~Back In The Game~

~Chapter Twenty-Three~

"Again! Do it again!" One voice says.

"I know! I know! Shut up already!" Another voice says, Asahi looks inside and his eyes immediately go wide. He sees Kageyama set the ball to Hinata. Hinata jumps high into the air and spikes the ball.

'Wow...! What an incredible jump! And that setting...the timing was perfect!' Asahi thinks in awe.

"Yeah!! Our quick attack is gonna score loads of points against The Cats too!" Hinata exclaims, pulling Asahi from his thoughts. Asahi is shocked after hearing this. 'The Cats?' He begins to think. 'Does he mean Nekoma? We're going to play against the Nekoma High School?!'

"We have a practice game against them at the end of the golden week training camp." Daichi says after suddenly appearing behind Asahi.

"!!" Asahi jolts, having been caught by the captain. "Geh!"

"Hey! What do you mean by "Geh"?" Asahi starts to run away. "Don't run away from me!"

"But you're scary when you're mad!"

"I'm not mad at you!!"

"..." They both stand in silence.

"You heard, right? The Nekoma is coming here. Well... I guess to us, Nekoma is just some school we hear about in old stories. Not that they're all the old. It's not like either of our teams has any real connection now. But...I can't deny it is a little exciting to know we're the ones who get to play the first match with them in years."

"...But...I don't deserve to show my face anymore. Not to Sugawara...and not to Nishinoya."

"!...Sheese! Seriously, Asahi. For such a big guy, you really are a wuss. Could you and Nishinoya be any more opposites?" Daichi says, patting Asahi on the shoulder.

"Um, could you please not be that blunt?"

"Quit worrying so much. Suga's over it, of course. Even Nishinoya's fine! Unlike you, both of them are considerate and forgiving types."

"Weren't you supposed to be the generally nice-to-everyone character?"

"To everyone...except you. You don't count. Because you're a wuss."

"..."

"Yeah, you've skipped practice for over a month...and things but be a little awkward between everybody right now. But... y'know? None of that matters."

"..."

"If you think you might still like volleyball...that's reason enough for you to come back."

"!"

"Oh. And one more thing."

"?"

"One of our new rookies has big dreams about being an Ace someday." Asahi thinks back to what Hinata said about the feeling of a spike. Daichi sees Asahi spacing out so he punches his arm which snaps him out of it. Daichi then stomps into the gym.

-At Sakanoshita Market-

The shopkeeper is dusting a few shelves while humming. He turns his head slightly towards the entrance of the shop, only to be scared half to death by Takeda peaking around the corner. The shopkeeper storms to the door and slides it open quickly.

"What the heck are you doing?!" The shopkeeper yells, shocking Takeda.

"Erm! I-I'm sorry. I was just checking to see if there were customers inside..." Takeda explains.