Practice continued in the few months that followed, as normal, and Kageyama felt himself drifting further and further from the team. The first year's never asked him for help anymore, though if they had showed an interest Kageyama would've tried to help even if he couldn't do much.

He got through the days by telling himself it didn't matter, and in doing so, time flew by.

It was like he blinked and suddenly the tournament was upon him. Kageyama didn't really feel nervous as he knew how good he was and despite the tension he also knew how good his teammates were. They would do well.

Considering those thoughts the only thing he really felt was the buzz of energy around him whenever he thought of playing volleyball in the tournament.

"Mama, guess what."

She turned to him, momentarily pausing her vicious scrubbing on the hardwood. "Hm?"

"I'm playing in a volleyball tournament tomorrow." Despite the leaps and twists his heart was doing inside his chest, he kept his voice even and calm.

"Do you think you'll do well?"

In the past she would've frowned at him and said that time could be used studying. Now it was as if his parents had given up on him being academically inclined, which was for the best. Who knew all he had to do was keep disappointing them and they would eventually hardly care he wasn't getting A's and B's anymore. "I think so." Kageyama replied.

Maybe to another it would've sounded cocky, or too proud. But all it was, was Kageyama having faith in his abilities. He knew exactly what he was capable of, and he wasn't interested in pretending his playing wasn't anything special.

He knew it was special. It made Oikawa despise his skills, made the coach praise his skill, even made a few of his other teammates jealous. And most of all, his skill was most certainly apart of what helped him win.

"Are you excited?"

Kageyama nodded. How could he not be? "I'm official setter." His mother stared at him blankly, which he'd expected. Whenever he started using volleyball terms, people often looked at him like that. The only exception was when he spoke of spikers. Quite a few people seemed to know about that even if they had no other knowledge of volleyball.

"I make sure the spiker hits the ball over the net. It's the most important job."

"Is it now?"

Kageyama nodded again. "So, can I practice more?"

"Did you finish your homework?"

Tobio paused and then murmured, "No," shaking his head slightly.

"Finish your homework first. How are you to get into a good school if you don't have good grades?"

Kageyama winced, mostly because she was right. Volleyball wouldn't get him everywhere by itself.

Studying still seemed like a waste of time at the moment in his opinion though.

So he decided to use some of the websites Oikawa had told him about. Sure actually studying since he wasn't naturally intelligent like Oikawa was important, but at the same time he needed to practice volleyball as much as he could. If he let himself slack off right before the tournament he wouldn't be at his best when they played the first game tomorrow.

He purposefully got a few wrong, as to make it not look suspicious, and then hurried off downstairs volleyball in hand. By this time his mother was already starting on dinner and Kageyama only had a few hours of daylight left.

He set, and served, received, and spiked. It was hard without a partner at times and it was different without Hinata there. He was practicing things differently then he would've had Hinata been there and even the entire atmosphere just felt different. But he could feel himself getting better through repetition. In the end, it didn't matter if he had a partner or not.

"Tobio, it's almost dinner time, go shower."

Kageyama sighed at his mother's call from the back door and slowly went back inside, setting his ball down before going upstairs to shower and change into something cleaner and more comfortable.

He missed Hinata, that much he could admit, and once the tournament was over he swore he'd text him because Kageyama couldn't wait any longer but he also didn't need any stress right before a big game either. So he promised himself he'd do it after the tournament, and he wasn't going to put it off.

After he showered, Kageyama went downstairs to eat with his parents and then straight to bed so he could get up early in the morning.

When he did wake, Kageyama rolled over and grabbed his phone off the night stand to see his alarm hadn't gone off and if he didn't hurry he would be late to the first game. Tobio bit his lip and flung the covers off, hurrying to get dressed. "Mama, I'm going to the game now, okay?"

"Alright." She responded.

When Kageyama got there, he saw the rest of the team already outside and Kindaichi glaring at him. "Aren't you supposed to be an example to the rest of us losers or something?" he growled.

"My alarm didn't go off." Kindaichi was right though. Had any of them been late, Kageyama would've been upset too. "Sorry."

"Whatever, let's just go."

Kageyama didn't say anything, though he could definitely feel the high tensions in the team. There was nothing he could do about it, but he did hope it wouldn't throw off their playing.

They walked through the halls of the gymnasium before reaching the gym. Kindaichi opened the door and they all piled in one at a time.

It was as if the entire gym went silent from their arrival, but that wasn't what had Kageyama feeling sick. He hadn't noticed at first, but like always, it was ginger hair he noticed first. Kageyama's eyes wandered over to Hinata who was staring at him like he was shocked, which was completely ridiculous since of course he'd be here. If anyone should feel shocked, it was Tobio.

Kageyama just tried to ignore the red head and focus straight ahead but it was a little hard because he could feel the other's eyes on his back, causing Kageyama's heart to race faster.

"Hey Tobio-kun!"

Kageyama froze and gritted his teeth, hearing the loud shout echo through the gym causing a few people to stop and turn to who was yelling. He turned as well, hoping his gaze set fire to Hinata's whole head.

"What." Wait, why was he angry? Maybe it was the new name or the smirk on Hinata's face, he wasn't sure. But something about just looking at him set a fire ablaze inside his stomach. At first, he'd been shocked and surprised to see the red head, but from the moment the other boy opened his mouth that feeling had been instantly replaced.

"We're going to win." Hinata said determinedly.

Win? The boy couldn't even receive right. Tobio just glared and couldn't come up with a better response than, "No, us!"

"Um, Hinata, they're all huge." A boy beside Hinata whispered.

"Oh yeah…" Hinata murmured staring at Kageyama and then behind him where he supposed the rest of his team was.

"Hey, King, get over here." Kindaichi barked, "We still have warmups."

"I'm coming." Kageyama growled and started over to his teammates, telling himself he wouldn't even spare Hinata one more glance before the games began.

As it turned out, a few first and second years were missing from the gym so the coach had picked him as the lucky one to fetch them.

And it turned out they were in the hall with Hinata. "We're going to win…" Hinata grumbled, although it seemed a lot less convincing than earlier, and with skill set Hinata's team had, there wasn't much of a chance they would win.

"You're going to win?" one of the second years laughed and the other two first years joined in with him. "You can't even get your stomach under control!"

"And you have the height of an elementary school student!" Another chimed in.

"That's no way to talk to an upperclassmen!" Hinata squawked.

"Hey," Kageyama growled, getting the other's attention.

His three underclassmen paled, "Shit, it's Kageyama-san." One of them whispered.

"Get back to the gym. Warmups are starting."

The three paused, staring at him for a moment before they quickly nodded and hurried passed him into the gym.

"I could've handled it myself." Hinata said before Kageyama had the chance to walk away.

"Right, because you sure look tough right now."

Hinata scoffed, "I was about to tell them off. You didn't need to do anything."

"I was told to get the stragglers, not help you, if it's such a big deal to you. Besides, the reason they were looking down on you is because you're clearly talking big when you can't do shit."

"It's almost been a whole year since you've seen me! How do you know I can't receive as good as a libero!"

"Because you'd have to be a genius, that's why, and clearly you aren't."

Hinata glared at him, "Well I can jump, which you'd know if you ever gave me a chance to hit your sets! But since you didn't, I guess you're not as prepared as you could've been."

"Shut the fuck up!"

"I'll shut the fuck up when you get an attitude adjustment, Tobio-kun."

"And don't call me that, we aren't that close!"

"Maybe not, but I know it pisses you off." Hinata said, and shoved passed him down the hall.

"I thought you had to use the bathroom—" one of Hinata's teammates started.

"Not anymore. I'm ready to win!" Hinata cried, the gym door slamming shut behind him.

Tobio stared after it and took a deep breath. This game was sure to be interesting at least.

In the end, Kageyama's team won, and while he wasn't exactly surprised by that fact, he was shocked by what Hinata had almost managed to pull off with one of his spikes.

"What the hell have you been doing for these past three years." Kageyama hissed. He didn't know what exactly he was angry about, but he saw so much hidden potential and he wasn't sure if he was angry at Hinata for not knowing how to use that potential, or at himself for missing it completely.

Hinata glared at him, but said nothing while his friends in the back yelled at him for saying that. Kageyama ignored them and turned on his heel to line up with his team.

"Do you two know each other or something." Kindaichi asked.

"None of your business. And next time, run faster."

Kindaichi gritted his teeth and turned his hard gaze to the floor while they thanked the other team for playing.

They packed up their supplies and started out of the stadium.

"Tobio-kun!"

Kageyama almost groaned but instead turned to look at Hinata, standing a few steps up from him. "If you're the King of the Court," he pointed and Tobio had to stop himself from cringing at the name, "then I'm gonna be the one to kick you off your throne, got it!"

"Only the strongest get to keep playing." Kageyama said.

"Then I'm going to become strong. Just you watch."

Kageyama didn't say anything and turned back to walk with the rest of his team. Maybe that had been where he should've apologized for that day, but Hinata had gotten him too riled up to think of anything besides victory and the apology might've come off as insincere. Plus he'd been pissed off.

He would text Hinata and ask to meet him somewhere so he could apologize. But he was going to do that after the tournament.

It sounded like a good idea inside his head at least.

"Kageyama we're tired of taking your crap." Kindaichi growled one day while they were practicing and Kunimi didn't say anything but it was obvious he agreed. "You aren't even the captain but you bark more orders than he ever has."

"Well maybe if you ever listened, I wouldn't have to repeat myself. Didn't we already have this conversation?"

Kindaichi clenched his hands into fists. "Yeah, we have, but you can't seem to listen when we tell you we aren't your damn servants!"

"Fuck off." Kageyama muttered.

"We're trying to reason with you!"

It was a little late for that, Kageyama was already furious at the both of them. "Well please try to be faster than a fucking snail next time!"

"Oh yeah well you should stop moving your arms like they're hummingbird wings!" Kindaichi seemed to realize that wasn't a very good insult and added, "Whatever. You can't reason with a dictator anyway."

Kageyama said nothing and continued to practice on his own so he'd be ready for the next game. Despite his skills, Tobio knew he could still improve by leaps and bounds, and he'd have to if he wanted to play in any games with Oikawa around as setter.

He would never be official setter while Oikawa was around, but if he became good enough, maybe he could be swapped in in place of any other backup setters should Oikawa ever get injured or sick. And maybe once Oikawa left he could play even more often.

There were problems that came with being a first year, problems he hadn't had to deal with in two years. But once he graduated he would be an underclassmen again, which meant less opportunity to play.

Maybe he should go to Shiritorizawa instead. It wouldn't make Iwaizumi or Oikawa happy, but Shiritorizawa was the top school in the prefecture. It'd be a waste not to at least try. It'd be unlikely for him to get an invitation, but maybe if he studied hard enough he could pass the entrance exam.

"Hey, look out!" Kageyama was jerked out of his thoughts by the shout and then the feeling of a ball slamming into the back of his head. Damn, should've been paying more attention Kageyama thought bitterly, turning to glare at the first year who's serve had probably gone awry. "S-sorry Senpai." The younger stuttered out nervously.

"Whatever." Kageyama said, even though he now had a splitting headache that had nothing to do with stress. "But try and aim better next time."

"Um… okay."

Kageyama was just glad they were too far away for Kindaichi to hear, otherwise he'd definitely have something to say about his lackluster advice.

So Kageyama alternated between practice, games, and home and hadn't gone anywhere else for an entire week. If they won in their prefecture, he would be playing games for even longer.

Which meant they had to win today's game. They had made it this far and there was only one obstacle left between him and continuing to play.

The game was going as usual. Kindaichi and Kunimi were barely hitting his tosses so he yelled at them to go faster. Not that they ever listened.

Kindaichi was glaring at him more than usual, and Kunimi was more closed off than usual though. In fact his entire team was more closed off than usual but Kageyama wasn't really sure how to bring that up so he just ignored it.

The ball felt good in his hands too, better than it usually did. Time felt slower than it usually did. Kageyama could see what the blockers were doing, they knew which way he was going to set. There was only one blocker where Kunimi would be and two who would be almost at Kindaichi.

Kunimi was slower though, tended to try and hit his sets even slower than Kindaichi. Whether that was because he was simply slower or because Kunimi was more spiteful, Kageyama didn't know. He could go for a setter dump, but he wasn't exactly the best at concealing those yet, and if it failed it would bring the entire team's spirit down.

So, he decided to set to Kindaichi. If they scored this point they'd have a 2-point lead. The blockers were almost there though, which only meant one thing.

Faster.

He set the ball. It was probably the fastest set he'd ever done, but he was sure Kindaichi could get to it, with his skills, if he really wanted to hit that ball, he'd get to it.

Kageyama glanced behind himself, only to startle when he didn't see Kindaichi there to spike. In fact, Kageyama couldn't even see him running up to the ball.

He whipped his head around to look behind himself and saw Kindaichi, Kunimi, and the rest of the team standing at the back of the court.

And the only sound Tobio could hear was the sound of the ball hitting the floor on their side of the net without a spiker even trying to get it.

Kageyama would be lying if he said he didn't immediately feel a flare of anger. How dare Kindaichi let his personal feelings get in the way of playing. How dare they all. Kageyama hadn't, no matter how many times he was called 'king', knowing exactly what it meant, no matter how many people 'accidentally' bumped into him, no matter how many times he found stupid notes in his locker and desk written by people he didn't even know thinking they knew him. No matter what, he never let it stop him from playing, no matter how much he wanted to take every thought in his brain and shove it into Kindaichi's head so that he might finally be understood.

As it was, maybe Kageyama should've gotten more personal, because his effort to keep feelings and volleyball separate had obviously not been reciprocated.

Now he paid the price for that.

Paid the price for not letting anything get to him.

But if he really took a moment to think about it, had all of it really not gotten to him? Or had the anger just manifested into the form of using his own superior setting skills to throw every mistake into his teammates faces.

When had it even gotten this bad?

He couldn't remember.

Kageyama felt his hands start to tremble.

What he would remember was the sound of the volleyball hitting their side of the net, and his teammates standing from afar and the obvious rift between all of them. He would remember the blow of the whistle calling him from the game.

He would remember looking into the faces of the crowd in the stands for the first time since he got there. Would remember seeing Iwaizumi's furrowed eyebrows as if he didn't understand what just happened, and seeing Oikawa's stone cold eyes because he knew exactly.

He was so busy trying not to look at them he almost missed Hinata's bright, red hair. Kageyama didn't see his face though, because he looked away, not wanting to see it.

He would remember sitting on the bench for the first time in a long time, with an ache in his muscles and a numbness everywhere else.

He would remember throwing a shirt over his head and trying not to cry and failing miserably too.

He would remember their team losing, but not even feeling a bitter sense of happiness about it.

Maybe out of it all he should've remembered losing the game the most, or the betrayal he felt the most. But he knew the thing that would haunt his dreams was the looks on their faces and the knowledge that he deserved it.

A/N Hehe, you're welcome.

Btw, I'm kinda hoping to get the next chapter out by the 25th but like we'll see. Thanks for reading!