Toxic feelings were manifesting into desperate and reckless movements.

This was a ball Daichi could have saved, Ennoshita thought as the ball dropped in front of him.

Why can't I focus? Noya growled as he skidded across the court.

My shoulders are cramping up, Tanaka hissed as he tried to dodge another block.

Move faster legs, move, Hinata tripped, barely catching himself.

"One-touch" Tsukki yelled but he knew the ball would be too far out of bounds to be saved.

There is no place I can set the ball which would make it easiest for the spiker to hit, Kageyama thought.

The scoreboard read 15:9. Tadashi and Kinnoshita had both come in as pinch servers in an attempt to change the flow of the game. Date Tech managed to stop them both with one serve each.

In the team area, the first years were becoming restless, having already been called out by the referee for standing outside of the box.

"This is not good." Emiko leaned over the railings.

Mirae winced as Tanaka's spike was stuffed, bouncing off of Noya's arms out of bounds. Their faces were red, their jaws clenched. The cheers of Let's go Date Tech, Date Tech, here we go! grew louder as the point gap increased.

16:9

"The setter has two or three seconds maximum to take in all the information on both sides of the court. Kageyama's hyperaware. Out of everyone on that court right now, he's the one most in pain."

"Please, please, please," Akira murmured, hiding behind her hands.

Keeping up team morale was proving difficult. Coach Ukai had taken up all his time-outs in an effort to alleviate his players' stress, yet the second they stepped onto the court Date Tech was reminding them that they were cornered.

The Iron Wall was becoming an Iron Dungeon.

"Mirae," Emiko slapped her arm. "The cheer squad behind us are being lousy." They looked over their shoulders and sure enough, the banners were lowered and the visitors were frowning.

Mirae frowned. She nudged Emiko. "Didn't you say something about drawing on your ancestor's powers?"

A sly grin grew on her face and she waved at the people who were silently watching from the seats behind them. "You losers are going to repeat after me, got it?"

They blinked.

She stomped her foot and repeated herself. "Don't make me hack your bank accounts. I will do it."

Before Mirae could cover her mouth and apologize, the visitors nodded their heads.

"Good. Akira, you sit still and don't say anything. Mirae, grab my shirt so I don't fall."

Emiko swung her legs over the railing and sat comfortably. She cupped her hands around her mouth, ignoring Mirae's shrieks and instead chose to do well on her promise.

"Hey-a Captain!"

From behind her, a roar of voices repeated; "Hey-a Captain!"

"That's your team!"

"That's your team!"

Ennoshita looked up, a puzzled expression on his face. The server on Date Tech's side paused. Even the referee was frozen.

"Break those walls is what we scream!" She turned around and glared at the crowd behind her. Instantly, they raised their flags and began to chant.

"Break those walls is what we scream!"

"Break those walls is what we scream!"

"Break those walls is what we scream!"

Ukai didn't know if he should laugh, cry, or slap himself in the face. His niece was sitting on the railing twenty feet in the air, inches away from her death, and she was leading a cheer that she most definitely made up on the spot.

Whatever was going on in her brain seemed to be enough though. The cheers for Date Tech were muted under the cliché rhyme that was screamed from above.

On the court, Ennoshita could finally let himself smile again. "We've done it before," he reminded his team, "let's break those walls again."

Date Tech unleashed an intimidating jump serve to silence the crowd, but Nishinoya dove in and bumped it high for Kageyama. The setter barely had a chance to catch his breath when he realized that Hinata was already above the net and the blockers three steps too late. He shoved the ball towards him and Hinata slammed it down unmarked.

"Break those walls is what we scream!"

"Break those walls is what we scream!"

"Break those walls is what we scream!"

Tanaka moved into the back row and prepared for a jump serve. On the opposite side of the court, the players had all stepped back, anticipating a hard serve. He smirked, aiming for the tape and in a flash, the ball fell in front of Date Tech's receivers.

"Break those walls is what we scream!"

He served again, and although Date's Libero received it, the players were in disarray. The spikers were late in their approach and Tsukishima timed his block, stuffing the spike.

The third serve from Tanaka was caught by the setter, and he had no choice but to bump it to his captain. Futakuchi bumped the ball high enough for a back-row attack from their other spiker but Ennoshita could tell from his form that it would land farther back.

He received it head-on, sending it to Kageyama. An over the top glance at Hinata sent all the blockers to the far right of the court and Kageyama changed his posture mid-jump, slamming the ball onto Date's court.

16:15

"Talk about momentum," Takeda Sensei laughed.

"I need to remember to thank Emiko after the game." Ukai's heart rate was finally beginning to slow down.

"Break those walls is what we scream!"

"Break those walls is what we scream!"

Tanaka's next serve was cut off, but everyone could tell Karasuno still had the momentum.

"Either you come back down or I'm pushing you," Mirae warned. Emiko rolled her eyes and then decided to return to the safety of the platform.

"I should join the cheer squad. No, wait, I should make my Uncle Keishin pay me for this."

"You're a manager, this is in your job description. Hey, while we're on the topic of this, can we find you a crow mascot costume to wear?"

A look of horror crossed Emiko's face.

The boys on the court were beginning to play with more determination. Most of their attacks were stuffed, and as frustrating as that was, the constant cheers seemed to pull them back.

"We're not going down without a fight," Emiko grinned. She held up peace signs at Date Tech's cheer squad, smirking when they flipped her off.

"Oh, Tobio-kun's playing so much better!"

And her grin dropped at Akira's comment. She leaned back and caught Mirae's attention.

'Can we push her off?' she mouthed.

Mirae rolled her eyes. 'There are witnesses everywhere.'

The referee blew his whistle, pointing to Karasuno's side. When Tsukishima went to block, he touched the net. The scoreboard showed that they were at a deuce.

24:24

Date Tech's captain was next to serve.

"How many service aces has he gotten through this game?" Emiko asked.

"Thirteen so far."

"They really need to cut him off. I have a bad feeling about this."

"Stop it!" Mirae snapped, making Akira flinch. "No negative thoughts!"

Glaring, they ran for the railing again. They both eyed Futakuchi and began muttering repeatedly, "Jinx, jinx, jinx, jinx..."

He threw the ball in the air, sprinting forward and jumping. His hand slammed the ball on the left side of the court, beside Hinata's foot, and just before the out-line.

A service ace.

"Cut him off!" Emiko screamed. "Hinata don't just stand there! Pick it up, it's a damn volleyball, not a hot potato!"

Futakuchi grinned at his teammates and prepared to serve again. The same toss he practiced for months, the same footwork and run up that gave him cramps, the same jump and the same force.

The ball was in front of Hinata before he had a chance to blink but he dove in and bumped it. It was short and low, forcing Kageyama onto his knees where he set the ball to Tanaka.

It was close to the net and still too low. Tanaka spiked it but three blockers were waiting for him.

It was the ultimate move in volleyball, a flawless serve and block.

The referee blew the whistle, signalling the end of the game. The scoreboard read 26:24. Date Tech had won.

For the first time in eleven years, they would be moving on to Nationals.

Now that the game had ended and Date Tech won, awards were being presented to both schools. Emiko frowned and left Mirae at the railing. She would rather do anything else than stand there and watch people handing out medals.

She slumped into her seat and pulled out her phone. She swiped through the pictures she had taken of the boys while they were playing.

"Did you give it to him?" Akira whispered. She was referring to the letter.

"Yeah."

"And? What did he say?"

"I don't know. I gave it to him and walked away."

"Oh, that's weird. I left my number so he would message me."

Emiko frowned. "He's probably not interested and doesn't want to be rude. Which is surprising because he's hella rude."

"What?" Akira blinked back tears.

"Wait," her eyes widened, "that's not what I meant."

"No, you're probably right." She stuttered, "I'm going to go, I'll see you around school."

When she left, Emiko got up and joined Mirae at the railing again. "Are they done yet?" she asked.

Mirae was untying their team banner so that they could leave as well. "Almost, I think they're presenting the last award. We should get going so we get ahead of the crowd."

They each grabbed a side of the banner and folded it before they began to walk down the stairs which lead them to the open court. The teams bowed, thanking the referees.

"Yo," Emiko waved her hand to Kogane as she approached him, "You guys played really good!"

"Thanks! Karasuno wasn't that bad either."

"We'll beat you guys next time. I promise."

He laughed. "Well, you already beat us at cheering. You caught me and the rest of the team off guard, it definitely was a damn moment."

She grinned, "Good luck at Nationals Kogane. Give them hell." She shook his hand and turned around.

Emiko made eye contact with her Uncle. He ran at her with his arms in the air. Her body became stiff and her eyes widened at the fact that this 180-pound man wanted to suffocate her.

Coach Ukai was now in front of her and before he could reach out, Emiko dropped to the floor causing him to trip over her and fall.

"Uncle Keishin, although I do want to die this is not the way I want to go."

He got up narrowing his eyes at his niece. "Why are you like this?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I would say it's trauma from living with you."

"What I was going to say, before you opened your mouth, was thank you."

Emiko blinked, "Huh?"

"Thank you for the cheer. I don't think the boys could have been able to gain momentum without it."

"Oh, right. Yeah that wasn't me," she pointed to the bench where the stuffed crow sat. "It's all thanks to the little guy over there."

Coach Ukai blinked. "I'm seriously starting to question your sanity."

She waved her hand in dismissal and walked up to the girls. Mirae was giving the boys their jackets and Yachi was putting away their water bottles. "How are they doing?" she whispered.

"Not the best."

"They just need some food, that'll cheer them up."

The Karasuno team crowded around the table at the small restaurant.

"You boys have nothing to regret," Coach started, "you all held in there together until the very last second."

Takeda Sensei cleared his throat. "You gave them a hard time. Although you feel defeated, you should know that because of your great offensive skills Date Tech struggled at times."

"You all played amazing, and you should be proud of yourselves for that."

Mirae and Emiko looked at each other and then at the team. They did play great, they did hold on until the very last second, but they did not feel proud of how they had executed their skills. They mumbled a thankyou.

"We're going to learn from this game," Ennoshita spoke to his teammates. "We're going to get better and we're going to defeat the Iron Wall. We can do it."

His words seemed to lift the mood. Tanaka made a joke about his lousy spike and Noya grinned as he commented about his failed rolling thunder. One by one, they began to eat and laugh.

All of them except for Hinata and Kageyama.

"You were literally flying on the court, dude. You played an awesome game."

Hinata looked at Emiko and shrugged, "I guess, but if I had been able to receive that serve from Date Tech's captain, we could have taken the set."

"Doesn't my Uncle always ramble about teamwork? Like how all the plays are connected, so not one person is at fault?"

"My receives still need work. I might just be the only one on our team who can't receive."

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and showed him pictures of the game. With each photo, Hinata's smile grew and the shine in his eyes returned. He was reminded of his strengths, of his teammate's strengths. He was reminded of the importance of picking himself up and becoming stronger.

Mirae looked across the table at Emiko who gave her a thumbs up. Hinata had started to eat his food. All that was left was Kageyama.

He frowned while glaring at his bowl of soup. Losing was inevitable, no one could continue to win forever. But that didn't mean it hurt any less.

"I admire you," she nudged him. Kageyama glanced up, furrowing his brows. Mirae reached for her spoon and began to stir the vegetables around in her own bowl. "From start to end, you didn't rush any sets. You were constant, strategic."

He glanced down. "It was frustrating just how strong they were."

"I'm not going to lie. Date Tech is extremely strong with their blocks, taking their opponents spikes and turning them into points for themselves. "

"I like playing against strong players, against strong teams." He looked up at her. "But against their blockers I felt trapped."

"You held on until the very end. Honestly, I was inspired."

Kageyama tore off a piece of bread and dipped it into his soup. Distracted with the conversation, he began to eat. "Inspired?"

"Ever since I started volleyball, I played the position of the setter. I loved it too. Being able to handle the ball for my spikers, being able to toy with the other side's blockers, for me it was like I was leading an army."

"Why did you stop?"

"My team," she faltered. "We had a different view of what it meant to play good volleyball, you know, the type against frustratingly talented opponents."

"Like Date Tech," he offered. Kageyama shook his head, the corners of his lips lifting. "It's only good volleyball when you can counter."

"That's true. If one side is more powerful than the other, it's no fun."

"That game wasn't fun."

"I could tell. But you're a setter, the control point of your side of the court. And I bet you're already thinking of ways to counter Date Tech in the next game."

His eyes widened. He set down his bowl. "How do you know that?"

"Call it setter's intuition," she grinned. "It takes a lot more than a blocked spike to bring us down. We may be the first to feel the frustration on a court, but we're also the first to be adapting and thinking of ways to win."

He nodded in agreement. "Thanks."

"You don't need to thank me."

"I do. If you didn't tell Yachi and Coach about how we should counter Date Tech's blockers when their rotations shifted, we would have lost the third set too."

She could feel her cheeks heating up. "It's nothing. I was sitting up in the bleachers, so I could see things a bit clearer. If I were in the middle of the court, I wouldn't have noticed it."

"But you did," he bowed his head. "Thank you."

"This is embarrassing." She raised her bowl to her lips and drank from the rim, hiding behind it.

Kageyama did the same thing, glancing at her.

|Note|

Honestly, we are so proud of Date Tech! Going to Nationals after 11 years... what?!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please don't forget to vote and comment :)

|End Note|