Some watched from the stands, and some from the open gym door below. Karasuno was all spread out for the final match of the day. Tsukishima sat with Yamaguchi, Suga, and Kitsuna but put on his headphones and focused forward. Yamaguchi after the first set moved down a row to sit beside Kitsuna.

"Hey."

"Hm?," Kitsuna didn't take her eyes off the match but wasn't ignoring him either. She glanced at him for a split second.

"Ah, Tadashi. We'll talk to him in a bit. I wanna watch this," she pointed forward. Yamaguchi nodded and left her be, but noticed Suga's worried looks in her direction.

"Are you sure you're alright?," he finally asked. Yamaguchi tried to focus ahead, but found himself pulled into the conversation beside him.

"Hm, yeah. Sorry again about your arm," Kitsuna broke her view to smile at her worried upperclassman.

"I guess you really do get stressed like us. Maybe even worse," Yamaguchi added without thinking. Kitsuna sucked in a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

"Normally," she started with a single word to gain her momentum. She was going to follow her senior's advice, in a sense, and try to open up little by little. The other two listened with full attention, exchanging a glance over her head.

"I've known him for a long time. Normally, it was me getting hurt all the time and someone else worrying. Or no one. So I didn't really get it before," she was leaning forward with her chin on her hands, but one arm fell out and she was studying her wrist again. Like she could see straight through the tape to the scars underneath. The pins that held her wrist together inside. That night came back all at once, and some feelings she forgot about. No, she didn't know where even there.

"Hm?"

"I mean. Sure, I had some scary stuff with family members a few times. Car accident, fights, hospitalizations for older members. But I never worried about it too much, or thought about it I guess? But that…was scary. And right after I was such an ass to him, too," she ground her teeth over the last part.

"Oh," Suga said. He was curious about that part about being an ass, but left it alone for now. She had been holding things in for a while. Probably a lot more than over the past few weeks of her isolating herself. So it was obvious she was trying to get it out now, and talk about it. Neither boy wanted to push her too far there, when she finally came out of her little box.

"Phew! I thought you were mad at me for a while there," Suga changed the tone, only slightly, with that remark.

"Me, too. You were staring daggers at me during the match," Yamaguchi added.

"Eh? Did I have a reason to be mad at either of you?," she looked back and forth between the two, searching for an answer that wasn't really there. The match below was on a break, with each set going on pretty long. Kitsuna stood up and stretched, and Tsukishima's foot connected with the back of her seat because she blocked his view. She flipped him off, then tugged at Yamaguchi's sleeve and moved toward the stairs.

"Tadashi, let's go while they're busy," Kitsuna half-dragged him away. Off to meet with the coach after the last match.

"Kitsuna! I know! Stop it," Yamaguchi protested at her dragging him along again. She stopped, looking back at his face. Something she saw there resonated, and she released her hold. She still took the lead, though, and signaled for him to hang back while she went up first.

"Keis-Coach," she narrowly missed his title again, addressing him super casually. He was smoking by the door, a tiny section where that was allowed.

"There you are. Don't usually bother with watching other teams play," he remarked on how long it took her to arrive, but didn't get a response to that. He sighed, fiddling with his hair for a minute before addressing the elephant in the room.

"Listen. We can't afford to make as many mistakes from her on out. I don't like doin' this, especially since this is all the playtime he's getting. But I need you to take over pinch serves. Just until we're in the clear here," Keishin faced her and stared her down. He wasn't sure what to expect, but he was sure there would be some sort of negative reaction.

"No."

He wasn't sure what to expect, and that was the furthest from those nonexistent expectations. She stared him down as well, eyes burning like flames in the evening sunlight. She wasn't backing down, but for what reason?

"Uh, Kitsuna-"

"No. Tadashi will keep going," she said with stronger conviction this time.

"That's kinda fucked up, y'know," Keishin spoke freely. Kitsuna shook her head.

"I like to play, and I hate losing. But I didn't join this club to climb the ranks or with any big goal. I just helped with practices and had some fun. I'm not passionate about it the way the others are," she laid her cards on the table, though there was something off about it. She was definitely passionate about this team, and this sport, but she denied it outright just then.

"I get all that. I do. But are you understanding the situation? Until he gets more experience under his belt and stops freakin' out all the time, we need someone who can handle that pressure."

"N. O. No. I won't do it. He won't get experience if he doesn't play, anyway. Tadashi!," she called out his name, and the soft-spoken boy jumped out from his hiding spot around the corner.

"He won't listen to me. So say your piece."

"Huh?," Keishin wasn't sure what to make of this duo at all.

"Um! I'm sorry. I know I messed up earlier, and I know I backed down. I chickened out at the last second, again. But!," Yamaguchi did his best to stand tall now, with some physical encouragement from Kitsuna.

"Please!," he bowed hard. "Let me play. Give me one more chance!"

Keishin's eyes widened, receiving a second shock in the span of under five minutes. He put his cigarette out, tossing it into the bin. Yamaguchi started losing composure, but Kitsuna pushed him on. Quite literally.

"Fine. Make it count," Keishin conceded this one. There was no way he was going to win against that burning passion two on one. It was also strange to see the fiery teen he had taken in going with a similar approach to a certain benched setter. In her own special way, she was backing down from a fight and giving up the gauntlets to someone else.

"Alright!"

The two jumped into a high ten, beaming at each other. They were dismissed and disappeared down the halls again.