A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to the last chapter of season three! Karasuno will finally enter the true Zone and Tadahiro will have his joust with Ushijima. Enjoy!

edited on february 21st, 2022 @ 3:19am

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CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO - DIRECT DRIVE ZONE

HINATA SLAMMED THE BALL PAST Kawanishi, but Ushijima was there to catch the ball on time. "Shirabu!" He called out.

"Right!"

"A straight!" Tsukishima warned. "Ready, and..."

Tsukishima and Asahi jumped up to block Ushijima as Hinata received the ball with his face, the impact knocking him back. Tadahiro quickly dived down to save the ball before it hit the court.

"Kage-chan, get the last!" Tadahiro shouted to the first-year setter before turning over towards the orange-haired male. "Hina-chan, are you okay?"

"Yeah." Hinata reassured as Kageyama received the ball.

"It's in!"

Yamagata received the ball back in the air. "Got it!" Shirabu informed. "Ushijima-san!"

Shirabu tossed the ball into the air as Tadahiro watched Ushijima run up. "If I don't stop him now, when will I do it?" He asked himself.

Tadahiro jumped up the same time as Ushijima, locking the two of them into a joust and shocking the audience, Iwaizumi and Oikawa, as well as both Karasuno and Shiratorizawa.

"A joust!"

"It's Kagami versus Ushijima!"

The audience could've sworn they saw two images of a hawk and a crow appearing above Tadahiro and Ushijima as the two battled it out.

"If there's one thing I've learned from volleyball... is that being the stronger one doesn't mean shit if you're fighting alone!" Tadahiro told Ushijima, pushing the volleyball onto Shiratorizawa's side. Yamagata quickly received the ball back over, in which Kageyama was able to save it.

Hinata had looked up and an image of Ushijima towering over him was seen as he slammed both Hinata and Tsukishima to the ground.

Tadahiro was breathing heavily until he finally realized something. "I see... All this time... I've been trying to improve myself... But entering the true Zone wasn't based on my skills in itself..." He thinks to himself.

"...It's about fighting as a team!"

A familiar feeling washed over Taiga. "He finally did it..." He mumbled, causing his basketball teammates to look over in confusion. "Hiro-nii finally opened the door to the true Zone."

The gatekeeper was soon revealed to be Daichi as the second door opened, revealing Tadahiro's teammates who were inside, smiling at him.

"I see now. I should've known it was you... Dai-chan."

A hand reached out to Hinata and Tsukishima as Daichi rushed over to receive the ball as he slowly lifted Ushijima up.

"Asahi, get the last!" He shouted out.

Asahi jumped up as he was the next one to lift Ushijima. He spiked the ball, but ended up getting blocked. Tadahiro was the next to appear as he quickly received the ball into the air.

"Chance ball!" Tadahiro shouted as Kageyama got into setting position.

Daichi, Asahi, and Tadahiro were all lifting Ushijima off of Tsukishima and Hinata. "Their #10 is coming!" Kawanishi called out.

However, he looked over to see that Hinata wasn't moving at all. "Their #10 isn't running up?" Tendou thinks to himself.

"He's slowing down his tempo, from a minus tempo to a first tempo, and then..." Ukai Sr thought as Karasuno started to do their synchronized attack. "mixing in."

"Shit!" Tendou exclaimed.

Everyone had determined faces as they got ready to attack. Kageyama through the ball up as everyone jumped up. A flock of crows were flying towards a large eagle. Hinata slammed the ball as Yamagata dived down to receive it. He bounced off of his arms as he headed towards out of the court.

The ball had slammed onto the court as everyone was silent, too stunned to speak.

TWEEEEET!

Karasuno now had 21 points with Shiratorizawa at 19.

Then, cheers erupted from the audience.

"What? Seriously?!"

Seirin cheered in happiness. "They did it! Nii-san and his volleyball team are going to nationals!" Taiga exclaimed in joy.

Daichi was breathing heavily as he turned around, hugging Asahi. Sugawara soon joined him, followed by Tadahiro who hugged the trio as the four third-years began sobbing out loud.

Kageyama, Hinata, and Tsukishima were watching their seniors until Tanaka engulfted Kageyama and Hinata into a hug followed by Ennoshita.

Nishinoya fell on top of Tsukishima. "Tsukki!" Yamaguchi shouted out as him, Kinoshita, and Narita followed. Ukai, Takeda, and Kiyoko were also tearing up.

Meanwhile, Shiratorizawa looking defeated. "Farewell, my paradise." Tendou announced.

"Hey, it's time to line up." Kageyama informed.

"I-I can't stand up..." Hinata stated, his legs were shaking.

"Come on, Shoyo!" Nishinoya announced as him and Kageyama began dragging him.

TWEEEEET!

Both teams bowed to one another.

"Thank you very much!"

The audience clapped as both teams shook hands.

"Talk about an upset."

Tadahiro looked at Ushijima's retreating figure. "Damn it, why doesn't that bastard Ushiwaka look more upset?" Oikawa commented as Karasuno bowed to Washijo and Saito.

"Thank you very much!"

"You always find ways to amaze me, Hiro." Daichi commented as Tadahiro looked at him with irritation. "Huh? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're the reason why I was constantly frustrated with myself!" Tadahiro exclaimed as Daichi gave him a look in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about! You seriously piss me off, Daichi!" Tadahiro fumed in anger, still mad that Daichi had been the gatekeeper to the second door all along.

"Oooh, he didn't use any honorifics, Daichi. You must've angered him." Sugawara smirked.

"I have no idea what I did, Suga! Honest!" Daichi said, still confused on what he did that had upset his boyfriend.

"Kageyama does good work." Iwaizumi complimented. "Kagami isn't that bad, either. The joust he had with Ushiwaka took me by surprise."

"Kaga-chan is a true monster." Oikawa added on before standing up. "Come on, let's go home. I'd rather die than see the awards ceremony." He continued as him and Iwaizumi began leaving the court.

"You really are a crappy guy." Iwaizumi commented.

Karasuno then lined up to face their supporters. "Thank you for all your support!" Daichi announced as his team bowed.

"Thank you very much!"

"Sawamura, Sugawara, Azumane, Kagami!" Michimiya shouted out. "Congratulations on your victory!"

The four third-years waved as Daichi held up the charm that Michimiya had given to him before the game.

Karasuno gathered around Ukai and Takeda. "Great job, you guys!" Takeda exclaimed, his arms extended out. "I'm... I'm sho happwy..."

Ukai placed his hands on Tadahiro's shoulders. "Kagami! Great job... Great job on that joust!" He complimented.

"It was no big deal, coach." Tadahiro informed.

"No big deal?!" Daichi, Asahi, and Sugawara shouted at him, making him get taken aback.

"No need to shout!" Tadahiro exclaimed.

"Tsukishima!" Ukai shouted, grabbing onto his shoulders next. "No matter what anyone says, you're the MVP today."

"I'm always the MVP, so I'll let you have that title just for today, Tsukishima." Tanaka told the middle blocker, giving him a thumbs up.

"You're definitely the mental MVP." Ukai said.

"Wakatoshi-kun, you got pissed off in the end, didn't you?" Tendou asked as him and Ushijima were stretching out their legs. "Usually, you'd regroup or leave that to someone else in that situation. I got chills thinking they might actually block it."

Ushijima stayed silent as an image of Hinata flashed in his mind. "I wanted to say, "I'm stronger than you." He spoke as Tendou glanced over to him. "Is that childish of me? But I still wanted to say it."

"Isn't what drives most people childish in general? That was a great straight. I felt like I got to see a new side to you, Wakatoshi-kun." Tendou admitted as the two of them switched to their other leg.

"I'm gonna quit volleyball after high school, but I'll be watching you on TV and brag that we were best buds, so do your best." Tendou continued on.

"Yeah." Ushijima said.

"When Jonetsu Tairiku makes a documentary about you totally have my permission to let them interview me as an old comrade." Tendou told him as Ushijima just hummed.

"Okay..."

The awards ceremony soon began as both teams lined up by their jersey numbers.

"And now, I present this award to the victors. Miyagi Prefectural Karasuno High School. Concluding the Miyagi Prefecture Qualifiers of the National High School Spring Volleyball Tournament, your team has emerged victorious. I present you this award in acknowledgement of your commendable performance."

The audience clapped as Daichi accepted the award while Sugawara took the trophy. Tadahiro looked down at the medal that was placed over his jersey.

"To praise both teams for their good match, and to wish the best to Karasuno High School for their performance at the Spring High School Volleyball National Tournament in January, I'd like to ask the audience to give them another big round of applause."

The audience once again clapped for them.

"Let's go... to the Spring Tournament!"

After the awards ceremony was finished, Tadahiro was in his volleyball jacket as he saw Shiratorizawa coming out of the court.

"Kagami."

"Ushiwaka."

The two of them stared at each other in silence before Tadahiro stared at every member on Shiratorizawa's team.

"You guys want to know why you lost?" Tadahiro spoke up, making Shiratorizawa look at him. "You placed all your attacks onto Ushijima. You didn't fight as a team. A bit of advice for next time, don't look down on your opponents. You never know if they'll be the ones on top."

They all stayed silent, knowing the red head's words were true. "That's all I wanted to say." Tadahiro concluded, before turning around and begun to make his leave.

"Kagami."

Tadahiro hummed as he turned back around. His eyes widened as he saw Ushijima with his hand extended out.

He walked forward and shook Ushijima's hand. "Good luck at nationals, Kagami." Ushijima told him.

"Ushijima," Tadahiro began, grabbing Ushijima's attention. "my friends call me Tadahiro."

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Later that day, the team was at ramen shop as Tanaka and Hinata were sleeping on the table. "I'm pretty sure I saw my relative's one-year-old do the same thing... Ukai commented.

"Tanaka, get up!"

"Kiyoko-san is scolding me!"

"You guys need to decide if you're going to eat or sleep!" Ukai exclaimed.

"Ukai-kun, I'm... sho happwy!" Takeda claimed.

"Sensei, your face is a mess..." Ukai informed. "And that's the eighth time you've said that."

"I'm so sorry."

"Make sure you guys don't break any plates." Sugawara scolded as Tadahiro was sitting right in between him and Daichi.

"Those guys worked hard on this match like their lives depended on it. And now, we're the ones that are gonna have it rough. It's gonna get real busy, Sensei."

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It was the next day after the finals. A sign that said, 'Congratulations on going to the Spring Volleyball Tournament, Boys' Volleyball Team!' was in the front of the school as Tadahiro sat in class 3-4.

"Yo, Kagami! Is it true our volleyball team is going to nationals?"

The red head glanced up to meet the eyes of one of his classmates. "Yeah." He simply responded.

"I told you that you should've come with me to the match! Kagami's joust with Ushiwaka was insane!"

"Huh? You really went against someone like him, Kagami?"

"Of course!" Tadahiro grinned.

Classes soon came to an end as Tadahiro was in the clubroom, getting ready for practice. "The representative team from Tokyo is just about to be decided, right?" Hinata questioned.

"Yeah." Ennoshita responded. "I think Tokyo, four schools get decided in the first qualifier, and then I think the qualifier to decide the representative is in November."

"I think that Nekoma and Fukurodani both made it." Tanaka commented.

"It's amazing that they made it into the top four schools in Tokyo." Narita pointed out.

"It makes me realize we went to a training camp with some really crazy guys." Ennoshita stated.

Hinata shook with excitement. "We're gonna beat Nekoma! Right, Kageyama?" He questioned.

"That's if they make it through the qualifiers." Kageyama reminded him.

"Of course they will!" Hinata exclaimed as he went outside of the clubroom.

✰ 𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 ✰

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A/N: And that's a wrap up on season three! Sorry if the joust wasn't as you expected. Thanks for reading!