"Does that make sense?"

"Yeah. I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"Good!" Yamaguchi circles page numbers at the bottom of the modern literature workbook. "Let's see if you can do these next two passages by yourself."

Armed with a pencil, Kageyama accepts the challenge. "Got it!"

Beside them, Yachi and Hinata refer to a different workbook. "Hinata, want to try translating these next few sentences back into Japanese?"

The orange-haired boy gives a sharp, determined nod of his head. He and Kageyama had managed to pass most of their exams, but they had each failed one. As a consequence, they will be missing the overnight drive ride that the team will be taking to Tokyo. If they pass their make-up tests on Saturday morning, the pair will convene with them later in the day.

Yachi knows that studying is one of her strengths. She isn't going to let the two of them fail again, especially when they only have one subject to focus on.

While Kageyama and Hinata sit and quietly work on their respective assignments, the more sheepish of the group are left to their own devices.

"Thanks for helping me tutor them, Yamaguchi-kun." Yachi rearranges the scattered papers within her reach. "Not that I mind helping them both! It just helps cover more material faster, and I want them to be extra prepared for the make-ups."

Yamaguchi swats the air in front of him. "It's no problem. I'm happy to help however I can, and I want them to be ready too. I'd feel weird going to the practice camp without them." He clicks his mechanical pencil twice. "Would you like to continue your own studies while we wait?"

"Yes, please!" Yachi pulls out a composition book from her bag and turns to the latest page of notes. There are a variety of volleyball sketches, from plays to hand signals and rules.

"Okay, where did you and Shimizu-senpai leave off?"

"The different types of serves."

Kageyama and Hinata twitch, their attention grabbed by a trigger word. Yamaguchi and Yachi already know better, though. They usually try their best to not use any distracting volleyball words out loud.

"Right, let's see… Ah!" Yamaguchi pokes at a rough sketch that Yachi has drawn - pencil-shaded Kageyama frozen mid-leap, one arm stretched behind him. "He's the only one on our team who can most effectively and consistently use this." He subtly points his chin in Kageyama's direction. "It's a more advanced method compared to the others, and it takes a lot of practice to make it usable during actual matches." Yamaguchi lightly scrawls "jump serve" in the corner of the page.

Yachi neatly copies the phrase beneath the sketch, then erases Yamaguchi's writing in the corner. "I see. That's incredible."

"Strong too. What's next?"

Yachi takes Yamaguchi through a few more different sketches. Doodles of Tsukishima and Hinata make appearances. The real Hinata briefly interrupts to flaunt his English proficiency, only to be crushed with the news that all of his answers are incorrect. Kindly, Yachi recommends that he try again, but approach the prompts slower.

When Yachi turns the page of her own notebook, Yamaguchi sees a rough sketch of himself mid-serve.

"Oh! Thank goodness, I've been meaning to ask you about this one." Yachi taps her pencil on Doodle-guchi's torso. "I was kind of confused by it, but you've mentioned it to me once before. I know it's special when you're on the court and you can see it properly. I can't really tell what's special about it from where I'm sitting on the sidelines. Can you please explain it some more?"

For a few beats, Yamaguchi stares at the sketch of himself. "This is what it's called." He writes "jump float serve" in the corner, stacked onto the ghosts of the other serve types. "The goal is to stop the rotation, while also utilizing the power that comes from this." He taps the word "jump." "That allows it to drop in random directions on the other side, making things more difficult for our opponents."

"I see! That makes it harder for them to recei-" Biting her tongue, Yachi suddenly remembers to refrain from using words tied strongly to volleyball. "Harder for them to get it, and it gives us a better chance to go on the offensive, right?"

"That's right."

"And since it's special, would you call it advanced too?"

Yamaguchi knows it's more than that. It's arduous. His chances of landing his jump floaters are based on luck rather than skill. Because of it, frustration constantly clouds his mind. Yachi has already shown him hard proof that he's getting better and better at it everyday, yet it feels like he isn't. Why does it still seem like every step he takes forward, the other freshmen on the team take three more? Will he ever catch up to any of them?

"Um, Yamaguchi-kun?"

"Oh - uh, sorry Yachi-san. Yeah, it's kind of advanced." He rubs his elbows, shrinking away. "I'm still not accurate, and my success rate is always a coin flip. I'm still not anywhere near the same skill level as everyone else, and I-"

"Cool!"

"Huh?"

"I had no idea it was an advanced move." The blonde's enthusiasm bubbles over. "You were working on such a difficult thing, this entire time?" Her eyes light up. "That's so cool! Once you work it out, you could have a serve as powerful as Kageyama-kun's!"

"HUH!?"

Caught up in her own excitement, Yachi's controversial opinion snatches the little attention span that Kageyama and Hinata have. It takes a lot of debating (about who has the strongest serve) and explaining (about how it was just a comment on potential strength), but the dust eventually settles. Too soon, the clock chimes. Empty lunch containers and notebooks are hastily packed away. The three boys gather their belongings and head back to class, waving goodbye and thanking Yachi as they part to their respective homerooms.

Halfway to classroom 1-4, Yamaguchi grips his bento box tightly, newfound resolve burning in his belly.

"'As powerful as Kageyama,' huh?"