A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to the last chapter of season three! Enjoy!

edited on march 17th, 2022 @ 5:34am

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CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN - THE BATTLE OF CONCEPTS

HINATA SLAMMED THE BALL PAST KAWAMURA, but Ushijima was there to catch the ball on time. "Shirabu!" He called out.

"Right!"

"A straight!" Tsukishima warned. "Ready, and..."

Tsukishima and Asahi jumped up to block Ushijima as Hinata received the ball with his face, the impact knocking him back. Tanaka quickly dived down to save the ball before it hit the court.

"Kageyama, get the last!" Tanaka shouted to the first-year setter before turning over towards the orange-haired male. "Hinata, are you okay?"

"Yeah." Hinata reassured as Kageyama received the ball.

"It's in!"

Yamagata received the ball back in the air. "Got it!" Shirabu informed. "Ushijima-san!"

Shirabu tossed the ball into the air as Rei watched Ushijima run up. "We're gonna stop him!" Tsukishima exclaimed as him, Asahi, and Daichi jumped up to block.

"Whenever we do 3-person blocks, we always close in on cross spikes, but on the last one, let's close on a straight spike. It'll be a trap we set up for one whole set or more. Out of the dozens of three-person blocks we've jumped today, we've always made a route for the ball to escape through. We can't mess up this timing. We won't let it go above us. Ushiwaka knows that this is the one spot where he can comfortably hit a straight."

Ushijima spiked the ball as he went towards Kageyama, who easily received it. Hinata had looked up and an image of Ushijima towering over him was seen as he slammed both Hinata and Tsukishima to the ground.

A hand reached out to Hinata and Tsukishima as Daichi rushed over to receive the ball as he slowly lifted Ushijima up.

"Asahi, get the last!" He shouted out.

Asahi jumped up as he was the next one to lift Ushijima. He spiked the ball, but ended up getting blocked. Tanaka was the next to appear as he quickly received the ball into the air.

"Chance ball!" Tanaka shouted as Kageyama got into setting position.

Daichi, Asahi, and Tanaka were all lifting Ushijima off of Tsukishima and Hinata. "Their #10 is coming!" Kawamura called out.

However, he looked over to see that Hinata wasn't moving at all. "Their #10 isn't running up?" Tendou thinks to himself.

"He's slowing down his tempo, from a minus tempo to a first tempo, and then..." Ukai Sr thought as Karasuno started to do their synchronized attack. "mixing in."

"Shit!" Tendou exclaimed.

Everyone had determined faces as they got ready to attack. Kageyama through the ball up as everyone jumped up. A flock of crows were flying towards a large eagle. Hinata slammed the ball as Yamagata dived down to receive it. He bounced off of his arms as he headed towards out of the court.

The ball had slammed onto the court as everyone was silent, too stunned to speak.

TWEEEEET!

Karasuno now had 21 points with Shiratorizawa at 19.

Then, cheers erupted from the audience.

"What? Seriously?!"

Daichi was breathing heavily as he turned around, hugging Asahi. Sugawara soon joined them. The three third-years hugged one another as they sobbed out loud.

Kageyama, Hinata, and Tsukishima were watching their seniors until Tanaka engulfed Kageyama and Hinata into a hug followed by Ennoshita and Rei.

Nishinoya crashed into Tsukishima. "Tsukki!" Yamaguchi shouted out as him, Kinoshita, and Narita followed. Ukai, Takeda, and Kiyoko were also tearing up.

Meanwhile, Shiratorizawa looking defeated. "Farewell, my paradise." Tendou announced.

"Hey, it's time to line up." Kageyama informed.

"I-I can't stand up..." Hinata stated, his legs were shaking.

"Come on, Shoyo!" Nishinoya announced as him and Kageyama began dragging him.

TWEEEEET!

Both teams bowed to one another.

"Thank you very much!"

The audience clapped as both teams shook hands.

"Talk about an upset."

"Damn it, why doesn't that bastard Ushiwaka look more upset?" Oikawa commented in irritation as Karasuno bowed to Washijo and Saito.

"Thank you very much!"

"Sorry, Hinata. We were trying to close in on that straight but we didn't make it in time..." Asahi apologized. "Are you okay?"

"Totally fine!" Hinata reassured.

"It's because the course was so narrow that he was able to pick that up." Kageyama commented.

"Kageyama does good work." Iwaizumi complimented.

"Did you notice it, too, Iwa-chan?" Oikawa asked. "Apparently when Four-Eyes came back, he gave some kind of directions about blocking. Like closing in on Ushiwaka's straight. That's why after the serve, Tobio suddenly switched places with the shrimp who was in the path of the cross, because Oshiro-kun wasn't there."

"And then he returned the ball at the last moment. Your student's not bad." Iwaizumi finished.

"He's not my student!" Oikawa exclaimed in irritation. "And on top of everything, he was able to accommodate the shrimp, who came here to do something different. It's painfully obvious."

"Well... all of their good work only happened because of the blocks of that first-year with the glasses." Iwaizumi pointed out.

Oikawa then stood up. "But I guess the shrimp is a spiker you end up wanting to toss to." He said as Iwaizumi stood up as well. "No wonder he's got Tobio wrapped around his little finger."

"Come on, let's go home. I'd rather die than see the awards ceremony." Oikawa continued on as him, Hayashi, and Iwaizumi began leaving the court.

"You really are a crappy guy." Iwaizumi commented.

Karasuno then lined up to face their supporters. "Thank you for all your support!" Daichi announced as his team bowed.

"Thank you very much!"

"Sawamura, Sugawara, Azumane!" Michimiya shouted out. "Congratulations on your victory!"

The three third-years waved as Daichi held up the charm that Michimiya had given to him before the game.

Karasuno gathered around Ukai and Takeda. "Great job, you guys!" Takeda exclaimed, his arms extended out. "I'm... I'm sho happwy..."

Ukai placed his hands on Daichi's shoulders. "Sawamura! Great job... Great job on completing that three-man block in the end." He complimented.

"but even if your thighs were to split open, I'm counting on you guys in the mid-air battles."

"Well, I made a promise." Daichi informed as Ukai nodded.

"Tsukishima!" Ukai shouted, grabbing onto his shoulders next. "No matter what anyone says, you're the MVP today."

"I'm always the MVP, so I'll let you have that title just for today, Tsukishima." Tanaka told the middle blocker, giving him a thumbs up.

"You're definitely the mental MVP." Ukai said.

The awards ceremony soon began as both teams were lined up by jersey number.

"And now, I present this award to the victors. Miyagi Prefectural Karasuno High School. Concluding the Miyagi Prefecture Qualifiers of the National High School Spring Volleyball Tournament, your team has emerged victorious. I present you this award in acknowledgement of your commendable performance."

The audience clapped as Daichi accepted the award while Sugawara took the trophy. Rei looked down at the medal that was placed over his jersey.

"To praise both teams for their good match, and to wish the best to Karasuno High School for their performance at the Spring High School Volleyball National Tournament in January, I'd like to ask the audience to give them another big round of applause."

The audience once again clapped for them.

"Let's go... to the Spring Tournament!"

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Later that day, the team was at ramen shop as Tanaka and Hinata were sleeping on the table. "I'm pretty sure I saw my relative's one-year-old do the same thing... Ukai commented.

"Tanaka, get up!"

"Kiyoko-san is scolding me!"

"You guys need to decide if you're going to eat or sleep!" Ukai exclaimed.

"Ukai-kun, I'm... sho happwy!" Takeda claimed.

"Sensei, your face is a mess..." Ukai informed. "And that's the eighth time you've said that."

"I'm so sorry."

"Make sure you guys don't break any plates." Sugawara scolded as Rei was sitting next to Kageyama.

"Those guys worked hard on this match like their lives depended on it. And now, we're the ones that are gonna have it rough. It's gonna get real busy, Sensei."

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It was the next day after the finals. A sign that said, 'Congratulations on going to the Spring Volleyball Tournament, Boys' Volleyball Team!' was in the front of the school as Rei was sitting in class 1-5.

"Hey, Oshiro! Is it true our volleyball team is heading to nationals?"

The black-haired male looked up when his name was called. "Yeah." He bluntly replied.

"I went to the match! The whole time, I was on the edge of my seat!"

"Seriously?!"

School eventually came to an end as Rei was in the clubroom, holding his phone out as Ryuu had congratulated him on reaching nationals.

"The representative team from Tokyo is just about to be decided, right?" Hinata questioned.

"Yeah." Ennoshita responded. "I think Tokyo, four schools get decided in the first qualifier, and then I think the qualifier to decide the representative is in November."

"I think that Nekoma and Fukurodani both made it." Tanaka commented.

"It's amazing that they made it into the top four schools in Tokyo." Narita pointed out.

"It makes me realize we went to a training camp with some really crazy guys." Ennoshita stated.

Hinata shook with excitement. "We're gonna beat Nekoma! Right, Kageyama? Shiro?" He questioned.

"Nekoma and Fukurodani have Fuji-kun and Kai-kun, so it'll be a tough toss up between those two." Rei stated.

"That's if they make it through the qualifiers." Kageyama reminded him.

"Of course they will!" Hinata exclaimed as he went outside of the clubroom.

Meanwhile, in the Hyogo prefecture, a spiky white-haired male was looking at his phone.

From: Kawamura Riku.
Subject: We Lost.
> Shiratorizawa lost in the finals against Oshiro's school. Seems like you're going to be seeing him at nationals, Nakamura-san.

Nakamura Akiara hummed as he look at the message from his former junior.

"Something wrong, Mura-san?"

Nakamura glanced up to see Miya Atsumu looking at him. "Nothing's wrong, Atsumu. Just got a message from my former junior." He replied.

"That one from Shiratorizawa?" Suna questioned the amber-eyed male.

"Yeah. He said that they lost, so we won't be seeing them at nationals." 

Nakamura's teammates widened their eyes at the mention of Shiratorizawa losing. Of course, they have defeated them back during the Inter-High nationals, but to find out some other school was able to beat them was a shocker.

"Anyhow, it seems as though I will be reuniting with Jindai's former libero. He plays for the school that had defeated Shiratorizawa."

"What's his name?"

"Oshiro Rei."

༄ 𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 ༄

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A/N: And there's a wrap up on season three! You have been introduced to Nakamura a little! Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 1812 words.