Chapter Twenty-Six: Evolution

"LOOKS LIKE THE KING HAS COME BACK to occupy his throne," Sakura hummed in thought. It didn't surprise her that he was put back in eventually. Suga had been a good substitute for Kageyama for a while, by shaking things up against Aoba Johsai and giving each boy some encouragement. Though now that Karasuno was able to have somewhat of a lead, it was time to put that quick freak back into motion. 

She really hoped that Kageyama was calmer now. If he had just been benched and brought back onto the court but still hadn't gotten his control back, then what's the point. Her sharp brown eyes surveyed him. Sakura could tell the mood change in him. There was something that had clicked in him after his break on the bench. So perhaps he was calm now. Though even she could spy that creepy smile he had spread on his face, and it certainly was unsettling.

On the sidelines, after Endo finished praising Suga and patting him on the back, the first-years stared at their senpai in admiration. More specifically Yamaguchi did since Tsukishima could care less. 

"Don't look so amazed," Suga chuckled lightly at the stares, "I was pretty nervous."

"Really?" Yamaguchi asked in surprise. It didn't seem like he was that nervous to play, nor should he have been. He's a third-year, he must have played plenty of games like this to not be nervous.

"Of course, there were third-years that played at last year's Inter-High, so I wasn't able to play in a lot of official matches." He then smiled ruefully, "I hate to say it, but it's likely that Kageyama's had his feet on the court more than I have."

It's quite a disheartening fact. Suga had been on this team for three years, never got to have the starting position due to being an underclassman. Now, the moment that he is the senior player, a first-year keeps him in the same position. Endo could tell that Suga might be a bit bitter about it since he knew how hard Suga worked to get to this point. He had forged his spot onto the team ever since their first year together. Though he has a feeling that Suga was willing to let it happen. Their dream was to get to national, and if stepping to the side to let Kageyama stay on the court longer gave them that opportunity, Endo isn't surprised that Suga would let it happen. He also finds it quite admirable. To be honest, if it were Endo, he would be petty as hell because of it. Though that was just him.

Tsukishima then spoke up, "Despite that, Kageyama was freaking out quite a bit." They all looked over to the first-year setter, "Speaking of, the King's going right into a serve. Do you think he'll be all right?" The group turned to watch as the setter got ready for his first serve back onto the court.

"He'll be fine!" Endo shrugged his shoulders. "Did you see that look on his face? Looked like he was all serious and giddy to be back on the court." He did his best to mimic the look on Kageyama's face, though they just thought he looked constipation. Which either means Endo was doing a bad job of imitating Kageyama or Kageyama just looked constipated. Who knows.

Suga agreed, "Kageyama looks pretty happy."

Yamaguchi nodded, "Yeah."

"It sort of puts me at ease," The upperclassman smiled.

"What does?"

"Apparently every player feels the same pride about the fact that they're going to be on the court. No matter whether they're some genius or just a regular guy."

Endo's eyebrows furrowed slightly at that. Would he consider himself in that? He certainly wouldn't say that he's a regular guy, extraordinary actually(arrogant, more like), and he would describe himself as a genius but not a genius volleyball player. Is he prideful when he plays? Arrogant perhaps, though is he proud to play volleyball? He likes to play with his friends, though he wasn't good enough to the point he'd say he's proud to play. Endo isn't necessarily the worst player out there, but he might be the worst on his team. After all, he's a third-year who isn't even considered to play at all. Throughout this tournament, after all, he hasn't set foot on the court to play during any of these games. Suga at least got subbed in for Kageyama… Endo wasn't lucky enough to play. Though he can't sulk about it, Kinoshita, Ennoshita, and Narita hadn't gotten to play either, so Endo shouldn't act like he's the only one being kept off the court. Though once again, he has to remind himself, he isn't a volleyball guy like his friends. He could care less about playing or winning games. So why are his thoughts wandering around to this topic now?

On the court, Kageyama took a moment to calm his breathing down, not seeming to be disturbed or nervous about having to serve right after getting off the bench. Everyone could feel just how serious he was at the moment. He jumped up to serve and was able to get a service ace, tying the score at 17-17. Everyone cheered over that. It's a strong start for a player just coming off of the sidelines! Though what else would they have expected from the king?

He went to do it again but Aoba Johsai was able to save it. Even if they got that, Shōyō and Kageyama performed a spike and got a point. This time doing it without even saying anything! Perhaps the crows were starting to gain momentum. Especially if they were going to throw off their opponent like that.

"All right!" Shimada exclaimed while Takinoue smirked, "Now Karasuno's turning things around!"

Sakura got a photo of her brother and Kageyama cheering over their point. It was good to see the tides turning, if ever so slightly in their favor. It may not be all that much, but even a little bit could mean a lot in the long run. One point won now could end up pushing Karasuno over the edge to come out as the winner of the set. An optimistic thought for Sakura to have.

"Hinata's so sharp! Damn!" Suga shouted in amazement, "And Kageyama's playing like a fish in water." The others stared at him with a tilt of their head as they thought about it. Tobiou does mean flying fish after all. 

Endo chuckled, "You're talking like a proud mother, Suga." He sure did love the way that his friend acted as a mama bird. It was quite cute. Suga rolled his eyes slightly but just continued to praise the underclassmen.

Kageyama served once again and the ball was received relatively easily by their opponents. It wasn't too much of a surprise that Aoba Johsai was able to get the point there. The team might have been slowed down by Karasuno, but there was no stopping them, completely at least.

So Aoba Johsai was next to serve and it was Kunimi who was the one to step up for it. Tanaka received it and sent it to Kageyama, which let him set it for Shōyō who got a point. Even if Aoba Johsai could stop them, Karasuno was coming back even stronger than ever. Things were finally turned on their head. Though now with Kageyama back on the court, there was no doubt that the boys were going to use the quick freak any chance they got. Especially now that they had switched from verbal cues to just hand gestures, that was definitely giving them an advantage in this set.

Everyone cheered for that as Takinoue shouted, "All right! They broke 20 points first!"

First to twenty points, Sakura mused to herself, they might just win this set, if they're lucky.

Though as they paused between switching out the libero and middle blocker, Kageyama and Tsukishima shared a distrustful gaze between each other. Hopefully, this won't cause any issues with their plays.

"Don't be so uptight, bean stock!" Endo shouted from the sidelines which earned a smack in the side from Suga. All he wanted to do was give some encouraging advice, what's wrong with that? Though Suga certainly didn't buy that and just whacked Endo on the head again for his thoughts. Endo scowled, how his friend seemed to know what he was thinking was disturbing. It was going to be interesting once again with Tsukishima back on the court with Kageyama. The two don't get along all that well, that's obvious.

Brown eyes narrowed as Sakura watched the team interact with each other. From what she knows of Tsukishima, he certainly isn't the trusting type. That's more than obvious. He doesn't even seem to really trust Yamaguchi that much, and that boy was probably the blond's best friend. Sure, some would say that she has a similar personality to that giant, to her chagrin, but at least she allows herself to trust people. She's made an effort to make friends with those around her, all he's done is make enemies. Even on the court, she's certain that Tsukishima doesn't trust Kageyama as a setter either. Whether that's because he thinks the prodigy is a freak or he just despises him that much, is a bit of a toss-up. Maybe it's both.

Shōyō served it, and thankfully it went over, just by a hair. It clipped the top of the net and dropped over onto Aoba Johsai's side of the court. Matsukawa was able to save it with a dive but it gave Karasuno a chance ball. Daichi passed it to Kagayama who set it for Asahi. The ace wasn't able to get it through the block, but he was able to hit the blockers' hands and let it go out of bounds. Yet another point for Karasuno!

With a score of 21-19 in Karasuno's favor, it was definitely crunch time for this set. Sakura leaned on the railing with a tilt of her head as she muttered to herself, "Now it's the final scene…" Only a few more points and Karaunos might just win this set. These next few moments are going to help determine who goes into the semi-finals. Possibly. They still have the third set to play, but if Karasuno wins now, it means they get to play another set. This means even a larger chance of moving on to the next round of games.

"I guess even Seijoh would call a time-out after that," Takinoue smirked, obviously more than smug about Aoba Johsai needing someway to slow Karasuno down.

On the sidelines, Endo clapped their little shorty on the back. The poor boy nearly choked on his water at that. His dazzling smile was illuminated in the fluorescent lights of the gym as he peered down at the younger boy, "You're doing pretty good out there, short stuff!"

Shōyō saved himself from drowning on his own drink before beaming at his upperclassmen, "Oh, thanks Endo-senpai!"

"Though that serve was a bit iffy," Endo commented which caused Shōyō to blanch at the reminder. Endo chuckled loudly, "thankfully it went over, if it didn't, who knows what the score would be now."

Asahi slid over to the pair, a bit apprehensive at the expression on Shōyō's face. "Joji, don't bring him down like that."

"What?" Endo furrowed his eyebrows, "I'm not bringing him down! Just congratulating him on his messed up serve that actually worked out!" Asahi just sighed, knowing that Endo is either doing this just because, or he doesn't see how his phrasing would upset the young boy. Shōyō definitely seemed to be rethinking that play in his head, the look of horror and embarrassment on his features as he thought of what could have happened if it didn't make it over the net. Endo didn't see an error in his words, since they were true, though he did watch in amusement and slight worry, as a few of his other teammates tried to get Shōyō out of his frozen state.

The next points were then played after the time-out was over. Aoba Johsai gained on Karasuno just a bit, but the crows were doing their best to keep the lead. Tsukishima had just spiked the ball, but Hanamaki was able to receive it. Even if the blond had a decent spike, it wasn't going to get through Aoba Johsai's defense so easily.

"He picked it up! Here comes the counter!" Shimada shouted as they watched Aoba Johsai get yet another point, "They caught up!"

Takinoue shook his head, "Damn, they're tied now."

There were ups and downs just about every second here. One moment it was in Karasuno's favor and another Seijoh was suddenly gaining on them. Though now with the score at 21-21, who knows where this is going to end up. Seeing the score, Karasuno called for a time-out. At this point, they needed to slow Seijoh completely if they wanted a chance at winning this set.

The boys all gathered around their coach to hear what he had to say. "Come on, your faces! They're all tense! Calm down and go!" Ukai then suddenly grabbed Tanaka by the face, "Your moves are great!"

Through his pinched cheeks, Tanaka was able to get out, "Yeah."

Endo chuckled at the display and leaned over to Enoshita, "I don't think I've said this, but Ukai is definitely a good coach."

The second-year nodded his head in agreement, "yeah."

"He's not necessarily as cutthroat as old man Ukai, but certainly intense and effective." He shrugged his shoulders after saying that. Yeah, the previous Ukai was definitely a perfectionist and tough on them when he had coached them previously. Endo certainly had been quite intimidated by the old man when he came to work with them for a while. Ukai definitely busted their asses into shape, even though it didn't totally work. Though hey, he did what he could with the team he had and it was… ok. Endo certainly could do without some of the shouting the old man Ukai did, but it was fine. Though as he was thinking back to that time, something popped into his head. He furrowed his eyebrows, "say, you three, I have a question."

"Yeah?" Ennoshita asked while he, Kinoshita, and Narita gave their attention to the blond third-year.

"How do you feel about being benchwarmers? I mean, you guys wanna play right?"

The three shared a look, a bit confused as to why their upperclassman was asking this. Kinosita said, "Well yeah, we all want to play, why do you ask?"

"Oh, um, it's just I was wondering how you guys felt about it." Endo blinked, not even sure why he was asking himself, "I mean you guys are really into volleyball, so how do you feel about this?"

Narita shrugged his shoulders, "It's not ideal. I would rather get to play."

"Yeah, we all want to play, but I think we know that we're not exactly what the team needs right now," Ennoshita explained.

Endo stared at them for a long moment and tilted his head, "Ah."

He raised an eyebrow, "You seem confused."

"Oh, no, no. I was just wondering!" Endo chuckled while waving his hand dismissively, "After all, I've never really been a benchwarmer, so I wanted some insight from professionals."

The trio of second-years all collectively bristled at that. Ennoshita's eye even twitched at the jab. They weren't necessarily benchwarmers last year, since the upperclassmen took priority over them, the trio being first-years then. Sure they didn't play as much as their teammates, but it was somewhat expected at the time. This year they did think that they would get more of a chance to play. Though now with the talent of the first-years it seemed like they'd have to wait until next year to be on the court more. 

Endo turned away from them, keeping his smile on his face. Though his mind started to spin as he thought about why he even wanted to know. Was it insensitive to even ask them that? He had a feeling it might have been. However, when has he ever worried about being insensitive to someone, even if they are a friend? Just about never. But he had to wonder, why was he curious about what they thought?

Was that because he was trying to compare how they feel about it to how he does? He would say no because he doesn't know what he would ask. For some reason, in the course of these few games, Endo's outlook on volleyball was ever so changing. Endo didn't seem to realize it, and no one else probably saw it either, besides possibly Asahi. However, the blond was slowly… beginning to care about the games. Sure, beforehand Endo cared enough about volleyball to practice with the team and pay attention to plays and such. Though not enough to really care about winning them. These past few games were a bit different. Maybe it started with the game against Date Tech, seeing his friends get revenge against the iron wall had done something in him. Seeing his friends so ecstatic about winning that game against an opponent they thought was near impossible to beat must have affected him in a way he didn't know what to do with. Not only that but maybe because he was on a team that was up against Aoba Johsai, Oikawa's team, that could have been doing something to him too. 

He never got to play against Oikawa in an official game, so maybe getting this shot to actually do it was making him a bit more jittery or something. Endo never had an issue with being on the sidelines for a game, perhaps he even preferred it so he could watch Asahi play. Though this was different. It was almost like… Endo wanted to be a part of the game. A sudden longing that had grown in him in the past few days to be on the court. So perhaps he was asking his other teammates how it felt to be a benchwarmer to see if he felt the same way. Still, it wasn't clear if he felt the same as them, but something had changed in Endo. If he knew it or not was unclear. He'll find out eventually.

Finally, with the time-out over, the boys all headed back onto the court. The ball was served over and Nishinoya received it. Kageyama then set to Tsukishima again. This time, Tsukishima got a point by performing a feint right over Aoba Johsai's blockers. That cheered everyone on Karasuno's side after that.

"Yeah!" Narita cheered, "He got over the block!"

Kinoshita was buzzing in place, "He totally did it! How annoying!"

"Oh, I can imagine their blood is boiling over that!" Endo laughed.

Ennoshita placed a hand on his heart with a relieved sigh, "I thought that he was going to hit it hard up until the end."

"Nice!" Yamaguchi exclaimed, "Tsukishima's lively after getting through the opponent's guard."

"'Lively'?" Shōyō tilted her head, never imagining that Tsukishima would ever be described as something like "lively".

Seeing that they were having a bit of a hard time thinking that it was impossible for Tsukishima to be anything other than a jerk, Yamaguchi chuckled. "It's hard to see, but that expression he has means he's pretty into it," He explained to them.

Shōyō blinked while looking at the expression on the other middle blocker's face, "Oh." The expression was lighter than usual, and he didn't have an annoyed scowl on it. So maybe he was having a bit of fun during this. Then again, Tsukishima would definitely take pleasure in annoying people like this.

Up in the stands, Takinoue turned down to the teenage girl and questioned her, "That number 11, he's a pretty good player isn't he?" He certainly wanted to know more about the new first-years. Sure, they've seen them play quite a few times at this point. Though who they are as players are really shining now in this high-pressure situation. Plus, Sakura has insight on the team as being a friend of most of the players. So she knows them all as athletes and also as friends and classmates.

"Sure," Sakura huffed after a moment of thinking, "He's pretty intelligent when it comes to volleyball." 

Shimada raised an eyebrow at the seeming contempt that was in her tone, "You don't sound like you like him that much."

She clicked her tongue, her bored eyes stared at the tall blond on the court, "He's annoying." Sakura didn't necessarily want to say anything too personal about him. Even though her voice betrayed her slightly, she did her best to keep her personal feelings to herself. Even if she didn't like Tsukishima all that much, she's not going to put her own outlook on him to other people. The issues that she had with him were, as expected, personal to them. She's certain that Tsukishima doesn't act all that much differently with other people, but she wouldn't say to other people what she felt like he is as a person without them experiencing it themselves. For all she knows, Tsukishima might have respect for their elders, perhaps he would be nice to these alumni. Though she can't be certain. Then again, she has an inkling feeling that he's an asshole to everyone, no matter who they are. Still, she wouldn't speak ill of him to these guys, at least not yet. Nor does she want to talk about him all that much at the moment.

There was something more there, Takinoue and Shimada could just tell. However, it was probably just some high school kid stuff, drama that they were more than happy to not have now that they didn't go to school anymore. The older guys just shared a look with each other before shrugging at each other. Some teenage drama was the least of their worries as they turned back to the game.

The next points were played with Asahi getting the team a point, only for it to win back by Matsukawa. With the score of 23-22 in Karauno's favor, Aoba Johsai seemed to be desperate in keeping Karasuno at bay. Tsukishima had done another feint, but Watari was able to save it just barely. Oikawa was able to set it for Kindaichi to spike it, but Tanaka was there to save it.

"Be careful!" Takinoue exclaimed.

Shimada seemed to start to sweat, "They really need to get this."

Sakura's eyes started to become calculating as she watched Tsukishima jump up for the spike. It wasn't going to be a feint, she just knew it. There was no way that they could just keep doing feints. Aoba Johsai's libero had already caught on to the feints and can save them near perfectly. So if the libero was expecting a feint, then it wouldn't be good to do just that. As she suspected, Tsukishima had spiked the ball quite hard instead of feinting. Everyone cheered for that quite happily. Yes, Tsukishima is an intelligent player, and also highly annoying. Though Sakura at least appreciated that he was annoying for Aoba Johsai at the moment. He brought the score to 24-22, something that amazed just about everyone.

Though even before they could cheer for that feat, Iawizumi was there to get Aoba Johsai the point back. They were making sure that they were only one point behind Karasuno. The score was now 24-23, set point for Karasuno. This was the deciding moment. In the next few minutes, Karasuno could shake up this match and actually win a set against their opponent, or their run in the tournament could come to an end right now. Of course, at this very pivotal moment, Oikawa was up to serve. His expression was stony and focused as he got himself ready. No doubt thinking about how he got to this point, how he had come to despise both Kageyama and Endo for his own reasons. Sure he didn't get to play against Endo and defeat him as he would have. Though at least he'd get to do it to Kageyama, a bigger nuisance than Endo in his eyes at the moment. Kageyama was his underclassman and had been a pain ever since they were on the same team. He hates prodigies like him. Not having to work hard like him to be good at the sport. Replacing him as a setter when they were in middle school, being And Endo, his old friend, who was stuck-up, selfish, and two-faced. While he wasn't that annoying when it came to volleyball, he certainly made things off the court unbearable when they talked. He may have stayed in touch with him out of guilt for the past, but that didn't mean he thought Endo was a good guy. Though that was behind them, Oikawa has to focus on now, and that meant beating Karasuno to try his luck against Shiratorizawa once again. 

So after some encouraging words from his best friend, he served the ball with his killer serve. He aimed for the far right corner on Karasuno's side, but Nishinoya saved it

"It went up!" Shimada shouted in glee.

"Yeah!" Takinoue exclaimed but started to sweat as they watched the ball fly over the net, "But it's going to go right back to Seijoh's side."

The chance ball flew back over to Watari who passed it to Oikawa. At first, it appeared that Kindaichi was gonna be the one to spike it, but at the last moment, Kageyama and Tsukishma moved to block Iwaizumi. At the last moment, Oikawa seemed to be relying on his best friend to get the point. Though it wasn't enough since Kageyama could see through it.

That was it! Karasuno actually won the set!

Everyone was cheering for that, even including Sakura who at least clapped happily and smiled. As soon as they won the set, Shoyo had looked up to the stands to wave at her excitedly. It made her chest swell with pride as she gave him a thumbs up with both hands and a large smile. Of course, a few others on the team caught the smile and were both excited about the win and swooning for how adorable Sakura looked. She ignored them and made sure to get plenty of photos of the boys celebrating as they got ready for the next set.

Endo was more than happy to jump around with his underclassmen after the win. He was whooping and hollering loudly about it, sticking his tongue out at Oikawa who just bristled and glared at him. Endo clapped Nishinoya and Asahi on the backs as they drank some water. "You guys are badass out there! Keep it up and we'll beat Crapykawa!"

"Don't call people names, Joji." Asahi sighed. It's rude."

"It's just an endearing nickname I have for him, besides it's not rude if it's true, Oikawa can be quite a crappy guy." Nishinoya snickered at Endo's statement as Asahi just shook his head. Though he can't really say that he disagrees with Endo, after the years that he's known him and has heard the stories about Oikawa, he was right. Asahi didn't like to hear the terrible way that Endo was treated by his friends in the past and vowed to never let that happen to him again. Though this game, it was quite satisfying to win this set against him. Even more so if they got to win the game. Then Asahi could say that he not only got revenge against the iron wall for making him question his skills but also against Oikawa for having hurt his best friend. Though first, they had to get through the final set.