A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to the last chapter of season three! This is where the joust with Hideaki and Ushijima happen! Enjoy!

edited on february 28th, 2022 @ 7:10am

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CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO - THE BATTLE OF CONCEPTS

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

"Right!"

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

Tsukishima and Hideaki 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 Hideaki watched Ushijima run up. "Ushiwaka... if this was back in junior high, I would've lost to you. But I'm stronger now, and I have my whole team behind me. So I'm going to defeat you, because I made a promise!" Hideaki told himself.

Hideaki jumped up the same time as Ushijima, locking the two of them into a joust and shocking the audience, Iwaizumi and Oikawa, as well as both Karasuno and Shiratorizawa.

"A joust!"

"It's a battle between the two aces!"

"I made a promise to Tōru! And that was to defeat you and go to nationals!" Hideaki told Ushijima, pushing the volleyball onto Shiratorizawa's side. Yamagata quickly received the ball back over, in which Kageyama was able to save 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.

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

Hideaki 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, Hideaki, and Tanaka were all lifting Ushijima off of Tsukishima and Hinata. "Their #10 is coming!" Kawanishi 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?!"

Seirin had cheered in happiness. "They did it!" Shun exclaimed out.

Daichi was breathing heavily as he turned around, hugging Hideaki. Sugawara and Asahi soon joined them. The four 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.

Nishinoya fell on top of 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!"

"Kageyama does good work." Iwaizumi complimented. "Hideaki seemed to overcome his past jousts with Ushiwaka in order to win."

"Aki-chan scares me sometimes." Oikawa admitted before standing up. "Come on, let's go home. I'd rather die than see the awards ceremony." He continued on as him 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, Izuki!" Michimiya shouted out. "Congratulations on your victory!"

The four 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 Hideaki's shoulders. "Izuki! Great job... Great job on that joust!" He complimented.

"I made a promise to someone I treasure. I wasn't about to break it." Hideaki stated 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 lined up by their jersey numbers.

"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. Hideaki 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 Hideaki was sitting right in between him and Daichi.

"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."

Later that night, Hideaki entered his apartment and flinched when he saw Oikawa sitting on his couch. "Congratulations on the win." He told him.

Hideaki smiled. "Close your eyes, Tōru. I got something for you." He announced, making Oikawa raise an eyebrow, but did as he was told to.

Hideaki placed his award medal in Oikawa's hand. "Okay, open them." He said as Oikawa did so. He glanced down at the medal.

"Aki-chan, this is—"

"My award medal." Hideaki interjected. "I'm giving it to you."

"But—"

"Being able to go to nationals with my team is enough for me." Hideaki informed. "I don't need an award. This is your win as much as it is mine."

"Aki-chan..." Oikawa muttered before engulfing the black-haired male into a hug.

"Go show them what you're made of at nationals, Aki-chan."

"Yeah, I will."

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It was the next day at school 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 Hideaki sat in class 3-5.

"Hey, Izuki! Congratulations on making it to nationals."

Hideaki glanced up, meeting his classmates gaze. "Thanks." He responded.

"The whole match was insane! Especially Izuki's joust with Ushiwaka! You should've come!"

"Seriously?! Now I wish I had gone!"

Classes soon came to an end as Hideaki was in the clubroom, getting ready for practice. "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?" He questioned.

"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.

✰ 𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 ✰

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A/N: And that's a wrap up on season three! Thanks for reading!