A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to another chapter! Enjoy!

edited on july 12th, 2021 @ 6:25am

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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX - CENTER ACE

IT WAS THE FIRST DAY of the Tokyo away games. Atsushi was packing what he needed for the trip in a purple and gray duffel bag.

"I'm leaving, Nii-san!" Atsushi called out to his older brother, telling him that he was leaving so he could meet up with his team. He could hear Wakatoshi shouting out a goodbye from where he was in his room.

It was a long drive from Miyagi to Tokyo, but the Karasuno volleyball team eventually made it. Excluding Hinata and Kageyama since the duo had to stay back to do their supplementary exams. Atsushi felt bad about leaving them behind, but it couldn't be helped.

When Atsushi exited the bus with everyone else, Nishinoya and Tanaka quickly looked up to see a transmission tower, to which they mistook it for something else entirely different.

"Is that..."

"Could that be..."

"The Skytree?"

Atsushi snorted at the two second-years, since it was clearly not the Skytree. "No, that's just a transmission tower." Kai Nobuyuki, Nekoma's vice captain, had corrected with a sheepish but amused look.

Kuroo, who was beside his teammate, had turned away and hunched over a bit, while grabbing his stomach and letting out a hyena-like laugh.

"Here we are, Tokyo!" Nishinoya and Tanaka shouted. Atsushi could feel a headache coming on. "Could you two be any louder?" Atsushi mumbled.

"The scenery's different from Miyagi." Atsushi hear Asahi comment, as he looked around with Sugawara at his side.

"Well, we're in the suburbs." Sugawara informed with a smile, as Atsushi noticed behind the two third-years to see Nishinoya was pushing Tsukishima around with Yamaguchi tiredly following.

"Walk faster!" Nishinoya ordered as Tsukishima had a look of annoyance.

Atsushi blinked at the two, before sighing in disappointment. "Hey, Darlin'." A familiar voice spoke, making the brunette cringe and look to his side to see Kuroo hovering over me.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that?" Atsushi questioned, deadpanning at the Nekoma captain who chuckled.

"But it fits you." He teased, wrapping his arm around his shoulder and pulling him close to his chest.

"Let go of me." Atsushi hissed, not liking the older male invading his personal space.

"Hmm... no. Why should I?" He said, gripping him tighter making Atsushi groan. "Say, will you join my school yet? I want you with Nekoma. Don't you think being a cat suits your personality more than a crow?"

"I already told you I'm staying with Karasuno." 

"You could always change your mind, though."

"If my older brother couldn't get me to go to Shiratorizawa, what makes you think I'll join Nekoma so easily?"

"Screw you, Tobio. Why did you have to fail?" Atsushi scolded his boyfriend in his head.

Daichi came to Atsushi's rescue as he got in between him and Kuroo, which the gray haired male was thankful for. Kuroo and Daichi had a mini stare down before Kuroo realizes something as he leaned closer to Daichi.

"Hey, come to think of it... Aren't you missing some people?" Kuroo questioned, noticing that Hinata nor Kageyama were around. Daichi and Atsushi shared a look.

"Actually..."

The team was in the clubroom, showing their exam results. Atsushi got a 85-mark score, so he passed, as Nishinoya, Tanaka, Hinata, and Kageyama were showing them their exam results. Atsushi stood by Tsukishima as both of them stared at the papers, Atsushi dead panned at the sheets, to see that Hinata had 21 points with Kageyama getting a 38.

"I shouldn't even be surprised at this point." Atsushi thought, sweat dropping at the marks his boyfriend and Hinata got.

Nishinoya and Tanaka then smirked in accomplishment. "This is how awesome..." Nishinoya began.

"...your upperclassmen are!" Tanaka finished as the duo posed with their marks, since they got a passing result.

Sugawara and Atsushi dead panned at the two. "You both got over 40 points." Sugawara stated as Seiya nodded in agreement, as the two stiffen and robotically walk away. Hinata and Kageyama were both looking down as Tsukishima was looking at the sheets.

"What? Hinata, you failed English?" Sugawara announced, peering over as Atsushi did the same.

"But you were so confident..." Atsushi added with an audible sigh. Sad to see that the little tutoring he did didn't help.

"Apparently, he figured out right before time was up that all answers he filled in were off by one." Tsukishima stated, glancing at Atsushi and Sugawara.

"Seriously? Sadly, the English teacher, Ono-sensei, won't let things like that slide." Asahi spoke up, frowning in sympathy as Yamaguchi looked over at them.

"Yachi was really shocked by it, too." He added, and Atsushi could almost imagine how Yachi reacted.

"As for Kageyama, his issue was Modern Japanese." Daichi spoke up, reading through Kageyama's papers. Ennoshita who was beside Daichi turned to him.

"Apparently, there was a lot of reading comprehension questions this time. He was concentrating on all the memorization of short answers, so..." He said.

Asahi soon walked over, and widened his eyes. "Oh, the kanji portion of the exam is perfect! Amazing!" Asahi gasped at this. Atsushi sighed and looked at the duo who continued to sulk. He then nudged Sugawara who jumped a little but nodded as he knew what the first-year was trying to ask him.

"Well, don't be too discouraged. This won't be the only time we have away games—" He began, but he was interrupted when the two had a fiery aura around them.

"How are we gonna get to Tokyo? Should we run?"

"Nah, we need bikes."

Atsushi jumped back along with Sugawara. "They're totally planning on going!" Atsushi thought with a slight panic. He then watched as Tanaka went over to the duo.

"Hey, you two." Tanaka spoke as everyone turned to him, but he was addressing Hinata and Kageyama as they blink up at him. Tanaka gave them smirks.

"You guys only failed one test, right? Then you should be able to finish your supplementary exam in the morning. After that, I'll call your savior." Tanaka announced as he gave the two a determined look. The two stared at him in confusion, but had appreciation.

"However, your safety and comfort during the ride will absolutely cannot be guaranteed. Thank you for understanding." Tanaka bowed, apologising in advance which made Atsushi sweat drop.

Atsushi walked towards the building with Kuroo and Daichi on either side of him. Yachi and Kiyoko were ahead of them. "So, the power duo's taking some supplementary exams right now?" Kuroo grins as Daichi and Atsushi stare sheepishly.

"Yeah, but well..." Daichi spoke up, but he was cut off when a loud cry was heard, and Atsushi flinched back, accidently bumping into someone's chest. He jumped back into someone's chest when he heard a loud wail.

Atsushi looked forward to see the Yamamoto guy on the ground staring at himself, Kiyoko, and Yachi. "G...G... Girls! There are two of them now! Not to mention they have the hot guy with them too! Now they've got a pretty one, a cute one and a smoking hot one!" Yamamoto cried out, making Atsushi raise an eyebrow in confusion as what he was rambling about.

Atsushi noticed that Kiyoko stood protectively in front of Yachi as he stayed back with Daichi and Kuroo.

Tanaka walks by with a grin. "Do you see, Tora?" Tanaka spoke as he stood in front of Kiyoko and Yachi looking like a buddha. "This is what Karasuno's true ability looks like." He announced, making Yamamoto look away.

"So bright!" The mohawk guy cringes from the light. Tanaka just laughed.

"Let's go." Kiyoko told Yachi who nodded sheepishly.

"O-Okay." Yachi stuttered, walking away with Kiyoko.

Atsushi didn't even realize he was close to someone's chest until they wrapped their arms around his body and pulled him closer, making him blink as he looked up to see Kuroo smirking down at him.

"I knew you couldn't stay away from me." He teased, gripping Atsushi tightly.

"Kuroo, let go." Atsushi mumbled but he shakes his head.

"Nah, this is much more enjoyable for me." Kuroo stated as Atsushi sighed in annoyance.

He did the one thing he could think of and elbowed Kuroo in the stomach, making the older male release him and stumble back.

Atsushi smirked and walked away.

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Karasuno had gone to get their gym uniforms which was their white shirts with their uniform shorts that they wore for official games. When they got to the gym, Atsushi's olive green orbs scanned every team that was there.

"Let's play!"

Atsushi looked around to see what kinds of teams where present.

Ubugawa High Volleyball Club.

Shinzen Volleyball Club.

Fukurōdani Academy.

"And then there's also Nekoma and Karasuno. Sheesh, Karasuno are like crows rising from the ashes compared to these teams." Atsushi noted, feeling a little nervous.

"Once we're done with our warm-ups, we'll regroup, and the teams will play each other in rotation." Kuroo spoke up, making Atsushi glance up at him.

"Right!" Daichi responded, as Kuroo did his famous smirk.

"After each set, the losing team has a penalty of one lap around the court, flying." Kuroo informed as Atsushi just sighed.

"Hey, was that guy with Nekoma the last time we had a practice match with them?" Sugawara spoke up, gaining Atsushi's attention, as he glanced at him and Asahi.

Atsushi widened his eyes to see a tall and lean guy looking at them, with an intense stare, as if he was watching them like a cat.

"The one who's staring hard at us?" Asahi jumped back, also noticing the gaze of the young male.

"Yeah." Sugawara responded.

"No, I don't think so." Asahi mumbled, as the unknown male continued to stare at them.

Atsushi looked at his appearance. He had neatly parted light grey hair and catlike slanted green eyes framed with thin eyebrows. He was very tall, with exceptionally long arms and legs.

The male must've sensed Atsushi watching him as he turned and meets his gaze. Atsushi flinched and quickly looked away. "Yeah, I'm not gonna get involved in that." He thought, walking away.

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Karasuno was currently playing against Fukurōdani, which was a powerhouse school from what Atsushi had read online. Sugawara was being the setter since Hinata and Kageyama couldn't do their famous quick attacks.

Atsushi glanced at the score and sighed at it.

Karasuno

16

Fukurōdani

24

"It's not like we're doing horrible... It's just that this school is tough to beat. As expected from a powerhouse." Atsushi thinks to himself.

"Number 7!"

"One blocker!"

The ball gets to their side as Nishinoya successfully crouched down to receive it. "Nishinoya, nice receive!" Sugawara praised as Atsushi kept his eyes on the ball, ready to charge forward.

"Left! Go left!" Fukurōdani's captain ordered. Atsushi narrowed his eyes and glanced at him. If he remembered correctly, his name was Bokuto.

"Atsushi!" Sugawara called out to the first-year, making him blink to see that he was setting to him. Atsushi nodded and charged forward, keeping his eyes on the ball. He jumped and slammed down the ball once it was in front of him, however, he was blocked by three people, making him growl as the volleyball bounced back to Karasuno's side and gaining Fukurōdani won the game.

"Damn it." Atsushi growled lowly, unaware that a pair of eyes from Fukurōdani were watching him with curiosity.

TWEEEET!

The match ended with Fukurōdani taking the win, which shouldn't have been surprising. "One flying lap!" Daichi announced as he dived down for his penalty.

"Right!" Everyone called out as they individually do their flying laps.

Once they were done, Atsushi's ears caught the sounds of yells from another team, which made him glance over to see Ubugawa High School going against Shinzen. Atsushi observed the teams.

"Serving is their ultimate offense." Atsushi noted, looking at Ubugawa before his eyes moved over to Shinzen. Who saves a ball and they all do a synchronize attack, Atsushi watched as Shinzen's captain jumped up from the back and got a point.

"I shouldn't be surprised, Shinzen High School is known for their team combinations." Atsushi thought with interest, hearing more sounds of the volleyball being slammed. Atsushi looked over to see Nekoma versing Fukurōdani.

"Nekoma is known for their perfect receiving... If only Hinata could be like that at times." Atsushi thought with an amused look.

"Akaashi!"

"Bokuto-san!"

Atsushi's ears heard the sound of two people from Fukurōdani, the captain and the setter. The male, known as Akaashi calls out to the captain as he sends the ball to him. "Bokuto from what I could see is like Toshi-nii... one of the top five aces in the nation." Atsushi noted as Bokuto jumped up and slammed the ball down powerfully.

Atsushi noticed that the ball was about to hit Tsukishima. "Tsukki!" Yamaguchi called out as the tall blonde, widened his eyes at the incoming ball. Atsushi widened his eyes as the ball bounces off his arm and headed towards him.

"Atsushi!"

"Move out of the way!"

"Dodge!"

Atsushi blocked out the warnings from his teammates as his eyes settled on the ball coming towards him.

People who watched Atsushi tensed up when they saw the first-year's eyes darken. Before anyone could reach him or call out, they were surprised to see Atsushi crouch down in a perfect form to receive the ball, as the volleyball makes contact with his arms and rolled onto the floor.

"That... was a perfect save!" Some people thought.

"Such concentration!"

Everyone stared at the brunette with their mouths opened, even the people who were always loud were quiet. Atsushi blinked, making the dark look he had in his eyes disappear as he looked around.

"What the hell are you staring at me for?"

"Nothing."

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Karasuno had just finished another game with Ubugawa, except they lost with 20 points. Atsushi was tired and felt like his legs were about to give out at any moment. "Man, I knew this was going to be tough, but not this tough." Atsushi thought, trying to catch his breath.

"Everything will be worth it in the end though. I have to become strong enough to beat Toshi-nii. That's the only way I'll come out of his shadow."

"All right! Flying, one lap!"

"Right!"

Atsushi did his fair share of flying laps. Once everyone was done with their laps, Atsushi used the time that they had to rest his legs by sitting on the floor with his back leaning on the wall. Yachi came over to him and gave him a towel and water bottle.

"Thanks." Atsushi thanked her as she nodded shyly before returning to Kiyoko.

The guys from all the teams who weren't doing anything at the moment watched as Atsushi squirted the water in his mouth to cool down. They all gulped as their faces were red. Atsushi, feeling stares on him, stopping what he was doing and looked up, but as he did so, everyone looked away, pretending they weren't staring at the attractive first-year.

"Hey, they're still at it. We totally made it. Not bad at all." A female voice announced, making everyone who heard looked over to the gym doors.

They saw a female slightly under-average in height, and had short, honey-blonde hair and four earrings on her ear. Her eyes were slightly slanted. She wore a green top that exposed her midriff and cleavage. She also wore two arm bracelets with metal spikes around it.

"Nee-san!" Nishinoya announced.

"That's Noya-san's sister?" Atsushi thought, blinking in confusion.

"Wait, that's your sister?" Asahi asked, also confused and shocked by this new information. Nishinoya however just looked down at Asahi who was busy tying his shoes.

"No, she's Ryu's sister." Nishinoya stated with his usual smile.

"Now that you mentioned it, they do look alike." Sugawara commented as everyone turned back to the female, but of course, Atsushi smirked tiredly when he saw Hinata and Kageyama.

"So, the stars are showing up fashionably late? Pisses me off!" Kuroo commented as he looked over towards the door, Kenma following his gaze as well.

Kageyama and Hinata panted but they were just glad they made it in time for another game.

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Atsushi kept his eyes on the ball in the air as Hinata and Kageyama weren't holding back, making him wonder if they've been itching to play all day. Kageyama took the place in the match as setter with Sugawara being swapped out.

Atsushi watched as the ball went to Kageyama in which him and Hinata do their famous quick attack, gaining Karasuno a point. "All right!" They all cheered. Atsushi saw some teams who were watching the match stare at Kageyama and Hinata in shock.

"We're stopping the next one!"

"Right!"

"We've heard that one before." Atsushi thought in amusement, it was amusing for him to hear Shinzen sound so confident with them winning. He looked back to see that Kageyama was serving.

"Nice serve!" Atsushi called out as Kageyama gave a nod in appreciation. He did his usual jump serve, the ball however gets saved as it went up in the air.

The volleyball continues to go back and forth from each team, as Hinata and Daichi get ready to block an incoming spike. The two jumped up when the spiker from Shinzen jumped up, Hinata managed to get a one touch on the ball. The second he lands his feet he races off to the other side of the net.

"Eikichi, stop their number 10!" Shinzen's captain exclaimed.

But of course, it failed as Hinata and Kageyama did their quick attack and Karasuno once again got a point. "Having Hinata and Tobio back sure makes a difference." Atsushi thinks to himself, panting in exhaustion.

TWEEEET!

It was the first time Karasuno had won against another school. Hinata and Kageyama were panting, as Atsushi watched Tanaka come up behind them with a slightly dark look.

"Don't be showing off, flunking tardy boys." He scolded at the two tensed at them.

Atsushi sighed and walked off the court, grabbing his water and towel to cool down. He gulped down his water and wrapped the towel around his neck.

"I'm starving!" Nishinoya complained. Atsushi closed his eyes. "You didn't have to yell, Noya-san." He thought, sighing at his senior.

"Looks like it's Ubugawa versus Nekoma over there." Atsushi heard Tanaka spoke, which caught his interest and he glanced over at the match between Nekoma and Ubugawa. They both were doing well, as Atsushi looked away to glance at the clock on the wall.

"Considering how late it's getting, this might be the last game for today." Atsushi informed, making Nishinoya look at him with a small smile.

"Yeah..." He grinned. Atsushi blinked and looked over to his orange haired teammate who was quiet, he seemed to be deep in thought, so Atsushi didn't bother disrupting him.

"Yaku, nice receive!"

Atsushi looked over at the match and saw that Inuoka was on the sides and not playing. "Huh? Inuoka's on the sideline?" Atsushi heard Hinata question in confusion.

"One block!"

"Go, Lev!"

"Lev? Who the hell is Lev—" Atsushi thought, before his eyes wandered over to the new male on Nekoma's team and his eyes widened in shock when he jumped and saw his arm swing back like a whip as he slammed down the volleyball and got Nekoma a point.

"All right!" Nekoma cheered as Atsushi blinked. "Geez... and I thought my spikes were insane." Atsushi thinks to himself.

"Wow..." Asahi gasped at the male.

"That Number 11... At first glance, it's hard to tell because he's slouching, but he's pretty big. He might be over 6' 3." Sugawara spoke looking at the tall male in front of them.

"His arms and legs are so long."

Atsushi narrowed his eyes "Who the hell is he?" He asked to no one in particular. No one replied as they all stared at the tall guy.

The game ended with Nekoma winning and Ubugawa losing at 20 points.

Once all of the games were done for that day, they lined up to bow at everyone.

"Thank you for the good games!"

"Thank you for the good games!"

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Hinata had dragged Atsushi to meet with Kenma and Inuoka. Atsushi at first didn't want to meet anyone, since he hated socializing. But he somehow managed to drag him and Atsushi felt a little weird to be with two guys he hardly knew.

Inuoka was the first to welcome him and introduce himself, even though Atsushi already knew who he was, Kenma was similar to him, hated social interaction but he still welcomed him.

Kenma was playing on his PSP while Atsushi just sat down next to him. "Shoyo, your fast attacks were amazing as always!" Inuoka announced.

"But nothing has changed from before."

Atsushi glanced at Hinata who had a frown on his face, which made him question what he was thinking. He then jumped back when Hinata let out a gasp as if he remembered something.

"Hey, who the heck was that middle blocker of Nekoma's?" Hinata asked.

"Oh... that's the first-year, Haiba Lev. He's half Russian and half Japanese." Kenma replied bluntly, making Hinata beam in excitement. "H-Half? So cool!" He exclaimed.

"Well, that explains his long and tall figure." Atsushi thought.

"L-L..." Hinata said, trying to sound out his name but was having trouble.

"Lev... what does it mean in Russian again? Tiger?" Kenma responded before he glanced at Inuoka for an answer.

"Doesn't Lev mean lion?" Atsushi asked, as he recalled reading it from somewhere. Inuoka nodded at him.

"Yeah! Lion." He agreed.

"He wasn't there last time, right?" Hinata asked, looking at Kenma.

"Yeah, Lev started volleyball in high school. When we went to Karasuno around Golden Week, he still hadn't played very much, and only the regular members went." Kenma explained, his eyes not leaving from his game.

Atsushi blinked at him. "He just started, and he can play like that?" He questioned in surprise as Kenma nodded.

"Yeah, and when we were paired together, it was really difficult. No matter how hard I tried, our timing was off. I'm used to it now, though." Kenma spoke.

"I see..." Hinata mumbled as Inuoka chuckled in amusement. "Kenma couldn't stop sighing." He said which made Hinata chuckle.

"I guess there are times when even you can't read people, Kenma." Hinata teased as Atsushi noticed Kenma furrowed his brows.

"Lev is just too special. Right now, he's going at it mostly with innate physical potential and senses, and his height." Kenma stated as Atsushi hummed in thought.

"But you have to admit, his height does come to an advantage." Atsushi said which made Hinata nod.

"Yeah, his height totally isn't fair! I want some of that!"

"He's been blessed with too much! But I'm not gonna lose!"

Atsushi just sighed at the two. "They're too much alike." He thought.

"Well, he's a powerful asset, honest, and not a bad guy. Though he's too honest at times." Kenma responded as they listened to him. "Oh, but his passes and other basics are pretty bad. He's worse than you, Shoyo. His serves are crappier than yours too, Shoyo."

Atsushi was taken aback by his bluntness as he then snickered and held back his laughs.

"Am I your standard of crappy, Kenma?"

"But you are crappy."

"No! Kenma look what you did, now Atsushi is insulting me!"

"He's just stating the truth."

Once they had all calmed down, Atsushi checked the time on his phone. "Ah, c'mon Hinata, we should head back or else Daichi-san will have our heads. Or Suga-san... Wait, definitely Daichi-san." He spoke. Hinata nodded as both Atsushi and Hinata bid their farewells to Kenma and Inuoka. They also passed three more players, who they respectfully said goodbye too.

As they were walking, Hinata started to speak. "Haiba? Lev Haiba, huh? A European name is so awesome." He stated.

"It's not really that big of a deal. It's common for teams to have foreign players. Well, I guess he really wouldn't be foreign, since he's half Japanese as well." Atsushi said. Hinata chuckled at him before pulling him to a stop.

"What is it?" Atsushi questioned, confused on why they stopped walking.

"Oh, can we go to the bathroom first?" Hinata begged.

Atsushi sighed but nodded. "Sure. But be quick, will you?" He replied as Hinata nodded and the two got to the bathroom.

Hinata opened the door only for him to jump back and almost knocked Atsushi down when they saw none other than Lev at the door, Hinata started to panic as he hides behind the brunette, he always hides behind the nearest person when he sees a tall player.

Atsushi dead panned at his teammate's actions. "You're not afraid of my Nii-san but you cower behind me the minute you face a player taller than him? Ridiculous." He muttered as Hinata continued to freak out behind him.

"Karasuno's Number 10... and Number 13." Lev spoke, gaining Atsushi's attention as he stared at him. Hinata jumped at something.

"Japanese?" He announced in confusion, as he must've expected Lev to speak in Russian.

"Did he forget he's half Japanese?" Atsushi thinks to himself, sweat dropping at the orange haired first-year.

"Oh, sorry, I can't speak Russian. I was born and raised in Japan." Lev informed as Hinata finally gained some confidence as he lets go of Atsushi.

"I see!" He responded as he then started to interrogate the tall male. "Hey, how tall are you? I'm Hinata Shoyo, a first-year." He added before glancing at the brunette and nudging him, making Atsushi groan.

"Ushijima Atsushi, first-year. But just call me Atsushi."

"It was 6' 4" the last time I checked. I'm Haiba Lev, a first-year." Lev informed and also greeted them. Atsushi widened his eyes at the mention of his height.

"He's four inches taller than me! He's even taller than Toshi-nii!" He thought.

"6' 4"! So cool!" Hinata commented as Atsushi stood in silence.

"You're even smaller up close, Hinata." Lev bluntly stated as Atsushi was taken aback but amused when Hinata started to growl.

"What'd you say? Huh?"

"Hinata, stop picking fights, will you?"

"Wipe that smirk off your face first, Atsushi!"

Hinata had been jumping up and down as Lev raised his arms to show that he meant no harm to his words. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean anything bad by it. But you have no problem jumping this high, do you? I saw that earlier in the match." Lev apologized before he grins down at Hinata who stared at him.

"But I can jump even higher than that." Lev added as Atsushi had to stop himself from snickering.

"He may be small, but Hinata just may be your downfall." The brunette thought.

Just as that thought left his brain, Atsushi watched as his orange haired teammate jumped high in the air, however, with Hinata being an idiot, he accidently jumped too high and hit his head on the ceiling of the door.

"Ow..." Hinata hissed, rubbing his hair as Atsushi dead panned at him.

"Tobio is right. You can be a dumbass." He stated which made Hinata pout at him. Lev looked at Hinata with slight concern that he was hurt, but before he could ask if he was okay, Hinata spoke up.

"Then... I'll jump to the very top first." Hinata declared, challenging the tall giant who at first blinked in confusion but then smirked down. "Your spikes were really cool, since you didn't seem to care if there were blockers there or not."

Hinata and Atsushi both stepped back to give Lev room to walk out the door. "Yeah, well..." Lev spoke as Atsushi watched him place his hand on his chest.

"I'm Nekoma's ace."

Hinata and Atsushi both raised an eyebrow at him in question. "Isn't Yamamoto the ace though?" Atsushi thought.

"Though, when I say that, Taketora gets mad at me." Lev stated as Atsushi sweat dropped, picturing Yamamoto getting angry at Lev.

"But you're a middle blocker like me, right? Center, right?" Hinata asked in interest and confusion.

"Aces are usually like the mohawk guy on your team, the wing spikers, right?"

"Do position names have anything to do with it?"

At Lev's words, Atsushi was taken aback by his statement. "The one who's able to score the most points is the ace, right? Simple as that." Lev informed.

Hinata kept quiet as he took in the information. Atsushi was starting to feel off about this topic. He never heard anyone say something about the positions in volleyball, not even his own brother.

Lev started to walk past them. "Well, see you tomorrow. I'll be the first to stop that fast attack of yours tomorrow, Hinata." Lev stated, but then stopped and waved at Atsushi.

"Oh, see you tomorrow too, Atsushi! I have to say, Kuroo was right, you are handsome." He chuckled as Atsushi just sighed.

"The one who's able to score the most points is the ace. With their own hands..." Atsushi heard Hinata mumble, making Atsushi tense up and look at him with concern.

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It was the next day of the training camp, Karasuno was currently playing against Ubugawa, it was only the first set, but they had managed to score 9 points with Ubugawa having 5. "Bring it!" Atsushi heard Hinata announce as he watched him run forward for a quick attack, in which Kageyama sets the ball to him and they get a point, making them cheer.

"All right!"

Hinata didn't seem different from the night before, but Atsushi couldn't help but keep an eye on him, just in case.

TWEEET!

The team called for a timeout as everyone surrounded Ukai to see what he had to say. "All right! Our opponents still aren't able to counter your deviant quick attack, so keep on using it!" Ukai informed, looking at Kageyama and Hinata who just nodded.

"Right!" Kageyama responded.

"Right..." Hinata added.

After they took the time to catch their breath as they took gulps of water and Yachi handed out towels.

"Number 4!"

The yelling caught Atsushi's attention. He glanced over to see Nekoma was versing Fukurōdani. He looked over to see Bokuto spike down the ball past three blockers, however a Nekoma player saved it.

"It went up! Kenma, cover!" Atsushi heard Yamamoto call out as Kenma followed the ball and got into setting position.

"Left! Left!"

"Give it to me!"

Atsushi looked over at Lev who was calling for a toss, a broad jump to be exact, Kenma seemed surprised but without hesitation he sent it over to Lev, who spiked it down and got Nekoma a point.

"All right!" Lev exclaimed as he cheered.

"Nice kill, Lev!" Yamamoto praised. Atsushi widened his eyes at how well Lev did with the broad jump. Lev then walked over to Kenma.

"Sorry for being rude. I overstepped my bounds."

"And I keep telling you not to worry about it. I'm more disturbed that you suddenly asked for a broad jump setup."

"So that thing just now is called a broad jump? That's so awesome!"

Atsushi widened his eyes at Lev, as Kageyama walked over to his side, hearing what Lev said as well. "That broad jump was just a spur-of-the-moment?" He asked in shock. Kageyama was just as stunned as his boyfriend was.

"But we were able to do it." Lev added as Atsushi narrowed his eyes and glanced towards Hinata, who stayed silent as Kageyama went to grab his water bottle.

"Center ace..." Atsushi heard Hinata mumble, making him look at his teammate in slight concern.

"If he does anything stupid, I won't hesitate to throw a volleyball to his head." Atsushi thought, sweat dropping a little at him in slight anxiousness.

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A/N: Another chapter is done! Hope you enjoyed!

Word Count: 5381 words.