"Hey, hey, hey. Good morning!" Bokuto called out as he hopped into the cafeteria and was surprised to see that his team was the first to arrive. He looked around and spotted the coaches, managers and teacher advisors seated at a table, and he soon grabbed a seat as well.

"Bokuto-san… You're still as noisy as ever…" Akaashi commented as he sat beside him.

"Akaashi, you should say that my voice is like music to your ears!" he yelled, and Akaashi stared at him dully.

"Shut up already, Owl head." Kuroo called out as he entered, with [name] by his side and the rest of Nekoma High behind them. [name] just stretched and yawned as she grabbed a seat which was just beside Akaashi. But before she could actually sit down, she was dragged by the arm and she turned to look at who it was.

"Captain! Come with us!" Aiyu called out and dragged [name] out of the cafeteria.

"Hey, I haven't eaten anything!" she cried out, and she was extremely hungry.

"Don't worry! Just come with us." Aiyu giggled and continued to drag her beloved captain towards the gymnasium. [name] sighed in defeat and allowed herself to be dragged by her teammates into the second gymnasium.

"What's up with all these?" [name] asked as she saw the picnic that was laid out on the gymnasium's floor. She was then ushered by both Aiyu and Aria, and they made her sit down.

"Well…" Kyoko spoke, but her face was red with embarrassment that [name] just lifted an eyebrow and looked at the rest of the team. Aria then took in a deep breath and walked up from the team and started to speak.

"We really want to show you how much we appreciate your efforts in being our captain. For putting us first, for always being there for us. And of course for guiding us whenever we made a mistake. Thank you for being patient with us despite knowing us for only a few months." Aria spoke without missing a beat, and her face turned extremely red after she had finished her short speech.

[name] stared in shock, and the rest of the team then looked away as they felt embarrassed. [name] then started to laugh, startling the team.

"[n-name]-senpai?" [name] then stood up and ruffled Aria's hair.

"Thank you, for being the ones who opened my eyes. For letting me play on, for having my back. I know I can count on all of you." She spoke with a genuine smile, and brought the girls in for a group hug. All of a sudden their stomachs growled and they burst out laughing.

"Just at the moment!"

"Let's eat!"

And the girls tucked into the food that they had prepared early in the morning along with the staffs in the cafeteria.

While the girls munched on the food that they had prepared, Aria suddenly spoke up regarding about practices.

"Ne, [name]-senpai. I feel like trying out the Karasuno freak duo's quick spikes." She spoke as she reached out for another sandwich. [name] then stared at her in shock, but soon it was replaced with a smile and she ruffled her hair.

"Let's do it then." She said with a smile.

"I told you [name]-senpai wouldn't think that I'm crazy!" Aria called out and stuck a tongue out at the rest of the team. They could only snicker as they saw [name]'s face paling slightly at her sudden outburst.

"It is crazy, but it's worth the try. No?" [name] spoke as she drank her water.

"You're crazy too, captain…" the team mumbled out, causing [name] to choke on her water as she glared at the comment that they just made about her.

"If I wasn't crazy, I wouldn't be your captain." She mumbled out as she chomped down on the sandwich she was holding.

"That's true though." Kyoko cried out and giggled when [name]'s face went red.

"Today, you will all be practicing spiking and blocking for the first 30 minutes. And then you'll move on to your normal practice matches." The coach called out.

"Yes, sir!"

"Ne, captain. Let's try it!" Aria spoke as she grabbed onto [name]'s arm and pulling her towards the court that they were designated to.

"Aria, you do realise that quick spikes like shrimp's only works on certain people right?" she asked as she started to do squats. Aria then nodded as she practiced tossing to herself.

"I tried on Yuki, Kyoko-senpai, Aiyu-senpai as well. But it seems that I can't sync with their spikes, so I decided to stick to bringing out their full potential by giving them the tosses that they do best with." Aria spoke.

"That's what a setter should be doing. Bringing out the full potential of the spikers. Alright, let's start?" [name] called out as she got into position.

"Alright!" and Aria tossed a ball to Aiyu. Aiyu could only spike her best when the toss is slightly low and a little near to the net.

"Nice kill!" the team called out.

"Nice toss, Aria!" Aiyu then ruffled her hair.

"Toss for me please!" Kyoko called out, and Aria nodded. Tossing a slightly high and a little further away from the net kind of toss, allowing Kyoko to be able to spike with all her might.

"Nice toss!" Kyoko called out and ruffled Aria's hair as well.

"My turn!" Yuki called out and winked at Aria who just winked back and tossed for her. She tossed a slightly low toss and a little far from the net, allowing her to spike with all her might. Yuki is only able to hit balls that may seem like it will hit the net, but it doesn't.

"Nice toss!" and she hi-fived with Aria.

"Aria, give me a normal toss first. Let me warm up." [name] called out, and Aria nodded. Tossing a high ball that's close to the net, allowing [name] to spike down hard. She then landed on her feet, but somehow her right ankle seems to have made some sort of cracking sound, causing her to wince slightly, and she panicked a little as well. She then started to walk away from the net, and she realised that she could walk normally without any pain, so she thought she was fine.

"If we really want to make it successful… Kyoko, Aiyu. I need you two to try and block me." [name] called out and both Kyoko and Aiyu gasped and paled slightly.

"Block…"

"You…"

"You must be crazy, captain!"

"How are we suppose to-?"

"Try!" [name] snapped and made a little cute gesture with her mouth, causing her team to laugh at her attempt to make them smile. She then smiled softly and positioned herself. She then nodded to Aria, and she started to run at full speed, running dead straight.

"Shrimp always dodge where the blockers are. So if the blockers are right in front of me… I'll go right!" she thought to herself and she immediately ran to the right, Aria saw this and she tossed an extremely insane toss to [name]…

.

.

.

*SLAM*

"W-What…" Naomi mumbled out.

"She… She just did it…" Kyoko stared from the side she was blocking.

And when [name] stood back straight up, they swore that they could feel the seriousness that [name] had put in into concentrating on that insane toss.

"Oi, did [name] just did a quick spike with that insane toss like that shrimp?" Yaku asked Kuroo who was staring in shock at what had just happened.

[name] however, look dissatisfied she then turned to Aria and smiled softly at her.

"One more time." And Aria nodded.

"Ah… The mother cat has finally found a way to evolve further… But if she doesn't be careful, she might devour her own kittens." Nekomata whispered, with a slight smirk on his face.

"Captain, you shouldn't push yourself too much." Aiyu called out as this was the 6th time that [name] and Aria are trying out the insane spike.

"Yeah, you should rest already, [name]" Kyoko called out as she went below the net and walked over to where [name] was standing. She then placed a hand on [name]'s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. [name] sighed and smiled up at Kyoko. She then nodded and head over to the benches to get a short break and hydrate herself.

"You know… I'm afraid that one day you might devour us." [name] heard a voice and she turned to look at who had spoken, Naomi. She had on a soft smile, but yet a sad one too. [name] then ruffled her hair and spoke,

"We're a team. If I were devour all of you, I will be on my own. It doesn't matter if we win or lose, but as long as our connection is there as a team, as long as we work together as a team, improve together, that's all that matters. No?" she spoke with a soft smile and Naomi could only nod in response as she felt overwhelmed by what [name] had said.

"And I also know that you're improving as well. I heard you tried to jump from the back line to the front and do a toss before landing, no?" [name] smirked as she saw how flustered Naomi had become then.

"I'm looking forward to seeing it in action."

"Y-Yes!"

"Tsukki, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Kyoko-senpai!" Aria called out and tossed the ball that Kyoko spiked best; tossing a slightly high and a little further away from the net kind of toss, allowing Kyoko to be able to spike with all her might. She managed to do a clean wipe on Tanaka's blocking.

"Tch!" Tanaka managed to mutter out and all Kyoko could do was smirk.

"Yuki, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Give it to me!" Tanaka yelled, and he slammed hard.

"Nice one-touch!"

"[name]-senpai!" Aria called out and tossed an insane quick one, and [name] spiked it hard right through the area where there wasn't any blockers.

"Nice kill!"

"That spike… Was just like Hinata's…"

"Yuki, one more nice serve!"

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Yuki cried out as her serve had hit the net instead of going over to the opponent's court.

"Don't mind, don't mind! Get it the next time!" [name] called out, and the whole team couldn't help but smile at the way she is able to bring the mood up.

"Hinata, nice serve!" and Hinata's serve hit the net, but it fell onto the other side of the court. [name] managed to dive down and save it just in time, sending it up to Aria.

"Aria!" Aiyu called out and Aria tossed to Aiyu, a toss that is slightly low and a little near to the net.

"Nice kill!"

"Akaashi, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Aria!" [name] called out, and Aria nodded. But apparently she didn't catch the signal that [name] was showing and she tossed the insane quick toss. She then panicked when she realised that [name] had meant for a normal toss…

.

.

.

*SLAM*

"Eh?" Aria stared as she looked over to the other side of the court. Sure enough the ball was in the other side of the court. Aria then turned to look at [name] who had just landed and brought her… left hand down.

"Oi." [name] yelled out, and Aria turned to look at her with a frightened look. She then smiled a soft smile as she saw [name] giving her a thumbs up. [name] then turned and shouted,

"One more time!"

"Yes, captain!"

"It seems like there isn't going to be any problem with the girls team. They're extremely bonded." Karasuno's coach spoke as he watched how the team had synchronised.

"Left, left!"

"Two blockers!" [name] yelled but Bokuto managed to spike through the blocks. Aria then accidentally touched the ball first, causing her unable to do a toss anymore.

"Crap!"

"Leave it to me!" Naomi called out, and she jumped from the backline to the front and tossed a ball. She had tossed the ball to [name] who then did a quick spike straight down, earning a point.

"Nice one!"

"Ne, was that libero a setter before?" Bokuto asked Akaashi who just shrugged his shoulders.

"It looks like the little kittens are growing up as well." Nekomata commented as he chuckled at what had just happened.

"10 running laps up the hill…" both Daichi and Akaashi called out, and they started to run.

"Captain!" both Yukis called out as they ran up to their captains who were standing side by side each other. They then handed them a piece of paper each, allowing them to read over.

"Ah, so currently first in place is… Eh… Why is it the girls?" Kuroo pouted and looked over to [name] who just shrugged her shoulders and stuck her tongue out.

"Last in place is Karasuno High." [name] pointed out as she looked over the scores.

"Looks like if we want the actual Battle at the Trash Dump to happen, we need to…" Kuroo spoke and smirked at [name] who just shrugged her shoulders and went over to where the coach were, and they bent down slightly and whispered into the coaches' ears.

Soon enough, the coaches were smirking as well.

"Come on guys, let's head over to gymnasium number 3." Coach Ukai called out as he spotted Karasuno High's volleyball team coming back after a slight short break from their full streak of penalties.

"Ne, where did Kuroo and [name] go?" Kyoko asked as she practiced tossing with Naomi.

"I heard they're helping out Karasuno High with their training." Naomi spoke as she tossed again.

"Mou, then let's practice with the others too! We can't be behind!" Aiyu giggled and ushered her two seniors towards the court that the others were waiting for them.

"Yo. Thank you for volunteering to help out." Coach Ukai called out as soon as he entered the third gymnasium.

"No problem!" Kuroo and [name] called out, while the Karasuno team stared in shock that they were going to help them with their trainings.

"I'll just sit back and relax, right?" Coach Ukai called out as he sat down on the bench along with the managers as well as the teacher advisor. [name] just gave him a thumbs up and looked back towards the team that was standing before her and Kuroo.

"Now, any idea why you guys are here?" [name] asked and looked around. Hinata then put up his hand and he immediately answered with an answer that made [name] hit her head onto Kuroo's shoulder hard.

"Because you're going to teach us cool moves?!"

Kuroo then patted [name]'s shoulder and tried to encourage her to not get irritated by Hinata's dumbness. She then breathed in and out deeply and turned to face them again and spoke.

"Because you guys are the weakest team here."

And that comment hit a nerve. But the team knew they can't argue with about it as it was the truth. Coach Ukai, the managers as well as the teacher advisor could only snicker at what [name] had just said.

"Firstly, timing is extremely off! Kageyama!" [name] yelled and pointed at Kageyama, who flinched and immediately sat up straight with a pale face.

"Every spiker has their own potential. But it takes the setter to bring out their full potential, do you not understand any part of it?" [name] ask-yelled the question, and Kageyama trembled with fear, causing the others to snicker slightly as they hardly see Kageyama being afraid.

"You. I want to see your jump float serve." [name] then pointed to Yamaguchi. Kuroo only snickered at everything that was happening, and he let [name] do all the yelling and scolding.

"Libero, responsible for receiving the attack or serve. Right?" [name] called out and looked to Nishinoya who nodded with blinging eyes, and [name] swore she could actually see a tail wagging behind him. She rubbed her temples and muttered some curses under her breath before continuing.

"Middle blockers!" then [name] stopped and sighed.

"You know what, let's just get into a match. Split yourself into two groups." [name] called out as she dragged Kuroo to the sides where the coach was sitting.

"Better play like you mean it!" [name] yelled out and passed the ball to Kageyama.

"Kageyama, nice serve!"

"Crap." Ennoshita muttered as he didn't receive Kageyama's serve properly.

"Move when the ball is about to cross the net! Don't hesitate!" [name] yelled out.

"One more time!" and she passed the ball to Kageyama.

"Kageyama, nice serve!"

"Nice receive!"

"Nice one, number 6!" [name] called out.

"Right, right!" and Suga tossed a ball to number 7, and he managed to spike through the block.

"Oi, glasses boy!" Kuroo called out, and Tsukki flinched.

"Block like you mean it, damn it!" he yelled. He then walked over to both Kageyama and Tsukki, and taught them his way of blocking.

"Read block, you need to read your opponents eyes. But it's your choice if you want to follow their eyes. That one time when I followed [name]'s eyes, she did another spike instead. And when you block, you put your hand in front of you instead of above you. In front of you." Kuroo explained, and both Kageyama and Tsukki nodded.

"One more time, pinch server!" [name] called out as Kuroo walked back. She then passed the ball to Yamaguchi and beckoned for him to start. He stood nervously, and [name] noticed it.

"Hey." She called out, and everybody turned to look at her. Yamaguchi then trembled even more as he thought he was going to get a scolding from [name], but he ended up relaxing when he saw her soft smile.

"You know in matches when they blow the whistle for you to start your serve right? You have 5 seconds to gain your composure, so don't stress out and immediately serve at the blow of the whistle." [name] explained, and Yamaguchi nodded. He then took a few deep breaths and served his ball.

"Nice one." [name] called out as she saw his jump float serve going over to the other side of the court.

"Nice receive!"

And all the spikers started to run, and Kageyama did a toss. Tossing it to the back, allowing their ace to spike.

"Did they just did a synchronisation attack?" Kuroo asked, and [name] could only nod.

"Nice receive!" [name] and Kuroo then quickly turned to the other side of the court, and they realised that Yamaguchi had received the ball.

"Right, right!" number 7 called out.

"Hinata, don't rush!" [name] called out as she saw Hinata jumping right before the ball was tossed. Suga then sighed as he tossed the ball to the left side instead of the right where Hinata was blocking, allowing Ennoshita to score a point.

"This is going to be a long training." Kuroo whistled out.

"Sure is… But it's going to be worth it." [name] smirked, and Kuroo could only ruffle her hair and smile at her. He then placed his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close to his body.

"You know, you're damn sexy when you're yelling." Kuroo whispered into her ear, and she rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the abdomen hard, yet a blush was seen on her face. Kuroo stared in shock, and slowly smirked as he saw the blush that was pretty obvious on her fair skin tone.

"Asahi, nice serve!" and Asahi served… But it ended up hitting Daichi at the back of his head. Daichi then turned to glare at Asahi who quickly apologised. [name] sighed, and Kuroo then gestured for her to go all out on that Ace.

"IF YOU MISS ONE MORE TIME I SWEAR I WILL STRIP YOU OFF THE TITLE OF ACE!" [name] yelled.

"Y-Yes!" Asahi called out and everybody laughed at him.

"This is definitely a sight that I'll never get bored off." Kuroo whispered as he stretched out.

"Oh, shut up already." [name] muttered with her face turning beet red.

"Your libero should be practicing more of his toss if he wants to follow what Seijō's libero did as well as Naomi. Ace should be practicing his serves. Genius setter over there should probably be practicing with shrimp, to get the tempo right. You two need to synchronise if you want your weirdo attacks to actually work. The rest of you, don't really have much issues. Ah, glasses boy! You need to practice your blocking." Kuroo called out.

"Nishinoya, maybe if you want I'll get Naomi to practice with you for the tossing. The ace, and the bald head should probably practice with you as well, if you want to make your toss a successful one. I'll probably be borrowing Yamamoto and Lev as well to help with blocking, along with Tsukki." [name] called out, and Nishinoya nodded his head vigorously. [name] sighed and then looked up at the team once again.

"Don't mind." Suga called out and patted Tanaka on the back while the others were snickering at him, for [name] just called him 'bald head'. [name] then rubbed the back of her neck and looked around. She gave Coach Ukai a slight nod as he headed out with the managers and teacher advisors to join Nekomata and the others in another drinking session.

"The rest of you should practice your receiving. With that, practice has ended today. Good work!" [name] called out and then stretched. She then turned to grab her stuff when all of a sudden Kuroo grabbed her arm and made her turn to face the Karasuno team. She then stared at them for a little while, and then they yelled.

"Please, practice with us!" and [name] paled slightly at their determination to get better. She sighed and then placed her bottle and towel back down, and looked at them.

"Why not, we gather everybody and do a different kind of practice?" [name] smiled.

"Ah…" Akaashi mumbled out as he listened to what [name] was saying.

"Since all of us still practice after the training, so I was thinking maybe we should do this instead. Some of us will be practicing their spiking and blockings. Some tossing, some receiving. So I believe it will be good to do a full rotation, don't you think so?" [name] spoke out, and then she made a face when she saw that Bokuto honestly didn't get what she was trying to say.

"Karasuno High has already split into the categories of skills that they have to improve on. I will appreciate if you lots do that as well." And [name] smiled an angelic smile, which made the boys and girls feel that something was wrong with it, and they quickly split up.

"Alright, start!" [name] called out, and everybody started their after training practices.

"[name], which are you going to?" Kuroo asked as he took a sip from his bottle.

"Most probably spiking. I want to practice spiking with my left hand." And [name] quickly took a sip from her bottle and ran towards the court where the others were practicing spiking at, leaving a rather worried looking Kuroo behind.

"You do realise you can't over do your left hand…" Kuroo muttered filled with worry.

"Seconds, please!"

"Sometimes I don't get how can you eat so much yet all those nutrients just doesn't add on to your height…" Tsukki mumbled loud enough for Hinata to hear, and Hinata replied with his mouth full of rice, causing Tsukki being unable to understand a single thing he said.

"[name], are you alright?" Kyoko asked as she sat down beside [name] in the cafeteria. She had noticed that [name]'s left hand has been trembling for a little while after all those spikes she had done during the practice.

"I'll be fine, it will stop soon!" [name] spoke with a smile, and immediately placed her hand under the table. Kuroo was seating just on the other side of her, and he already noticed that her left hand had been trembling for quite some time already. He sighed and then grabbed hold of her, pulling her out of the cafeteria, leaving Kyoko a little, confused at what had just happened.

"Bed head, let go of me!" [name] cried out as Kuroo continued to drag her towards the grassy hill where the penalties running penalties was always held at. He then pulled her up all the way to the top of the small hill, and finally let go of her. [name] then pout slightly as she massaged her arm, and then she noticed Kuroo wasn't facing her at all.

"Bed head?" [name] called out, and lightly touched the arm of his. She knew he was definitely crying. She then made him turn to face her, and he did so reluctantly. She then pushed him slightly, ushering him to take a seat on the grassy hill, which he did so, and he pulled her down with him. Making her sit just beside him.

"I'll tell you a story, just listen alright?" taking silence as a yes, [name] started to tell Kuroo a story.

"There was once a girl, who loved volleyball with all her heart. But there was something else that she loved even more. She loved everybody else around her even more. She's the kind of girl who is willing to give up on her dreams just to make others happy, the kind of girl who might be sick in bed, yet she goes out into the rain to comfort a heartbroken friend. The kind of girl who will do anything to see a smile on another person's face, be it stranger or not.

But what others didn't know was, she was the lonely kind of girl. Being adopted into an abusive family, growing up with the feeling of being worthless and pathetic. Having to work after school to earn her own pocket money and savings. Despite all these, she still smiled though. She still plays volleyball, because it makes her happy. But the smile on others' people's face, makes her happier. You might think, why doesn't she think for herself? She does. She thinks of going to the nationals, she thinks of continuing with volleyball club activities when she reaches High School, as well as College. But it all stopped. It all stopped when she graduated from Middle School.

It was a rainy day, and she was running out of her house, trying her best to avoid the beatings she was about to get from her parents as they had lost money in a bet. She was running, crying as well, but nobody knew. Who will know that you're crying when it's raining? She ran, and ran some more, trying her best to get her mind to think straight, until she met with an accident.

The doctor said she was lucky to only have fractured her left hand and her right ankle. But what he didn't know was, it might cost her future, until she asked the doctor. And he said, it will be best for her to not take part in any more sports activities. That itself was a big blow. She cried day and night in the hospital, nobody visited her. None of her friends knew. She was heartbroken, in so much pain. But yet she went home, still with a smile. Still trying hard to bring out the smiles on other people's faces, yet she was still suffering on the inside.

And then she went on to High School. She couldn't help herself but to see how the girls in her High School team played. She missed the feeling of being on the court. Missed the feeling of scoring and killing. She missed everything about volleyball. And she thought, maybe, just for another three years and she will officially stop. But then she met a boy. A boy that killed her many times on the inside.

The first two years she was alright with him. They laugh, they joke, and they bonded together. They even practiced volleyball together. Sometimes hanging out, sometimes just doing homework together. They were inseparable. They both love volleyball to death, maybe that's why they clicked. But when they both moved on to their third year of High School and got together, things changed. Things changed after the boy had come back from a certain match against one of his most hated rival. The girl soon got scared about everything. She became a coward. "

[name] finished her story and looked up to the night sky before her. Full of stars, and the moon was up and shining brightly. She had on a soft smile, and tears were in her eyes. She didn't really thought about telling Kuroo this story, but she felt… Maybe he should know.

"The girl isn't a coward." Kuroo's voice soon disturbed her thoughts. She then turned to look at him, and he had on a serious look. He then pulled her towards him, and wrapped his arms around her, tightening his hold on her.

"She has been strong for too long." He whispered, and [name] could only cry in his arms.

"She just needs people who loves her, who cares for her. She just need someone to lean on when she's too tired of trying. She just needs someone who will bring the best out in her, and not betray her. And I'm sure, she knows that too." Kuroo continued to whisper.

He then pulled back slightly, and grabbed hold of [name]'s chin, tilting it up. He then used both of his hands and cupped her cheeks, wiping away the tears that were rolling down. He closed the gap between them, and kissed her on the lips. [name] tensed up, but soon relax and returned the kiss back to Kuroo. They both then parted, and Kuroo looked at [name] straight in her eyes with a serious, yet loving face.

"I'll be your reason to hold on. Your reason to try everyday. Your reason to live. Your reason to love." Kuroo whispered, and [name] nodded as Kuroo pulled her in for another tight hug.

"And I'll definitely protect you."

A/N: My updates are going to be less frequent as I'm currently busy with my studies. But do let me know if I've taken too long to do an update. I'll try to do an update on every weekend.