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After parting ways with Kindaichi-san, you rejoined the rest of your team, at the back, next to Shimizu-senpai, who was carrying your bag for you.

Taking your bag from her, you apologised; “I’m so sorry for disappearing like that, senpai! Here, let me take that too,” you said, going for the bag with the banner in it.

Shimizu-senpai shook her head, “It’s fine, I can manage it,” she insisted, and looked you over. “Are you okay? Your eyes are a little red.” She said, looking concerned.

You blushed. Of course it wouldn’t have totally gone down.

“Don’t worry about it. I just got a little emotional. But I’m okay now!” you replied, smiling for her.

You then turned to look at the boys’ backs, your eyebrows furrowed.

At this position, you couldn’t see the faces they were making.

At the front of the group, Ukai-san turned around and spoke; “Okay, now that everyone’s here, let’s go eat. My treat, of course.” He said.

“What? Eat, sir? But…” Daichi-senpai trailed off, sounding caught of guard.

Turning away, Ukai-san insisted; “Just do as I say, and eat!” he said.

Everyone looked to each other, at a loss. Well, when he put it like that, there wasn’t really any way you guys could refuse it.

…

And so, we ended up at a small tavern, with a small-scale feast placed before us. You had taken a seat between Shimizu-senpai and Takeda-sensei, the spot next to Hinata that you had been planning on taking already having been filled by Kinoshita-senpai.

You glanced over to Hinata, to check his expression. He seemed better off than you had been at least, which was a little surprising. You’d thought it would’ve hit him harder than you since he’d been playing…

‘…But then again,’ you thought back, remembering his game against Kitagawa Daiichi last year, ‘Even back then, he kept it together.’ you told yourself.

Is he just bottling it up? Are there feelings that Hinata’s not showing you…?

You frowned a little to yourself, staring at the food in front of you.

“Sorry to do this to you right before closing, ma’am.” Ukai-san apologised to the chef as she brought out the last of the food.

“Think nothing of it! This used to be the norm for you, remember?” the chef said with a smile as she walked away with her empty tray. Ukai-san smiled and nodded to her.

Ukai-san then came to the head of the table, and addressed the team; “All that running and jumping puts stress on the muscles and tears the muscle fiber. At the end of a game, your muscle fiber will be in tatters. You recover by eating. That’s what gives you muscle. That will make you stronger. So eat up. Eat a proper meal.” He said, and you smiled softly.

That’s as good of advice as any. The guys were probably exhausted after that game, and a warm meal would do them some good.

We all put your hands together and said your graces for the food, and began eating. It was so good; the vegetables were warm, and packed with flavour. Your mouth was almost watering…

As you chewed, you glanced across the table. And your heart almost broke.

They were digging in so enthusiastically, yet so quietly, that you hadn’t realised until you’d looked. They were crying…

Your eyes stung, as you pulled them away from Hinata’s face, and you dug in just as eagerly, biting back your tears.

They worked so hard, and gave it everything they had today. And it still wasn’t enough to beat Seijoh.

You knew that feeling well.

And you knew that it really stung.

…

The day ended before we knew it, and you were all parting ways for the day. You’d wanted to approach Hinata after the meal, but you knew his feelings were still raw. You understood, since it was the same for everyone that day.

So you didn’t hold it against Hinata when he told you that he needed time, and went ahead on his own.

You watched him go with understanding eyes.

That night, you did a lot of thinking, about everything, and it ended up keeping you up pretty late. You thought about the match today, on both sides. Each team wanted to win so badly, and put everything they had into it.

You thought about Kindaichi-san’s words. He said that he and Kunimi-san had devoted themselves to helping Oikawa-san and their other senpai win against their ultimate rivals. He said it might be their last chance to actually beat them, so they must have lost to them several times before. And yet their resolve to defeat that team hadn’t been shattered. They had the strength to get up and try again.

Karasuno gave everything they had today with the hope of going on to the finals, and then to nationals as the school did years before in the days of the Small Giant. And they were shut out at the semi-finals, when they were so close. It was clear to anyone who witnessed the post-game meal just how crushing the disappointment was.

They probably didn’t sleep well that night, despite their exhaustion. It would’ve been a fitful slumber.

Shimizu-senpai had told you though, on the bus ride back, that this wasn’t the end. That everyone was still determined to try again, and come back as a stronger team. She told you to have faith in them.

And in the end, that’s all you could really do for Karasuno’s Boys’ team, isn’t it?

You're a Setter, but there are already 3 Setters working with the small team if you included Ukai-san. There’s only so much that you could do with your Setting, and that in itself is of an average level. If you wanted to be even more useful, you had to get better yourself.

And to be honest… You don’t like it.

You don’t like that all you can do for them is cheer, and pass them a ball while they practice. You keep trying to do more, by making them snacks, and giving them encouraging words when you can, and running errands… but in the end, you…

…You keep on wishing that you were on the court…!

You had surprised yourself when you finally came to that conclusion. You had stared at the ceiling while lying on your bed, in your darkened bedroom, for what felt like hours when it hit you.

You wanted to play! In an actual match!

You hadn’t had that kind of urge since that final game last year. You didn’t think you’d feel it again with the knowledge that you couldn’t play on the same team as Michiko anymore.

But there it is.

You wanted to play…!!

And you thought that… you might be okay if it weren’t on the same team as Michiko either. That kind of feeling… it felt so strange to you. Would Michiko even be okay with it, if you kept on playing without her? If you left her behind?

Without putting much thought into it beyond what you wanted to ask, you grabbed your phone and sat up in bed, going into your contacts and selecting to call Michiko.

You put my phone to my ear, my heart racing up in my throat almost with anticipation.

After a few more dial tones, a half-asleep and obviously grouchy Michiko answered.

“…[Name]…chan? The hell…? It’s like 2 in the morning…” she groaned, and you heard the rustling of her duvet as she rolled over.

You bit your lip, “I’m sorry Micchan… there’s something very important that I have to ask you about.” you said, feeling bad. But it had to be now.

“Something very important that couldn’t wait until tomorrow…?” Michiko asked, and it was clear she was a little annoyed with you.

You decided to just go for it.

“I want to play volleyball competitively again.” you said to her so quickly that you feared she might have missed it completely.

The line went silent for nearly a minute, and you wondered if she’d actually just fallen back asleep on the line. When her voice finally returned, it came in a whisper. She sounded more awake this time, and the whine in her voice was gone.

“You want to play…?” she asked, almost wonderingly.

“I’m sorry! It’s just… Karasuno lost today at the semi-finals, against Seijoh, and didn’t advance… you see… but they’re still so determined to go further next time…! And it got me to thinking, and I started feeling like… I’m unsatisfied…?” you wondered if that was the right word, and then immediately felt sick at thinking it.

“I feel awful, Micchan. I promised myself, and Hinata, that I’d support him with everything I had this year. It was so important to me. So I rejected the very idea of even trying to join the girls’ team. That was actually really selfish of me, huh? Since you wanted to play but couldn’t, and I had the option but didn’t take it.” you rambled, running your fingers through your hair nervously.

“You know I don’t blame you for that, [Name]-chan. You chose what you thought would make you happy.” Michiko jumped in, and paused, “But… you’re saying that it’s not making you happy now? You looked like you really liked those guys when we met up for that practice game.” She asked you.

“I do…! I really like them all. Suga-senpai and Daichi-senpai are both so supportive and caring. Asahi-senpai showed me what it’s like to be strong and try again even after you think you’re done. Kinoshita-senpai, Narita-senpai and Ennoshita-senpai are so kind. Tanaka-senpai and Nishinoya-senpai are funny, skilled and take good care of us.” you said, smiling, and Michiko only listened.

You continued, “Tsukishima-san and Yamaguchi-san, though I wasn’t sure at first, ended up being alright guys. Though Tsukishima-san tends to hide that he cares at all, I’m sure he does at least a bit. Kageyama-kun is so different to who I imagined he’d be, but it’s good. I feel like we could become closer friends, too. And…” you trailed off, my smile fading, “Hinata-kun said he wanted to support me too, Michiko.” you said softly, curling into your legs in front of you, and my smile quickly returned. You felt comfortably warm all over. You felt a bit lighter.

“He did, did he? Well we all knew that, even back in middle-school.” Michiko had a smile in her voice.

“What do you mean by that?” you blinked.

“Man, you’re so oblivious…!” you heard her laughing at me, and you flushed pink. It felt like she was making fun of you…!

“Th-This isn’t what I called you up for, Micchan…!” you hissed to her, curling up tighter into your ball, and her giggles eased off a little.

“I know, I know, sorry. I think I get the gist of what’s going on in that head of yours. It sounds like you want to go for it, but you don’t want to feel like you’re betraying Hinata after you promised to support him. Did I get it right?” she asked you.

“You hit the nail on the head.” you agreed.

“Well… have you even talked to Hinata about it? Maybe he’d understand what you’re going through. He’s just gone through the same thing today was we did last year, so he’s gotta be feeling similar things about it to what you did.” She told you, “I think the best course of action is to have a nice long chat about your feelings… while you’re not half-asleep and have thought things through.” She said, yawning in between.

“Agh, I’m so sorry for calling so late, Micchan…! Sorry…!” you groaned, rubbing my head.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad I could help you a bit with your little dilemma. But right now I have to get up for morning training with my boys in… like 4 hours. So…” Michiko drawled.

“Right, I’ll let you go then. I’m sorry again…!” you apologised.

“Quit freaking out… s’okay. G’night… or good morning, I guess.” Michiko said, and it sounded like she was getting ready to hang up.

“Wait, Micchan…!” you said quickly.

“[Name]-chan…!” she said exasperatedly, but waited for you to continue.

“Do you really not mind…?” you asked her uncertainly.

“Huh?” she asked, caught off guard, “Do I not mind?? About what?” she asked you, confused.

“If… I play volleyball on a team that doesn’t have you. I-If I… move on ahead without you…” you said softly. Michiko was quiet for a while, after hearing you say that. You waited with anxiety bubbling inside you as you waited for her answer.

“[Name]-chan… we were never going to be on the same team forever, and I’d already come to terms with that when my parents said we were moving to Tokyo. It’s okay. It doesn’t bother me – in fact, it made me so happy when you said you wanted to play again! I’m glad that… whatever those boys at Karasuno did, they’ve rekindled your love for the sport. Your hunger to win.” She confided.

“I wasn’t that competitive…” you mumbled.

“Don’t give me that. When your team, or a team you’re supporting loses, it always hits you the hardest. That’s just the type of person you are. You’re the same as me, and I knew it even back when we first met. That’s why I knew we were gonna be the best of friends, and why I dragged you to volleyball tryouts that day.” She said, “You’re as competitive as they get, [Name]-chan. So if you want to play and win again, then you go do it. Leave me in your dust…! I’ll be cheering you on! I’ll bet your boys will too! All you need to do is ask them for their support!” she said, and you felt yourself trembling. Your eyes were damp again.

You sniffled, “Okay. Thank you so much, Micchan…. You’re the best…!” you said, feeling emotional.

“Don’t go crying yourself to sleep either! Sleep well, [Name]-chan! And talk to Hinata!” she said.

“I will. Say ‘hi’ to your boys for me.” you said.

“I’ll tell them you’re the cause of the bags under my eyes~” she said and you laughed breathlessly. The two of you said your goodbyes, and ended the call.

You put your phone down and flopped down onto your bed. Tired out from your emotions, your heavy eyes slipped closed, and you drifted away to sleep with ease.

Tomorrow…!

…

You went to Hinata’s classroom at lunch that day. Since yesterday had been rough, morning practice had been called off today, so you hadn’t had a chance to see Hinata yet.

But when you arrived at his classroom and asked for him, a glasses-wearing classmate of his said that he’d just up and left without his bento when he’d been talking to him.

You took his bento and thanked the boy, before heading off to look for Hinata.

You headed straight for where you thought he’d be. Whenever Hinata’s feeling frustrated, which he likely is right now, he always wants to practice spiking. You know this because you’d often help him with it in your last year of middle school.

As you were walking, you felt a buzzing in your pocket and paused, looking at it.

You balanced Hinata’s Bento on top of your own and brought out your phone to check it. It was a text message from Kindaichi-san.

‘we lost…’ it read.

You furrowed your brows, frowning sadly, and began typing a reply.

‘but you tried your hardest, right?’ you asked him, and he replied instantly.

‘of course we did! it’s just…’ he paused, and then sent another, ‘it’s the same every time… it’s so frustrating…!’

You smiled sadly, understanding the feeling; ‘you guys need to use that frustration to get stronger. so that next time you won’t lose. karasuno will do the same. let’s do our best.’ you responded.

After a few moments, he responded, ‘yeah. thank you.’

‘cheer up.’ you sent to him, and put your phone back in your pocket, continuing on your way. You had to work hard to live up to that. For the rest of this year, you’d lend Hinata the boys your undivided support, and see them go to Nationals…! And next year, you wouldn’t lose either…!

…

So you arrived at your team’s gym, carrying two bento, to the sound of yelling and running. Curiously, you climbed the steps and peeked into the open doorway.

It was Hinata, of course, but Kageyama-kun was with him as well.

“You guys, wh-what are you doing…?!” you gasped at them, dumbfounded.

They slowed their running to a stop, and started panting heavily, as they glanced towards you. When Hinata’s eyes met yours he bit his lip and averted them quickly.

You smiled a little, stepping inside, “Hinata-kun, I brought your bento from your classroom. You should really eat…!” you said.

“’m not hungry…” he murmured.

“That’s no good!” you scolded him and he flinched. You marched over towards him, and held out his bento to him. “Like Coach Ukai said yesterday, you need to eat up to become stronger. So that you can win, and keep on winning next time, and go to Nationals! Right?” you asked, turning to smile at Kageyama-kun too.

Hinata took his bento and looked down at it.

“I brought mine too. Have you eaten yet Kageyama-kun?” you asked him.

“Yeah.” he nodded, frowning and glancing away. You nodded approvingly, and blushed a little.

“Um… actually I had something I wanted to talk about with you…” you said, ducking your head nervously.

“I’ll go over there…” Kageyama-kun began, starting to walk. You moved to stop him.

“A-Actually, I wanted to talk to you both about this, if that’s okay. Both of your opinions are… important to me. Because you’re dear friends of mine.” you said to the two of them.

They blushed at that, and nodded. The three of you took a seat to the side of the gym, opening Hinata’s bento box and yours.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Kageyama-kun asked, after taking a drink from his water bottle while Hinata quickly gobbled down his bento.

You nodded, and put down your chopsticks, trying to think of how to start.

“The two of you… aren’t discouraged, are you?” you decided on, and they looked at you, “After yesterday’s game.” you clarified, though it hardly needed clarifying.

“We’re not giving up!!” Hinata said determinedly, through the leftover food in his mouth.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, idiot!” Kageyama-kun glared at him, then turned his head to you, “But he’s right. It’s not over. We’re going to come back again stronger and we’ll beat Seijoh next time, and go to Nationals!’ he said to you, supremely confident.

You glanced to Hinata to see his input, and he nodded, looking at you with fire in his eyes. You smiled widely.

“That’s what I thought you guys’d say. You’re so inspiring, you know?” you said happily.

“Eh?” they both cocked their heads at you at the same time.

You nodded, “I have something to say to you guys… and the rest of the team. But I wanted to hear what you thought about it first, Hinata-kun. Since… we said that we’d support each other.” you said slowly.

“Of course I will! What is it?” Hinata nodded.

You sighed out, and after a moment, you nodded again in resolution; “After this year is up, I want to quit as the Karasuno Boys’ Team’s manager, and join the girls’ team.” you said quickly, so that you couldn’t take it back.

There… it was out there now. Hinata had heard it. And so had Kageyama-kun.

“WHAT!?!”

More voices than you’d expected to hear all chorused out at the same time and you jumped in surprise, whipping your head around to the gymnasium doors, to see that the rest of the team had miraculously showed up in time to hear you.

Tanaka-senpai and Nishinoya-senpai bolted in towards you, eyes wide.

“Why the hell would you wanna leave us behind!?” Nishinoya-senpai asked you incredulously.

“Yeah, do you... maybe not like us!?” Tanaka-senpai asked, and you saw tears forming in the corner of his eyes.

“HEY! YOU GUYS STOP TRYING TO GUILT TRIP HER!!” Daichi-senpai shouted at them, though you could see that he looked confused too.

“She surely has her reasons…!” Suga-senpai agreed, and looked at you desperately for an answer.

You stood up, waving your arms frantically, “T-That’s not it at all, Tanaka-senpai, Nishinoya-senpai…! I don’t hate you guys at all – I love you all!” you said, and turned bright red, “I-I mean…” you covered your face, mortified. You hadn’t been expecting such a dramatic response and you was getting flustered.

“Why do you wanna quit?” Hinata asked, getting up and looking at you from my side.

You uncovered your face, and looked back to him, then to the rest of the boys who were waiting for an answer.

“It’s like I told Hinata-kun… you guys are just… you inspired me. Last year, when I was in middle-school volleyball, we were up against a tough team in the semi-finals. We’d fought our hardest, and wanted badly to win, but we never managed to take a single set from them. It was a crushing defeat. And… I gave up.” you said guiltily, and glanced to Asahi-senpai, who looked back at you in understanding.

They stayed quiet, allowing you to continue, “I gave up on playing competitively, but I couldn’t completely leave volleyball. And… I wanted to support Hinata-kun, because even after being defeated by Kageyama-kun’s middle-school team in the same way, he didn’t lose his determination to play and win. I admired that.” you said, smiling to Hinata, who blushed lightly.

You turned back to them, “But watching you guys so far this year has been an eye-opener. Even Asahi-senpai who was in a similar state of mind to me managed to return to the court, and you were so awesome out there, senpai…!” you said to Asahi-senpai who rubbed his head, feeling embarrassed.

“I said that I wanted to have the courage to return too. I’m not quite there yet, but… I want to be. But I still made a promise to myself, and to you guys for this year, that I’d cheer you guys on as you tried to make it to Nationals! I still believe in you guys. So for this year, I’ll stay at your side. And next year, I’ll transfer to the girls’ team, but don’t get me wrong! I’ll still be cheering for you all the same.” you said, and bowed deeply.

“So, I hope that this is okay…! Thank you for listening!” you finished, and went quiet, awaiting their response.

The first response came as a firm pat on my shoulder, and you looked up to find Daichi-senpai smiling down at you, his eyes filled with understanding.

“If that’s really what you want, then we can’t actually stop you. We’re glad that we’ll have you with us for the rest of the year at least.” He said to you.

“We’re happy that you joined us in the first place. So thank you!” Suga-senpai agreed.

“I-I’m glad you found your courage…” Asahi-senpai said with a smile and a nod.

“Hey are you guys seriously crying…?” Ennoshita-senpai looked to Tanaka-senpai and Nishinoya-senpai exasperatedly.

“That’s seriously pathetic…” you heard Tsukishima-san comment, to which Tanaka-senpai snapped at him, cheeks red.

As you glanced over, you felt Nishinoya-senpai grab your sleeve, as he rubbed his face fiercely.

He looked at me through red eyes and a runny nose, “That’s great, [Name]-san! It’s the first time I’ve seen such a fire in your eyes, so I say go for it!” he said, and you smiled.

“But hey, what’re we gonna do for a manager next year if you transfer…?” Yamaguchi-san brought up a good point, and you widened your eyes, your smile dropping.

You looked over to where Shimizu-senpai was standing. She smiled at you as if to tell you not to get so worried about it. She walked towards you and nodded.

“It’s okay. You’ll help me find a new recruit, won’t you?” she asked you.

You nodded enthusiastically, “Of course! I’m so sorry about all of this!” you agreed.

“It’ll be alright.” She added, patting your shoulder gently. You smiled gratefully to her. You’d been worried about her response. You'll happily help her with finding a new manager. Since this is your fault in the first place.

Daichi-senpai sighed out and clapped his hands, “Well since we all showed up here, even though practice was called off today, we might as well get some practice in. After all, we’re going to be going for Nationals again!” he said and everyone nodded in agreement and headed off to get changed.

You turned to see Hinata still standing at your side; he was grinning at you.

“Are you okay with this, too, Hinata-kun…?” you asked nervously, fiddling with your fingers.

“Yeah, totally! I told you I’d support you, didn’t I?” he said and you looked back at him, “I think it’s great that you want to play again. I was a little worried that you were holding back on that for my sake. I don’t want you to do that!” he said, nodding as if agreeing with himself.

He continued, facing you fully, “I want you to do what makes you happy. That way, we’ll both be happier.” He said, grinning sunnily.

You smiled and blushed, nodding as you felt a fluttering in your chest, “Y-Yeah…! Let’s both do our best from now on!” you said.

“Yeah!!” Hinata nodded.

“Hey! Hinata, hurry up and get changed! We don’t have that long before lunch period ends!” Kageyama-kun yelled over at Hinata.

Hinata turned and ran after him, yelling “Coming!” and you watched him go, putting your hands to your chest and feeling a lump in your throat.

You rubbed your eyes, your smile wide but shaky.

‘Ahh… this is bad.’ you thought to yourself, watching him go.

…

…

‘I really do like Hinata-kun…!’

Description
After parting ways with Kindaichi-san, you rejoined the rest of your team, at the back, next to Shimizu-senpai, who was carrying your bag for you.

Taking your bag from her, you apologised; “I’m so sorry for disappearing like that, senpai! Here, let me take that too,” you said, going for the bag with the banner in it.

Shimizu-senpai shook her head, “It’s fine, I can manage it,” she insisted, and looked you over. “Are you okay? Your eyes are a little red.” She said, looking concerned.

You blushed. Of course it wouldn’t have totally gone down.

“Don’t worry about it. I just got a little emotional. But I’m okay now!” you replied, smiling for her.

You then turned to look at the boys’ backs, your eyebrows furrowed.

At this position, you couldn’t see the faces they were making.

At the front of the group, Ukai-san turned around and spoke; “Okay, now that everyone’s here, let’s go eat. My treat, of course.” He said.

“What? Eat, sir? But…” Daichi-senpai trailed off, sounding caught of guard.

Turning away, Ukai-san insisted; “Just do as I say, and eat!” he said.

Everyone looked to each other, at a loss. Well, when he put it like that, there wasn’t really any way you guys could refuse it.

…

And so, we ended up at a small tavern, with a small-scale feast placed before us. You had taken a seat between Shimizu-senpai and Takeda-sensei, the spot next to Hinata that you had been planning on taking already having been filled by Kinoshita-senpai.

You glanced over to Hinata, to check his expression. He seemed better off than you had been at least, which was a little surprising. You’d thought it would’ve hit him harder than you since he’d been playing…

‘…But then again,’ you thought back, remembering his game against Kitagawa Daiichi last year, ‘Even back then, he kept it together.’ you told yourself.

Is he just bottling it up? Are there feelings that Hinata’s not showing you…?

You frowned a little to yourself, staring at the food in front of you.

“Sorry to do this to you right before closing, ma’am.” Ukai-san apologised to the chef as she brought out the last of the food.

“Think nothing of it! This used to be the norm for you, remember?” the chef said with a smile as she walked away with her empty tray. Ukai-san smiled and nodded to her.

Ukai-san then came to the head of the table, and addressed the team; “All that running and jumping puts stress on the muscles and tears the muscle fiber. At the end of a game, your muscle fiber will be in tatters. You recover by eating. That’s what gives you muscle. That will make you stronger. So eat up. Eat a proper meal.” He said, and you smiled softly.

That’s as good of advice as any. The guys were probably exhausted after that game, and a warm meal would do them some good.

We all put your hands together and said your graces for the food, and began eating. It was so good; the vegetables were warm, and packed with flavour. Your mouth was almost watering…

As you chewed, you glanced across the table. And your heart almost broke.

They were digging in so enthusiastically, yet so quietly, that you hadn’t realised until you’d looked. They were crying…

Your eyes stung, as you pulled them away from Hinata’s face, and you dug in just as eagerly, biting back your tears.

They worked so hard, and gave it everything they had today. And it still wasn’t enough to beat Seijoh.

You knew that feeling well.

And you knew that it really stung.

…

The day ended before we knew it, and you were all parting ways for the day. You’d wanted to approach Hinata after the meal, but you knew his feelings were still raw. You understood, since it was the same for everyone that day.

So you didn’t hold it against Hinata when he told you that he needed time, and went ahead on his own.

You watched him go with understanding eyes.

That night, you did a lot of thinking, about everything, and it ended up keeping you up pretty late. You thought about the match today, on both sides. Each team wanted to win so badly, and put everything they had into it.

You thought about Kindaichi-san’s words. He said that he and Kunimi-san had devoted themselves to helping Oikawa-san and their other senpai win against their ultimate rivals. He said it might be their last chance to actually beat them, so they must have lost to them several times before. And yet their resolve to defeat that team hadn’t been shattered. They had the strength to get up and try again.

Karasuno gave everything they had today with the hope of going on to the finals, and then to nationals as the school did years before in the days of the Small Giant. And they were shut out at the semi-finals, when they were so close. It was clear to anyone who witnessed the post-game meal just how crushing the disappointment was.

They probably didn’t sleep well that night, despite their exhaustion. It would’ve been a fitful slumber.

Shimizu-senpai had told you though, on the bus ride back, that this wasn’t the end. That everyone was still determined to try again, and come back as a stronger team. She told you to have faith in them.

And in the end, that’s all you could really do for Karasuno’s Boys’ team, isn’t it?

You're a Setter, but there are already 3 Setters working with the small team if you included Ukai-san. There’s only so much that you could do with your Setting, and that in itself is of an average level. If you wanted to be even more useful, you had to get better yourself.

And to be honest… You don’t like it.

You don’t like that all you can do for them is cheer, and pass them a ball while they practice. You keep trying to do more, by making them snacks, and giving them encouraging words when you can, and running errands… but in the end, you…

…You keep on wishing that you were on the court…!

You had surprised yourself when you finally came to that conclusion. You had stared at the ceiling while lying on your bed, in your darkened bedroom, for what felt like hours when it hit you.

You wanted to play! In an actual match!

You hadn’t had that kind of urge since that final game last year. You didn’t think you’d feel it again with the knowledge that you couldn’t play on the same team as Michiko anymore.

But there it is.

You wanted to play…!!

And you thought that… you might be okay if it weren’t on the same team as Michiko either. That kind of feeling… it felt so strange to you. Would Michiko even be okay with it, if you kept on playing without her? If you left her behind?

Without putting much thought into it beyond what you wanted to ask, you grabbed your phone and sat up in bed, going into your contacts and selecting to call Michiko.

You put my phone to my ear, my heart racing up in my throat almost with anticipation.

After a few more dial tones, a half-asleep and obviously grouchy Michiko answered.

“…[Name]…chan? The hell…? It’s like 2 in the morning…” she groaned, and you heard the rustling of her duvet as she rolled over.

You bit your lip, “I’m sorry Micchan… there’s something very important that I have to ask you about.” you said, feeling bad. But it had to be now.

“Something very important that couldn’t wait until tomorrow…?” Michiko asked, and it was clear she was a little annoyed with you.

You decided to just go for it.

“I want to play volleyball competitively again.” you said to her so quickly that you feared she might have missed it completely.

The line went silent for nearly a minute, and you wondered if she’d actually just fallen back asleep on the line. When her voice finally returned, it came in a whisper. She sounded more awake this time, and the whine in her voice was gone.

“You want to play…?” she asked, almost wonderingly.

“I’m sorry! It’s just… Karasuno lost today at the semi-finals, against Seijoh, and didn’t advance… you see… but they’re still so determined to go further next time…! And it got me to thinking, and I started feeling like… I’m unsatisfied…?” you wondered if that was the right word, and then immediately felt sick at thinking it.

“I feel awful, Micchan. I promised myself, and Hinata, that I’d support him with everything I had this year. It was so important to me. So I rejected the very idea of even trying to join the girls’ team. That was actually really selfish of me, huh? Since you wanted to play but couldn’t, and I had the option but didn’t take it.” you rambled, running your fingers through your hair nervously.

“You know I don’t blame you for that, [Name]-chan. You chose what you thought would make you happy.” Michiko jumped in, and paused, “But… you’re saying that it’s not making you happy now? You looked like you really liked those guys when we met up for that practice game.” She asked you.

“I do…! I really like them all. Suga-senpai and Daichi-senpai are both so supportive and caring. Asahi-senpai showed me what it’s like to be strong and try again even after you think you’re done. Kinoshita-senpai, Narita-senpai and Ennoshita-senpai are so kind. Tanaka-senpai and Nishinoya-senpai are funny, skilled and take good care of us.” you said, smiling, and Michiko only listened.

You continued, “Tsukishima-san and Yamaguchi-san, though I wasn’t sure at first, ended up being alright guys. Though Tsukishima-san tends to hide that he cares at all, I’m sure he does at least a bit. Kageyama-kun is so different to who I imagined he’d be, but it’s good. I feel like we could become closer friends, too. And…” you trailed off, my smile fading, “Hinata-kun said he wanted to support me too, Michiko.” you said softly, curling into your legs in front of you, and my smile quickly returned. You felt comfortably warm all over. You felt a bit lighter.

“He did, did he? Well we all knew that, even back in middle-school.” Michiko had a smile in her voice.

“What do you mean by that?” you blinked.

“Man, you’re so oblivious…!” you heard her laughing at me, and you flushed pink. It felt like she was making fun of you…!

“Th-This isn’t what I called you up for, Micchan…!” you hissed to her, curling up tighter into your ball, and her giggles eased off a little.

“I know, I know, sorry. I think I get the gist of what’s going on in that head of yours. It sounds like you want to go for it, but you don’t want to feel like you’re betraying Hinata after you promised to support him. Did I get it right?” she asked you.

“You hit the nail on the head.” you agreed.

“Well… have you even talked to Hinata about it? Maybe he’d understand what you’re going through. He’s just gone through the same thing today was we did last year, so he’s gotta be feeling similar things about it to what you did.” She told you, “I think the best course of action is to have a nice long chat about your feelings… while you’re not half-asleep and have thought things through.” She said, yawning in between.

“Agh, I’m so sorry for calling so late, Micchan…! Sorry…!” you groaned, rubbing my head.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad I could help you a bit with your little dilemma. But right now I have to get up for morning training with my boys in… like 4 hours. So…” Michiko drawled.

“Right, I’ll let you go then. I’m sorry again…!” you apologised.

“Quit freaking out… s’okay. G’night… or good morning, I guess.” Michiko said, and it sounded like she was getting ready to hang up.

“Wait, Micchan…!” you said quickly.

“[Name]-chan…!” she said exasperatedly, but waited for you to continue.

“Do you really not mind…?” you asked her uncertainly.

“Huh?” she asked, caught off guard, “Do I not mind?? About what?” she asked you, confused.

“If… I play volleyball on a team that doesn’t have you. I-If I… move on ahead without you…” you said softly. Michiko was quiet for a while, after hearing you say that. You waited with anxiety bubbling inside you as you waited for her answer.

“[Name]-chan… we were never going to be on the same team forever, and I’d already come to terms with that when my parents said we were moving to Tokyo. It’s okay. It doesn’t bother me – in fact, it made me so happy when you said you wanted to play again! I’m glad that… whatever those boys at Karasuno did, they’ve rekindled your love for the sport. Your hunger to win.” She confided.

“I wasn’t that competitive…” you mumbled.

“Don’t give me that. When your team, or a team you’re supporting loses, it always hits you the hardest. That’s just the type of person you are. You’re the same as me, and I knew it even back when we first met. That’s why I knew we were gonna be the best of friends, and why I dragged you to volleyball tryouts that day.” She said, “You’re as competitive as they get, [Name]-chan. So if you want to play and win again, then you go do it. Leave me in your dust…! I’ll be cheering you on! I’ll bet your boys will too! All you need to do is ask them for their support!” she said, and you felt yourself trembling. Your eyes were damp again.

You sniffled, “Okay. Thank you so much, Micchan…. You’re the best…!” you said, feeling emotional.

“Don’t go crying yourself to sleep either! Sleep well, [Name]-chan! And talk to Hinata!” she said.

“I will. Say ‘hi’ to your boys for me.” you said.

“I’ll tell them you’re the cause of the bags under my eyes~” she said and you laughed breathlessly. The two of you said your goodbyes, and ended the call.

You put your phone down and flopped down onto your bed. Tired out from your emotions, your heavy eyes slipped closed, and you drifted away to sleep with ease.

Tomorrow…!

…

You went to Hinata’s classroom at lunch that day. Since yesterday had been rough, morning practice had been called off today, so you hadn’t had a chance to see Hinata yet.

But when you arrived at his classroom and asked for him, a glasses-wearing classmate of his said that he’d just up and left without his bento when he’d been talking to him.

You took his bento and thanked the boy, before heading off to look for Hinata.

You headed straight for where you thought he’d be. Whenever Hinata’s feeling frustrated, which he likely is right now, he always wants to practice spiking. You know this because you’d often help him with it in your last year of middle school.

As you were walking, you felt a buzzing in your pocket and paused, looking at it.

You balanced Hinata’s Bento on top of your own and brought out your phone to check it. It was a text message from Kindaichi-san.

‘we lost…’ it read.

You furrowed your brows, frowning sadly, and began typing a reply.

‘but you tried your hardest, right?’ you asked him, and he replied instantly.

‘of course we did! it’s just…’ he paused, and then sent another, ‘it’s the same every time… it’s so frustrating…!’

You smiled sadly, understanding the feeling; ‘you guys need to use that frustration to get stronger. so that next time you won’t lose. karasuno will do the same. let’s do our best.’ you responded.

After a few moments, he responded, ‘yeah. thank you.’

‘cheer up.’ you sent to him, and put your phone back in your pocket, continuing on your way. You had to work hard to live up to that. For the rest of this year, you’d lend Hinata the boys your undivided support, and see them go to Nationals…! And next year, you wouldn’t lose either…!

…

So you arrived at your team’s gym, carrying two bento, to the sound of yelling and running. Curiously, you climbed the steps and peeked into the open doorway.

It was Hinata, of course, but Kageyama-kun was with him as well.

“You guys, wh-what are you doing…?!” you gasped at them, dumbfounded.

They slowed their running to a stop, and started panting heavily, as they glanced towards you. When Hinata’s eyes met yours he bit his lip and averted them quickly.

You smiled a little, stepping inside, “Hinata-kun, I brought your bento from your classroom. You should really eat…!” you said.

“’m not hungry…” he murmured.

“That’s no good!” you scolded him and he flinched. You marched over towards him, and held out his bento to him. “Like Coach Ukai said yesterday, you need to eat up to become stronger. So that you can win, and keep on winning next time, and go to Nationals! Right?” you asked, turning to smile at Kageyama-kun too.

Hinata took his bento and looked down at it.

“I brought mine too. Have you eaten yet Kageyama-kun?” you asked him.

“Yeah.” he nodded, frowning and glancing away. You nodded approvingly, and blushed a little.

“Um… actually I had something I wanted to talk about with you…” you said, ducking your head nervously.

“I’ll go over there…” Kageyama-kun began, starting to walk. You moved to stop him.

“A-Actually, I wanted to talk to you both about this, if that’s okay. Both of your opinions are… important to me. Because you’re dear friends of mine.” you said to the two of them.

They blushed at that, and nodded. The three of you took a seat to the side of the gym, opening Hinata’s bento box and yours.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Kageyama-kun asked, after taking a drink from his water bottle while Hinata quickly gobbled down his bento.

You nodded, and put down your chopsticks, trying to think of how to start.

“The two of you… aren’t discouraged, are you?” you decided on, and they looked at you, “After yesterday’s game.” you clarified, though it hardly needed clarifying.

“We’re not giving up!!” Hinata said determinedly, through the leftover food in his mouth.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, idiot!” Kageyama-kun glared at him, then turned his head to you, “But he’s right. It’s not over. We’re going to come back again stronger and we’ll beat Seijoh next time, and go to Nationals!’ he said to you, supremely confident.

You glanced to Hinata to see his input, and he nodded, looking at you with fire in his eyes. You smiled widely.

“That’s what I thought you guys’d say. You’re so inspiring, you know?” you said happily.

“Eh?” they both cocked their heads at you at the same time.

You nodded, “I have something to say to you guys… and the rest of the team. But I wanted to hear what you thought about it first, Hinata-kun. Since… we said that we’d support each other.” you said slowly.

“Of course I will! What is it?” Hinata nodded.

You sighed out, and after a moment, you nodded again in resolution; “After this year is up, I want to quit as the Karasuno Boys’ Team’s manager, and join the girls’ team.” you said quickly, so that you couldn’t take it back.

There… it was out there now. Hinata had heard it. And so had Kageyama-kun.

“WHAT!?!”

More voices than you’d expected to hear all chorused out at the same time and you jumped in surprise, whipping your head around to the gymnasium doors, to see that the rest of the team had miraculously showed up in time to hear you.

Tanaka-senpai and Nishinoya-senpai bolted in towards you, eyes wide.

“Why the hell would you wanna leave us behind!?” Nishinoya-senpai asked you incredulously.

“Yeah, do you... maybe not like us!?” Tanaka-senpai asked, and you saw tears forming in the corner of his eyes.

“HEY! YOU GUYS STOP TRYING TO GUILT TRIP HER!!” Daichi-senpai shouted at them, though you could see that he looked confused too.

“She surely has her reasons…!” Suga-senpai agreed, and looked at you desperately for an answer.

You stood up, waving your arms frantically, “T-That’s not it at all, Tanaka-senpai, Nishinoya-senpai…! I don’t hate you guys at all – I love you all!” you said, and turned bright red, “I-I mean…” you covered your face, mortified. You hadn’t been expecting such a dramatic response and you was getting flustered.

“Why do you wanna quit?” Hinata asked, getting up and looking at you from my side.

You uncovered your face, and looked back to him, then to the rest of the boys who were waiting for an answer.

“It’s like I told Hinata-kun… you guys are just… you inspired me. Last year, when I was in middle-school volleyball, we were up against a tough team in the semi-finals. We’d fought our hardest, and wanted badly to win, but we never managed to take a single set from them. It was a crushing defeat. And… I gave up.” you said guiltily, and glanced to Asahi-senpai, who looked back at you in understanding.

They stayed quiet, allowing you to continue, “I gave up on playing competitively, but I couldn’t completely leave volleyball. And… I wanted to support Hinata-kun, because even after being defeated by Kageyama-kun’s middle-school team in the same way, he didn’t lose his determination to play and win. I admired that.” you said, smiling to Hinata, who blushed lightly.

You turned back to them, “But watching you guys so far this year has been an eye-opener. Even Asahi-senpai who was in a similar state of mind to me managed to return to the court, and you were so awesome out there, senpai…!” you said to Asahi-senpai who rubbed his head, feeling embarrassed.

“I said that I wanted to have the courage to return too. I’m not quite there yet, but… I want to be. But I still made a promise to myself, and to you guys for this year, that I’d cheer you guys on as you tried to make it to Nationals! I still believe in you guys. So for this year, I’ll stay at your side. And next year, I’ll transfer to the girls’ team, but don’t get me wrong! I’ll still be cheering for you all the same.” you said, and bowed deeply.

“So, I hope that this is okay…! Thank you for listening!” you finished, and went quiet, awaiting their response.

The first response came as a firm pat on my shoulder, and you looked up to find Daichi-senpai smiling down at you, his eyes filled with understanding.

“If that’s really what you want, then we can’t actually stop you. We’re glad that we’ll have you with us for the rest of the year at least.” He said to you.

“We’re happy that you joined us in the first place. So thank you!” Suga-senpai agreed.

“I-I’m glad you found your courage…” Asahi-senpai said with a smile and a nod.

“Hey are you guys seriously crying…?” Ennoshita-senpai looked to Tanaka-senpai and Nishinoya-senpai exasperatedly.

“That’s seriously pathetic…” you heard Tsukishima-san comment, to which Tanaka-senpai snapped at him, cheeks red.

As you glanced over, you felt Nishinoya-senpai grab your sleeve, as he rubbed his face fiercely.

He looked at me through red eyes and a runny nose, “That’s great, [Name]-san! It’s the first time I’ve seen such a fire in your eyes, so I say go for it!” he said, and you smiled.

“But hey, what’re we gonna do for a manager next year if you transfer…?” Yamaguchi-san brought up a good point, and you widened your eyes, your smile dropping.

You looked over to where Shimizu-senpai was standing. She smiled at you as if to tell you not to get so worried about it. She walked towards you and nodded.

“It’s okay. You’ll help me find a new recruit, won’t you?” she asked you.

You nodded enthusiastically, “Of course! I’m so sorry about all of this!” you agreed.

“It’ll be alright.” She added, patting your shoulder gently. You smiled gratefully to her. You’d been worried about her response. You'll happily help her with finding a new manager. Since this is your fault in the first place.

Daichi-senpai sighed out and clapped his hands, “Well since we all showed up here, even though practice was called off today, we might as well get some practice in. After all, we’re going to be going for Nationals again!” he said and everyone nodded in agreement and headed off to get changed.

You turned to see Hinata still standing at your side; he was grinning at you.

“Are you okay with this, too, Hinata-kun…?” you asked nervously, fiddling with your fingers.

“Yeah, totally! I told you I’d support you, didn’t I?” he said and you looked back at him, “I think it’s great that you want to play again. I was a little worried that you were holding back on that for my sake. I don’t want you to do that!” he said, nodding as if agreeing with himself.

He continued, facing you fully, “I want you to do what makes you happy. That way, we’ll both be happier.” He said, grinning sunnily.

You smiled and blushed, nodding as you felt a fluttering in your chest, “Y-Yeah…! Let’s both do our best from now on!” you said.

“Yeah!!” Hinata nodded.

“Hey! Hinata, hurry up and get changed! We don’t have that long before lunch period ends!” Kageyama-kun yelled over at Hinata.

Hinata turned and ran after him, yelling “Coming!” and you watched him go, putting your hands to your chest and feeling a lump in your throat.

You rubbed your eyes, your smile wide but shaky.

‘Ahh… this is bad.’ you thought to yourself, watching him go.

…

…

‘I really do like Hinata-kun…!’