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

edited on october 9th, 2021 @ 2:48am

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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX - STILL GROWING

"ALL RIGHT! INDIVIDUAL PRACTICE FROM HERE! We now have less than two months until the qualifer at the end of October. Work hard on improving individully!" Ukai announced as Rei sighed in relief while Hinata and Nishinoya bounced over.

"Yay!" The two exclaimed in unison. Rei noticed Yachi carry the basket with their jerseys to the wash, so he walked on over.

"Need some help, Hitoka?"

"Oh, Rei. Yes, please."

Rei held the basket for her as the two headed outside, however they both stopped when a figure in a black hoodie walked by them. Yachi squealed in surprise which caught Rei slightly off guard and causing the unknown figure to slightly jump.

Rei blinked. "Ka-Ka—" Yachi stuttered but Rei interrupted her.

"I'm afraid to ask, but I'm gonna do it anyway. What the hell are you doing, Tobio-kun?" Rei asked as Kageyama stared at them in shock.

"You could tell it was me?" He questioned in shock.

"Yeah..."

"Damn it!"

Kageyama takes off the sunglasses and his blue and white Hollywood cap. "W-Was that suppose to be a disguise?" Yachi asked as Rei smirked in amusement.

"It's not a very good one if I'm being honest." He added. Kageyama didn't reply as he looked away from them instead.

"Um, uh..."

"Out of everyone we might face in the qualifiers, there's one team I want to watch at any cost."

"I see! You're going to record a video of them or something!"

"No, there's an unwritten rule that you can only record official matches. So, it's not like anything will happen just because I go watch. There's less than two months till the qualifiers since summer break is over. I feel like I should definitely check them out." Kageyama ranted.

"If you don't want to stand out at a school after school hours, you should probably just wear plain training gear."

Kageyama widened his eyes as he turned to Rei with wide eyes.

"Oh."

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Kageyama had gone off to who knows where, as the rest of the team was practicing their serving. Rei was about to sleep on the floor but Nishinoya made sure he stayed awake. His teammates worked on their jump serves with Rei receiving them.

Rei decided to take a break as he walked over to the water bottles near the wall and gulped down the water. Rei noticed Hinata walking over to Tsukishima, he couldn't understand what they were saying, since they were on the other side of the gym, but Hinata looked intense and determined, as the black haired male then saw the two stand up from the ground.

Not long after, Rei saw Tsukishima bonk his hand on Hinata's head, making the orange-haired male roll around on the ground, clutching his head.

"You pushed the diarrhea pressure point! Curse you, Tsukishima!" Hinata announced.

"There's a pressure point for that?" Rei mumbled as he saw Tsukishima walk away.

It was soon dark out, as some of the team had either gone home or stayed at the gymnasium to practice. Rei let out a laugh when Ennoshita accidently served the ball into Tanaka's head, making the second-year fall over.

"Ow!" Tanaka exclaimed.

"Sorry!" Ennoshita apologized.

"Ennoshita-san, nice kill!" Rei called out, laughing in amusement.

"Stop laughing, Shiro!"

Rei continued to laugh, making Tanaka get flustered in embarrassment.

Rei then heard the gym doors open. "Kageyama survives!" Hinata announced as Rei looked over, stopping his laughing when he sees the first-year setter walk in, looking tired.

"How was it?" Hinata added as he ran over, Rei was nearby, so he was able to hear Kageyama's response.

"I... I may never be able to win against Oikawa."

"What are you talking about? Quit messing around! What did you see?"

The loud yell from Hinata alerted everyone as they all stopped their training to stare. "I think Seijoh was playing a match against a college that some of their alumni are attending. When I got there, they were on break. During the break, a different type of match with a member swap started up." Kageyama explained.

"Among the college students, Oikawa entered alone as their setter. It seemed like there were many people he had just met for the first time."

Rei was silent as he listened to Kageyama.

"But... after just a few plays... Oikawa had completely blended into the team. Even I could tell how lively the spikers felt. The ability to draw 100% out of anyone... even if you take your time, it's not a given you can make that happen. But for Oikawa, even if it's someone that hates him, or a very quirky player, I'm sure... he can manage them at will."

Rei widened his eyes a little. "Well, I knew Oikawa was good, but being able to do something like that? Huh... No wonder he's a star setter." He thought.

"So, are you saying that you're freaked out by the Great King again, Kageyama?"

"Yeah, I'm really freaked out."

Rei couldn't help but be taken aback when he saw that Kageyama was smiling, even though he had admitted that he was freaked out.

"The three years that Oikawa spent... everything is packed into the current Seijoh team. And the spring nationals are the one and only chance to go up against it. We're going to beat them, as a team." Kageyama announced, as Rei widened his eyes at him, before smirking in agreement.

Hinata smiled brightly as he runs off with a volleyball.

"Defeat the Great King!"

"That's my line, idiot!"

Rei watched in amusement, shaking his head at the two.

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Rei yawned, as he and his team were in front of Nekoma High. "So, with the prefectural qualifier in October, we'll only be able to come to Kanto for practice matches two more times, including this trip. Let's make the best of this opportunity." Takeda explained.

"Right!"

They headed inside the gym, when they were greeted by none other than Bokuto. "Hey, Tsukki! Shiro!"Bokuto yelled. "Jump block for me! Hey, hey, hey!" Bokuto grinned happily with Akaashi and Komi staring at their captain with a deadpan look.

Tsukishima and Rei just stared at Bokuto who had his arms wide for them. Rei sighed and walked over.

"Sure, I'll train with you." Rei said as Bokuto beamed and slapped his back happily.

"Yes, thanks for working with me." Tsukishima also responded, which had Bokuto be taken aback.

"What?" Bokuto announced with widened eyes, even Akaashi and Komi were surprised.

"You're the one that asked. Why are you surprised?" Rei asked in amusement.

Soon enough, Rei spotted a certain bedhead captain who was practicing blocks. Tsukishima and Rei walked on over, as they watched Kuroo jump to block Lev's spike.

Rei chuckled when the spike Lev did was blocked by his captain who had his squally lazy grin.

"Yay!" Kuroo cheered making Lev irked.

"I-I'm going to make it through next time!" Lev promised, but for ignored when Kuroo saw the two.

"Hey, Tsukki! Darlin!"

Rei sighed in annoyance at the nickname Kuroo gave him. "How long are you two just gonna watch?" Kuroo questioned.

"Sorry." Tsukishima replied, putting down his drink as him and Rei walked over.

"I call dibs on Shiro!" Bokuto announced, grabbing onto the black haired male's arm, pulling him over to join his team.

"No fair. I haven't seen darlin' in ages!"

"Too bad!"

"Why you—"

Rei sighed at the two captains. "Nothing has changed since the last time I saw them." He thought.

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Karasuno was currently playing a practice match with Shinzen, with them at 20 and the opposing team at 8 points. Shinzen gets a point when Kageyama and Hinata didn't do a quick attack, or at least failed to do, but that was to be expected.

"Lev! I told you not to block with a banzai pose! They're getting through right between your arms! Your arms need to be together enough, so the ball won't go through!"

Rei looked at Nekoma, who was going against Fukurōdani, as Kuroo was shouting at Lev.

"Right!" Lev replied, making Rei slightly chuckle.

September soon rolled around quickly, as everyone continued to practice at Karasuno, even having a few practice matches with the Neighborhood association. Day after day, they trained hard for the prefectural.

When he wasn't practicing, he was calling his childhood friend, checking in with him and him saying how he'll be watching qualifiers.

Eventually, it had reached October as Rei was marking the prefectural dates.

"The prefectural tournament is in a few days. We need to keep on winning so we can reach the finals. I'm going to defeat all of them." Rei thought.

He was determined to defeat his former teammates, taking Karasuno to nationals in the process.

He owed his seniors that much.

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Karasuno was currently at Shinzen High, having their practice match with them. This time, they were up against Nekoma as it went on for a while. Nekoma was at match point, with Karasuno being at 24.

"Front! Up front!"

Daichi dived down and saved it. "Sorry!" He apologized as Rei ran over and got under the ball.

"I got it!" Rei said.

"Center!" Hinata called out.

"Hinata-kun!" Rei shouted, sending the ball his way.

Rei watched as Hinata spiked the ball, as he also noticed Kenma looked shocked about something as him and Lev tried to block Hinata. The ball flew past the two blockers.

"Out!" Yaku announced as the ball hits the outside of the court, making Nekoma have a point.

"Dammit! Sorry about that!"

Rei smiled and patted his back. "Don't mind." He reassured him as Hinata beamed up at him.

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The day of the prefectural tournament had finally arrived. Karasuno headed to the gymnasium. Rei had already seen other schools arriving as well, wearing their school colors.

"We're here!" Hinata exclaimed. "We're back at the Sendai City Gymnasium once again! We're totally gonna get our revenge!"

The rest of the team stood in silence, ready to win their matches. Rei jumped when Hinata started to run off. "Don't just take off, you dumbass!" Kageyama yelled as he chased after Hinata. Rei snorted in amusement.

"Like you're one to talk." He mumbled.

"Hinata and Kageyama look they're living solely on knee-jack reactions." Yamaguchi dead panned.

"They're like insects." Tsukishima added, making Tanaka and Nishinoya laugh at his words.

Rei watched as he saw Hinata and Kageyama almost crash into another school. He sighed and jogged over, only to be surprised when he saw it was Terushima.

Rei watched as he moved Hinata to the side and started to wave at Kiyoko. "Cutie with the glasses! Make sure to give me your number today!" He announced, waving at them.

Kiyoko looked away. "She's so cute when she gets shy." Rei heard him comment, before he saw how Tanaka and Nishinoya got fired up.

Tanaka and Nishinoya charged forward. "Hey!" Daichi called out to them, as Rei watched with a sweat drop as Tanaka and Nishinoya jumped up and got ready to pounce on the dyed haired male.

"Stop that! I-I'm terribly sorry about that!"

Rei was taken aback when he saw that Johzenji had a female manager as well. As she scolded her team, she bowed at Nishinoya and Tanaka who stopped and froze in place.

"Oh, they stopped." Yamaguchi stated as Atsushi chuckled.

"They're frozen in mid-air. That's amazing." Rei said.

"Well, see you in the first match."

The guy and his team walk off into the building. Rei didn't bother to hear the rest of what Kageyama and Hinata said, but he saw how they suddenly dashed off.

"We'll defeat them all!" They exclaimed.

Rei and the rest of Karasuno watched with dead panned looks. "They sure are in high spirits." Sugawara commented.

"Thanks to them, I can stay calm." Daichi added.

Suddenly, Rei's phone buzzed as he pulled out his phone from his jacket, reading over the text.

"Daichi-san." Rei said, getting the attention of his captain and the rest of his team before the first-year libero showed his phone. "I'm being summoned."

"I see. Go ahead. Just make sure you're back in time for our match. Yamaguchi, go with him."

"Huh? Okay."

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Rei entered the gymnasium with Yamaguchi behind him as he saw four other players at the waiting spot.

"You've got a babysitter, Rei?" A male with dark blue hair wearing the red Nekoma volleyball jacket asked when the libero arrived.

"Mizu-chin. You've got Sai-chin." A certain purple haired giant wearing the Date Tech jacket pointed out, eating a candy bar.

"Saika's got nothing to do with this." Mizuki said.

"Fujicchi, why do you have scissors?" A blonde wearing the Aoba Johsai jacket asked.

"It's obviously my lucky item, you moron." Fujita replied as he was wearing the white Fukurōdani jacket.

"It's dangerous, though." Hayashi sighed. "You could easily stab someone."

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Rei announced with Yamaguchi behind him, having a scared look on his face.

"So these are all the members of The Inhumane Players? They look really intimidating up close." Yamaguchi thought.

Hayashi's phone suddenly rang. "Your phone's pissing me off. Is it Kawamura?" Mizuki asked.

"It's... A text from a fan girl." Hayashi replied.

"Go die!"

"Huh? Fuji-chin, let me borrow those scissors." Nakano said, trying to open a bag of chips.

"No."

"Huh? Shiro-chin, do you have any?" Nakano asked.

"No, I don't." Rei replied.

"They're speaking so casually, but the air around them seems tense." Yamaguchi thinks to himself.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard. "Why's the guy who summoned us here the last to arrive?" Hayashi asked.

"There's no need to fret. That's just how he is." Fujita answered.

"I wish he would hurry up. You and I need to take the train back to Tokyo soon." Mizuki sighed.

The footsteps then stopped. "I apologize that I've kept you waiting." A red head wearing the white and purple Shiratorizawa jacket greeted.

"Kawa-kun." Rei said.

"That's the captain of The Inhumane Players?" Yamaguchi gulped.

"Kaito, Shou, Daisuke, Takumi, and Rei." Kawamura called out their first names. "I'm glad to see you again. I'm deeply grateful we're all able to meet like this. However, there's someone here who doesn't belong." He said, referring to Yamaguchi.

"I wish to only speak to my former teammates right now. Sorry, but could you leave?" Kawamura asked.

"I really wish I could. But I'm frozen and I can't move..." Yamaguchi thinks to himself.

"W-Whatever you have to say in front of Shiro, you can say to us as well!"

Rei looked over and spotted Hinata. He sweat dropped when he saw that his orange-haired teammate was shaking. "Y-You're Kawamura Riku, right? Shiro's teammate from Jindai?" Hinata asked.

It was silent for a moment. "Daisuke, can I borrow those scissors?" Kawamura questioned.

"What are you going to use them for?" Fujita asked.

"Nothing in particular." Kawamura responded as Fujita handed him the scissors. "First... You're Hinata Shoyo, right? The one who said that pointless declaration to my senior?"

In a flash, Kawamura pointed the scissors towards Hinata's neck with Hinata barely dodging and Kawamura cutting his cheek instead.

"Hinata-kun!" Rei exclaimed, worried for his teammate.

"You're kidding, right? He was really trying to hit him! If Hinata hadn't dodged that..." Yamaguchi trailed off.

"My, my. I'm amazed you were able to dodge that. In light of that display of grace, I'll let your comment slide. However, I don't give second chances. When I tell you to leave, you leave." Kawamura said, handing Fujita his scissors back. "In this world, winning is everything. Winners are affirmed completely, and losers are denied completely. I've never lost at anything before, and I never will. Because I always win, and I am always right. I show no mercy to those who oppose me."

"Well, I'm leaving. I just wanted to say hello to everyone today." Kawamura continued.

"What? Don't be ridiculous, Kawamura! You summoned us just for that?" Mizuki questioned.

"No... I actually wanted to confirm something, but after seeing your faces, I realized there was no need. No one has forgotten our promise." Kawamura responded. "Everything's fine, then. The next time we meet will be on the court."

Rei was soon walking back with Hinata and Yamaguchi to their team to begin their match. "Hinata-kun, is your cheek okay?" Rei asked worriedly.

"It's fine, Shiro. He just grazed it a bit." Hinata reassured him. "Your junior high captain is super scary!"

"Yes. It seems he hasn't changed one bit." Rei hummed. "Now come on, our match is about to begin."

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The shouts of schools shouting out their cheers could be heard, as Rei was huddled about with his team. "The first match has Seijoh on the B Court... and Shiratorizawa on the A Court." Daichi informed.

TWEEEET!

"It's our turn next! Let's go!"

"Yeah!"

They turned as the team they were up against was none other than Johzenji.

"Yee-haw!"

Rei was taken aback at how lively they were, as he saw how they stared back at Karasuno in excitement.

Meanwhile, a male with brown hair with matching brown eyes had appeared in the audience. Next to him was a male with violet hair and blue eyes. Both males wore a school uniform that consisted of an olive-colored jacket, white collared shirt, blue tie, and black pants.

"Ah, looks like we made it just in time, Terada-chan." The brunette stated.

"I can't believe you made me come all this way just so you can watch your childhood friend play, Sato." The violet haired male, known as Terada, sighed in disappointment.

"Don't be like that, Terada-chan. I wanted to see what his high school team is all about. Plus, Terushima-san wanted me to come watch. I couldn't say no." Ryuu informed before looking at the court again.

"Let's see how much you've improved since junior high, Rei-chan."

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A/N: Another update within a day of the last update? Yes sir. Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 3039 words.