Riza and Watanabe pushed their equipment carts through the busy hallways. The ladies were playing on center court for this game. And honestly, this was probably the best match to play on center court. The boys had another hour until their game, which they would be playing on the far right court. So, they decided to root the girls on from the sidelines until they had to warm up.

"Mitsumi!" A very familiar voice called out. "We finally get to watch you and Suga play!"

"Yu!" Mitsumi was surprised to see him and a few of his teammates. She gave him a big hug, "How did your last game go?"

Hinata looked a bit upset behind his bright brown eyes. "We lost to Inarizaki. But it's okay! Takeda-sensei and Coach decided to let us come support you guys!" He just looked happy to watch his friends play. Sometime Mitsumi wondered how Hinata was so innocent.

Mitsumi put a hand on his head and played with his fluffy hair. "I'm just happy I get to see you all here. That's a big win." She gave a genuine closed-eyed smile. All of her nerves dissipated for a little bit.

"Got some fans?" Shimura hobbled over. "Didn't know you were that much of a hotshot."

The libero rolled her eyes. "This is my captain, Shimura Akihara. Captain, this is my cousin Nishinoya Yu and some of his friends from the Karasuno Volleyball Team." Mitsumi introduced everyone.

The captain smacked Mitsumi on the back in a friendly manner. "Didn't think you were the formal type."

"Hinata, you idiot! You're drooling!" Kageyama smacked the human ball of sunshine on the back of the head.

Hinata smacked out of his idolizing mode and rubbed his head. "Ow!!! Kageyama!!!"

"I'll see you guys after!" Mitsumi jogged off with a wave. She was lucky that the press was too focused on interviewing her coach. There was no way she would be able to keep a nice face if they approached her.

The air suddenly got really tense as Kyoto University walked in. The Tokyo ladies had smirks so large, that you could see them from the studio booth at the top of the stadium. They were tired from the game earlier in the day, but they had enough energy that they could set fire to the court with their looks alone. They were ready to pull all the stops out.

"Usagi, is it just me, or are they glaring at us?" Naomi, the vice-captain, glanced at her captain. The color on her face had completely evaporated.

Usagi shrugged indifferently and glanced over at her teammates "If yer feeling sick, tell Coach to bench ya." She took a good look at the people across the net and snorted a bit. They beat them once, so they could beat them again easily.

"You're so cold." Naomi pouted and got to warm up with her teammates.

Tsukibahara glared at Mitsumi down the sidelines. Their eyes locked in a firey fury for a moment. The current assistant coach was irritated that she couldn't be the one playing on the court. She knew her ladies had some new tricks up their sleeves. And to her enjoyment, the captain was benched for the game.

...

"Is it just me, or is it like a trillion degrees in here?" Takuma was fanning himself with Watanabe's clipboard. The first set had just started with Makoto serving. The rally was already showing that it was going to be a long one.

"I think I'm gonna puke." Bokuto and Ichiyama were both holding their stomachs. The tension was too much to bear.

Suga took a look around at his teammates. And as he suspected, they were looking like total idiots. Takuma was looking like he ran a marathon. Bokuto and Ichiyama were dying. Watanabe looked like she had seen a ghost. Matsuda and Yamamura had their hands clapped in front of them as if they were praying. "You guys are saying your prayers already?! Get a grip!" Even though he said that he too was praying that this match would end well. He and Kuroo seemed to be the only ones unaffected by the insane tension in the room.

"This is nothing, boys." Coach Ueno had found the team. "Wait until they get to play Miyagi. If they make it to that point."

The scores were tied 4-4 and it didn't look like it was going to budge any sooner. Yuki watched as Mitsumi set the ball to her. The sneaky setter flipped her wrist down as the ball went over the net. She hit straight down.

"Oops, guess we got the breakpoint." The blue-haired girl looked at Usagi through the net with a devilish smile. That was a long rally. If it kept going that way, then there was no way they were all going to see the end of the game.

And with that, Coach Yamata called for a time-out. It was a bit of an unusual time for one, but something in his gut was telling him something was off. He watched the girls guzzle down water like there was a drought.

"I think we can all agree they are trying to draw the rallies out." He looked at the semi-circle of players around him. "How is everyone feeling?"

"Pretty great!" Uehara flashed an enthusiastic grin.

Nomiya nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm just starting to get pissed off that it's getting harder and harder to score." The blocker clenched her jaw.

"Make them dive for the ball." Mitsumi subconsciously rubbed the side of her knee brace. "It's going to take a lot more energy for them to dive than it is to do anything else. Mina has a preference for pancaking every dig she can get. And the others seem to avoid diving receptions at all costs." She had already picked out Kyoto's defenses. "Just like Tsukibahara."

"I'll set lower so we can get some nasty faints." Yuki's idea was brilliant. If she could set the ball faster and at a lower height, the spikers wouldn't have to worry about breaking through their insane blockers. Obviously, she couldn't do that consistently, but it was another tool she had.

Shimura smirked and crossed her arms, "Sounds like a strat to me."

"Tsukibahara has been giving me dirty looks since we got on the court. So go give those Kyoto tyrants a lesson in etiquette." Coach Yamata heard the buzzer go off, signaling the end of the time-out.

"OSU!" The girls ran back to their places on the court.

It was Takahashi's serve. The boys were shouting at the top of their lungs. "GIVE THEM A GOOD ONE!" And she sure delivered on that serve. You could hear the ball whiz across the court.

Bokuto's arms shot in the air. "SERVICE ACE!!!!!"

The next serve got up. Mitsumi was eyeing the ball as Usagi came in for a spike. The opposing captain was met with three blockers who were determined to shut her out. Mitsumi got herself ready just in case it broke through. When the ball came toward her, she saw that Yuki was to the left of her. "Left!"

Uehara was catching onto the play, "Over here!" The set Yuki gave her was lower than usual, just as planned. She jumped up as if she would smack it into the blockers and let her fingers push the ball down over the net. The point was theirs 5-4.

...

The first two sets climbed high up into the thirties. Kyoto had surprisingly turned the first set around and taken it 36-34. Tokyo took the second set 30-28. Everyone on the court was running on pure adrenaline. Many of the spectators were starting to worry that the players were going to hurt themselves.

Mitsumi's legs were burning in the last rotation. She sat on the bench to rest completely out of breath. They had played her own game and used it against her. She wiped her sweaty face with a towel and slouched over.

Shimura held a water bottle out for Mitsumi. "Weird to see you slouching." The pianist had almost always sat with perfect posture. "Is your knee doing alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be good when I go back in." Mitsumi gratefully took the water and took a sip. She fell dangerously quiet as she took a look at the court. Center court was the most thrilling place to play. And this game was worthy of it. Her eyes looked up into the stands. The men's team had left earlier and were now playing their match against Sapporo University. Part of her couldn't help but worry. This stadium is going to burn down at this rate.

The Kyoto University fans were decked out in maroon and gold. Their matching banner read "Defenders of Tradition". It fits Kyoto perfectly. Their home city was one of the oldest in the country. The fans cheered as the scoreboard went to 17-16 in their favor.

Mitsumi's eyes moved down to their bench. Tsukibahara was talking to the head coach about something. Her guess was that they would use their last time out when Tokyo scored the next point. Right now, Naomi was in the front about to set the ball.

"She's going to dump it," Mitsumi said out loud.

Coach Yamata and Shimura glanced down at the libero in shock. But then again, this was expected from a former national champion. Her cat-like observational skills were still perfectly intact despite being exhausted. "You really freak me out, Mitsumi." The Coach admitted. Her observation was creepily correct.

Makoto managed to save the ball and get it to Yuki, who in turn dumped the ball. She had become a totally different player. Maybe it was her petty nature breaking through the surface. Whatever it was, nobody had seen her play this way before.

"Nomiya is in the back row. That's my cue." Mitsumi stood up and walked to the substitution spot. She gave the blocker a high five as they switched.

...

Tsukishima smirked and crossed his arms. "I guess they have a petty setter too." His snarky comment made Kageyama glare at the bean pole and grumble.

"It's called playing a game." Kageyama retorted.

"Whatever, your majesty."

Tanaka clapped his hand over his mouth and laughed. "Birds of a feather flock together."

Nishinoya admired the tight ship his cousin was running. Her skills were really starting to shine. He was cheering every time she could nail a crazy dig. At one point, he could have sworn Mitsumi had practically fallen into the splits. "That's my cousin!!!" He yelled from the sidelines.

Mitsumi's body was screaming at her. But hearing her cousin gave her the energy to keep going. He really picked a good match to come too.

"They all look so tired," Hinata mumbled before exploding. "GAHH! I want to play a team like Kyoto!!!!" He rubbed his hands in his hair furiously.

Ennoshita sighed and shook his head. "We just did... How do you have so much energy?"

...

The final whistle blew. The stands erupted into a roar. The final score was 38-36. Had Kyoto scored one more point, the game would have gone into the 40s. The Tokyo University Women's Volleyball Team had barely pulled off their second victory of the day.

Hearing the roars of the crowd was a massive relief. The girls had no energy left. They were all hunched over heaving or kneeling on the court because their legs gave out. And this match was the first of their concerns.

Mitsumi straightened herself out and put the most evil-looking smirk she could on. "Take that Tsukibahara."

Usagi's eyes widened as she turned around and looked at her teammates. "Let's line up. We fought well."

Mina and Naomi looked at each other and gave each other a reassuring pat on the back. The whole team was going to be getting scolded during their after-game meeting. They noticed the very annoyed look on Tsukibahara's face that was the polar opposite of Coach Inosuke's. The head coach was beaming with excitement. This was the best game the girls had played in a long time.

Kuroo could hear the familiar chants from the middle of the stadium. They were just about to take the first set. He had just been subbed out for Ichiyama and was on the side now. "I think the girls won."

"It's about time. That took them a while." Yamamura gave Kuroo a fist bump.

...

Reporters flocked the players of both teams as they finished cooking down. Shimura and Yuki were talking to one reporter about some of the plays that happened. Nomiya seemed to be enjoying her shot at screen time. And Mitsumi was about to curse Volleyball Monthly for following up on her previous interview.

"How does it feel to be moving onto the quarter-finals?"

"Eh... I'm going to sound blunt, but I am relieved." Mitsumi didn't really care how she sounded at the moment. She had massive dark circles under her eyes.

The reporter was a bit taken aback by that. "Was there anything notable from today's matches that really stuck with you?"

"Kyoto University really lives up to their expectations." The libero rubbed her neck. "Their coaches should be proud that they played strong." She was just being a little too nice. But in reality, they played an insanely good game.

Mitsumi escaped to the storage room where her bags were as fast as she could. Some of her teammates were fast asleep on the floor. Makoto was laying stomach down on the bench using her bunched-up jacket as a pillow. She took her phone and snapped a few photos of everyone that was sleeping. She wasn't about to miss that opportunity.

For as much as she wanted to go over to the boy's game, Mitsumi didn't have the energy. So, she decided to take her earbuds out of her case and watch the match on her phone. If anything crazy happened, then she would go down there. And then she saw him. Daishou Suguru, the freaking sneaky snake of Nohebi.

Her brown eyes shot open wide. It looked like the snake boy had been subbed in for one of the other spikers. Mitsumi could see how pissed off Kuroo was, and she was laughing at him.

Matsuki caught sight as she returned from the restroom. "Everything good?"

"Bruh, Kuroo looks pissed." Mitsumi pointed to her screen. "Daishou is literally his sworn enemy. He's known for dirty plays. I'm surprised that Sapporo took him." She was cut off by a shot of Koushi jumping higher than the net and hitting a line shot. "But that man is the one I love."

"Didn't know he could spike like THAT. Look at that sexy beast of yours." Matsuki winked and nudged Mitsumi. "Want to go down with me? I have to give Watanabe a first aid kit. Riza is with Captain getting another ice pack." She held out a can of Dr. Pepper to her fledgling and place a finger over her lips.

Mitsumi took the can and opened it with glittering eyes. It was just the liquid she needed. She took a sip of her holy fizzy liquid and got up as the caffeine hit her system. "You are an ANGEL!" She thanked her senior as they stepped into the hallway.

Matsuki shrugged, "It's no biggie." She pulled a travel-sized first aid kit out of her jacket pocket. "I'm surprised you aren't sleeping like the others."

"I would be if I could. I'd rather go to bed early than nap and risk not sleeping at all." Mitsumi rubbed her neck and finished off her drink. She crushed the can in one hand and tossed it in a nearby trash bin.

Watanabe saw the two liberos at the view spot and ran over. "Oh my gosh. Thank you so much. We ran out of tape and Suga and Matsuda jammed their fingers." She looked like she was about to explode from her stress.

Matsuki smiled warmly, "Don't worry about it!" She handed the kit to the manager, who then dashed off to give the tape to the players.

Mitsumi gave Suga a tired smile and a big thumbs up. A sign of sure victory on her end. This elicited the world's biggest grin from him which made some of his teammate's swoon and poke some fun at him. They were about to start the second set. There was a high probability they could take it. Given that Daishou didn't taint his team with his cheating ways. Which so far, wasn't the case.

She had never seen the men play an official match this close before. Matsuki watched the thick-skinned libero's eyes go all googly. She was in love and she didn't realize it. The older woman just enjoyed watching Chie's innocent reactions. She was in her second year of marriage. Her husband had graduated two semesters ago and worked full-time in a publishing office.

"You know, Mitsumi, you go all googly eyes watching your man." Matsuki looked down at her counterpart. "When do you think he will pop the ring?" She nudged the shorter girl with a teasing look.

"R-Ring?!" Mitsumi's face exploded into a blush, "I don't think that'll happen anytime soon! B-Besides! K-Koushi is my f-first serious relationship." She wasn't ready for THAT. She stumbled over her words and played with her fingers. Marriage definitely hadn't crossed her mind.

"Uh-hmm." Matsuki wiggled her eyebrows before standing up straight. "Whatever you say, hun. We should have a girls' night!"

Mitsumi shook her head, "Not tonight. I'm wiped. But we can go to breakfast together in the morning!" She looked up to her much more experienced senpai. Besides, she had some questions for her.

"That sounds like a deal to me, sis."

...

"And the crowd goes wild for the Bokuto Beam! Sugawara nailed a tough back row set clear from the right corner that was slammed onto the ten-foot line by Bokuto! What a sight!" The commentators were eating up their words by using them to shower the frosted-tipped spiker in praise.

The next rally started with Takuma serving. To Kuroo's distaste, he was standing in front of the net across from Daishou. He cracked an amused smirk as he and Matsuda jumped up to block the snake boy's spike.

"Annoying as always, Kuroo." Daishou cursed as he got shut down. It was another loss in his book.

"What can I say? I'm just that good." The former Nekoma captain sported his classic Cheshire cat grin.

Matsuda shivered, "Bro, you're cold."

"We're going to the SEMIFINALS!!!" Ichiyama and Takuma high fived each other.

Bokuto kept making superhero poses with Yamamura for no apparent reason. Koushi had a tired grin. He was ready to roll over and sleep for eternity. Although seeing Mitsumi seemed to be enough to keep him going for now. He just wanted to jump on her in a sweaty hug.

But, she beat him to the punch. The second he stepped off the court, she hugged him tightly. "You were so amazing!!!" Mitsumi was proud of his hard work. "Let's kick some more butt tomorrow." She was so tired that she was acting drunk. And this was always a spectacular sight. This version of a tired Chie was bubbly and very touchy. This side of her was rarely out and only surfaced if she was stressed out or drop-dead tired. This case was the latter.

"Thanks, Chie." Suga gave her a tight hug. "It means a lot that you came and watched." He ruffled her hair with a smile. Her delirious behavior caught him off guard as she clung to him like a koala. His teammates snickered at the scene. Some of them were quick to grab their phones from the pockets of their team jacket to record the fiasco. He shielded her as he tried to get her off of him. "We've got to get moving, Chie. The idiots are recording us."

...

Well, things didn't exactly go as planned. Tokyo and Kyoto's busses were parked right next to each other. The ladies were happily chatting with each other. Despite having played against each other, everyone seemed to get along. Except those two.

Coach Inosuke grabbed Tsukibahara's ear and tugged her down. "Act like the mature one, will you." She needed her assistant to work through her personal issues.

The tall blonde grumbled some curses as she rubbed her throbbing ear. She shoved her hands in her pockets and trudged her way over to Mitsumi. She was talking with Mina about flexibility regiments and exchanging numbers with some of the others. Something about future planning. Tsukibahara cleared her throat. "Mitsumi, can we have a chat?" She said in an oddly less threatening manner.

Mitsumi's heart stopped beating. Was she in trouble? Was she going to die? "S-Sure!" She turned towards Naomi and Mina, "I'll be right back!" She followed Tsukibahara to a quieter spot away from everyone.

"Sorry for treating you like a piece of trash." Tsukibahara flew through her sentence. She didn't want to make this more awkward than she had to. "It was a good game today."

Mitsumi wasn't sure how to take this. Her brain had completely short-circuited. An apology from a sworn enemy? She wasn't buying it. "Huh?! Did something happen? The official Red Rockets Libero is apologizing to a lowly university student? How likely." Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mitsumi Chie to another roast fest. "What bet did you lose?" Roasting other people was really the only time the young lady felt remotely confident.

Tsukibahara refused to bow to the younger girl. Instead, she pulled her phone out and opened an email. It was from Coach Fushigi, the head coach of the Women's National Team. "I didn't make it this year. I'm sorry for putting you through so much trouble."

Well, this was a turn of events. Mitsumi felt her heart sink into her stomach. Being the empath she was, she couldn't help but feel bad. She knew the feeling of trying her best and failing all too well. "If you really mean it, then stop picking fights." Those were the only words Mitsumi could come up with.

"Give Miyagi some serious trouble for me then, kid. Your team is something else." Tsukibahara smirked a bit. She knew that the student had accepted the apology. "Tell me what happens to you." She pulled up her contacts list and handed the girl her phone. "I'm sure you'll be hearing from Fushigi soon."

Mitsumi put her number in. This was bizarre and incredibly awkward. "There..." She handed her the phone back. "And I will be sure too."

...

"At Number 7, we have Tokyo University Men's Team Middle Blockers Kanagawa Takuma and Kuroo Tetsuro pulling off a scary shutdown against Sapporo University's ace, Ebihara Yousuke. I can only imagine how frustrating that must have been" The players were all watching the nightly broadcast in the conference room again. The room erupted into cheers. Takuma and Kuroo high-fived each other for making it into the top 10 plays of the day.

Yuki spun around in her swivel chair with her hands in the air. "Heck yeah, bro! Number 7!"

"It was worth the sprained fingers." Takuma played off the praise.

Kuroo smirked, "And you guys kept saying he was a tough cookie."

"Well, we did lose the first set because of him." Bokuto kicked his legs out in front of him and propped them up on the empty chair across from him. "But we won, so WHOOP!!!"

Ishida shot up, catching her team pop up on the screen. "Guys! Shh!!!"

"Tokyo University Women's team is really on fire this year. At Number 3, we see their Number 4, a fan favorite libero,  Mitsumi Chie nailing a dig that required her to go into the splits against Kyoto University." The room erupted into an even louder ruckus. Which made Shimura have to turn up the volume. "The ball made it straight to the setter, Kanagawa Yuki, for her to flawlessly dump. Talk about some insane connection!"

Suga had his arm around Mitsumi as they sat on the floor, against the wall. He pulled her in closer and rubbed her arm. "Top 3 highlights! Congratulations!" He grinned.

Mitsumi turned bright red as everyone turned to look at her. "This is so embarrassing!!!" She squeaked and hid her burning face in her jacket.

"Dude! Your flexibility is ANIMAL LIKE!" Makoto jumped up onto her feet. "I'd snap my hamstrings if I did that!"

Matsuki and Ichiyama nodded in agreement. Even they couldn't do that. They were more flexible than their teammates, but nothing like her. The news eventually turned to some interviews and additional commentary. Everyone settled into some comfortable banter and conversations.

"None of my spikes made it into the top 10..." Bokuto's hair deflated. He crossed his arms with a disappointed pout.

Oh no! Emo mode! Everyone had the same thought at the same time. They should have seen this coming.

"They might have not made it today, but I bet it will tomorrow!!!" Yamamura patted Bokuto's shoulder in an effort to cheer him up.

Makoto nodded in agreement, "There will be more people at the quarter-finals watching you!"

Nothing was working. And everyone was running out of ideas fast. Suga looked through his phone for a particular contact. This really was the last resort. "He better pick up..." he mumbled underneath his breath.

"Don't tell me..." Mitsumi lifted her head from his shoulder as she saw the contact name. She let out a sigh. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Akaashi picked up the video call request reluctantly. He was sitting in his team's room at the inn. "Sugawara, is everything alright?" He could hear the ruckus in the room.

Suga sighed heavily and flipped the camera so that he could see a sad-looking owl. "We need some assistance."

"Hey, Bo! A certain someone wants to talk to you." Mitsumi winked as she watched Bokuto spin in his chair to face her and Suga.

Suga handed him his phone. "Thanks, Akaashi." He thanked the Fukurodani High School setter.

"AGGGAAASSHHIII!!!!" Bokuto wailed to everyone's surprise. They had all heard stories about the legendary babysitter. Shimura, Yuki, and Takuma had witnessed Akaashi work his odd magic once before. Nobody understood Bokuto at all. Except for his former setter. Their bond was complicated.

Akaashi sighed, "Stop crying and embarrassing your teammates. More people will be watching your spikes now that you've made it to the top 8 teams." He had an icy stare that pierced through the screen. In all honesty, he was surprised he hadn't received a call like this sooner from Sugawara or Kuroo.

To everyone's relief, this seemed to work. Bokuto leaped to his feet and held onto Suga's phone. "I get it! I get it! I'll look even cooler tomorrow!!!"

"Whatever you say, Bokuto..." Everyone sighed heavily. All they cared about was the fact that the crisis was averted.

...

Mitsumi was in her room with Koushi talking about their day. He insisted on braiding her hair, so she let him. Kuroo and Bokuto had left once the snacks were gone. They were all wiped, but it seemed that Chie's brain wasn't going to let her rest.

"Did you get to see the Karasuno boys?" She yawned and leaned forward. Mitsumi's legs were out in front of her, so she was laying flat on top of her legs. Koushi gently pushed on her back to help her stretch out. A wave of relaxation rushed over her muscles.

He couldn't help but gently massage her shoulders. "I did. We got a picture together." Suga smiled at the memory. "Can you stretch me out too?"

She nodded and sat up slowly. "I'm glad you did!" Mitsumi switched spots with him. "And sure, I can. Tell me if I push too hard." She pushed on his back as he reached for his toes. Unlike her, he could only touch his toes. He wasn't capable of completely flopping over. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His muscles were sore from the day. Mitsumi caught onto this his expression and eased the pressure.

"Are you not sore?" Suga relaxed after he finished stretching. He felt something warm press against his temple and smiled gently.

"No. Mostly because Nomiya's famous massage came in the clutch today." She stood up and flopped face-first onto her bed. The bed dipped beside her as Suga followed her actions. They stared at each other and randomly started to laugh. It was the small things that brought the most joy despite the grand achievements of the couple.