「 Spring Interhigh National Tournament 」
Day 5 – Finals
"Who's winnin'?" Y/N asks as she swiftly takes a seat beside Osamu.
"They're even now, Ichibayashi just won the fourth set." Atsumu answers, not taking his eyes off the court as the long rally continues. "They're all lookin' super worn out though."
"Tell me about it, five full sets? I'm tried just thinkin' about it." Y/N sighs.
"Anyone you're rootin' for?" Osamu asks, glancing at her quickly before turning his eyes back to the court.
"Fukurodani obviously."
FWEET!
The crowd goes wild at the final point of the match, signifying the end of the Spring Tournament. Y/N sighs in acceptance as she and the rest of the team clap for the great game.
"It's crazy ta think that we were in that position a few months ago." Atsumu comments. "Feels like ages ago to be honest."
"Yeah..." Suna mutters as he sighs, looking at the top two teams in the tournament. "Could've been us."
"Would've been us."
"Should've been us." Atsumu deadpans. "Oh well~ We just needa destroy everyone next year~"
"Yeah, that sounds easy enough." Y/N mutters sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she turns her attention back to Fukurodani, the runners up.
"Sorry...! That one was on me!" Konoha apologises as he pinches his eyes shut and bows, sweat dripping from his face. "My set was bad... way too short!"
"The fact that you could even set the ball at all was really darn amazing." Bokuto says, turning away as he glares at the air. "That was my fault. I had to score off of that one. Spiking every ball with full confidence is one of the rules of being a normal ace!"
Akaashi pants heavily as he slowly starts to cry, unable to tear his eyes off of his senpai's who've taken care of him for these past two years. They've reached the end of their roads, and he'll just have to keep going until he reaches his, without them.
Shakily, Akaashi keeps quiet as the Fukurodani third years talk and reminisce about their time together, making promises for when they part ways. And as they gather to line up and thank their supporters, he accepts that that was the last time he'll ever get to play with this team.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
On the fourth day of the Spring Tournament, the Semi-finals commenced as both matches were played on the centre court. Fukurodani Academy against Inubushi East High, and Kamomedai High School against Ichibayashi High School.
After winning the first set, Fukurodani managed to scrape by with a victory on the third set against Inubushi East, successfully defeating the team that had defeated The Long-time Champions Itachiyama the day prior. This was the first time Fukurodani made it to finals in the Spring Tournament.
In the next match, Kamomedai dropped their first set against Ichibayashi but managed to take the second set back. Unfortunately, they were unable to claim victory as they lost their third and final set after a long deuce with Ichibayashi, who moved onto the finals.
And now, with the final rankings of each team, it is time for the Spring Tournament to come to an end.
"Why can't they just reserve seats for each team so we don't hafta run??" Kagawa groans as she, Y/N and Inoue quickly follow behind, dodging the passer-by's as they smile sheepishly.
"Because each team is gonna be standing in the stadium." Y/N deadpans as they finally find a place with a good enough view. "Besides, they only really care about the players and coaches anyways. Tournament really said manager lives don't matter."
"We live in a cruel world..."
"At least yer aware."
"Is the ceremony for the Spring Tournament any different from Interhigh's?" Inoue asks as Y/N glances at her.
"Slightly. The closing ceremony is lil' different." Y/N shrugs. "They congratulate the victors first, like Interhigh, and then awards are given to the best 6 players, the best libero, the overall best player and the best coach."
"Ohh I see!" Inoue gasps as Kagawa laughs.
"Yep~ and they have a different theme song every year~"
"Wait, shh! It's startin'!" Y/N shushes them as they pay attention to the teams as they enter the stadium.
"Thank you for waiting. We will now begin the closing ceremonies for the National High School Volleyball Tournament, otherwise known as the Spring Tournament."
"The championship flags are now entering, and the 47 representative schools from across Japan are now entering as well."
Watching as each school gets announced, it feels surreal as the tournament comes to a close. Y/N tries to concentrate and pay attention, but she can't help but feel a little restless. She's waiting for her team to be called afterall.
"Hyogo Prefecture's representative, boys, Inarizaki High School."
The Inarizaki team follows Kita as they enter the stadium, who's holding the Hyogo sign high as he leads them. Y/N can't help but take in a deep breath as she slowly exhales.
It's bittersweet, watching as Kita leads his team for the last time, standing proudly as he holds the Hyogo sign, representing their school and prefecture.
Is it painful? Does it hurt? Maybe it does.
But seeing Kita's faint smile as he stands with their team, makes her feel like things are okay. Things are fine.
"And now, I present this award to the victors, Boy's Division. Shizuoka Prefecture Representative, Ichibayashi High School. Concluding the National High School Volleyball Tournament, otherwise known as the Spring Tournament, your team has emerged victorious. I present you this award in acknowledgement of your commendable performance."
The host hands the certificate over to Ichibayashi's captain as the closing ceremony officially begins.
And just like that, their Spring Tournament comes to an end.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The bus back to Hyogo is unusually quiet, probably because the excitement of the Spring Tournament has finally drained as the Inarizaki team sits in comfortable silence, occupied by their own thoughts. The odd calmness is welcome of course, because there's no telling how long it'll last.
Y/N looks through her sketchbook as she analyses every page, taking note of her improvement over time as well as various style changes. It's always refreshing to look through old drawings and sketches, discovering and reminiscing the past and the efforts you'd put in previously, even if you cannot completely remember.
"Is that me?" Suna asks, pointing to an incredibly messy sketch as Y/N shrugs.
"Could be, it's ugly enough."
"Wow, I'm hurt."
"Okay then."
"I think I'm going to cry."
"Go ahead."
"Hey Atsumu, show me your face." Suna calls as he taps Atsumu's shoulder. "I think it'll be enough to make me cry."
"What??"
"Oh, it's noisy now." Ginjima deadpans as he facepalms, there's no telling how long silence will last with the Inarizaki team.
"I don't know if I should find this funny or offensive." Osamu mutters. "But 'Tsumu suffering is all I want, so I guess it's funny."
"Your Anti-Atsumu dedication is admirable." Suna nods solemnly as Y/N remembers something.
"Oh yeah, speaking about Anti-Atsumu..." Y/N takes out her phone and shoves it into Suna's face. "Rintarou."
"Yeah?"
"I noticed a few days ago that the official Inarizaki Volleyball Club's Twitter had a new follower."
"Okay? What's that got to do with me?" Suna asks boredly.
"And I have suspicions on who I think the person is."
"So?"
Sighing, Y/N does her best to remain calm as she glares at Suna. "Tell me, who would name themselves '@antimiyabros'??"
"Ohh a hater?" Suna asks excitedly.
"Yes, a hater! And the hater is you!" Y/N accuses as Atsumu gasps dramatically in the background.
"Whoa, no need for the accusations." Suna puts his hands up in mock surrender as he looks around the bus in disinterest. "How did you come to that conclusion anyway?"
"Rintarou, the first tweet literally says, 'I hate Miya Osamu's twin and Miya Osamu's twin's twin Osamu.'"
"Genius right?" Suna chuckles.
"Wait why wasn't my name mentioned??" Atsumu asks.
"Censorship." Suna deadpans as Osamu snorts. "Don't want to scare the kiddies, trying to reach a wider audience."
"Rude!"
"Relax, I mention your name on my Atsumu hate accounts." Suna shrugs as he smirks lazily. "It's just this one~"
"...I don't know how to feel about this." Atsumu mumbles as he holds his hands together and stares at his feet, reflecting on his life. "Maybe I should start a Suna hate account..."
"You'll be dead within a week." Osamu deadpans. "You wanna mess with Suna's stans?"
Atsumu vigorously shakes his head. "Nope."
"Exactly."
Sighing, Y/N facepalms as she groans. "Rintarou, delete your account."
"What? Why??"
"Delete it!"
"Which one?" Suna asks innocently as he smiles.
"All of them!" Y/N groans. "You could get in serious trouble with the school for this!"
"So, you want me to delete my stan accounts too?"
Y/N pauses as she blinks in surprise. "What?"
"I have an Atsumu incorrect quotes account." Suna shrugs boredly as he slouches in his seat. "Although the secret is that they're not incorrect because they're actual things Atsumu says. My followers think I'm amazing for perceiving him so well, while others think I'm making him seem too dumb. Jokes on them, Atsumu really is that dumb."
"...I'm askin' this as a friend and not a manager..." Y/N mumbles as Suna perks up. "...What's the account name?"
"Oho? You want to know?" Suna smirks.
"Maybe. But you still needa delete yer hate accounts." Y/N deadpans as Suna sighs sadly. "I don't want you gettin' in trouble with the school for cyber bullying."
"I think my account is quite friendly if I say so myself~" Suna hums. "What is friendship if you're not constantly roasting each other?"
"Didja just admit that Atsumu's yer friend?"
"...I'll delete the accounts."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Finally getting back to Hyogo after the intense Spring Tournament is a breath of fresh air as Y/N is able to 'enjoy' a few days off before going back to school for her last term as a second year.
There wasn't much of a welcome back of course, there never is, but Y/N's patience was really tested when her parents called the week she spent at Spring Tournament a waste.
A waste they said, because of their early elimination. Because they didn't make it past the second round. Because they didn't meet their expectations.
Because they lost.
But to Y/N, that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that she knew they didn't care. They didn't care what the club did, they didn't care about the team or the sport. They didn't care at all.
They only cared because the club that had such an impressive reputation, suddenly dropped from the tournament in a surprise upset, in front of everyone.
The parents who stop their daughter from doing anything they don't deem as valuable, only allowed her to join because of the high status of the club, Y/N has always known this, it was part of the reason why she joined afterall.
She just hopes that even because of this, they won't make her leave the club.
But as Y/N approaches her third and final year of high school...
She doesn't think her chances are great.
"...That sounds awful."
"Tell me about it..." Y/N sighs tiredly as she stares at the ceiling. "They've always been like this though, I should've been prepared for this reaction but I guess I was too distracted with Spring Tournament to notice."
"Yeah..." Sakusa trails off as he pauses for a moment. "Don't listen to them, and please... don't leave the club."
Y/N smiles slightly as she sighs. "I wasn't plannin' to."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Y/N analyses the ongoing match carefully as the sounds of squeaking shoes echo throughout the gym, blending with the yells of the players. With Kagawa next to her writing notes and Inoue managing the scoreboard, Y/N lets her eyes dart between all twelve players on the court as a point gets scored.
"Nice kill!" Atsumu cheers as Riseki shyly scratches the back of his head.
"Thanks!"
"Argh! I'll get it next time!" Kyoku groans as he ruffles his hair. "Dammit!"
"Don't mind." Suna mutters.
"Yeah, we're all here to keep practisin' anyways." Kosaku chuckles, patting him on the back. "It's gonna take a while for us to reach the same level as the third years anyway. Ya can't expect to fill in Akagi's spot that quickly."
"I know but still!" Kyoku groans.
"It's alright, Kyoku." Ginjima encourages as he grins. "It's tough bein' on the bench for a full year before suddenly gettin' put on the court, but we just gotta work hard and do our best for the team. We need to prove why we earned the spot."
"G-Ginjima-san!" The first years gasp in awe.
Y/N chuckles from the sideline as she shakes her head. "They're adaptin' pretty quickly."
"Of course, all of Inarizaki's members are strong." Coach Kurosu says proudly. "We'll hafta keep playin' around with rotations and combos to really get a feel of all the members on the court though."
"Yeah~ we got time though~" Kagawa laughs. "Though I admit, it's a lil' weird to be practsin' without the third years. Usually Kita-san would be puttin' someone into their place right now, or Ojiro-san would be havin' another breakdown."
"At least they're free now." Y/N chuckles.
"Technically they're still club members until they graduate." Coach Kurosu pipes up. "So they're not really free. They've just don't needa come to practise if they're busy or they don't wanna."
"Wait, that means they can just walk out the room whenever Atsumu does somethin' stupid. Dammit, wish I had those privileges." Y/N sighs as Coach Kurosu rolls his eyes.
"Yer free to walk out right now if ya want."
"Nah~"
"I will never understand you."
"Nice serve!"
Riseki spins the ball in his hands as he takes a deep breath and exhales slowly, trying to calm his nerves. Once he's ready, he tosses the ball into the air as he runs up and smashes a spike serve over.
"Hnng-!" Kyoku grunts as he shifts to the side to try bump it up, barely getting it up. "Soz! Cover!"
"Alright!" Otsuka calls as he positions himself under the ball, sweating nervously as he quickly analyses the players on the court. "Osamu!"
Otsuka tosses to Osamu as he runs up to spike, before wincing and facepalming internally as Osamu gets blocked.
"Lame~" Atsumu jeers as he sticks his tongue out at Osamu, mocking him as Osamu rolls his eyes and turns to Otsuka.
"That set was a little short, we'll need to practise a bit more to sync up."
"Right!"
"Otsuka~ there's nothin' easier to predict than the sets of a nervous setter." Atsumu chimes as he walks over to the net. "Ya needa stop worryin' about everythin' and just toss to who you think is right. Whatcha so nervous 'bout anyways?"
'What am I nervous about?? I'm literally goin' head to head with the best high school setter!' Otsuka internally screams as he smiles externally. "Soz! I'll try calm down!"
"Alrighty, be sure to rely on yer spikers, 'kay?" Atsumu says as he turns away. "Our spikers are plenty strong, and ya got two of the best point getters on the team."
"R-Right!" Otsuka nods vigorously as Atsumu goes back to his position.
"Atsumu giving advice? Am I hallucinating?" Suna asks as Otsuka flinches.
"Ah- Suna-san! Soz about that one! I probs should have tossed to you instead of Osamu there!"
"Huh? Nah it's fine." Suna waves him off. "Like Atsumu said, it's easy to predict sets when the setter's too nervous or paranoid, so Gin and Atsumu would have been able to read it if you sent it to me anyway."
"Ah... okay..."
"But send it anyway."
"Huh?"
Suna smirks cheekily. "I'm going to enjoy spiking around Atsumu's and Gin's block... it'll be even better if they line up perfectly... Being unable to block a spike you predicted? Hehe..."
Otsuka frowns in concern as he slowly backs away, not wanting to be infected by whatever Suna was snickering about.
"Suna, stop laughin' like a maniac, it's Riseki's serve." Osamu deadpans.
"Whatever~"
Tossing the ball into the air, Riseki sends over another powerful spike serve as Kyoku dives for it, but isn't able to get it up.
"Dammit!" Kyoku groans as Riseki laughs.
"Haha! Ya still needa get better if ya wanna get my serves!" Riseki cheers as Kyoku begrudgingly gets up.
"Riseki sure is gettin' more confident."
Everyone glances to the side at the sound of the voice, gasping in delight to see Ojiro in the doorway.
"It's Aran-kun!" Atsumu and Osamu cheer as the rest of the team greets him.
"Not just Aran!" Akagi grins as he pops out from behind him, Oomimi and Kita following the two of them in. "Thought we'd pay a visit to our precious kouhai's and maybe do some practise with ya~"
"That's what those three are here for at least, I lowkey thought the gym might have burned down by now." Ojiro sighs. "Doesn't seem like anythin's wrong though... but that's the scariest part..."
"Relax, Aran. They are simply here to play volleyball, there will be no burning." Kita says as Ojiro sweat drops. "I hope you don't mind the intrusion, however the four of us agreed that it would be nice to pay a visit and practise."
"Yer not intrudin'~ Yer always welcome here." Coach Kurosu grins. "You four can get changed and warm up, we're gonna continue this match then we'll do some drills later."
"Alright!"
Y/N smiles absentmindedly as she packs her bag up, the boys having already packed away the equipment as they slowly disperse after being dismissed. Zipping up her bag, Y/N quickly locks up the gym as she turns to Akagi who's waiting for her at the doorway.
"Ready to go?" Akagi asks as Y/N nods.
"Yep, everything's packed up." Y/N confirms as Akagi smiles and stretches.
"Ahh~ Playin' volleyball again with everyone else is so fun~" Akagi sighs happily as he and Y/N start walking. "I'm gonna miss this~"
"Yeah... I'll miss you guys too..." Y/N says quietly as Akagi glances at her. After a moment, he jumps in front of her, making her halt in her steps as she tilts her head. "What?"
"Let's walk home today! Instead of takin' the bus!"
"No."
"Wow, that was a quick rejection." Akagi chuckles. "Why not?"
"Walkin' is tiring." Y/N deadpans. "You really think I would choose physical activities over sitting down?"
"It'll be good for you!"
"No."
"Oh c'mon! We're not gonna have many more opportunities to go home together anyways, why not just try walkin'?" Akagi asks as Y/N pauses.
"...No."
"You hesitated, I'm changing yer mind~"
Weighing out the pros and cons, Y/N sighs tiredly as she nods. "Whatever... I'm gonna be dead tired, but what's life without a little bit of death?"
"Yer words concern me but I won't question." Akagi chuckles as he and Y/N head towards their homes. "But y'know, when I'm gone and ya don't have anyone to walk home with, you should try walkin' alone sometimes! It's really nice!"
"For some reason, I doubt that." Y/N deadpans. "I don't think you understand how much I dislike physical work of any kind."
"Oh don't be like that~ Yer managing a sports club."
"To live is to suffer."
"Oi stop that." Akagi laughs as Y/N rolls her eyes and smiles. "But seriously, walkin' alone is nice. There's this indescribable feeling when yer walkin' alone~"
"You mean, paranoia?'
"Y'know what? I think I'll just stop tryna convince ya."
"A wise decision."
"...On second thought-"
"No."
~~~~~
The end of their year is fast approaching... I am having many feels :)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter~ =w= Quite a few things happened over a period of time OuO What did you think? :D
Anyway! If you follow my instagram or twitter, you'd know that I actually bought the Inarizaki jacket a while ago :D So... here's some pics of me wearing it I guess... O3O
Random pics =3=
When Suna and the twins are being stupid again =_=
I'm not photogenic but alas there is nothing I can do =w= But yes this is my face and what I look like XD I'm going to post more pics on my instagram and twitter so you can go there if you want to see~ OuO
That being said, the next few chapters have been heavily mapped out and I hope you look forward to them :) And... between now and the next chapter, I will have uploaded another fic :) Just a oneshot don't worry :) I hope you like it if you decide to read!