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

edited on november 13th, 2020 @ 12:31am

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CHAPTER EIGHT - WINNERS AND LOSERS

THEY CONTINUED TO PLAY AS Hideaki watched Hinata spike down the ball over the net. Tokonami missed, as the ball went out of bounds, and Karasuno gained a point. "Nice, Hinata, Kageyama." Tanaka shouts at the two. Right now on the court was Daichi, Hinata, Kageyama, Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Hideaki.

The game was continued once more, as Tokonami serves it, Hinata however was lousy at receiving so Tokonami got a point. Hideaki glanced over at the scoreboard.

Karasuno

12

Tokonami

22

Hideaki growled at this. "It's only the first set..." He thought, Hideaki glanced back at the stands where Oikawa was seated on a chair, with a look of boredom, as he was waiting for something interesting to happen. "Stupid trash." Hideaki thought.

"Nice serve, Chaya." Hideaki heard someone called out, making him look over to the Tokonami member who served, the ball comes straight at Nishinoya who saves it easily. Hinata quickly runs over to spike as the two blockers from Tokonami jump up.

However, Tokonami guessed wrong as Kageyama tossed the ball over to Hideaki. Hideaki jumped as high as he could, his eyes focusing on the volleyball as it came to him. Hideaki spiked it down as he earned Karasuno a point.

"All right!" Karasuno announced as Tanaka and Nishinoya bounced over to ruffle Hideaki's hair and pats his back. Hideaki coughed at the impact of getting hit hard.

Soon, it was Hinata's turn to serve. "One more. Hinata, give us a nice serve." Daichi called out as Hinata nodded.

"Yes." Hinata replied back determinedly.

"Let's score with this one."

"Yeah."

Karasuno kept spiking and getting points, Tokonami were trying to save the balls but they weren't fast enough. "All right!" Karasuno shouted as they all gained another point.

Hideaki felt a little bit bad since one of the players, his name was Ikejiri he believed, was trying his best.

Soon Hinata serves again. "Hinata, nice serve." Daichi called out to encourage him. Hideaki watched with concentrated eyes as the ball goes over the net and Tokonami saves it. Hideaki watched the ball as Ikejiri called out for a toss, as he jumps up and spikes the ball but got blocked by Tsukishima and Daichi.

"All right!" Karasuno annnounced, they won the first set with ease. Hideaki headed on over to the sides with his team as they got their water bottles and towels to wipe away any sweat they had. Hideaki gulped his drink down, making sure to save some for the next set. Some of Hideaki's teammates conversed with one another. He sighed in exhaustion.

TWEEET!

Hideaki looked over to see the next set was starting. Hideaki got into position as it was Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Asahi in the back row, and Hinata, Daichi and Hideaki in the front row. It was Kageyama's turn to serve as he threw the ball up.

"Nice serve, Kageyama." Daichi calls out to the setter.

Hideaki couldn't help but be surprised as to see him do a service ace. But Karasuno got a point, so he was fine. Karasuno celebrated the first point as Hideaki smirked to himself in delight. Kageyama serves again as he spins the ball and did a jump serve, a player from Tokonami tried to save it but failed as it went out of bounds.

Once again, Kageyama did another jump serve, he keeps doing this as Karasuno gets points. Hideaki looked at the score to see that they had 5 points already with Tokonami being at 0. Once more, Kageyama serves the ball however the ball was saved as the player from Tokonami receives it to Ikejiri.

Ikejiri jumps up as did Daichi who was going to block him. The ball was a little high for Ikejiri, making Daichi dump it back down onto the other side of the court and get Karasuno a point, well they would've gotten a point if it weren't for the fact that that Daichi had accidently made contact with the net.

"All right!" Tokonami cheered as they gained a point."Is it wrong to feel happy for the opposing team? They're really given it their all." Hideaki thinks to himself as he smiled.

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They were at set point already for the second set. "All right!" Karasuno announced. Soon it was Tanaka's turn to serve as he threw the ball up and hit it, the ball was saved as it went over to its setter, as he tosses it up.

Ikejiri jumps up to spike as Daichi and Hinata jump up to block the spike, the ball continues to be in play as Hideaki saved it and Hinata had spiked it, but the ball got saved. Karasuno was, however, determined to get a match point.

Soon enough, Tokonami scored a point, as Nishinoya was a bit slow on saving it on time. "All right!" Tokonami cheered.

"Damn it!" Nishinoya yelled, gaining his team's attention as well as Tokonami's. "I'll save the next one for sure!" Nishinoya promises, looking at Tokonami, who blinked.

"One more! Let's turn it around." Daichi announced at his team.

"Yeah!"

Karasuno all stared with serious expressions, as they were determined to get that point. Tokonami looked at them with surprise, as they weren't expecting Karasuno to be serious with them. A few of their players shivered when they saw Hideaki looking at them with a darkened glare. They could've sworn they saw an image of a hawk behind him.

The ball was served once more as it made it's way to Kageyama who tosses it high, Hinata jumped up to spike, but he was a decoy as Daichi was the one in the air and the one that the ball was going too.

And just like that, Karasuno got a point.

TWEEET!

Once it was over, Hideaki and his team, mainly his team as Hideaki was too busy looking up at the stands to see Oikawa and his team leave. Hideaki chuckled as he smirked in excitement.

"I'm looking forward to our match, Tōru." Hideaki thought.

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As Karasuno was heading off, a voice from behind them called out to Daichi. "Sawamura." The voice yells as they stopped and looked over to see Ikejiri.

"Ikejiri." Daichi commented as his team waited to hear what Ikejiri had to say.

Hideaki was a bit surprised to see him go over and hold Daichi by the arms. "Win! Then win some more! Win for us, too." Ikejiri exclaimed to their captain. Karasuno was silent, wondering who was gonna say something first.

Daichi held Ikejiri's hand. "Yeah, you got it." He promises, as his team nodded in agreement. Ikejiri looked as though he might cry but he held it in and smiled at Karasuno. Hideaki wanted to say something to Ikejiri as he looked at Daichi who just nodded and gestured the rest of the team, signaling them to leave.

"Ikejiri Hayato, right?" Hideaki asked, looking at the male who was in shock.

"Y-Yeah. You must be Izuki Hideaki. Sawamura mentioned you." Ikejiri replied.

"Same with Daichi." Hideaki stated. "Listen, I know how horrible you must feel. I could tell you were about to cry. But you decided to be happy for Daichi and us instead."

"I'm gonna give you some piece of advice." Hideaki continued. "Winning is fun. It feels great. The look on your teammates faces when you win a match. But you can't win them all. You have too lose every once in a while because if you didn't, then there will be no room for improvement and getting stronger."

Ikejiri looked like he was about to cry once more. Hideaki looked back at his teammates who were waiting for him. "That group is a bunch of idiots. But Karasuno is like one big family. We laugh together, we cry together, we win together, and we lose together, and it's all thanks to Daichi. He's an amazing captain." He continued.

Hideaki turned back to Ikejiri, who had tears falling out of his eyes. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't give up on volleyball because of this one lost. Don't make the same mistake I did. You're a great player from what I could tell today. Keep working hard." He finished.

"I will. Thank you, Izuki." Ikejiri promised as Hideaki smiled and quickly caught up with his team so they could get ready for their next match.

Hideaki felt bad that Tokonami lost to Karasuno especially since they were out the first round. Which is why he felt like he had to give Ikejiri that speech.

"That's just how volleyball goes. You win some and you lose some." Hideaki thinks to himself.

That was the harsh truth of volleyball. One that Hideaki knew all too well.

"I heard what you said..." Daichi said, coming up to Hideaki who gave him a confused glance. "To Ikejiri. That was nice of you. I know you're not the type to encourage people."

"I guess I saw a bit of myself in him. I left volleyball after our lost against Date Tech last year. I didn't want Ikejiri to make the same mistake I did. He needed a word of encouragement to keep on going." Hideaki said.

Daichi smiled at him. "So, you think I'm an amazing captain, huh?" He questioned.

"Now you're pushing it, Daichi." Hideaki responded, shoving him playfully as Daichi snickered.

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Karasuno was stretching as it was soon their turn to be on the court again versing their next opponent which was Dateko. Hideaki took a deep breath, remembering their lost against them last year. He clenched and unclenched his fist.

"Karasuno was amazing."

"Especially that little #10! He was unreal."

"I know, right?"

"His quicks were right on the money."

Hideaki heard people talk, as he noticed Hinata looked pleased with the gossip but flinched when Kageyama looks at him.

"Wh-What? I'm happy. What's wrong with that? No one's ever said stuff like that about me before." Hinata explained why he looked pleased to the first year setter.

Kageyama then smiled at Hinata. "I didn't say anything. I'm glad you're getting all the attention. The more our opponents are wary of you, the more they'll bring out the best in you."

"Yeah, I don't really understand what you mean, but you're scary when you're smiling." Hinata bluntly told him as Kageyama had a pale look and stared blankly at Hinata. Hideaki coughed to keep himself from laughing.

Kageyama gripped the orange haired male's head in response. "Ouch, ouch..." Hinata hissed as Kageyama tightens his grip, and continued to snicker in amusement.

"Yeah, he's right. 'that little #10' gets a big reaction. The bigger the better. The more Hinata shines, the more he blinds the defence." Ukai stated as everyone turned to him.

"Oh." Hinata commented, listening and taking in coach's words. Soon Ukai cleared his throat. "So, the starting line up for the next match will be the same as the first." Ukai explained as everyone listened to him. Hideaki was silent along with Sugawara, Tanaka, Nishinoya, Asahi, and Daichi.

"Our next match is at 1:30PM. Keep yourselves warm." Daichi spoke up, glancing down at the sheet of paper he held.

"Have a light lunch. Don't fill yourselves up." Ukai told them as well.

"Yeah."

The team kept themselves busy, Hinata and Kageyama were outside, and everyone else conversed with each other. Hideaki was sitting down as he looked outside, thinking about things. His phone buzzed in his pocket as he took it out, seeing a text from his little brother.

Shun 🏀:
> Hey, Nii-san. How's the Inter-High going? Did you win?

Hideaki:
It's going good. We won our first match against Tokonami. Our second match is against Dateko. <

Shun 🏀:
> The school that made you quit volleyball after Karasuno lost against them? Are you sure you'll be okay?

Hideaki:
I'll be fine. <

Shun 🏀:
> If you say so. Good luck, Nii-san.

Hideaki shut his phone off as Daichi and Nishinoya walked by him. "Come on, Hideaki. It's time." Daichi said as Hideaki nodded.

"Yeah." Hideaki replied as he stood up and followed Daichi and Nishinoya.

Karasuno gets inside the gymnasium as the court was being set up for us as Hinata beams in determination. "All right. We'll win the second match, too!" Hinata announced but paused when a shadow cased over his small form, he looked up and saw a Dateko player, the one with no eyebrows, walk by.

His team comes over as Hinata flinches and hid behind Hideaki since he was the tallest, making Hideaki raise an eyebrow at him in question.

"Go! Go! Let's go! Let's go, Dateko!"

"Dateko... fight!" Dateko's captain yelled.

"Yeah!" They all shout as they do some laps to keep energized and such, Karasuno watches them, Hinata shook like a leaf as Kageyama stretches. Hideaki just popped his neck, looking bored.

"You're getting intimidated again." Hideaki called out to Hinata, who stops shaking once he was caught.

"Captains." The referee calls out as Daichi and the Dateko captain shook hands.

"All the best." The two said, shaking hands.

Soon Hideaki and his team were going to practice some receiving before the game starts.

"Get ready to receive!" Daichi yelled as they saw the trolley of volleyballs come over to them.

"Yeah." They all replied in reply as they all lined up.

"Here goes. Keep it in play." Ukai told them as Daichi was first to receive.

"Yeah."

Daichi saved the ball once Ukai saves it he runs to the side as Asahi ran over and saved the ball next, then Sugawara, then the chain keeps going. Hideaki was the second to last one to save the ball, once it was his turn he bend down and received perfectly, he moved out of the way as it was Nishinoya's turn.

"Rolling..." Hideaki managed to hear him say as the ball came to him. "...Thunder..." Nishinoya shouts as he saved the ball by rolling to the side and the ball goes back to Ukai. "Again." He announces as everyone stared in shock. Even Dateko was a bit surprised by the outburst.

"That was perfect." Nishinoya proudly smiled.

"Noya, nice receive." Tanaka praised. "Perfection itself! Except for the name." Tanaka laughs as Nishinoya looked irked by this.

"The name is perfect, too!" Nishinoya defended. Hinata bounces over.

"Teach me! Teach me the Again version, too!" Hinata begged.

Hideaki then spoke up. "How's that any different from the regular one?" He asked as Kageyama nods in agreement with him.

"What was that?"

"He saved it."

"You're showing off again."

"Hey, Nishinoya, you're gonna make Daichi mad."

Soon Nishinoya looked at his team as they surround him. "All right. There's nothing to worry about." He yells as his team stared at him with widen eyes. "All of you, keep your eyes forward. Because you have me guarding your backs." Nishinoya proudly assured them.

"A-Awesome!" Tanaka, Kageyama, and Hinata all announce at Nishinoya's words.

TWEEEET!

"Line up." Daichi ordered them as they did so. They stared at Dateko who did the same to them.

"Let's play!"

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A/N: Another chapter done! Hope you enjoyed!

Word Count: 2555 words.