My Brother's Best Friend | Bokuto x Reader

Chapter 39

We only had a few days left of nationals. We were so close. I looked up into the stands and saw Koutarou cheering for me. Beside him was his sisters and Tetsurou.

I saw his sisters say something to him and he turned back annoyed though I couldn't quite here what they were saying.

That's when the ref called us back to the court. We were in our fifth set with the snakes, Nohebi. Just like Tetsu's rivalry with Daishou, I had a rivalry with Claire. She was taller than me with shoulder length pink hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"Hate to say this Claire, but your hair really does not go with the outfit but you do you."

"Piss off."

The whistle blew and Riko set the ball and went back and forth a few times and I saw Claire running up to get ready to spike. Hayley and I jumped up to block her. The ball hit my fingers, hard, but bounced back to our team. My face turned into a grimace but I set for Hikari and she hit earning us another point. I could feel my hand slightly shaking in pain.

"Y/N!" The coach called me over. "That looks bad."

"I'm really okay." She looked at me disapprovingly, "I promise!" 

She looked hesitant but sighed, "Fine. Put some sports tape around it so it doesn't get worse. But if it looks like it's too much I'm pulling you out. I'm trusting you on this, don't make me regret this."

I smiled, "You won't regret it!"

I fixed the tape around my fingers and joined my teammates. 

"You good?" Hikari asked. 

"Hell yeah I am. Never been better." I gave her a fist bump.

My body was heavy and my fingers were searing with pain. But I was gonna finish this. One way or another.

We were bordering match point and they were one point ahead of us. This was our last chance. We had to get ahead of them now. 

It was Maki, their setters turn to serve. Once the sound of the whistle rang through the air she went for a jump float. Though Yuno was able to receive the ball just in time and it flew back over to their side. After Claire spiked it over I set it to Hayley though they received it almost perfectly. 

Claire set it to Maki and Riko and I jumped to block but..

*FWEEEEEEEET*

"Nohebi wins the match!"

"No.." My eyes teared up.

"Sorry Y/N, maybe next year. Oh wait, you won't have a next year." I saw her laugh but I couldn't hear it.

It wasn't until Hikari pulled me into a tight hug that I came back into reality. It felt like I had forgotten to breathe. 

Of course, I knew this might happen. I just didn't think it'd be this painful. Looking up, I saw most of the girls trying to hide their sniffling. 

"Line up!" 

The last thing I wanted to do was shake hands with Claire. Or anyone on her team for that matter. 

I kept my head down till it was over. 

We put our jackets on and grabbed our stuff and left. I spotted the others in the hallway waiting for us. Tetsurou held his arms out for me. I immediately dropped my bag and ran to him. The tears just wouldn't stop. I worked so hard for this and it feels like all that work went down the drain in an instant.

I let go of him and Kou immediately scooped me up in his arms. 

"You did amazing out there."

"But it wasn't enough.." 

"Well I thought you were the best player on that court." That brought a small smile to my face. "No offense girls!" He yelled to the others and caused us to laugh.

I let go of him and Kiyomi and Kana quickly caught me in a hug. 

"Thanks guys." I stepped in front of my team. "Even though we lost this game, I know for a damn fact that we gave it our all." Air started to catch in my throat and tears rolled down my cheeks. "I'm so proud of all of you. For how far we've come. We almost made it, but they got the best of us." 

I motioned for Riko and Hikari to stand beside me. "Even though this was our last game with the rest of you I don't regret a second of it. We gave it our all and I think that's enough."

Koutarou wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me in for a kiss, "That's my girl."