Chapter Text
We made it to the finals! Watch the TV tonight!
Sawamura Eijun let out a giant happy gasp when seeing his cousin, Sawamura Daichi’s text just after he finished baseball practice.
His teammates looked confused as he raced to the dorms telling his roommate, “Mochi-sempai! I need the TV after dinner!”
“EH?! You’re not going to run like you usually do?!”
“Not tonight, it’s something I must watch! It’s very important!”
More confusion ran throughout his teammates as their hyper southpaw pitcher never misses a nightly run unless ordered to so now everyone on the first string wanted know what exactly did Sawamura needed to watch tonight?
“A volleyball match?!” Zono exclaimed as the first string players and Nabe had gathered into Room 5 just as Eijun had tuned in to the match between Karasuro and Shiratorizawa that was about to begin.
“It’s my cousin’s team! They made it to their own championship!”
Haruichi asked, “Which team is he on?”
“Karasuro! They’re in the orange and black!” sitting down on the floor with a pillow on his legs.
Furuya was already on the verge of falling asleep while leaning on Haruichi’s shoulder.
“Furuya has the right idea, how are a bunch of baseball players going to follow a volleyball game?” Miyuki quipped.
Eijun shushed him, “It’s starting!” keeping his eyes glued to the TV.
“We will now begin the Japanese National High School Volleyball Tournament, Miyagi Prefecture Qualifiers, Boys’ Finals. Miyagi Prefectural Karasuno High School versus Shiratorizawa Academy.”
“We will now introduce the Karasuro High School starting lineup. Number 1, Captain Sawamura Daichi…”
“Captain?!” the room proclaimed.
“Your cousin is the freaking captain?!” Kuramochi yelled.
“Wahaha! Yup!”
They heard the rest of the introductions making Miyuki comment, “Heh, that Number 5 reminds me of you Yoichi.”
“HUH?! No way!”
“Number 10 reminds me of you Eijun-kun.” Haruichi mentioned.
“You think so?!”
“Yeah, something about him just shines brightly.”
Kawakami hummed, “I have to agree, and I like how Number 10 is short even though there are so many tall guys there.”
“And that Number 11 reminded me of Shinji.” Toujou mentioned, “I don’t know why though.” as said blonde gave him a confused look.
When Shiratorizawa’s introductions were done the match was underway as both teams got into position and Daichi was up to serve.
The whistle blew and Daichi served the ball over the net and the opponent received it with Numbers 3, 11, and 9 trying to block the tallest guy close to the net as he lifted his left- wait his left hand?!”
“Hey! He’s a southpaw too!” Eijun pointed.
The guy hurdled the ball over the wall of players and Number 4 tried to receive it, but it bounced off his arms having Shiratorizawa score the first point.
The Seidou players were left speechless by the tall teen’s brute force in his serve.
“Why am I getting Inashiro vibes from these guys?” Kuramochi said, “And it’s pissing me off!”
Others around the room were frowning and sounding in agreement.
Eijun was chewing on his pillow angrily from the very same thought and now he really wanted for his cousin to win this! Come on Dai-chan! Beat these guys!
Daichi missed the next serve, and the same thing happened to 3 and 5, giving the opponents a three point lead. Things weren’t looking good until someone on Karasuro’s side shouted at them.
Miyuki laughed wholeheartedly at Number 2’s words while Mochi crossed his arms and humphed, “That’s how a vice captain gets the job done.”
Zono did the same, “Agree.”
The game continued on with Number 5 finally scoring the first point for Karasuno.
And the match went on with Karasuno getting some points, but it wasn’t enough, and it was super frustrating to Eijun seeing his cousin’s team getting clobbered like this! So much so it was to the point where he had eaten almost his entire pillow!
Miyuki voiced, “I’ve been noticing something…”
Eijun looked to his captain and catcher in bewilderment, “What?”
“It seems that they’re baiting the big guy to throw the ball over to that short Number 4 so he can try to receive it.”
“Oh wow! Do you think so?!”
“Could be, if Number 4 is a key player to their strategy and is trying to get a handle on receiving the ball especially when the big guy is a southpaw, the spin in the ball will be different.” he smirks, “Take it from someone who knows that firsthand.”
Eijun returns the smirk before going back to the TV.
The first set was completed with Shiratorizawa taking it and the two teams had to switch around the court for the next set.
“It’s not over yet!” Eijun declared, “Go Dai-chan!”
Surprisingly the second set was going well with Karasuno keeping up, hopefully this meant the tide was about to turn in their favor.
“They’re starting to resemble Yakushi…” Haruichi commented.
Nabe said, “Funny you should mention that,” he held up his smartphone, “it says here that Karasuno has been considered the ‘Dark Horse’ for this match since they had beaten other noteworthy volleyball teams.”
Stars lit up in Eijun’s eyes while half the group oohed at that information.
Miyuki chuckled, “Looks like the Sawamuras are full of surprises.”
Eijun declared, “Of course we are! And giving up is never an option to Dai-chan, he always told me, ‘you can’t win unless you try’.”
There was a heavy pause in the air and Eijun looked around confused till his teammates muttered, “This explains so much.”
“Huh? What is?!”
Miyuki wrapped his arm around him with a smile, “Your can-do attitude of course! Since you’re always pushing yourself to do better.”
“So your cousin is the reason we have to put up with your annoying qualities!” Zono gestured.
“For real!” Kanemaru sounded out.
They returned to watch the game and sure enough Miyuki was right about the baiting making Eijun gawk and Kuramochi complained, “How the hell did you guess that right?!”
Miyuki just hummed and shrugged causing a vain to throb in his best friend’s head as he muttered, “Bastard…”
The match went on with Karasuno hanging in there by a thread until something amazing happened when Daichi caught a serve and bounced the ball to Number 9 as Number 10 was flying across the court before jumping high close to the net and 9 tossed the ball to 10 where he made a fast quick attack, stunning both the opponents and baseball players.
“WHOA!” the room exploded.
“WHAT WAS THAT?!” Eijun piped up, “It went whoosh, then boom!”
“It was as fast as Furuya-kun’s pitching but with the finesse of Eijun-kun’s pitching.” Haruichi pointed.
“Good eye younger Kominato.” Miyuki complimented.
They went back to watching with Karasuno taking the second set if barely. The third set was next, and it was rough seeing Shiratorizawa taking that one by a fairly large margin.
The fourth set was a battle for Karasuno to stay ahead of the game. Tie after tie, there was just no break in a lead for either teams. Eijun was eating his pillow nervously as he was kept on the edge.
“Man, both sides got some real monsters there, there’s just no stopping them.” Toujou commented.
“You said it.” Haruichi agreed.
“I’m just glad they’re volleyball players,” Kawakami voiced, “I would never want to go against them on the diamond.”
Miyuki said, “Aw but it would be so much fun!”
Yoichi frowned, “Baka, only you would think that way!” making the tanuki laugh.
They kept watching the screen not once taking their eyes off for one second through the intense match till finally… finally Karasuno took the fourth set, 29 to 27!
“They’re tied in sets!” Nabe exclaimed.
“Which means they need to take this last set if they want to win!” Zono proclaimed.
It was definitely at this point that the entire room was invested in the volleyball game and that they were rooting for Karasuno to win.
The fifth set began, and it started out promising until the tie set in again.
“Can’t they just get a break?!” Eijun complained.
“Their opponents are champions for a reason, Eijun-kun.” his best friend reasoned.
“He’s right,” Nabe said, “the importance of staying champions is very high to them that it’s a miracle that Karasuno has been able to keep up this far.”
It made it up to Karasuno’s four points with Shiratorizawa’s seven when suddenly the Karasuno team had gathered around Number 11 who apparently injured his pinky and had to leave the court to get treated.
“Oh-no!” Eijun shouted in concern.
Miyuki sucked his teeth, “Ooh, that’s not good, he’s one of their tallest and strongest players, without him they’re at a huge disadvantage.”
But then upon watching when the game continued he was proven wrong causing Mochi to cackle.
“Well I’ll be damn… Karasuno’s got more tricks up their sleeves.” Miyuki chuckled.
Eijun declared, “That’s my cousin for you! Dai-chan chose his team well!” he laughed in triumph.
Nabe stated, “But they’re still battling for the lead, so we have to wait and see who can come out on top in the end.”
At 15 to 14, they saw the return of Number 11 and things were once more back into intense game mode as the ties and one-point leads kept happening.
“It’s anyone’s game at this point…” Haruichi mentioned.
Eijun just chewed on his pillow anxiously as he waited for the final results. Praying that his cousin and his team could truly win this.
And then… something astonishing happened… Karasuno just needed one more point and when the team began a synchronized attack, Number 10 jumped high at the back of court as if he was almost flying with real wings! It left the entire dorm speechless at such a move with Number 10 spiking the ball to score the final point. And just like that, it was over. They won.
The crowds cheered to the top of the roof which caused Eijun to finally cheer onto his feet and threw the pillow into air as it smacked into Kanemaru.
“THEY DID IT! THEY DID IT! THEY DID IT!” as he danced around the room.
Miyuki just stayed in place and smirked, “That they did Sawamura, that they did…”
Kuramochi commented, “Man I was getting a heart attack just watching them!”
“Me too!” Zono agreed while clutching his chest.
Suddenly Eijun’s phone rang, and he picked up with a smile knowing who it was. He excused himself from the room and went outside shutting the door.
“So, did you see it?”
“Did I ever?! Dai-chan, you were amazing! Congrats on winning!”
“Thanks! I can’t talk long, the awards ceremony will begin soon but hey this means I’ll be in Tokyo come January, so I hope to see you then.”
“Count on it!”
“You sure you can do that? I don’t want to take you away from practice.”
“It’ll be fine, just tell me where you’ll be at.”
“At the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym.”
“Got it!”
They exchanged goodbyes before hanging up.