AN: This is basically a compilation of some Haikyuu! Oneshots I posted on my old tumblr sideblog. Mainly because my teacher said that I couldn't choose titles containing alliteration and make good stories out of somebody else's original plot. I proved her wrong, and I figured I might as well post 'em here whilst I'm struggling to update my other stories. Note: This chapter is AsaNoya, if you squint. Enjoy!

-AP

The Anxious Ace

Karasuno's ace, Azumane Asahi, was many things. Quiet, gentle, determined and caring. Apologetic. Kind. Selfless.

He didn't think these things about himself, of course; He was just repeating to himself what Nishinoya was saying. What Noya was saying, because he'd said he was pathetic, useless, awful. He had no good qualities in his own eyes; This wasn't even that bad of a day. The short libero seemed to enjoy listing how amazing Asahi was to him, because, he was still going when they got to school. "-and loving and positive and-"

"N-noya-san, we need to go to practice..." The ace said it fondly. When him and Nishinoya met, they were both much different than they were now. Noya was still loud, of course; But he was an outcast to the rest of his year, for more than just his height. Tanaka made friends with him, because Tanaka has a tendency to make friends with loud, confident people. No matter what the rest of the world thought of them. Asahi was pretty much the same...except he barely talked to anyone. He went to volleyball practice of course, but even then he didn't speak much outside of calling for the ball or responding to Coach Ukai. He was an anxious first and second year; he'd often have panic attacks or suddenly be unable to talk.

But then, Nishinoya Yuu became Karasuno's libero. But then, this short, unpredictable ball of sunshine decided that the tense, scared, large mass that made up Azumane Asahi was going to be his friend. That he would make him laugh, and smile, and talk like everybody else did. The man chuckled to himself as they entered the changing rooms. He couldn't say the smaller boy hadn't succeeded; Noya made him open up more than he'd ever been comfortable.

Azumane covered his eyes, afraid of the world, and Noya removed them, coaxing him along, telling him the world is a dark place, but it's okay. It's okay, because he'll be there, behind you; He'll back you up, he'll keep you safe. In more ways than one, Nishinoya was his and the team's rock. He made sure no ball dropped, and that no mood dropped with it.

They finished changing and opened the doors to the gym, Asahi laughing a little as the view of a tiny middle-blocker and a determined setter came into their vision, and, despite the fact Noya dived for the ball out of instinct, it slammed against the court loudly, and then bounced against the wall. Both of the first years let out a yell of celebration once they saw, and Nishinoya let out a loud laugh. "I will receive one of your quicks one day, Shoyo, you just wait!"

The slightly taller ginger grinned sunnily. "I look forward to it, Noya-senpai!" Truth is, he probably did. Normal spikes from Hinata were easy to receive for any skilled libero, but his quicks were on the floor before you knew he'd hit the ball. However, despite this, Hinata seemed to want his senpai to receive the quick. Of course, he loved seeing Nishinoya receive. It was pretty cool-looking; plus, Noya was probably one of the best liberos in Japan, so Hinata seemed desperate to learn from him.

The rest of the team arrived, quickly pulling Asahi out of his thoughts. "Where's Coach?" Tanaka said as he walked in, already stretching as he walked. Daichi was the last to come in, making sure everyone was there before answering. "He said he can't come to morning practice today. Takeda-sensei's stuck in traffic and our managers are busy with exams. In other words," He picked up a Mikasa ball from the floor. "We're on our own this morning."

He threw the ball at Asahi, who caught it. "I thought we could play some 6-on-6 this morning. After all, the qualifiers for the Spring High Tournament are coming up, and we seem to have perfected most of our new techniques, but it doesn't hurt to practice. So, Asahi, you're the captain of the other team, I'll be the captain of the first. Everyone has some tricks up their sleeve, after all."

Asahi was the one who ended up with Noya, after he protested that Daichi was already an incredible receiver, and he had Kageyama, who would do anything to make the ball go up. The teams ended up like this:

Asahi
Nishinoya
Tanaka
Suga
Ennoshita
Narita (None regular.)

Daichi
Kageyama
Hinata
Yamaguchi
Tsukishima
Hisashi (See note for Narita)

They did, of course, test out new techniques, one of them running over to the score stand to tally up, and then continuing play. They named their teams "Ravens" and "Crows", ravens being the team that had overall more older players from the team, compared to Crows, which was nearly entirely first years save Hisashi and Daichi.

The games were fun. There wasn't as much pressure as there was with practice games with other schools, and it couldn't even amount to the stress of a live tournament game. It was just a bunch of high-school kids having a laugh, pretty much.

By the time Takeda-sensei rushed in, half an hour late, the score was 15-13, with the Ravens in the lead. Daichi gave him a quick breathless nod as he changed the 12 to a 13, wordlessly assuring him that everything was fine in his absence. As they continued play, Hinata shot a mischevious grin at Nishinoya, who received before looking at Asahi and Suga with a confident expression. "Tobio and Shoyo are gonna do a quick."

"How do you know?" Suga asked as the ball flew back to the other team, chance ball. Noya shrugged.
"He just looks like he's plotting. And that usually means freak quick. I'll receive it, though. This time." His voice was determined, breathless, and filled with so much confidence that it seemed to spread to both teams.

Set, spike.

It seemed to go in slow motion. Noya, rushing faster than Asahi could see, facing the wall, diving with an arm out to receive...

And he did, of course. Nishinoya could do anything he set his mind to, but the ball fell to the floor on the other side as Noya slammed face first into the wall, his arms luckily already to his waist, the force forcing his back to flip, and him to slip down the wall till he was dizzily looking upside-down at the court.

Daichi was the first to run over, and the others followed suite, Takeda-sensei coming over with a first-aid kit to check for concussion.

Azumane didn't move.

Suddenly, he couldn't breathe. He was on the floor, tears streaming, before he knew he'd even reacted, not noticing Noya jump up and rub his head, no concussion present, saying it was just a bump. He was on the floor, clutching his chest to try and forcefully regulate his breathing, hyperventilating, feeling like he was going to die. This was it. This was it.

Noya quickly noticed and rushed over to Asahi, kneeling down and brushing a strand of hair away from the ace's face, speaking gently. "Hey, I'm okay. I'm okay. Breathe, Asahi-san. I'm fine. Really." The older tried to speak, but all that came out was an embarrassing squeak. He really was going to die this time, he swore, his heart might as well stop on the spot.

Nishinoya hugged him.

They didn't usually hug. They were best friends, of course, but hugs were something that never usually happened.

His heart rate slowed, his breathing regulated, as he breathed in the comfort that was his libero. The small boy rubbed circles into his back, whispering comforts. "That's it, Asahi, calm down. It's all okay."

When he was normal and recovered, Noya pulled away, to the elder's protest (since hugs were rare, they were nice), and turned to the team as Azumane let out a weak "Sorry." The other laughed, stepping to the side to reveal terrified (and in Hinata's case, literally crying) teammates. "You don't need to explain to me."

"U-uh, oh." He responded sheepishly, standing up shakily and brushing himself off. "Uh...I...Uh...I'm sor-"

"ASAHI-SENPAI ARE YOU OKAY?!"
"DID YOU GET HURT TOO?! I'M SORRY, THAT TOSS WAS RECKLESS I SHOULD'VE-"
"WE DIDN'T MEAN-"
"WE'RE SO SORRY-"

"Guys, stop yelling, you'll make him have another panic." Noya said gently, for once being the calm one of the team. The first years (minus Tsukki and plus Hisashi) immediately shut up, bowing their heads in apology. Hinata hadn't stopped crying and hiccupped slightly as he stood, wiping his face, and then stepped forward, still not stopping crying, and addressed both the libero and the ace.

"I-I'm sorry!" He bowed his head, shaking slightly. "I was...I was too excited... And now you're upset and Noya-senpai's injured!" He was sobbing in pauses, head still bowed. "I d-didn't mean to hurt anyone and I-I'm s-s-s-"

"Shoyo." Asahi said calmly, placing a hand on the small first-year's shoulder and pushing him back to a standing position, looking in his eyes firmly. The younger knew he was serious; Asahi rarely called anyone by their first names. "It's not your fault. Volleyball is a sport where people get injured. It panics me, but I knew that when I started playing." He smiled comfortingly. "You wanna be ace when I've left, don't you, Hinata?"

Hinata nodded, and then wiped his face, and glanced to the side. "B-but...I'm not sure I'd be a good ace." Azumane simply laughed, ruffling his kouhai's hair.
"I didn't think I would be, Hinata. You'd be an amazing ace."

He turned away, picking the ball up as it had rolled back to this side. "But let me give you some advice for the future, for the Karasuno team's future."

He faced the small, ginger boy with a crooked smile, ball under his arm, eyebrows turned up in some form of sorrow. "Never be an anxious ace."

AN: Not all of the oneshots contain the title. However, you can decide in the reviews which one I post next; "The Wild Wing Spiker" (Tanaka) , "The Loud Libero", "The Panicked Pinch Server", "The Calm Captain", "The Sunny Setter", "The Melancholy Middle-Blocker", "The Salty Setter" or "The Lonely Little Giant"! Write which one you want in the reviews! Thanks for reading!

-AP