"ARE WE ALL READY?!"...

     sawamura asked, as the four first-years glared at each other from the other side of the court.

     "YES SIR!", they all answered.

     "wowww!! look how in sync they are already! I think they're gonna get along well!", nishinoya commented.

     "oh, by the way, we'll make this a three versus three by adding nishinoya to tsukishima's group and tanaka to kageyama's group", sawamura announced.

"huh? nishinoya-senpai and tanaka-senpai?", shiyumi mumbled, though that did not go unheard by the two upperclassmen.

"YES! IT IS US!! DON'T FEAR, FOR WE'LL GUIDE YOU TO VICTORY, OUR LITTLE KŌHAIS!", nishinoya and tanaka haughtily laughed.

yachi ever so slightly flinched at the loudness, as shimizu kiyoko — karasuno's third-year manager — had nicely approached the younger girl.

"I'm sorry, but you are?"

'EEK! THEY FOUND OUT I WASN'T REALLY SUPPOSED TO BE HERE AND NOW THEY'RE KICKING ME OUT BY SENDING OVER A PRETTY GIRL BECAUSE THEY FEEL BAD! WHY AM I SUCH AN IDIO—'

"oh, kiyoko-senpai, hitoka's my friend. I asked her to come watch us today", shiyumi answered, letting yachi sigh a breath of relief.

"I see....are you perhaps interested in volleyball?", shimizu asked, to which yachi had awkwardly hummed.

"u-umm...w-well...I've never really played nor watched, so I don't really know much about it, to be honest".

"I appreciate the integrity. however, I do hope to hear your thoughts after the game as well", shimizu smiled, to which yachi had just unconsciously nodded.

"ALRIGHT GUYS!! FALL INTO POSITION AND LET'S START THE GAME!", captain yelled.

     "since this is just a tryout, first to score twenty-five points win. unless there's only a one point difference, we'll continue the game", sawamura explained.

     "GO TEAM!! YOU GUYS GOT IT!!", the rest of the karasuno members cheered.

     "tsukki! go ahead and give them a nice serve!", yamaguchi encouraged, to which tsukishima had grabbed the ball and walked to the very end of the court.

     kageyama worriedly glanced over at shiyumi before diverting his gaze back towards the server, watching as tanaka had easily received it.

     nishinoya swerved down onto the wooden floorboards to continue keeping the ball up, as both teams each racked up points from time to time.

     ukai arrived slightly late due to his laziness, as he leaned by the door frame of the small gym, quietly observing.

     "huh? kiyoko-san, why did yu—shōyō's team lose a point to them?", yachi whispered.

     "because hinata accidentally hit the ball twice in succession. though it's understandable because the ball was about to fall out of bounds and he was trying his best to save it", shimizu explained.

"ohhh thanks!"

     both teams were one point away from each other, with kageyama's team leading.

     'just one more!'

"KAGEYAMA!! TOSS TO ME!!", shiyumi shouted.

the dark-haired boy narrowed his eyes, as he truly doubted the girl's abilities.

"I'LL HIT IT! I PROMISE!! KAGEYAMA, TRUST ME!!"

at that very moment, kageyama's own hands had dedicated to directing the ball towards the orange-haired girl, who had sped towards the end of the net — causing ukai to nearly drop his cigarette.

     shiyumi focused on the spinning ball, just like she had with sugawara in practice many times.

     everyone held their breaths, as shiyumi's knees bent to force her feet off the ground like a rocket, shooting upwards, to where her hands could finally meet the ball.

     and with one swift move, the ball had shot towards the other side of the court, slamming down onto the squeaky clean floor like there was no tomorrow.

     shiyumi then landed back on her feet, softly panting, as she looked at her right palm — noticing how the redness screamed accomplishment.

it felt awesome.

"k-KAGEYAMA'S TEAM WINS!", sawamura announced, as tsukishima had slightly frowned.

shiyumi snapped her head over towards kageyama, running over as her entire face indicated felicity.

"KAGEYAMA, DID YOU SEE THAT?! DID YOU SEE THAT?! I HIT THE TOSS THAT YOU GAVE ME!! I DID IT!!", shiyumi exclaimed, jumping up and down, as yachi had unknowingly cracked a small smile.

'I'm sure it's been a while since she's truly been that elevated'.

"now, I officially welcome you four onto the karasuno volleyball team! congratulations!!", sawamura clapped, as shiyumi proudly looked over at yachi, who was clapping the most.

meanwhile the captain got everyone situated by explaining the future practice schedules and such, takeda popped up behind ukai with a cheshire grin.

"so....how'd you like the game?", takeda asked, as ukai flinched from the man's sudden appearance.

     "i-it was fine", ukai choked out, getting rid of his cigar, as he scratched the back of his head with a heavy sigh.

     "I really do hope that this was enough to convince you to be our coach. these kids truly have potential and a passion to become better. with someone like you assisting them, they will flourish like they have never before", takeda seriously admitted.

     ukai stuck his hands in his pockets, as he turned towards takeda.

     "you got me. I'm in".

ʚ♡⃛ɞ

     "yumi, where are you taking me?", yachi asked, about to pass out from how fast the girl was sprinting, as she was thankful when they came to a halt.

     "we're here", shiyumi huffed, calmly entering the hospital, as the nurses were already used to seeing her there every night.

     the two girls entered room 342, where an orange-haired boy laid motionless with various monitors and tubes surrounding him.

     a bouquet of sunflowers were by his bedside, freshly picked by shiyumi earlier today.

     "shōyō, look who I brought!", shiyumi smiled, bringing two chairs over for them to sit.

     "h-hey...shōyō-kun...", yachi softly greeted.

     "today was my first win with tanaka-senpai and kageyama. you know, the one with the anger issues".

     yachi held in a chuckle, as she spoke up next, feeling bold after not seeing the other hinata for so many years.

"and kiyoko-san, the pretty manager offered to let me join as an assistant manager", yachi said, to which shiyumi had straightened her posture in surprise.

"she did?!"

"mhm! and I think I'm going to agree...especially after seeing how happy you were playing today. I felt excited watching...and plus, shōyō-kun once told me that villager b has some good points as well, so maybe I can help you in accomplishing what you wish to do...", yachi slightly smiled, looking over at shōyō.

shiyumi's heart swelled with gratefulness, grabbing one of yachi's hand with both of hers, as she dipped her head in appreciation.

"thank you...hitoka. thank you...", she muttered out.