A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to another chapter! Enjoy!

edited on november 4th, 2021 @ 8:00am

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CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE - THE BATTLE WITHOUT WILL POWER

"SAWAMURA-SAN!"

"Daichi!"

"Daichi!"

Everyone who was on the court surrounded Daichi in concern, as Ukai hurries over to check on him, Rei watched as Daichi sits up. "Ow..." He groaned.

"Where were you hit?" Ukai asked, as Daichi took a second to reply.

"M-My face?" Daichi replied, but seemed unsure as Takeda ran over.

"Sawamura, where are you right now?" Takeda questioned, making sure he didn't have amnesia.

"Sendai City Gymnasium." Daichi responded.

"Who are we playing right now?"

"W-WakuNan. I'm fine!"

"But it appears that you've hit your head, so go to the medical office for now."

"Right!"

Rei saw that Daichi had an unpleased expression, as Takeda then placed his hand on Daichi's shoulder. "Go confirm that you're all right. That is the fastest path back to the game." Takeda stated as Daichi's eyes soften.

"Yes, sir." He agreed.

Daichi stands up as Kiyoko was beside him. "Blood..." She pointed out, making Rei widen his eyes when he saw blood drip from Daichi's mouth.

"Did you cut your lip?" Ukai asked. However, Daichi didn't respond as Rei cringed a little when his captain spat a tooth from his mouth.

Kiyoko was tending to him, as Ukai turned to Takeda. "Sir, can I leave you to take care of the rest?" Ukai asked as Takeda nodded in reply. Rei sees Tanaka walk over to Daichi in guilt.

"D-Daichi-san... I'm sorr—" Tanaka began to apologize but Daichi interrupted him.

"Sorry, Tanaka." Daichi said, causing Tanaka to stare at him. "I saw you coming in to cover, but my body had a will of its own and plunged in. But look..."

Rei followed his gaze to see the scoreboard.

"Because of that one point you took back, we're at the 20-point mark now."

Rei watched as Daichi gave a soothing pat on Tanaka's arm, before walking away as Tanaka stayed silent.

"He's always so strong and reliable in matches. I hope Tanaka-san doesn't feel guilty the entire game." Rei thinks to himself before taking a drink from his water bottle, since they had taken a timeout since Daichi was injured.

They had to make a decision on who would replace Daichi in the game, at first it was going to be difficult until Sugawara suggested someone that came as a surprise to others.

"You're the only one we have. We're counting on you."

"Chikara! Get a grip!"

Rei watched as Ennoshita walked onto the court, he could tell that he was nervous but kept a calm look. Soon Tsukishima was walking back to his spot, but stopped to stare at Ennoshita.

"Oh, so it is you after all, Ennoshita-san." He stated, making the second-year look up at Tsukishima as Kageyama jogged over.

"Ennoshita-san, can I toss fast attacks from the get-go?" Kageyama questioned as Ennoshita nodded.

"Oh, sure." Ennoshita replied as Nishinoya jumped into the air.

"Chikara, their Number 1 blows balls outta the court, so keep that in mind!" Nishinoya announced as Ennoshita looked over at him.

"Y-Yeah."

Rei heard Hinata from the sidelines. "Ennoshita-san, you've got this!" He reassured him.

"Let's do this!" Yamaguchi added on as Rei watched Tanaka walk over cautiously.

"Ennoshita, sorry, we're counting on you." Tanaka said as Ennoshita silently stared at him.

"Why are you saying "sorry?"

Tanaka looked up at him.

"Are you talking about how you collided with Daichi? It was a toss-up on who would get hurt by the hit."

Kageyama, Nishinoya, Tsukishima, Asahi, and Rei all watch and listen in.

"In the end, Daichi may have been subbed out because he collided with you. But if there's anything we're thinking about right now..." Ennoshita paused as he steps aside for Asahi who was behind him. "Asahi, please go ahead." Ennoshita said as Rei raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"We're glad that you weren't hurt!"

Rei smiled before walking over and grabbing Tanaka by the shoulders. "All right! Let's show WakaNan that we're not weakened just because Daichi-san was subbed out!" He smirked to ease Tanaka's nerves with Ennoshita nodding in agreement.

"If you guys are all depressed, it will cause even more trouble!" He exclaimed.

They all get into position as it was Ennoshita serving the volleyball. "Ennoshita-san, nice serve!" Rei encouraged as the second-year hits the ball over the net where the opposing players receive it. Kageyama and Tanaka get ready to block, as WakuNan's setter tosses it up to their spiker and the spiker hits the ball down, as Kageyama and Tanaka jump up to block, but the ball gets past them.

Rei watched as Nakashima performs a jump serve as he sent the ball over to their side, Ennoshita tried to save it, but the ball bounces off his arm and WakaNan gets a point.

"Damn it... I'm sorry!" Ennoshita apologized.

"I'll guard a little wider." Nishinoya reassured.

"I will, too." Rei added.

"Sorry to trouble you, Nishinoya, Shiro." Ennoshita replied.

"You're not troubling us at all, Ennoshita-san. It's mine and Noya-senpai's job." Rei reassured him as Nishinoya nodded in agreement.

"Bring it on!"

Rei blinked and stared at the second-year but smiled as they waited for the ball to get served by Nakashima. The ball gets spiked as Rei watched Ennoshita save it as the ball gets sent to Kageyama.

"It's up!" Nishinoya exclaimed.

"Ennoshita-san, nice!" Rei praised.

"Connect it! Connect!" Nishinoya said.

"Give it to me!" Asahi announced as Kageyama tossed the ball over.

"Azumane-san!" He shouted to the third-year as Rei cheered when Asahi slammed down the ball and got Karasuno a point.

"All right!"

"Nice kill!"

Nishinoya ran over to Ennoshita happily. "Chikara! Good job getting that up!" He praised.

"Y-Yeah!" Ennoshita responded. Soon, it was Asahi's turn to serve.

"Asahi, nice serve!"

Rei watched as Asahi did his jump serve and got Karasuno a point when the ball bounces off Number 2's arm. Asahi serves once more.

"One more!" Nishinoya cheered as Rei kept his focus ahead as Asahi did his jump serve.

The ball gets saved as the volleyball reaches WakaNan's setter as they did a dump and not toss it, as Nishinoya was a little slow on receiving it.

As the game continues on, Tanaka scored a point when he spiked the ball through the blockers. "All right!" He cheered as Rei glanced at the scoreboard to see where they were at.

Karasuno

23

WakaNan

20

"Tanaka, nice kill!"

TWEEEET!

Rei looked over to see who was being swapped in, only to see it was Yamaguchi holding Tsukishima's number. However, he sweat drops when he saw how Yamaguchi was shaking and looked extremely nervous. Tsukishima says something to Yamaguchi, but Rei couldn't hear what, but it seemed to make Yamaguchi happy.

"Thanks, Tsukki!"

Tanaka, who must've overheard what Tsukishima said deadpanned from the court.

"Was that encouragement?"

Asahi walked over to Tanaka with a sweat drop.

"Tsukishima sure has a crabby way of saying things."

Soon Ennoshita was behind Yamaguchi.

"Yamaguchi, do you feel like throwing up?"

"Huh? Not just yet."

"Then you'll be fine."

Rei flinched a little when Ennoshita looked up and looked a little pale.

"I feel like I'm going to puke."

"A-Are you, all right?"

"I can barely stand."

Yamaguchi slightly panics as Rei walked over to Ennoshita. "Ennoshita-san, please don't puke during the game." He begged. Yamaguchi was given the volleyball as he was going to serve. Rei could easily tell that Yamaguchi was trying to calm down.

The whistle blew as Rei saw the ball hit the top of the net, making him stop breathing for a second as he waited to see what side the ball will fall on. He saw the volleyball roll onto WakaNan's side, getting Karasuno a point.

"Nice serve!"

"It's over the net!"

"Just one more point!"

Rei sighed in relief, silently praising Yamaguchi for his serve. "Yamaguchi, nice serve!" Tanaka exclaimed.

"One more!" Ennoshita encouraged as Rei threw a peace sign at Yamaguchi, as he grabs the ball again for his second serve.

"If he gets this point, we'll win the first set." Rei noted.

"You've got this, Yamaguchi!" Nishinoya cheered from the sides. Rei watched Yamaguchi from the corner of his eyes, before looking ahead, getting ready to receive just in case. The ball goes over the net and the opponents save it, as the setter tosses up the ball.

Hinata and Tanaka jump up to block, as the ball hits Hinata's fingertips. "It's falling! Front, front, front!" Hinata announced. However, Rei saw that Yamaguchi was frozen in place, too scared to move. Rei was scared that the ball would touch the court but was relieved that Ennoshita dived in an instantly sent the ball back up.

Rei covered for Ennoshita as he sent the volleyball to Asahi. "Asahi-san!" He shouted.

"Right!" He shouted back, as he spikes down the ball and got Karasuno a point, making the first set end and Karasuno the winner.

TWEEEET!

"All right!"

Karasuno got off the court for a break, as Hinata ran off with energy with Kageyama and Rei walking off calmly. "I'll never understand how he has that much energy left in him." Rei said to no one in particular. Kageyama just sighed in response as they watched their teammate race off.

"Oh, Ukai-san is back."

Rei looked over and slightly tense up when he saw that he looked pissed as he marched over. Kageyama and Hinata stood on both sides of him, as Hinata grabbed the black haired male's arm and hid behind him a little.

"Is he pissed off or something?" Hinata asked as Rei watched Ukai stomp over to Yamaguchi.

"Yamaguchi!"

"U-Um..."

Ennoshita quickly interfered. "H-He knows. I think he knows more than anyone else." Ennoshita said as Rei saw how Yamaguchi looked as though he may cry at that point, as everyone else kept silent. Rei saw that Tsukishima handed Yamaguchi a towel before walking away, making him smile at the gesture from Tsukishima.

They soon surround Ukai. "Ukai-san, how is Daichi-san?" Tanaka asked as Ukai turned to them.

"He's fine. There's no worry of a concussion. However, the bleeding and pain in his mouth is a bit severe." Ukai informed as Rei saw how Kageyama and Hinata visibly cringed at the comment.

"I'm having him rest for a while, just in case."

Asahi and Ennoshita saw how Tanaka shook, so the two of them both slapped his back to snap out of it, as Kageyama and Hinata clinged onto Rei, as they were both cringing about the blood part of Daichi.

"Guys... You can let go now." Rei told them.

"We're gonna win and ready the next stage for Sawamura. You guys don't need to think about anything other than that!"

"Right!"

Ennoshita gestured for everyone to gather around. "All right, let's go!" Ennoshita announced as Rei placed his hand in the middle with everyone else.

"Karasuno, fight!"

"Yeah!"

TWEEEET!

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Rei panted as he looked at the scoreboard.

WakaNan

18

Karasuno

14

Rei could tell his teammates was sweating and nervous about what they were facing. But they were all determined.

They needed to win this match, no matter what.

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A/N: Another chapter is done! Let me know if there's any mistakes! Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 1923 words.