It was finally the fateful day that Tokyo University would go head to head against Miyagi University. This was the game that both teams had been begging for to happen.

TokyoU was sitting in a circle in the grass. The ladies were preoccupying their minds by passing a volleyball to a person in the circle to the beat of a song. Riza had the most hype playlist of anyone. So, her playlist blared over the Bluetooth speaker one of the guys let her borrow.

"Ah!!! Ishida!!!" Takahashi really had no sense of rhythm at all. She scrambled to toss the ball to a random team member and missed the beat. Everyone, including her, laughed at the failure. The spiker scooted out of the circle and watched everyone move inwards before continuing.

The game continued until it was just Mitsumi and Makoto. The music started again. It had a faster tempo than the other songs. Mitsumi kept up with ease. This wasn't anything difficult compared to what she had to do in her rhythm classes. Her mind was glad there weren't any crazy polyrhythms or odd syncopations. It was just a steady beat.

"No fair!" Makoto missed a beat as the tempo increased. "She's literally a music major!"

Mitsumi swooshed her ponytail over her shoulder. "What can I say? I did have to take a rhythm class last semester. And I got an A."

"Someone needs a slice of humble pie." Makoto stuck her tongue out. When it came to games, she was a bit of a sore loser. She huffed and crossed her arms, which made her upperclassmen laugh.

Mitsumi stuck her tongue out as well. Just to prove she was capable of doing so. Some people started a second round while others decided to lay in the grass and scroll through their phones. A few of them were using this downtime to update their social media.

The libero selected a photo of the team huddled up in a circle. They all had bright grins and shining countenances. She paused and tried to think of a caption. She was horrible at these things.

Get ready for the Inter-Collegiate Spring Volleyball Finals! Go Dogs! #TokyoU #DogFight #TokyovsMiyagi #LiberoLife

She tagged her teammates and clicked the post button with a satisfied smile. Surely, there would be more news to post that evening. Mitsumi had been taking the time to send pictures of her day to her family throughout the course of the week. Mostly so they didn't feel left out. Megumi had been emailing her all of her shots, to which Mitsumi would send them out to the rest of the team. The younger Mitsumi was developing one heck of a portfolio.

"There you guys are!" Noriko spotted her daughter lying lazily in the grass. "I was worried that Tetsuro was lying to me."

"Mom!" Mitsumi stood up as fast as she could. "Is Dad with Megumi?" She gave her mother a tight hug.

The older woman nodded and gave her daughter a squeeze. "Yes, he is. They are claiming our seats for the match and taking care of some cameras or something." Her husband was working on the media crew for one of the news stations today. "Anyways, I got a call from Watanabe to bring some goodies. So, I made some fruit salad and brought you all some protein bars for a midmorning snack."

Mitsumi's lips shaped into an O.  "I'll introduce you to Riza then. She'll take the food." She brought her mother over to the manager who was looking for the next song on her phone

Riza smiled warmly at the guest. "I can take the bags! It's a pleasure to meet you, Mitsumi-san."

"Call me Noriko." The mother insisted as she handed the bags over. "Glad to see everyone is in high spirits. I was scared for you all yesterday."

The manager laughed and took the food bags from the mother. "Nothing we couldn't handle." The ginger flashed a grin.

"I'll let you find the rest of the crew." Mitsumi was going to help get their snack distributed. She found it a bit odd that Watanabe reached out to her mother of all people for food. Her manager was most likely in a pinch to find food and knew that Mitsumi's parents didn't live too far away. She shrugged it off and watched the older lady walk off.

Her mother used to provide team snacks and meals when she was in high school. Was it possible that the woman did this out of habit? Whatever it was, Mitsumi was glad nobody commented on it. They just ate to their heart's content.

...

Kuroo checked his phone for the millionth time. It was oddly silent. Mitsumi had the bad habit of spamming him when her nerves were getting to her. However, there was nothing. He caught a glimpse of the girl in their assigned gym. Saki must've really lit a fire under her for her to be so serious.

"Did something happen last night?" Bokuto recalled that Mitsumi had never returned to the team gathering after her phone call. "Makoto was saying that Mitsumi has been quieter than normal."

"So you and your girlfriend do more than flirt." Kuroo teased with a wink.

The owl boy rolled his golden eyes. "You're one to speak!" He stuck his tongue out.

Suga shrugged, "I think she's just extra focused." He couldn't say anything about the phone call. "We should grab our seats before the crowds get here."

...

"We will now introduce the starting players of the Inter-Collegiate Spring National Tournament Finals. Miyagi University vs. Tokyo University." A female announcer's voice came on over the intercom. The stadium was packed with fans all around.

Another announcer took over, "Number 1, and captain of the Miyagi University Women's Volleyball Team, Hanasaki Sakura." The stands erupted into applause and cheers as the pink-haired captain jogged out onto the court. "Number 2, vice-captain, Ashida Mana. Number 5-" the announcer kept going down the list. "Number 11, Sakamoto Saki."

Mitsumi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was worse than performance anxiety for once. The butterflies only grew when she heard her best friend's name. This wasn't going to be an easy game.

The girl jogged out onto the court, giving her coach and manager a high five and waving to the crowds and cameras. Mitsumi put on a determined smile to hide her nerves. She spotted her father and Megumi pointing their cameras towards her and flashed a peace sign.

The Captains were signaled to shake hands. Hanasaki and Shimura gripped onto each other with enough strength to crush each other's hands.

"I expect you to be in pain by the end of this," Shimura smirked. The rivalry between the two captains was clear on the cameras.

Hanasaki clicked her tongue. "Not if we make you little puppies beg on your knees for mercy first."

The match began with Saki serving. During their morning meeting, Mitsumi had warned everyone about the hybrid serve the girl had been working on. And they used the libero's similar spike as practice. Hopefully, there were no surprises.

Saki hit the ball against the floor a few times and took a deep breath. The ball was up in the air and across the net not even two seconds after the whistle. The girl cursed as Mitsumi was able to toss it up high in the air. And thus began the fight for their lives.

...

Little did the libero know, the piano majors were all piled in Dr. Tanaguchi's living room. Snacks were scattered across the room. Ever since they got the notification that their school's team would be moving to the finals, the professor had mandated a viewing party at her place. To which, nobody objected.

Hironori was fully invested in the pregame footage. He munched on a fistful of popcorn, the small pieces of furikake sticking to his lips. "Hey, guys! I think we are about to start! The warm-ups just finished."

"Today is an exciting day here at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. It is the final day of the Spring High and Inter-Collegiate Volleyball Tournament. Let's take a look at the teams who will be going head to head for the gold."

Everyone turned their attention from their conversations to the television. Mei was the most in touch with the volleyball world. She was the one who was keeping all of the pianists up to date throughout the week.

"On the high school courts, we have Niiyama Joshi Girl's School vs. Metropolitan Nekoma High School. Nekoma won last year's Spring Nationals against Itachiyama Institute."

"Well, we will be seeing a lot of familiar faces on the collegiate stage." The male newscaster picked up from where his colleague left off. "The heat has already turned all the way up with the highly anticipated Miyagi University vs. Tokyo University. Two sets of dynamic duos will be clashing on the court. Hanasaki Sakura and Shimura Akihara, the captains of today's teams, have a well-known history with each other. And we will also see the former  Nekoma High vice-captain, Mitsumi Chie, and Captain, Sasaki Saki, of last year's Spring Nationals champions stand on opposite sides of the net."

Oyami's eyes widened, "They are really making this sound like a war is going on."

"Because there is." Mei popped a grape in her mouth. "Just because they are friends means nothing in this situation." She performed a quick Google search for her friend. "Here's some footage from their practice match they had earlier in the year." Sakamoto fell silent and shivered. Mei flicked his head, "It'll be a good match."

Dr. Tanaguchi finally brought some cupcakes into the living room and joined in on the fun. "Perfect timing." She set the cupcakes on the coffee table and sat on the floor. "Kimi! Get in here!"

Kimi rushed in from her bedroom. "Who's serving first?" She dove into the reclining chair nobody had claimed yet.

"Miyagi's Number 11." Hironori felt someone take the popcorn bowl from him and jumped. "Hey!!! Hikari!" He glared at his classmate who was now munching on the snack.

Hikari glared at him and shoved a mouthful of kernels in her mouth. "You're going to eat it all."

Everyone froze as they heard the sound of a whistle coming through from the television. They held their breaths as they watched Saki's powerful hybrid serve. It was zooming so fast, that the ball looked like a flying blue and yellow blur on the screen.

A close-up shot of Mitsumi calmly getting the ball up into the air allowed everyone to sigh in relief together. With a service like that, there was no telling how the first rally was going to go. The ladies were showing no signs of fear on the outside. Yuki was in a bold mood and was ready to show her business side from the beginning. The second Nomiya ran to the right, the blockers jumped after her. This left a wide opening at Yuki's side of the net for her to tip the ball over the net.

"And the first point of the game goes to TokyoU thanks to that beautiful setter's dump from Kanagawa Yuki! Let's get a look at that play." The footage switched to a slow-motion replay of Chie's pass to Yuki and the opening dump.

The living room erupted into cheers. Kimi raised her arms into the air. "That is a major ego blow to Miyagi from the get-go!" She knew how annoying Yuki had become with her dumps during practice. Unfortunately, Kimi fell prey to them when she would practice blocking.

"Look how annoyed their captain looks." Hironori pointed at Hanasaki on the screen. The pink demon was annoyed that they fell for such a trick at the beginning of the game.

...

Point after point, the crowd was going wild. The current score was 18-17 with Miyagi in a surprising lead. The buzzer blared for a technical time-out. Something that was only used in five-set matches. And they were a lifesaver.

"Stop attacking so aggressively." Coach Yamata scolded the ladies. "You still have to win three sets! Save your energy! Their Number 5 is one heck of a receiver for a spiker. Between her and the libero, I'd do your best to avoid them. Hanasaki's spikes tend to drift to the right. Keep that in mind."

Shimura cracked her knuckles, "Roger that Coach!"

"Wait..." Mitsumi had noticed something. "I don't know if you noticed, but their setter is consistently tossing to the back. I think with their current rotation, we can expect attacks from the back row. They have a new middle blocker who I've only seen on the bench. So, she must be a new freshman." She cleared her throat and drank some water.

Makoto nodded in agreement, "I noticed that too. Glad I'm not the only one."

"Yuki, whatever you do. Don't touch the ball this next rally. I want to try something." Takahashi was rotating to the front row again.

The sound of the buzzer called the players back to the court. Hanasaki was up to serve. She couldn't target Chie. It was too obvious. Her serve curved to the left towards Makoto. The ace got the ball just barely.

"Mine!" Everyone made space for Takahashi to get the ball. The spiker sent it towards Uehara in the front. The middle blocker's spike broke through and was saved by Hanasaki in the back row.

"Reina!" The captain called out their setter. The green-haired girl sprinted across the court and set the ball across the court for someone to spike. Reina didn't know who was going to hit it, but she knew someone would.

Hanasaki switched spots with Saki and spiked the ball back. The ball landed right next to Shimura. The two captains glared at each other. Miyagi won the first set 27-25.

...

It was crystal clear that the ladies had switched their playing tactics after losing the first set. And it seemed to be paying off. Instead of attacking heavily, they were letting their opponents do the heavy war work. The sudden shift to focusing on defense allowed them to take the second set.

The third set was when the plan was really setting in. Miyagi's team was getting worn out since their attackers were going all out constantly. Bokuto and Takuma were waving signs that Mrs. Mitsumi had brought from home. According to Ichiyama, it was keeping the two idiots occupied and a part of something during the match.

Suga was worried that Mitsumi was going to injure her knee more. He didn't want history to repeat itself at all. For his sanity and hers. They were three sets deep and the only breaks she had gotten were during the time-outs. Thankfully, libero swaps could occur whenever they were needed and not count as a substitution. He sighed heavily and rested his elbows on his knees. His heart was pounding too fast.

"Don't fret too much, Koushi-kun." Noriko glanced down at the boy. "Chie is much stronger than what she was at the preliminaries." She rubbed the boy's back.

"I really can't help it." He looked out at the game. Suga's eyes widened. "Kuroo! There it is again!" He watched Saki hit a quick attack from the back row. Nomiya, Yuki, and Shimura blocked it easily. Their arms shut out the ball entirely.

Kuroo smirked, "Saki's speed slowed down. Guess she taught her folks the way of the cats." He straightened out his posture. "I knew there was some genius left in her."

TokyoU celebrated as they took the third set. One more and the gold medal was theirs. The fourth set was when Miyagi finally got their bearings together. Mitsumi swapped with Matsuki for the set. She needed a break, especially if she was going to be the one to finish this if the game went into a fifth set. Which was obvious to everyone at this point.

The piano majors had given up on eating all the food. They were all on their feet screaming and shouting. Kimi, being the soon-to-be high school teenager she was, had her phone out recording the madness that was occurring in her house. She would be sending these videos to Mitsumi as soon as the awards ceremony ended.

The fifth set came quickly. Mitsumi was back on the court. Two points in and she was up to serve. Fifteen points went by fast. Miyagi had taken the fourth set.

"You got this, Mitsumi." Shimura handed her the ball.

Mitsumi stood at the service line and took a deep breath. There was no room for mistakes. Her team had worked their behinds off to get to this point. It was time to show off the special weapon she had been working hard on. Not even Saki knew about it, which made this the perfect time to reveal the new weapon.

The crowd fell silent as the whistle blew. The 4'10 girl suddenly felt much taller as she tossed the ball high up in front of her as high as she possibly could. She approached the ball from the right with a high leap and smacked the ball with her left hand. The spin on the service made the ball insanely difficult to control if it was received. And to her luck, it wasn't. The libero couldn't touch it in time. Left-handed serves were a hassle to deal with.

"Nice serve!" The girls cried in excitement as they pulled into the lead.

Hanasaki glanced at Saki with wide eyes. "Do you remember if she's left-handed?" The two of them were currently in the front.

"She's right-handed for sure." Saki was just as surprised as her captain was.

Nomiya smirked, "Surprise, mother-"

"Language Nomiya!" Takahashi glared from next to the blocker. The middle blocker rolled her eyes. Their tactic was successful again. And she was in the mood to finally provoke the opposing captain a little bit.

The whistle blew for Mitsumi to serve again. This time, she opted for a right-handed hybrid serve. The left-wing spiker got it but accidentally knocked it out of bounds. The more she changed things up, the more points she could potentially score. Unfortunately, her next serve got up because of Saki.

Yuki held up three fingers behind her back. When the ball got to their side of the net, she wanted to spike it. It was a good thing Matsuki had covered the last set because the length of the rallies had doubled. Mitsumi was grateful for a proper break. Even if it was a strategic one.

Sure enough, Yuki finally broke the tension

Her line shot hit the sideline perfectly. "Aw yeah!"

"Nice kill, Yuki!"

...

The match point came quickly. With both sides barely holding on, nobody knew who was going to win this game. Yes, the Dogs of the Court were one point away from winning the tournament, but Miyagi was an opponent that proved that anything could happen.

14-14. Miyagi got the point.

15-14 Tokyo scores.

15-15 the teams are tied.

Everyone was holding their breath as the scores climbed higher and higher. The commentary had quieted down for quite a while. A word would be said here or there, but the court was in hell flames. The pink devils were trying to shut out the dogs that wouldn't give up.

20-19, Miyagi took the lead.

Mitsumi got a lucky shot when she undershot the ball and it tipped off the net. 20-20, they were even again. She didn't care about anything but saving the ball at this point. She was diving and using her flexibility to her advantage. Her teammates could feel the raging flames and their muscles were running on pure adrenaline.

Takahashi fainted the ball and added a dramatic point. They had the match point again.

Makoto's serve was received by Reina, the setter. This was perfect seeing that she couldn't pass it to Hanasaki or Saki, who were right next to her. One of the players in the front set the ball for their spiker in the front. It wasn't the best, but it still got through.

21-21, they have tied yet again. Tokyo snagged the next point.

Saki had never been so nervous to serve since she first started playing the sport. Breathe in, and let it out as you serve. She found it funny that the very person who taught her that was on the opposite side of the net. If she messed up, the game was over.

Either way, we are still friends. Funny how that works. Saki's serve cleared the net. "Machiko! Right!" She shouted at her teammate.

Nobody was entirely sure what happened. The next thing they could hear was the audience shouting at noise levels higher than ever before. The whole stadium was in applause. They were celebrating.

Tokyo University won out of pure luck. Shimura's nasty top spinning spike had blasted Hanasaki backward and sent the ball out of bounds. It took a second for them to process what just happened. This was a lucky win.

Coach Yamata started bawling like a baby. Riza patted his back as she cried tears of joy. The players burst into sobs as they jumped into a group hug screaming, "We did it!" Over and over.

"And there we have it! Tokyo University wins the final set 23-21. This was one heck of a game! Both teams deserve to celebrate this fantastic day."

The house erupted into joyous shouts. Mei didn't mind that she had knocked the chip bowl off the table as she hugged her professor tightly.

"HOLY CRAP THEY DID IT!" Hironori howled with Hikari.

...

The awards ceremony was surreal. Shimura accepted the trophy and held it up for the cameras. Her teammates surrounded her for some photos. She shook hands with Hanasaki again.

"Well, we will get you guys next year." The pink-haired captain smiled. "Thanks for the greatest last game of all time."

"Of course! I'm surprised you didn't whoop us." Shimura squeezed her knuckles. "Your team is going to be in good hands."

The celebration paused as the announcer's voice came over the intercom. "We will now be pleased to hear a few closing remarks from the National Women's Team coach."

Coach Momo came out to the center of the court with a microphone. "It is a massive honor to have been able to witness such talented players from all over the country this week. On behalf of Romero Montoya, it is my pleasure to introduce this year's National Women's Volleyball Team as per tradition. Will the returning players in attendance please join me on the court?"

This was a tradition of the V. League that went all the way back to the beginnings of the league. The National teams were announced after the Spring tournament, right before the professional season began. From what Mitsumi understood, several players had retired this past year. Some from injuries, and others who were ready to move on.

"First to the team, please welcome Hotaru Aimi." The stadium erupted into applause again. "Next, Madoka Reika!" Mitsumi remembered her from the training camp. She played for the Iseda Electrical Blue Jays. Coach Momo called out the names of a few more professional league players. "And finally, Sasaki Saki, Akira Momoe, and Mitsumi Chie."

The gold and silver medalist teams stared at each other in shock. A player from each of their teams had been selected. Let alone the freshman. Their jaws practically hit the floor.

Mitsumi bowed to her new coach and waved to the stadium as she stood in line with her new team. She felt a pair of two different arms latch onto her unexpectedly.

"I guess we are stuck together after all." Saki grinned. She stood on Mitsumi's left and held one arm around her.

Akira was on the other side of the tiny girl doing the same thing. "It isn't a bad thing, right?"

Mitsumi wrapped her arms around both of them. The friends grinned at each other knowing that whatever was coming was going to be worth it since they had each other. "Cheers to more madness!"