Chapter Ten: A Toss to the Ace

EVEN IF HE TRIED TO PUT ON the facade of disliking volleyball now, Asahi couldn't keep himself away from the gym. It was always pulling him in, much like a wave pulling him further out into the sea. He can't distance himself from the one sport that he had come to enjoy so much during his high school career. Not only that, but it was one of the biggest parts of his life that brought him so many good people into his life. Daichi, Suga, Nishinoya, Joji, just to name a few. So for him to try and distance himself from the team meant distancing himself from his greatest friends. He hated to do it, but he's scared, what can he say.

So now he watched in awe as the new first-year members practiced with each other. He witnessed just what Shōyō had been talking about before. That feeling of getting the ball over the net, hitting a powerful spike, and the sting in the palm of his hand is truly amazing. Asahi missed that feeling...

The short orange-haired boy cheered, "Right on! Our fast attacks are gonna count in the Cat fight too!"

Asahi's eyes widened as he realized what the first-year was talking about. He thought to himself, 'Cat? They have a game with Nekoma?'

"It's a practice game on the last day of Golden Week." 

The bearded third-year jumped at the sudden statement "U-ugh!" He turned to find the captain and blonde spiker standing behind him. Daichi was smiling widely at his friend while Endo was smirking. He knew that Asahi couldn't stay away for too long, especially after having met the first-years. Plus, there was no way that Asahi could stay away from him for a long time. Asahi was bound to come back one way or another.

Daichi bristled, "What do you mean, "ugh"?" Though Asahi disregarded him and was trying to escape from the raging captain, in fear for his life. That only caused Daichi to get even more irritated, "Hey, don't run away!"

"But you can be scary when you're mad." Asahi explained with an ashen expression as he tried to climb over the banister and away from his friend.

"I'm not mad this second!" Daichi exclaimed.

Endo chuckled as he pated Daichi on the back, "You look kind of mad."

Though the captain just turned his "not mad" expression at his other smirking friend, "Endo."

"Yessir," He clammed up pretty quickly. Endo is not an idiot, at least not a big one. He knew what to keep his mouth shut. Especially when he was being glared at by one Sawamura Daichi. Endo doesn't have a death wish at the moment.

Daichi huffed in annoyance at his two good friends. One is far too timid and contradictory to his appearance while the other was being a nuisance as usual. He walked up to Asahi, who decided to abandon his plan to run, for now. "To us, Nekoma was like some kind of old folktale at the time. There's no fateful connection between us and them in the current generation." He explained, "But now, it's the Cats VS Crows Dumpster Showdown! Now that we have our first rematch with that Neko team I've heard so much about, I'm feeling kind of psyched."

Asahi looked down sadly, a sight that caused Endo to shift uncomfortably. Endo really hates having to deal with emotions and such, unless they provided him some sort of entertainment. Seeing Asahi in this depressing predicament gives him no joy at all. Asahi sighed, "I'm too ashamed to face Suga and Nishinoya."

The trio was quiet for a moment before Daichi placed a hand on Asahi's shoulder, "I've gotta hand it to you. You sure are timid for such a big guy! You're the polar opposite of Nishinoya!"

The Ace pouted, "Would it kill you to sugarcoat it just a little?"

"There's no need, Asahi." Endo chuckled and draped his arm around Asahi's shoulder. It wasn't that hard to do considering the two of them were around the same height. The blonde cooed while Asahi started to grow a bit flustered at Endo's close proximity, like usual. "There's nothing wrong with being a big teddy bear!"

Daichi shook his head at the display of affection. Honestly, Endo wasn't doing a good job of hiding it. It's a good thing that Asahi was too thick to really notice it. He huffed, "Don't worry! Suga and Nishinoya don't have a problem with it. Unlike you, they're open-minded."

"Aren't you supposed to be nicer than this?" Asahi muttered while stopping his attempts to get Endo to let him go. He knew, from years of experience, that Endo is a very touchy-feely kind of guy. Asahi knew that he should be used to it by now since they've known each other since they were young, but he honestly can't control how embarrassed he feels when Endo is like this.

Daichi turned to start walking towards the gym, "You're the exception because you're so timid. Stuff like skipping out on club activities for a month and feeling awkward about finally showing up... It doesn't matter." He paused in his steps, "If you still love volleyball, that's ample reason to come back. Oh, and also, we have this guy who dreams of becoming the ace."

Asahi sighed heavily through his nose at the reminder of the short kid who hadn't left him alone. He didn't really know how good he was, though he could tell that the first-year was pretty talented considering how high he could jump from what he just saw. However, from the way that he talked about hitting a spike, the passion that was in his voice was admirable in a way.

In the silence left between the three, Endo and Daichi shared a look with each other. Endo slyly smirked as Daichi nodded his head, a silent agreement between the two. Together they punched Asahi in the stomach, quite hard. "Ow!" Karasuno's ace yelped out in pain which caused Endo to laugh wholeheartedly at his friend.

---

Eventually, the rest of the boys started to show up from practice. As usual, Sakura had situated herself on the floor against the floor to watch the boys. She is sporting her usual bored expression while watching the group start their warm-up. Once again she was debating whether or not to just head home on her own, since she could easily do that. However, she didn't want to have her twin nagging her once he got home about her heading out on her own. So it was a bit of a toss-up on what to do. Well, no it isn't. She'd stay. Not actually wanting to head out on her own. She would just rather be home by now, is all. Though, to try and keep her happy, Shōyō had offered her his club jacket. His reasoning was that she could use it as a blanket and take a nap in the gym. As if that would happen, she couldn't sleep with the sound of all the boys practicing right by her. Still, she took it and put it on to try and get even comfier on the floor.

A few feet away, Endo was doing his usual stretches on the floor while talking off Suga's ear. The co-captain was listening to him with a minimal amount of attention, more focused on trying to see how far he could stretch his arms to the end of his legs. Though Endo just continued to go on and on about one thing or another. It wasn't that surprising that he was talking so much, it is a part of his personality. The team has a theory that if Endo ever stopped talking for a long time, he would probably die. However, he was a tad bit jitterier than usual. The others noticed it and wisely decided not to comment on it. If they did, Endo would ignore the topic and chew them out for some reason or another. Daichi, Suga, and Nishinoya were probably the only ones who had an inkling of an idea as to what had caused Endo to act like this. Of course, their idea mainly revolved around their missing Ace, and they were by no means wrong.

While everyone was starting to get ready for the practice to start, Tanaka walked over to his fellow second-year and eyed Nishinoya. Bruises littered the libero's arms, which isn't necessarily a new thing. Being a libero meant that you were prone to getting bruises here and there on your arms and legs. Though Nishnoya hadn't been at practice in a month, so despite that it seemed like their libero was practicing during that time. "Say, Noya?"

The libero looked up to him as he continued his stretching, "Yeah?"

"How did you train while you were banned?"

Nishinoya brightened as he explained, "I focused on blocked ball retrieval. Specialized training to retrieve any blocked ball! I'm not that great at it, but if I can just retrieve blocked balls, you guys can go for your spikes with less on your minds."

Tanaka marveled at the dedication that Nishinoya has. To continue to practice even through his suspension was so inspiring to him. Enough for him to dissolve into tears, "Noya, you are totally, utterly cool!"

The libero jumped at the exclamation in confusion, "Why are you crying?"

The doors to the gym then opened up and the club advisor came bouncing on through. Takeda appeared to be quite excited about something, which is evident from the smile on his face, "Hello!"

"Gather 'round!" Daich called out to everyone. The boys all headed over to stand around the door with their club advisor and another man next to him. The second man was a tad bit taller than Takeda, blonde, and had a slightly mean-looking expression. Curious as to what was going on, Sakura edged her way over as well and stood next to her brother to catch a glimpse of who this old guy is.

"Allow me to introduce you to Ukai," Takeda explained, "your coach as of today!"

All the boys were a bit shocked at the news, not really knowing what to say about this. They just stared at him for a quick moment. They haven't had a coach in quite a while, so it was quite surprising that they now had someone to actually work with them as a team. "C-coach?" Daichi stuttered out in awe, "Do you mean it?"

The newcomer, Ukai, grunted, "Only for the duration of your game with Nekoma."

"What? He's the guy who runs the Sakanoshita Store, right?" Tanaka asked in recognition, "Is he really our coach?"

Takeda nodded his head, "He is your upperclassman, and the grandson of the famous Coach Ukai."

"WHAT?" Everyone blanched, sans Sakura and Tsukishima, of course. 

Shōyō jumped up to their new coach with wide eyes, "But isn't your store called Sakanoshita Store? I mean, sir?"

"The store comes from Mom's side of the family," Ukai explained quickly, before placing his hands on his hips. "There's no time! Let's get started! I want to see how you guys play, so we have a game at 6:30. I called in your opponents."

"Huh?" Daichi asked, "Opponents?"

"The Karasuno Neighborhood Association team." Their new coach explained before clapping his hands, signaling to boys to run off and practice. "Now, come on start some drills!" The boys all scurried off to start doing just as they were instructed. Though Ukai caught sight of a boy who had yet to take his direction, if anything, he just seemed to be ready to watch them. "Hey, you! Shouldn't you be practicing too?"

Sakura wondered for a second who he was talking to, but quickly realized that he was staring at her. She quirked an eyebrow and shook her head, "No, I'm not on the team."

"You don't play with your twin?" Ukai asked, pointing to Shōyō in confusion.

"No," she said slowly, "And even if I did play volleyball it would be on the girl's team since I'm a girl."

"Oh, sorry..." He could have sworn that the other orange-haired teen was a boy, just like the other one. Though he couldn't really tell since the girl was wearing a volleyball team jacket, which he now assumed was her brother's. Twin brothers, is what he thought at a first glance. So it isn't that hard to imagine that he'd mistake her for a boy!

Sakura shrugged her shoulders, seemingly unbothered at the mistake. "It's fine."

"Why are you here then?" The new coach asked in confusion.

She just raised her camera from around her neck with dull eyes, "I'm the team photographer."

"Oh..." Ukai then went off to start observing the boys start their practice. The awkwardness that came off of him now was pretty palpable. However, Sakura didn't seem that bothered. Just as emotionless as usual.

A snicker came up behind Sakura who turned to find the blonde beanpole leering down at her. "You must be used to this, being mistaken for a boy." Tsukishima clicked his tongue and crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe if you dressed like a girl you won't have that problem, huh, pipsqueak."

"It doesn't bother me that much, honestly." She stated dully, honestly not that affected by his possible insult. So what if people thought she is a guy? She doesn't care if people think she's a girl or a boy. The only small problem she had with it was being mistaken for her brother. She smirked up at him, "Though didn't you also think I was a boy when we first met? Not smart enough to notice the difference, beanpole?"

"Tch," Tsukishima clicked his tongue before stalking off somewhere else. Yet again, instead of reacting in any manner that he could predict, Sakura just brushed off his attempt of an insult. Not only that but she tried to jab back at him in retaliation. At this point, he should just suspect that she was going to act this way. After all, he's seen enough evidence to prove that they 

Yamaguchi approached her as well with an apprehensive expression, "It really doesn't bother you, Hinata-chan?"

She shook her head at him, "No, it's my own fault for looking too much like Shōyō, I guess." She shrugged her shoulders as if she wasn't concerned, "I've grown used to being called his doppelganger."

"I'd find it annoying," Yamaguchi frowned. If he were to be mistaken for someone else all the time or for the opposite gender, he'd be a bit peeved by it. However, he found that Sakura was a bit of a strange person. And if she says that she's used to it, then it must not be a big deal to her.

"Hm," She just hums uninterested, which Yamaguchi takes as his cue to head towards the court.

---

"Damn, he isn't picking up." Ukai grunted with a sigh, "I guess assembling the gang this late on a weekday was too much to ask."

Besides him, there was a small snort of amusement, "I'm surprised you even got one to agree to show up," Sakura offhandedly commented.

Ukai wasn't sure if he liked having this clone around. She was quiet for the most part, but she usually said comments like this out of nowhere in the short time that he's been here. The first time she did it, it scared the crap out of him since he kind of forgot she was even there. The new coach has only been in the gym for maybe thirty minutes, but he learned that Sakura liked to make small remarks from time to time. He didn't have a problem with the team's photographer being around, but this girl just creeped him out a bit. How could a small girl like her look so intimidating with just a stare? Not only that, but the dull look in her eyes is a tad bit unsettling to him.

"Aren't you supposed to be doing something?" He looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. She was seating on the ground slightly behind him, leaning up against the wall. "Not just sit there doing nothing?"

Sakura looked up to him with her half-lidded eyes, "I don't see a point in taking photos while they're practicing," she shrugged her small shoulders, "it's better when they're in a game or something." The first-year girl didn't have a definitive opinion on the new coach just yet. He may have the same name as the famous "Ukai of Karasuno" but that didn't mean he had the same level of coaching as his grandfather. Sakura could tell that he used to play for Karasuno from how well he knew volleyball. It was personal for him, not just in an "I've watched a lot of volleyball" kind of way but in an "I used to play on a team for some time" kind of way. Ukai seemed like he could help the team, if only he was going to stick around longer than just one practice game. Oh, well, Sakura thought to herself with a mental sigh, guess having a coach for a short time is better than never having one.

Soon enough, a trio of men walked into the gym. Obviously, these were the guys that the new coach had called in to practice with the team. They are the Neighborhood Association. Contrary to what the teens had been expecting, this team of veteran volleyball players were young, probably in their late twenties at most. They were a trio of older guys, yes, but they were younger than what they would have thought. Though that is a good thing, none of the guys would have to worry about slowing down for a bunch of old geezers. 

"Hey!" Ukai greeted the three newcomers, "Thanks for coming out at the drop of a hat like this, guys!"

Tsukishima was one of those who didn't expect it to be the young men who just walked into the gym, "I envisioned a bunch of old men when he said 'neighborhood association'."

"Same here," Yamaguchi agreed.

Sakura watched the older guys start their own little stretches for their practice game, "It's surprising to me that they showed up. It was extremely short notice." If someone had asked her to do something like that, she certainly wouldn't have agreed. Though there needed to be someone to ask her that in the first place.

"Okay! Let's get this thing started!" Ukai called out once everyone was set up and ready.

Everyone shouted out their agreement as Shōyō rushed onto the court, practically throwing the water bottle he had been given back at his twin, "Game on!"

Sakura caught the water bottle easily as she watched her brother run off in excitement. The barest of smiles crawled on her face as she got ready to watch them all play. If there is one thing she could never get tired of, it was seeing her brother play volleyball. Though that small smile quickly disappeared when she heard Tsukishima's snickers a little bit away and found him laughing at her. For what, she didn't know, but she disregarded him and just settled in to watch the match.

The other players got onto the court and picked out their starting lineups, except for one the teens. Ukai noticed it, and turned to the shortest boy, "Hey, you, what's wrong?"

Nishinoya was quiet, not wanting to voice the fact that he couldn't play on the team. Well, it wasn't that he couldn't play with the team, it was just that he wasn't necessarily willing to do so. Especially with all that drama surrounding him and Asahi after their fight a month ago.

Daichi stepped up to explain, "I'm sorry, he's not ready."

"What's the deal?" The new coach asked with his expression scrunched up in confusion, "Issues? Injury?"

The captain shook his head sheepishly, "No, it's not that straightforward."

"What, so he's not injured?" Ukai turned to the libero with a raised eyebrow before sighing, "I dunno what the deal is, but join the NA team. Our libero is tied up at work."

"Oh, in that case..." Daichi turned to Nishinoya. The libero just looked up to 

Now the NA team had a libero, but there was still an imbalance between the team since only three older teammates. "What will we do about the other three? You have more people, right?"

"Hey!" The little ball of sunshine yelled out as he hung onto the window bars. He noticed something that certainly would help with the missing player problem. "It's Asahi! Asahi!" The others jumped slightly at the fact that their friend is here. Endo was both surprised and satisfied that Asahi was spotted. He figured that Asahi would come back sooner or later, but he didn't think that it would be this soon, only a day after they had talked.

"Ugh!" Asahi cringed at Shōyō's sudden shout. He sweatdropped at the appearance of the short first-year. "Him again. I was just, um--"

Ukai came rounding the doorway to shout at the newcomer, "Late? Are you jerking my chain? State your position!"

Asahi sweatdropped, "W-Wing spiker..."

"We need players!" Ukai shouted out his demand, "Get the hell in here and get warmed up! Make it snappy!" 

Without much of a choice, the tall Ace swapped out his shoes and made his way into the gym. Though if he didn't want to run into anyone from the volleyball team, he shouldn't have been walking past the gym where he knew that would be. His appearance not only brought a sense of enthusiasm to the team, but it caused the usual sly smirk on Endo's lips to turn into a genuine smile. Instead of looking as though he was just about ready to spill the juiciest gossip, he looks as though he is authentically happy about Asahi's return.

He let out a small content huff, "Looks like the big teddy bear has finally come back to play." Suga just elbowed him in the side with a small smile as well. Both of them were happy to have Asahi back, just like everyone else. Though Suga knew how Endo felt, so he knows how this might be making Endo even more excited than usual.

Ukai was a bit happy that they had yet another player, though they still needed two more. He placed a hand on his chin, "Now all we need is a setter and another spiker."

"Ah, I'll play for the oldies team!" Endo volunteered quite quickly. It was a bit surprising considering they would think he'd want to practice with his team, but he really just wanted to play with Asahi. For the first time in a month, he wanted to be on Asahi's side and not against him. It's always been that way, they've never been opposing each other, in just about anyway, and he wasn't going to start now. Though, not wanting to say such a sappy thing out loud like the others might, Endo was certainly going to keep that to himself. So instead, he came up with a believable reason while dramatically pointing at his underclassman, "I'd really like to crush Tanaka and show him his senpai's a better spiker."

Tanaka jumped up at the challenge with a roar, "What did you say, rich boy!" Though when he said "rich" it sounded more like "witch".

"You heard me!" Endo shouted before Daichi pulled the two troublemakers apart before they went after each other.

Ukai could already tell that these boys were going to be a handful to deal with. He sighed, "Fine, but we still need a setter. I wanna do it, but I have to watch from the outside." He turned to the two setters of the team, "Loan me one of your setters."

The two were silent for a moment, before the third-year made the decision and moved to join the other team. Kageyama was a bit surprised, "Sugawara! You're not deferring to me, are you?" Suga paused in his steps, "If rising in the ranks comes at your expense, I'm out."

It took a moment for Suga to find his words, but once he did, he obviously knew what to say. "Since you joined the club, the entire time I was preparing to fight you for the position of official setter, I think I felt relieved somehow," Suga stated, drawing just about everyone's attention. "The setter is a team's attack axis. The setter must be steadfast. But I was too freaked out to toss properly. I was so afraid of exposing the spiker to repeated blocks because of my tosses again that I hid in the shadow of Kageyama's overwhelming talent." Said boy stood behind the older setter as he took in his words. There was both a sense of admiration for his senpai and challenge in his gaze. "It was comfortable there. The very thought of a spike being clocked still scares me." Suga then turned to Asahi, "But please let me throw you a toss one more time, Asahi. That's why I'm joining this side. And Kageyama?" He turned his gaze over to the younger boy, "I'm not gonna lose."

Kageyama nodded his head, "Me neither."

Walking over to his teammates for this match, Suga smiled at the libero, "Nishinoya, give me those nice receives!"

The libero nodded his head confidently, "Naturally!"

Despite that, there was still a small amount of tension between Asahi and Nishinoya. While they were all affected by their departures since the game against Date Tech, the real argument was between those two. They were the ones with the drama with each other, and it wasn't the kind of drama that Endo enjoyed.

---

The game started up as they all lined up for the game. Ennoshita, Tsukishima, Kageyama, Tanaka, Shōyō, and Daichi are on Karasuno's side. Meanwhile, on the NA side, it is Sugawara, Endo, Shimada, Uchizawa, Takinoue, Asahi, and Nishinoya. Two pretty stacked teams that were about to go head to head, how exciting! Though Yamaguchi, Narita, and Kinnoshita were made to be scorekeepers and referees for this game along with Kiyoko. Sakura of course was one of the only spectators, sitting lazily on the sidelines besides the new coach and club advisor.

"He really is intimidating," Daichi commented as they all looked at Asahi in all his man-bun glory.

Takinoue was hype for this game, "Come at me, high schoolers!"

So the game started pretty tamely, as each team traded the first points back and forth. Endo getting the first point for his team with his strong serve. Which impressed the oldies with how much control the third-year has with his serve. Suga then set the ball for the dirty-blonde of the NA team, Takinoue Yusuke, which got them a point.

"Looking good!" Takinoue complimented Suga with a thumbs up, "Nice toss."

Suga smiled happily, "Thank you, sir!"

On the other side of the net, Shōyō was in awe of the older setter, "Sugawara's fast attack!"

"Well, duh," Daichi stated proudly, "Suga is a respectable setter in his own right!" Even Kageyama looked as though he was extremely admirable of his senpai. Though why wouldn't he be, Suga is a good player!

Back over with the NA team, Nishinoya walked up to his friend, "Suga, nice toss!"

"Thanks!" Suga was quite proud of himself with "It's only because they're adjusting their team play for my benefit. They're real veteran players. My tossing still needs work. We need to keep using fast attacks and play hardball, or the game will ride on the ace again like before."

Nishinoya stared at him for a moment before he smiled, "Suga, you've gotten really cool."

Suga stuttered, "What? Y-you think so? That's kind of awesome, coming from you."

"Huh?" Nishinoya tilted his head, "Why is that?"

"You know..." He scratched the back of his head basfully.

"No, I meant it." The libero jumped, "You've gotten really cool."

Asahi watched his friends interact with a forlong expression. He really did miss his friends while he skipped practices. The bond that they all have with each other is strong, and it was hard enough for him to stay away from them. His friends are his everything, in most ways. They are much like family to him, and to cut them out like he had was painful. However, he really only had himself to blame, now he realized. It was his own insecurities that stopped him from coming back, and being with his friends. Though even while he was coming back… he wasn't sure where he fit in anymore.

There was a hum from besides the ace that was followed by a slick chuckle. "Is Mr. Ace brooding about the team?" The voice, one that Asahi has come to recognize so easily, was as thick as honey yet piercing like a knife. 

Asahi jumped slightly at Endo now being right besides him, "Oh, Joji."

The blonde loves making his friend bristle like this, as he does other people. Though doing it to someone that he is extremely close to is just more entertaining to him. "Don't act so frightened, Asahi. You know I don't bite…" Endo then smirked with his half-lidded eyes, "unless you want me to."

Endo was glad to have the whole team back, that was evident with how bright his eyes were. His electric irises were lit with a raw, childish glee. Usually, someone could argue that they were lit like that all the time, especially when he was gossiping. Though this time, there wasn't the underlying sick pleasure from people's secrets in his eyes. Instead they were just 

The Ace just shook his head vigorously, obviously flustered with Endo's close proximity and sly tone. Endo is is best friend, ever since they met in grades school, and Endo definitely likes to be as close to him as possible. Something that he really hasn't gotten used to after all this time.

They then readied themselves for the next rally and Endo finally let Asahi go. Of course, Shōyō and Kageyama were more than ready to use their quick freak in order to get their team a point. Their speed obviously threw off the older team, since they had never seen such speed and jumping power from a short guy like Shōyō. Not only that but Kageyama's toss was perfect!

Takinoue stared at where the ball had gone. He hadn't even been able to try and block that ball because it had been hit far too fast. "What the..."

"Yes!" Kageyama cheered at their point.

Shōyō did the same with his usual enthusiasm, "Right on!" 

On the other side of the net, the older players were in awe of the little small-fry's jumping ability and that broody setter's skill. Uchizawa exclaimed, "That guy really flew!"

Shimada nodded his head, "That toss was dead-on."

Ukai stared in shock at the freakish quick he had just witnessed, he has never seen something like that. He has seen the Tiny Giant before, so seeing a shorty like Shōyō jump that high isn't as surprising. However, that accuracy, that speed. There's potential there. Besides him, Takeda wiggled in his seat, more than pleased to have Ukai see just what the team could do. Sakura was also a bit smug about seeing the twitch in Ukai's brow. It seemed like he doubted the team having any sort of special talent on the team. She is glad that he was proven wrong.

Endo looked over to see how Asahi would react to seeing their new shorty's skill. He loved seeing the star-struck expression on their faces when they saw Shōyō's skills. It is so satisfying. Though he found that Asahi was looking off into the distance. His eyebrows furrowed as he thought about what Asahi could be distracted by. Though as he thought it over, Endo was certain that Asahi was thinking back to the last real game that they all played together.

---

A MONTH AGO

The game against Date Tech is brutal. No matter how many times their ace tried, Asahi couldn't get any spike through. Points were being earned left and right by the Iron Wall and there didn't seem to be anyone to stop them. No one could break through and get even one ball past them. It was even a miracle that they were able to get even a few points from serves and out-of-bounds hits.

"Shake it off!" Daichi said, trying to keep it positive. Though that doesn't seem to be working, considering things were going to come to an end soon. Date Tech was nearing match point, meanwhile, Karasuno hadn't even gotten twenty points yet. Things aren't looking good for the crows.

"One more!" Suga shouted out, already seeing how downtrodden Asahi was becoming. Date Tech served the ball, "It's a bluff! Forward!" Noya jumped towards the front to save that ball.

Tanaka laughed, "Nice, Noya!"

"Asahi!" Suga called out and set the ball for the Ace. Though even though Asahi spiked the ball, the ever unbreakable 'Iron Wall' was there to stop him.

Nishinoya tried to stop the ball from hitting the ground after it was blocked, but was unsuccessful. "Damn it!" He grunted and hit the ground in frustration, "I'm sorry! I'll save the next one!"

Endo patted their libero on the back, "good effort, Noya."

Losing doesn't matter to Endo. Not really. It would be nice to win against such a tough team like this, but he knows when to admit defeat. It's not like he would give up just yet. Not until the other team is at match point. He didn't see Karasuno winning this game, not by a long-shot, so he wouldn't be positive about the outcome of this game. Though he wouldn't be a douchebag and become negative. Least that negativity causes discourse between the team.

They continued to play and Suga was getting ready to set the ball, but their ace wasn't calling for it. Surprising just about everyone on the team. Noya has to be the most shocked by the fact that Asahi just seemed to give up. He never would have that thought Asahi would do this, give up so easily just because he couldn't break through a block. Why would he be so downtrodden by this?

Even if Asahi had asked for so many, he was growing frightened. No matter how many times he tried, he couldn't break through. Whatever he did, he was not strong enough. Date Tech really does live up to their nickname as the 'Iron Wall'. Endo could see his frustration even while in the thick of the game. The drop in the atmosphere around his friend was giving him 

Seeing that Asahi wasn't calling for the ball, Daichi called out to Suga, "Suga, right!"

"D-Daichi!" He then set the ball to the captain, only to have the same thing happen. They were once again shut out. Karasuno lost to Date Tech.

After the game, things were not good. The air around everyone was tense and melancholy. Even more so around Nishinoya and Asahi, they had taken this loss far worse than anyone else. The boys were all cleaning up the gym, and were currently putting everything into the closet.

"Shit!" Noya exclaimed as he finished putting things away, "I couldn't retrieve a single blocked ball!"

The others wanted to step in and reassure him that he was wrong, but Asahi stopped him. "Why? Why aren't you putting the blame on me?" He asked, "We only lost the game because of me! Any ball you could have saved would've been pointless because I couldn't make them count!"

"Asahi!" Daichi tried to reprimand their ace.

"What do you mean, 'pointless'?" Noya spat out as the two disregarded their friends at the door. "Okay, then why didn't you call for the toss at the end? You were in spike position."

"Lay off, Nishinoya!" Suga shook his head. Everyone could see that both boys were starting to boil over with emotion after this game. All of them were upset about losing, but it seemed like Asahi and Noya were taking it a bit worse than everyone else. "It's my fault for sending all the balls his way. He got overwork--"

Asahi cut him off as they continued to ignore any sensible voice that could calm them down. "Even if you did throw it to me, I couldn't make it count anyway."

That seemed to set Noya off as he lunged at Asahi and grabbed his collar. "You don't know that until you hit the damned thing!" Noya shouted, "You never know! The next one might get through!" He pushed Asahi backwards, causing the Ace to step on a broom and accidentally break it. "Don't you dare give up on a ball I keep in play!"

Endo pulled the two of them apart and put himself in between them as a buffer. Now Endo loves drama, but not fights. Seeing people fight each other just reminds him… He just doesn't like it. "Come on, both of you calm down!"

Tanaka ran up to grab Nishinoya by his arms, "Noya!"

"I am a libero! I am pivotal to defense, and pivotal to the team!" He shouted as Asahi looked away. "But... I can't earn us any points. I cannot attack. But I don't care how many spikes don't get through. I wouldn't blame you in the least." He paused before looking up at Asahi with a harsh expression. "However, I do not forgive anyone who up and quits on me!"

There was a moment of silence between them all. It seemed to take him a moment of consideration, before Asahi marched out of the closet, pushing his way through his friends. They all called out to him, "Asahi!"

Endo wanted to help Asahi. They are both each other's crutch, helping each other whenever they can. However, he doesn't know what to do. So he just watched longingly as Asahi grabbed his belongings and left the gym. He sighed loudly, "I've never seen him angry like that before."

---

"Nice, Hinata-kun!" Tanaka shouted encouragingly at the younger boy. Effectively, his shout had broken both Endo and Asahi out of their memories of last month. Which may have been a good thing, they don't need to dwell on the past when they have so much to look forward to now.

Shōyō bowed, "Thank you!"

"Hinata, you're up to serve!" Kageyama walked up to the orange-haired boy with the ball.

From the sidelines, a drawled out voice called out, "Don't hit anyone in the back of the head this time!" Despite sounding bored, it is obvious that Sakura is more than amused by her little joke. Especially when Shōyō turned to her with an annoyed glare. His glare hardened even further when Tsukishima and Tanaka joined in on the laughter.

Asahi had finally come to a realization. One that has been a long time coming, one that would most likely mend any broken cracks that was in this team, at least a little bit. "I do want to," he said drawing Nishinoya's attention, "No matter how many times I run up against it, I do want to hit it one more time."

They were silent for a moment before Nishinoya got into his ready position, "That's all that matters. That's all I needed to hear." Asahi looked back at him with a small amount of surprise, it seemed like their little spat was starting to wash away.

Shōyō served the ball. This time, it was better than all of his other serves. Still plenty of room for improvement, but it at least got over the net, so that's good. It just barely hit the net and tipped over to the other side. Sakura was glad that he's been able to be somewhat consistent with his serves, not all of them were horrible like last year.

"Oops!" Shimada called out as he dove for the ball causing it to go soaring in the air, "Sorry! Cover me!"

A second NA teammate recovered the ball, "Long-haired guy, seal the deal!"

The three-man block was set up yet again, Kageyama had his normal, serious expression on his face, "We're stopping him!"

"Would you please not order me around?" Tsukishima rolled his eyes.

Tanaka was shaking just a little bit as he had to go up against the ace, "We're playing for realsies, Asahi!"

Asahi ran up to spike the ball, but was once again shut out by the block. Not a good sight for anyone to really see. Though, like he had been practicing, Nishinoya saved it! Thanks to his blocked ball retrieval practice with the lady's team, he is more than ready to save the ball, just like now. Truly a talented libero!

"It's up!" Shimada shouted out in awe.

"Nice follow-through!"

Tanaka then started to cry out of nowhere as he remembered his earlier conversation with Nishinoya, "Noya!" Tsukishima is thoroughly disturbed by the sight of his upperclassmen breaking out into tears.

"I'm going to keep that ball in play even if it rebounds off their wall." Noya explained confidently to Asahi. His passion was quite obvious in his words and tone, which caused Asahi to really understand what he was saying. "So, please call for a toss just one more time, Ace!"

"Cover me!" An NA teammate called out.

The grey-haired setter set himself up under the ball, "I'm free!"

Suga wasn't sure what he should do. Passing it to Asahi could go one of two ways. One, Suga sets the ball for Asahi and the ace is able to spike it through the block and get a point. Or two, the more devastating of the two, Asahi would be shut out completely and the idea of him not being a suitable ace being reinforced in his mind. Asahi is strong, there's no denying that, but he is sensitive about some things. He is plagued by self-doubt and having yet another loss would affect him in a terrible way, Suga thought. 

"Sugawara!" Kageyama yelled at his senpai from the other side of the net, "Give them to him until he scores!"

Besides him, Tsukishima chuckled, "You're such a sadist, King."

"Quiet!"

Suga had to make up his mind soon. Asahi was either going to be the spiker for this ball or not. Suga isn't sure if Asahi is ready for this ball, so it would be unfair on his part just to set it to him, expecting Asahi to be ready. One of the older players called out to the setter, "I'm Free!"

"Shimada!" He called out more than ready to set the ball up for the older man, only to stop at a sudden shout.

"SUGA!" Asahi yelled out on the top of his lungs, his hand raised in the air as he looked towards his friend. "One more!" All of the upperclassmen, Suga, Noya, Endo, and Daichi knew it. This was the turning point for their precious ace. 

Asahi couldn't just give up. Not after everything that he had worked for on this team. He is talented, just because he got shut out in their last game didn't mean that much. All it meant was that he had room to improve and he shouldn't run away from it. He is the Ace.

So suga set him the ball, Tsukishima, Kageyama, and Tanaka on the other side of the net getting ready to try and block the ball.

"Are you backing the other team?" Tsukishima snarked, "We're gonna have to block him again."

"Obviously," Kageyama grunted, "There's no point cutting corners." The three readied their three-man block as Tanaka shouted in slight fear of having to go up against their ace.

So, Asahi jumped up. He flew through the air much like a redeemed crow after just regaining its ability to fly. It's mesmerizing in a way. To see this teen, who may have lost his motivation to be the ace of the team to gain that confidence back. It is a confidence not only in himself but also in his team. Despite the fact that Tanaka, Tsukishima, and Kageyama had put up a three-man block, Asahi, the great Karasuno Ace, easily broke through them all. In doing so, the volleyball hit the other side of the court with a loud bang before bouncing away. Everyone was in shock that it had gone through. The three-man block was reeling from their fail, the third years were excited to see Asahi finally get his groove back, and Shōyō is mesmerized by the sheer power that Asahi possesses. One thing is for sure, from the determined expression on Asahi's face, it is safe to say that Karasuno has their ace back!