Chapter Text
The next day the Tokyo Pigeons met up together at the park near Shiki and Danno's apartments. The soccer field was empty so it made for the perfect volleyball court.
Shiki was setting up his homemade net with Danno. He couldn't be happier right now. The team was staying together, him and Danno were staying together, they are going to keep playing volleyball together.
Right as Shiki tied together the last knot of the net, Ronin came running over. He was huffing and panting.
„Woah, first time I've been here before you, Aka'!" Syaoran jumped to the taller boy's side and tossed him a water bottle.
„I was- hah... still at- hah..."
„Calm down, drink something", said Katsumi.
„And walk around a bit. Running only to stop immediately isn't good for your circulation." Isamu added.
„Yeah... yeah." Ronin twisted open the bottle Syaoran had given him and started walking in circles as he drank. „Ah..."
Finally, Ronin seemed to have caught his breath again.
„What's up? Did something happen?", asked Shiki.
From behind him Danno poked his head out and spoke up. „Was it something at training camp?"
Ronin nodded vigorously. „Yeah! Yeah! It ends tomorrow n' when I was leavin' to come here, Hinata, from Karasuno, and Kageyama asked if we'd wanna have a rematch against 'em!"
Okay, maybe Shiki could be happier right now.
„Hell yeah we do! Right guys? You told them we would, right, Ronin?"
Ronin nodded again. Syaoran patted him on the back and pulled him down to his level. „There you go, Aka'! Now we'll get the chance to show them what we're really made of!"
„Yeah!" The whole team laughed and cheered.
An actual game against a high school team... The thought both excited and worried Shiki. But then he felt Danno's arm knock against his as the blond laughed and Shiki knew that he had nothing to be worried about. All he had to do was give his spiker sets he could hit, and Shiki knew he could do that.
„So, when're we playing?" His voice filled with determination. „If they're leaving tomorrow-"
„Today!", said Ronin. „Well- Hinata-san said that he'd like ta do it today. After dinner. The rest'a Karasuno seemed up for it too. Their coach, coach Ukai, said he'd ref."
„That's great!" Shiki looked up at Danno, knowing he'd be up for it. Then he looked to the others.
Ronin was willing, of course he was, he had already said yes to Karasuno and was bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement. Syoaran was happily nudging Ronin's arms with his elbow and grinning. Even Isamu looked like he was looking forward to this. But Katsumi... he looked more thoughtful now.
„Katsumi...?"
Katsumi's eyes flicked to the ground. Then his hands. Then to the ground under Isamu's feet. He balled his fists, lifted his head and gave a firm nod.
„I'll be there. I'm not running away again." The brunette looked from Shiki to Danno. „And I know you won't either."
Both teens knocked their knuckled together. „No way," they said together.
The silence of tense understanding between the team was broken by Ronin's cheer.
„Woohoo! Andiamo!"
Syaoran laughed. „No idea what you said but YEAH!"
„Yeahhhh!!", joined the others.
Since it was only 4pm, the Tokyo Pigeons played until 6pm to get ready for their match against Karasuno before deciding to go home so they could eat.
Ronin and Isamu went back to their team at the training camp where they met up with Hinata and Karasuno's coach again to set a time for their match: 8pm, on the grass field next to the train tracks.
———
During their entire dinner, Shiki was buzzing with excitement. So was Danno and the two practically inhaled their food.
„Woah there, slow down, slow down! Don't fill up too much, it'll only hinder your ability to play."
While Shiki and Danno were eating at the Yokata family dinning table, Shiki's father was preparing water bottles and towels for them in the kitchen.
„Mmhmm! Mmmh- mhhm-"
Shiki's dad put down the two teens' sport bags before handing his son a glass of water.
Shiki quickly swallowed the rest of his soba. „Thanks, dad!"
Danno finished his fried salmon. „Thank you, Haruki-san."
Haruki Yokata chuckled. „And your father said it's okay for Shiki to stay over after your match?", he asked Danno, who nodded.
„Of course, dad loves Shiki."
Shiki pushed himself up from the table. „It's already 19:45! Danno, let's go! Thanks for the food dad, see you tomorrow!"
The two boys rushed the put on their shoes, Shiki already had both their bags slung over his shoulder.
„See you two tomorrow, have fun!"
„Yup- Will do- Bye, dad! Danno, c'mon!"
„I'm right behind you, goodbye Haruki-san!"
From the window in the living room, Shiki's dad could see Shiki and Danno strap their volleyball net set up to Shiki's bike and race away.
Once the duo turned onto the street on which the field was they saw Hinata and Kageyama racing each other down the street.
„Hinata! Kageyama!" Shiki happily waved to them from his bike. „Where's the rest of your team?"
Both Karasuno players looked up from their staring match to where the voice came from.
„Shiki! Danno! Hey!" Hinata jumped up and waved.
„Hey," Kageyama nodded to them.
Only then did they seem to realize that they were way ahead of the rest of Karasuno.
„Huh? Oh, guess we out ran them," shrugged Kageyama.
Even as they were now jogging next to the biking Shiki and Danno, Shiki saw how they were still trying to keep ahead of the other.
Behind them he heard someone shout. "Guys! Slow down!"
One of the third years, the one with the buzz cut, Tanaka, came running up. "Geez, hours of practice and you're still not slowing down. The first years can't keep up!"
"Speak for yourself, Tanaka-senpai!", Yuji, the first year wing spiker, soon appeared behind them. "Hi Shiki, Danno," he waved to them.
Tanaka greeted them too. "You ready to have your butts kicked?"
"Ha!", Shiki laughed. "As if!"
The group made it to the grass clearing and the two Tokyo Pigeons got to work setting up their homemade net. Meanwhile, the rest of team Karasuno came trickling in along with their coach, teacher and the two managers Yachi and Kiyoto. And Ronin too, who seems to have gone with them from the training camp.
"So where's the rest of your team?", asked Nishinoya. Him and Tanaka seemed very interested in the net Shiki and Danno were putting up.
"They didn't get scared, did they?" Tanaka laughed.
"No way!" Shiki protested.
Right on cue a motorcycle stopped right beside the coach and teacher, spooking the latter.
Katsumi got of the bike from behind Isamu and apologized to Takeda. Once Isamu had gotten off both him and Katsumi joined Shiki, Danno and Ronin.
„We're still waiting for Syaoran, I'm guessing," said Katsumi as he looked around.
Ronin stemmed his hands in his sides. „Yeah, but he told me he was gettin' somethin', a surprise for us."
„Wait really? What is it?", asked Shiki. His fists began to shake with anticipation.
„Wouldn't be a surprise if he told us," said Danno.
Shiki rolled his eyes and leaned his side against Danno's. „Yeah, yeah, I know. Still, maybe Syaoran told Ronin but not us!"
Ronin shook his head. „Nope. He wouldn' spill a thing."
Katsumi put his hands on Ronin and Shiki's shoulders, getting both the boys attention quickly. „Well then, while we wait we can start getting warmed up."
From over Katsumi's shoulder, Shiki could see that Karasuno was already starting to do stretches and jogging back and forth.
The redhead nodded. „Yeah! Danno, let's do some practice spikes, show Karasuno what they're going against!"
„We're not exactly the most intimidating group...", mumbled Isamu as he and the others followed their setter-spiker-duo. Katsumi chuckled.
The Tokyo Pigeons did some simple rounds of setting, spiking and blocking. Danno, Isamu and Katsumi would take turns spiking Shiki's sets and Ronin would try and block them. After a few rounds, Ronin and Katsumi switched and Katsumi would practice receives as Ronin got his turn to spike.
The more they went through these motions made Shiki think. He wasn't really doing much, just the same boring sets, one for each teammate. It was simple. Nothing extraordinary or flashy. Nothing special. Nothing that required talent...
Isamu jumped and Shiki made his set the way he had done for Danno the moment before. But the ball, instead of meeting Isamu's hand like it should have, went long and missed him by quite a bit.
„Shiki! Focus! That was way too long. I'm not Danno, y'know."
Shiki's eyes focused in again. Isamu's complaining about the way he set usually annoyed the boy a lot. Especially when he practically hissed at Shiki. But this time, Isamu was right. He wasn't Danno. And Shiki did change the way he sets because all his teammates had different ways they liked to spike the ball.
Danno liked wide shots from the side. With his long arms and upper body he was built for those. Isamu liked high sets either in the middle or right at the net's sides. Those gave him the perfect view of the whole court and see the perfect place to slam the ball down the most effectively. Ronin also liked to spike from the side but that was more about his dislike for doing strong cross shots. He'd much rather find an opening right in front of him with an easy line shot. And Katsumi liked to target those who'd be receiving when he spikes, so Shiki always gave him more direct sets to the side with the most back defenders. From there Katsumi would find ways to hit the ball in ways that made it just that bit more inconvenient to receive.
And Shiki knew all of this, it was pretty easy to figure out after playing with them. They all had their preferences, none of them were the same so neither were Shiki's sets.
He caught the ball and spun it in his hands. „Right. Sorry!"
Isamu shrugged. „Just don't do that during the actual match."
Shiki gripped the ball and sent a promising glare to Isamu. „I won't."
The two teams switched warm ups, Karasuno now started their spike drills. Shiki watched them as he stretched.
Kageyama was good- no, he was great, amazing, other words Shiki couldn't think of at the moment. His sets were precise to a degree that was scary.
„Spooky...", Danno whispered.
Shiki hadn't noticed his friend sit down next to him. He nodded. „Yeah." He felt Danno look from him to Kageyama and back to him.
„You're not-"
„No, don't worry. I'm just...", Shiki's voice trailed off. He wasn't envious or jealous. Okay... maybe a little envious and jealous but it wasn't like what he'd felt before. „Kageyama knows exactly where the ball needs to go."
Danno nodded.
„But it's not... I know where it goes depending on who's spiking. He knows where it goes depending on... the entire game. He looks for the perfect spot to set, not just for the small detail but for the bigger picture."
Danno nodded again. „Yeah."
He adjusted his position so he sat with his legs extended in front of him and started stretching towards his feet.
„Mhm." Shiki followed his friend's example.
„Guys! You're here! Great!"
Looking up, Shiki saw Syoaran practically fling himself towards the group. His skateboard was left next to Isamu's motorbike and he threw his gym bag in the middle of their little gathering spot in the grass.
„Ima'! Ya sure took yer time." Ronin laughed.
„Ah, shut it, Aka'. I have a good reason this time!"
„So ya admit that the other times ya were late ya didn' have a good reason for it?" That one earned Ronin a shoulder punch from the purple haired Libero.
„I said to shut it!" But there was no malice behind Syaoran's words, he was grinning from ear to ear. „Anyways, you guys are going to love what I brought."
„Sports drinks?", asked Shiki.
"No!"
„Yer own towel?", asked Ronin, who had his stolen quite frequently by Syoaran.
"Nah!"
„A pump for the volleyball?" Saying that, Isamu's voice was the most hopeful Shiki had ever heard it. Was their old ball not good enough for him? ...Alright, Shiki couldn't even blame him if he thought that.
„Muscle tape?", guessed Katsumi.
Syaoran shook his head. „Nope, nope! Even better!"
He knelt beside his bag and unzipped it. When Ronin leaned over to get a look inside Syaoran pushed him back.
„Patience! Now..." He reached his hands inside. „Next to my school is a print shop. I had to go there to get my school's basketball team's posters and happened to see that they print shirts, so..." He pulled out one of the things from his bag. It was a teal blue sports t-shirt with black stripes going down the sides and in big and bold white lettering the number 5 on the chest. When Syaoran turned it around they saw what the back said: '5 Imai' underneath a pair of wings.
„You didn't..." Katsumi's eyes widened in shock.
Ronin gasped. „You..."
„You made us jerseys?! Like- like actual jerseys?" Shiki couldn't believe his eyes. „Danno, pinch me."
Danno pinched Shiki's arm. „Real ones?", he asked.
„Well, I guess that depends on your definition of what a "real" jersey is. But yeah!"
„Can we... get them?" Isamu asked.
Syaoran laughed. „Of course! Why else do you think I brought them?"
He pulled out the other jerseys and handed them out to the team.
Once Shiki got his he checked the back. '1 Yokata' it said in those big bold, white letters. 1. The number of the captain. He hadn't even noticed he was tearing up until the first tear fell onto his new shirt. Shiki quickly dried his eyes and looked over to the rest of his team. Team. Yeah. Now, with official jerseys, this group of random teenagers he'd met while playing volleyball on the streets over the past year felt like a real team.
Katsumi's jersey said '13 Egawa'. Katsumi looked like he was moments away from crying too.
Isamu's: '14 Takagi'.
Ronin's: '7 Akabane'
Finally, he looked to Danno. '2 Arima'
„Dude," Shiki's voice was wobbly but he just couldn't resist pointing it out. „We're matching numbers. You're officially vice captain."
Danno looked up. „Wasn't I always vice captain?"
Shiki laughed. „You were, you were! But now... it just feels more official, doesn't it?"
Danno looked down to his jersey again and sniffed. „Yeah... It does."
„Hey! You guys ready?" Karasuno's coach, Ukai, called out to the Tokyo Pigeons. They had wrapped up their warm ups and were now waiting on the right side of the net.
„Ah- yeah!" Shiki jumped up. „One second!"
The boys quickly changed from their mismatched, all different shades of blue sports shirt to their new team uniform.
„Man..." Shiki smoothed out the folds in the front. „I may just cry."
„I think we all feel that way, Shiki," said Katsumi. „But right now, we have a game to win."
„Right!", the others replied.
They joined team Karasuno. Ukai was going to be the referee for the match.
„Alright, guys!", he stood between the two teams starting lineups.
Karasuno: Kageyama, Tsukishima, Hinata, Tanaka, Kazuya, Ennoshita.
„This is going to be a three set match, best two out of three wins. I'll toss this coin, the captains will pick a side and whichever side lands up, that team will decide if they'll be serving or receiving." Coach Ukai turned to Shiki. „Heads or tails?"
„Heads."
„Alright." He flicked the coin up, caught in and pressed it onto the back of his hand. „It's... tails. Ennoshita, serving or receiving?"
Karasuno's captain thought for a moment before answering. „We choose to serve."
Ukai nodded. „Okay! Then all I have to say now is: Have fun!"
Shiki was sure that that was a given.
———
Both teams took their places on their respective sides of the volleyball net, Karasuno on the right, Tokyo Pigeons on the left.
Kageyama was sent to serve. He bounced the ball on the ground but seemed to struggle keeping it as in control as usual due to the uneven dirt ground.
The whistle was blown. Shiki watched as the other setter took a deep breath before tossing up the ball and hitting. It came in with such intense force and so quickly that Shiki couldn't even react. It reminded him of Isamu's serves. Luckily though, he had teammates with amazing reaction time.
Syaoran had jumped right into the balls path and was knocked onto his back by the force.
The trajectory of the ball was slightly off. But Shiki got right under it. A long toss to the front- BAM! Danno hit it just past the blockers, Tsukishima and Hinata.
„Yes!" Shiki gave his friend a high five.
The managers from Karasuno, Yachi and Kiyoto, were keeping score of the points each team made. 1-0 for the Tokyo Pigeons in the first set.
The next to serve was Isamu. He hit the ball with such force every time, it always scared Shiki. But Karasuno seemed incredibly cool headed. The third year, Ennoshita, dove right for the ball with no fear at all.
Shiki's eyes followed the ball as it flew right to Kageyama. Where would he set? No one was running up, there was no indication to who would want it, Shiki didn't know the preferences that the spikers from Karasuno had so he couldn't even use that to try and figure it out! And the game had just begun, would Kageyama already have an idea of where he should set?
The only way to counter, Shiki thought, is by watching the ball.
The ball touched Kageyama's hands for a split second before he already tossed it back up— to the back.
Hinata! Of course! Shiki and Ronin jumped to block. After watching how Karasuno played at the spring nationals last year it did surprise him a bit that they would start with an attack from their wonder-duo right away but if Shiki and Danno's attacks were as powerful and fast as theirs, Shiki would want to start every match with that too.
But then Hinata pulled his hand away and fell back to the ground along with the blockers. And the first year, Kazuya Fukuda, was right behind him. He hit the ball at it's highest point, right over Shiki's head and into the grass.
The redhead looked up to the raven haired setter. Their eyes met and Shiki couldn't help but give him a grin. Now this got him fired up, the tougher the opponent, the longer the game and the longer the game, the more time he could spend with his team.
Hinata high ten-ed Kazuya and Kageyama while almost jumping over their heads.
Two points for the Tokyo Pigeons and two for Karasuno later and now everyone seemed fully into the game.
Ronin had narrowed down one of Hinata's spikes and sent it right to Syoaran. That opened up the chance for a quick attack from the Tokyo Pigeons, which they took. Shiki sent the ball right back up to the middle from where Isamu easily slammed it down.
Now Shiki was up to serve. It wasn't his specialty but Shiki had done so many underhand serves when teaching Syaoran how to be a Libero that he had gotten pretty good at ball control with those.
So he aimed for the far right corner of the field, marked by chalk, and hit it.
Ennoshita went after it but instead of passing the ball right to Kageyama it flew too close to the net. „Sorry!"
„Got it," said Tsukishima.
Shiki hadn't been able to get a good read on this guy. His expression was constantly stoic and plain. He didn't look like he cared much for the game but he played with full concentration. The main thing Shiki had seen was that he liked to read block and wasn't one to do a lot of spiking.
Tsukishima jumped and got his hands on the ball. Ronin did so too. However the ball was already tilted to the Tokyo Pigeons' side of the net and Ronin lost the spar.
„Merda...", he mumbled. „Scusa- Sorry!"
„Got it!" Katsumi was under the ball before Ronin's feet even touched the ground again.
The defense specialist got his hand under the ball and it went straight back up and to the right.
„Isa'!", he shouted.
BANG! Isamu spiked the ball down in a sharp cross shot.
„Ha!" Katsumi had already gotten back onto his feet and they swapped sides, giving each other short pats on the back while passing.
„Oh, you think you're so powerful don'tcha!" Isamu's spike had landed right next to Tanaka, who seemed pretty upset by this.
„What do you mean? Are you mad that you couldn't receive that? Well don't be. There's few people who can handle my spikes, you clearly aren't one." As arrogant as it sounded, Shiki had to say that Isamu was right. There really were few people who could receive his spikes, especially his cross shots.
However, he also shouldn't be starting arguments mid match! Not even mid match, the first set had barely begun!
„Tanaka-san," someone spoke up from behind him. „Don't start with him. There's no point to it." It was Kazuya Fukuda.
„Ohhhh, right! That's your line, Fukuda," Tanaka laughed but his underclassman only shook his head.
„No. Not anymore." The first year side eyed Isamu.
„Hey... Isamu?", Shiki whispered to him. „Do you... know that guy?"
The side eyeing had turned into a staring match.
„I'm not sure," the blond answered. „But... I think so. Hey." Isamu stepped closer to the net. „Did you... Did you go to Ryōma middle school?"
Kazuya moved away from Isamu. „Yeah. But just... Forget about it. You've clearly changed. For the better."
Isamu didn't seem to know what to make of that. Neither did Shiki. But that kid seemed to have some kind of history with Isamu that he was moving away from.
„Let's just keep playing!", said Kazuya and no one had any objections to that.
Kazuya was up to serve now and the person to receive his serve was Isamu. He chose to go more on the defensive. He had to get his thoughts in order.
He definitely remembered the name Fukuda. They went to the same middle school too. And they were only one year apart so Fukuda could have very well been on Ryōma middle's volleyball team when-
Oh.
Isamu knew this kid, alright. Kazuya Fukuda, a hyperactive and strong spiker even back when he was barely even a teenager. He had been a first year and joined the volleyball team right at the start of the school year, excited to play on his first team. He had been the most enthusiastic of them all, pulling each player along with his pure and honest happiness.
And he had followed Isamu around like a little kid would his mom.
Kazuya had held so much adoration for Isamu and his spiking abilities. But Isamu hadn't really seen much reason to spend extra time with him, Kazuya had seemed content enough to only be in his vicinity even when Isamu didn't talk with him.
But one day Isamu had gotten into an... altercation with one of the third years on his team. Their, at the time, ace. Isamu may have told him that one day he'd be replacing the third year as the team's ace after that third year had messed up some spikes during a practice match.
It had only escalated from there.
Some people had taken the third year's side, some had taken Isamu's, saying that the third years was just being sensitive.
After Isamu and the ace had gotten into a physical fight and a teacher had to get them apart, the ace quit.
He had left the team and each day more and more students would too, even those who were originally on Isamu's side, he had made them fear that they may be the next to be on the wrong side of his anger. Eventually the team had fully crumbled.
Kageyama set and Kazuya hit it. Isamu missed the ball by mere centimeters.
Looking at him now, Kazuya had definitely become more jaded, like he had turned into a hedgehog, curled up with all his quills out. Or at least that's how he was with Isamu now. And he couldn't hold it against the first year.
The first set went to Karasuno with 25:23
Both teams took their break. Isamu contemplated going over to Fukuda now and talking to him. But once he saw how much more at ease the boy seemed with his team, sitting next to another first year, Yuji Satoo, Isamu decided against it.
Right now, they had a set to take back.
„Gahhh!", Ronin complained. „I can't believe we lost the first set!"
„But we haven't lost completely yet, what's the problem?" Danno took a sip of his water.
Shiki leaned his arm on his friends shoulder. „Exactly! It's one set out of three. Sure, not the best, but we still have two whole sets to play. So let's take this next one and then the last and win!"
„Yeah!", the team cheered.
Just before the second set started, Shiki saw Katsumi standing away from the rest of the group. He had his eyes closed and his face turned towards the sky. It looked like he was taking deep breaths, which struck Shiki as odd. They hadn't done that much running yet, had they?
„Katsumi?", he called.
Katsumi turned to him, smiled and gave him a thumbs up. His hand was trembled. Then he lowered his hand again and patted the right side of his gym shorts. Shiki saw the outline of what looked like a phone in his pocket. He saw how, for just a moment, Katsumi's hand tightened around the phone. Then he took another breath and coach Ukai blew his whistle, telling them that the second set was starting.
Hinata went to serve this time.
Katsumi stood in the back, feet planted securely on the ground, arms out.
He felt his hands twitch every few seconds. He felt how his feet demanded to be moved, to walk, to run. He felt how stiff his shoulders were, how his jaw was tight, how he was biting his tongue. He felt how his breaths became more unsteady and how his chest tightened. He felt how his mind raced. Did I put my phone on loud? What if they call now? What if I they need me? What if they're scared to call? What if I don't hear them? What if I don't feel it? What if, What if, What if what if what if what if-!!!!
„Katsu'!!" Isamu jumped to his side. Hinata had already served, right towards Katsumi. And Katsumi hadn't realized.
Isamu's save went long and flew right back to Karasuno's side of the court. "Chance ball!!"
„I-"
„Katsu'. Where are you?"
Katsumi swallowed.
He was on the grass clearing by the train station. He was in a volleyball match.
He felt Isamu's foot standing against his. He felt Isamu's eyes looking into his. He felt Isamu's arm brushing against his.
He saw Isamu's chest moving with each steady breath he took. In... out... in... out...
He felt how his breathing synced up with Isamu's.
„What're you doing, Katsumi?" Isamu asked.
„...I'm playing volleyball."
He smiled. „Exactly. And?"
„And... I'm having fun. I just want to keep playing volleyball."
„Then let's do that."
Katsumi swallowed again. His hands steadied. His feet felt lighter. Isamu's eyes, his presence felt warm. And then Katsumi heard Shiki and Danno cheer.
Danno had shot a spike right through a tripple block from Tsukishima, Hinata and Kageyama.
Katsumi took another deep breath. He was up to serve now.
If my siblings need me, they'll call. Katsumi bounced the ball on the ground. Right now, I can focus on myself. He spun it in his hands. This is for me. He heard the whistle blow. I'm allowed to spend time doing what I love. He throws the ball up, jumps and targets Hinata, who is now standing in the last row.
The ball curves slightly. And Hinata fumbles the receive.
„YEAH!"
Katsumi serves again.
But this time Tanaka received Katsumi's serve.
Tanaka, Fukuda, Ennoshita and Tsukishima all run up to spike.
Shiki's eyes went from one spiker to the other. But Ronin's eyes were fixed on Kageyama. Against setters like him, the best weapon is read blocking. With such a versatile setter like Kageyama, combined with spikers who could hit the ball from anywhere, watching the ball is the easiest and safest option.
Kageyama sent the ball high to the front, right to Tsukishima.
Ronin tugged at Shiki's jersey and together they jumped to block.
But Tsukishima just tapped the ball right over their finger tips.
Ronin grumbled as his feet touched the ground just after the ball did.
But when he looked back up, through the net he saw surprise in the other blocker's eyes. Though that faded quickly into a smug smirk and a shrug. „Guess you'll have to jump a bit higher next time."
„We'll see what I come up with for next time!", challenged Ronin.
Maybe, had he jumped higher, Ronin could've blocked that. But Tsukishima must've switched up his spike when he had realized he couldn't hit it straight through them.
Tsukishima served and Katsumi received the ball easily, passing it right to Shiki. Shiki set to Danno and Danno hit a cross shot. But it was caught by Ennoshita and sent right to Kageyama.
Tsukishima was part of the people running up to spike again, though this time it was only him and Hinata. Ronin wanted to jump right to Tsukishima, shut his smug-ass down right at the start. But he didn't. Instead he watched where the ball went.
Tsukishima was on to the right, in front of Kageyama. That would've been a very easy and quick set.
Instead Kageyama sent it back, to the left where Hinata was already at the peak of his jump.
Ronin knew he couldn't make it there in time to block Hinata fully. Plus, his form in the air didn't give out one bit. The set was too quick, the spiker's positioning too perfect. This is just like when Ronin tries to reach one of Hoshiumi's spikes. He just couldn't and he knew it. He just can't reach it and shut it down on his own.
But he also didn't need to be able to do that.
Ronin ran over and jumped right in front of Hinata.
The spiker quickly changed the angle of his hand, hitting a cross shot just past Ronin.
But that was okay. Ronin didn't need to touch the ball to have done his job as a blocker. He could just close the most direct path for the spiker to take. And lead the ball right to his team's floor defence.
„Mine!", shouted Syaoran as he dove for the ball and sent it right back up.
And the Tokyo Pigeons took the second set. 1-1.
„Haha!" Ronin ran over to Syoaran and patted his shoulders. „We make a hell of a team, huh, Ima'?"
„Hell yeah, we do! I always knew, though."
Ronin laughed but Syaoran was serious. Even if Ronin hadn't seen it, Syaoran had, just how much thought and strategy Ronin managed to put into split second blocks. He was glad that Ronin was starting to figure out how to use those strengths instead of looking down on himself because of his weaknesses.
„That's how it's done!" Shiki cheered and Danno gave him his water bottle. „One more set, we've got this!"
And they all laughed before the third and final set began.
For their last set, Ennoshita was swapped out for another first year outside hitter, Yuji Satoo.
Knowing that this was the last set made Syaoran sad, he wasn't going to lie about that. If it were up to him, he'd make it so that this game would never have to end. He just wanted to stay here, even if he wasn't as good a player as the others, even if he could only manage to make a good save by throwing himself onto the grass over and over. He wanted to stay here, playing something the people he cared about enjoyed so deeply.
Before he could even play, Yuji was pulled out again. This time for Karasuno's pinch server, Yamaguchi.
The whistle blew and Yamaguchi jumped, but not as much as other servers had, at least not as high as the ones Syaoran usually played with. He held his arms to the side, thinking he could get the ball from there and make a pass to Shiki. Instead the ball flew over his arms by a few centimeters and landed just inside of the court.
„Huh?"
„A jump floater... and a really good one, too...", Shiki said, completely in awe.
Yamaguchi served again, the same spiel. This time, however, Syoaran was sure that the ball was a bit short. He took a step forward and held out his arms. But again, he didn't get it. The ball was wobbling in the air and bounced off of Syaoran's arms and out of bounds.
This was a type of serve Syoaran had never had to deal with before. But if he kept messing up his receives, the game would end before he even got his final moments of being with all his friends. And Syoaran was not going to let it end sooner than it had to.
One more time, Tadashi Yamaguchi served. He tossed up the ball and hit it lightly.
„Out-", Syaoran was about to call that this time the ball was going out. But it wasn't! The Libero quickly turned around and ran after the ball. He wouldn't be able to reach it with his hand anymore. But he could get his foot under the ball! Syaoran fell back and kicked his leg out. The ball hit his foot and flew back into the air. Maybe volleyball was as cool as soccer after all.
„I got it!", called Katsumi and he passed the ball right over to the net.
„Danno!" Both Katsumi and Shiki called for the ace at the same time.
Tsukishima and Hinata had jumped to block him but Danno spiked the ball right off of Hinata's hand.
Yes!, Syaoran thought.
Yuji was switched back in and Isamu went to serve.
Karasuno may have a two point lead but Syaoran didn't doubt that they could close that gap.
Isamu tossed up the ball and made one of his powerful serves, one of the ones Syaoran was familiar with.
Yuji tried to stop the ball but it blasted right through the first year's stretched out arms.
And just like that, Syoaran knew that as long as he kept the ball off of the ground, his team would take care of the rest and the game would go on.
19-17 for Karasuno was the current score.
Isamu spiked but it was received by Hinata, well, Hinata's face.
„Don't break your nose, dumbass!" Kageyama scolded him while still being able to focus on making a set. Shiki was amazed.
This time Kazuya and Yuji both ran up to spike from the front. Yuji was closest to Kageyama and the set went high.
Shiki, Ronin and Danno all jumped to Yuji.
The first year swung! And the ball kept flying, right to Kazuya who slammed it down next to Danno.
Karasuno's new 11 and 12 cheered.
20-17.
Danno clenched his fist. This wasn't looking good. A three point difference wasn't easy to close and Karasuno was really in it now, they had fully gotten used to the uneven playing ground and just kept tricking the Tokyo Pigeons.
They were more organized, had actual strategies. Not just that but they had tested those strategies on teams just as good as, as well as better than themselves.
Danno turned to his setter. „Shiki-"
But he was already looking up at Danno. „I know. But we have some tricks too, don't we?"
And Danno smirked.
Yuji was up to serve. He tossed up the ball and hit it without jumping. For a second Danno was sure that the ball would hit the net and fall. But it made it just over the net before falling short right in front of Shiki. Had Yuji targeted him? Who knew.
„Danno! Jump!"
But Danno knew better than to worry about something like that. After all, this was Shiki he was talking about. And Shiki had skills you could only get through teaching volleyball to new players over and over.
Shiki dropped to his knees and received the ball. And managed to get it back up high with his arms!
Danno jumped right after the volleyball. With his hand on the top, he hit it straight down.
„Yes!" Shiki grabbed Danno's hand to get back up and patted his back.
Danno really admired Shiki. He had skills no other setter had, Danno was sure of that. Even if some setters were more precise with their sets, no one could play like Shiki.
And all Danno wanted was to play with Shiki.
„That was great," he told the red head.
The other boy laughed. „Well, we'll have to pull more stunts like those if we want to win this."
„Then let's do it."
„Yeah. Let's do it."
Isamu went to serve and he targeted Kageyama so he couldn't make a set.
The setter received the ball but it flew off course. Yuji ran after it and hit it back into the field but over the net and to the Tokyo Pigeons.
„Mine!", Syaoran called right before passing the ball over to Shiki.
Danno ran behind him, to the left and jumped. Right at that moment Shiki set the ball over to him.
But Karasuno's blocker, Tsukishima, was already locked on Danno and shut down his line shot right away.
21:18, 22:19, 23:20, the gap just wouldn't close.
Syaoran fumbled a receive, causing Isamu to have to go after the ball and pass it back. Danno tried to spike it but the ball flew past his hand to Karasuno's side.
Tanaka got the ball right over to Kageyama and before anyone on the Tokyo Pigeons knew what had happened, the ball had already hit the ground.
Karasuno's freak quick attack.
And now they were one point away from winning.
Kageyama bounced the ball on the ground as he got ready to serve.
Shiki clenched and unclenched his hands over and over. They hadn't won yet.
Kageyama hit the ball over and Katsumi got it.
They had to surprise Karasuno somehow. Do something new.
Shiki snapped his head to Danno. „Danno! To the back!"
Without question, his friend took steps back until he was in the very back corner of the field.
The ball reached Shiki's hands and instead of tossing to somewhere close to the net, Shiki set it high, right into the middle of the field.
„Go for it!"
Shiki had full faith in his best friend, his spiker. That guy was volleyball hungry enough to try even the stupidest of moves out of the blue. He was also talented enough to get a point doing those stupid moves, Shiki had no doubt about it.
Danno ran up and jumped from the middle of the field.
The moonlight reflected off of his silhouette and Shiki watched as he sailed through the air, willing to grab that point no matter what.
It was beautiful.
Danno slammed the ball down with as much force as he could muster and then watched as it flew right past Kazuya onto the grass of the court.
His feet touched the ground again and he heard Shiki yell. „YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
„That was so risky!" Katsumi laughed, disbelief in each syllable.
„Tha- was so cool!!" Ronin kept looking between Shiki and Danno as Syaoran laughed behind him.
„Can't believe that worked," muttered Isamu.
Danno locked eyes with Shiki. „Can we do that again?"
Shiki smiled. „Hell yeah, we can!"
Danno served this time. He tossed the ball up after the whistle blew and hit it like one of his spikes. The ball was picked up by Kazuya, Kageyama set the ball to Tanaka and Ronin and Shiki jumped up and blocked him.
But before the ball could touch the ground, Yuji got his hand underneath it and it flew just barely over the net.
Syaoran dove and kept the ball in play.
„Danno!", called Shiki. Then he set to the back again.
Danno jumped just as he had before and hit the ball down.
But the wall Kageyama, Tsukishima and Hinata blocked him.
Danno and Shiki watched as the ball fell closer and closer to the grass ground. Then it was back up in the air.
Katsumi tumbled over the grass after having gotten to the ball and jumped back up to his feet just in time to see Isamu slam it down to the other side of the court.
This time Kageyama saved the ball however and the black haired setter passed the ball right back to Hinata, who had already jumped again.
The small spiker swung. But Syoaran picked the ball right back up.
Shiki got to it and sent it high to the middle. Isamu jumped to spike, Tsukishima jumped to block but Isamu easily passed the single blocker. Yet they still couldn't get the ball to fall. Hinata got his fists under the ball, passed it to Kageyama and ran up to spike again.
Shiki's eyes went from Tanaka to Hinata to Kazuya to Yuji to Tsukishima and finally to Kageyama. Everyone but the setter was running up to spike and Kageyama gave no hints as to who he was planning on setting to.
Katsumi and Syaoran were on opposite sides of the court, Isamu in the middle. Ronin and Danno were waiting with Shiki, trying to read Kageyama.
Finally, Shiki caught Kageyama glancing to Hinata. Of course. If they were this close to winning, they'd want to end it with a bang.
Ronin had seen it too and all three of them jumped up to the right, right in front of Hinata.
The ball finally met Kageyama's hand—
And he dumped it down.
Both Katsumi and Syaoran dove after the ball but had to pull away before reaching it to avoid crashing into each other.
Shiki's eyes went away from the orange haired spiker of Karasuno, who had just landed back on the ground, and to the ball, watching as it bounced on the grass once, twice, thrice. And eventually stopped.
Coach Ukai blew his whistle. And Karasuno cheered as all players and the managers ran onto the field to celebrate.
———
Shiki took a deep breath and let himself fall onto the ground. His best friend sat beside him.
Ronin and Syaoran laid near Katsumi and Isamu, Katsumi handing them their water bottles and towels.
The setter exhaled as he watched the night sky. „That was... so much fun."
Danno nodded. „...I want to keep playing. With you."
„That would be nice. Really nice." Shiki sat up. „I want to keep playing volleyball with you too, Danno. I want to keep watching volleyball games with you, I want to keep coming over to your home and for you to keep coming over to mine. I want to keep being with you."
„Then let's do that. After school, let's keep playing volleyball together."
„Here?"
„Yes. And elsewhere, too. Let's go to California, like your dad, let's play beach volleyball. I'd go anywhere as long as it's with you."
„Okay, okay, slow down! First, let's focus on now, okay? And play volleyball together here."
Danno would be more than content with that. „Yeah, okay."
Shiki wasn't against playing volleyball with Danno for the rest of his life. It honestly sounded like a dream. But his talk with his dad had made him think. So, Shiki wanted to spend more time figuring out just what it was that he wanted to do with volleyball moving forward.
He lifted his hand, closed it into a fist and held it between himself and Danno. Danno picked up his hand from the grass and bumped his fist against Shiki's.
When Shiki finally looked up from his friend, he saw Hinata and Kageyama coming over.
Hinata was jumping up and down with each step he took while Kageyama looked... constipated?
„Uwaaaaa!! That was awesome! How did you do that?", asked Hinata.
Shiki tilted his head. „Do what?"
„That really cool, high back attack! When you set the ball all the way to Danno and it went, like, whoosh and Danno jumped and hit it, like, zam!" Hinata was waving his hands and miming Shiki's set and Danno's spike as he explained. „Can you do it again? Can I spike it?!"
Kageyama hadn't directly looked to them until Hinata elbowed his side. „You wanna know too, right, Kageyama? C'mon, don't hide it, you wanna know too!"
Kageyama smacked Hinata's arm away. „Dumbass..." Then he turned to Shiki and Danno. „Uhm, yeah. I- want to know. How did you do it?"
The two Tokyo Pigeons looked from each other to the two Karasuno players.
Shiki shrugged. „I'm not sure. I knew that you guys would've beat us much earlier if we had kept doing what we had been doing, so I thought about what would surprise you and from all the volleyball matches I've watched, I've barely see any attacks from anywhere but right beside the net. I mean, that also makes sense since hitting it by the net is much easier and gives you a safer chance of actually scoring. But I didn't have to worry about if we'd score or not because I have Danno and this guy could get a point from anywhere."
Kageyama was listening closely as Shiki gave his explanation while Hinata turned to Danno.
The blond fidgeted with his fingers. „Uhm, I just jumped when Shiki told me to. I trust his sets."
Hinata nodded and turned to his setter. „Then we should be able to do it too, Kageyama! It's just like how I hit your sets during our first year!"
„Huh..." Kageyama seemed to be thinking about it. Then he rolled his eyes and turned to walk away, though Shiki saw a corner of his lips go up for a split second. „Yeah, yeah, dumbass, we'll try it out when we're back in Miyagi."
With that, they left.
Meanwhile Isamu had gotten up from his spot in the grass next to Katsumi and now stood across from Kazuya Fukuda.
„Fukuda," he said.
The first year crossed his arms. „Takagi-san."
Isamu took a breath and bowed. „I would like to apologize for what happened back in middle school. I'm glad to see that you're still playing volleyball despite it."
Kazuya stared at him with his mouth agape. It took a few moments for him to collect himself again. „Uhm, uh, well, you don't have to- I've already- Oh, just forget it. Like you said, I'm still playing volleyball so- just..."
„He appreciates you're apology, Takagi-san." Kazuya's teammate Yuji came up to stand beside him.
Then the first year Libero and new number ten for Karasuno, Shuzo, jumped up from behind Kazuya. „He's got us now!"
„And I don't think that he'll let anything stop him from continuing to play volleyball." Even the new manager, Kiyoto, had joined the group now.
Isamu stood up straight again and chuckled. „I'm glad. You really are a good player, Fukuda."
The first year spiker's face turned bright red and he quickly turned away to the side and mumbled a quick thanks.
A few minutes later, Karasuno and the Tokyo Pigeons had packed up their stuff and taken down the net again.
The two teams stood facing each other. Then the Tokyo Pigeons bowed.
„Thank you for playing with us!", said Shiki.
„Thank you!", the rest echoed.
„Thank you," said Ukai.
„Thank you!", both teams chorused.
As team Karasuno started leaving, Ukai stayed behind for a moment longer. „You guys are very good, it's impressive."
„Thank you, sir." The praise started to make Shiki feel quite embarrassed.
„Oh, and Yokata." The Coach took a step closer and placed his hand on Shiki's shoulder. „I think you'd make a good coach. If that's something that you'd be interested in being, of course."
Shiki's eyes widened and all he could muster was a small nod.
When coach Ukai joined the rest of team Karasuno, they all waved back to each other one more time.
„Goodbye!"
Shiki watched as they left. Let's meet again.