Sometimes after you beat a level, there's a hidden boss waiting for you.

The hidden boss is meant to take down the unaware, so don't be surprised if it has a trick up its sleeve.

Miss. Chiyuri watched as Karasuno's number 10 missed the ball. He and the setter had the right idea, but they were incredibly out of sync after changing the tactic so suddenly. The captain managed to save it just in time, knocking it over the net.

"Nice save, Daichi-san," Nishinoya called.

"Front, front!" Yamamoto yelled. Inuoka did a diving receive.

"Nice, Inuoka!" Yaku said proudly. Kenma positioned himself under the ball.

"Bring it!" Yamamoto yelled as he raised his right hand. Kenma in return called his name, bouncing the ball of his forearms to pass it to Yamamoto. Yamamoto jumped, but then was shut out. Just before the ball hit the floor, Kai dove in and saved it.

"Wow, the supporting players on both teams are doing a good job."

Chiyuri turned around slightly to see two older males, one blonde and one black-haired, standing by the railing. She assumed they must've been connected with Karasuno. Most likely alumni or possibly someone related? Maybe even past or current volleyball players.

"They're not flashy, but they keep the ball in play," the black haired male said. "There wouldn't be a match without them."

Chiyuri wanted to agree but her voice caught in her throat awkwardly at the prospect of speaking to the random men spectating the practice. Instead, she spun back around to face the court. The point isn't given until one of the teams drops the ball. It's a race to see who will be the first to do so. Having strong receivers on a team is vital to being able to keep a ball in play and get another chance to score.

The girl snapped out of her thoughts as she heard Kenma's name being called. The pudding haired boy was setting yet another ball to Yamamoto who didn't seem fazed by being blocked at all and energetically called for another ball.

"Even if I'm only average on offense," Yamamoto said as he ran forward toward the net, "I'm still Nekoma's ace!" Yamamoto sent a strong spike past the three blockers in front of him, knocking their hands back as he scored the point. He landed with a triumphant yell.

Chiyuri sighed slightly.

"Yamamoto!" She called just loud enough for the ace to hear her. He turned slightly to face her direction. "You're going to bite your tongue if you talk too much when sprinting."

Kuroo, Yaku and Inuoka snickered despite Chiyuri saying it genuinely out of worry. Yamamoto turned on them, yelled at them to shut up and stop laughing.

"Taketora-san is more fired up than usual," Shibayama said from between Coach Nekomata and Chiyuri.

"Karasuno's team has a similar kind of guy," Coach Nekomata smirked. "Maybe that's why. Or maybe he got inspired by the battle between Inuoka and #10."

Ah, yes. Chiyuri thought as her gaze fell on the second year Karasuno member who matched Yamamoto's energy correctly. The one who called me 'city' girl. She was quite amused by the way he said it. She shook her head slightly, going back to her notebook as she wrote down a small note on Yamamoto's match up. Either it would turn into a fierce rivalry or it would be a lively friendship.

"The duo with the freak quick attack isn't syncing up anymore though," Shibayama frowned, nodding his head toward Hinata and Kageyama.

"They're out of sync because they're training a new quick," Chiyuri supplied without looking up from her notebook. "The two of them will have to keep training, but once the number 10 has a unique set of skills..."

"...that duo will cease being an oni and his iron club," Coach Nekomata filled in for Chiyuri, his facial expression showing how much he looked forward to when that time would come. "They'll become a pair of oni." Chiyuri nodded in agreement.

Chiyuri didn't admit it aloud, but she was actually really looking forward to seeing the development of their quick. The Karasuno duo was a scary duo despite them both being first years. As far as she knew from the brief talks with Tsukishima, they actually were fighting with each other and almost completely kicked out of the club. Considering that, it was a wonder that they somehow had one hell of a synchronized quick, even if it was imperfect. She could tell just from observing that the two of them were growing quickly. Her grey eyes gleamed, wishing she would have the opportunity to see them play again.

I want to play against them.

Chiyuri shuffled a bit in her seat, getting antsy as she wished desperately to be able to play against opponents like Karasuno. She wanted to face off against their godlike quick and she wanted to receive it. It was like an adrenaline rush when that feeling of pride for overcoming a powerful move washed over.

Despite just thinking that the Karasuno team would be (eventually) a formidable opponent, Chiyuri winced as she watched the orange-haired boy receive Kenma's serve to the face. Perhaps a bit more work on their receives would do them some good. Nishinoya covered for Hinata, setting the ball to Karasuno's number 5.

"All right!" Tanaka yelled as he sprinted forward. "Asahi-San's not the only one who can score in a pinch."

Tanaka spiked hard, blowing away the block. The ball flew off to the left of Inuoka and Yamamoto's block after hitting their hands, landing on Nekoma's side and earning Karasuno a point. The two energetic second years from Karasuno chanted their cheers, staring directly at Yamamoto as the Nekoma ace got riled up.

It seemed like there were interesting pairs across the court; Yamamoto versus Tanaka, Inuoka versus Hinata, Yaku versus Nishinoya and Kenma versus Kageyama. Chiyuri almost snickered as she brought up the last one in her mind. She knew that Kenma would absolutely hate it, but he somehow hadn't noticed how Karasuno's setter seemed to be keeping an eye on Kenma's moves. It seemed like he targeted the setter since he was one himself.

"They influence each other in a tight battle," Coach Nekomata said as the teams watched Inuoka and Hinata race side by side in the net across the court. "At times, they push each other's abilities to new heights. They are indeed rivals."

Hinata was fast, but Inuoka was also getting used to his movements. It was simply a race to see who could adjust first and counter their opponents. Unfortunately, Inuoka lost the race this time as Hinata managed to spike the ball one beat ahead of Inuoka making the block. Yaku dove for it, but was just short of it as it hit the court floor. Karasuno's cheers rang out briefly before Inuoka and Hinata's eyes met. They held their gazes, then turned away, shouting the same thing.

"One more!"

The next point went to Nekoma as Yamamoto spiked the ball and it ricocheted off of Tanaka's arms and headed to the back of Karasuno's side. Nekoma now had a three point lead at 15-18 and the positions rotated. Inuoka who had been matched up with Hinata for most of the round was now in the back to serve and Kuroo rotated up.

Ah, the out-of-sync spikes they've been practicing won't work against Kuroo-Senpai... Chiyuri thought as Kuroo leered down at Hinata. Her grey orbs met Kenma's golden ones and they both sighed as Kuroo stared forward, towering over the first year. Kenma pointed to Kuroo and then made a face that told Chiyuri he was so done with the third year and his constant need to provoke the other team. Chiyuri smiled in agreement, having met with it first hand when he teased her and tried to rile her up in one of their warm up matches earlier in the day.

"Inuoka's 20 centimeters taller than you, and yet you've played an even match." They heard Kuroo's voice by the net. "That's amazing, Chibi-Chan."

Chiyuri could almost swear that she could see Kuroo's smirk on the back of his head as Hinata basically puffed up, getting defensive over his height.

"You can call me Chibi, but you're the real Chibi!" Hinata attempted to retort. Kuroo's smirk didn't drop as the insult meant nothing to him. He watched as Kageyama pulled the short boy away by the back of his collar, the intimidating look on his face not leaving.

"Kuroo looks dumb," Kenma said as he walked to the sideline where Chiyuri was standing. He pointed to where Kuroo was standing at the net, his hands raised to level with his head and his fingers spread as if he was waiting to block.

"Kenma!" Chiyuri couldn't help but let out a small 'pft' as she tried to contain her laughter at Kenma's blunt comment. The pudding-haired boy tilted his head slightly upon seeing her smile that she tried to hide. She really was changing quite quickly since they had first met. He doubted that she would've smiled so freely in front of so many people before. He smiled ever so slightly, but then turned away before Chiyuri could see. His small smile turned into a confused frown as he pondered in his own mind, not quite understanding his own actions and why he felt the way he did whenever he saw her smile now.

"Inuoka, nice serve!" Yaku called from the side since Nekoma was serving first. Karasuno's libero received the serve, sending it to Kageyama and the Karasuno duo performed their freak quick, ending the rally in one go. No one on the Nekoma team had time to react as the ball hit the ground. They took a couple steps back since Inuoka was no longer vanguard and couldn't tag Hinata, but it wasn't back to square one.

"Sorry, sorry," Kuroo smiled sheepishly. "I didn't react at all."

"Kuroo-San, don't worry!" Inuoka cheered him on.

"That sure was amazing," Kuroo said offhandedly. "Those guys are what you call superhuman... Okay, then..." A confident, terrifying smirk came across Kuroo's face as Kenma glanced at the third year slightly, his expression showing his disinterested. "Let's get that point back."

Hinata served the next ball, to which Yaku received it cleanly. Kenma barely had to move at all as the ball came straight to him from above. Around him, Kai, Inuoka and Yamamoto scrambled about, coming together in one large mess.

"Who's getting this one?" Chiyuri heard from behind her.

"It's gotta be that strong-looking guy..."

Wrong. Chiyuri thought with a small smirk. The timing of Kenma's set and Yamamoto's spike aren't lining up at all.

Indeed, as Yamamoto reached the highest point of his spike, Kenma had just touched the ball. Yamamoto swung, hitting empty air, but he and the other two in front did their job of thwarting the three blockers and opening the way for Fukunaga to get a clean spike in. Hinata received it with his face, yet again.

"Chance ball!" Kuroo called as it went back over the net to their side. He easily received the chance ball, then followed it up with a perfect A quick. Karasuno had been too worked up on over-analyzing Nekoma's movements to realize that he was doing an A quick.

Nekoma isn't a one trick pony, Chiyuri thought as she wrote down a few notes about Kuroo's quick. You showed your cards too early so we got used to it, but Nekoma has more strategies up our sleeves. Don't think you'll be getting a win on us today, baby crows.

Chiyuri glanced to Karasuno's side, her eyes meeting Tsukishima's as he frowned. She took a second, her eyes sparkling innocently at the boy, but the calmness of the girl only sent shivers down his spine. The fact that she remained so composed and confident meant that this would most likely be a pretty one-sided match. A grown cat versus a newborn crow.

"All right, my serve." Yamamoto called raising his hand for the ball. He took his position behind the line and waited for the referee to blow the whistle.

"Yamamoto, nice serve!"

The ace performed a standard serve, but it still seemed to take Karasuno a bit off guard as Tanaka received it awkwardly and called for a cover. Their libero got the second hit, sending it to their ace who spiked it.

"Nice receive, Yaku-Senpai!" Chiyuri called as the third year gave a solid receive. Despite not having seen much of Asahi's spikes, it was a feat to receive it so well. He was Karasuno's ace after all. Yaku sent her a wide smile, happy to have her comment. It didn't last long as the two of them turned back to the game right as Kuroo and Kenma performed a time-lag attack.

"Nice toss!" Kuroo said as he slapped Kenma's hand downwards. Kenma remained silent but accepted the compliment as Yamamoto called a 'nice kill' to Kuroo.

"We're at twenty points," Chiyuri said to the two coaches. Coach Nekomata smirked, knowing that Nekoma had the game in their bag. From the other side, they heard the grumbles of Coach Ukai, and the older grey-haired coach chuckled and sent a victorious smirk over.

Suddenly, Coach Ukai stood up, causing Chiyuri to look over in confusion. They had already used both their timeouts, so he couldn't be calling another. Instead, he raised his voice and shouted to his players across the court.

"We have no choice but to fight. Pound them with your power and speed!"

Tanaka turned to face his coach, despite the ball being midair.

"In other words, force them to surrender?" There was a scary glint in his eyes as he smiled menacingly.

"That's kind of villainous," the orange haired boy said. He was only met with a loud laugh from his coach.

"Villainous, huh? That's fine." Ukai turned toward the Nekoma team and gave a menacing smirk to the two coaches on the bench. "Ravens are sort of villainous, aren't they?"

"Crows and ravens are two different birds," Chiyuri said calmly under her breath. Coach Naoi and Shibayama heard her and they had to stifle a laugh as she didn't seem fazed at all by Coach Ukai. Coach Nekomata didn't even bother hiding his amusement at Chiyuri's comment as he laughed, but Karasuno either didn't notice or they didn't care.

"We'll make up for our lousy quicks and receives with sheer brute force!" Ukai called to the team on the court. "You guys are rough around the edges and awkward, so use that as your weapon! Wield your weapons with all your might. Attack, attack, and keep on attacking!"

Ukai's speech through their match finished right as Tsukishima blocked Inuoka's spike. The score now read 20-22 in favor of Nekoma still. Nekomata quickly called for a timeout and the team gathered around. Shibayama and Chiyuri quickly handed the teams their water so they could hydrate during their brief rest.

"Don't rush things. Understood?" Nekomata said as he held his hands behind his back.

"Hai!" The team responded.

"Good. Keep your connections solid. Tsukishima-San?"

"Karasuno is strong, but inexperienced and disconnected. Don't panic if they score because Nekoma is a well-oiled machine. As long as you keep moving on the court and stay connected, you'll beat them."

"Hai!"

"It's so nice to hear these words from a pretty manager!" Yamamoto fake cried. Chiyuri smiled a bit awkwardly at the boy, but it only fueled him as his eyes sparkled and he tried to tackle her in a hug.

"Oi, Tora. Stop it." Kenma glared slightly as Kuroo reached over and grabbed Yamamoto by the back of his collar and dragged the second year onto the court. Kenma looked to Chiyuri, as if making sure she wasn't scared off by Yamamoto, but she offered him a bright smile, one that she found herself giving Kenma only, and sent him off with a 'good luck.' Kenma nodded, turning toward the court and ignoring how he felt like his heart was racing faster than usual. It was probably all the exercise they were doing.

Set after set and spike after spike, the rallies started lasting longer as both Nekoma and Karasuno tried to out compete each other. Three points had been scored and two of those were to Karasuno, but Nekoma wasn't discouraged in the slightest. They were doing as they practiced, keeping their connections solid and keeping the ball in play.

The next point went to Nekoma as Kenma performed a setter's dump and put them at match point. Despite it being a fairly normal play, Chiyuri couldn't help but be a little excited.

"Nice point, Kenma!" She had a wide smile on her face as Kenma turned to her and nodded tiredly.

"Oi Kenma," Kuroo dropped a heavy hand on the pudding-haired setter's head. Kenma flinched and looked up to Kuroo who had a teasing smirk on his face. "She's cheering for you."

"She's our manager for this trip, Kuroo," Kenma said with a look of confusion. "She's cheering because Nekoma scored a point."

But she always cheers the loudest for you. Kuroo thought. He turned to look at Chiyuri on the bench, noticing that she was talking with the coaches again. Both of them... seriously. Why do the clueless and most romantically dense have to be the ones that fall the quickest?

"One more point to go!" Kuroo called encouragingly to his team as he turned away from the second years. He would start messing with Kenma later; for now, they had a match to win.

The ball was once again in play and Yamamoto and Tanaka were once again going head to head as they yelled at each other across the net. Chiyuri genuinely wondered how he hadn't bitten his tongue yet through all the unnecessary yelling he was doing as he was playing. She was the complete opposite and rarely talked on court; she was only vocal if she needed to call for a ball or to claim a ball coming toward her. The point went to Karasuno's captain, Daichi, who managed to score past Kai's block as the Nekoma vice captain was just half a beat late.

Coach Nekomata gritted his teeth and sent a discreet glare to Coach Ukai. He thought that Karasuno wouldn't reach this point. If they scored one more, the two teams would be at a deuce.

"That number 3 is vanguard now."

"Don't worry, Coach." Chiyuri's words grabbed his attention as he turned to face the second year. She smiled slightly, but the smile sent shivers down his spine. "The team's receives are solid. We're one point from winning so the team is extra vigilant right now. I believe they'll get the point."

Coach Nekomata took a second, then chuckled at her full trust and belief in the team.

"Having confidence is nice, but don't let it get to your head."

"Don't worry, Coach. My confidence in them isn't just a hunch." With that said, Coach smirked.

The first spike went to Asahi. Right in time, Yaku slid behind the ball and bounced it off his forearms, only to have to ball fly back over the net.

"Kuso. I'm sorry," Yaku called as they watched the ball.

"Azumane, direct spike!" Ukai called.

A coach that is quite loud, Chiyuri thought as she heard Ukai yell. As compared to Nekoma's own two coaches, Ukai was indeed considerably louder. I suppose that each team has their own ways of getting fired up.

"Slam it, Asahi!" Daichi called as Asahi jumped to spike the ball on the first touch. He did just that, but it was thankfully saved by Fukunaga who managed to keep the ball in play despite it going back to Karasuno's side yet again.

"Their chance ball again," Shibayama said worriedly from the bench.

"That's how it is," Nekomata said quite calmly with his arms crossed.

"Huh?" Shibayama looked to the grey-haired coach.

"Even if we lose our bearings, and we can't get in a position to attack, as long as the ball is still in play, we haven't lost."

Chiyuri was about to add something, but her attention was dragged back to the game as Yaku received Hinata's quick, only to have it fly into the net. She watched carefully, observing the team's movements. Kai awkwardly managed to touch the ball on his forearms.

It's still in play.

The ball headed downwards, but it gave Nekoma just enough time to react.

"The team with strong spikes doesn't win..."

Chiyuri watched, her heart pounding as Kenma dove and received the ball with one hand. He managed to use his fist to hit the ball back toward Karasuno in the back. Karasuno, who had prematurely assumed that Nekoma wouldn't be able to receive the ball, didn't react fast enough as it headed toward the back of the court.

"The team that drops the ball loses."

With that, the whistle blew, signaling Nekoma's win.

"That's what it means to 'connect.'"

"All right!" The team yelled as they gathered around Kenma. Chiyuri practically bounced off her seat and made a beeline to Kenma,

"Nice receive, Kenma!" She smiled brightly, another one of those smiles she directed only to him, and held her both her hands up for Kenma to hit. He couldn't help but smile at her sudden spur of energy at their win and clapped their hands together. Before he could say anything, Yamamoto put him in a headlock and began ruffling his hair roughly.

"Kenma, nice!" Kenma couldn't say anything as Yamamoto showed his more aggressive form of affection and Chiyuri could only hide a giggle behind her palm as she watched the two.

"Once more," Hinata called, interrupting Nekoma's cheering. The entire room turned toward the first year in surprise.

"Once more," He called again. "Let's do it."

"Yeah, I'd like that," Nekomata replied easily. Hinata looked to the old coach with an excited smile. "That's what a practice match is for, so we can do it 'once more.'"

Chiyuri took that as her cue to get off the court and let their practice continue. With a small word of encouragement, Chiyuri scurried off the court, hiding the small pang of envy behind her mask. She was itching to play after seeing such a game, but she was no longer a player, much to her dismay.

~~~

Nekoma and Karasuno played four more sets before the sky turned an orange color, hinting that the time was slowly getting later. Karasuno had not won even once in all six sets, though they impressively managed to get to a deuce in the last three games. The latest scores were 25-22, 26-24, 27-25 and 32-30, all in favor of Nekoma. They were defeated fair and square.

"Once more! Please! Just one more!" Hinata practically pleaded.

"Oi, Chibi-Chan!" Kuroo called to Hinata. The orange haired first year turned to him, growling about how he wasn't that short, but Kuroo only smirked. He was about as scary as a Pomeranian puppy, though Karasuno's libero and ace yapped louder. "Want to have a quick match against someone stronger? A 3 on 3 should suffice?"

"Stronger?" Hinata tilted his head. "Who?"

"Chi-Chan of course!" Kuroo looked to Chiyuri who was talking quietly with Yaku and Kai about their receives. Kenma was sitting beside her quietly on his phone, resting and recharging after their many matches.

"Tsukishima's cousin?" Hinata's eyes sparkled. "If she wants to play, then yes!"

Kuroo grinned, then told Hinata to hold on as he made his way to Chiyuri. The girl looked up as he stopped in front of her.

"Chi-Chan! You did some warm-ups earlier right?"

"Huh?" She seemed confused, but answered anyways. "Yeah, I helped Kenma warm up earlier, why?"

"Karasuno's Chibi-Chan and I were wondering if you could play in the next match."

"Eh?!" Chiyuri blinked. "B-but, I'm not as synchronized with the team! And you all must be tired so it wouldn't be a good idea to overwork yourselves..."

"It'll be fine. Plus, you're plenty synced with Kenma and I already. Knowing you, you'll adjust to the others in no time! Anyways, you won't have to worry about that yet; we just want to play a 3 on 3."

"Yet? Ehh?! Wait, but..." Chiyuri clearly was interested in the idea of playing, but she seemed hesitant on a playing in a match that was for the boys'. Plus, she didn't know if she was ready to face another team and possibly get those same looks that she used to on the court, especially if it was her own cousin on the other side of the court. That aside though, the Nekoma boys did just play a whole six sets with Karasuno.

"C'mon! Kenma! Tell her you'll set for her." Kuroo pointed expectantly to the pudding-haired second year who sighed as he ignored Kuroo. Despite not getting a verbal reply, Kuroo knew he won when he saw that the setter was saving his game. Kenma, on the other hand, couldn't believe that he was giving in so easily. It was just that the idea of seeing Chiyuri playing on the court happily with them gave him some sort of surge in energy that told him he could play one more match for her.

"There's no need to force him, Senpai!" Chiyuri quickly intervened. "Kenma's probably tired anyways -"

"You haven't played in a while, so you don't have to keep refusing it," Kenma interrupted as he put his phone away. Her head snapped to him.

"Eh? Eh?!! But-"

"You'll be fine, Yuri. You should go get changed into something you can move around more in."

As Kenma assured Chiyuri, the rooster-haired third year made his way back to Hinata who was waiting impatiently for the reply. He gave the boy a thumbs up, and Hinata went off running to his team about how they were going against Chiyuri in the next match. Even across the court, Kuroo could see the annoyed and slightly intimidated face Tsukishima made when news caught up to him, which made Kuroo smirk.

"Kageyama! Senpais!" Hinata was basically jumping off the walls. "Tsukishima's cousin is going to be on the court for the next match! The Nekoma team captain said she's super strong!"

"That city girl?" Tanaka asked, his face morphing into his usual intimidation one as he started to turn toward her. Normally, him and Noya would've been gushing about how Nekoma also had a pretty manager, or a substitute manager in her case, but Tanaka felt too intimidated by her. Perhaps it was her aura that just screamed she was a talented volleyball player or how her grey eyes analyzed them almost ruthlessly, but he had no time to fawn over her. Plus, he had his eyes on Kiyoko.

"Oi! Tanaka!" Sugawara brought his hand down on the second-year's head in a chopping motion. "If you don't stop it with the 'city' thing I will tell Daichi."

"Eh? Did I hear the shrimp correctly?" Tsukishima asked, raising his eyebrow. He ignored Hinata who started growling at the tall middle blocker. "Chiyuri-Nee on the court?"

Hinata nodded quickly. Yamaguchi shivered as Tsukishima frowned in irritation.

"Chiyuri-Nee is really scary on the court..." Yamaguchi said. Tsukishima only sighed in annoyance.

"So, who's playing?" Sugawara asked curiously.

"I want to! Pick me!" Hinata was jumping up and down again, and the team, minus Tsukishima and Kageyama, sighed with smiles that said he was an obvious choice.

"I'll play," Kageyama offered. "I want to match Nekoma's setter."

"I'll show that city girl who she's going up against!" Tanaka said threateningly.

With that decided, the three of them met the three Nekoma players on the court as the rest of the team sat back and relaxed to watch the match. Chiyuri had changed into a pair of red shorts and an off-white t-shirt. She was standing quietly on the court, fiddling oddly with the hem of her shirt as Kuroo was busy dragging Kenma onto the court. The pudding-haired boy limply allowed the third year to pull him, knowing he couldn't stall any more after telling Chiyuri he'd set for her.

"Ne, are you sure you can jump high enough, Chi? I'm sure that your team won't mind a spike miss, right?" Tsukishima smirked at his cousin, taunting her playfully from the sidelines as she stood by the net. Her grey eyes flicked to the top of the net, holding it there as if calculating something before turning back to Tsukishima. The boy's golden eyes narrowed and he subconsciously drew back a little as she gave him a blank stare. It was blank, but she radiated confidence and competitiveness. It seemed like her eyes were silently telling him to just watch her get the ball over the net every single time.

"Chi-Chan! You can serve first!" Kuroo called, tossing a ball over to her. Without replying to Tsukishima's retort, she turned away and headed to the back of the court. Tsukishima clicked his tongue. He had been hoping to rile her up a little bit so she'd lose some of that composure, but it hadn't worked at all.

Chiyuri waited for the referee to signal for her to serve. When the whistle blew, she wasted no time in serving right away. She took a deep breath, then tossed the ball high and sent it to the other side. Tanaka received it, sending it to Kageyama who set it to Hinata using the normal freak quick set up. Kuroo rushed forward, jumping up to block the ball, but he was a millisecond late.

"One touch!" he called.

"All right." Chiyuri said quietly, her voice reaching Kuroo and Kenma only. Putting her hands and forearms together, she solidly received the ball, sending it to Kenma. As soon as the ball lost contact with her arms, she was running forward. Kenma barely glanced at her as he tossed the ball to her while Kuroo feigned a spike on the other side. Hinata and Kageyama had unfortunately fallen for Kuroo's feint, leaving Chiyuri an open path. She wasted no time in performing an almost perfect C-quick, spiking the ball onto the Karasuno side of the court. Tanaka dove to receive it, but missed.

Without skipping a beat, Chiyuri was back in position, waiting for Karasuno to serve. Her grey eyes were analyzing Karasuno's every move, but they couldn't do the same to her as she put up high walls around her.

"Nice serve, Kageyama!" Daichi and Sugawara called as the setter sent a strong serve to Nekoma. The ball flew toward the back corner of the court, a hard position to receive at.

"It's going to be a service ace!" Ukai called prematurely.

As the ball headed toward the floor, the Karasuno members blinked, and suddenly Chiyuri was right behind the ball. She received it perfectly yet again, the ball high over Kenma's head and the boy set it to Kuroo in an A-quick.

"Nice receive!" Kuroo grinned as he clapped the girl on the shoulder. She nodded, but remained quiet.

"What? How? We didn't even see her move!" Nishinoya's eyes were wide. From the other side, Nekoma members smirked. Some of them had already experienced Chiyuri's prowess on the court first hand.

"And she's just warming up," Yamamoto called to Karasuno. Tanaka immediately turned toward him, matching the Nekoma ace's energy with a glare.

"Don't mind!" Ukai called to the team on the court. They nodded quickly, focusing in on the match again as they got back into position.

The game continued in a fairly similar fashion, with Nekoma somehow keeping the ball in court. Chiyuri was a little out of sync in the match up despite playing with the two members that would fit her best, but Karasuno still had a hard time receiving her spikes well regardless. Even Tanaka had some problems getting a good receive for Kageyama (at this point, it was impressive if Hinata could get a receive to Kageyama properly, even with his face). Still, they managed it and continued maintaining a fair close score until the scoreboard read 16-13 in favor of Nekoma. The only two on the court that weren't showing signs of exhaustion were Chiyuri and Hinata, the latter excitedly looking to Kageyama for another toss.

"I think it's time to end this, Yuri," Kenma said tiredly. The supposedly short match was lasting longer than he originally thought. Chiyuri nodded, stretching her arms above her head with a small 'nya' sound as she forced herself to focus on getting in sync with what she's seen so far while playing with Kuroo and Kenma.

"Oya, oya. I knew something was up." Kuroo smirked as he walked over to the two of them. "I thought that the power difference was just a result of me not being on the receiving end of it, but you're telling me you were just playing with the poor crows?"

Karasuno shivered at the idea, their gazes warily landing on the girl who calmly shrugged.

"I wasn't going easy because I underestimated them, Senpai," Chiyuri informed quietly with a small frown. Kuroo knew that she would never go easier on a team. It wasn't fun that way and she would never look down on another team like that. Plus, she knew not to underestimate Karasuno, even if there were only three members on the court. "I was a bit out of sync since we've never played a three on three with the three of us on the court..."

As they got back into the match, the power disparity between the Nekoma trio and the Karasuno trio truly began to show as Chiyuri pushed herself further to match Kenma and Kuroo. Chiyuri started with a few service aces, a oddly nasty spin on the ball that made it difficult to guess the trajectory of the ball. It went left the first and second time, and then right the third time. The fourth time, Tanaka managed to weakly receive the ball, getting it to Kageyama. He set it perfectly to Hinata, the latter jumping high and squeezing his eyes shut for their infamous quick. The sound of the ball hitting the gym floor never came as Kuroo saved the ball, diving for it and knocking it up toward Kenma. Kuroo quickly got back up, rushing toward the net. Tanaka and Hinata jumped as Kuroo did, but the ball never came to them.

Instead, Chiyuri from the other side had the ball, spiking it down hard. The sound of it silenced the whole gym as Karasuno stared wide-eyed. Her grey eyes locked onto Hinata's and she nodded her head, then headed back to prepare for the next serve. They didn't have enough time to process what just happened with Chiyuri seeming to just appear at the other end though no one had seen any movement from her.

Nekoma pulled ahead by a full 8 points, leaving them at 24-16 with Nekoma at match point. Kuroo and Chiyuri both were crazy scary, being well versed in both offense and defense. With a setter that could read the court, they made a scary powerful trio that Karasuno struggled to get past, especially since they weren't able to get a good grasp on Chiyuri who just seemed to disappear from the court at times. She blinked in and out, like a phantom.

"Nice receive!" Daichi called reassuringly from the side, ignoring the fact that Hinata received the serve with his face yet again. Kageyama quickly covered for Hinata, setting it to Tanaka who spiked it over the net, hoping to get it right on the sidelines. To his dismay, Kuroo was there to dig the ball, but it flew back over the net.

"Chance ball!" Kageyama called as it went straight toward him. He received it, getting it to Hinata who tried to spike it again in a two-attack. It didn't work as Chiyuri was right behind the ball this time and received it with ease. It flew to Kenma, the boy debating who to set it for a millisecond before tossing it to Chiyuri.

"Three blockers!" Kuroo called as they somehow managed to tag Chiyuri. She didn't seem fazed in the slightest as she jumped. Her demeanor made it feel like she didn't even know there were blockers as her grey eyes focused on the spot she was aiming to. With a scarily precise hit, she hit a cross shot. The ball appeared to be going out of bounds until it somehow curved the slightest bit due to the spin she put on it, and it landed just inside the white court lines.

"NICE KILL!" Nekoma yelled loudly as the referee blew the final whistle to signal Nekoma's win. Coach Nekomata seemed to smirk at Ukai, the latter turning away from the older coach's boasting. Even if Chiyuri wasn't officially a member of the team he coached, she was still a Nekoma student. Any Nekoma win against Karasuno counted.

"What..." Hinata said as Chiyuri landed, ducking under the net quickly to miss hitting her face into it, and turned toward him. She flinched as he ran up to her with sparkling eyes. "That was so cool! You were like whoosh! And then wham! And then bam!"

"Ah, uhm..." Chiyuri awkwardly raised her hands in a motion to calm the overly excited first year. "Thank you, but uhm..."

As Chiyuri tried her best to deal with Hinata's energy, Kageyama slid off the court. His team, minus Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, quickly praised his plays on the court.

"That was terrifying," Kageyama admitted after a bit. He glanced toward Chiyuri, shaking slightly as he saw her grey eyes.

"Her attacks were really something," Daichi agreed, as he patted a grumbling Tanaka on the back. "I'd hate to go against her in an official match. She apparently was out of sync in the beginning. The fact that her 'out of sync' is what most people consider 'in sync' is scary."

"Can you teach me how to spike?!" Hinata practically was bursting with energy despite playing a full seven matches. Chiyuri was a bit surprised, but she shook her head.

"Hinata-Kun, everyone's dead tired," she said with a gentle pat on the first year's orange head. She turned slightly so that Hinata could see her two teammates. Kenma was sitting on the ground with his head down in exhaustion and Kuroo had his hands on his knees. On both teams, the players that didn't play were slumped on the various seats of the benches tiredly with their waters.

"Once more!" Hinata called still. Chiyuri flinched back.

"Hinata-Kun..." She awkwardly held her hands up in surrender as the energetic boy started practically begging both teams for their 8th set total.

"Eh?!" Chiyuri turned to face Nekomata who seemed a bit freaked out as he pointed to Hinata. "Hey! You've been moving around like crazy. Is your stamina limitless?"

"Hey now, we can't." Ukai came over and lifted Hinata from the back of his jersey. The older coach gave a quick sorry to Chiyuri after he saw that Hinata had frightened the girl before dragging the volleyball-brained boy back to the benches. "We have to catch the bullet train."

Chiyuri took this chance to head back to Kenma who was still on the ground. Instead of helping the boy up, she squatted down next to him, her knees drawn together as she wrapped her arms around her legs and tilted her head to look at Kenma.

"Are you okay?" She asked as he seemed like he was about to fall asleep right there in the middle of the court. Kenma tiredly opened his eyes, yawning slightly before meeting Chiyuri's eyes.

"I'm tired..." he complained. Chiyuri giggled, standing up and reaching a hand out to help pull Kenma up. As he grabbed her outstretched hand, he asked her a question. "Did you have fun?"

Chiyuri's eyes widened a little bit, surprised that Kenma asked. As he stood on his own feet securely, their hands were still locked as she nodded. It was just a simple question, but it also meant a lot to her that he asked. She knew that he only played the last game so she would enjoy this small trip just a little more.

"Yeah, I did. Thanks."

Kenma nodded, a small smile coming over him as he watched her smile. He was somewhat aware that they were still holding hands, but she seemed to have forgotten as her smaller hand rested in his.

"Huddle!" The coaches called. Chiyuri turned, her hand dropping as she called a 'hai' back. Kenma couldn't help but feel a bit upset at the loss of contact, but he didn't have time to ponder as she smiled at him again.

"C'mon. I have to join Coach Nekomata and Naoi by Karasuno." She led the way back to the rest of the group and Kenma trailed behind her. He glanced down at his hand slightly in confusion, opening and closing his fist. There was a weird feeling, but he wasn't sure what it was.

"Tsukishima-San," Coach Nekomata nodded as she took her place behind him and Coach Naoi. "Now that our temporary manager is here, I'll start the speech." Nekomata glanced around at the Karasuno team. "His grandad and I are old acquintances. We did a lot of practice matches together. They were good matches, every time. However..."

Coach Nekomata paused sadly.

"He retired. We found rivals to play against in practice matches, but a good rival is hard to find. Old Man Ukai made a comeback but collapsed soon thereafter... I was afraid Karasuno would be done for after that." Nekomata then smiled, turning the air brighter as he said his next praises. "But frankly, your abilities exceed my expectations. Especiall number 9 and number 1-'s quicks on offense. You guys are pretty much unstoppable. And you two on the left, you're both powerful weapons. Practice maintaining connection."

"Hai!"

"As a team, you're rough-hewn and lack training," Nekomata continued. "but you have overwhelming potential. The more you train, the stronger you'll become. You guys make me happy." He looked to Nekoma who were watching Karasuno. Coach Ukai had either finished his speech or he was addressing something about Karasuno since the two team's eyes met. "We finally have a good rival again. Let's meet again at nationals. In front of a huge audience, in an arena swirling with emotions, in that shining, glistening, enormous gymnasium. The Battle at the Garbage Dump. Let's have the best match ever!"

"Hai!"

"Yosh!" Ukai called as he saw that Nekomata had finished his speech. "Let's start cleaning up.

"Osu!"

Both teams spread out through the court, taking care of the various tasks from collecting balls to taking down the net to mopping the gym floor. Chiyuri picked up the various bottles, bringing them to the back where there was a fountain so she could wash the bottles.

"Tsukishima-San?" Kiyoko called as she walked up.

"Ah, yes?" Chiyuri turned to face Karasuno's manager who gave her a gentle smile. "Shimizu-San, right? You can just call me Chiyuri. I'm sure it'll be confusing for you since Kei is Karasuno's Tsukishima."

"Chiyuri-Chan then. Did your cousin mention me?"

"I forced him to tell me your names, but it didn't help that he didn't tell me jersey numbers or any physical description. I only know your name because you're the only manager." Chiyuri sheepishly smiled as Kiyoko placed Karasuno's water bottles right next to where Chiyuri had Nekoma's.

"How is it like being Nekoma's manager?" Kiyoko conversed as she began washing out the bottles.

"I'm just a temporary manager. This is my first time helping manage a team, so I don't know if I was doing the right thing."

"Temporary?" Kiyoko turned to look at Chiyuri in confusion. "I think you did great as a manager though." The third year smiled. "I can see that you are a talented player, but your observational skills are really something else. I wish you could give Karasuno some pointers one day."

Chiyuri blinked, then began to stumble over her words.

"I-If you'd like, I c-can give you my notes! I k-kept track of both team's s-strengths and weaknesses!" In Chiyuri's panic that her senpai was praising her out of no where, she began awkwardly flailing. Kiyoko laughed gently, flicking some water onto the younger girl to calm her down.

"Here," Kiyoko patted her hands dry on her skirt, then fished out her phone. "Let's exchange numbers." Chiyuri, who had managed to finish washing the last bottle, also dried her hands and fumbled for her smartphone, opening the contact app and handing it to Kiyoko. They both put their numbers into the other's phone, and then handed it back.

"That's the newest smartphone, right?" Kiyoko asked as she got back to washing. Chiyuri nodded, holding her hand out as an offer to help wash Karasuno's bottles. Kiyoko accepted with a thanks.

"Mhm. I mostly use it to play games though," Chiyuri sheepishly smiled as she rinsed off a bottle. "At least now anyways. Kenma introduced me to a few."

"Kenma... the setter right?" Chiyuri nodded and Kiyoko smiled. "Your boyfriend?"

"W-What?!" Chiyuri quickly shook her head, but Kiyoko could've sworn there was a small blush on her face. "No, he just helped me with some issues and I'm very grateful to him. I mean, I like him as a friend of course, he's a really good friend to me, but it's not like we are dating or anything." Kiyoko laughed.

"You're rambling, Chiyuri-Chan."

~~~

By the time the sky was a dark orange hue, the two teams had finished cleaning the gym up. They all met up outside, facing each other to say their farewells until they met again.

"'Til we meet again, my friend." Yamamoto and Tanaka were crying as they gripped each other's hand in a shake.

"What's with them?" Kenma asked as the team looked at the two weirdly.

"Dunno. It's quite unusual," Kuroo replied. Before he could say anything else, Daichi stepped up to Kuroo with a smile. Kuroo returned it, but when the shook hands, the energy was quite different.

"We won't lose the next time," Daichi said as he gripped Kuroo's hand tightly. Nekoma's captain returned the same strength in his grip.

""We won't lose the next time, either."

"Terrifying! They're terrifying!" Sugawara and Yaku said from the side. From behind them, another terrifying aura began to seep out as Coach Ukai and Naoi met up.

"The next time around, things won't go your way like they did today." Ukai said. He was gripping Naoi's hand so hard that the teams could swear Naoi's hands were turning white. The same could be said for Naoi to Ukai's hand though.

"Fine." Coach Naoi retorted. "Otherwise, it wouldn't be good practice."

"And them too!" Sugawara said in defeat as he turned to face the two coaches.

"They're so immature." Yaku added.

"What's this carnage?" Chiyuri sighed from beside Kenma. He only shrugged, watching the chaos unfold before them.

"Kenma," Hinata called from behind them. Kenma turned around to face the first year middle blocker.

"Shoyo."

"When we talked on the road the other day, you said you didn't particularly like volleyball." Hinata stared directly at Kenma, his eyes unwavering.

"Oh. Yeah."

"How did it feel to win today?"

Kenma was silent for a moment, causing Chiyuri to glance over at him.

"Sort of... normal," he finally replied, though his voice was quiet. Hinata blinked, taking in the low energy of the boy. There were a few seconds of silence before he broke it.

"The next time, we'll make you guys desperate. We'll win, and... we'll make you say 'I'm made,' or 'That was fun,' instead of just 'Sort of.'" Hinata declared. Kenma's eyes widened as he started at the determined boy, but then a smile came over him

"Okay," he agreed. "I look forward to it."

"Talking about beating Chiyuri-Nee?" Tsukishima walked up, completely ruining the friendly energy between Kenma and Hinata as he smirked down at both of them.

"Oi, Kei!" Chiyuri suddenly butted in. She had remained silent by Kenma since his and Hinata's conversation didn't include her, but now Tsukishima was being his normal provocative self.

"Oh, Chiyuri-Nee. I didn't see you there since you're so short."

"Kei..." Chiyuri smiled, but the smile seemed threatening as Hinata took a step back and she was standing right in front of Tsukishima. "Say it one more time."

"Say what? You're short? Gladly." Tsukishima leaned over slightly, towering over her as he smirked. "You're short, Chiyuri-Nee. If I was playing in that 3 on 3, I'm sure you wouldn't have spiked past me."

"Tadashi!" Chiyuri called to the boy behind him. "Tell Oba-San that Kei is going to be home late. I'm about to beat him in a 1 v 1 right here."

"You can't, Yuri," Kenma sighed though there was a hint of amusement in his tone. "C'mon. Let's get on the bus. We have a long ride home."

Chiyuri looked to Kenma, then nodded and backed off, but not before sending a glare to her cousin who was unfazed and even had the nerve to smirk at her.

"Match me next time, Kei. You better practice well with Karasuno or I'll wipe the ground with you." With that said, she childishly stuck out her tongue at Tsukishima, then linked her hand with Kenma and pulled him toward the bus.

For once, she wasn't dreading what would happen the next day after playing on a court, official or not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Question of the Chapter: Favorite Voice Actor?

Originally Posted: 03/04/2021
Edited Version Posted: 03/31/2021

Hey Hey Hey! I'm leaving my little rant on VAs up even though I took down all my previous Author's Notes in the other chapters just because I'm still obsessed with their voices. It's bad enough that my younger sister was judging me for knowing the names of the voice actors and who they voiced. But anyways, here it is:

I just want to say, I'm having a weird obsession right now with voice actors. I'm in love with Kaji Yuki, Kenma's Japanese VA. Like, I knew he voiced Todoroki from BNHA too, but now I find out he voiced Yukine from Noragami, Finny from BB and Kanato from Diabolik Lovers?? Please 😍. I also really like Kouki Uchiyama, Tsukishima's VA. Aside from just how beautiful this man's voice is, he is also the VA Yuki P from Yuri on Ice and Miyamura. MI. YA. MU. RA. 🥰🥰 Double also, Ryohei Kimura, Bokuto's VA? Like damn he's everywhere. He apparently started acting in 1999? Like before I was born??? 🤨🤨 But yeah, he voices Arthur in IkeVamp (all the IkeVamp VAs do something to me), Ryo in ReLIFE and a lot more. Triple also, Nobunaga Shinazaki, Suna's VA? He voiced Haruka Nanase in Free, Yuki in Fruits Basket, and Napoleon for IkeVamp? 😵 Please. They're actually killing me cause their voicing so many characters that are just 😫. These people are hella talented though, I could never.

Yes I'm obsessed. I know their VA's names... Don't judge.