I'm writing this to get a feeling for my character again. It's been a while.

Lancer Grades

I sat at my desk, staring at my grade from my test with disbelief. I stared at it some more, feeling my face pull into a scowl. I thought I was doing better than before, especially with Kunimi helping me. And he was a slave driver. But, I understood it better. I knew Japanese, enough when I could understand and speak it back. The intensive grammar in Japanese is what confused me. But I had a low grade, about 42, which was their version of a D, barely passing, which is good to be passing, but I expected more. I studied a lot for this test.

I took it and shoved it in my bag, feeling embarrassed. All I had to do was get to volleyball practice and ignore this. I hope Kunimi didn't ask, I didn't want him to think he was wasting his time with me. I glanced up and saw the teacher. I furrowed my brow, he looked smug as he looked at me and he turned away to go to his desk. What the-

The bell rang and I shot up, eager to get up and get to practice. I quickly left the classroom.

"Woah, wait up, Lancer." Hikaru followed me with a hand on my shoulder. "Everything okay?"

I shrugged him off. "Yeah."

He sent a look of sympathy. "That bad, huh?"

I rolled my neck. "Yeah, better luck next time."

I heard Kunimi and Kindaichi come behind us. Kindaichi patted my back. "Sorry about that, how bad?"

I grimaced, feeling my ears flush. "Uh, 42."

Kunimi sent me a weird look. "We took the same test, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Kunimi continued. "And we went over what was going to be on the test?"

I felt my face going red. "Look, Kunimi, I'm sorry. You don't have to help me anymore. I get it." If the teacher was like this, there was no point wasting Kunimi's time.

Hikaru frowned. "Now, wait-"

Kindaichi waved his hands, smiling awkwardly. "It's only one test."

Kunimi sent me a narrowed eyed look. It wasn't his normal lazy glance, but it was a serious look, showing for once he was focused. "It's not that, Lancer. As annoying as you can be, I know you are doing better."

I blinked. "Is that an insult or compliment?"

Kindaichi snickered. "Kunimi gives those a lot."

I shrugged, having an idea of what happened. "It's fine. I passed, let's just get to practice." We were standing in the hallway as the hallway cleared up and people left.

"You sure, Lancer?"

I glanced at Hikaru and nodded silently. "Yeah."

He sighed and nodded. "Okay, let's go."

Kunimi said bluntly. "Let me see your test."

I turned to look at him. "What? No. I did badly, that's it."

He was scowling, his brow furrowing. "Give it to me. I don't want to play this game with you."

Kindaichi put a hand on his shoulder. "Kunimi, let it go."

Kunimi shook his head. "Lancer, c'mon, I don't want to hear it from Oikawa if we're late." I could tell he wasn't going to leave and I wanted to get to practice.

I rolled my eyes, feeling my face get hotter. "Fine, here!" I grabbed my bag off my back and ripped the zipper open.

Hikaru said, frowning. "If s-he doesn't want to show you, he don't have to." He was glaring a bit. I wanted to smile, as much as we mock-argued and messed around, I knew we had each other's backs.

I snapped. "It's fine!" I grabbed the paper and thrust it at Kunimi. I crossed my arms over my chest and glanced away.

I glanced over and saw Kindachi staring at Kunimi with wide eyes as Kunimi stared down at my test. Every minute that he stared down at my test, the scowl got deeper.

Kindaichi asked. "Uh, Kunimi? What's going on?"

I grinned sharply, wanting this to be over with. "It's not that bad." I was getting kind of annoyed, but I never seen that expression on his face.

"It's not that." Me and Hikaru shared a look at Kunimi's words. He was acting weird.

"Uh oh." I glanced over at Kindaichi, who was staring at Kunimi with a worried look. "Kunimi..."

"This is wrong, your answers are high enough to receive a higher grade."

I shrugged. "I dunno. He doesn't like me."

Hikaru cut in. "Wait a minute, are you saying you got a bad grade because the teacher doesn't like you?!" His eyes were narrowed and face was flushed. I noticed that look, he was angry. Really angry.

I shrugged again. "So?"

We were still standing around, but Kunimi glanced at the door. He then changed his expression. I finally recognized the emotion on it. It was determination. He stormed ahead of us, walking quickly.

I had a bad feeling. I ran until I was running by his side. "Wait, wait, where are you going?"

"Showing Oikawa and Iwaizumi. They'll deal with this."

Hikaru came to my side. "Good idea, Kunimi-san."

At Kindaichi's nod in agreement, I shook my head. "No, it's not."

I followed them quickly. "It's not important-ow!" I grimaced at the pain in my arm.

Hikaru sent me a look after smacking me. "It is important, dumbass. If you studied, you should get the proper grade."

Kunimi nodded. "There is nothing I can do, but they might be able to."

"But-"

Kindaichi let out a little laugh. "Trust me, Kunimi is determined."

I snapped. "It's just a damn test."

Kunimi stopped short and turned. He was giving me an annoyed glance. "Do you really think he will stop at one test?"

I ran a hand through my hair, there was one thing I can't understand... "Why do you care? It's not worth all this trouble."

Hikaru said, shoving my shoulder with a scowl. "Don't say that."

Kunimi wrinkled his nose, his face going red a bit in what looked like frustration. "What? I can't help my friend from dealing with an unfair teacher?"

I froze, staring at him for a second with a wobbly grin. I wouldn't cry, but it was different from my usual smile. I felt my angry face soften into something fond in his direction. "Ah, thanks. Lead the way."

He stiffly turned his heel and went toward the gym. I saw Kindaichi grinning in Kunimi's direction. Hikaru looked pleased.

Before we arrived at the gym, I grabbed Kunimi's arm. "Hey, wait."

I realized I was talking in English, but Kunimi understood. "Are you still arguing with me on this, Lancer?"

I rubbed the back of my head. "Wait, can we do it after practice?"

Hikaru slapped a hand to his forehead "Oh God."

I rolled my eyes, knowing he understood why I wanted to wait. Kunimi was frozen, staring at me with a look of extreme disbelief. I heard a snort of laughter and saw Kindaichi staring at Kunimi and me, amused.

Kunimi asked slowly. "Why?"

I stared at him like it was obvious and I think it was. "I don't want to ruin practice, so can we just wait until it's over."

He blinked a couple of time before rolling his eyes hard. "I swear, you are a volleyball obsessed dork."

I was annoyed. "Hey!"

Hikaru exclaimed. "Finally, someone else noticed!"

Kindaichi said. "Uh, Kunimi, you are a volleyball player like the rest of us. Korai-san, you are our manager."

I smirked at Kindaichi. "Thank you, Kindaichi."

Kunimi said. "I like volleyball, but not in Lancer's or Oikawa's way."

Hikaru pointed a thumb at me. "And that's Lancer's fault. "

I shrugged. "You know you like it, Hikaru."

He shoved me. "Don't call me that."

I laughed. The door opened and I saw Matsukawa standing there. "Hey, what are you First Years standing out here for?"

I looked at Kunimi with a pleading look. He sighed. "Nothing, Matsukawa-senpai." Matsukawa continued to stare at him and he gave a blank look back.

He moved aside. "Come on in, then. Oikawa was wondering where you were."

Hikaru and Kindaichi went inside first. I followed, walking inside the gym and toward the locker room.

Oikawa called. "Hey, why are you five so late?"

Hikaru closed his eyes with a sigh, before walking over to the coaches. Oikawa made an expression at his back. Kindaichi swallowed nervously at the attention. I said quickly. "It's my fault, class kept me back and they waited." I avoided his eyes.

Iwaizumi called. "Alright, head over to the locker room and get changed."

We had our practice, but my receives were off. I was thinking about this situation all practice and it was making me mad. I hated to be off my game. I could tell the others noticed. After running drills, Watari asked if I was okay. I told him I was. Then we had a practice match with him on one side and me on the other. I had Oikawa, Matsukawa, Kindaichi, Kaito on my side with Yahaba, Kunimi, Watari and Iwaizumi, Hanamaki on the other side.

I was struggling a bit, my brain feeling fogged up. In the middle of our first set, Oikawa called a time out. I felt my face flushing red, knowing I was the reason. My shoulders were hunching toward my ears, trying to avoid their looks. I was missing a couple of receives I would have never missed before, which then messed up his sets as I was supposed to be returning the receives to them. Bad enough, Hanamaki and Matsukawa didn't even make fun of me after the first one.

Oikawa waved me over to the sidelines and I trudged over, not meeting his eyes. "Yeah?"

"Is something wrong?"

I shook my head. "No...I'm sorry."

I felt his hands on my shoulders, seeing an expression of concern. "Do you need to to take a break?"

My head snapped up with a panicked look. "No, I'm fine. You don't need to..." Bench me. That is what I was thinking.

Oikawa seemed to get it. He let go of my shoulders, ruffling my hair into a mess. "Okay, American-chan, try your best."

He said that, but I felt the pressure on my shoulders. My job was to guard the court. I felt new determination. Iwaizumi called. "Everything okay?"

Oikawa waved. "Everything's fine, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa was pushing me toward our side of the court. I glanced over and saw Hikaru frowning.

I did better as the game continued. I put my pure focus on the game. I watched every set of Yahaba, every spike from the players, watching Oikawa and where he would go. I didn't allow anything else to cross my mind, I had a single minded focus on volleyball. We won the game. I sighed in relief. It was hard to have that single minded focus with things.

Matsukawa patted my back. "You seem to come back to yourself."

I smiled back. "Yeah."

We were cleaning up the gym and part of me was hoping that Kunimi forgot to mention it to them. I hated it, it was embarrassing. I was quiet and Hikaru was sending me looks and I ignored him after sending him a glare. I was almost done cleaning up and thought I would be home free, until I heard Iwaizumi yell. "WHAT?!"

I turned around and saw him staring at Kunimi with wide eyes, glancing at the paper in Oikawa's hands, who's face was blank.

"Yo, Lancer! Get over here."

My voice was in a whine. "Do I have to?"

"Yes!" Iwaizumi hands were on his hips.

Oikawa waved a hand at me that wasn't holding my test. "Come along, American-chan." His eyebrow was raised in an expectant way.

I made a face and slowly walked over with my ears turning red again. "What's wrong?"

Oikawa waved my test. "This is."

I grimaced, rubbing the back of my head. "Look, I'm sorry. I'll do better, okay."

Maybe Kunimi didn't mention why I failed, just that I was doing bad despite the tutoring. Iwaizumi sighed. "Lancer, cut the crap. Kunimi told us why you failed."

I raised my hands. "Look, it's not a big deal. I just won't do the best in this class." I mean, I was angry about it, but I couldn't punch this away or play volleyball against it. As funny as that would be.

Oikawa's expression was stern, a rare look to his face unless volleyball was involved. "Lancer, if Kunimi is right, this is a serious thing." I frowned a bit, realizing if he was not using our nicknames, it was serious to Oikawa.

I said, frowning. "Why? Why does it matter?"

Iwaizumi's eyebrows were deeply furrowed, his arms crossed over his chest. "Lancer. If this keeps on happening, this can effect your grades no matter the effort you put in." He was looking angry, but I knew it was not aimed at me. It made me relieved that I had a reason to be mad about it.

I shrugged, trying to sound like I wasn't bothered by it. "It's fine, Iwaizumi-senpai. I passed."

Iwaizumi's eyebrow was twitching violently. The other members of the club were watching, but not coming closer. Kunimi shook his head. "If your grade are too poor, they won't allow you to be on the volleyball team."

I gaped. "What?! I can't play?! What do I do?"

Kunimi slapped a hand to his forehead. Iwaizumi growled. "Lancer..." I gave him a sheepish grin. His tan face was getting a bit red, a vein throbbing in his temple. I recognized the look. It was the look he had when he wanted to smack Oikawa and me on occasion I pissed him off. I glanced around again and saw the club members leaving, but saw Hikaru watching with a frown, looking worried.

Oikawa patted Iwaizumi's shoulder. "It's okay, Iwa-chan. I got it." He put his hands on my shoulders and explained. "Lancer-kun, I know you love volleyball and you know I do too." Oikawa rolled his eyes as Iwaizumi let out a scoff of disbelief. "Quiet, Iwa-chan. Anyway, a teacher shouldn't discriminate against you for any reason. So, let's go talk to Coach Irahata. With your grades fixed, we can focus more on volleyball." He grinned at me.

I brightened, smiling back. "Okay, Oikawa-senpai. Sounds like a plan."

Kunimi let out a sigh. "I should of figured that would work."

I huffed. "There is nothing wrong with liking a sport."

Iwaizumi sent me a look. "There's a difference between liking a sport and being you or Oikawa."

Me and Oikawa protested at the same time. "Hey!"

Iwaizumi smirked smugly. "I stand corrected."

Oikawa stuck his tongue out at Iwaizumi. "Iwa-chan is being mean." Oikawa ruffled my short hair. "C'mon, American-chan, let's go. They're being mean." I was almost relieved to hear that childish nickname again. Almost.

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we should've have to take this." Oikawa snickered, throwing an arm over my shoulder and steering me toward our coaches. I heard the huffing laugh from Iwaizumi, but I smiled a bit. It was nice to have friends that had my back.

We went over to Coach Irahata and I saw Hikaru standing around. Oikawa let me go and went over to Coach, my test in his hands. I was a little embarrassed, but not as much as before. Maybe it was because they were on my side and I wasn't overreacting. Hikaru nudged me. "Everything okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Oikawa's gonna fix it."

"Lancer-kun, can you come over here?" I saw Coach Irahata waving me over, my test in his hands. I flushed a bit, walking over. He had a serious look on his aging face. "Is this true?"

I pressed my lips together. "I-" I stopped for a moment, glancing away. Oikawa was giving me an encouraging smile. I looked back at Irahata with determination. "Yes. I don't-I don't know why. I did study with Kunimi and he said my grade was higher than it should be."

Irahata shocked me with his reaction. He looked angry. I've seen him amused, shocked, amazed and even exasperated, usually with Oikawa's antics. But, I've never seen him angry. It actually made me a little nervous, especially since he was normally a calm man. "Don't worry, Lancer-kun. I will handle this."

I smiled a bit. "Thank you."

Irahata nodded, glancing at my test and then shaking his head. "Alright, get ready to go home. You have practice in the morning."

We walked away, me, Oikawa and Hikaru. I said quietly as we walked over to Iwaizumi and Kunimi. "Thank you."

Oikawa smiled, his smile looking different than normal. He patted my back. "Don't worry about it, American-chan. Remember I told you to depend on your Captain."

Hikaru glanced at Oikawa, looking a bit surprised. I smirked. Oikawa acted goofy most of the time, he had good moments and he was a good volleyball Captain both on and off the court.

Iwaizumi said when we came over. "Everything okay?"

Oikawa beamed. "Yes, like I expected. The Coach will take care of it."

I glanced at Iwaizumi and Kunimi. "Thanks for all the help."

Kunimi pale face went red, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Whatever. Remember we have another study session in a couple of days." He walked off. I looked around, noticed the gym was cleaned already.

Iwaizumi sent me a grin. "Your welcome, Lancer-kun, we're happy to help you with anything you need."

I hopped on my toes. "Now that that's done with, let's go play more volleyball."

Hikaru and Iwaizumi snapped. "No!" Oikawa laughed.

I slumped my shoulders. "Oh, come on!"

Oikawa raised an eyebrow. "He had a point. We had a distracted practice."

I winced. "Sorry."

Oikawa waved his hand, glancing at Iwaizumi with a face. "Don't worry, American-chan."

Iwaizumi pushed me toward the doors. "Go home."

I walked forward. "Fine, fine. I'm going."

Iwaizumi laughed, stopped pushing me and roughly messed up my hair. They do that a lot. "Alright, you and Korai get going." Hikaru was talking to Oikawa, but followed me out.

Hikaru said. "I told you it would work out."

I grinned widely. "Yeah, thanks." I paused for a minute. "I still want to play volleyball."

I grunted at the smack to the back of my head. He exclaimed. "No!"

I gave a pout. "Fine!"

It turns out the next time I had a test, I got the proper grade for my test. The teacher still didn't like me, but he didn't mess with my grades anymore. Whatever the Coach did seems to have worked. It was one less thing for me worry about. Now, I just have to worry about Spring High.

Coach Irahata knew the teacher Lancer was having problem with. He's been a problem teacher in the past, but he had a feeling it was something else. Fujimoto Shinji next took it this far. Being a educator in Japan was a very respectable position. Irahata knocked on his door before coming inside.

Fujimoto looked up, standing up. "Hello, Irahata-san. What can I do for you?"

Irahata said. "It is about one of your students. Jamie Lancer." It was a little strange switching his name around, but that was how the name read.

He noticed the scowl that automatically crossed Fujimoto's face. "That troublemaker? Lancer-kun is a lazy student. I expected it, but Lancer's attention to Japanese is attentive to his grades."

Irahata hooked on the words, 'expected', but kept it to himself. He pointed at the test in his hand. "Like this one?"

Fujimoto replied. "I cannot give special favors to students, even if they are knew it our studies."

Irahata tone was hard. "I know as much Japanese grammer as you do. We both know this grade is lower than it should be."

Fujimoto's face was pinched. "I cannot control how well the students do. That is their responsibility."

Irahata said quietly and slowly. "I am going to say this once and I expect that to be it. Lancer-kun deserved better than this. I believe you have an issue with Lancer-kun being American. Which, if I go to our President, will not be pleased with. I am not pleased with one of my players being treated poorly, especially with all the time that volleyball and his studies take. Are we understood?"

Fujimoto looked furious, but nodded slowly, realizing he could have no way out of this without himself being implicated. "I understand."

Irahata nodded, bowing a little and walking out. Fujimoto frowned once he was alone. He didn't realize anyone was going to catch on. He had a prejudice, he knew that, but he didn't realize anyone would notice. He just reminded himself he had one year of dealing with that chiild.