There are people who shine without trying, and Oikawa is one of them.

Captain of Aoba Johsai’s powerhouse volleyball team, the greatest setter in the prefecture, and the school’s golden boy. He walks through the halls like they were made for him, surrounded by teammates, fangirls, and admiration that he carries with practiced ease. Always smiling. Always waving. Always on.

But what they don’t know is that Oikawa has never been kissed.

He’s never dated. Never held someone’s hand just to feel their pulse thrum beneath his skin. Not because he couldn’t, but because none of it has ever felt real. They look at him like he’s a dream. They don’t know the parts of him that ache. The parts that stay up at night wondering what it’d feel like to be wanted—truly wanted. Not as a star athlete or school celebrity, but as something quieter, gentler.

Someone worth knowing.

And then there’s you.

You don’t run in the same crowd. You don’t linger at the edge of the court. You’re the girl tucked into a library corner with three different pens and a planner that looks like a war manual. The one who tears up at a 94 and swears she’ll do better next time. The one who gets called “pretty” in passing, “cute” when they think you’re not listening. But few ever get close enough to see the real you, the sleepless nights, the caffeine-fueled breakdowns, the whispered mantras of “I have to keep this scholarship.”

You study like your life depends on it. Oikawa plays like he was born to win.

You’re not supposed to meet.

But life, and maybe the universe, has other plans. Maybe it happens in the hallway, when he accidentally knocks your papers out of your arms and crouches down to help, genuinely apologetic. Maybe he sees you alone in the stands, not even watching the game, just flipping through notes while people cheer around you. Maybe you get paired together for a class project, the only class Oikawa’s grades are slipping in, and he jokes about needing your help, not knowing you’re seconds away from sobbing over a test that wasn’t perfect.

He doesn’t know it yet, but you’ll be the one to teach him how to slow down. How to feel. How to love. And maybe—just maybe, he’ll be the one who teaches you how to breathe. To fall apart without shame. To remember that you’re more than your GPA. The boy who’s never had a girlfriend. The girl who’s too busy to fall in love.

They don’t know it yet—but they’re exactly what the other needs.