On the court to the right of them, a match between two bluish teams started. One was turquoise, the other was teal. The turquoise team had the feared third-year captain, and he shook hands with the second-year captain from the teal team. It didn't matter that Futakuchi had next year to play as well. Age and social hierarchies were meaningless once they were on the court.

Oikawa knew in his entire being that it didn't matter if they were a first-year or a third-year. The strong were the strong, and the one who dropped the ball would lose.

.

It was completely pouring outside. The weather estimations for October were often like this in Miyagi, and today was no different.

Ennoshita wasn't doing very well, and Ai counted three spike misses since the second set had started. Now, Wakunan was at set point, with 24-20.

It could have partially been due to being on the right, a side that the left-wing spiker wasn't used to. However, the highest factor was probably pressure.

With another deflection from Nakashima, the second set went to Wakunan.

Ai hurried downstairs to meet with them during the limited break time. She went straight to Ennoshita and hugged him tightly. His look of surprise told her that he wasn't expecting it. Well, he should have known better.

"Chikara, it's alright. You should play in your own style, in your own way. You don't have to stress yourself."

"Y-yeah," he answered halfheartedly.

Twisting her lips, she tapped his cheeks with her palms to get his attention and focus. "Just keep your eyes open and breathe."

Ennoshita nodded wordlessly.

"Hey!" Kinoshita said. "You got a look on your face like the world's going to end!"

Tanaka clapped a hand around Ennoshita's shoulder. "It's too early for the world to end!"

"The Earth Defense Force!" Nishinoya proclaimed.

"I do not look like that!" he screamed, and the other second-years smiled.

"Alright! Chikara's back!"

Next, Ai walked in front of Yamaguchi next, also pulling him into a hug. After, she tapped fist to his chest softly. "Next time, Tadashi. Next time."

The frustration and shame inside of him appeared in the tears in his eyes. He bit his lip and nodded.

She turned to the team next and held up her fingers. "Two things. One, block follows. No sport is complete without a rebound. Two, hawkeye. Keep your vision wide and open. It's a game of receiving as much as it is attacking."

Everyone voiced their understanding. She nodded and squeezed each one of their hands. "You're all teammates. Allies. There's no need for humility or yielding. You're all scoring for Karasuno."

"Thanks, Ai," Sugawara smiled.

"Thank you!" Hinata also said his senpai.

She smiled at him before leaving. "I believe in you, Shōyō."

His face turned as scarlet as Ai's eyes at her faith in him.

She scanned the floor and picked up the mechanical pencil she'd dropped. Turning her back to them, Ai pop-quizzed the guys. "Taiga and Tatsuya."

"Speed and fast reflexes," Tsukishima recited, the tone of his voice fed up with her cyphers.

"Yes, and?"

"Perfect form?" Kageyama guessed.

"Amazing, Kei, Tobio."

The others were in awe of her lessons coming into play.

Ai smiled back at the two first-years and appreciated their effort in learning. "I'll be watching over you."

As she walked towards the exit, she barely heard Asahi over the other voices and noise of the volleyball adjacent games.

"She's like our angel descended from heaven, always watching over us. I feel so relieved." Asahi sighed contently.

"A fallen angel, maybe," Tsukishima muttered.

For the remainder of the break, Coach Ukai professed the game plan and advice to the team. Hinata noticed, by himself, the similarity of the playstyle of Wakutani Minami's captain and the Tiny Giant, and he asked the coach about it.

In regards to individual technique, Hinata was still behind third-year captain Nakashima. However, he could still fight with everything else he'd learned.

.

In the third and final set, Hinata was amazing. His attentiveness peaked and his diving form was masterly. Coach Ukai has to carry the metal bench out of the way, resulting in Takeda-sensei falling backward. Hinata rushed back and successfully hit the ball with Kageyama's toss. She couldn't have been more proud of her orange-haired bundle of energy and potential.

Asahi got super worried when the middle blocker bumped into Kageyama as he was landing from the jump spike. The kind-hearted ace didn't want to see anyone else get hurt that day, but Hinata's reflexes and mobility of his body were astounding nonetheless.

After seeing Kageyama and Tsukishima's tall blocks, the outside hitter, Shiroishi, changed tactics. Ennoshita managed to save it, Nishinoya connected to Asahi, but the spike went out of bounds.

Ennoshita apologized to the team for not being able to receive the feint properly. Tanaka grinned evilly at that and took his chance at payback for when he tried to say sorry.

"If you're trying to do exactly what Daichi-san does, you're ten years- no, that's too long…" He thought about it. "Uh, you're like a year too early! That just now was a nice receive no matter what anyone says!"

"A year? Don't give me such realistic numbers." The three guys grinned.

7-6, Wakutani Minami.

Karasuno had to do something about the block-outs, as Shimada noted. Ennoshita came up with an idea for it and had Asahi and Tanaka keep in place for any powerful straight shots. Meanwhile, he took a step backward to catch any deflected balls. His plan worked, and the Number 6 finally clicked into the team on court.

.

At the midpoint, the teams switched sides again, so that they had their corresponding flags at their backs once more.

At Karasuno's advantage of 20-19, the tenacious team, Wakutani Minami took a time out.

After their water break, Kageyama knew the attention would be on their ace since Hinata was out. The setter decided and skillfully set the ball to Ennoshita, who spiked it in.

The team of crows made it to 23-21, and while Asahi's powerful serves tended to be out of bounds, Matsushima from the pink and white team also made mistakes.

Karasuno's match point.

Nakashima scored a feint against Kageyama and Hinata's blocks and Tsukishima's attempt to save it. Nishinoya caught the next net-in serve from Kawatabi, but without a proper receive, the first-year duo couldn't carry out their usual quick attack.

Ennoshita shouted to the fretting boy. "Hinata! Don't thrash about! What is a good jump?"

He woke up from his rushed and tunneled vision. "One that starts with good footing!" Hinata yelled back.

Ennoshita pushed Hinata's one-touch block of Nakashima's spike up into the air and made their chance ball. Hinata got a good running start and jumped. He spiked the ball between two blocks, and it hit Kawatabi's arm. However, the setter was unable to reach the far ball in time, and it marked their victory.

They cheered and celebrated.

Wondering if she should stay a bit more to watch for any problems, Ai chose to go greet them and see if Daichi was okay. She excused herself from Shimada and Saeko's side and jogged downstairs.

She met the team, along with Daichi and Yachi, who had come back from the infirmary. Ai breathed a sigh of relief. "Sawamura-senpai, is there anything I can do?"

"Oh, Ai," he greeted and smiled. "No, I'm okay. Thanks."

Ai nodded, unsure. "Please tell me if there ever is."

She did a headcount of the team as they headed to the ongoing match determining their next opponent. With the first game of the day over, they had one more left.

Daichi stopped to tell Ennoshita that he was watching them for the last few plays. The third-year's words were encouraging, and he complimented the substitute captain's final receive.

Then, Daichi turned to her again and grinned. "Daichi-san, huh?"

She sucked in a sharp breath, remembering how the name had instinctively left her lips when he was about to collide. "You heard. I'm sorry, Sawamura-senpai." She was about to bow, but he stopped her with a laugh.

"No need to apologize. You use Asahi's first name, and I call you Ai."

"It's what Yū calls him," she said, admitting that it was the libero's influence on her.

Daichi just smiled. "I heard your voice right before I hit Tanaka. Even I didn't know what was happening, but you seemed to predict the future. Thanks." He tapped her shoulder before following the others to watch the game. "Also, you should call Suga by his name, too. He'd be thrilled." With another smile, he left.

Ennoshita also went somewhere by himself. His three friends, including her, noticed his dark demeanor.

"But we won," Narita wondered aloud.

The second he said that after Ennoshita left, Ai felt her heart squeeze. She ran into Narita's chest, gripping onto his shirt tightly with fists.

"Woah, Ai?" Her sudden actions surprised Narita.

"Ai? What's wrong?" Kinoshita also asked, concerned.

"Winning isn't everything," she whispered. She sighed, and her voice cracked. "Hisashi, Kazuhito..."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that." He held her arms in a friendly hug.

She shook her head.

The two guys rubbed her back in comfort and tried to soothe her. However, she only continued to bite her quivering lip and sob silently. No tears came out, but she was, for some reason, so emotionally overwhelmed.

Daichi's injury, Tanaka's guilt, Ennoshita's astounding contribution, Hinata's growth…

The thought of Narita's uniform becoming wrinkled crossed her mind, but she couldn't loosen her desperate grasp. It took her a moment to pull herself together again.

Taking a deep breath, Ai let go and gave them both a casual hug. "I'm sorry. It's nothing." She mustered a smile. "I'll join you both later with Chikara. Go on and watch the game for me."

The two guys shared a worried look, but nodded and left after each resting a hand on her head for a moment. Their touch was more comforting than any words.

Ai took her time to wander and guess where Ennoshita had gone. She arrived at a lounge area near the restrooms and sat on a cushion while she waited.

———

Momoi: Hi Akashi-kun! Did you hear about Ai-chan's game yesterday? Her school won the first round!

Seijuro: Hey, Momoi. I saw the tournament chart online. It seems that they're getting local news coverage for some schools, too.

Momoi: Yeah, I'm planning on watching those. Do you ever send Rakuzan's stuff for her to watch?

Seijuro: I haven't yet, but perhaps I will one of these days.

Momoi: I kind of asked her to look at one of Dai-chan's games

Seijuro: I'm not surprised. She does so much without us having to say anything. Ai tends to take on too much. I worry she's going to stress herself to her limit and not tell me or anyone about it.

Momoi: You should call her! I'm sure she'd be happy to talk to you, no matter how busy she might be

Seijuro: Thanks, Momoi.

Momoi: If Karasuno beats Wakunan, they're going to face Aoba Johsai again today

Seijuro: Right; the team from their Interhigh. I'll make sure she's alright.

Momoi: I know she's in good hands :D

Total Word Count: 1910