"Alright, to end class," The teacher sighed and grabbed some papers. "I'll hand out the grades to your tests. Once you get your test, you can leave." He explained, giving the completed tests to the students.

He gave you your paper and you stared at the grade with wide eyes. An F?! 49%... Oh God, my parents are going to kill me!

You groaned and trudged out of the class and looked for somewhere to think - somewhere quiet. The library was packed in the afternoons, so you couldn't go there. The science lab would be filled to the brim with people. The gym wasn't exactly quiet but when there weren't any people there, it'd be quiet and comfortable. It was worth a try.

You hurried to there and ran up to the bleachers. Tears were threatening to fall from your eyes. You'd never gotten a grade like this - ever.

You sat in one of the chairs and curled up in a ball, trying to think about what you'd say to your parents. You closed your eyes tight as the anxiety of what would happen when you arrived at home grew. What scared you wasn't getting hit, nor was it the disgust that would be painted across their faces. It would be the yelling. The anger. The disappointment.

Just then, a loud voice interrupted you from your thoughts. "Yeah, I'll see you in a few minutes, Akaashi! Hurry up!" Footsteps trotted into the gym. Crap, someone's gonna see me.

You heard a ball bouncing around. It would get hit, then land on the ground with massive force. You knew that sound all too well. A volleyball.

You peeked your head out from where it hid behind your knees and stared in amazement at the player. He had just jumped into the air to spike the ball. He had perfect form. Strong legs and broad shoulders. Tall, too.

His hand made contact with the ball and you watched closely as it flew across the court and landed on the opposing side. Holy crap! Even my team's libero would have a tough time receiving that spike!

"YEAHHH!! I'M THE BEST!" The player shouted. You giggled at his booming, energetic voice.

"Huh? Hey, is someone up there?" He called.

"Crap!" You whispered. You got up and sprinted down the bleachers, to the exit door.

"Hey! Wait up, I'm not mad or anything! Slow down!!!" He whined. But you didn't. If anything, you ran faster. You rammed into the door and it flew open, then you kept racing down the sidewalk. It was raining outside; you'd only been there for a few seconds but you were drenched.

A hand grabbed your arm and stopped you. "Hey!" He chuckled and breathed heavily. "Dang, you sure are fast!" His eyes scanned over your face. You had red cheeks and puffy eyes from almost crying moments ago. "Are you sick? Wait- were you crying?? Hey, what's wrong?" He bombarded you with questions, which made you laugh a bit. You'd only just met him and you didn't even know his name, yet he was so worried about you.

"I'm alright, I just got a bad grade on a science test." You explained, then laughed nervously. His worried expression quickly turned into a smile.

"Well, I've gotten plenty of those! What was your score, if you don't mind me asking?" He questioned.

You sighed and looked at the ground in regret. "49 percent..." You mumbled.

"FOURTY-NINE?! THAT'S A BAD GRADE TO YOU?! I WISH I COULD MAKE A 49!" His loud voice startled you a bit, but you laughed and nodded.

He got lost in thought for just a moment. He hadn't even seemed to notice the rain.

"Well, you said it was science, right? I have this friend who goes to a different school. He's a huge science nerd! Anyway, he'd definitely help you. I need help with science too." He smiled and stuck his hand out to shake yours. "Kōtarō Bokuto! And you are...?"

You shook his hand and beamed. "(Y/n). So, you play volleyball? What's your position? I'm guessing Wing Spiker!"

Bokuto's hair looked so fluffy; it took every bit of self-control you had to not touch it. His eyes were golden and they sparkled with determination. He was like a modern warrior.

"Well, you guessed right! I'm the ace of Fukurodani's Volleyball Club!" Bokuto beamed at you. His smile was radiant. You liked it - how contagious his smile was. How his eyes crinkled.

"I'm a wing spiker too! Well, I am for the girl's team. I'm pretty awesome, so I guess I'd be considered the ace!" You exclaimed, trying to show off to the ace.

Bokuto's eyes lit up. "Woah! That's so cool! You're super fast! And uh," He put his hands on his hips and grinned. "I'm pretty awesome too. Could you set for me while I practice? My setter is in the library right now, but I'm sure he'd set for you too when he gets back. You can practice with us!" He exclaimed.

You nodded excitedly. "Okay, awesome! Let's go, it's raining cats and dogs out here!"

He took off his coat and held it above you as the rain poured around you. "You know what they say," He said, looking up at the sky and sticking his tongue out to taste the rain. "April showers bring May flowers."

You stared at him. You'd always enjoyed the pitter-patter of the rain, but his optimism was making it feel so much better today. You almost felt comfortable as the scent of his coat surrounded you. The smell of the beach. "Thanks." You whispered.

Bokuto leaned down a bit to look at you. "Hm? For what?"

You shook your head and stayed silent until you got back in the gym. "Why are you practicing today? There's no practice." You asked.

"I'm gonna be the best ace in Japan - no - the world!" He exclaimed.

"Well, jokes on you! Cause I'm gonna be the best in the world!" You challenged.

He leaned down to get a bit closer to you. "Oya oya?"

You nodded and inched your face closer to his, smirking. "That's right. You've got some huge competition now, Bokuto Kōtarō."

He laughed and stood up straight. "Well, I'll have to see you play, first! I'm looking forward to it, Ame-san."

"Ame-san?" You echoed.

The strange boy nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "Yep! Ame-san! Because we met in the rain!"

You looked to the ground, deep in thought.

Ame-san...

Ame-san.

Ame-san!

I like that.

You'd never been given a nickname before. You weren't necessarily lonely - but you weren't a social butterfly, either. You had friends but they all had such negative outlooks on life. Truthfully, it wore you down.

But Bokuto was different.

A good type of different.

The type of different that could change someone's life for the better simply by being next to them.

Little did you know, that's exactly what Bokuto would do.

He sighed. "I still think I'm the best, but I'm excited to see you play. How long have you been playing, anyway?"

"Since middle school. This boy was super awesome, he taught me how to play and everything! He was kinda like you, to be honest. Plus, my brother and his friends would play with me all the time!" You explained.

"Wow, that's so cool! I got into the game at around the same time as you. You see, since I'm totally the best," He paused, wanting you to acknowledge his brag. "My teammates couldn't keep up and kept telling me to slow down. A lot of them came to me for volleyball help. You could say I'm an inspiration, I guess!"

His enthusiasm warmed your heart. You were always around negative people or no people at all, so his positive attitude cheered you up. It made you feel at home. You were thankful - to an extent. He still seemed a bit weird to you.

You grabbed a volleyball and set it into the air. Bokuto jumped and hit the ball swiftly. "Wow," You breathed. "That was so cool!"

"I know, right?! I wanna try some quicker sets, do you think you could do that? Akaashi sets them kinda fast."

Akaashi must be his setter.

You nodded and set the ball with more force this time. He hit it and it zoomed across the court, hitting the ground with a smack.

Your eyes widened and your jaw dropped open. He's amazing! I really hope that I can live up to being better than him.

..What am I thinking? Of course Im better than him!

You set for him a few more times and a black-haired boy who was a bit shorter than Bokuto jogged in. "Hey, sorry I took so long. Who's this?" He gestured to you.

"AGHAASHIII!" Bokuto shouted and waved. "This is- uh... Well, I call her Ame-san!"

"...Did you forget my name already?" You asked, then chuckled and waved to the boy. "I'm Y/n. It's nice to meet you."

"Keiji Akaashi, likewise." He stated. Akaashi seemed more mature and serious than Bokuto, who was fun and a bit immature.

"Ame-san here is the ace of the girl's team! Totally cool, right?" He blurted out.

Akaashi nodded. "So, who wants to spike first?"

"I wanna see her spike! Do girls spike differently than guys? Do you play differently? I wanna see!" Bokuto babbled. His childish attitude made you excited. You wanted to show off to him - to prove to him that you were the best and you could beat him any day!

Unfortunately, you couldn't spike like he could. You just didn't have his strength. But what you did have was speed. Your acceleration abilities were impressive - everyone thought so.

I've got this. I'm gonna prove to both of them that I'm the best in our school - even better than Bokuto!

A smile was painted on your face as your worries withered away.

"Yeah, throw me a set, Akaashi!" You smirked and got into position.

Breathe. C'mon, Y/n. You've got this!

Akaashi set the ball. It had just gone up in the air, and you ran towards it.

Perfect position. I need to get the form right-

You then jumped up and hit the ball as quickly as you could. The burning sensation of your hand hitting the ball so fast hurt a bit, but you liked the feeling.

"Woah! Girls are fast!" Bokuto exclaimed.

Akaashi shook his head, chuckling. "No, Y/n is fast. How'd you get that fast? You're like Karasuno's Number 10."

"Huh? You mean Aiko Fujiwara? Ugh, she was so rude had a crush on-" You noticed their confused faces. "Uh... nevermind."

"No, no! Who??? Was it someone from our team?" Bokuto asked.

"You don't even know her!" You giggled.

He was appalled. "And? You got me interested! C'mon, who?"

"...Fine. Do you guys know Haruki? Your libero? He was dating one of the girls on my team so he came to the game! Then, Fujiwara started flirting with him because she had a crush on him. So, the girl on our team got mad and they got into a huge fight!" You ranted.

Bokuto's eyes grew even wider. "Holy crap! Girl teams are so much more interesting!" He exclaimed.

You laughed and nodded. "Of course we are! That Fujiwara girl was super rude, though."

"Maybe Bokuto should join the girl's team." Akaashi teased.

Bokuto gasped. "Yeah, I'd be great! Wait, what if they gossipped about me?"

You laughed and patted his back. "He was joking."

"Anyway, Karasuno's boy number 10 is really fast, just like you. He's super short, though." Akaashi explained.

"My turn for spiking!" Bokuto announced. Then, he turned to you. "Wanna see if you can block or receive my spikes? It'll be tricky!" He taunted.

"Bring it on!" You challenged.