Chapter Seventeen: Formidable Opponents

TO SAY THAT THE KARASUNO CROWS WERE fired up about their upcoming tournament was an understatement. After their game against Nekoma and their training camp, just about everyone had kicked it into high gear to start work on their practicing. They all worked to improve their spikes, blocks, and, of course, their receives.

Currently, Ukai was spiking balls at the team to work on their receives. "Follow-through when you block! Staring won't cut it!"

Shōyō grunted and got back onto his feet, "Sorry, Sir!"

"You must go after every ball as though it's your last!" He hit yet another ball at Shōyō, who tried his best but was unable to save it despite his dive. "'Cause if you don't, the ball you ignored will be the ball you cry over at the end of the game!"

Sakura laid out on the ground by the wall, a book in her hands. It seemed to be a literature book, most likely one that Takeda recommended to her at some point. She seemed to be a bit more invested in the book that she was reading than watching the boys practice. After all, she's seen the guys do this stuff all the time. So reading seemed like the ideal thing to pass the time. Though as she was reading her literature book, she thought back to the discussion that she had seen the night they all got back from the training camp.

 ---

After the training camp and their journey back to Miyagi, the Karasuno team were all gathered around their coach and club advisor as they stood before them. Sakura was sitting behind Ukai and Takeda near the whiteboard, though she was still listening in on their conversation. Once again, it's not like she had much else to do. All she can do is just sit around and wait for the practice to end so she can head home with her brother.

"Everyone," Takeda clapped his hands, "well done playing against Nekoma today! So getting right down to business, the Inter-High preliminaries begin next month, starting June 2nd."

Ukai nodded his head, "Miyagi has no regional prelims, so we launch straight into prefectural. Only one team out of approximately 60 in a prefecture proceeds to the nationals. Lose once, that's all she wrote. If you want revenge against Nekoma you must by becoming first in Miyagi. Second won't cut it. Although there's the small issue of them pulling their own weight to represent Tokyo."

"Don't worry!" Tanaka called out, "I know they can do it!"

"Yeah, they were tough!" Nishinoya agreed as they huffed through their noses.

Endo nodded his head and smirked, "That cat captain doesn't seem to be the slacker type, he'll get his team there." Sitting beside him, Asahi didn't appear too happy to have his friend mention Kuroo yet again.

The team all talked about what's to come now that they have the preliminaries to look forward to. Soon enough their practices will have to ramp up quite a bit. They'll have to focus a lot more if they wish to make the cut for the tournaments after all, though it seems like Ukai would push them far enough to get there.

Sakura knew that going to the practices was going to annoy her quite a bit. Waking up in the morning is already a hassle. She hasn't even worked up the nerve to tell Shōyō that she'd rather sleep in and ride her bike to school on her own instead of watching his practice. On one hand, she doesn't like waking up so early. On the other hand, she quite likes getting to see how happy Shōyō gets that she's there. So it's a bit of a toss-up whether or not she would want to be involved in this. Though that's the usual internal debate that she has every once in a while. Nothing totally new for her.

They all started to clean up the gym now that they were finished with their practice and discussion. Eventually, Endo's phone rang, and he left with only a wave over his shoulder. The call dampened his mood far too much for him to even give them all a proper goodbye. It also caused him to leave early, to the chagrin of just about everyone else.

"Hey! Where does that stuck-up prick think he's going?" Tanaka, one of those more than annoyed to see him go, scoffed as they all watched Endo walk out with the phone plastered to his ear. Even though he waved at them while departing, he was more focused on his phone call. "We've still got cleaning to do!"

From the way that Endo's mood had suddenly changed, he could only assume that the call he got was not a pleasant one. Most likely having to do with his father. Asahi sighed, anxiety starting to build up in his chest for his friend. "I think you should just let him go for now." Asahi has more than enough knowledge of the Endo family to know the animosity between them. Joji's mother is an angel and Asahi likes her a lot. Joji and his mother also have a pretty good relationship together. It's Joji and his father who have the fractured relationship that Asahi is more than aware of. That's who he's worried about with Joji at the moment.

Nishinoya tilted his head questioningly, "Huh? Why?" If anything, he'd think Asahi would be the most curious about what Endo had become so worked up about enough to leave so suddenly.

"I'm not sure," Suga spoke up as he picked up a volleyball, also a bit apprehensive about their friend's sudden departure. "But I didn't like that expression on his face."

Shōyō jumped in after finishing his race with Kageyama. Who won that race isn't exactly clear since both of the boys would loudly declare themselves the winner. "Yeah, it kind of looked like he ate a whole lemon that was super sour."

"Leave him alone," Sakura rolled her eyes and yawned, "are you done? I want to get enough sleep tonight."

 --

The way that Endo left was suspicious to Sakura, but she wouldn't pry into his business. Unlike her twin, she can keep her nose out of places that she didn't need to be. If anything, she's more focused on how Shōyō is going to act now. After the other night, she knew that her brother was going to start pushing himself even further for the tournament. Oh, how she's looking forward to that.

It seemed like her brother was also lost in thought, most likely about the other day as well. He didn't receive the ball that was spiked at him which caused him to fall to the ground. "Nice one, Hinata-kun!" Ukai called, "Get back on your feet! One more!"

"Yes, Sir!" The boy shouted and hopped back to his feet like a spring, "Thank you, Sir!"

After a few more hours, practice finally came to a standstill. All the boys started to get their things together and wind down after such a productive practice. The only thing that was really missing was Endo and his annoying commentary or comments to his friends. It was quite a mystery where he was, really the only ones who knew where the blonde was were the third-years. Though it was obviously a personal issue, so it's not like they were just going to tell everyone where exactly Endo was. It was something they knew was a touchy subject.

Currently, Sakura was handing her brother a towel and water bottle. Meanwhile, she made some short, sarcastic comments towards Kageyama who was growing more than annoyed with her. "You're right, that is cool!" Nishinoya exclaimed, drawing the first-years attention to him, "That photo is huge!"

Tanaka nodded his head, "Right?"

Asahi approached them and bent down to take a look at the magazine that the libero was holding, "Let me see." Though he gasped once he got a good look at the photo that Nishinoya held up to him.

Shōyō, Sakura, and Kageyama walked over to the group that was sitting on the ground curiously. "What is it?" Shōyō asked, "What's up?"

"Looky." Tanaka held up his magazine to show the curious first-years, "These guys are this year's three to watch high school boys! They've made Ushiwaka from Shiratorizawa one of the three players to watch in this year's Nationals." Sakura peeked over his shoulder to get a good look at the photo. What stared back at her was a photo of one of the most intimidating boys she has ever seen. He has olive-colored eyes that were scowling at the camera with brown hair. To her, he appeared to be quite the intense type of guy. If she really concentrated, she could vaguely remember Ushijima being mentioned when she had gone to tour at Shiratorizawa. Though she didn't really think much of it since it was a school she didn't really intend on going to. Still, she thought that this Ushijima, the "miracle boy", was obviously quite a strict-looking guy.

Shōyō marveled at the photo and the school that the boy played at, "This is the school Kageyama didn't get into and imouto didn't go to."

Kageyama's eyes twitched, "Shut up!",

He disregarded him and tilted his head, "So, who's Ushiwaka?"

"Don't you know?" Tanaka asked.

Suga chuckled and explained, "The only player Hinata-kun cares about is the Tiny Giant."

"That's an understatement," Sakura mumbled and crossed her arms over her chest.

Tanaka shook his head, "Ushiwaka is… currently the hands-down the number 1 ace in the prefecture. Wakatoshi Ushijima."

Their captain also came over to take a look at what they were all fussing over. "Yeah, now this is what a real ace should look like." Daichi then glanced over at their own ace with a deadpan expression.

Asahi started to sweatdrop, "Hey, why are you looking at me?" Poor guy, Sakura thought as Nishinoya walked over to the bearded teen to pat him on the back in comfort.

Suga looked up at the younger setter of the team, "Kageyama, you tried to go to his school, right?"

"Let me guess!" Tanaka started to laugh. "You wanted to tell this Super High School Level ace 'Move faster, you klutzy shit!' to his face?"

Sakura snickered at both the thought that the setter would do that and Tanaka's impression of the gloomy king. Oh, she's certain that he would try to do that with his arrogant personality and all.

Kageyama bristled, "I would never!" He then turned and glared harshly at the sniggering girl beside him. Sakura just continued to laugh as her brown irises glittered in amusement.

Shōyō didn't seem to be paying that much attention around him. His large eyes solely looked over the photo and article that talked about Shiratorizawa and their star player. "We need to defeat them to play against Nekoma."

"Whoa there!" Ukai then walked on over to them all, "Shiratorizawa isn't the only good school team out there."

All of the boys then came to crowd around their coach. Suga asked him, "Do you mean last year's best four, Sir?"

"Obviously, but there are also other good teams this year." The old blonde said, pulling out a paper from his pocket. "Like Wakutani South, which has excellent defense and solidarity. Date Tech, the team summed up with the term 'Iron Wall'. Their team has higher blocks than any other. Isn't Date Tech the team we lost 2-0 to in the Prefectural Public Tournament this March?" Sakura raised an eyebrow at the description of Date Tech. Ah, the team that beat them and ended with two teammates leaving. Hopefully, they don't have a repeat of that. The last thing this team needs is for not only a loss, but also their teammates giving up again."Their second-year, Aone, is the one to look out for. Date Tech has always been a best four level team, but last year they ended up the best 16 tier in round three against the tournament winners, Shiratorizawa. That's why they aren't seeded this year. What this means is depended on their pairings it's possible to be matched against them in round one. Next up, is… oh, right. I'm told you held a practice game with them not long ago." Kageyama gasped at the mention of Aoba Johsai, "Their setter is Number 1 on their team for offensive power. He is also an excellent setter. He is possibly the best all-around top player in the prefecture. Toru Oikawa, the leader of Aoba Johsai."

"The Great King!" Shōyō bristled.

Sakura clicked her tongue at the reminder of the boy. His personality just rubbed her the wrong way. Sure, she can admit that he's a talented player and leader for his team. However, he was still a prick. His talent doesn't make up for the way that he annoys her so much.

"These are last year's best four."

Tanaka was growling at the reminder of the annoying team, especially Oikawa, "Damn!"

"Last, but obviously not least, Super High School Level ace, Wakatoshi Ushijima commanding Shiratorizawa. That's about it. I'll explain more details later." Suga and Daichi both had the same thought about how Ukai wasn't as much of a slob as they first thought. Their flowery expressions caught the attention of their coach, "Are you two thinking something rude about me right now?" Both boys shook their heads rapidly as Ukai got serious again, "Anyway, that's my personal prediction for this year's toughest four. That being said, if you keep staring up at the top, you'll get the rug pulled out from under you. No team in the tournament is there to lose. They are all there to win. All the while we're training with everything we've got, the others will be training with everything they've got as well. Previous winners and losers alike are all aiming for victory. Don't forget that. Also, do not allow them to call us 'The Clipped Crows' ever again!"

All the boys chorused together, "Yes, Sir!"

Sakura was a bit surprised, Wow, he can actually give good advice it seems. And it was extremely good advice. They shouldn't focus on their possible future opponents and lose sight of who they were facing first. If they did think about Shiratorizawa too much they might end up losing to Date Tech or Aoba Johsai because of it.

The door to the gym then suddenly burst open as Takeda came in. He started at the group in surprise. "You're all still here? Sorry I'm late! I was stuck in a meeting." He approached the group and pulled out a piece of paper with a bracket on it. "Anyway… I've got it! I've got the pairings for the Inter-High preliminaries!"

Everyone grew anxious and giddy to see just who was in their bracket for the tournament. They all quickly tried to peer at the paper, even Tsukishima seemed interested. Though Sakura wasn't that interested as she lazily blinked. She may have been interested in who they were playing but she wasn't the one actually on the team. It's not like she has any insight on the other teams anyway since she doesn't know much about them besides the basics.

Though their sharp eyes all saw just who they were up against for the first round. Of course, that wasn't the most alarming part, it was who they might possibly play in round two that really caught their attention. "If we make it through round one, and Date Tech does the same, we'll be matched against them in round two," Nishinoya observed.

"That's not all," Tsukishima drawled out, "Aoba Johsai is seeded in our block."

Shōyō and Kageyama froze as Tanaka groaned,"For real?"

"Didn't Ukai just say not to focus on the top?" Sakura rolled her eyes, drawing everyone's attention to her. She raised a lazy eyebrow at them, "So don't focus on it."

Daichi nodded his head at the younger girl, "We know."

After looking over the block and just who they were going to be playing against, everyone was getting their stuff together to leave. Though as they were finishing up getting their things, Tanaka spoke up, "Say, the rich boy didn't get to hear any of this." Something that everyone knew, but didn't know whether they should say anything. He scoffed, "Doubt it would matter though, he doesn't care enough about volleyball to really let it sink in."

Asahi huffed while pulling on his jacket, "He's just busy tonight." He didn't really like that his missing friend was constantly brought up. Endo has his own stuff to deal with at the moment, it certainly was going to cause enough stress on him even now with the tournament coming up. Asahi couldn't imagine what was going on with him. No doubt he's going to try and get Endo to talk about it to try and figure out what's best for him.

"Yeah, he'll probably be back tomorrow morning," Suga said, already seeing how Asahi was getting annoyed about the questioning of Endo's whereabouts. Truly, the setter is also worried about Endo, but he knows that it is touchy. Suga doesn't know everything about Endo, he's a bit of a secretive and mysterious person. Asahi is probably the only person that Endo is open to, and just about everyone knows that.

Tanaka tilted his head, "Where is he anyway?"

Asahi answered, "He's doing work with his father."

"What does his dad do?" Shōyō asked in curiosity.

Nishinoya pulled on his jacket, "He's a doctor or something, I think."

"He also owns a company with medical supplies." Asahi spoke once again, this time a little bit snippy as they all headed outside. Just thinking about all of this is starting to vex him. The situation that Endo is in always frustrated him. The fact that Endo has told him multiple times that he has little to no say in his life after high school is so upsetting to him. He understands that Endo is an heir to his parents' fortune and company, however, he'd think any parent would hear out what their child wants. Though not for Mr. Endo. It's his way or no other way, and that irritates Asahi far too much.

Still, he shouldn't think of that, for now, they have practice in the morning to rest. So he just started his trek home, even as the rest of his friends moved on to another topic to speak about. More specifically, they started discussing the tournament. Something that Asahi should be more focused on.

 ---

It was the next day, and Sakura was walking around the school campus heading to the boy's practice. She checked in with Shimada and her own club and found that they aren't really doing anything today. Shimada and Mori said that it would be okay for her to leave early, especially since Sakura had been talking about the tournament coming up for the team. All of her club members could tell that she was pretty anxious about it and maybe even a little excited. Yokoyama commented about how this may have been yet another time that they've witnessed emotion in the usual stoic girl. Sakura just rolled her eyes at that and headed out, more than willing to escape before they said anything else.

Just as she was heading towards the gym, she heard a boy ask, "What's with him?"

"Yikes…" His friend shuttered as they moved away from the intense boy who was glaring at nothing in particular.

Sakura turned to find that it was Kageyama who was scaring them. He was getting himself a drink from the vending machine

Sakura waltzed up to Kageyama as he started to drink his milk, "What did the vending machine do to you, King?"

Kageyama spun around to glare at who had just called him that, "Don't call me that!" Of course, it was Sakura who was smirking at him with her thin, pale lips. His glowering seemed to get even more intense now that he knew it was her.

"Whatever," She shrugged her shoulders, unaffected by his glare. Though she just sighed, staring up at him with a calculating gaze. "Look, I get that you're thinking about that stuck-up prick Oikawa. Honestly, I don't care what sort of grudge or whatever you have against him or he has against you. What I do care about is how well you play."

Kageyama huffed, "Why? Only hoping your brother will get to play? Stay on the court as long as he can?"

"Yes," she answered plainly, it's not like that was a secret by any means. "You and I both know that's all he's ever wanted. So I want to make sure that it happens. You just focus on playing your best, first win against Tokonami, then Date Tech, and so on. When you actually play against Aoba Johsai, then you can sulk about Oikawa."

The setter assessed what she was saying, and she was right. He shouldn't be thinking about Oikawa at the moment since they aren't playing him any time soon. He clicked his tongue, "You know, you're just as annoying as your brother."

Sakura shrugged her shoulders, "Whatever."

"...Though I guess it's good advice."

"Oh?" She smirked at his grumbling. Kageyama bristled, it seemed like he didn't mean for her to hear him say that. "Did you say I give good advice?"

Kageyama huffed harshly and had the urge to throw something at her. He really didn't like the fact that she smirked at him so smugly. Reminded him of that blonde, glasses-wearing bastard. A volleyball would be best, maybe his milk carton would do. However, it's still got plenty of milk in it, so it would be a waste. He settled for shouting at her, "Dumbass!"

"I'll take that as a thank you," Sakura smirked before walking past the annoyed boy. She took quite a bit of enjoyment from how irritated he is. He's quite easy to rile up.

---

"It was even more boring than I thought it would be," Endo told Asahi as they stood in their third-year classroom. Ever since the first minute of class, Endo had taken any second to complain to Asahi about the meeting with his father.

Asahi sighed, "I know. At least, you didn't have to actually talk during it."

Endo huffed while running a hand through his hair in frustration, "Still didn't stop some investor trying to talk with me. Like I wanted to talk to some old geezer about some company I want nothing to do with."

The meeting the other day was complete and utter bullshit to Endo. All he did was sit in the back and watch the deal that his father was trying to make. Sure, it wasn't something like being forced to interact with people. All he had to do was sit and watch. However, no matter what it was, he still had to deal with his father's stupid business. Still didn't stop some old guys from asking him questions. Of course, to keep the Endo family's image perfect, Endo just smiled dashingly and answered questions or spoke quickly with them. He would have much rather been at practice. Though his mother begged him to not make much of a fuss about it. Endo is certainly a mama's boy, so he did as she requested begrudgingly and only complained a bit. He couldn't really say no to his mother, not if she really wanted what was best for him. Or what she believed was the best for him.

As they lapsed into silence, Asahi turned his attention back to the bracket in front of him. Endo watched with sharp eyes as his friend stared down at the paper in front of him. He sighed sharply through his nose before grabbing the paper off of Asahi's desk. Asahi sputtered now that it was taken from him and Endo placed himself on the desk instead. "Stop staring at that paper." He said, now leaning against Asahi's desk to draw his attention to him, "I can smell your anxiety from miles away, you know."

"Eh!" Asahi gasped, "Don't do that!"

Endo rolled his eyes, "Really, Asahi, you're getting worked up over nothing! We have a different team, things will be better." He stuck his tongue out, "Besides who says that we'll play those goons. Maybe they'll lose in their first match."

Asahi deadpanned at him, "You know that won't happen."

"Oh, let me be optimistic if I want to!" Endo blew a raspberry at his best friend. Though Asahi did smile a little bit at Endo's silliness. Just what Endo was hoping to get out of him. The last thing he needs is to deal with a nervous Asahi. Having him constantly thinking about how he was shut out so much in their last match against Date Tech isn't good at all.

Their small libero then came out of nowhere and started yelling, "ASAHI! ENDO! GO! CLUB!"

The other third-years in the class jumped "What the…?"

"Like they're dogs?"

Now walking through the halls after a marching Nishinoya, Asahi rubbed the back of his head, "Nishinoya… it's okay now. I won't run away. I know that everyone's got my back now." The libero paused in his steps, giving Asahi his full attention. The ace had an intense look in his eyes, "I'll stand proud this time and I'll tell them I'm the ace of Karasuno!"

Endo smiled at the declaration and flashed them both a smirk, "Besides, you know I won't let him get away any time soon." He quipped, "He might have escaped me for a month, but not anymore!" He jumped up and grabbed Asahi by the shoulders, "he's not gonna skip out on us anymore!" Despite Endo not truly being that invested in the sport, he'll be damned if he lets Asahi get out of this again. There was no way that Asahi could run away from the sport, at least until they both graduate, then Endo will let Asahi go since they won't be on the team together.

---

It felt surprisingly nice to Endo to be back at practice. Missing the practice the other day had put a little bit of a damper on his mood. However, it was like a nice break. Still, he didn't have fun on said break, but it was like a good day just to rest he supposed. Of course, he was chewed out by all of his friends for missing yesterday. They questioned him quite a bit, Tanaka and Nishinoya were the loudest about it and wanted to know just what he had been doing.

Though he wanted to sound mysterious and secretive, so he told them only a little bit of what he did. For all they knew he was doing business with his father, though he didn't specify what kind of business. He kind of figured that they knew it has to do with the medical supplies stuff, but he tried to make it sound far more nefarious than what it was.

Sakura saw right through him and wasn't even interested in hearing about what he was doing. Although he tried his best to get her to be at least a little curious about his escapade outside of school. However, all she did was lazily blink at him and then roll her eyes. She sat herself down on the floor and started working on her school work.

Currently, he was standing beside Tanaka as they worked on some spiking practice. Kageyama was setting to them and at the moment he was setting to Asahi. Obviously, the ace of the team was able to hit a perfectly strong spike right over the net.

"Nice kill!"

Kageyama complimented him, "Nice, Azumane!"

"Azumane!" Ukai then called.

The ace turned to his coach, "Yes, Sir!"

"Are you good at back attacks?" He asked as Asahi became slightly unsure. "Hey! You guys come here a second!" The boys all gathered around their coach as he started to write a few things on the whiteboard. He explained a certain maneuver to them, one that consisted of a back attack, and turned to them once he was done, "And that's how it goes."

"First we need to find the right hitting height." Kageyama thought aloud.

Shōyō seemed to be a little unsure, "That looks complicated."

"I don't think we've tried something like that before," Endo said with a hand on his chin in thought.

"Let's try it." Asahi said standing up with a spark of determination, "Thank you for your help!"

Some time had passed, and the boys had all worked together on figuring out the few plays that Ukai had shown them. Putting them into fruition was a bit harder than anticipated. Especially since Endo may or may not have messed up a bit too much. Though he got over it eventually and figured out how to use them in play. Sakura, now finished with her homework, stared at the whiteboard in curiosity. Many of the plays that Ukai had written were a bit complicated. Well, perhaps they looked complicated to her since she's not an actual player. Takeda then approached Ukai who was standing beside the board that Sakura was studying.

"Ukai, you look tired," Takeda commented to the coach who did look a bit tired. The man had circles under his eyes and he was yawning a bit earlier. "You've been arriving right when practice starts every day. How are things at work?"

"Yeah, I specialized in retail all this time, but I've recently taken up a early morning crop tending, so I've been working nights at the store to compensate. After all, I can't let my family coddle me all the time."

Sparing a glance up at the coach, Sakura turned her attention away from the board for just a second with a bored voice, "You're actually responsible?"

"You-"

Takeda cut him off before Ukai could retort to Sakura, "Thank you so much!" He bowed deeply, "I'll bring you a bottle of sake some time!"

Ukai's eyes sparkled at the promise of alcohol, "You mean it?"

Sakura stored that in the back of her mind. If ever she needs to bribe him or something, alcohol is the way to go. Takeda looked over all of the plays Ukai wrote out. "Still there sure are a lot of attack patterns. Are we using all of these?"

"It depends. We need them to focus on the game in front of them." He said, "But we need to pay attention to all the games after this one too." They then watched Suga set a quick attack to Shōyō, which was hit perfectly, "That Hinata-Sugawara fast attack is starting to come together!"

On the court, Kageyama and Asahi were working together on their sets and spikes. Kageyama jumped up to his senpai with wide eyes, "Azumane, what did you think of that last toss? Was it too high or too low? What did you think?"

Asahi started to sweat at the intensity coming from the king, "Uh, well I'm okay wit-"

Kageyama insisted, "Nothing is too trivial! Don't hold back! I'll adjust!"

"Really?" Asahi said in apprehension, not totally prepared at the exuberant manner Kageyama was talking to him with. He scratched his chin, "Okay, then how about just a little higher? Oh, and also make it a little further from the net."

"Absolutely!" Kageyama exclaimed, "I would like to do another 10!"

"What?"

"Should we do more? Okay, let's do 20!"

Asahi shook his head rapidly, "No, no, that isn't what I meant."

"He's so aggressive," Endo laughed loudly at the worried expression on Asahi's face. He wasn't sure if he should go over there and save his big teddy bear or just let the first-year bother him. Either way, it's entertaining.

On the sidelines, Sakura snickered, "I've never seen him so worked up like this." Of course, she had to take a photo of him. For blackmail, obviously.

Kageyama still hadn't let up, "Do you mean you want to practice a different pattern?"

Though Asahi was saved when Daichi called out, "Hey, you guys! We've stayed late enough!"

"Yes, Sir!"

So all of the boys started their clean-up. Daichi reprimanded Kageyama and Shōyō for racing while mopping and Endo tossing stray balls at Suga. When clean-up was finally done, all the boys got their jackets, their school bags and headed out of the gym after saying goodbye to their advisor and coach.

It seemed like Kageyama and Shōyō were going to race once again. This time down the hill towards the shop at the bottom of the hill. All of the boys started heading down, laughing and sighing at the fact that even after practice the troublesome duo still had so much energy. Sakura stuck to the back of the group, her walking pace was far slower than the others, especially since they were so much taller. Curse these volleyball giants and their long legs.

She walked lazily besides really the only person she tolerated in the club and the person she may despise the most. Sakura doesn't have much of a problem being with Yamaguchi. Ever since their private talk the other day, she feels like she can be comfortable around him. She opened up a bit to him, and he was nice to her and didn't seem to want to push her own anyway. So she accepted him as a friend at this point. Tsukishima, obviously, was on a different level. She cannot tolerate him and his snarky comments most of the time. He's a bully, and she hates him for it. End of story.

"Oh, you guys can go ahead," Yamaguchi suddenly said as he paused in his steps, which caused his two friends to do the same. "I have somewhere to go before I head home."

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at him, "You sure."

Yamaguchi nodded his head with a smile, a bit touched that Tsukishima was worried about him just a little. "Yeah, I'll be fine. See you guys tomorrow. Make sure you get plenty of rest, Tsukki." He smiled brightly and sweetly at him.

The blonde clicked his tongue, "Whatever, see you."

"Bye, Tadashi," Sakura said with a small smile.

The boy flushed slightly at the fact that she called him by his first name and smiled widely. "Bye, Sakura!" He really hasn't gotten used to the fact that Sakura and he are on first-name basis.

As he started his trek to whatever errand he had to run, Tsukishima and Sakura were left alone. Something that could go one of two ways. One, they could just stay silent and not speak to each other on their walk to the store. Or two, one of them was going to say something to the other just to rile them up. Of course, it was going to be the latter since Tsukishima was glancing at the girl from the corner of his eyes.

"It's weird."

Sakura sighed, a bit annoyed that he actually wanted to start a conversation with her. Though she'd humor him for now. "Weird?"

"That you actually made friends with Tadashi."

"Is it?" She raised an uninterested eyebrow, still not batting an eye at him, "Hm."

It seemed like pointing out the fact that she doesn't have many friends were getting to her. Tsukishima really was getting annoyed with how he couldn't annoy her. "Why do you always stay so late anyway? Don't you have anything better to do?"

She shrugged her small shoulders, "I guess not. It's far more entertaining watching you guys mess up during practice than just studying at home." She could tell that he was trying to rile her up. He was trying everything he could, it seemed. He was bringing up some sensitive topics for her but she wasn't going to take the bait. Ever since she stood up for herself during the gallery, Tsukishima has been poking and prodding at her a bit more lately. It was beyond annoying.

He scoffed, "I find it quite pathetic that you seem to have separation anxiety from your brother."

Sakkura could feel herself wanting to retaliate at that, but she kept her cool. Tsukishima watched as she took a deep breath through her nose and let it out through her mouth. Obviously, she was calming herself down before speaking. She only hummed in reply, trying to act like what he was saying wasn't actually getting to her. "Hn."

That topic didn't seem to bother her as Tsukishima had hoped. Though he wasn't going to give up on trying to rile her up. Instead, he tried something else. "So you turned down a scholarship to Shiratorizawa for what exactly?"

Sakura bristled slightly. Why was he trying so hard to annoy her this way? If only she had longer legs to speed walk away from him. Though his much taller stature would catch up with her easily. She huffed, "It's none of your business why I do what I do."

"I find it interesting that you seem to revolve your existence around your brother." He commented, already seeing that she was starting to boil over. His smug smirk graced his lips as his golden eyes started to glow in the dark, "You know, you really are just a clone of your brothers, a shadow."

"Yeah, like I haven't heard that before." Sakura scoffed at his attempt at offending her. Seriously, he should be a little more original. She paused and turned to face him completely. Her dull, brown eyes looked up at him as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Look, I didn't go to Shiratorizawa because I didn't think I'd fit in with those rich kids. Besides, it's better to go to a local school than one a bit farther away." She was telling the truth, at least half of it. A part of why she didn't go to the school was because of the distance, but also the fact that she'd be away from her family, more specifically her brother. So she isn't lying when she says the fact that it was too far away was a factor in her decision.

Tsukishima seemed to stare at her for a while, trying to gauge whether or not she was lying about it. He wouldn't put it past her to lie to him about something like this. Though her indifferent mask seemed to be keeping him from finding out if she was telling the truth or not. "Tch." He tsked before starting to walk off again, "I'm sure you're just trying to convince yourself of that."

Sakura glanced at him with her sharp brown eyes and followed after him, "Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. You'll never know."

It was silent between them. The only sound was the distant shouts of the rest of the team at the bottom of the hill and their footsteps on the ground. Neither of them was looking at each other, more than content with ignoring each other. Though Tsukishima broke the silence again, "You're nothing like your brother." Obviously, Sakura rolled her eyes. "At this point, he'd be telling me his life story about exactly why he would or wouldn't."

Sakura let out a small chuckle at that, he wasn't wrong there. "Hm, Shōyō just likes to be dramatic most of the time. I'm not. It's not something you need to know, especially since we aren't friends." Her voice turned bitter at stating that fact. It's obvious that she was more than annoyed at the fact that Tsukishima wanted to know things about her, personal things. If he wasn't being such an ass about everything and a bit more sincere then perhaps she would be more inclined to talk to him about it at least a little. But he's just being a bully, so she's not going to give him anything.

"Hey, Tsukishima, Hinata-chan!" Tanaka called and held out a bag to them, "Daichi got us meat buns!"

Tsukishima took the bag from him before handing it to Sakura, "Oh, thanks."

"Hn," Sakura said and took her own meat bun out of the bag. If there is one thing that's good that comes from staying late with the volleyball club, it's the free food Daichi gets them from time to time.

Tanaka noticed their missing friend, "Isn't Yamaguchi with you guys?"

"He said he had an errand and went home," Tsukishima explained as he subtly watched Sakura walk over to her brother. He eyed her as she listened to her brother talks excitedly about something stupid or other. Though the way that her usually bored gaze turned amused and affectionate, gave him pause. Yeah, she wasn't like her brother. And Tsukishima wanted to know exactly why.

---

The days went by pretty quickly. At least, it felt really quick to Endo. Perhaps it was because he was having quite a lot of fun nowadays both at school and practice. True to his father's word, after the one meeting that he had gone to, none of them mentioned the company again. It was pure bliss. Sure, his father and he didn't talk all that much, but that's nothing new. Besides, his father is never usually home when he's there. Hideaki would usually stay at work quite late and leave really early in the morning, so it's not like either of them say that to each other that much. Still, it brightened Endo's week now that he didn't have to think about it at all.

Practicing was quite fun for Endo. All he focused on was trying to learn new attacks and such that Ukai had come up with. Sure, he's still not the best player on the team, and really is only good at his serves, but it didn't mean he didn't have any fun. All he can really do is get better, and having his friends there to cheer him on, and a new coach to teach them, it can only go up from here, right?

Though tomorrow was the day, the tournament starts tomorrow. Endo was quite excited about it, he wouldn't lie. Tournaments were so fun for him. Drama can come around from every corner when teams clash against each other. Besides, Endo doesn't get stressed at games or such. He can keep a cool head most of the time, the pressure doesn't really get to him. Most likely because he doesn't put too much worth into winning or losing. He could care less about who comes out on top, so that might be why he doesn't usually get so worked up about them. Still doesn't mean he wouldn't put in the work. After all, if he didn't he'd be letting his friends down.

"Well done, everyone!" Ukai called now that they finished practice. It was a bit earlier than usual since the last few rays of light were still gazing down on the ground even if they were dim. "Let's quit early and go home to rest up."

"Yes, Sir!"

"Okay, that's all-"

"One minute!" Takeda suddenly exclaimed, "Can I add one more comment from Shimizu and Sakura?"

All of the attention was now turned to the manager and the girl who was sitting on the ground. Sakura jumped at the fact that she was included in this and shook her head with a click of her tongue. She crossed her arms over her chest and shifted on her feet, "Well, it's more from Kiyoko-senpai, but whatever." The manager had approached her the other day and asked her to help with something that Kiyoko found in the closet. It seemed to be completely forgotten and abandoned, so it took some time to clean it up. Though Sakura has to say that she's quite… happy to see it. She actually couldn't wait to sit in the stands right behind it to cheer on her brother.

"I'm not that good at pep talks, so…" She trailed off and turned to head towards the ladder to the upper floor. She waved to the photographer, "Sakura, if you please."

The younger girl got up and followed her senpai, "Sure thing." The two girls climbed the ladder with Kiyoko carrying a black cloth with her. The team watched in anticipation to see just what the girls were going to do.

"What's that?" Nishinoya questioned what everyone was thinking.

They then flipped the banner over the edge to show the team. It was completely black with the kanji for "Fly" written boldly in white. All of the boys were in awe of it, since they never used it before.

"I didn't know we had this!"

Kiyoko looked down at them, a tad bit bashfully, "I found it while I was cleaning so I washed it."

Extremely motivated, Tanaka and Nishinoya both pumped their fists. Tanaka shouted, "Now I'm on fire!"

Nishinoya agreed on with rosy cheek, "I'm impressed, Kiyoko. You do good work!"

"Okay! It's time to get psych-"

"Not yet." Diachi cut them off, "I think… there's more."

"Y…" Kiyoko started now with everyone once again turning all of their attention to her.

All the boys were hanging off of her words, anticipating just what she would say, "'Y…'?"

She took a deep breath as her cheeks started to turn a rosy red, "You can do it."

It was silent. All of the boys were now processing what she had said. The only sound in the gym now was Kiyoko's sneakers on the ground as she ran off. It took a moment for them to understand what she had just done. Eventually, after a second, all of the upperclassmen break out of their stupor, only to start balling their eyes out.

"Shimizu…" Daichi started to sob, "has never done this before!"

Kageyama and Shōyō stared at him, "You too, Captain?"

"These people are dumbstruck," Tsukishima said, disturbed.

Yamaguchi started to sweat, "Usually, they're so boisterous."

Endo smiled with some tears in his eyes, "She's so kind."

Noticing that his sister was still standing up behind the banner, Shōyō jumped with his eyes sparkling, "Oh, Imouto! Say something too!"

The other orange-haired teen jumped now that everyone was looking up at her expectedly. Their teary eyes staring at her caused her to squirm a bit, "Huh? Why me? Um…" It took her a moment to figure out what to say. Much like Kiyoko, she also isn't good at pep talks. Sure, she's pretty good at hyping up her brother from time to time, but not an entire team. Plus, Shōyō understands Sakura far more than the others, so she didn't even have to say much for him to understand her support for him. So she flashed them a small, soft smile with a bit of uncertainty in her voice, "good luck?"

That certainly gave every boy a jolt, since they've never really seen her smile in such a manner. Only a few people have come close to seeing the corners of her lips lift up slightly in a smile. Though this time, while appearing a little unsure of herself, the smile was still far more genuine than anyone on the team has seen. Though the boys then broke out into even more cheers at the sight, which scared the poor girl just a little bit.

"Wait, what is this?" Tsukishima shouted, more than unnerved by how they reacted to Kiyoko and Sakura, "This is getting out of hand!"

Through his sniffles, Daichi shouted, "We're going to win round one!"

"Yessir!"

Nishinoya cried out, "Kiyoko! Sakura!"

"I have the strength of 100 men!" Tanaka screamed.

Despite the strange scene, Sakura was… excited. They were all pumped up for the tournament tomorrow, and she is no exception. The second tournament that her brother has ever been in and his odds look far better than in middle school. As she watched the team shout and freak out with each other down below, she truly couldn't help herself from smiling softly at them all. Yeah, things are looking pretty good for her brother.

 ---

Yawning loudly, Sakura ran a hand through her slightly messy hair. Today was the day. Yet another important day for her brother since the first match for the tournament is today. Now, while she was tired, Sakura was also a bit energetic. It's kind of contagious between the twins. Sakura is usually able to control herself and keep herself cool and collected, but it just seemed like today was the day that she was willing to be more excited than usual.

"Can you believe it, imouto!" Shōyō exclaimed as he quickly put his bike away and seemed to be buzzing in place. "We're heading to the tournament today!"

"Yeah, it's great." Sakura smiled subtly at her brother's enthusiasm.

He jumped up and down like a rabbit, "You'll cheer us on, right?"

"Of course I will." She said almost offended that he would think she wouldn't, "Mainly just you though, I don't really care about the others."

Shōyō tilted his head. Even after all this time, Sakura still didn't seem like she liked the other guys. "Why not? Aren't you friends with any of the others?"

"Hm, no." She then thought about it for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe Yamaguchi. Or Suga, Daichi and Asahi. Though that's it." There were only a few others that she tolerates. Perhaps the second-years, sans Tanaka and Nishinoya, though that's about it. The others were either too annoying or an asshole(*cough* Tsukishima *cough*). Though as a whole she'd cheer on the entire team. If they all succeed then that means Shōyō succeeds.

"Oh, I thought you'd-"

The twins then suddenly heard shouting from behind them and the ground started to rumble as Kageyama came racing up from behind him. He passed the two, picking up the wind around them and nearly knocking the twins over. Shōyō growled and quickly took off after him, "Why, you! Come back here, Kageyama!"

Sakura readjusted her uniform after it was messed up by the sprinting setter. She clicked her tongue but let it slide. For today, she could understand why they might have an unimaginable amount of energy. Though they usually are like this so perhaps she shouldn't let it slide. Oh, well.

Though it's not like she was going to race after them. She'd let them run to the club room while she continued her calm, lazy pace. Doing this not only allowed her to not exert any extra energy and contemplate things.

Ever since coming to Karasuno, she's had hope. A hope of her brother finally getting exactly what he wants. An opportunity to prove himself as a player. To show everyone that no matter how short he is, he's still an amazing player. All she wants is for him to prove himself and be the best that he can be. Joining Karasuno seems to have given him the opportunity to do so.

She knows that he has improved exponentially since middle school. He's refined his technique and has a team that can support him in the game and such. While she can support him from the sidelines and give him encouragement, he always needed an actual team to be on the court with him. Karasuno certainly is that team for him.

While she has to admit that some of his team members are annoying, they're talented. They're good enough to help her brother achieve his goal. Some of them get on her nerves, however, she'll look past it for the sake of Shōyō.

Sakura is proud of Shōyō. He's worked hard to get towards this. She knows that this is just one step towards winning as many games as he can. He'll stay on the court for as long as he can. That's all she hopes. Then he'll become just like the Tiny Giant, his idol.

Though, she sighed while getting closer to the club room. Finally turning the corner and seeing Shōyō and Kageyama talking about something, she watched them from her position. She didn't want him to lose. Even if it's a bit of a possibility. They are still a new team, the odds are stacked against them no matter how much they practice. Karasuno is going against other teams that are known to be far more put together. As a pessimist, she's not going to let go of the fact that they may lose. While Shōyō may not think it's possible, Sakura would be the realist of the two and not be too hopeful about everything going right for them.

The last thing she wants is to see her brother get upset after losing despite putting in so much work and having this new team. She'd hate to see that. Even if she's more than prepared for it happening.