A/N: Hello, readers! Another chapter is here! Enjoy!

edited on march 15th, 2021 @ 3:50pm

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CHAPTER NINETEEN - EVOLUTION

REI WATCHED FROM AFAR AS Kageyama jogs back onto the court after getting swapped back in and replacing Sugawara for the game. Rei noticed Kageyama looked as if he was having trouble saying something, which made Rei raise an eyebrow in confusion.

Kageyama gave the team a version of his smile, making Rei snicker. Hinata was the first to react as he backs away with fear. "What are you thinking?! You won't get your way!" Hinata stated as he was getting far.

"Hinata, you're running too far away!" Tanaka exclaimed.

"Shoyo, I don't think that's a scheming face... I think he's actually smiling, maybe..." Nishinoya added as Rei just snorted.

"Don't say 'maybe' Nishinoya!" Asahi panicked as well as scolded his friend as Kageyama looked irked at Hinata.

"Hinata, I'll kill you!"

Rei glanced at Daichi who looked as though he was a proud father, making Rei deadpan at him. "My teammates are on crack." He thought, unsure of what to think of his teammates right now.

Soon, Kageyama gets the volleyball to serve for the game. Rei noticed Hinata walk over to him and started having a conversation, but he couldn't hear what they were discussing about.

Rei saw Kageyama raise a fist to Hinata, but he knew that fist meant something else, knowing it was actually a hand signal that Sugawara gave to the first years to learn.

On the sidelines, Sugawara and the others watch as the game is about to begin, with Aoba Johsai's cheering squad from the stands was all that was heard so far. Sugawara then sighs tiredly, gaining the others attention.

"Don't look so amazed. I was pretty nervous." Sugawara smiled at Yamaguchi, who was the one who had a look of surprise at Sugawara letting out a sigh of relief.

"Really?"

"Of course, there were third-years that played at last year's Inter-High, so I wasn't able to play in a lot of official matches."

Sugawara smiled. "I hate to say it, but it's likely that Kageyama's had his feet on the court more than I have." He said. The others didn't reply right away.

"Despite that, Kageyama-kun was freaking out quite a bit." Rei informed, making Sugawara and Yamaguchi look over at him.

"Speaking of, the King's going right into a serve. Do you think he'll be alright?" Tsukishima asked.

They all followed his line of vision to see Kageyama holding a volleyball, as he was about to serve, but Kageyama was smiling as he held the volleyball, making Rei chuckle.

"I think he'll be fine." Rei replied.

"It sort of puts me at ease." Sugawara smiled.

"What does?" Yamaguchi asked in confusion.

"Apparently every player feels the same pride about the fact that they're going to be on the court. No matter if they're some genius or just a regular guy." Sugawara explained.

"Kageyama, just relax!" Takeda called out as Kageyama nodded.

Rei looked over and watched him take a deep breath and opened his eyes. He could tell he was focused which made him grin as he saw Oikawa gulp and shiver at the intensity Kageyama gave off.

The whistle blew as Kageyama did a jump serve, Aoba Johsai's libero tried to save it but failed as Karasuno got a point. "Yes! Now we're tied with them!" Rei thought.

"Yeah!" Tanaka announced as Rei saw him have his hands held up to Kageyama who tilted his head in confusion.

"Yeah!" Tanaka repeated as Rei snickered at Kageyama's confusion. Rei shook his head and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"He's asking for a high five, you dumbass!"

Kageyama jumped at Rei's voice but he got the message and he and Tanaka do a double high five, Kageyama was still shocked as to what he did. Rei noticed that Kindaichi and Kunimi stare at their ex-teammate in surprise.

Soon Kageyama jump serves again, Iwaizumi saves it but it was a bit bad as their libero also saves the ball but it was once again a bit off. "They broke it! It's coming back!" Sugawara said with determination.

"Chance ball!" Nishinoya announced as he received the ball and Kageyama gets into position, the two blockers were probably waiting for Hinata to announce the words for the type of toss, but they were surprised when the duo didn't say anything and Hinata had jumped up and spiked down the ball and got Karasuno a point.

Rei saw Kageyama grumble before clearing his throat. "Hey, Hinata." He spoke as Hinata turns to him. "Well done." Kageyama complimented but Hinata shuts him down.

"Are you my boss?" Hinata questioned.

Sugawara sighed. "Hinata's so sharp! Damn!" He groaned as Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Rei watched from afar with deadpan looks.

"And Kageyama's playing like a fish out of water."

The game continues on and Kageyama did his usual jump serve, as Iwaizumi saves it and Daichi and Hinata get ready to block the incoming ball. Oikawa tosses it to his teammate who spiked it down and got a point for Aoba Johsai.

Kageyama was apologizing to the others who reassured him it was okay.

Rei's eyes locked over to Kageyama who gets into position and gave another hand signal to Hinata who nods. Kunimi serves the ball and it goes up, Tanaka rushed in and saved it. "Nice receive!" Sugawara and Rei shouted in unison.

Rei watched as Kageyama sets the ball to Hinata who jumped at a weird angle, but Karasuno scored a point.

Rei saw that they were nearing the end of the match with Karasuno at 20 points and 19 points for Aoba Johsai. He noticed Hinata had raised his hands up for a double high five with Kageyama, when Kageyama returned the double high five, but with a bit of force that made Hinata yelp.

"That hurt, you idiot!"

"I'm driving some spirit into you!"

Soon Tsukishima was called onto the court as Rei's hand twitched, begging to touch the volleyball. Sugawara smiles at him in amusement.

"You look eager to play." He stated as Rei nodded.

"Of course I do. But I would rather not have Haya-kun murder our coach for letting me in when my stamina hasn't been recharged yet." Rei chuckled.

Rei saw that Tsukishima and Kageyama were side by side. "Why did it turn into Tsukishima versus Kageyama?!" Tanaka exclaims, no one replies as they watched Hinata serve the ball, the ball rolls off the net, as a player from the opposing team saves it by diving down.

"Chance ball!"

"Mattsun, nice cover!"

"Kageyama!"

Kageyama jumps up and tosses the ball over to Asahi who spikes it down and the ball touches the hand of an Aoba Johsai player, and goes out of the court, but Karasuno still got a point since the ball made contact with the opposing side's hand.

"All right!" Karasuno cheered.

Rei looked at the score.

Karasuno

21

Aoba Johsai

19

TWEEEET!

Aoba Johsai calls for a time-out as the team gets off the court. Rei helped Kiyoko pass out water bottles and towels. He grinned at Kageyama. "Look at you being social, by giving compliments and high fives! Even your ex-teammates are shocked!" Rei said as he ruffled Kageyama's hair.

"Thanks, Shiro." Kageyama said, blushing from his affection.

"Call me Rei, Kageyama-kun. I think we've known each other long enough for you to call me by my first name." Rei told him, making Kageyama blush more.

"A-Alright. You can call me Tobio then." Kageyama said, making Rei smile.

Rei saw Kageyama eying down Tsukishima, making him sigh. "Tobio-kun isn't the best at communication, but when it comes to Saltyshima specifically, it's like the only thing they do is annoy and bully one another." He noted. "It's Fuji-kun and Kai-kun all over again..."

Rei sees Tsukishima look over at Kageyama. "What?" He hissed. Kageyama didn't respond and only kept glancing up at Tsukishima with a bitter look, the whistle blows and everyone returns to court, but Sugawara came over to Kageyama beforehand.

"Kageyama. First, you need to have a conversation. Talk. Especially with Tsukishima, communication is key." Sugawara informed the black haired male in front. Kageyama stares before nodding.

"Right..." He says as he walks onto the court.

Sugawara and Rei watched him for afar. "...You think he understood that?" Rei asked as Sugawara chuckles at him.

"I hope so." He replied.

The game continues on as Rei watched Aoba Johsai score a point, on the next game Daichi receives the ball and Kageyama tosses the volleyball over to Tsukishima who slams down the ball, however, Aoba Johsai saves it and a counter happens.

Rei noticed something however at Tsukishima. "He's not hitting it with all he's got." Rei thought as he narrowed his eyes in concentration as Iwaizumi spikes down the ball and gets a point for his team. Rei looked over to see Takeda call for a timeout to discuss with Karasuno.

Karasuno jogged over to Ukai. "Come on, your faces! They're all tense!" Ukai announced as Rei watched Ukai grab Tanaka's face. "Calm down and go! Your moves are great!" Ukai added.

"Right." Tanaka grunted as Ukai lets him go.

"Hey." Kageyama spoke, making Rei look at him to see he was talking to Tsukishima, as the tall male and Yamaguchi look over at Kageyama. "How was that toss, damn it?" Kageyama asked as Rei just sighed at his wording.

"Why are you talking like Tanaka-san?" Tsukishima mumbles in question.

"What was that, damn it?" Tanaka growls from behind.

Sugawara and Rei walk over in case they needed to interfere. "It's like you're saying, 'Shut up and hit the toss, you commoner,' and it pisses me off." Tsukishima bluntly informed as Kageyama gets irritated by this.

"What?" Kageyama yelled as Rei rolled his eyes at the two fighting.

Rei then saw Sugawara walk towards the two to break up the potential fight. "What do you mean by that?" Kageyama asked in curiosity.

"I have my own way of doing things, so I'd rather you keep your tosses consistent." Tsukishima replied and Kageyama seems to take that information in.

"You're not the only one thinking. The shape of the opponent's defense. The best attacks I've been doing today. We're all thinking about that. Even Hinata started thinking enough to use normal quicks now, right? Though just barely." Tsukishima ranted on as Hinata hissed.

"What'd you mean by that?! What do you mean, 'just barely?!'" Hinata growls at the tall male, Rei pulled his orange haired teammate back, to stop him from trying to fight Tsukishima.

"You're gonna make Daichi-san mad at you, Hinata-kun." Rei informed Hinata who glares up at Tsukishima.

"All right."

Everyone jumped and stared in shock at Kageyama who agrees with Tsukishima with no trouble. "You're rather agreeable today. You feeling okay?" Tsukishima asked in surprise.

"We're just going to have to try and find out." Kageyama responded as he walked onto the court when the whistle blew, as everyone watched with confusion.

The game starts as Kageyama gets ready to set it, he tosses the ball to Tsukishima, not as powerfully this time which gave Tsukishima time to think as Rei watched him perform a feint hit, over the two blockers as he got Karasuno a point.

"Yeah! He got over the block!"

"He totally did it!"

"Smart idea. Doing that is gonna throw Aoba Johsai off a bit." Rei thinks to himself.

"I thought he was going to hit it hard up until the end." Ennoshita sighed.

"Nice! Tsukishima's lively after getting through the opponent's guard." Sugawara proudly stated.

"Lively?" Hinata repeated in confusion.

"It's hard to see, but that expression he has means he's pretty into it." Yamaguchi explained as he smiled.

"Oh."

Rei focused back on the game as the ball goes up, and Tanaka saves it, the ball goes to Kageyama who sets it up and Tsukishima did another feint, however the libero saves it in time, but it was a chance ball for Karasuno.

Asahi jumped up and got Karasuno a point. "All right!" Rei's teammates cheered.

The game continues and Aoba Johsai gets a point, as Nishinoya failed to get the ball in time.

"They're taking back one point after another." Rei gulped as he glanced at the score.

Karasuno

23

Aoba Johsai

22

Rei watched as Tsukishima did another feint as their libero runs over and saves the ball that was about to hit the court. Kageyama and Tsukishima get ready to block as they jump up and Kindaichi jumps as well, the spike gets passed the duo, but Tanaka was there to save it in time.

Kageyama gets into setting position as he passes the ball softly to Tsukishima who looked a bit surprised by this but recovered as he spiked down the ball powerfully instead of doing a feint, which made their libero shocked and Tsukishima gets the point.

"All right!" Nishinoya yelled as he literally bounces over.

"You piss me off, you know that?" Tanaka added, as the two come up to Tsukishima with smiles as Tsukishima just looked as though he was questioning his very existence. Kageyama walks up to Tsukishima with an unsure look on how to say anything.

"Kn-Knife... nuff.. nice."

Tsukishima gave a confused look to Kageyama as Tanaka came over and did a karate chop to Kageyama's head. "Don't mess up that line, Kageyama!" Tanaka exclaimed, as Rei sighed loudly at his team.

"Tobio-kun is definitely changing as well." He thought at Tanaka laughs. "How much do you suck at compliments?" Tanaka laughs as Kageyama had a flustered expression.

Rei looked over at the score and saw that they were at set point. "Just one more point!" Hinata announced.

"One more point!" Yamaguchi repeated.

"Let's take this set!" Rei shouted.

Iwaizumi jumped up to spike the ball, Tsukishima tried to block him, but was unsuccessful, making him scowl at the ground. "We won't let you have it!" Iwaizumi exclaimed.

"It's fine. Just one more point. If we can get this one point, like we usually do, this set will be ours!" Takeda announced but suddenly the ball bounces and Chiharu looked over to see it was Oikawa serving.

Rei had to admit, he was anxious when Oikawa was serving this time. "Bring it!" Daichi announced.

"Nice serve!" Someone from Aoba Johsai announced.

Rei watched as Oikawa throws the ball up and spikes it forward. He aimed at an opening spot. "Nishinoya!" Daichi yelled out as Rei saw Nishinoya run to the open space that the ball was coming in and he saves it.

However, the ball goes back to Aoba Johsai's side, as Rei saw Oikawa get ready to toss the ball.

Rei could tell Tsukishima was gonna jump up, but before he could, Kageyama had stopped him and pulled him near him, as Oikawa actually sets the ball to Iwaizumi and not Kindaichi.

Tsukishima and Kageyama blocked the ball as Karasuno finally got the point. Which made them cheer. "All right!" They yelled.

TWEEEET!

Rei sighed in slight relief when Karasuno won the second set and was gonna start the third and final set. Nishinoya suddenly bounces over and starts ruffling Kageyama's and Tsukishima's heads.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Nishinoya continued to chant, praising the two for working together.

As Karasuno was conversing before the third set. Rei suddenly got a chill up his spine when he heard Oikawa laugh as Karasuno all turn to see him, to see him have a slight crazed but excited look in his eye.

"There goes my bad feeling again..." Rei thought.

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A/N: Another chapter done! Please let me know if there's any mistakes. Hope you enjoyed!

Word Count: 2640 words.