24

Their first game was against non-seeders. Just like the girls. They won through it easily. Their next game was in a few days, but that didn't stop any of them from heading back to school for training.

Ishikawa groaned, face flat on the wooden, pristine floor. He was joined by the rest of his team, exhausted. Except Ushijima who was currently hunched over, not accepting defeat. They were currently having a hundred serves training- one mistake and everyone had to start over.

This was the third time they were doing it from zero.

"Can you guys just do it properly?!" Nishida cried out to the 1st years and 2nd years.

The liberos cried out, "We didn't sign up for this, okay?!"

Tendou was on his knees, begging the coach, "No more! Please no more!"

Coach Saito felt sorry for the team and whispered to Coach Washijo, "They were able to reach on the nineties, coach… Don't you think…" He sweat-dropped and backed off when the glare was fixated on him.

The younger coach could only salute the team from his mind for good luck. Even he can't do anything when Coach Washijo was like this.

Thankfully, on the fourth try, they were all able to complete the 100 serves without fail.

And with that, they all crawled to the gym showers to bathe and be done with the torture.

Yoshikami was in her school uniform- although she wasn't really a student there anymore. But it was easier to sneak into the school to see her friends.

"Oh, Yoshi!" She heard the familiar feminine voice and greeted her ex-teammate.

"Akari, hey! I'm just here for visit." They shared a hug.

The tall volleyball player sighed. "Mou, you should've been playing with us… we crushed the opponents like that." The short girl giggled as the tall girl motioned with her index finger and thumb, pinching them together.

"We might be against each other next game? Pre Spring Interhigh is just right around the corner, you know."

"I hope so. It would be great playing against you." An ominous aura began showering the two.

Yoshikami laughed. "It'd be so simple beating you." They glared at each other through closed eyes, laughing.

The boys had just changed into their jogging wear when they saw the short girl waiting for them by the door.

"Hoshi!" The group of 1st years yelled, showering the girl with pats and pinches on the cheek.

"Ey, guys. I just wanted to see you all before moving to Tokyo." She accepted the pain, since it might be a while til the next.

Tendou pouted. "Mou, can't you just stay?" He received a punch in the gut by Semi. "No matter what I say, I'll get hit?!"

Yoshikami giggled. "Nope, have to move to Tokyo. Otou-san already bought a house there. But I promise I'll visit during my free times."

Ohira smiled. "Make sure those free times include our free times, Hoshi."

"Did you watch our game, Yoshikami?" Hearing him caused a new whole lot of heart ache for her.

She shook her head. "Sorry about that, Ushijima-san. But we were busy packing for the move." The rest of their friends looked at each other with furrowed brows.

Soekawa rose a brow. He swung his right arm and hanged it around Ushijima's shoulder. "Now, now, we all agreed to call each other by first name now. So, Wakatoshi…" He and the rest of the boys grinned. Ushijima stiffened, hearing that. His eyes widened in surprise.

Tendou snickered, placing his hand on the short girl's head. "That's right, Hoshi. I thought we all agreed to call each other by first name?"

Ohira crossed his arms and nodded with his eyes closed. "Come on, guys. An agreement is an agreement." All eyes fell on the two who refused to make eye contact.

Yoshikami felt the blush creep up to her cheeks, but her eyes stared up Ushijima expectantly. His tan skin was slowly showing a peachy color as time passed.

"It's nice to see you again…" He cleared his throat. "…Hoshi."

She smiled, though there was that nervous tick that made the edge of her lips shook. "You too, Wakatoshi."

Semi clicked his tongue. "Now, there is no more awkwardness between you two, right?" He glared at the two. One refused eye contact, the other returned the glare. Semi narrowed his eyes. "Right?"

"Yea…" Yoshikami muttered.

"Of course." Ushijima raised his head.

Yamagata grinned. "Great, let's go eat out! The training made me starved." He snuck his arm around the short girl who tried to escape.

"Uh, sorry, guys, but I have to finish packing and…" She was cut off by Ohira.

"Oh, no. You're not escaping this time." She shrunk at the disappointed stare. "Last time you left early- Eita saw you at the arcade."

Yoshikami gasped. "Eita, you promised!��� She received a mischievous smile.

Semi shook his head, laughing. "Now, now. Let's all go out and eat." He hooked his arm around Yoshikami's other arm, trapping her.

Ushijima was quietly walking away when he felt two arms hooking his arms. He looked to see Tendou and Soekawa grinning at him.

"Let go. I have home…" The finger pressing against his lips stopped him.

"Now, Wakatoshi, we all hate liars- and besides, someone here knows that you're already done with all your homework." His head quickly snapped at the dark-skinned teen who waved at him casually.

"Ohira told us." Soekawa snickered. "Now, you have no excuses and you will enjoy the evening with us."

And he was dragged unwillingly to who knows where.

Yoshikami sighed as she sat on the park bench. Her friends were playing around the fountain in front of her- where they got their energy after training was bizarre to her. She was already exhausted from packing her stuff and eating too much.

A presence made notice to her and took the seat beside her without asking. But she knew who it was.

"So, she was your fiancé, huh?" She mused, eyes not moving an inch from her friends playing around.

He sighed. "Okaa-san wants me to meet another person if she doesn't interest me."

Her shoulders shook as she giggled. "She won't give up, huh?" She felt the stare on her, but she didn't look at him. "Well, we're in the same boat now, anyway. After Otou-san's promotion, some lady visited him and talked about my potential marriage." The air became cold at her words.

He stiffened, feeling the chill down his spine. He didn't whether it was from her words or from the cold night. "You're not going against it?"

She pursed her lips. "It's either that…or I stop playing volleyball." She finally looked at him, smiling a sad smile. "They made it clear that if I don't agree to it, I'm not allowed to watch, touch, or even do anything at all with volleyball." She sighed. "If your mother said that, you wouldn't give it up too, you know."

"What makes you say that?" He asked, a smirk creeping up his lips.

"I know you, Ushijima. Volleyball is far more important to you than anything else."

"First name."

Yoshikami looked up at him in confusion. "What?"

Ushijima stared at her, glaring even. "We agreed on first names." There was a thick silence between for a few minutes. For her case, she was just shocked and thought he was making a joke, but his serious face never faltered.

Her shock lasted only a few minutes before she started laughing. "Sorry, Wakatoshi."

He smiled, patting her head. "I'll always think about you, Hoshi."

She placed her hand on top of his. "Hm, me too, Wakatoshi."