Always our number one supporter,” Oikawa starts off before going on about Karasuno being a formidable enemy. 

And there he goes, walking off before turning around, “I believe in-”

“We believe in you,” the other third years interrupt before he can finish, “Captain!” You smile, knowing that they were all going to be alright, only to burst out into giggles as the other third years begin to wreck him, telling him that they owe him ramen if he misses. 

“Oikawa, I want tonkotsu! With extra fish cake!” You shout at him. His eyebrows twitch as the first and second years start joining in at Hanamaki’s request. You’re also sure to yell out your order once more as Oikawa preps for his serve, much to the coaches delight. The two of them sighing and shaking their heads with some amusement. 

A soft smile makes its way to your face as Oikawa does his run up for his jump serve.

***

The pain in your knee surged up your leg as tears gathered in your eyes. Your face was contorted as you bit your bottom lip, trying to hold back the tears. The pulsing in your knee was overbearing along with the swellness around it. But the tears weren’t from the pain. No, it was from the idea that you may never play volleyball again. 

One of your teammates finally set you down after carrying you to the medical room and the athletic trainer immediately placed ice packs on your knee. 

The match was still on going but you knew you were out for the count. Especially as you saw your family, including your younger brother Yuutarou, already heading towards you. 

Days later at the doctor’s, you heard the exact words you never wanted to hear. 

“She can’t play volleyball anymore, maybe casually but even then. She needs a break from it before she can step on the court casually.” 

You spent your last few weeks at Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High watching your brother play volleyball at his practices. You didn’t have the guts to go back to your old team because of how they told you you needed to stop pushing yourself. When you saw the captain of the boys’ team fall over from his knee, you made sure to help him. 

“Oi, nee-chan, what are you-” Yuutaro stopped speaking the moment he saw your face. 

“Oikawa-san, you should rest your knee,” you mention softly, tears settling on your lashes as it fell from your face. His previously angry face from his knee giving out and someone he doesn’t even know helping him relaxed when his brown eyes met yours. “If you don’t, you’ll end up like me and you won’t be able to play volleyball ever again.” 

“That’s what I’ve been telling you, Shittykawa,” the boy you knew as Iwaizumi scowled. But not as harshly as usual, as far as you could tell from watching their friendship from afar. 

It was through meeting the two of them that pushed you to become manager at Aoba Johsai anyway, you weren’t quite ready to leave the world of volleyball yet. 

***

Your clipboard falls to the ground, echoing across the court shortly after the ball hit the ground, signaling the end of the rally, the set, and the match. 

If you had known that was going to be your last match, you would have done something different. Honestly, you don’t even know what you would have done, but just something. Something to stop the tears you felt building up behind your eyes and sobs that were trapped in your throat.

Your coach clears his throat and you realize you had to stand up to bow. You couldn’t even pay attention to what the coach was saying as he gave the last words to the team. All you could focus on was how they started crying. So you did what you could before they went off to thank the crowds in the stands, so that you could be strong for them. 

“I’m proud of you guys,” you say with a smile. Yuutarou and many others begin to freely let the tears run, trying their best to wipe them away. Then you look away, because you’re sure that if you stare at any one of them in the eye you’d break down with them. 

With that being said, you begin packing to leave. You’re struggling to grab the water bottle bag to carry but a hand reaches out to grab it instead for you. 

“I got it,” Matsukawa says. 

With a nod, you thank him and head out with the rest of the team. You walk between him and Yuutarou, rubbing his back reassuringly as he tries to quiet his sobs. The rest of the team is quiet. 

Until Yuda Kaneo came charging with hysterical sobs, surprising all of you. The other third years, Sawauchi Motomu and Shido Heisuke, appear to hold him back but he breaks free, to grab Iwaizumi and pat his head. 

“Oi! Stop causing a ruckus!” You yell, going up to whack Yuda on the head once you see spectators and other onlookers watching with curious eyes. But part of you is thankful for him to break the silence.

***

You sigh as you eat your ramen, listening to your brother cry about what he could have done better. You reach for a napkin to wipe his tears and snot the moment Matsukawa points it out.

“Nee-chan, I’m sorry for being a disappointment!” He holds onto you, burying his face in your shoulder. You stare at Iwaizumi and Matsukawa in front of you with a straight face. But the two of them just slurp up their ramen, leaving you to deal with your hysteric brother.

“So now you call me nee-chan! Stupid, I’m always proud of you now stop crying and eat or you’ll choke!” You scold. Yuutarou sniffles as he pulls away, the corner of his eyes turning a shade of pink from all the rubbing. 

“Re-really?” he asks as the other two third years start their own conversation. 

You roll your eyes with a smile plastered on your face, grabbing the chopsticks to grab at the extra fish cake you got, thanks to Oikawa. 

“Of course, you’re my little brother.” You pinch his cheek before plopping it in your mouth then slurping the rest of the ramen. 

He stares at you with wide eyes before nodding his head with a grunt and immediately stuffing his mouth with ramen. 

***

“Hey, Yuu, I’ll be home later,” you tell him with the other third years behind you, wanting to spend the rest of whatever time you have left with your friends. “Don’t wait up.” 

“Get home safe! See you all later!” He bows his head with the other underclassmen and you wave. 

Matsukawa waves as well, “Yeah, see you later.” Despite the fact that they all knew that this team will no longer remain. At the very least, for any official matches. But each team every year will always hold a special place in their hearts, no matter the outcome. 

Oikawa curses and walks off, surprising you the most when you slightly jump. All of you head off, walking to wherever your legs took you as the third years bullied Oikawa. The sun was still setting, so you weren’t too worried about the time. In fact, it was nice and peaceful. 

Well as peaceful as it could be. You knew that this was just a way to prolong the impending sadness. 

“Oi! Why do you guys have to be so angry and loud all the time!” You shout as Iwaizumi beats up Oikawa. 

“Iwa-chan’s the one that’s always mad!” Oikawa defends himself. 

“You were the one that brought it all up in the first place because you were mad!” Iwaizumi yellsat Oikawa. 

“Man, I’m just glad I won’t have to manage you guys anymore, hmmph,” you lie. You turn your head the other way with closed eyes and walk off. But then when you open your eyes again, you realize you all walked back to the gym. 

“Hey,” you turn around and point to the gym doors, “let’s play a few rounds. But I wanna join.” 

“Eh?! But, your knee!” Oikawa points at your knee in question. You wave him off, already heading to open the door. 

“It’s been a few years since I had to stop playing, as long as it’s casual, it’s fine!” 

And that’s how you find yourself out of breath and exhausted. You rest your hands on your knees as you were bent over and trying to catch your breath. It had been much too long since you’ve played volleyball but you had missed it. But perhaps playing with the boys’ team who’ve been training their entire three years at Aoba Johsai wasn’t the smartest idea. 

At least, to make it easier, you were with Oikawa, Iwaizumi, and Hanamaki. 

“I feel like I’m going to puke out all my ramen!” Hanamaki yells out with a large grin. 

“This was a horrible mistake,” you pant out. All eyes go to you and then your knee but you stand up straight, waving your arms in front of you. “Oh no, no! I just also feel like throwing up! Also I haven’t played volleyball in so long it’s tiring!” 

“At least you don’t have to deal with Oikawa’s jump serves!” Matsukawa glares at the boy in question who only shrugs with a dumb smile on his face. 

“Wait, can I try receiving it?” You stare up at Oikawa with hopeful eyes.

“No!” The entirety of the third years shout, filling up the room with their voices.

“That’s a bad idea, I can’t even take it sometimes,” Iwaizumi lets out a groan as he feels the food in his stomach digesting. 

“Oh, come on, I was the best at receiving back in the day, I did play libero at some point” you pout. They continue to argue against you until you arch your brow and place your hands on your hips. “Oh I see, you guys are just sexist.” 

Each one of them narrow their eyes at you. 

“No it’s because of your kne-” Matsukawa tries to talk but you raise your hand immediately shutting him up. Even if you knew that they were actually just concerned about your knee. You really wanted to receive one of his serves.

“Nope, excuses, excuses.” 

“Okay but, if we can’t take it,” Hanamaki points to the other third years in the gym. “With your bad knee it’s going to end up terribly.” 

“Bet!” You stick your tongue out at them. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be the responsible manager?” Iwaizumi asks, rubbing his temple. 

“Okay but, the underclassmen aren’t here. And I’m not your manager anymore. Just one receive. One!” You plead, putting your hands together as you bow your head. 

The third years exchange glances with each other before Oikawa lets out a sigh, grabbing a ball and going to the other end of the court. Matsukawa taking his place on your side. 

“Fine, one serve, and it’s not going to be my hardest one, final offer!” 

With a twinkle in your eye you bounce over to the middle of the court, ready to receive the infamous jump serve from the one and only, Oikawa Tooru. The other third years watch, worry but also excitement lay on their faces. 

“Bring it Oikawa!” You yell with a grin. 

The smack of the ball rang through the gym. And with the utmost concentration, you move towards the ball and receive it. It wasn’t perfect, as it didn’t go to the setter’s position. But you still received it. Expecting the heavy impact, you’re sure to roll back into the hit before standing back up into a jump. 

“Sorry! Cover!” You shout running back onto the court. 

The third years cheer as they set up an attack from your receive and Iwaizumi spikes it down to the other side. Before you know it, Hanamaki holds you up in the air on his shoulders with everyone on your side cheering for your receive. 

“Eyyy! Nice receive!!” Matsukawa calls out, his hands cupping his mouth so it was clearer when it got to you. You grin with a thumbs up, your knee pulsating a bit even as Hanamaki set you back down. Even Oikawa stares at you with an impressed look. 

“I think I’ll have to sit the rest of this out, actually,” you murmur as you rub the back of your neck and lean on your stronger leg instead. 

“I told you you shouldn’t have done it,” Iwaizumi sighs, offering to carry you to the side. You wrap your arms around his neck, totally unaware of the faint pink tinting his cheeks. 

“It’s fine, it was fun!” Iwaizumi sets you down on the ground, and you sit with your injured knee straight out. The others stare at you with a concerned look and you wave them off. “It’s fine, go have fun, I was team mom for a reason!” You reach for your bag and pull out an emergency ice pack and you promptly break the pouch inside of it. The ice pack immediately turns cold after a bit of shaking and you place it on your knee to watch as the boys somehow played a 4 vs. 3 player game. 

As the sun sets, soon enough you and all of the third years start cleaning up the gym. 

“Oi,” Matsukawa calls out to you, “it’s fine, we can clean up.” Matsukawa grabs you by your shoulders and urges you to go sit down. 

“Yeah, you’ve done enough for the team, always looking after your kids,” Hanamaki jokes as he goes to help take down the net. 

“Yeah but, I wasn’t able to get another manager for next year.” You stare at the ground as you sit back down on the ground. They all glance at you, stopping what they’re doing for a second. 

“Yahaba scared her away, it’s not your fault,” Iwaizumi assures you. Still, it doesn’t sit well with you but you nod your head anyway. 

“I guess,” you say half heartedly. 

Oikawa calls out for everyone, and soon enough all eyes turn to their captain. 

Hanamaki reaches out his hand towards Oikawa, with his eyebrows furrowed, “Hey, don’t do it! Let’s end this on a good note!” You open your mouth to say something but immediately close it.

“Shut up!” Oikawa cries out, tears already at the corner of his eyes. “Thank you for the last three years!” He bites his bottom lip, trying to control his sobbing as the tears start streaming down his face. Your brows scrunch up as your lips and the sobs that you’ve tried to keep in from earlier in the day finally escape your mouth. 

“Damn it, I told you!” Hanamaki wipes away his tears. 

You slowly stand back up and with your fists clenched up by your side, you bow your head. “Thank you for letting me be your manager!” 

You watch as your tears hit the gym floor and you don’t bother to wipe away the tears, knowing more will replace them. Soon enough, you feel arms wrapped around you and it’s Oikawa hugging you. Other third years echo their thanks. And soon enough there’s a big group hug between all the third years with you in the middle. 

Tears were shed everywhere, on all of the third years' shirts (along with snot because that’s what happens when you cry). And though you all lost, you’re all glad it was with each other and no one else. 

It takes awhile for everyone to catch their breath and clean up the rest of the gym. But everyone settles down, going back to normal but knowing that once they hit their bed that night, the tears would come back. 

You’re one of the last ones left, like always, and you realize this would be the last time you’re the last one in the gym to make sure everything’s left how it’s supposed to be. It’s bittersweet, knowing your volleyball season has come to an end. Perhaps it’s more bitter than sweet, though.

You finish zipping up your bags when a pair of legs appears in front of you, calling out your name. You feel your face flush and you don’t look up until they speak up.

“Here, I’ll walk you home since your brother isn’t here.”