The final stretch of the match felt completely different from the beginning.

Nobody underestimated anyone anymore.

Every rally lasted longer.

Every point had to be earned.

I could feel it in the way everyone moved. The easy smiles from warmups had disappeared, replaced by complete concentration. Even the crowd seemed quieter, waiting to see who would break first.

I kept moving.

Left.

Right.

Forward.

Back.

I wasn't thinking about scoring anymore.

I was thinking about making life miserable for the blockers.

Every time they looked at me, I ran somewhere else. Every time they hesitated, someone behind me found an opening. Every time they committed to stopping me, Kageyama calmly sent the ball to another attacker.

Volleyball was weird.

I was having the time of my life.

"Hinata!"

Daichi called.

"Decoy!"

"Got it!"

I sprinted toward the middle with everything I had.

Three blockers reacted.

Three.

I almost laughed.

Asahi thundered a spike into the completely open left side of the court.

The ball hit the floor.

The whistle blew.

Match point.

The gym erupted into cheers.

I looked around, breathing hard.

"...Wait."

Tanaka grinned at me.

"One more."

Right.

One more.

The opposing team gathered together.

Their captain was talking quickly.

Everyone looked exhausted.

One blocker bent over, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Another kept rubbing his thighs as if they had stopped listening to him completely. They were still glancing at me every few seconds, almost expecting me to take off at any moment.

Coach folded his arms.

"Finish it."

Nobody answered.

Nobody needed to.

The whistle echoed through the gym.

The final rally began.

The serve crossed the net.

Nishinoya wasn't there.

For a second that thought crossed my mind.

Then Asahi stepped in.

A clean receive.

Kageyama moved.

I moved.

The blockers moved with me.

Everything happened in a blur.

I exploded toward the right antenna.

The middle blocker chased.

I slammed on the brakes.

Turned.

Accelerated back through the middle.

The outside blocker switched.

Too late.

Kageyama never looked at me.

Instead—

He tossed the ball behind the block.

Daichi.

BOOM!

The spike hammered the floor.

The referee's whistle cut through the gym.

"Game!"

For half a heartbeat...

Nobody moved.

Then Karasuno exploded.

"YES!"

Tanaka threw both fists into the air.

Nishinoya nearly fell off the bench cheering despite his injured wrist.

Sugawara clapped loudly.

Asahi smiled so widely I barely recognized him.

Daichi let out a long breath before smiling toward all of us.

Even Kageyama...

Actually...

No.

He still looked serious.

Although...

Maybe the corner of his mouth twitched.

Maybe.

I was choosing to believe it did.

I couldn't stop smiling.

We'd won.

My first real volleyball match.

And we'd won.

We lined up at the net.

"BOW!"

Everyone bowed together.

"Thank you very much!"

The Nekoma players bowed back.

Their captain caught my eye for just a second.

Then smiled.

A tired smile.

"You."

He pointed at me.

"...You're annoying."

I blinked.

"...Thank you?"

His teammates laughed.

"I don't think that was a compliment."

"Oh."

I scratched my head.

"...Then... sorry?"

Now even the Nekoma captain laughed.

"Nah."

He shook his head.

"Good game."

"Good game!"

As everyone shook hands and began walking away, I looked back once.

The blockers were still talking to each other.

One of them sighed dramatically.

"I never want to chase that guy again."

"...Sorry?"

He pointed at me.

"...Not really."

I grinned sheepishly.

Coach called everyone together after we left the court.

"Good work."

Everyone answered together.

"Thank you!"

Coach nodded.

"We have thirty minutes."

Thirty minutes?

"Drink."

Everyone grabbed water bottles immediately.

"Stretch."

Half the team groaned.

"No excuses."

More groaning.

Coach ignored it.

"Then we prepare for the next match."

The team scattered.

Some stretched.

Some sat down.

Some immediately started talking about the last game.

I dropped onto the floor with my water bottle and emptied nearly half of it in one go.

"...I'm alive."

Tanaka laughed.

"Barely."

"My legs are still running."

"That's because you never stopped."

"...Fair."

A few minutes later, Coach called me over.

I expected another lesson.

Instead he simply handed me a sports drink.

"You earned this."

I blinked.

"...Thanks."

He nodded once before walking away.

Simple.

Quiet.

But somehow...

It meant a lot.

I looked around the gym while sipping my drink.

There were matches happening everywhere.

Whistles.

Cheering.

Different colored uniforms.

It felt like an entire world I'd never known existed.

Then...

My eyes caught black and white jerseys.

Not crows.

Owls.

A team was warming up on the neighboring court.

One player stood out immediately.

He was tall.

Really tall.

Wild silver-and-black hair.

Broad shoulders.

And he was laughing.

Loudly.

Ridiculously loudly.

He spiked a ball during warmups with enough force that people turned to look.

"...Whoa."

Then he turned.

Just for a second.

Our eyes met.

He froze.

I froze.

No way.

There was absolutely—

No.

Way.

His golden eyes grew wider.

Mine probably did too.

He pointed.

Directly at me.

"...Shouyo?"

I shot to my feet so fast I nearly dropped my bottle.

"KOUTAROU?!"

Every head nearby turned.

The tall player's face lit up like someone had switched on a stadium floodlight.

"SHOUYOOOOOO!"

He took off running.

I took off running too.

Neither of us cared that there were people between us.

We dodged players.

Skipped benches.

Nearly crashed into a referee.

"KOUTAROU!"

"SHOUYO!"

The moment we reached each other, Bokuto scooped me clean off the floor in a crushing hug.

"WAAAAAH!"

"I CAN'T BREATHE!"

"YOU GOT TALLER!"

"...YOU GOT HUGE!"

He laughed loudly enough that three nearby courts looked over.

"I MISSED YOU!"

"I MISSED YOU TOO!"

He finally put me down.

Then immediately grabbed my shoulders.

"When did you start playing volleyball?!"

I blinked.

"...A month ago."

Silence.

Bokuto stared.

"...What?"

"A month ago."

"...No."

"Yes."

"...No."

"Yes."

He looked at me.

Then toward Karasuno.

Then back at me.

"...You just played against Nekoma."

"Yeah!"

"...After one month?"

"...Yeah?"

He looked genuinely horrified.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'YEAH'?!"

I tilted my head.

"...Was I not supposed to?"

Before Bokuto could answer, a calm voice called from behind him.

"Bokuto."

A tall boy with neat black-and-white hair walked over, carrying a volleyball under one arm.

His expression was completely composed.

Unlike Bokuto's.

"Practice starts again in ten minutes."

"I KNOW!"

Bokuto pointed dramatically at me.

"BUT IT'S SHOUYO!"

The other boy looked at me.

Then at Bokuto.

Then back at me.

"...The Shouyo?"

"THE SHOYO!"

I frowned.

"...The?"

Bokuto wrapped an arm around my shoulders with an enormous grin.

"Our parents have been friends forever!"

He laughed.

"We used to race all the time!"

I laughed too.

"And you always cheated!"

"I DID NOT!"

"You took shortcuts!"

"I TOOK SMART ROUTES!"

"THAT'S CHEATING!"

"It isn't!"

The calm boy watched us in silence.

Then sighed.

"I can see why you're friends."

Bokuto beamed.

"RIGHT?!"

I couldn't stop smiling.

I hadn't seen Koutarou in years.

Years.