Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Third Day

WAKING UP IN THE HINATA HOUSEHOLD WAS a much quieter affair than normal. Shōyō wasn't as energetic when he had woken up and barely spoke a word to his family. Not even his little sister, Natsu, had really said anything when she watched her older siblings leave for school. She obviously could feel the downtrodden mood and didn't know how to make him feel better.

Sakura didn't want to bother Shōyō by asking him if he was all right. She knew that he wasn't. From the way that his brown eyes were misty and his lips always seemed to quiver, as if he was a hair away from busting out into tears, there was no way he was okay. Their bike ride was quiet besides their breathing as they trekked up and down the mountain. All the while, Sakura was thinking about how she tried her best last night to make him feel okay. She had comforted him all last night, not even reprimanding him for staying up later than usual. 

She's always been there to comfort him for everything, every loss, every injury, every issue. So she did the same as normal ever since the end of the game. She kept close to him, didn't say much, let him vent to her when he felt like it, and didn't leave him by himself. Shōyō doesn't usually like being by himself whenever he's sad. Sakura has helped him through a loss before, being the one game that he had during middle school. He had wanted to be close to her since he's a very physical person, which usually meant hugging her lots to make him feel better. Sakura may not like hugs all that much, but if it made her brother feel better she'd endure his hugs no matter how long it took to make him feel better. Though she couldn't make him feel completely better. He still lost. There's no changing that.

Though today it seemed like he was completely out of it, so Sakura was just going to leave him be for a while. He could usually bounce back pretty quickly when he was upset. Not this time, however. Perhaps he needed to just be alone for a bit. So when they put their bikes away, she bid him a hug goodbye and headed off to her own class. 

She went about her day like normal. She talked with Yachi about it all and she was sad to hear about Karasuno's loss in the tournament. Through stuttered words and a few apologies sprinkled in there, Yachi told Sakura that if she wanted to take her mind off of it then Yachi would help her out somehow.

It was a bit confusing though. Why would Sakura need to take her mind off of it? Sakura wasn't the one who played or was completely emotionally attached to the game. Plus, she basically assumed that this would happen. The only thing that would probably be affecting her would be how Shōyō was upset. She hates seeing her brother sad or frustrated to this point, so that's the only issue that she could see for her. 

She still appreciated the gesture from her newest friend. Maybe she'll take her up on that offer at some point, who knows. It's not like I'm upset about the game, Sakura lied to herself, I had a strong feeling that this would happen. She was upset but kept it to herself. After all, it would be a bit selfish of her to express how sad she was when her brother and his team were the ones really hurting.

A part of her was shaken after the game. Terribly so. During the game against Aoba Johsai she had started to grow hopeful for Karasuno. They had fought back against their opponent that Sakura actually thought she'd get to see them win it. She was so swept up in the emotions of the situation that he logical side of thinking was completely abandoned. 

She shouldn't have let that happen since she's basically lived her life by expecting failure to avoid heartache. At least, for the last few years she's grown accustomed to having that sentiment. It kept her from being hurt. This time it just didn't work completely. While it wasn't her team, or her accomplishment, so she isn't allowed to be emotional about it like her brother. So she pushed it aside and went about her day as easily as she could. Perhaps she was a bit more snippy and cold towards people today, but that didn't matter. Everyone assumed she was like that anyway, so what harm is there in being a bit more quiet than usual. It's not like anyone would care that she was rattled or that she was affected by this at all. 

---

It was a somber morning for all of the third years. Which was to be expected after yesterday's game. Due to this, some questions started to arise between them all. The most important being whether they would continue to stay on the team after this moment. They were the seniors and they had to think about what their futures will be like after this year. Should they decide to focus more on their future, or stick with the team? After such a bad defeat the other day, leaving the team might have been on their minds.

The third-years gathered together during break time on a stairway landing. Endo munched on an apple as he looked between his friends who looked beyond conflicted. He certainly didn't like seeing those types of expressions, but it was unavoidable. Hell, even he probably had his mask fall from time to time to show his near matching look. As much as he wanted to act like he was unaffected by the loss against Oikawa and his team, Endo couldn't completely lie. It bothered him in a way that he never knew could. Losses in volleyball didn't feel all that bad to him in the past. However, it was probably because this game was personal to him that it felt all that much worse.

Daichi gazed out of the window with a deeply conflicted expression on his face, "I think it's best that we back out here."

Asahi gasped, "Huh?" The three other teens looked to their captain in shock. After all, they didn't think Daichi out of all people would offer up the idea of leaving the team.

"I wanted all of us third-years to be able to compete in the spring tournament, so I wanted us to hang in there until then and go to Tokyo to fight. But…" Daichi pauses for a moment, thinking about their younger teammates. "After watching the first and second-years, I think it might be better to hand the club over to them. Their futures are so full of promise, that it might be better to let them start as mainstays of a new team. That way, the team will-"

"Daichi," Suga cut him off, "do you really mean that? It's true that, as captain, you're responsible for thinking about the team. But I don't think you need to completely remove yourself. If you've already made your decision, I won't object, but if that's not the case, then at least see things through to the end." He took a deep breath and continued on, "As I already said, I'm staying. If the first and second-years asked me to leave, then I'll think about it. And I'm staying even if you, Endo and Asahi leave."

Asahi jumped in, "I already said I'd stay yesterday!" 

"Me too, I wouldn't leave my friends hanging." Endo said while continuing to chomp on his apple. If his friends weren't leaving, then neither would he. After all, what else would he do with his time if he didn't spend time with his friends at the volleyball club?

"I'm not planning on going to college." Asahi explained, "If the first and second-years asked me to leave, I'd feel really bad." 

"I… Of course I want to keep playing." Daichi exclaimed, "I want to keep playing volleyball with you guys!"

The three other boys shared a small glance before smiling at their captain. So it didn't seem like they were going to be breaking up this team any time soon. They still had to prove themselves to everyone else that they can win the tournament and even go on to nationals!

Endo swung his arm around his friend, "That's good, it'd be awkward if you said you wanted to leave." Daichi just shook his head at the blond but continued to smile. Hopefully things will start to get better from here. Though they'll have to work hard for it, and they would more than gladly rise to the challenge.`

---

When her break time came around, Sakura thought that it would be a good idea to find her brother. Just so she could check up on him a little bit. She can imagine that he hasn't been paying attention in class and mulling over yesterday. Though it isn't that surprising that he wouldn't be paying attention, just this time it was for a not so good reason. So she started her trek down the hall towards her brother's class.

Sakura walked into the other classroom, already scouring for the sight of her brother. Though she saw that he wasn't in his seat, nor sitting with his friends. She approached the one boy that she knows is friends with him and tilted her head, "Hey."

"Oh, Hinata-chan!" The boy greeted with a kind smile, "how are you?"

"Good." She hummed in reply, "where's Shōyō?"

The boy didn't even blink that much at the question since whenever she did come in here she was always looking for her brother. "Oh, he said he was going to the bathroom."

Sighing Sakura nodded her head, "Okay. Thanks." She then left and went searching for him. However, she was certain that he hadn't gone into the bathrooms and hid or anything. He probably was taking his frustrations out with volleyball, like normal. So she started looking for him in the usual spots he likes to practice in. As she came up on the last spot to check, she ended up finding yet another brooding teen. He seemed to have just found Shōyō as well, and turned to walk away. Only he ended up running into the tangerine's doppelganger. The doppelganger stared at him for a long moment before greeting him with a subtle nod of her head, "Kageyama."

He nodded back slightly, "Hn."

Sakura sighed, "Do you know where my brother is?"

He jabbed his thumb behind him, "over there."

She leaned around him to see her brother depressingly tossing his volleyball up in the air. It really was quite a sad sight. "I would think you'd be practicing with him." She said with a quirk of her eyebrow, "You guys never seem to stop doing that."

The boy huffed, "Can't we have one day off?"

"A day off?" Sakura nearly laughed at the idea, since she would never think the King would take even one day off of volleyball. "Since when do you of all people have a day off from volleyball?"

"Since now."

Sakura could see that through his little brooding expression that Kageyama was more than hurt by the game yesterday. Sure, he's not as expressive when it comes to his emotions like her brother, but she could still see that even the King was upset. She sighed heavily and pursed her lips. "Look, you guys did good. Beating Aoba Johsai was seemingly impossible but you held strong against them."

He clenched his fists at his sides, "It wasn't enough."

"Even if it wasn't, why did you expect it to be more? You knew who you were up against." Sakura furrowed her eyebrows, "I understand wanting to be hopeful, but you don't want to be too optimistic about impossible odds." Even she would think that Kageyama would be somewhat expecting this outcome. She would never say that she and Kageyama are similar in anyway, but she at least theorized that he had a modicum of pessimism in him when it came to his games.

Kageyama stared down at her with a frown, "Is that what you told your brother? That he wasn't going to win."

Sakura shook her head, seeing that he was twisting what she meant. "I told him not to expect it. If it happened, it would have been a miracle. Though the odds were stacked against you all."

"So you told him that nothing was worth it, his effort was for nothing if he was going to lose, huh? That's pretty shitty."

"I didn't exactly say that. I only said he should expect disappointment." She explained simply, "He's too optimistic, about everything. You of all people know that. Even things that are far too out of reach. I've learned to expect loss and failure, so that way I'm not let down that far." Sakura got a far-off look in her chocolate eyes as she continued, "He builds himself up so far… and I hate seeing him fall. I don't want him hurt the same way I was. He can't end up like me, ever. I don't want him to face the hardships I did at my lowest points. Had I known that I could end up at rock bottom, then perhaps I could have felt differently about myself." 

When she had first started her journey in photography, she felt so elated. Not only had she found something to differentiate herself from Shoyo, but it was something that she thoroughly enjoyed. She kept her camera by her side at all times because it made her feel different and special. Though to have her photograph then ridiculed the moment she tried to share it with others, hurt her so much. She didn't expect it to happen. Sakura had just always gotten so much praise for her work and been separated from her brother that she could have never thought of going back to the person she had been. She was optimistic at the time. Perhaps too optimistic.

Sato was the biggest perpetrator of putting her down, practically bullying her for the remainder of her junior high experience. Thanks to his influence, the entire yearbook club had decided that everything she did was trash. She kept it from Shōyō, from everyone for that matter. Sakura didn't see a point in worrying them with something like that. Looking back, she maybe should have said something, but it's too late now. Besides, it wasn't anything too bad. The harsh, mean, and unwarranted insults towards her work never came to her unless she tried to show people her work. So she kept her hobby to herself after that. It wasn't until she was brought into a new environment that she tried to be a bit more outgoing once again. Thankfully this time it worked out favorably for her and wasn't an unpleasant experience again.

Back in junior high, had she factored in the possibility of others not liking her work or putting it down in some way, then she might have been a different person today. She knows now that what Sato had done to her in junior high was most likely done out of spite. He wanted to put her down just for the sake of it. This year in high school has proven that to her. His jealousy was palpable back then, Sakura just ignored it at the time due to wanting to be civil with him. Now having positive reinforcement from people other than her family has given her some confidence back. However, she's learned to have a pessimistic outlook on things, just in case things don't end up favorably. It's better to expect a bad outcome than think that things will go well when they end terribly.

She shook her head out of those thoughts, "I've learned my own lessons in the past. I've faced too much disappointment to the point where I should expect nothing else. I want Shōyō to have faith in his ability to play, but I also don't want him to be delusional to the point where he can't see the facts." Sakura swallowed thickly, "He's the twin who should be happy and successful. I'm just here to support him from the shadows."

It was silent between them for a bit. They stared at one another, the two sized each other up at that moment. Sakura was watching him with annoyance now that she had been wacked by him, she had half the mind to retaliate against him. Who did he think he was doing that to her? She's not her brother! Kageyama was staring at her in a new light with his blueberry eyes. He knew that Sakura valued her brother's happiness over her own. He's seen her put Shōyō before herself, even if it meant being put in annoying or uncomfortable situations. It was more than just her valuing her brother's happiness over her own, Kageyama realized. He may have thought that she was just there to only support her brother because she had no other dimensions to her personality. Though he's seeing now that it was more complicated than that. 

Kageyama could see that Sakura didn't see herself as successful in almost any way. Whatever she had experienced before had destroyed her self-esteem to the point where she couldn't see herself succeeding in anything. So instead she put her effort into supporting Shōyō in hopes that he would. It was something that Kageyama wouldn't talk to her about since it was a bit too heavy of a topic and also they don't know each other enough for him to bring it up. Either way, that way of thinking is just stupid!

"I was wrong," Kageyama muttered to himself, causing Sakura's eyebrows to furrow. Sure, she knows he's wrong about a lot of things but for him to just admit it is weird. Though her thoughts were broken as she was smacked on the top of the head. "You are like your brother. You're both idiots!" He shouted at her as she whined at the sudden pain. As Sakura nursed her now bruised head and glared up at him, Kageyama scowled at her, "No one should expect failure, you're just setting yourself up to lose. You can't just predict how something is going to happen!"

Sakura almost felt like a little kid being scolded by a parent. Which is strange with Kageyama being the one to tell her off. Most of the time it was him being told off by someone, never the other way around.

"Maybe not," Sakura grumbled, "but I like being a realist. I look at facts and logic and it was a fact that Aoba Johsai had the advantage going into that match."

Kageyama clicked his tongue in annoyance. In a way she is right, Oikawa's team does have a bit of an edge over Karasuno thanks to certain things. However, to go into a game expecting them to lose is just absurd in his mind. If he were to go into a game thinking that it would be impossible to win, then he certainly wouldn't have won any. Playing volleyball, or sports in general, isn't just a game about physicality or strategy but also mentality. He must have the outlook and optimism to believe that he will win his games.

"If you go into every game expecting to lose, you will lose." He stated simply, "maybe you should have a little optimism when it comes to your brother, to his team, and believe that we'll win." Sakura didn't appreciate the feeling of being told off. Honestly, she's usually the one doing it to people. Though he has to question if he's right or not… The conflicted expression that now spread across Sakura's face told Kageyama that he had gotten to her just a bit. He then started to walk off, leaving her to her own thoughts, "See you."

Sakura watched him go with pursed lips, she didn't like the way he had left her contemplating this. In her own little existential crisis in a sense. She glanced back around the corner to see her brother continuing to toss the ball high into the air. He was too lost in his own thoughts at the moment, and Sakura needed to rethink some things. So she changed her mind, and stalked off elsewhere to think things over.

---

It was stuffy in the room that Takeda had called all of the third-years to. Endo wasn't sure if it was because they all knew what he wanted to talk to them about or there was far too much dust in this room. It was probably both, since he's certain no one's cleaned out this place in a while. His allergies were going to start acting up if he sat in this room for too long. The table in front of him seemed quite interesting as he stared at it instead of looking at his teacher in front of him.

The five third-years all sat in front of Takeda in silence for a moment longer before their teacher cleared his throat. "If you guys try too hard and end up hurting yourselves badly enough to affect your futures, but still want to play, we will probably stop you. There are times where it's not best to act based on how you're feeling." Endo shifted uncomfortably in his metal chair, silently wishing that he could leave this talk at this very moment. "However, if you're able to keep challenging yourselves, there are choices. That's what I think. Of course, I'm not saying that scoring poorly on an exam is nothing. To overcome difficulties, you need effort, endurance, and sacrifices. The hours you're putting into the club are hours others are putting into studying and securing their futures, which will give them an obvious lead over you. You all might end up regretting that." He gave each student a look, expressing just how important this was for them. "Please choose wisely. Choose the path that you will not regret in five, or even ten, years."

Endo stared down at his hands in compilation. Their teacher had a point about them needing to focus on their future. After all, even if they as third-years were good players, none of them really had the aspiration of playing sports as a career after they graduate. So why would they continue now after a huge loss when they could try and set a successful future into motion.

Though for him, he didn't see a point. Yes, he wished to go to college. For what? He isn't entirely sure just yet. However, no matter what it is, his father will dictate it for him. That was their deal. Endo got to have some semblance of control over his life for junior high and high school. Though once he graduated from high school, his father would decide what was best for him. Since to Hidake, his son didn't seem capable of deciding what his life should be like, or how to go about it. More or less thinking of Endo as an idiot, unable to make big decisions for himself. At least that's how Endo sees it.

So after some last parting words about making the right choices and thinking of their future despite what they might want in this moment, Takeda dismissed the teens. The five shuffled out of the room, slightly more conflicted for the time being after being reminded of what they had to think about. They walked with each other, not saying anything to each other as they were in their own thoughts. Eventually they ended up heading outside with the afternoon sun beaming down on them and the pleasant smell of blossoms wafting around them.

The blond cleared his throat, "I've made my decision. No one can change it otherwise." Everyone looked at him to hear what he had to say. After all, they rarely ever got to hear about what Endo was thinking about. He usually kept things like this to himself. Asahi was really the only one who may have an idea of what Endo thinks. Endo took a deep breath, "My life after school has already been decided for me. So I'll decide this part of my life for myself, and I'll keep playing." As if he'd let this be taken away from him like most other things in his life. "If Takeda-sensei has changed your mind, then I'll respect that, but I wanna stay."

Asahi gave his best friend a large smile, "I'll stick with you, no matter what, Joji." It warmed Endo's chest to see him like this. Especially if it was Asahi devoting to be by his side. Well, not his side, just the team. Yea, Asahi was saying he'd stay with the team, not just Endo.

"Look at you, actually wanting to play volleyball!" Suga laughed as he smacked Endo on the shoulder harshly. "Oikawa must really annoy you, huh?"

Endo chuckled, "He can be a pain in the ass, that's for sure." At this time, Endo still doesn't know if he likes volleyball itself. He can say that he's decent at it, and can hold his own in a game. However, he enjoys playing with his friends more than the sport itself. Though after yesterday something felt different. He wouldn't say that he was suddenly inspired to become the best volleyball player in Japan or anything, but there was something. Maybe it was just revenge creeping in, wanting to win against Oikawa after that loss. Who's to say? Not Endo. At least not yet.

---

School was over now, and every student was either rushing their way home to finally relax or heading to their club. Sakura was doing neither. She does have a club meeting today, but she has to find Shōyō as soon as she can. Sakura has spent most of this day without her brother, and while in the beginning it was to give him space to brood over yesterday's game, she has to check on him now. She should have done it earlier, but she got… distracted by Kageyama.

She searched for a while, and eventually found him by himself, staring at his volleyball. The depression on his face hurt Sakura's heart so much. No matter how much time had passed, she was still going to be upset to see her brother like this. He sat on the ground in the courtyard, not really paying attention to all that much around him. Obviously stuck in his own thoughts, and even from her spot, Sakura could tell he was just about close to tears.

Slowly, she approached him and silently sat down next to him. He didn't really acknowledge her presence besides glancing at her arrival. They were silent for some time. Neither wanted to speak for sometime. Whether that's because they didn't know what to say, or that they wanted to talk about it is not exactly clear.

"You know if I'm being honest," Sakura started breaking the silence between them, "I never thought you guys would make it as far as you did."

"Huh?" Shōyō grunted in surprise as he turned to her. How could she just outright say that? Doesn't she see he's upset!?

"There were a lot of obstacles for you guys to overcome." She started to explain, "And I had thought that there was no way you guys would get over them, but you proved me wrong. You improved yourselves, evolved after every practice to become better players. Through sheer will, optimism, and luck, you guys got close to your goal."

Shōyō scowled, "Close isn't good enough."

Sakura paused at the echoed words that she had heard earlier from Kageyama. She sighed, "You still have the inter-high, boke. After these few games, Karasuno has proved themselves not to be as weak as they were before. Now people will consider you all a contender for number one. They see you as a threat. Which means you will face even more obstacles… ones that I know you can get over."

Her brother gasped at her words as his brown eyes widened, "You sound optimistic." There were times that he has heard her be hopeful and optimistic, but that felt like so long ago. Honestly, Shōyō didn't know exactly what changed her outlook on things into how she is now. However, he found it more than refreshing for her to be like this once again.

"Yeah, don't get used to it." Sakura clicked her tongue as her cheeks started to turn a light pink. Honestly, why did he have to point that out? Now she's embarrassed! She shook her head with a huff, "I'm just saying, you guys somehow exceeded the expectations of everyone, what harm is there in thinking that you can do it again. Look, losing is... not just a bad thing."

Shōyō tilted his head, "It isn't?" How is losing anything other than a bad thing?

She shrugged her shoulders, "Losing gives us the drive to push ourselves harder. We make sure that we do our best to win the next one. Without losing we wouldn't cherish a win as we should. It feels terrible, I know. But losing gives the feeling of winning value." Shōyō has suffered quite a few losses in his time on a volleyball team. Surprisingly, Sakura has tried to see them in a positive light. Instead of believing it to be a setback, she wanted to see it as something to improve from and to help her brother. She more than often kept that to herself, though now seemed like a good time to bring it to light. After all, he's never suffered this devastating of a loss.

Shōyō thought over her words for a moment. Perhaps he saw it like that to an extent, but he never thought he'd hear something like that from Sakura. Then again, it's a bit of a logical way to look at it. He shook his head slowly, "I guess that's one way to look at it."

"Stop being a downer." Sakura paused and blinked in surprise of herself, "Wow, never thought I would be saying that to you. So stop pouting."

Shōyō just pouted even more, "I'm not pouting."

"You are," Sakura chuckled.

Soon enough the two dissolved into small bouts of laughter before becoming silent again. They said what they needed to for the time being. They'd more than likely talk more about it when they went home. However, for now they got what they needed out in the open. Besides, they both had to go to their respective clubs. While they didn't totally want to part ways, duty called for them. So being the good big brother he is, Shōyō walked Sakura to her club room before sprinting back to the gym.

---

Planning for the next gallery was a bit easier than it was before. Sakura wasn't as anxious about this one as she was about the first. They had to decide on a topic at the moment, so they were having a bit of a discussion about what to do. There weren't any holidays really coming up, so a holiday theme was out of question. Plus they wanted to be more original and more thought provoking than having a one-dimensional theme. They had a little while to figure it out, so it wasn't that much to worry about. Though Sakura kept the decision making to the other members. She was still contemplating what Kageyama had discussed with her earlier. 

What he had said had been stewing within her the rest of the day. She thought over his words thoroughly and believed that he had some truth to what he had said. Sakura was at least going to admit that she could possibly be wrong or misguided about her pessimism and optimism outlook. However, she does still think that there is some merit to her thinking. Just after the conversation it… made her question her thinking a bit.

Was he right about her outlook on the game being wrong? She supposed that in a way it could be perceived as such. However, she wasn't just outright believing that the game was over right from the start. She just believed that when looking at who was stacked against who, the odds were always favoring one team for another. Besides, watching the game yesterday had even shaken her initial belief that Karasuno had little to no way of standing against Seijoh.

Add in the fact that she had talked with Shōyō about it and did her best to cheer him up, her mind was starting to change. It's not like she was suddenly going to become optimistic and think that Karasuno can go all the way. Having a healthy dose of skepticism and pessimism about certain situations is a good idea.

Though the advice that she gave him about thinking a loss could be turned into a good thing stuck with her. Deep down, she thought about the idea some time ago, just never thought that it could be put into action. If anything, she just hoped it was true, since she didn't completely believe in it. Just because she hasn't had to witness Shōyō lose so badly. Which meant it was more than a good time to try it out.

Shimada then appeared suddenly in front of Sakura and plopped onto the desk her underclassman was sitting at. A large smile was plastered on the club president's face as she pinned her kohai with an inquisitive look. "You seem deep in thought, Saku-chan!" Ever since Sakura had come into the club room, she seemed distracted. Shimada noticed that her brother was there to drop her off before rushing off, so she wondered what he was there for. After all, the male Hinata never seems to come around here. 

"I sort of am," Sakura commented, now seeing that her senpai was not going to leave her alone. She brushed her hand through her hair, "Just thinking about the game yesterday."

"Oh, yeah. I heard about that." Shimada hummed, "The boys did really well though! From what I heard the team they played is super good." Sure, she didn't know much about volleyball, but she did know the results of the game. The volleyball team isn't talked about that much around school since other teams take the spotlight a bit more for their tournaments. Then again it wouldn't matter if the boy's volleyball team were the number one in the prefecture, Shimada still would know nothing about the sport.

Sakura shrugged her shoulders, "Seijoh's one of the best teams in the prefecture."

"I guess they didn't take it that well." From the frown on Sakura's face, Shimada knew that was a bit of an understatement. "What about your brother? How's he doing?"

"He's upset, as to be expected…" She sighed heavily while her brother's depressed expression haunted her for a moment. Sakura stared down at her hands on the desk as she nervously fiddled with them. "I really wish that they won."

Shimada nodded her head, "I mean, I would too, imagine what photos you could have gotten of their win!" She gushed as her imagination took over the amazing photos that Sakura could take in that scenario. Though once she saw the unamused stare from the other girl, Shimada calmed down and appeared sheepish, "ahem, sorry."

Sakura shook her head at her friend's behavior. There are definitely times where she thinks that Shimada is crazy. There are quite a few moments like that. Though she focused back on what she was feeling about the game, "I honestly thought they were gonna win after all that work. They tried their best. Shōyō especially, I know he put everything he could into it." A soft little smile then graced her face, "I'm so proud of him." Sakura is always proud of her brother, basically no matter what he does. However, this time it was much stronger than usual. Maybe it was because she was extremely sympathetic towards him and his loss, maybe it was just because he's her brother. Either way, the effort that she knows he put into it for so long just made her admire him so much more.

Shimada had to hold herself back from jumping the adorable girl in a tight hug. Her eyes were sparkling as she started fangirling at how adorable her kohai is. "You're such a sweet sister!"

Sakura huffed while hiding her pink cheeks, "you're annoying."

The president eventually calmed herself down before saying, "Well, I don't know all that much about volleyball, but I'm sure they can do better next time!"

"I hope." That's all she can do right now. She'll gain some hope and optimism for the next tournament coming up. Sure, she'll keep her own healthy level of pessimism and keep her brother down to earth, but maybe now she can see there's nothing wrong with reaching for the impossible.

Shimada gave Sakura a meaningful, hopeful expression, "Support your brother, boost up his morale, keep the other boys in check. I know you're really good at that."

"I guess you're right."

Shimada displayed her pearly white teeth in a large smile, "I usually am!" That totally didn't just stroke her ego.

Their white-haired vice-president then walked past the desk and casually commented, "No you're not."

"Gah, Aiko!"

---

After their talk with Takeda and a small conversation between them, the third-years had rushed to the club room to get ready. However, they were certainly going to be late at this point. Even if practice was technically off for today, there was no doubt in everyone's mind that the entire team was going to show up.

"Crap, hurry." Suga called out to the others running behind him.

Endo huffed, "Yeah, we are." He was going to get tired once they started practice, why did he have to tire himself out now by running across school to get to the gym!

Just as they thought, they were late, the last ones into the gym while everyone else was already there. Tanaka jumped at them once they got into the gym with a vicious smile, "You're late!"

Suga huffed and puffed as he caught his breath, but couldn't wipe the smile off of his face. He declared to the team, "Let's go to the spring tournament!"

"All right!" They cheered before they started to set themselves up for practice. It's safe to say that the team's morale was quite high at this moment. The boys all worked together to get the net set up, the balls out and started some drills. It was quite the sight for Ukai to come into the gym and see. After all, he wasn't sure if any of them would actually show up.

"Thank you!" The boys all greeted their coach who stared at them in disbelief.

Ukai smiled in amazement, "You guys are in good spirits."

They all then lined up in front of him as Daichi shouted out, "Please continue to coach us!"

The boys all bowed, "Please!"

From a bit further away, Sakura smiled as she watched the coach enter the gym to a more than overzealous team. Her own club had just ended and she was walking out with them right now. As she walked over to where she left her bike, she couldn't help herself but glance into the gym through the open door to see what the shouting was all about. It was quite the exciting scene to see for her. No one seemed upset any longer about yesterday, if anything they seemed more determined.

"Saku-chan!" She turned at the shout of her name and found that her own club was waiting for her. They all waited for her expectantly as Shimada was waving her over, "Come on, we're all going to get food!"

"Yeah, sure." She grabbed her bike and started to walk off towards them. So Sakura left, for the first time in a while, she was journeying off on her own, away from her brother. Perhaps this was for the best. Both Hinata twins seemed to have carved a spot for themselves at Karasuno. While it wasn't surprising for Shōyō to do that, it was for Sakura to find that niche place for her. As the wind blew, cheers continued to come from in the gym, and Sakura trotted over to her group of club members, a lone snowtail butterfly settled itself on a random flower.

A little while later, Ukai called for the team to have a break so he could talk over a few things with them. After all, they needed to discuss yesterday's game. "We lost in a match that decided our superiority or inferiority." Ukai said to the group as they sat on the gym floor. "Seijoh was strong and we fell to them. That is our reality right now. As for today's finals for the Inter-High… The winner was Shiratorizawa." That shocked everyone. After all, Aoba Johsai is such a strong team… and Shiratorizawa beat them?! That must make Shiaratorizawa extremely scary!

"Seijoh…" Shōyō's eyes started to widden.

Kageyama's eyes were just as wide, "...lost?"

Ukai continued on, "There are teams stronger than Seijoh, even in our prefecture. That just means we have to get stronger. I'm pretty sure you know what our next goal is, but… It's the spring tournament. For the third-years who will be participating, it will be their last battle." He then turned to focus on Daichi, "Well, then let's have the captain pump us all up."

Daichi stood up with his back facing his team as he started, "It's the stage that Karasuno has been to just once in the past… Tokyo. The Orange Court." He then turned to face them with a determined expression on his face. "We're going to go there one more time!"

"All right!" It would mean intense practice, long nights, and sore muscles, but the team were certainly going to put in the work now. A fire was lit under all of them, and that fire wasn't going to go out until they made it to nationals!