NATIONALS ARC MANGA SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT.

I'll put a separate notice for when we get into the future arc. 

As soon as Miya Atsumu had stepped up to serve, he had caught the attention of the entire audience. The way he silenced the court with a single movement was beyond impressive and had Hinata's jaw slack. Not just that, but his serve was incredible. Nishinoya had barely even reacted when the ball had shot past him.

"Nice serve, Atsumu! That's the way, Atsumu!" Atsumu sent a pissed off look to two audience members who made noise during his serve, the two immediately mute.

Luckily for Karasuno, his second serve was out of bounds.

Asahi was up to serve, but the Inarizaki supporters began to boo loudly. It was incredibly disruptive and his serve was a net-in. This team would be difficult to go up against – mentally and physically.

Hinata tested out Hoshiumi's jump, his body jumping high but forgetting to hit the ball. Kageyama was all over his fault, but on the other side of the net, Atsumu was watching him closely.

Does this mean his previous jumps were never maximum?

"He's experimenting against us of all people?" Osamu sound displeased.

"I thought Tobio was the selfish type, but this guy is no better," Atsumu sneered.

The rest of the game had difficulties from both sides. Hinata's broad attack had even the Inarizaki supporters shocked, Hoshiumi making animalistic exasperated sounds from the audience. His friend - Hirugami Sachirō – could only do his best to calm down his friend.

"Why can he jump like that? Did that stupid Kageyama use me as reference for him?!"

"Calm down Hoshiumi..."

The Karasuno vs Inarizaki game caught more eyes than they thought they would.

"Woooahhhh damnnnn..." Komori Motoya, Itachiyama High's libero and Sakusa's cousin, had been quite impressed when he saw the broad attack. "They're the ones that out Shiratorizawa," Sakusa groaned at the words. "You had been quite excited to go up against Ushijima. It's a shame; his high school career is over,"

"...Yeah. It's not over for us though," Komori gave the germaphobe an interested look.

"Huh?"

"I'll go up against Wakatoshi in the V-League," Sakusa spoke without an ounce of doubt, his voice muffled by his mask.

"You sound so certain that you'll both make it,"

"Of course. I want to go out feeling satisfied, and I feel pretty satisfied when I go up against him. I can trust him to go all the way, too," Komori watched his cousin carefully, smiling to himself.

Sakusa was always an intense person, never leaving anything unfinished and always putting the utmost care into his body and mentality. Maybe that's why Ushijima Wakatoshi had been the only person to really catch his eye. He kept himself clean and tidy and prestigious. The amount of practice he put in wasn't insane nor overdone. He knew his body and he knew how far he could go – especially with that left hook of his. He was intelligent and nothing he did was wasteful. He definitely had Sakusa's seal of approval, even feeling comfortable enough not to wear a mask around him outside of volleyball.

Perhaps, one day, Sakusa would know exactly how much he preferred Ushijima.

The twins gave Karasuno problems from start to finish – Atsumu's serves polished and difficult to receive while Osamu used a time delay in his serves to gain an advantage. Hinata still managed to receive some of their on-the-spot serves, managing to piss Atsumu off even more.

"This guys is incredible...!"

"Calm down, idiot," Atsumu sneered at his twin. "But hey... do you want to?" Osamu sighed.

"Fine. Let's try it,"

They copied Kageyama and Hinata's quick, and it worked.

In a single instance, less than a millisecond and before he could even catch himself, Kageyama's world fell apart.

It wasn't unique. It wasn't special.

What he and Hinata had wasn't exceptional.

"UHHH Kageyama!" he looked up at his irritated boyfriend. "How did they do that?!"

"I don't know..." Kageyama couldn't bring himself to hold direct eye contact, a feeling of dread spreading through him.

Then, Atsumu began to read Kageyama's every move. He knows how Kageyama thought about the situation and how he would counter. Every time he was in a pinch, he trusted his impulsive instincts to send it to Hinata. At this moment, they were in a pinch.

I know when you're going to use him, your little lover boy – Shōyō.

The twins shut down the duo – the imitators defeated the originals.

Atsumu could give Hinata nothing but a sincere and raw look, his eyes giving away how happy he was that he could tear open the supposedly 'unique' attack. He took it for himself. He could yield it now, too.

Do you see, Shōyō? Do you see what I just did? Do you understand?

In the stands, another saw the majesty of what had just happened.

"That number ten, Hinata Shōyō, may be small but he has incredible scoring ability. For his unique attack to be so easily copied must be disheartening," a coach commented to his companion, but he wasn't as convinced of Hinata's downfall.

"I wonder about that. So far, Hinata hasn't made a name for himself outside of Kageyama and it's not set in stone that they'll continue playing together, so..." Hibarida Fuki, the coach of the Japan Olympic Men's Volleyball Team, smiled gently down at the court. "In terms of the quick attack, as far as Hinata is concerned, Atsumu is living proof that there is at least one other setter out there that can toss to him. Wouldn't the fact that he didn't need Kageyama for his 'one and only' attack, be great news to him?"

"I don't think he's actually thought that far ahead..." the assistant coach added.

"That is not the face of someone who's disheartened,"

On the court, ravishing eyes regarded his opponent as he tried to consume everything that was happening around him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Atsumu began to grow irritated under Hinata's stare, feeling as if he was being torn open under his gaze. Hinata said nothing and quickly returned to his boyfriend's side.

At the same time, Nekoma and Sarukawa Tech were facing off. Sarukawa was trying to ruin the cats by getting Kenma to constantly run around. They wanted to stuff the brain out. Bokuto and Akaashi were keeping an eye on that game as well, seeing how Kuroo kept the team alive. Luckily, after an incredible long deuce, Nekoma took their second set and won the match. This allowed Kenma and Kuroo's eyes to wander to the Karasuno match.

Hey, Kei. We've arrived. Now, you just need to finish this up.

Kenma couldn't stop from analysing Hinata's incredible attacks and how he worked around the twins.

"I'm going to go join Bo and Keiji – want to come?" Kenma hummed interestedly.

"Only if we get food,"

"Yeah, of course. We're going up against Karasuno next. We need to fuel up,"

"You sound confident that they'll win," Kuroo could only smirk.

"Of course. How could they not?" Kenma gave a small smile.

Karasuno dropped the second set, on purpose. Kei had been drawing Suna Rintarō out from the very beginning. It was a 1-on-6, never a 1-on-1. Kei didn't need to stuff out Suna's spikes, just control where they went.

"Thank you for letting me spike so comfortably all this time," Suna sneered at Kei in the third set, realising exactly what had happened. Kei had only been blocking cross-shots all this time, Suna's straights now narrowly tight and almost always saved.

"Thank you for actually hitting them more than I thought you would,"

It was deliberate. Kei had been using him.

"Kei is incredible," Kenma sent a look to Kuroo, Bokuto and Akaashi also near them.

"Are you just saying that because you're together?" Kuroo smiled at that.

"No. He's going to be a big rival for you, Kenma," that's not what he wanted to hear. It sounded like effort.

Near the end of the set, Atsumu had been forced into a horrible set-up. The ball was low, his first step moving into a low lunge. He set up the ball for his brother, his body near touching the ground in a strange position. He had to set the ball up high, but it was still perfect – even from an overhead toss.

Coach Ukai stood up, applauding Inarizaki's point along with them. Takeda could only give Ukai a strange look, wondering why he was cheering for the opposite team.

I wonder how many of the spectators here truly appreciated the sheer brilliance of that set up just now. To still use an overhead toss from a position like that... he truly is a national calibre setter.

Then the twins used the quick attack again – and Hinata hadn't even considered that the first one might've just been a fluke. From all he saw today, Atsumu was beyond skilled.

So skilled, that he re-set a ball that had already been tossed to them to their strongest there - Ojiro Aran, a top five ace. While his point had basically been assured, a new power developed.

Hinata was there.

Hinata was there.

He sent up Ojiro's all-powerful spike flawlessly.

And the world stood still.

There are rare occasions where, during a long session, there will be a single, miraculous play. The kind that raises spirits... the kind that that will instantly restore all confidence...

'I never thought I would ever mutter these words to you, but...'

"Nice receive!" Kageyama's words rung through Hinata. Everything, everything had come down to this.

"COUNTER!" and Karasuno got their point.

"Hey Atsumu, did you know that when you're hungry and you get a small taste of something, you get even hungrier?" but Atsumu already knew that, his eyes trained on the ginger.

Kei began to implement Hinata into his plan – and he admitted it, no matter how much he hated to do so – but he stopped calling Hinata a fluke.

He could also receive.

And, he could be considerate. At 30-30 on the last set, the atmosphere was tense. Everyone was moving quickly and their minds were in overdrive, but Hinata couldn't take it anymore. He received a ball up high, the extra time giving everyone a breather.

'This might look like nothing to audience, or even the other players. It's just a pass but... I'm going to cry,' Sugawara could barely function at the consideration.

Karasuno got the point, and Inarizaki set up their next one – the twins using their new minus tempo quick attack.

This position; this timing; this angle. Dead on.

But Atsumu could read Kageyama and now, he could read Atsumu. Hinata too.

With a combined block between Kageyama and Hinata, Atsumu and Osamu's set failed. That proved it – the quick only truly worked if Hinata was the one wielding the sword. It was his.

Karasuno won.

Their cheers drowned out the surroundings, their long rally finally coming to an end. Bokuto was nearly crying as he shook Akaashi's body from the joy, Kuroo smiling ridiculously at the implications. Even Kenma have a small smile.

"You were a little too thirsty, Tsumu," Osamu commented to his twin.

"...You're right, Samu,"

The teams greeted each other at the net, shaking each other's hands.

"See you later then I guess, Tobio," Atsumu commented.

"Ah, yeah," Atsumu was a second year, so there was definitely a possibility they would see each other again in the following year. The teams headed off, Hinata wanting nothing more than to collapse in a heap.

"Shōyō," he stopped instantly, his name – his first name – vibrating within his eardrums. He turned around, eyes immediately meeting fiery ones. The amount of passion and expectance was nearly overwhelming. Atsumu raised up his hand, finger pointing straight at Hinata's heart. "I'll toss to you one of these days!" Hinata felt the same thing he felt before the game, his breath stolen away from him as his he regarded the determined setter in front of him.

Set to him? Set him...his quick?

If this game had proved anything, is that the quick attack wasn't of Kageyama's creation – it was all Hinata's.

In that moment, Kageyama's heart clenched up and he waited for Hinata to deny Atsumu to his future claim, but he said nothing. Instead, Hinata gained a look of consideration.

What are you doing? Why aren't you turning him away? Why are you considering his words?!

"But before that happens, I'll crush you at Interhigh so you better be ready," Atsumu left, leaving Hinata and Kageyama to their own thoughts.

"Hinata-,"

"Kageyama," Hinata cut off, turning to face him with a serious and determined look. "If we can't be unique on the court, then let's be unique off the court," Kageyama couldn't understand the ginger's words, tilting his head in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that..." Hinata shot him a smile, stepping closer to his body. "Let's not be Kageyama and Hinata, the oddball freak duo. Let's be Tobio and Shōyō," he gently took hold of Kageyama's hand, the setter's eyes growing wide.

It was a strange way of putting that he wanted to take their relationship a bit more serious, but Kageyama would take it.

"Ah. I can do that," Kageyama gave him a stern nod, but inside, his heart had skipped a beat.

Across the court, Atsumu scoffed irritably at the sight.

"I had thought that Tobio was the puppeteer, but now I see he was just another puppet..."

"You say the strangest things, Tsumu,"

"Hey! Shut up!"

A little while later, when the team was cooling down and readying to head back to the inn – Kei regarded Hinata carefully. He was holding his arms out in front of him, the bruises from having received Ojiro's spike.

It's likely that today I witnessed 'that moment' happen to someone else. The second day of Spring Interhigh marks the day Hinata Shōyō fell even further into volleyball.

"Heyo, Kei," he looked up to see Kuroo peeking his head around the corner, hand waving Kei over. He rose a brow in interest and headed over, leaving Yamaguchi to look after his things. As soon as Kei and Kuroo were out of sight, the cat had the crow up against the wall. Kei could only give him an interested look.

"Are you trying to trap me in here? You know I'm taller, right?" Kuroo rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, shut up," he brought Kei's face down to his own, lips connecting softly. Kei hummed lovingly and cupped Kuroo's face, kissing him back so eagerly. He smirked and pulled away, the cat groaning as he tried to follow his lips.

"We're playing against each other tomorrow. What happened to keeping feelings separate?" Kei gave him a sly smirk. "You're not very good at following your own rules,"

"How could I keep myself away when you so irresistible on that court today? The way you played with the twins' team was simply devilish. Please, don't go easy on me tomorrow," he didn't allow Kei a moment of thought before he had captured him once more, pushing their bodies to connect. It was dangerous, this game of theirs – Karasuno was literally around the corner. Someone was bound to walk in on them and sure enough, someone had come to look for Kei within a minute. They had been readying to head out, after all.

"GAH! Sorry to interrupt!" Hinata quickly spun around and headed back to his team, his face a deep scarlet.

"Really? The chibi?" Kuroo chuckled as he held Kei close by his waist. The younger male sighed, gently pushing his boyfriend away.

"You idiot. We're in a public space. Have some dignity," he shook his head disapprovingly.

"I didn't see you stop me," Kuroo placed a cheeky finger on Kei's lips. He rolled his eyes and grabbed a hold of the hand.

"I'll see you tomorrow on the court," he spoke sternly, Kuroo whistling at the look in Kei's eyes.

"Wow. Sounds like we'll be meeting at the altar or something, huh?" Kei smacked him gently in the head. "Hey!" Kei quickly pressed a lasting kiss onto his lips, Kuroo's eyes widened at the raw emotion he conveyed.

"Tomorrow, kitty,"

"Hey, Tsukishima?" Hinata cornered him after dinner, fingers twiddling together as he peered up at the taller individual.

"What is it?"

"How... how does it feel to kiss someone?"

"Oh god. Please don't come to me for dating advice. If you really want to know, go ask Sugawara,"

"Sugawara? Why, does he have a girlfriend or is he like a sex therapist or something?"

"Never use that word in my presence again. From you, it just sounds wrong. You really are oblivious though,"

"Huh? About what?"

"...never mind,"

"We are the body's blood; flow smoothly and circulate oxygen so the Brain functions normally," Kenma couldn't help but have his eyes drawn to Hinata across the net, the bright sun blinding the intelligent cat. He cringed but didn't look away, even the loudness of Lev's excitement behind him getting washed away by his intense focus. Hinata filled his centre and peripheral vision.

"Kenma? You okay?" Kuroo came up to his side, the two teams readying themselves on their respective sides of the court.

"You know... I realised something. I don't need Shōyō to love me,"

"Oh?" Kuroo gave his friend a look of disbelief and question.

"Yeah. All I need is for him to continue shining and no matter where he is, no matter who he's with, I'll continue watching," Kuroo regarded his friend in a new light, trying to decipher if Kenma was just settling or if this was his maturity blooming.

"That's... pretty sad though,"

"Maybe, but if Tsukishima had rejected you, or even Bokuto or Akaashi; would you have walked away from them?" Kenma's eyes stared straight through Kuroo's soul, such an intense look making the older man gulp.

"Kenma... you don't have to keep everything bottled up. You need to release those emotions somehow. Maybe telling him will finally give you peace of mind so that you can move on,"

"I am going to tell him," Kenma breathed deeply, eyes drifting to the sunshine once more. "Right here, right here; on this court," he smiled to himself. "With this game, I'm going to show him how much I care for him,"

And for once, Kenma took Kuroo's breath away.

Nobody had any worries about Kei playing against Kuroo – after all, he had such a competitive nature and a hatred for losing that they knew he would crush Kuroo with every ounce in his ability. Perhaps even more than normal.

The game started with a serve from Kageyama – one that was received by the devious felines. The very first rally turned into a longer one, but ended with Hinata shooting a ball past Kenma's head.

"It's a match where there's no second chances, Kenma!" and the two shared a look, mutual feelings blooming about this match. They've waited for this for a long time.

The first set was like a see-saw, Karasuno scoring points with hyper techniques that alluded Kenma's early-game brain and Nekoma scoring when they outsmarted the crows. It was all spear-and-shield, both teams having insane attack and defence power. Still, Nekoma was better at receiving and with Kuroo, their blocking was better too.

Bokuto was rooting for Kei from the stands, finally hoping that someone would be able to make Kuroo shut up as well. Akaashi was split in between but at the end of the day, this wasn't Kei vs Kuroo.

It was Karasuno vs Nekoma.

It was about how had the better team, not the better middle blocker.

"Go Tsukishima! Don't lose to Kuroo!!" Sugawara was quite fired up when Kei went back onto the court in the next rotation, having heard from Hinata that his persistent blocking skills had actually come from Kuroo.

"Suga is pretty fired up today. He doesn't look it, but tension's pretty high," Kuroo commented as he saw the hyped setter from the bench.

"Impossible," Kei broke Sugawara's spirits. "I've never thought about winning against anyone who is stronger than me. There's no way I can win against Tetsurō. It's impossible!" he waved his hand dismissively, Kuroo smirking in satisfaction and the submission. "I've never thought for a single second that I would be able to win by myself,"

"Ho," Kuroo hummed in surprise, but an ecstatic smile settled in. "Yamaguchi's serving now, eh? It seems like he's in it to win it on his own though?" Kuroo wanted to play at Kei's emotions a bit.

"You're right," his plan backfired. "Yamaguchi is a man who walks ahead of me," Kei admitted and Kuroo was riled up. For his beautiful Kei to admit someone was above him, was quite extraordinary.

Yamaguchi's first serve was a no-touch service ace. Nekoma was forced to take a time out. The second time it became a chance ball, but Kei wasn't going to let his friend's serve go to waste and blocked Kuroo's strong spike. Hinata was basically screeched and the force Kei had blocked him with, Bokuto losing his mind in the stands.

"UWAHA! Did you see that? That's our Tsukki!!!" Akaashi felt a smile paint its way onto his face.

"Yeah. Our Tsukki,"

Serve and block. Yamaguchi was the spear, and Kei was the shield. Even Nekoma was proud of the attack, Kuroo silently losing his mind.

"This is your own damn fault!" Yaku kicked at Kuroo.

"Hey! What are you talking about? This is all his own ability!" but Kei couldn't focus on Kuroo's acknowledgement, instead, he turned and gave Yamaguchi a high-ten. The team cheered at the acknowledgement Kei gave Yamaguchi.

"Another," Yamaguchi's lip quivered and nodded, heading to give another serve. Kei moved back up towards the net.

"Kei, how's volleyball been for you lately?" Kei regarded Kuroo for a moment, the crowd temporarily deafening in his ears. Kuroo was patiently waiting for an answer, their eyes connected as Kei considered the important question. A few months ago, it would've been no more than a shrug of his shoulders, but now...

It was... it was all...

"Thanks to you...truly, thanks to you... every once in a blue moon," Kei's hand sneaked under the net, Kuroo meeting his fingertips gently from the other side. "It's fun,"

The game was the most casual the audience had seen in a long time, the players acting with their enemies as if they were their own teammates. Every time someone pulled off an amazing feat, both teams would celebrate. Daichi and Kuroo would clap each other's hands under the net throughout, acknowledging the growth. This wasn't just an ordinary match for these teams, and the entire audience was hyper-aware of that fact.

"Keiji, I'm so in love it's not even funny. Not just with Kei and Tetsurō, but this entire game. Just look at them! It's like it's a party!" Bokuto felt excitement run up his spine, Akaashi agreeing with every word. Both teams refused to give in to each other, going to extreme lengths to show their rivals how much they've grown.

They all treated it as if it was the prophesised game – a final showdown for the ages; the long-awaited match where the third years retire on defeat.

Except Kenma. He wasn't interested in any of those things. Whether Nekoma and Karasuno had a history before he came, whatever. Whether this was Kuroo or Daichi's last match, whatever.

He just so desperately wanted to rip out a crow's wings, feather by feather, that he's beside himself.

He received. He partook in blocks. He forced his setters to hit high. He ran.

"Kozume, you... move after all," Kageyama was shaken up at the sight.

"Well...I mean, I'm a living being after all...," he said timidly, but they both knew what he meant.

With every push Kenma gave himself, Hinata reciprocated.

"Do these guys not understand the concept of 'playing it a lil bit safer'?!" Kuroo was amazed by the team, having just went up against Asahi as he allowed a ball to purposefully be sucked in.

'We... hate these guys!' both teams thoughts with the brightest of smiles etched onto their faces.

Kenma baited Kei into a foul at Karasuno's set point, and he was pissed. The point after that, Kenma went to set up the ball and everyone readied to receive Nekoma's ball.

But Kenma simply tossed the ball over the net, having baited Karasuno into miscommunication and misreading of the situation.

The first set went to Nekoma, but the second went to Karasuno. Hinata stopped being the target for serves, considering he was getting quite good at receives now. At the first point to Karasuno in the set, Hinata having performed the ambitious broad attack he had used again the Miya twins before, Kenma stared at him through the net with a look of wonder.

"Shōyō," Hinata looked around, meeting his friend's intense gaze. "Stay interesting,"

Hinata's breathing stopped and he moved back instinctively, feeling the blood lust oozing off Kenma. He was ready to make war.

It was beautiful.

The cats had their fangs deep into the crows that tried to fly away, bringing the birds back down to earth. They exploited Hinata; they exploited Nishinoya. Kenma grinned in satisfaction as his ploy began to work. He clipped Hinata's wings – he took away his run-up. He had Hinata in a birdcage, all to himself.

You are mine, Shōyō; so don't you ever forget that.

But Kenma wasn't satisfied.

"Everything went according to plan, so why are you making a face like that?" Kuroo regarded Kenma carefully.

"I'm lamenting that the 'interesting' version of Shōyō is about to come to an end," and without Shōyō there to keep him on his toes, to keep giving him such a challenge: why did this match even matter?

And when Hinata went to meet Kenma's eye line, Kenma looked away. Frustration built up within him.

Kenma was giving his all, using his entire arsenal and Hinata was being left behind.

So, he'll just have to step it up.

Hinata would have to move faster and create his own run-up distance. He almost had it when he had slipped on the court, but Kenma had noticed. He knew.

It wasn't over yet. They weren't over yet.

Hinata needed to go faster, faster, faster - but Kageyama told him to breathe. He gave Hinata an open attack, giving Hinata the time he needed to attack.

With time, he could prepare.

And jump.

It was the jump that failed against the twins – the one that sent him soaring out of Kenma's birdcage. The jaw-dropping pure height of his jump had Kenma's jaw fall. He was flying.

His attack wasn't what gave Nekoma the biggest problem though – it was timing.

'That's fine,' Kenma thought. 'We'll just use physics,' Nekoma swapped out Kei with Inouka, needing his height for the battle. He put up a nice challenge to Hinata's new weapon, but it wasn't enough. At Karasuno's set point, Nekoma tried to take back the point – but Hinata had been at the point of the ball's impact before it was even sent spiking. He had accurately predicted the ball's trajectory and even though his form was slightly off, he still saved the ball. The ball, which was sent over the net from the ricochet and won them their first set.

How anticlimactic.

"Hey! What's the what with that thing over there?!" Kuroo spoke to Kei, finger shakily pointing towards Hinata.

"I can't really tell what you're saying,"

The third set contained a joust between the two middle blockers – Kuroo dominating over Kei marvellously.

"Kei! Quit trying so hard man! Prolonging the rally only makes you more tired, right?!" Kuroo screeched at him, frustrated at the continuous string of one-touches Kei got in.

"Well, Tetsurō, if you stopped trying so hard we'd already be finished here, wouldn't we?!" Kei met his tone, his voice slightly louder than his normally one-toned speech. "You can thank yourself for all of this," Kei shook his head disapprovingly.

"Well, you could do the same," Kuroo walked off, not giving Kei an immediate explanation. It was later in the match, when Kei had gotten a flawless block against Nekoma, when Kuroo turned towards him with a serious look.

"Your 'absolute sticky-sticky blocks' really make people mad, huh?" a vein appeared on Kei's forehead in irritation.

"Hey, if you need some outsourced couple's counselling, I would be happy to punch him for you?" Daichi spoke when he overheard the conversation, Kei just sending him a pointed look in return.

"And that made me really think 'thank goodness, I wasn't wrong in helping him'," Kei's expression intensified. "My boyfriend is a good player. I couldn't be happier," on Nekoma's side, Lev turned towards Yaku with a slack jaw and huge eyes.

"Mister Yaku!" he whispered quickly.

"What do you want, Lev?"

"I think our captain is a playboy! I accidentally saw him undressing mister Akaashi at one of the camps before! I think he's a cheater~" he spoke; hand over his mouth as if he was a gossiping teenager. Yaku just sighed.

"It's good you're concerned but you don't have to be. Believe it or not, the three of them – along with Bokuto – are all in a relationship,"

"HUH? Why does such a power couple exist and not include me?"

"Oh my god, Lev just shut up," Yaku couldn't take his cute little first year's stupidity any more.

There came a great play by Hinata – one that had even Kenma fooled. He went to make a faint and pass the ball over the blockers, forcing Kenma to run up front. That ball, however, came zooming past Kenma's head and he could barely get a hand on it in an awkward jump when he ran for it. It was Karasuno's point, the pure intention behind Kenma's movements Hinata's jaw slack.

Kenma collapsed onto the floor, check against the floor.

"Oi, Kenma! Are you alright?! Did you injure yourself?" Kuroo ran up to him, Hianta's concerned eyes watching from across the net.

"This is fun..." Kenma mumbled, surprising everyone. Hinata celebrated at that, Kuroo giving off a relieved sigh. The audience was confused, wondering why the sudden outburst at cheer.

Kenma was on the brink of death, barely holding on because of fatigue but he wanted to be there until the very end.

Not yet, not yet, not yet.

A vicious ball fell to Nekoma's side, but Kenma blocked it alongside Lev. It caused him to take a tumble, having bumped into Lev with a great force.

"UWA! KENMA!" Lev screeched in surprise.

"You idiot! The ball hasn't dropped yet!!" and Nekoma was forced into action, Kenma's words pushing them onward.

This hurts.

This is painful.

I don't want it to ever end.

Connect, connect, connect –

Kenma set up a ball, the sweat on his fingers causing the ball to swirl off his hands and onto the ground. The ball fell behind him, Nekoma desperately reaching for it but it was too late.

It was over.

Kurasuno won.

Kuroo collapsed onto the floor, bringing his fellow third years along with him to the ground. Karasuno could barely celebrate, so exhausted that they collapsed as well. The entire aftermath of the game looked like a parade of corpses.

"Regardless if we win or lose, no one really dies or respawns. The dark side never prospers, nor does the worlds end," Kuroo peeked up with interest as Kenma spoke. "We don't travel across a grand world. All we so is stand within the four corners of a 9 x 28 metre rectangle and give everything we've got to prevent a ball from hitting the floor," but an unexpected smile broke out onto his face, arms stretching out in an angel pose. "AHHH~ that was fun!" he sat up, eyes looking straight into Kuroo's eyes. "Kuroo, thank you for getting me into volleyball," and Kuroo wanted to cry.

They dragged their bodies to line up and went to greet their opponents. Daichi and Kuroo shared a firm hug, as if they were handing over the torch to Karasuno now. They would have to carry the cats with them until the very end. The teams held high heads, bright smiles and great excitement as they shook hands and gave hugs. Kuroo took Kei softly into his arms, the two clinging to each other. Kei's fingers dug into the cloth on Kuroo's back.

"I have to thank you. Because of you, I could actually enjoy this victory and feel this feeling," Kei whispered into Kuroo's neck. Kuroo gripped him even tighter.

"Then don't ever forget this feeling. Seek it out again, my love," Kei snorted, pulling away from Kuroo. His hands sunk down, Kuroo quickly catching them and holding his hands between them.

"Pet names already? The game must truly be over," Kuroo just smirked.

"The game is never over, my love~,"

"Please stop,"

"You two are so cute," they looked to see Sugawara walk up to them. Kuroo didn't allow Kei to pull his hands away from embarrassment. "Although, a certain someone might be feeling left out," they followed his line of sight to see Bokuto and Akaashi in the stands, the owl waving his arm with great movements. Kei sighed.

"He's so dramatic..." Kuroo could only laugh.

"Kenma!" the setter looked up, Hinata bouncing over to him with a huge smile. "Let's do this again next year!" Kenma regarded him carefully and gave him a small smile. He summoned all courage he had and stepped forward, carefully taking Hinata's hand into his own. Kageyama watched the interaction with interest and a slight hint of jealously. Hinata was full of curiosity as Kenma simply held his hand and closed his eyes. Kenma gave a small nod, opening his eyes.

"Yeah. Let's do it," he slowly headed off, allowing his fingers to trace Hinata's palm as he treated. "Show me your new pair of wings, Shōyō. Show me how bright you can shine. The new you. Hello, Hinata Shōyō," his smiled faltered a bit, his eyes turning to a sadder tone. "And goodbye," he allowed his fingers to slip off of Hinata's and he turned to walk away, not wanting to look back to see Hinata's reaction.

The ginger stood there, confusion etched into every fibre of his being as he brought his hand up to regard. He could still feel the lingering touch on his skin, as if burned into the flesh. He brought his other hand up, his fingers tracing over his palm. Quickly, he shot his to look at Kageyama who was staring at the Nekoma setter walk off.

"What... what did he mean by 'goodbye'?" Kageyama looked down at his boyfriend and his breath hitched at the hurt that was present in his eyes. He gulped.

"I don't he meant 'goodbye' in the way you think he did. He's not going anywhere," Hinata titled his head, really confused now.

"Then what did he mean?" Kageyama sighed and took Hinata's hands into his own, replacing the feeling of Kenma on his skin. Hinata looked up at him with parted lips, surprise etched onto his face. "I think he meant 'goodbye' as in... he's going to let you go,"