Chapter Thirty-Six: Greed

ENDO'S ARMS WERE CROSSED OVER HIS CHEST as he stood with the rest of his team. After waking up and eating a hearty breakfast, they had made quick work of getting into the gym to start their warm ups. They wanted to get started with their practice games as soon as they could. He was still quite tired even after having Nishinoya yelling in his ears to get up. He had stayed up a bit later than the other boys, for no reason in particular. Endo just couldn't sleep. Though he had to do his best to wake up with how hyped his teammates were to redeem themselves after the abysmal games that they had the day before. God, what he wouldn't do for a coffee right now.

"Gather round!" Ukai called out to the team, "Our first game today is with Nekoma. How did we do yesterday?"

Kiyoko looked down at her notebook, "This will be our third set overall with Nekoma. Yesterday, we played two sets with them. The scores were 17-25 and 19-25, both our losses." Some of the boys cringed at the reminder of the losses and the soreness after having to do the penalty. Most of them still had sore arms from it, which Endo was certainly the loudest complainer about it.

Ukai nodded, "Simply put, we haven't won a single set. But if we calm down and go out there in full force, Hinata and Kageyama, this is your first Nekoma set in a while, isn't it? Go show 'em what you've got."

The two nodded their heads, "Right!"

So the boys got onto the court and were ready to play the first game of the day. They could only hope that they could have a few breakthroughs today against the cats. It would certainly help their morale while also giving them the motivation that they would need to push forward. Only time would tell, at the moment.

Meanwhile, Sakura shuffled through the hallway towards the room that the coaches and teachers had been using to sleep. Ukai had told her that Tanaka's older sister had maybe drank a bit too much last night and would need someone to wake her up. Least she ends up sleeping most of the day away. Sakura knew that she didn't have anything else to do, so she agreed to do it. 

Perhaps there was a part of her that agreed so she would have a reason to avoid being on the court for some time. It just meant that she prolonged running into the captain of the owls. After last night, Sakura wasn't sure if she wanted to have another run in with Bokuto. Or even any of the other boys from Fukurōdani. She had the feeling that he went blabbering to his teammates about her and her history with Sato. What she wants to avoid as much as possible is them questioning her about anything surrounding that guy. Though she brushed it off, there wasn't any need to think about it right now.

Sakura came into the room to see that the older woman was barely awake. She was holding her head, certainly working through the beginnings of a hangover. Sakura blinked at her, "Good morning, Tanaka-san."

"Eh?" Saeko blinked lazily as she tried to come into complete consciousness. After having drank too much with the teachers last night, it was obvious that she would have a bit of trouble getting herself ready. She turned to see that little giant wanna-be that she drove up yesterday. Though as her eyes finally adjusted, she saw the bored expression on the girl's face and realized… this wasn't that little shrimp.

"Ukai wanted me to make sure you were awake." Sakura explained, her arms now crossed over her chest.

Saeko still stared at her a bit confused, "you're that kid's sister, right?"

"Yes."

She tilted her head, "I was expecting you to look a bit… different."

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed, "We are twins, identical twins."

"Still would have thought you would look a bit more different," Saeko just shrugged her shoulders like it was the most obvious statement ever. Sure, Saeko knows that they are twins and would look similar, but she wasn't expecting a near carbon copy of that little shrimp. She thought that they would have some differences in appearance, maybe Sakura would have longer hair, maybe a different style of clothes, just something to differentiate themselves. The only thing that she could see that really seemed to convince her that this wasn't just Shoyo was the fact that Sakura appeared to have a resting bored expression.

Sakura just stared at her for a long moment, "Okay?" She wasn't sure what to think of the older woman. Sakura kind of figured that she would be similar to Tanaka, so perhaps a bit difficult to handle. Though she's just waking up, there probably was still time for Saeko to prove Sakura's theories right.

Saeko stretched with a loud groan, "what time is it?"

"Around 9am."

"Ah! Why didn't you say so!?" Saeko shouted, causing Sakura to cringe, "I'm gonna miss Ryu's game!"

Sakura watched as the older woman hurried, getting herself as presentable as she could as quickly as possible. It was almost impressive to Sakura to see her getting ready in such a speedy manner. Soon enough Saeko had taken care of her things, and the pair headed out of the room together. They made a little bit of small talk, but there wasn't all too much to be said. As sisters of players on the team, there wasn't really too much that they could talk about. At least in Sakura's mind. Saeko was at least six years older than her, so Sakura didn't think that there was a topic of conversation that they could really delve into, which she was fine with. She wasn't necessarily looking to be friends with someone as old as her. So menial small talk will have to do.

By the time that Sakura and Saeko were coming back into the gym to watch the practice matches, they came in to see quite the sight. Asahi had been jumping for a toss only for Shōyō to come soaring through the air, also aiming for the ball. Everyone watched as the two collide, the pair shouting out at the sudden contact in surprise. Though thanks to the size differences between them, Asahi was barely affected by Shōyō smacking into him. Shōyō was the one who was pushed down to the ground harshly. Everyone blinked in a mix of confusion and slight concern at the collision. 

Finally recovering over his shock, Asahi stared at the fallen boy in horror, "U-U-U-Uh… Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-"

Before he could even get any words out properly, Shōyō was quick to get on his knees and bow to the ace. "I'm sorry! I was just staring at the ball…" He was babbling so much that it was a bit hard to understand him, "I'm sorry! Are you okay? I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"I-I'm perfectly fine…" Asahi said shakily.

The rest of the boys were watching the interaction with amusement. Tanaka chuckled, "Hey, be careful."

"No matter what," Nishinoya commented, "Shōyō's gonna be the one that goes flying."

"Pay attention to your surroundings, you idiot!" Ukai shouted at the orange-haired boy, "Why do you think everyone's calling the ball, you dumbass?!"

Endo pursed his lips like he just ate a lemon, "at least neither of them are hurt." The thought of Asahi getting hurt certainly didn't sit well with him. He really couldn't care less if Shōyō got hurt, especially if it meant that Asahi was the one hurt instead.

Kageyama slid over to scold him as well, "Moron! Hinata, you moron!"

Shōyō grew shy, "Right… I'm sorry."

Sakura just blinked slowly at the events that unfolded. She hasn't seen her brother do something like that before, so it was a bit surprising. She wasn't sure what he would have been thinking. Was he distracted? Did he get greedy? Sakura couldn't pin-point it at the moment. She'll have to ask him later.

She was punched lightly on the shoulder as a laugh came from the woman next to her, "your brother sure is eager, huh?!"

Sakura just nodded lightly, "you have no idea."

So the rest of the game was played out. Sakura had left Saeko to do whatever it was that she wanted to do up in the stands to watch the game. She certainly wanted to watch the rest of the practice match with Kiyoko and Yachi on the bench. Sakura wouldn't get too many opportunities to sit courtside to watch her brother's games, so she'll take what she can get. 

One thing that she noticed, which was hard not to, was that Nekoma's newer member of the team was quite a difficult opponent. Which makes complete sense to her since he's not only one of the tallest guys she's ever seen in person, but he was agile. He also worked well enough with Kenma, a trait that I'm sure the pudding-haired setter appreciated. After hearing more about Lev last night, Sakura figured that he was going to be quite the difficult opponent. However, seeing it now, she realized just how bad it was. Considering Lev could counter Shōyō's quick freak pretty easily. She wasn't sure how that was affecting Shoyo all that well. Sakura could imagine that it was… far more than disheartening for him.

Though at one point, everyone could hear the proclamation that Shōyō made mid game, "I'll stop closing my eyes." It shocked just about everyone. Up until this point, he never kept his eyes open for the freak quick with Kageyama. So why all of a sudden now? "I can't stay like this." He explained, "I can't keep hitting quicks that are set just for me."

Kageyama stared at him for a moment, considering his words. "You can't, and that's why we learned normal quicks." He finally said, "I don't know what's going on with you right now, but if you have something to say, I'll listen to it later. But if you're gonna do that right now, I'm not going to set to a guy who I know will miss."

They continued on with the game, a new atmosphere taking over Karasuno. One that not everyone picked up on, but noticeable enough for those with a keen eye. Sakura didn't know what this could mean for them as a team. Evolution was good, but getting to the point where it works would be challenging. Having tension on the team could mean little to no good. Especially considering that Shōyō and Kageyama already have their pre-existing feud with each other. Though this just felt more than that. 

Yachi noticed something she found a bit concerning after that exchange. "I wasn't imagining the tension between Hinata and Kageyama-kun, right?" She looked at Sakura and Kiyoko in concern. She certainly didn't think that it was good to have two players be so tense with each other.

"Yeah…" Kiyoko trailed off as they watched the intensity in the boy's plays, "But it's not just Hinata and Kageyama. Ever since Hinata and Azumane bumped into each other, they're all on edge."

Sakura pursed her lips, "I think they've realized that Shōyō is… greedy." Her brother is always ambitious about his skills and needs to be taken seriously on court. He might not outwardly show it, or people might not expect it, but Shōyō had the potential of being greedy. It wasn't greed for attention in the normal sense, but just a greed to grow stronger, to become this unstoppable force in a sense. The next little giant. Perhaps the rest of the team realized this, and are stepping up to the challenge. Partaking in a bout of friendly competition while on the court. Constantly pushing each other to show off who's better. In the end it could only mean something good for the team as a whole. If they all push to be better than each other with their individual skills, but keep track of working on their teamwork, the team can only benefit as a whole.

The last point that Nekoma needed to win was earned, which meant that Karasuno had to do yet another penalty lap. Sakura thought that she would accuse them of being masochists since they kept doing these penalties. Though she knows that they're trying their best, or at least most of the team is.

To say that Sakura was surprised by the outcome of the game against Nekoma would be a complete lie. She figured that they weren't going to win, even if it got close at certain points. Still they lost 18-25, it wasn't a complete sweep but it wasn't that much of a nail biter. 

Now that the game was over, Daichi called everyone over, "Gather around!"

They all stood around their club advisor and coach as Takeda stood to give them a speech as usual. "You guys are the weakest team out of all the teams here." All of them thought about how they really couldn't say that he was wrong. Takeda continued, "If we were to have an official match with any of these teams, they would be a troublesome opponent. Are we going to view them as mere opponents, or teachers that we can absorb techniques from? The fact that you are weak just means that you have room to grow. There's nothing more exciting than that."

All the boys bowed, "Thank you!"

So with the game over now, and their penalty lap taken, the boys were allowed a moment of reprieve before they continued with their next game. Though at this point, after the game they just played, they really were the weakest team here, and that weighed heavily on just about all of them.

Walking over to Asahi as the boy was taking a swig from his water bottle, Endo planted himself to sit on the floor beside him. He could spot the weary expression on his best friend's face. He was more than aware that Asahi was probably contemplating how the team was going to get to nationals now, and how things were definitely heating up within the team itself. 

"You know, you'll get wrinkles if you keep your face like that," Endo commented as he poked Asahi's cheek. 

Asahi sighed heavily, "We really can't win against these teams."

"Well, they're all at a different caliber than what we're used to." Endo raised an eyebrow, "Makes sense that we can't stand up against them just yet."

"Still," Asahi took a glance in the direction of where they saw Shoyo, Kageyama, and Suga had gone. "We're all having issues with something."

Endo appraised his friend with pursed lips. "The team will work things out," he shrugged his shoulders, "You think that this bunch of guys are just gonna roll over and give up? No, no. They're going to try their damndest to make things work." He supposed that was one thing that he could definitely admire about his teammates. Most of them had this level of determination that seemed impossible for most people. 

The corners of Asahi's lips turned up lightly, thankful for Endo's attempt to reassure him. "Yeah," he breathed out, "I guess you're right."

"Plus, I know what you're thinking." Endo leaned over closer to Asahi, getting into his personal space. "Our little decoy is very ambitious, but I know he won't out shine our amazing ace."

There may or may not have been a little shiver that went down Asahi's spine due to Endo's close proximity, but he did his best to brush it off. "I won't let that happen, I will do my best to get better, just like he is."

"That's the spirit!"

Eventually, the boys all came back from their short little break. A few of them made revelations with new ideas in their minds and were more than ready to see what they could do now. With the next game being against Fukurōdani, Sakura couldn't really avoid Bokuto at this point. Right before the game started, and the boys lined up, the eccentric captain came bouncing over to her with a wide smile. 

"Hinata-chan!" His smile was nearly blinding to her as he pumped his fist, "I'm excited to play against your brother today, I know it'll be a great game!" 

Sakura blinked at him, already knowing that she would have to warn off a headache if he kept this up. "Yeah, it'll be cool to watch you guys play." 

She was still a bit apprehensive about him. Well, she's most likely going to be apprehensive of the Fukurōdani team since she now knows that Sato goes to that school and apparently the team knows him. Who knows what he could have said to them about her, since by Bokuto's account, Sato likes to talk about her a bit to others. While she wanted to keep her distance from them, Bokuto wanted to be friendly to her, she supposed. In a sense she could understand, if she had been hearing about someone and finally got to meet them she would be curious.

Another boy from the Fukurōdani team then came walking over. He had black, slightly curly hair, green eyes, and a kind expression on his face. "I'm sorry that he is bothering you." Just from that statement, Sakura could tell that this boy had to deal with Bokuto a lot.

Sakura blinked at him, "Yeah, you're fine." She bowed slightly to him, "I'm Hinata Sakura, nice to meet you."

"I'm Akaashi Keiji." He returned the bow, before starting to usher Bokuto to the court. "Now, come on, we have to line up." So the two headed off, with Bokuto loudly telling Sakura to watch him play.

At least Bokuto has someone to reel him in a bit, Sakura thought to herself as she watched both teams get ready to play. Though going up against a top five ace, Sakura didn't have all that much optimism about Karasuno winning the game.

---

By the end of their matches, Karasuno really had solidified their stance as the worst team there. They really only won a few of their games, but nothing really notable and they were always won with a hair length of a lead. Really, that still weighed on them all. Then again the only thing they could do was work to get better as individual players and as a team. Eventually they could show all these teams, everyone, that the fallen crows were no longer. 

So now it was time to head home. The boys were loading up their things into the bus and were saying their goodbyes to their friends from the other teams. Sakura was just finishing helping Kiyoko carry a few things to the bus when she could feel an overwhelming presence heading in her direction.

Yua came bouncing over to Sakura. Just from looking at her, Sakura could tell that the girl was itching to give her a hug or something. It was surprising that Yua was holding herself back. Maybe she realized that Sakura wasn't exactly comfortable with it, which Sakura actually appreciated. "I'll miss you, Hina! Make sure to text every once in a while or I'll come visit." The sickly sweet smile on her lips showed that she would completely follow through with visiting Sakura at any point.

Sakura just stared at her, unsure of what to say, "...okay?"

Akaashi then came walking up to them, the same kind expression on his face as when he had pulled Bokuto away from Sakura. "You don't have to do anything you don't want. My cousin can be a bit aggressive about things like this."

Sakura blinked, slightly surprised, "She's your cousin?"

"Yes!" Yua(full name Akaashi Yua) jumped over to hug him into her side, "Keiji is my little cousin."

Akaashi just nodded slowly, "Not very little, only younger by a few months." He didn't seem bothered at all by Yua's clingy disposition 

Yua just sang, "Still younger."

Sakura took a closer look at them and tried to see if she spotted any similarities between them. While Yua had straight brown hair, Akaashi had slightly curly black hair, they had similar green eyes, the same button-like nose, but that's where the similarities ended. Then again, Sakura thought, they're cousins not siblings so they probably wouldn't look all that similar. Still she never would have thought that the eccentric Yua was related to the mellow Akaashi. Though anything was possible around here, Sakura supposed.

Nothing much else had to be said. Yua just reiterated that she wanted to talk more to Sakura as said girl climbed onto the bus. She crawled into her seat besides Yachi and was more than ready to either read or nap on the way back to their school.

"So how was your first training camp with the team?" Sakura asked as she got herself comfortable in her seat by the window.

Yachi couldn't help herself but smile brightly at the question. "It was actually really fun! I thought that it would be super scary with all these tall guys around, but it wasn't that bad."

Sakura smiled, "Glad you had fun."

---

Sakura yawned loudly, now standing next to Yachi and Kiyoko as the team gathered around. The sky was nearly pitched black, the only lights around were the dim lamps around the school campus and the twinkling stars. She wasn't sure how she was going to cope if all of the training camps were like this. Leaving super early and coming back super late. At this point, she would have to force Shōyō to let her leave when she would like.

"All right, everyone." Takeda said to the group, "Good work."

"Thank you!"

"So, as I mentioned, tomorrow there will be inspections in the gym, so there'll be no club activities. You've all gone a long time without a break, so please enjoy it."

The group all dispersed and headed to the club room to finish their last chores before leaving. Endo was babbling about finally getting a break and wanting to go out on a lunch date with Asahi. Which caused the ace to start getting flustered and stuttering himself. Though no one really took notice of them since everyone just wanted to get home.

When Kageyama and Shōyō finally came back down after settling things in the club room, Sakura saw the look in their eyes. Great, she sighed heavily, looks like we're not leaving anytime soon. Which she was correct about. The two had wanted to keep practicing a bit longer. So she couldn't leave either.

Walking past the gym, Yachi noticed that the gym lights were still on and there were people inside. Peering inside she saw that it was Shōyō, Kageyama and Sakura still there. "Huh?" She blinked at seeing them setting up the net again, "You guys aren't going home yet?" 

Sakura huffed, "they're obsessed with their sets. So we're not leaving any time soon." It was late. Sakura wanted to get home to get a quick dinner and sleep. Studying wasn't even on her mind, which was a first, as she was too tired after today. However, now her brother and Kageyama had agreed to practice a little further which meant that Sakura had to stay as well. Curse her brother not wanting her to head home by herself. 

Shōyō noticed her in the doorway and smiled, "Yachi-san, if you don't mind, could you throw us some balls?"

"Huh?" She blinked, "Can I do that?"

Sakura just shook her head, "Don't ask her to do that, I can do it." She looked to her friend, "You can go home, Yachi, if you don't want to stay late like these idiots."

Yachi just smiled, "Oh, I don't mind!" She could stay to help those two and also save Sakura's sanity from deteriorating any further tonight.

"If you're sure." Her friend just gave her a thumbs up. The last thing Sakura would want is to have Yachi dragged into staying later just because she felt pressured to by these bozos. She's used to dealing with them like this, so she wanted to make sure that Yachi knew she could leave.

So they set up pretty quickly for the first set, "Let's do this!" Shōyō shouted. Yachi was the first one to toss the ball up, and it was more than baffling to see that after Kageyama's set, Shōyō missed. All of the teens were surprised by it. Though Shōyō was more than ready to keep trying, "One more time!"

So Sakura and Yachi took turns tossing the ball to Kageyama so he could set it for Shōyō. They were trying as hard as they could to get any sort of improvement with this one specific spike. With Shōyō's eyes being open, Sakura would think that he would be able to hit it a tad bit easier, though after seeing so many missed hits she had to admit that her thought was wrong. Shōyō was distracted by actually seeing the ball. Perhaps he was overthinking where he would actually hit the ball, Sakura thought. The sound of the volleyball hitting the ground in defeat after not even being touched by her brother was going to replay in her head over and over. It was giving her a headache already. 

Sakura could tell that they were becoming frustrated. The air was palpable with the tensions between the two boys. At some point, she felt like it was difficult to breathe. She knew that they were having issues with the spike, since they hadn't been able to make any progress with it the entire twenty minutes that they had been there. There were a few times that she wanted to tell them to just give up right now, since nothing was working, but she held back. 

Though constantly pushing themselves to improve and only getting the same results over and over and over again, something was going to give. Which it certainly did.

Kageyama had finally hit his breaking point when he glared at Shōyō with an intensity that Sakura wasn't sure she had seen from him in a while. He ground his teeth together, "Instead of practicing an attack we're not sure you'll ever be able to do, you should be working on the attacks we've been using, as well as serving and blocking!"

Shōyō was a bit out of breath as he responded, "But if this quick doesn't work, there's no point in me being on the court."

"And I told you, your will isn't needed for that quick! I'll give you tosses that won't be stopped by blocks!"

"But then I'll never get better!" 

Sakura and Yachi shared a glance with each other, realizing that things were heating up possibly a bit too much. They've seen the boys fight before, argue plenty of times, but this just seemed far more emotionally charged than usual.

"The prelims for the spring tournament start next month! They're right around the corner. What do you think will be an effective weapon for us?" Kageyama grabbed the front of Shōyō's shirt, pulling him closer as he shouted, "A complete quick or an absolutely useless quick?! Huh?!"

Yachi was watching the exchange, realizing that a palpable anger was taking over the gym, "N-No fighting, guys. Calm down, Kageyama-kun. You, too Hinata…"

"It's late, let's just all go home," Sakura amended, trying to cut through the tension.

Though the boys just ignored them as Shōyō just shouted, "I want to be strong enough to compete by myself!"

Nothing was going to stop the boys from continuing their argument as Kageyama became even angrier. He started throwing Shōyō around, "Your selfishness is going to destroy the team's balance!" Kageyama shouted before throwing Shōyō onto his back.

Sakura scowled, "Hey!" As much as she agreed with Kageyama about focusing on other skills that Shōyō should improve, there didn't need to be any fighting like this.

From the sidelines, Sakura and Yachi watched with growing concern. Yachi did her best to try and defuse the situation again with shaky words, "L-Let's all… Let's all be friends, o-okay?!"

Nothing was getting through to the pair. It was as if they were in their own little world and neither Sakura or Yachi mattered. Kageyama just gruffly said, "I'll toss to anyone who's essential to winning." There was a brief flashback in Sakura's mind to the last time that Kageyama said nearly the same thing. It even made her a bit annoyed, but the statement was still understandable in her eyes. They should focus on who and what would help with improvement and success. Though she silenced that part of her mind. She has to be a bit more optimistic about this, she was working to be more hopeful so she couldn't think like this anymore. Kageyama broke her out of her thoughts, "And I don't feel any different now." 

That didn't help the situation at all. Shōyō's face just became a bit red, anger taking over as he rushed to his feet, "Kageyama!" Despite being small, he obviously was fast and had a surprisingly good grip. He tackled Kageyama around the waist and definitely wasn't going to let him go.

"Damn it!" Kageyama yelled as he tried to pry Shōyō off of him, "Let go!"

Shōyō was going feral at this point, "I won't let go until you give me a toss! Give me one!"

Sakura turned to Yachi, "Go find Daichi or someone!"

"R-Right!" So Yachi took off, sprinting out of the gym to find an upperclassman to deal with the troublesome duo. This had gone too far.

Kageyama tried pushing him away, "Don't be ridiculous!" 

"That quick was stopped!" Shōyō growled, "Today, and during the Seijoh match!"

Kageyama became enraged, "Are you trying to say that my toss was at fault?"

"No! That's not it! It was perfect! It was spot-on! And yet, it was stopped! If I don't get better, it's not going to work on stronger opponents, either!"

"You idiots, let go!" Sakura shouted, "You'll hurt each other!"

She tried her best to put herself in between the boys, not wanting them to continue this. While they weren't exactly fighting, as in throwing punches or something a bit more violent, they still could hurt each other. The last thing that either of them need is to get hurt. They run the risk of not being allowed to play due to injury. 

Just as Sakura was able to pull the two apart just a little bit, she was hit upside the head. She certainly isn't someone who cowards away at just a little bit of pain, but the hit to the side of her head gave her pause. She squealed a bit before tripping over her own feet and holding her head in pain. At her exclamation, the two boys stopped to see what they had done. Well, more like what Shōyō had done. After all, he was the one to have struck her accidentally. 

Her chocolate eyes watered slightly as she tried to regain her composure. A mortified expression washed over Shōyō's face as he realized who he just hit. He had flailed his arms around to make sure that he kept a good hold on Kageyama and didn't even think that he might hurt someone else. Seeing the tears in the corners of her eyes, Shōyō's heart suddenly seized as his world stopped. He hit his sister. He hurt his sister.

"Hey!" Tanaka then shouted while sprinting into the gym, "Stop it, you two!" Though the scene of Sakura holding her head on the ground with a harsh grimace on her face caused Tanaka to pause. With seeing their photographer on the ground he certainly became far more upset. So it didn't take him much thought to throw a punch at both the boys.

It was a bit of a blur to Shōyō. After getting a good hit from Tanaka, and told to clean up the gym, he noticed that Sakura was gone. As much as it made him panic a bit, he wasn't sure if he should face her. Though he was more than prepared to rush right to her to make sure that she was okay and apologize.

The twins had roughhoused with each other before, it comes with the territory of being siblings. Especially with twins. However, they never had fights that were physical or actively tried to hurt each other. Accidents happen, sure. Though this was just a bit different. Sakura was just trying to stop them from hurting each other, and in return she got hurt herself. While it wasn't his intention, Shōyō still harmed her.

Tanaka told them off, which caused both boys to feel quite embarrassed with themselves. After all, Tanaka isn't usually one to tell someone off for any kind of delinquency. They did start to feel a bit embarrassed about what they had done, though they kept that to themselves. Kageyama made sure to clean up as quickly as he could once he got a bandaid on his face after Tanaka's punch. He left silently, not willing to look anyone in the eyes. Shōyō did the same, however, he offered to walk Yachi to where she needed to go. If he was going to do one thing right tonight, it was going to make sure that his friend, and Sakura's best friend, was getting home safely.

They didn't say all too much during their entire walk. There was a silence that neither were certain if they should break it. There were plenty of things that could have been said, but was it really the time to bring it up?

"I-I'm just going to the bus stop over there, so I'm fine here." Yachi finally broke the silence between them, "Thanks."

Shōyō turned back to her and said, "I'm sorry, Yachi-san."

"N-No worries!" She waved her hands, "It's fine… I'm totally fine." Though she had to wonder how Shōyō was or even Sakura. After tonight, she didn't know what how the twins were going to 

"In my first and final tournament in junior high, we were destroyed by Kageyama." Shōyō started to explain, "I vowed revenge when I got into high school and of course I ran right into him. He was even worse than I could have imagined and we went through a lot, but once we started playing our matches, I felt like we understood each other." He reminisced about his dear rival, "It wasn't that he was the first friend I'd made. He was a partner." His statement brought tears to her eyes, realizing just how Shōyō saw his relationship with Kageyama. Shōyō continued, his voice even becoming a little wobbly, "Sakura has been my biggest supporter, ever since we were little. I want to make her proud, and I push myself for her most times. I want to be the big brother she can never doubt or be ashamed of. I think I might have done that tonight." He looked to Yachi, noticing that she was swept up in his emotions as well. He did his best to smile, "Every moment she cheered for me, despite her doubt in my situations, I have cherished so much. I hate that I hurt her now." He let that hang in the air for a moment before climbing onto his bike completely. "Well, see you later."

"Yeah…"

So he rode away, leaving Yachi in tears over how he viewed his relationships with Kageyama and Sakura. Even he was tearing up quite a bit at this point. All the way home, his mind was going in circles with how he was going to apologize to her and his fight with Kageyama. Now there were two messes that he made he would have to amend. By the time Shōyō got home, he felt extremely anxious about seeing Sakura. He loves his sister, and he hates himself for what he did, accident or not. 

When he came inside, everything was generally quiet. His mother greeted him when he came in and he could hear his baby sister, Natsu, laughing about something in her own room. Shōyō walked into his shared bedroom to find that Sakura wasn't even there. Her school book was sitting on her desk, but Sakura was nowhere to be found. His heart clenched slightly as he threw his things on his bed before tumbling out of his room. He came back out into the family room where his mother was sitting on the couch, watching his frantic moments.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Everything alright, Shōyō?"

"Where's Sakura?"

"She's in Natsu's room," his mother explained, earning a sigh of relief for Shōyō. He thought that maybe she didn't come home after not wanting to see him for what he did. If that were the case, he was certain he didn't know what he would do. His mother appraised him for a moment before saying, "She said that she wanted to sleep in there for the night. Natsu was more than happy with that but it made me wonder why."

From the inquisitive gaze of his mother, there wasn't much that he could hide from her. So it was either tell her what happened or not. Though his mother will find out things eventually so why not just tell her now. He stuttered out, "I-I hurt her by accident."

"Sakura did seem a bit upset when she came home, you better apologize then."

"Yeah," he gazed down the hall to where he could hear his sisters happily playing some sort of game together. "I will."

---

"What?" Disbelief colored Asahi's voice as he stared at Tanaka, "They got into a fight?"

Tanaka had just finished explaining the fight he had to break up last night between Shōyō and Kageyama. He retold his heroic actions of stopping the boys from fighting in front of the girls and then doing his best to tell them off for it. The group of boys were standing on a landing of a staircase during their break time. Tanaka had made sure to go find the third-years to explain everything to them as soon as he could. Since they didn't have practice in the morning, as today is their day off, he had to wait until he could find them during school hours.

Suga shook his head, "There's been tension between them ever since the training camp."

"I wonder if they're gonna be okay, considering the spring tournament's coming up." Tanaka wondered out loud. Which was something important to consider. If their freak duo didn't work well together on the team, what would happen to their chances to get into nationals?

Endo tapped his chin while humming, "And you said that Sakura was hurt? Man this is not the kind of drama I was hoping for with those two." The last thing that he would want to hear about is someone getting hurt. Especially if they were someone that might be considered a friend to him. A fight is one thing, a fight between two people that he knows well enough is another thing. Especially when they get hurt. Violence is not usually the answer, in Endo's opinion. Sometimes, it could be justified, but a silly dispute over a volleyball play not working wasn't the time for it.

Asahi knocked him in the shoulder, "Don't just focus on the drama, Joji." The blond just raised his hands in surrender, backing down for the time being.

Leaning out the window, Diachi asked, "But this isn't the first time they've ever fought, is it?"

The group considered it, knowing that the boys did have their little fights and arguments every once in a while. The two would make everything a competition and had little spats with each other. Though that's just how their friendship was, everyone thought. This time it just seemed like it went a little overboard. Suga pursed his lips, "Come to think of it, they were fighting even before they turned in their membership applications."

"What? Seriously?" Asahi asked.

Endo chuckled at the reminder, "Oh you should have been there, that day was a bit hectic."

"The first day, they blew off the Vice Principal's toupee," Suga said, stopping himself from laughing at the reminder, "and they even got shut out of the gym by Daichi. It was ridiculous."

Tanaka shrugged his shoulders, "Well, that also means they've gotten over those things, too…"

"Right?" Daichi straightened up, "So I think we should just believe in them and wait." He had faith in his teammates, even Shōyō and Kageyama, so he hoped that they could work this out. 

Endo raised his hand, "is anyone else just wondering where Sakura is, or is it just me?"

They all shared a look, already knowing that they all were in fact thinking about that. Sakura could be quite a scary girl, but they still had a concern about how she was hurt in some way during the boy's fight. Not only that, but it was a fight with her brother. That certainly would cause plenty of issues between the twins.

"I am a bit worried about her," Suga said, his voice starting to bleed with concern, "how bad did you say she was hurt?"

"She left pretty quickly," Tanaka sighed, "I didn't get to ask her, but she was crying a bit."

The picture of the usually bored, annoyed, judgemental Sakura crying popped into all of their heads. It seemed nearly impossible, but everyone is capable of crying, right? Still it didn't sit right with any of them to hear that.

"Should we try to find her and see if she's okay?" Asahi asked urgently. Thinking that it was a good idea. All he wanted to do was check in on her, after all.

"We'll ask when we see her." Daichi said, already seeing the look in their eyes. "Something tells me that she wouldn't appreciate us all trying to look for her." Sakura was not the type to talk about her emotions, especially with anyone on the team. So he didn't think that she would appreciate having a group of boys sending out a search party to see how she feels.

Endo pursed his lips with a sigh, "Maybe."