A/N: Quick explanation before I start this off, just so it makes a bit more sense. I wrote this from Yamaguchi's point of view, and its essentially his backstory down to the barest minimum. There will be a brief summary of his past at the end, but part of what I like so much about this is how vague it is. If you want to know what's going on right away, just scroll down to the bottom for the explanation.

-less

Origin: Middle English [-les]

Less is an interesting combination of letters

Otherwise known as a word

It can stand alone

Less [les]

Adverb

1. to a smaller extent, amount, or degree (less intelligent)

2. most certainly not (barely enough motivation for this, much less enough for that)

3. in a way different; other (nothing less than unmotivated and uncaring)

Adjective

4. smaller in size, amount, degree, etc.; not so large, great, or much (less accuracy, less strength)

5. lower in consideration, rank, or importance (no less than top of the class)

6. fewer (less than ninety is absolutely unacceptable)

Noun

7. a smaller amount or quantity (many try, less succeed)

8. something inferior or not as important (focus on that less)

Preposition

9. minus; without (many years less of experience)

Or it can be used as a suffix

Tacked on the end of a noun

Like the word worthless

Worthless [wurth-lis]

Adjective

1. without worth; of no use, importance, or value; good-for-nothing (why do I feel so worthless?)

Useless works fairly well too

Useless [yoos-lis]

Adjective

1. of no use; not serving a purpose; unavailing or futile (it is useless to attempt to reason with him)

2. without useful qualities; of no practical good (I am useless)

Helpless

Helpless [help-lis]

Adjective

1. unable to help oneself; weak or dependent (I'm drowning, helpless)

2. deprived of strength of power; powerless; incapacitated (can't breathe, I'm helpless)

3. affording no help

Endless

Endless [end-lis]

Adjective

1. having or seeming to have no end, limit, or conclusion; boundless; infinite; interminable; incessant (I suffer endlessly; the tortue feels endless)

2. made continuous, as by joining the two ends of a single length (the blood flows in an endless stream; the euphoria feels as if it is endless)

Nevertheless

Nevertheless [nev-er-thuh-les]

Adverb

1. Nonetheless; notwithstanding; however; in spite of that (it hurts but I keep doing it nevertheless; nevertheless, the relief is worth it)

Painless

Painless [peyn-lis]

Adjective

1. without pain; causing little or no pain (suicide is painless; I was told it would be painless)

2. [informal] not difficult; requiring little to no hard work or exertion

Bloodless

Bloodless [bluhd-lis]

Adjective

1. without blood (the bathroom floor was far from bloodless)

2. very pale (I heard the paramedics describe my complexion as bloodless)

3. free from bloodshed; accomplished without bloodshed (I wish I could say it was done bloodlessly)

Motherless

Motherless [muhth-er-lis]

Adjective

1. to be without a mother (I am motherless; I have always been motherless)

Fatherless

Fatherless [fah-th er-lis]

Adjective

1. lacking a father; to have no father figure (for now, I am fatherless, they won't let him see me)

Loveless

Loveless [luhv-lis]

Adjective

1. without any love (a loveless parent)

2. feeling no love

3. receiving no love; unloved (I have always been loveless)

Motherless

Motherless [muhth-er-lis]

Adjective

1. to be without a mother (I am now officially motherless)

Directionless

Directionless [dih-rek-shu n-lis]

Adjective

1. lacking direction (I'm unmotivated and directionless, just like she always said)

2. to be without a clear goal (without her pushing me I'm directionless)

Meaningless

Meaningless [mee-ning-lis]

Adjective

1. without meaning, significance, purpose, or value; purposeless; insignificant (I thought her being gone would help, but everything still feels meaningless)

Relentless

Relentless [ri-lent-lis]

Adjective

1. that does not relent; unyieldingly severe, strict, or harsh; unrelenting (I started talking to a therapist, he described my symptoms as a 'relentless enemy that I must defeat', I think that's going to help)

Shameless

Shameless [sheym-lis]

Adjective

1. lacking any sense of shame; immodest; audacious (I started wearing short sleeves again and taking my meds — I am shameless)

2. insensible to disgrace (it's best to be shameless sometimes, bear your imperfections with pride)

3. showing no shame

Useless

Useless [yoos-lis]

Adjective

1. of no use; not serving a purpose; unavailing or futile (bottling it up was useless)

2. without useful qualities; of no practical good (My dad has helped me learn that I am no longer useless)

Helpless

Helpless [help-lis]

Adjective

1. unable to help oneself; weak or dependent (I have learned how to help myself when no one else will, I am no longer helpless)

2. deprived of strength of power; powerless; incapacitated (helpless no longer, I am strong)

3. affording no help

Loveless

Loveless [luhv-lis]

Adjective

1. without any love (I found someone who loves me, I'm no longer loveless)

2. feeling no love

3. receiving no love; unloved (I have never been loveless)

Flawless

Flawless [flaw-lis]

Adjective

1. having no defects or faults, especially none that diminish the value of something (nobody is flawless)

2. having no discernable blemishes or shortcomings; perfect (to be flawless is inhuman)

Less [les]

Adverb

1. to a smaller extent, amount, or degree (less pain)

2. most certainly not (I could barely love myself, much less another person)

3. in a way different; other (Nothing less than perfect is an unrealistic expectation, it's okay to be average sometimes)

Adjective

4. smaller in size, amount, degree, etc.; not so large, great, or much (less struggling; less feeling like I'm not enough)

5. lower in consideration, rank, or importance (my mother was no less than an evil, manipulative person)

6. fewer (sometimes I feel as if trying my best is still less than others)

Noun

7. a smaller amount or quantity (many try, less succeed, and I will succeed)

8. something inferior or not as important (focus on the feelings less, the logic more)

Preposition

9. minus; without (my life is much less terrible with you in it)

Thank you.

Thank-you [thangk-yoo]

Noun

1. an expression of thanks (you deserve so much more than a thank-you, but this is all I have to give for now)

A/N: Now, as promised the brief explanation. At its core, Yamaguchi's issues are all rooted in his fear of failure and his mother's verbally abusive tendencies. She always put so much pressure on Yamaguchi to do well in school and told him that 'his grades were terrible' and 'he'd never make it anywhere with grades like that' even though his marks were all well above the cutoff for an A. She constantly told him about how he wasn't good enough to make it anywhere with volleyball so he should just drop it. Eventually the stress became too much, and he snapped, attempting suicide. After this he was hospitalized for a while, and wasn't allowed to see his parents so social services could more easily find the cause of his suicide attempt. They eventually came to the conclusion that it was the fault of Yamaguchi's mother's verbal abuse, and she lost custody. After this, things don't get better right away. Yamaguchi was prescribed meds, but doesn't take due to a sense of shame about the depression and anxiety. Eventually he starts seeing a therapist, who helps him see everything in a new light. Then his dad lets him take over the store, and everything else from there should be kind of in the main story!