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

edited on december 19th, 2021 @ 2:40am

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CHAPTER FORTY-THREE - GREETINGS

HIDEAKI STEPPED OFF THE BUS with his teammates as they stared at the building. "Sawamura!" Hideaki heard Michimiya's voice shout, making the team look over. "We came to cheer you on!" She informed.

"Michimiya! You really came." Daichi stated.

"Wow! You're really going to play in the finals! That's amazing! It's so... insane!" Michimiya stated as Sugawara dragged Asahi and Hideaki away to give Daichi and Michimiya privacy.

They all walked into Sendai City Gymnasium. "Wow... So this is the finals... There're so many people." Tanaka commented.

"Ryu, this is no time to be scared!" Nishinoya informed.

"I'm not scared." Tanaka declined.

"Listen, Ryu. Picture this. The finals... Our opponents are Shiratorizawa. What do you think is going to happen when we play a crowd this big?" Nishinoya asked.

"What's going to happen?" Tanaka repeated.

"They always look so much cooler when they're good players."

Tanaka finally realized what Nishinoya was trying to say as he was in his own dream land as they both slapped hands. "Noya-san, I'm gonna do this!" Tanaka stated. "I'm gonna become a hero after this match."

"I'm not gonna lose, Ryu!" Nishinoya declared.

"They seemed more hyped up than usual." Kinoshita commented.

"Hey, you're embarrassing us, so stop screaming!" Ennoshita told the two second-years.

"I'm glad those guys never change." Narita stated as Nishinoya and Tanaka continued screaming.

"Shut up, you two!" Daichi yelled at them.

"Hinata, do you need to go to the bathroom?"

"I just went!" Hinata complained.

"Sho-chan!"

Hinata finally turned around, spotting his old junior high friends. "I-Izumin! Koji!" He exclaimed.

"Hey, it's been a while!" Koji greeted, throwing up a peace sign.

"Oh! They're from my middle school volley... I mean... They're the people who helped me during my volleyball match!" Hinata explained to Tanaka.

"I was on the basketball team." Izumi said, raising his hand.

"I was on the soccer team." Koji added.

"I was wondering why there was someone with really good footwork." Tanaka commented. Koji flinched as he saw Kageyama walk by.

"He's... Why's he here?!"

"I said the same thing at first. He had a lot going on before." Hinata explained.

"Isn't that the King?" Koji questioned. "Are you sure you'll be okay, Shoyo?"

Hinata laughed. "Just watch." He replied.

"Hey, let's go, Hinata." Kageyama said.

"Oh, well, I hope you cheer us on." Hinata told them.

"Do your best."

"Yeah!"

"Who are they?" Kageyama asked.

"They were in the match with me in junior high." Hinata replied.

Kageyama looked away. "Shut up. Like I remember everyone I played against." He retorted.

"And that's exactly why you don't have friends, Kageyama-kun."

Kageyama held an irked expression. "Why, you..." He began as the duo started throwing punches at each other.

"Hey! Stop it, you two!" Daichi shouted.

"You're wasting energy before the finals? Are you guys completely stupid?" Tsukishima questioned. "Well, we might immediately lose anyway."

"Good grief. Come on, let's go." Daichi informed.

Karasuno was about to continue on until they were stopped by a voice. "Nii-san!" Someone shouted out, making Hideaki turn around to see his younger brother and the rest of Seirin in their basketball jackets waving.

"Shun, everyone." Hideaki greeted. "You all came."

"We had a practice match in Miyagi, so the timing was perfect." Hyuga explained. "We've actually been here since the semifinals."

"I see." Hideaki said.

"Shun, this is my team. Everyone, this is my younger brother, Shun, along with his basketball team, Seirin." Hideaki introduced his teammates to his younger brother.

"It's nice to finally meet my Nii-san's teammates." Shun said. "Thanks for forcing him back to volleyball, because I had no such luck."

Karasuno chuckled at this a little. "They didn't force me, Shun. I went back willingly." Hideaki denied.

"Sure you did." Shun mumbled. "Well, we just wanted to wish you luck. Go out there and win."

After bidding farewell to Seirin, Karasuno continued on. "All right. As soon as we put our stuff away, we're going to warm up..." Daichi trailed off as he suddenly stopped in his tracks, making Sugawara bump into him.

"Ow! What the heck, Daichi?!" Sugawara exclaimed.

"Up until recently, they couldn't even get past their second match. Karasuno couldn't fly or crow. Hopefully them making it to finals isn't some fluke, either."

"Oh, that guy's here again?" Ukai spoke up.

"Do you know him?" Daichi questioned.

"Nah, he would just show up to matches every so often. I don't think he's someone's relative, so I think he might just be a high school volleyball fan that likes Karasuno. He'll cheer for plays he thinks were good, and boo the bad ones. He's always been easy to read. Have you guys seen him before?" Ukai asked.

"Yes. When we were still first-years, he came to one of our games..." Sugawara began as the four third-years had a dark look.

"We'll never let him say that we're grounded crows again." Daichi finished.

Karasuno entered the court with their jerseys showing and their gym bags hanging on their shoulders.

"All right, here we go!" Daichi announced.

"Yeah!"

"I'm going to the bathroom again." Hinata informed, clenching his stomach.

"I-I need stomach medicine." Yamaguchi told Yachi.

"M-Me, too..." Asahi agreed.

"Center court..." Kageyama trailed off.

"Are you okay, Yamaguchi-kun?!"

"Noya-san, cheer! Cheer!" Tanaka encouraged a kneeled down Nishinoya.

"So jealous! Damn it!" Nishinoya exclaimed.

"Tanaka, Nishinoya, shut up!" Daichi scolded.

"You guys are panicking way too much." Tsukishima commented.

"E-Every... Everyone, calm..." Takeda stuttered, looking like he was about to pass out.

Hideaki took a deep breath, trying to calm down his nerves. "Is this really the same team we met just a few moments ago?" Kagami questioned from the stands.

"It seems so." Hyuga muttered.

Shiratorizawa's cheer squad caught the attention of Karasuno. Both the audience members and the players.

"Wow..." Sugawara muttered.

"Yeah, they definitely feel like a powerhouse school." Asahi commented.

"Come to think of it, the other team hasn't shown up yet." Tanaka pointed out.

"Yeah, they're late."

"Damn it. They must be taking their sweet time."

"Are the underestimating us?" Nishinoya questioned.

The sound of footsteps were heard, getting the attention of Hinata. "They're here!" Hinata announced as the doors opened. Hideaki saw Ushijima walk out with his team behind him, causing the Shiratorizawa cheer squad to go wild.

"All right, let's start our meeting." Ukai announced, making everyone groan. "Hey, I know you're tired from already playing two matches today, but you'd better listen."

"Tomorrow's next match. First, I'm going to start with my honest opinion... If the most complete team in the prefecture is Aoba Johsai, Shiratorizawa is the most incomplete team in the prefecture." Ukai explained.

"Incomplete?" Daichi repeated.

"Do you know why I think that?" Ukai asked. "That's because I looked at the file your managers made after they found out everything they could about Shiratorizawa."

The whole team was in shock at this as Nishinoya and Tanaka had tears streaming down their face.

"Kiyoko-san did that for me?!"

"No, it was for all of you." Kiyoko corrected. "That's about all that we can do, so... Right, Hitoka-chan?"

"Oh, yes. We wanted to be of some use to you all..." Yachi agreed.

"Thank you, Yachi-san!" Hinata exclaimed.

"You guys had better not let it go to waste! You'd better clean out those ears and listen!" Ukai said.

"Right!"

"Um, so what do you mean by "incomplete team"?" Daichi asked.

"If you'd call the attacks we and most other teams do multiplication, Shiratorizawa is addition. Their addition consists of adding powerful strengths together. We use speed, the difference in positions, and time as techniques to get through blocks. Shiratorizawa also uses the difference in time, but when their receives are a bit off, or in cases where they want to score, no matter what, they set really high to their wing spikers, especially Ushijima." Ukai explained.

"There is only one reason for that. Because they can absolutely get a point that way."

Ushijima had spiked down the ball Shirabu had tossed as it went into the audience in which Izumi caught it.

"They'll come out hitting without thinking twice about our guard, with power we've never experienced before. You'd better be prepared!"

"Did that guy seriously spike the ball all the way up here?" Kagami questioned.

"Nii-san did mention he was a powerful ace. The three years he was at Kitagawa Daiichi, he could never get past him." Shun explained.

"They're simply destroying everything with their one ultimate spear. That's the kind of team Shiratorizawa is. Though Ushiwaka is their best, it's not like the rest of that team is ordinary, either."

Hideaki could only watch as Shiratorizawa was warming up. "Ushiwaka's amazing... I'm excited!" Hinata exclaimed.

"Yeah." Kageyama agreed.

TWEEEET!

It was finally time for Karasuno to warm up next. Hideaki smirked. "Hey, you two. Do that thing you did yesterday!" He told the two.

Hideaki could only watch as Kageyama tossed the ball up for Hinata as he slammed it down, shocking the audience.

TWEEEET!

"Their starting lineup is just as we thought." Ukai began. "Did you memorize their characteristics?"

"Yes!"

"We're not going to let Ushijima decide how this goes! If they score, switch gears and get the ball back! That's all you need to do!" Ukai informed. "They aren't machines over there. They'll mess up sometimes. You know what you need to do, right?"

"Yes!"

"All right, everyone. This is the finals. Since we got this far, let's win and go to nationals!" Takeda exclaimed.

"Yeah!"

TWEEEET!

Both teams had lined up. "We will now begin the Japanese National High School Volleyball Tournament, Miyagi Prefecture Qualifiers, Boys' Finals. Miyagi Prefectural Karasuno High School versus Shiratorizawa Academy." The woman on the intercom announced. Daichi and Ushijima shook hands with one another.

"We will now introduce the Karasuno High School starting lineup." The woman on the intercom continued.

"#0, Izuki Hideaki."

Hideaki high fives Kiyoko, Ukai, and Takeda before heading onto the court.

"#1, Sawamura Daichi."

Daichi was next to give high fives to Kiyoko, Ukai, and Takeda as he joined Hideaki.

"#5, Tanaka Ryunosuke."

"#9, Kageyama Tobio."

Kageyama headed onto the court with confidence.

"#10, Hinata Shoyo."

Hinata was next to head onto the court.

"#11, Tsukishima Kei."

"#4, Libero, Nishinoya Yuu."

Nishinoya cheered as he jumped up in excitement.

"Coach, Takeda Ittetsu."

Takeda frantically bowed when his name was called.

"Next, we will introduce the Shiratorizawa starting lineup."

"#1, Ushijima Wakatoshi."

Hideaki saw Ushijima coming out and giving a high five to Washijo and Saito. As expected, the audience went wild.

"#4, Ohira Leon."

"#5, Tendou Satori."

"Yay!" Tendou announced, throwing up peace signs.

"#8, Goshiki Tsutomu."

"#10, Shirabu Kenjiro."

"#12, Kawanishi Taichi."

"#14, Libero, Yamagata Hayato."

"Yeah!" Yamagata exclaimed.

"Coach, Washijo Tanji."

"Ladies and gentlemen, please cheer on both teams and wish them the best."

The audience then began clapping. "I'm starting to feel their nerves." Riko mumbled. "It's definitely not helping the fact that Shiratorizawa has really high stats compared to Karasuno's."

"I guess they aren't a powerhouse for nothing." Shun stated.

"I just thought of something." Kagami began. "Shiratorizawa is like the volleyball version of Rakuzan, correct?"

"You make a good point, Kagami. I never thought of it like that." Shun agreed. "It'll be interesting to see how Karasuno goes up against them."

"Bring it!"

"Daichi-san, nice serve!" Tanaka encouraged the captain.

TWEEEET!

The crowd cheered as Daichi served the ball in which Goshiki immediately received it. "Ushijima-san!" Shirabu called out as Ushijima began running forward.

Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Hideaki jump up to block just as Ushijima jumped up to spike. He spiked the ball as Nishinoya tried to receive it, however it was out, making Shiratorizawa get the first point.

"Nice kill, Ushijima!"

"Ushijima! Ushijima!"

"Don't mind!" Yamaguchi shouted.

"Next, next!" Sugawara added on.

Nishinoya turned back around to face Shiratorizawa, smirking as he did so. "Well hello, Left." He said.

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A/N: The first chapter of season three is done! Thanks for reading!