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

edited on november 12th, 2020 @ 9:18pm

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CHAPTER EIGHT - WINNERS AND LOSERS

THEY CONTINUED TO PLAY AS Tadahiro watched Hinata spike down the ball over the net. Tokonami missed, as the ball went out of bounds, and Karasuno gained a point. "Nice, Hinata, Kageyama." Tanaka shouts at the two. Right now on the court was Daichi, Hinata, Kageyama, Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Tadahiro.

The game was continued once more, as Tokonami serves it, Hinata however was lousy at receiving so Tokonami got a point. Tadahiro glanced over at the scoreboard.

Karasuno

12

Tokonami

22

Tadahiro growled at this. "It's only the first set..." He thought, Tadahiro glanced back at the stands where Oikawa was seated on a chair, with a look of boredom, as he was waiting for something interesting to happen. "You want interesting... Fine then." Tadahiro mentally noted.

"Nice serve, Chaya." Tadahiro heard someone called out, making him look over to the Tokonami member who served, the ball comes straight at Nishinoya who saves it easily. Hinata quickly runs over to spike as the two blockers from Tokonami jump up.

However, Tokonami guessed wrong as Kageyama tossed the ball over to Tadahiro. Tadahiro jumped as high as he could, his eyes focusing on the volleyball as it came to him. Tadahiro spiked it down as he earned Karasuno a point.

"All right!" Karasuno announced as Tanaka and Nishinoya bounced over to ruffle Tadahiro's hair and pats his back. Tadahiro coughed at the impact of getting hit hard. "Not the hair, Noya-chan, Tanaka-chan!" Tadahiro complained, trying to fix his hair.

Soon, it was Hinata's turn to serve. "One more. Hinata, give us a nice serve." Daichi called out as Hinata nodded.

"Yes." Hinata replied back determinedly.

"Let's score with this one."

"Yeah."

Karasuno kept spiking and getting points, Tokonami were trying to save the balls but they weren't fast enough. "All right!" Karasuno shouted as they all gained another point.

Tadahiro felt a little bit bad since one of the players, his name was Ikejiri he believed, was trying his best.

"It must be hard to have someone who you spent your junior high days with as your opponent. I've been there before." Tadahiro thought, remembering their practice match with Nekoma. He didn't want to admit it back then, but going against his two childhood friends, Kuroo and Kenma had really pained him.

Soon Hinata serves again. "Hinata, nice serve." Daichi called out to encourage him. Tadahiro watched with concentrated eyes as the ball goes over the net and Tokonami saves it. Tadahiro watched the ball as Ikejiri called out for a toss, as he jumps up and spikes the ball but got blocked by Tsukishima and Daichi.

"All right!" Karasuno annnounced, they won the first set with ease. Tadahiro head on over to the sides with his team as they got their water bottles and towels to wipe away any sweat they had. Tadahiro gulped his drink down, making sure to save some for the next set. Some of Tadahiro's teammates conversed with one another. He sighed in exhaustion.

"You did well out there." Kiyoko praises him.

"Thank you." Tadahiro smiled at her.

"Ack! Kiyoko is praising Kagami-senpai!" Nishinoya exclaimed.

"I know! It's not fair!" Tanaka added as the two weep over the fact that Kiyoko gave Tadahiro a small compliment. Tadahiro sweat dropped at the two. 

TWEEET!

Tadahiro looked over to see the next set was starting. Tadahiro got into position as it was Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Asahi in the back row, and Hinata, Daichi and Tadahiro in the front row. It was Kageyama's turn to serve as he threw the ball up.

"Nice serve, Kageyama." Daichi calls out to the setter.

Tadahiro couldn't help but be surprised as to see him do a service ace. But Karasuno got a point, so he was fine. Karasuno celebrated the first point as Tadahiro smirked to himself in delight. Kageyama serves again as he spins the ball and did a jump serve, a player from Tokonami tried to save it but failed as it went out of bounds.

Once again, Kageyama did another jump serve, he keeps doing this as Karasuno gets points. Tadahiro looked at the score to see that they had 5 points already with Tokonami being at 0. Once more, Kageyama serves the ball however the ball was saved as the player from Tokonami receives it to Ikejiri.

Ikejiri jumps up as did Daichi who was going to block him. The ball was a little high for Ikejiri, making Daichi dump it back down onto the other side of the court and get Karasuno a point, well they would've gotten a point if it weren't for the fact that that Daichi had accidently made contact with the net.

"All right!" Tokonami cheered as they gained a point.

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They were at set point already for the second set. "All right!" Karasuno announced. Soon it was Tanaka's turn to serve as he threw the ball up and hit it, the ball was saved as it went over to its setter, as he tosses it up.

Ikejiri jumps up to spike as Daichi and Hinata jump up to block the spike, the ball continues to be in play as Tadahiro saved it and Hinata had spiked it, but the ball got saved. Karasuno was, however, determined to get a match point.

Soon enough, Tokonami scored a point, as Nishinoya was a bit slow on saving it on time. "All right!" Tokonami cheered.

"Damn it!" Nishinoya yelled, gaining his team's attention as well as Tokonami's. "I'll save the next one for sure!" Nishinoya promises, looking at Tokonami, who blinked.

"One more! Let's turn it around." Daichi announced at his team.

"Yeah!"

Karasuno all stared with serious expressions, as they were determined to get that point. Tokonami looked at them with surprise, as they weren't expecting Karasuno to be serious with them. A few of their players shivered when they saw Tadahiro looking at them with a darkened glare. They could've sworn they saw an image of a large crow behind him.

The ball was served once more as it made it's way to Kageyama who tosses it high, Hinata jumped up to spike, but he was a decoy as Daichi was the one in the air and the one that the ball was going too.

And just like that, Karasuno got a point.

TWEEET!

Once it was over, Tadahiro and his team, mainly his team as Tadahiro was too busy looking up at the stands to see Oikawa and his team leave. Tadahiro chuckled as he smirked in excitement.

"Let's see if you're as amazing as Ushiwaka says, Oikawa Tōru. I'll be looking forward to our match." Tadahiro thought.

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As Karasuno was heading off, a voice from behind them called out to Daichi. "Sawamura." The voice yells as they stopped and looked over to see Ikejiri.

"Ikejiri." Daichi commented as his team waited to hear what Ikejiri had to say.

Tadahiro was a bit surprised to see him go over and hold Daichi by the arms. "Win! Then win some more! Win for us, too." Ikejiri exclaimed to their captain. Karasuno was silent, wondering who was gonna say something first.

Daichi held Ikejiri's hand. "Yeah, you got it." He promises, as his team nodded in agreement. Ikejiri looked as though he might cry but he held it in and smiled at Karasuno. Tadahiro wanted to say something to Ikejiri as he looked at Daichi who just nodded and gestured the rest of the team, signaling them to leave.

"Ikejiri Hayato, right?" Tadahiro asked, looking at the male who was in shock.

"Y-Yeah. You must be Kagami Tadahiro. Sawamura mentioned you." Ikejiri replied.

"Same with Dai-chan." Tadahiro stated. "Listen, I know how horrible you must feel. I could tell you were about to cry. But you decided to be happy for Dai-chan and us instead."

"I'm gonna give you the same piece of advice that I gave to my younger brother when his basketball team lost their Inter-High." Tadahiro continued. "Winning is fun. It feels great. The look on your teammates faces when you win a match. But you can't win them all. You have too lose every once in a while because if you didn't, then there will be no room for improvement and getting stronger."

Ikejiri looked like he was about to cry once more. Tadahiro looked back at his teammate's who were waiting for him. "Karasuno is like one big family. We laugh together, we cry together, we win together, and we lose together, and it's all thanks to Dai-chan. He's an amazing captain." He continued.

Tadahiro turned back to Ikejiri, who had tears falling out of his eyes. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't give up on volleyball because of this one lost. You're a great player from what I could tell today. Keep working hard." He finished.

"I will. Thank you, Kagami." Ikejiri promised as Tadahiro smiled and quickly caught up with his team so they could get ready for their next match.

Tadahiro felt bad that Tokonami lost to Karasuno especially since they were out the first round. Which is why he felt like he had to give Ikejiri that speech.

"That's just how volleyball goes. You win some and you lose some." Tadahiro thinks to himself.

That was the harsh truth of volleyball. One that Tadahiro knew all too well.

"I heard what you said..." Daichi said, coming up to his boyfriend who gave him a confused glance. "To Ikejiri. That was nice of you."

"I've seen a lot of people like him back when I was in Nekoma. Most of them quit after one lost. I didn't want Ikejiri to be that person. He needed a word of encouragement to keep on going." Tadahiro said.

"Taiga wants to become the best basketball player in Japan. I often try to encourage him the best I can as his older brother." Tadahiro continued. "Every time I want to give up, I remind myself that I wouldn't be where I am today if I had given up when things got tough."

Daichi smiled at him. "So, you think I'm an amazing captain, huh?" He questioned.

"Shut it, Dai-chan." Tadahiro responded, shoving him playfully and blushed as Daichi snickered.

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Karasuno was stretching as it was soon their turn to be on the court again versing their next opponent which was Dateko. Tadahiro took a deep breath, remembering their lost against them last year when he collapsed. He looked over at Asahi but he didn't seem nervous this time. He was just quiet.

"I won't let that happen again... We have great first years on the team this time. We'll win for sure." Tadahiro thinks to himself.

"Karasuno was amazing."

"Especially that little #10! He was unreal."

"I know, right?"

"His quicks were right on the money."

Tadahiro heard people talk, as he noticed Hinata looked pleased with the gossip but flinched when Kageyama looks at him.

"Yeah, I don't really understand what you mean, but you're scary when you're smiling." Hinata bluntly told him as Kageyama had a pale look and stared blankly at Hinata. Tadahiro choked on air a bit at this, but didn't laugh out loud.

Kageyama gripped the orange haired male's head in response. "Ouch, ouch..." Hinata hissed as Kageyama tightens his grip, and continued to snicker in amusement.

"Yeah, he's right. 'that little #10' gets a big reaction. The bigger the better. The more Hinata shines, the more he blinds the defence." Ukai stated as everyone turned to him.

"Oh." Hinata commented, listening and taking in coach's words. Soon Ukai cleared his throat. "So, the starting line up for the next match will be the same as the first." Ukai explained as everyone listened to him. Tadahiro was silent along with Sugawara, Tanaka, Nishinoya, Asahi, and Daichi.

"Our next match is at 1:30PM. Keep yourselves warm." Daichi spoke up, glancing down at the sheet of paper he held.

"Have a light lunch. Don't fill yourselves up." Ukai told them as well.

"Yeah."

The team kept themselves busy, Hinata and Kageyama were outside, and everyone else conversed with each other. Tadahiro scrolled through his phone until a text message from his younger brother popped up.

Taiga 🐅:
> Hey, Hiro-nii. How's your Inter-High going? Did Karasuno win?

Hiro-nii:
It's going good. Karasuno won our first match against Tokonami. Our second match is against Dateko. <

Taiga 🐅:
> That team you guys went against last year? So it's a revenge match then. Well, good luck. Hope Karasuno gets their revenge without you passing out this time. 

Hiro-nii:
Don't worry about me, Taiga. I'll be fine. <

"Hey... Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Daichi asked as Taiga pocketed his phone in his bag.

Tadahiro breathed deeply. "I'll be okay, Dai-chan." He replied.

Daichi hugged him from behind. "I'm worried about you. So is Suga and especially Asahi. We don't want you overworking yourself and passing out again. Besides, depending on if we win and Seijoh wins, we'll need you for that match." He explained.

Tadahiro placed his hand over Daichi's. "We have Hina-chan and Kage-chan now. Our team is stronger this year. We'll have our revenge, Dai-chan. I promise you that." Tadahiro told him.

The rest of the team walked by them. "Come on, Hiro. It's time to go." Daichi informed, releasing his torso as Tadahiro nodded.

Karasuno gets inside the gymnasium as the court was being set up for us as Hinata beams in determination. "All right. We'll win the second match, too!" Hinata announced but paused when a shadow cased over his small form, he looked up and saw a Dateko player, the one with no eyebrows, walk by.

His team comes over as Hinata flinches and hid behind Tadahiro since he was the tallest, making Tadahiro raise an eyebrow at him in question.

"Go! Go! Let's go! Let's go, Dateko!"

"If I don't throw something at them by the end of this match, I'll be amazed." Tadahiro thought as he scoffed.

"Dateko... fight!" The captain of Dateko yelled.

"Yeah!" They all shout as they do some laps to keep energized and such, Karasuno watches them, Hinata shook like a leaf as Kageyama stretches. Tadahiro just popped his neck, looking bored.

"You're getting intimidated again." Tadahiro called out to Hinata, who stops shaking once he was caught.

"Captains." The referee calls out as Daichi and the Dateko captain shook hands.

"All the best." The two said, shaking hands.

Soon Tadahiro and his team were going to practice some receiving before the game starts.

"Get ready to receive!" Daichi yelled as they saw the trolley of volleyballs come over to them.

"Yeah." They all replied in reply as they all lined up.

"Here goes. Keep it in play." Ukai told them as Daichi was first to receive.

"Yeah."

Daichi saved the ball once Ukai saves it he runs to the side as Asahi ran over and saved the ball next, then Sugawara, then the chain keeps going. Tadahiro was the second to last one to save the ball, once it was his turn he bend down and received perfectly, as he moved out of the way it was Nishinoya's turn.

"Rolling..." Tadahiro managed to hear him say as the ball came to him. "...Thunder..." Nishinoya shouts as he saved the ball by rolling to the side and the ball goes back to Ukai. "Again." He announces as everyone stared in shock. Even Dateko was a bit surprised by the outburst.

"That was perfect." Nishinoya proudly smiled.

"Noya, nice receive." Tanaka praised. "Perfection itself! Except for the name." Tanaka laughs as Nishinoya looked irked by this.

"The name is perfect, too!" Nishinoya defended. Hinata bounces over.

"Teach me! Teach me the Again version, too!" Hinata begged.

Tadahiro then spoke up. "How's that any different from the regular one?" He asked as Kageyama nods in agreement with him.

"What was that?"

"He saved it."

"You're showing off again."

"Hey, Nishinoya, you're gonna make Daichi mad."

Soon Nishinoya looked at his team as they surround him. "All right. There's nothing to worry about." He yells as his team stared at him with widen eyes. "All of you, keep your eyes forward. Because you have me guarding your backs." Nishinoya proudly assured them

"A-Awesome!" Tanaka, Kageyama, and Hinata all announce at Nishinoya's words.

TWEEEET!

"Line up." Daichi ordered them as they did so. They stared at Dateko who did the same to them.

"Let's play!"

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

Word Count: 2800 words.