Haikyu!
Higher
Chapter 42: Wings

Days filled with practice and chaos bled into the start of the tournament.

The shouts of Karasuno became incredibly soothing to hear, and the sounds of Aika lecturing the boys reintegrated themselves among the noise. Everything seemed like it was back to normal, even if the team itself had changed in ways that they could never go back to.

"Shoyo, you still need to communicate, you know," she teased the short, orange-haired boy. "You can't communicate through looks with everyone the way you do with Tobio."

He bowed his head, sighing. "Yeah… I know," he muttered.

She reached out to ruffle his hair. "Don't worry. I know you'll be able to do it." He grinned at her encouragement, nodding furiously and rushing back to the court where Kageyama stood, waiting to toss to him again.

Leaning back against the wall, Aika rubbed her leg.

"Is it still hurting?" Sugawara asked as he propped himself next to her, chugging his water bottle and rubbing his face with a towel. "Your leg?"

She shrugged. "Nah. It can get a bit sore when I walk too much, but I'm doing a lot better." She grinned. "Tomorrow's the big day… The first day of the tournament that will determine everything for us."

He nodded. "Yeah. You'll be on the bench, right?"

"Not for the first two games," she admitted.

"Eh? Why not?"

Tucking her hair behind her ear, Aika smiled. "Because I know you guys will be able to win against both teams. I want to do a bit of scouting before anything else. There's some teams I want to look at, so I'm going to watch their first matches, as well."

Sugawara nodded knowingly. "Anyone in particular?" he asked, peering over at her notes.

"Wakutani and Date Tech."

He frowned a little. "I know about Date Tech, but the first one… Wakutani… isn't familiar to me," he murmured, his eyes narrowing at the names she had written in her book.

"That's because they aren't especially impressive." She shrugged. "But that doesn't mean they aren't a tough opponent. I've heard a lot of good things about them, though, especially about their captain. So I wanted to make sure of something before we faced them."

Humming, Sugawara leaned back, looking at the team. "I'm sure Coach Ukai already knows about this?" he asked.

"Of course." She grinned. "So you'd better not lose to anyone else, okay?"

He rolled his eyes, but continued to smile at her.

"How could we lose? That's not an option for us right now."

"Karasuno… fight!"

The loud cheer, courtesy of Sawamura, echoed throughout the gym. Despite the rough start to the day, with all of the nerves circulating the team of boys, there was nothing but adrenaline pumping through their veins.

Ohgiminami was a relatively unknown team, at least according to Aika's notes. She'd included notes on the players and their past tournaments, their placings and their rankings in those tournaments, and their predictable attack patterns that they used in each of the matches she'd seen videos of.

"She did all of this in two days?" Takeda asked, amazed as he looked through the notes the girl had left them before heading over to where Wakutani South was playing. "She must've stayed up for hours…"

Ukai shook his head from his place next to the older man. "She did this while the boys were practicing. She put in just as much work as they did in order to make sure that we were ready for whatever these next two games are going to throw at us," he said with a grin.

"Her advice was super helpful, it seems," Takeda murmured happily, looking at the scoreboard that read in Karasuno's favor.

Wincing, Ukai focused on the paper right next to him. "Well…" He forced himself to trail off, looking at words at the top of the paper.

Ohgiminami has never gotten past the second round of a tournament.
It seems like some of their players have given up after that.
Please show them what it's like to play a game with passion.

He smiled a small smile, knowing that Aika was looking after as many people as possible, wanting them to feel the same adrenaline and love that she felt when playing the game.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sure it'll help everyone."

Aika looked at the program in her hands, pulling the hat she'd chosen to wear as a disguise down a little. She bit her lip, searching for Date Tech, another of the schools that she wanted to look at, considering the last time they'd played against them.

There's only two matches I want to see, especially considering that these games are just the preliminaries… Shame that Johzenji are top four. I should watch their match again tonight, just to make sure we know what we're up against. While I'm at it, I also wanted to see Aoba Josai. I'm sure they've gotten stronger, too. Maybe some research into Shiratorizawa, as well…

As she walked, she accidentally bumped into a taller figure running at full speed, the strong form sending her tumbling to the floor.

"Ow…" she mumbled, pushing herself up.

"Shit, sorry." The person she'd bumped into knelt down. "Didn't see you there. I was trying to get to the gym as fast as possible, I didn't mean to bump into you… Yamada?" The voice was familiar, and Aika looked up to see the wide eyes of Iwaizumi, Aoba Josai's ace.

She smiled at him, genuinely happy to see the third-year again. "Hey, nice to see you, Iwaizumi. You stayed on your team, too?" she asked, gathering her notebook and program.

"Yeah. It's nice to see you too." He grabbed her pencil from the ground and stood, offering her his hand. "I heard you were in Tokyo, getting help for your leg." His eyes were then drawn to the cane on the ground, and he winced. "Sorry, did I hurt you?" he apologized again.

Aika shook her head, gratefully taking his hand and allowing him to pull her up. "No, no, I'm fine. This is mostly to make sure I don't wear myself out." She waved him off, bending down to pick up the cane she used to stabilize herself.

He nodded at her, handing her back her pencil as soon as she steadied herself. "That's good to hear. How's Karasuno doing?" he asked curiously.

Grinning at him playfully, she shrugged. "They're doing pretty good, all things considered. Ah, but don't think you can get anything out of me! You're still our biggest rival!" He sputtered in response, eliciting laughter from her. "No, I'm kidding. But I don't think I can tell you much, considering I want to keep some things a surprise for your team."

"Understandable." He nodded in understanding, smiling lightly. "Where are you headed?" he asked, gesturing to her program.

She flipped open the brochure, scanning the matches of the day. "I just watched Wakutani's match, which they won by a landslide." She rolled her eyes. "Go figure. But I think Date Tech already played for the day, so they're not playing for a little while longer," she pointed at the schedule, where Date Tech was listed for a match later that afternoon.

Iwaizumi leaned in to look with her. "Oh, the Iron Wall, right? I've heard they got a new setter, since the former retired. Some first-year who's some stupid amount of tall. I think we'll be going up against them at some point if they get to the second round," he droned, remembering the name as one of a talented team.

"I'm sure they'll give you a tough time," she joked. "That Iron Wall sure is big. I'm sure I wouldn't be able to get over it." She shuddered, remembering Aone, who was so tall that she felt as if she was only half his height.

Next to her, the Aoba Josai ace shook his head, laughing. "I've seen them. They sure are giant. Shame we don't have anyone like that on our team." He suddenly seemed to remember something, and made a disgruntled sound.

She quirked an eyebrow. "What's that about?"

"Just… just a problem child," he admitted. "A second-year. Real tough guy, but kind of an idiot. I just… don't know what to do with him. He calms down if I remind him where he is, but it's like we can't rely on him to not do something to make us regret putting him on the court."

"Sounds like he needs to learn for himself, then." Aika frowned up at him. "I think you shouldn't have to control him or his behavior. You're not his parent, and you're not responsible for him. If he chooses not to listen to you, that's not your problem. Honestly, he'll learn that he can't act that way if he wants to play volleyball." Her eyes pinned him to the floor, along with her next question. "Is having him out there worth it to you?"

Slowly, Iwaizumi nodded.

Kyotani was volatile, but he was a naturally gifted, talented player with the strength and stamina of someone who'd played for years. He was brilliant in ways that the rest of the team could never be, but he was too much of a wildcard to be controlled and reliable. However, when their backs were against the wall, Iwaizumi was sure that the pros of having the second-year on the court would outweigh the cons.

"I think so."

She smiled up at him.

"Then I think it's worth the risk."

He went silent for a moment, and then nodded. "I'll take that to heart then," he replied.

Aika grinned, flipping through the program again. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" she asked, running her finger down the match list.

"Go for it."

She sighed, brushing her hair out of her face. Refusing to look at Iwaizumi, she let her finger rest on the characters that read "Karasuno." "What happened back in middle school? Between Oikawa and Tobio?" She then looked up at him, and he could see concern in her eyes.

He heaved his own sigh. His wasn't filled with reluctance, but instead with sadness. Reaching up and ruffling his hair, he smiled a bittersweet smile.

"So, you guys are that close now."

A blush came over her face as she remembered that not everyone was used to her calling Kageyama by his first name. She coughed, trying to ignore the redness on her face as she looked away from the third-year.

After laughing lightly at her, the smile fell off his face.

"It's… a long story. Do you have time?"

Wakutani South High School

Players of note:
Takeru Nakajima (#1), captain and wing spiker
Seems to take after the Small Giant. Height clocks in at around 170 cm.
Extremely good at evading blocks (ricochet).

Shunki Kawatabi (#2), vice captain and wing spiker
The only other individually impressive player. Extremely powerful.
However, runs on emotions and can be taken advantage of.

Other than that, the only note is that scoring on them is very hard.
Each player is talented at receiving and blocking.
Any and all weaknesses should be exposed and used against them.
This game will not be easy to win.
Patience will be what earns us the win.

Date Tech High School

Players of note:
Takanobu Aone (#1), vice captain and middle blocker
Kenji Futakuchi (#2), captain and wing spiker
See: Date Tech High School (Interhigh Records)
Help make up the Iron Wall, the perfect defense.

Kanji Koganegawa (#7), setter
First-year and part of the Iron Wall.
Inexperienced, but passionate.
A weak point in Date Tech's defenses.

Power may be less than it was, but they are still strong.
Do not underestimate the new Iron Wall.
Any fight against them will be hard fought.

Aika frowned as she returned from Date Tech's game, two new pages of notes in hand and new knowledge of the tension between Oikawa and Kageyama, spanning from years back. She held onto her notebook, hoping that whatever she got from the day would make a difference.

Tobio… he deserves to go against Oikawa and have a win. He deserves good things to happen to him for once in his life.

She nearly started tearing up from just thinking about how hard middle school must have been for him.

His first year, he was compared to Oikawa, who he'd just wanted to learn from, who he'd admired. His second year, he began his long, hard career as the starting setter for Kitagawa Daiichi, and had become the "King of the Court" to his teammates. His third year, that title was solidified, and in the last tournament of his middle school career, his team turned his back on him and refused to work with him.

Sliding the gym doors open, hoping no one would mind that she was sliding into her spot at Ukai's side a little late.

"One more!"

She heard the familiar, loud voice of her only ally and friend from middle school, screaming as his voice filled with all the love he had for the sport he'd dedicated his life to. The sound of sneakers against the court was like music to her. She heard the yells of her team, the one she knew would never let each other down.

A smile came over her face as she watched her team fight against Kakugawa.

She watched as Kageyama, his eyes clearer and brighter than she'd ever seen them, held his hands out in preparation to toss for his spikers. She watched as Hinata leapt, even before the ball had landed in Kageyama's outstretched hands.

It was such a perfect picture.

Ohgiminami wasn't a bad team. Kakugawa wasn't a bad team, either.

But all the practice Karasuno had put in really made all the difference. Their confidence in their own ability to take on anything that the world threw their way had expanded greatly, completely destroying any uncertainty they had in their abilities.

The players of Ohgiminami walked away from their game with a newfound respect for the sport, and a renewed determination to try even harder to go even further the next year. There was no bitterness and no sadness. There was only gratitude to their former captain, who'd reminded them that trying hard was never a bad thing, and to the team that had shown them that any shortcomings could be challenged, overtaken, if they worked hard enough.

Each of them set a new goal for the new season:

To be better than they were before.

As for the players on Kakugawa, each of them were reminded that having advantages wasn't an assured win. They remembered what it was like to really have to fight for each and every point, rather than relying on what felt like an insurmountable height. Humbling was the only word any of them had for it.

And they were reminded that even the smallest difference could make or break a match.

"Shoyo! Tobio!" Aika rushed forwards, leaping into Hinata's arms as he opened them for a hug. He grabbed onto her, just managing to keep them both upright. "You did so good!"

Hinata beamed, his smile as bright as sunshine. "You saw my last point, right?! I did it! I scored!" he cheered, pulling away from her, his eyes sparkling.

She nodded. Her eyes mirrored his, with all the excitement in her eyes. "I did! I'm so proud of you, Shoyo." She turned to Kageyama, that same happiness that he felt reflecting back at him. "And you, Tobio… your tosses are so cool."

Under her gaze, he couldn't help but blush. "T-thanks," he mumbled, too shy to say anything else.

"Hey, hey, Aika! Let's get ice cream on our way home!" Hinata tugged on her arm, pulling her away from Kageyama, towards the bus that would take them back to Karasuno. She followed him, a smile on her face. "Can I stay over at yours tonight? We should watch the games, and I'll show you where everything went like whaam and baam!" he announced.

Kageyama simply watched her walk away, her arm tucked in Hinata's. His eyes were trained on her form, light and happy as she walked alongside her best friend.

"Kageyama? Everything okay?" Sugawara asked, appearing next to his fellow setter.

He nodded, his eyes transfixed on her smile as she chatted with Hinata, lightly arguing over what ice cream store they were going to go to.

"I'm going to tell her how I feel after we beat Aoba Josai."

The words fell out of his mouth before he even knew what he was saying. He didn't notice the way Sugawara grinned proudly at him, finally hearing Kageyama so determined.

About time.