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

edited on september 16th, 2021 @ 7:52am

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CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE - STILL GROWING

"ALL RIGHT! INDIVIDUAL PRACTICE FROM HERE! We now have less than two months until the qualifer at the end of October. Work hard on improving individully!" Ukai announced as Tadahiro sighed in relief while Hinata and Nishinoya bounced over.

"Yay!" The two exclaimed in unison. Tadahiro noticed Yachi carry the basket with their jerseys to the wash, so he walked on over.

"Need a hand, Yacchan?"

"Oh, Kagami-san. Yes, please."

Tadahiro held the basket for her as the two headed outside, however they both stopped when a figure in a black hoodie walked by them. Yachi squealed in surprise which caught Tadahiro slightly off guard and causing the unknown figure to slightly jump.

Tadahiro blinked. "Ka-Ka—" Yachi stuttered but Tadahiro interrupted her.

"I'm afraid to ask, but I'm gonna do it anyway. What the hell are you doing, Kage-chan?" Tadahiro asked as Kageyama stared at them in shock.

"You could tell it was me?" He questioned in shock.

"Yeah..."

"Damn it!"

Kageyama takes off the sunglasses and his blue and white Hollywood cap. "W-Was that suppose to be a disguise?" Yachi asked as Tadahiro smirked in amusement.

"It's not a very good one if I'm being honest." He added. Kageyama didn't reply as he looked away from them instead.

"Um, uh..."

"Out of everyone we might face in the qualifiers, there's one team I want to watch at any cost."

"I see! You're going to record a video of them or something!"

"No, there's an unwritten rule that you can only record official matches. So, it's not like anything will happen just because I go watch. There's less than two months till the qualifiers since summer break is over. I feel like I should definitely check them out." Kageyama ranted.

"If you don't want to stand out at a school after school hours, you should probably just wear plain training gear."

Kageyama widened his eyes as he turned to Tadahiro with wide eyes.

"Oh."

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Kageyama had gone off to who knows where, as the rest of the team was practicing their serving. Tadahiro was about to sleep on the floor but Sugawara and Nishinoya made sure he stayed awake. Tadahiro worked on his jump serves with Nishinoya receiving them for him.

They did it for a while until Tadahiro decided to take a break. He walked over to the water bottles near the wall and gulped down the water. Tadahiro noticed Hinata walking over to Tsukishima, he couldn't understand what they were saying, since they were on the other side of the gym, but Hinata looked intense and determined, as the red head then saw the two stand up from the ground.

Not long after, Tadahiro saw Tsukishima bonk his hand on Hinata's head, making the orange-haired male roll around on the ground, clutching his head.

"You pushed the diarrhea pressure point! Curse you, Tsukishima!" Hinata announced.

"There's a pressure point for that?" Tadahiro mumbled as he saw Tsukishima walk away.

It was soon dark out, as some of the team had either gone home or stayed at the gymnasium to practice. Tadahiro let out a laugh when Ennoshita accidently served the ball into Tanaka's head, making the second-year fall over.

"Ow!" Tanaka exclaimed.

"Sorry!" Ennoshita apologized. 

"Enno-chan, nice kill!" Tadahiro called out, laughing in amusement.

"Stop laughing, Kagami-san!"

Tadahiro continued to laugh, making Tanaka get flustered in embarrassment.

Tadahiro then heard the gym doors open. "Kageyama survives!" Hinata announced as Tadahiro looked over, stopping his laughing when he sees the first-year setter walk in, looking tired.

"How was it?" Hinata added as he ran over, Tadahiro was nearby, so he was able to hear Kageyama's response.

"I... I may never be able to win against Oikawa."

"What are you talking about? Quit messing around! What did you see?"

The loud yell from Hinata alerted everyone as they all stopped their training to stare. "I think Seijoh was playing a match against a college that some of their alumni are attending. When I got there, they were on break. During the break, a different type of match with a member swap started up." Kageyama explained.

"Among the college students, Oikawa entered alone as their setter. It seemed like there were many people he had just met for the first time."

Tadahiro was silent as he listened to Kageyama.

"But... after just a few plays... Oikawa had completely blended into the team. Even I could tell how lively the spikers felt. The ability to draw 100% out of anyone... even if you take your time, it's not a given you can make that happen. But for Oikawa, even if it's someone that hates him, or a very quirky player, I'm sure... he can manage them at will."

Tadahiro widened his eyes a little. "Well, I knew Oikawa was good, but being able to do something like that? Huh... No wonder he's a star setter." He thought.

"So, are you saying that you're freaked out by the Great King again, Kageyama?"

"Yeah, I'm really freaked out."

Tadahiro couldn't help but be taken aback when he saw that Kageyama was smiling, even though he had admitted that he was freaked out.

"The three years that Oikawa spent... everything is packed into the current Seijoh team. And the spring nationals are the one and only chance to go up against it. We're going to beat them, as a team." Kageyama announced, as Tadahiro widened his eyes at him, before smirking in agreement.

Hinata smiled brightly as he runs off with a volleyball.

"Defeat the Great King!"

"That's my line, idiot!"

Tadahiro watched in amusement, shaking his head at his juniors.

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Tadahiro yawned, as he and his team were in front of Nekoma High. "So, with the prefectural qualifier in October, we'll only be able to come to Kanto for practice matches two more times, including this trip. Let's make the best of this opportunity." Takeda explained.

"Right!"

They headed inside the gym, when they were greeted by none other than Bokuto. "Hey, Tsukki! Kagami!" Bokuto yelled. "Jump block for me! Hey, hey, hey!" Bokuto grinned happily with Akaashi and Komi staring at their captain with a deadpan look.

Tsukishima and Tadahiro just stared at Bokuto who had his arms wide for them. Tadahiro sighed and walked over.

"Sure, I'll train with you." Tadahiro said as Bokuto beamed and slapped his back happily.

"Yes, thanks for working with me." Tsukishima also responded, which had Bokuto be taken aback.

"What?" Bokuto announced with widened eyes, even Akaashi and Komi were surprised.

"You're the one that asked. Why are you surprised?" Tadahiro asked in amusement.

Soon enough, Tadahiro spotted a certain bedhead captain who was practicing blocks. Tsukishima and Tadahiro walked on over, as they watched Kuroo jump to block Lev's spike.

Tadahiro chuckled when the spike Lev did was blocked by his captain who had his squally lazy grin.

"Yay!" Kuroo cheered making Lev irked.

"I-I'm going to make it through next time!" Lev promised, but for ignored when Kuroo saw the two.

"Hey, Tsukki! Hiro!"

Tadahiro sighed in annoyance. "How long are you two just gonna watch?" Kuroo questioned.

"Sorry." Tsukishima replied, putting down his drink as him and Tadahiro walked over.

"I call dibs on Kagami!" Bokuto announced, grabbing onto the red head's arm, pulling him over to join his team.

"No fair. I haven't seen Hiro in ages!"

"Too bad!"

"Why you—"

Tadahiro sighed at the two captains. "Nothing has changed since the last time I saw them." He thought.

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Karasuno was currently playing a practice match with Shinzen, with them at 20 and the opposing team at 8 points. Shinzen gets a point when Kageyama and Hinata didn't do a quick attack, or at least failed to do, but that was to be expected.

"Lev! I told you not to block with a banzai pose! They're getting through right between your arms! Your arms need to be together enough, so the ball won't go through!"

Tadahiro looked at Nekoma, who was going against Fukurōdani, as Kuroo was shouting at Lev.

"Right!" Lev replied, making Tadahiro slightly chuckle.

September soon rolled around quickly, as everyone continued to practice at Karasuno, even having a few practice matches with the Neighborhood association. Day after day, they trained hard for the prefectural.

When he wasn't practicing, he was calling his younger brother, giving him updates on how they made it past the preliminaries easily.

Eventually, it had reached October. Tadahiro had the prefectural dates, widening his eyes at something he noticed.

"October 25th... why does that date seem important?" Tadahiro hummed in thought. "Oh, right. It's my birthday. Not to mention it's mine and Dai-chan's anniversary date. Sheesh, have we really been together for three years?"

"Huh... And to think I almost said no to him too..."

"Hiro!"

A first-year Tadahiro turned around to see his best friend Daichi running towards him. "Hmm? What is it, Dai-chan?" He asked.

Daichi's face was red as Tadahiro could've sworn he saw Sugawara and Asahi giving him the thumbs up from behind the wall.

"Um, I've liked you for a while now. So I was wondering if you could... uh..."

"Dai-chan, your face is as red as my hair." Tadahiro teased.

"Shut up!" Daichi sputtered out. "Anyways, I was wondering if you would like to go out with me?"

Tadahiro froze at the question, remembering how a certain rooster head from his old school had asked him out only to say it was just a dare. It was the reason why he came to Karasuno in the first place.

He didn't want to get his heart broken like that. He really loved Kuroo, and just to find out it was all fake killed him.

Still, something inside of him told him to accept Daichi's confession and told him he wouldn't regret it.

"Yeah. I would love too, Dai-chan." Tadahiro finally replied as Daichi sighed in relief. Behind him, Sugawara and Asahi were celebrating.

"Oh, and happy birthday, Hiro."

Tadahiro smiled a little at the memory. He was glad he listened to his gut feeling back then. Because it was right.

He didn't regret being with Daichi. Not one bit.

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Karasuno was currently at Shinzen High, having their practice match with them. This time, they were up against Nekoma as it went on for a while. Nekoma was at match point, with Karasuno being at 24.

"Front! Up front!"

Daichi dived down and saved it. "Sorry!" He apologized as Tadahiro ran over and got under the ball.

"I got it!" Tadahiro said.

"Center!" Hinata called out.

"Hina-chan!" Tadahiro shouted, sending the ball his way.

Tadahiro watched as Hinata spiked the ball, as he also noticed Kenma looked shocked about something as him and Lev tried to block Hinata. The ball flew past the two blockers.

"Out!" Yaku announced as the ball hits the outside of the court, making Nekoma have a point.

"Dammit! Sorry about that!"

Tadahiro smiled and patted his back. "Don't mind." He reassured him as Hinata beamed up at him.

Tadahiro soon helped Nekoma take down their net and put away the volleyballs while also avoiding Kuroo. Once he was finished, he saw how Kenma and Hinata were talking with one another.

He tensed up when a hand slung over his shoulder as Tadahiro quickly shoved it off. "Oh, Hiro." Kuroo greeted.

"What do you want, Tetsu?" Tadahiro sighed.

"Your birthday is coming up, right? The day of your prefectural tournament?"

"I'm surprised you remembered."

"Hey, I'm not a complete asshole, you know?"

"Still debating on that one."

"That's low, Hiro!"

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The day of the prefectural tournament had finally arrived. Tadahiro's phone was being spammed with happy birthday messages from the third and second-years. What surprised the red head was there were messages from the first-years as well. Tadahiro guessed that the others had told them.

He also got a happy birthday text from his younger brother and his basketball team, along with some good lucks.

After that was done, they all headed to the gymnasium. Tadahiro had already seen other schools arriving as well, wearing their school colors.

"We're here!" Hinata exclaimed. "We're back at the Sendai City Gymnasium once again! We're totally gonna get our revenge!"

The rest of the team stood in silence, ready to win their matches. Tadahiro jumped when Hinata started to run off. "Don't just take off, you dumbass!" Kageyama yelled as he chased after Hinata. Tadahiro snorted in amusement.

"Like you're one to talk." He mumbled.

"Hinata and Kageyama look they're living solely on knee-jack reactions." Yamaguchi dead panned.

"They're like insects." Tsukishima added, making Tanaka and Nishinoya laugh at his words.

"Hiro." Daichi spoke up as the red head hummed before following Daichi somewhere they could speak privately. Daichi held out a bag.

"Happy anniversary."

"Aw. You remembered, Dai-chan."

"Of course I did. Think of this as an anniversary and birthday gift."

Tadahiro moved the wrapping paper and pulled out a black wristband. "It's a good luck charm. All of the things I thought of to get would fall off when you spike, so a wristband was more reasonable." Daichi said.

Tadahiro smiled. "Thanks, Dai-chan. I'll wear it during our matches." He said. "Hey, Dai-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"Im glad I gave you a chance. One of the best damn things that I did, you know."

"I'm glad you did too. Now, let's go win."

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

"Hey!" Daichi suddenly called out, making Tadahiro turn to see that Nishinoya and Tanaka were about to charge at Terushima.

"Stop that! I-I'm terribly sorry about that!"

Tadahiro was taken aback when he saw that Johzenji had a female manager as well. As she scolded her team, she bowed at Nishinoya and Tanaka who stopped and froze in place.

"Oh, they stopped." Yamaguchi stated as Tadahiro chuckled.

"They're frozen in mid-air. That's amazing." He pointed out.

"Well, see you in the first match."

The guy and his team walk off into the building. Tadahiro didn't bother to hear the rest of what Kageyama and Hinata said, but he saw how they suddenly dashed off.

"We'll defeat them all!" They exclaimed.

Tadahiro and the rest of Karasuno watched with dead panned looks. "They sure are in high spirits." Sugawara commented.

"Thanks to them, I can stay calm." Daichi added.

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When they entered the gymnasium and put away their belongings, Tadahiro saw how Hinata was looking a little panicked, making him ask if he was okay.

"Oh! Can you come with me to the bathroom? I don't wanna go alone!" He begged as Tadahiro sighed but nodded.

Tadahiro told Daichi where they were headed to which they nodded as he walked with Hinata to the bathrooms. Hinata was mumbling how scary the bathroom was, which only made Tadahiro raise an eyebrow at him.

The two soon arrived, but Hinata seemed hesitant on going in. He started side-stepping like a crab. "Carefully... Carefully..." He mumbled out as Tadahiro just stared at him with a blank look.

"If you don't go in yourself, I'm gonna shove you in." Tadahiro threatened.

"Whatcha doin'?"

Hinata and Tadahiro froze in place, as they both turned around. Tadahiro was shocked to see Iwaizumi and Oikawa staring down at them. Hinata suddenly grabbed the red head's arm in panic, as he sighed and stared up at the two players.

"Hey."

"Ah! Kaga-chan! It's been forever!"

Tadahiro easily dodged Oikawa's hug as he crashed to the ground.

"You totally deserved that, Shittykawa." Iwaizumi scolded him.

"So mean." Oikawa pouted before getting up.

Iwaizumi then looked calmly at Tadahiro and Hinata. "I heard you defeated the 6' 7" guy. Well done." He praised as Hinata tensed up.

"Yes! No!" He exclaimed, making Iwaizumi confused.

"Which is it?" He asked as Tadahiro snorted.

"What he means to say is thank you." He said.

Oikawa suddenly had and intense aura as he looked down at Hinata. "Come game-time, shorty here is really troublesome. So why don't we bury him right now before it's too late?" Oikawa stated as Tadahiro sighed. He knew Oikawa was all talk, so he wasn't worried.

"E-Excuse me!"

Hinata backed up, obviously intimidated by the third-year. Tadahiro sighed when his junior ran off. "You can be an asshole, you know that?" He told Oikawa, who just gave him an innocent smile while Iwaizumi snorted.

"Ow!"

They turned to see Hinata had bumped into someone. This time, that person was none other than Ushijima. Tadahiro narrowed his eyes at him.

"Hinata Shoyo..." Tadahiro heard him mutter before turning to him.

"Kagami Tadahiro..." Ushijima greeted as Tadahiro just glared at him.

"And Oikawa and Iwaizumi."

Tadahiro turned his head to see Oikawa and Iwaizumi glaring at Ushijima.

"What's with this timing?" Oikawa hissed.

"Hell if I know." Iwaizumi growled back.

Hinata grabbed Tadahiro's sleeve but then backed away when he realized his senior was raiding off the same energy.

"For you two, it's the last tournament of your high school career. I wish you the best of luck." Ushijima said as Oikawa and Iwaizumi were getting annoyed.

"You seriously piss me off."

"We're going to nationals, so this won't be our last!"

Ushijima blinked at this. "Only one representative can go to nationals, you know?" He stated as Tadahiro was starting to get annoyed by him, as Oikawa and Iwaizumi also seemed irked.

"Sheesh.. This guy seriously pisses me off."

Hinata was sweating bullets as the four were staring at each other as he suddenly spoke up.

"K-Karasuno will be the one winning!"

Ushijima, Oikawa, and Iwaizumi look down at Hinata who yelped.

Hinata backed up. "Well, um..." He stuttered as he watched him back into somebody, making him yelp once more as he looked up.

It was only Aone from Date Tech. "I-I'm so sorry!" Hinata apologized as Tadahiro sweat dropped at him, pulling him back so he could give Aone some personal space.

"It doesn't matter who it is. We'll gladly accept your challenge." Ushijima spoke as he begun to walk away.

"Hey, Ushiwaka!" Tadahiro called out, making Ushijima stop. "I said I'd be the one who defeats you. Nothing makes me happier then seeing you humiliated and that's what's gonna happen."

"I'm gonna open that damn second door like my life depends on it and kick your ass!"

Hinata seemed taken aback by his senior's comment, and even Oikawa and Iwaizumi seemed surprised.

Tadahiro let out a breath. He couldn't tell, but Ushijima was actually smiling.

"Challenge accepted, Kagami." Ushijima replied as he continued to walk away.

They all watched in silence as Aone most likely had no clue on what was happening as he suddenly looked at Hinata and Tadahiro.

"O-Oh, hi." Hinata greeted back as bowed at Aone.

"Hey." Tadahiro before turning to Oikawa and Iwaizumi.

"As for you two. The Karasuno you saw during the Inter-High was the old Karasuno. We're new and have more experience with the help of some of our Tokyo friends. I didn't do all those damn penalties for nothing, you know." Tadahiro said, making Oikawa and Iwaizumi confused as the red head narrowed his eyes.

"You'll pay for making my friends cry. Karasuno will have our revenge. That's not a threat, it's a promise."

Oikawa and Iwaizumi gulped when he realize he was serious. "Well, let's go Hina-chan. We'll miss our match." Tadahiro informed as Hinata nodded.

Oikawa and Iwaizumi walked away as well. "Geez, who knew Kaga-chan could be equally as scary as that bastard Ushiwaka." Oikawa mumbled.

"Still..." Iwaizumi began as Oikawa stared at him. "It makes me wonder just how much Karasuno has evolved since we last went up against them."

"Yeah."

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The shouts of schools shouting out their cheers could be heard, as Tadahiro was huddled about with his team. As promised, he was wearing the wristband Daichi had given him on his right arm. "The first match has Seijoh on the B Court... and Shiratorizawa on the A Court." Daichi informed.

TWEEEET!

"It's our turn next! Let's go!"

"Yeah!"

They turned as the team they were up against was none other than Johzenji.

"Yee-haw!"

Tadahiro was taken aback at how lively they were, as he saw how they stared back at Karasuno in excitement.

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A/N: A chapter within a day of the last chapter? Yes sir. Also, I gave you a bit more of Daichi and Tadahiro scenes, like how they started dating and all that. Thanks for reading!