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

edited on october 24th, 2020 @ 6:26pm

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CHAPTER THREE - TSUKISHIMA & YAMAGUCHI

IT WAS NIGHT OUT AS Rei was on his way home from practice. His phone chimed, signaling that he got a text. He removed his phone from his jacket pocket, and smiled when he saw who it was.

Ryu-kun:
> Hey, Rei-chan. It's been awhile since we talked. Johzenji is treating me well. It's kinda weird not playing volleyball though. How's Karasuno treating you?

Rei-chan:
It's going fine. My teammates are really nice. You remember hearing about the King of the Court that went to Kitagawa? He's on my team. <

Ryu-kun:
> Really? You better be careful around him. Kuni-chan told us that he wasn't really friendly in junior high.

Rei-chan:
That was in junior high. He might've changed since then. <

Ryu-kun:
> I suppose you're right.

Rei pocketed his phone as he continued walking. Both him and Ryuu were childhood friends with Kunimi Akira. Even though they each went to a different junior high, Rei to Jindai, Ryuu to Hokkaido, and Kunimi to Kitagawa, the three friends still kept in touch. He heard some commotion as he looked over and saw Kageyama and Hinata talking to a blonde male and a male with black hair with a tint of green.

Rei grunted in annoyance. "I really don't want to deal with this." He thought, heading over to the group.

"Is there a problem here?" Rei asked, making Kageyama and Hinata both flinch at his voice.

Tsukishima smirked. "Of course not. Just having a chat with our fellow teammates." He responded. "You're Oshiro Rei, right? The sixth player of the famous Inhumane Players? There's been rumors going around that you mysteriously disappeared at the junior high Nationals. I wonder why that is? Why would someone just abandon their teammates like that?"

Yamaguchi chuckled. Rei looked over at Yamaguchi, who shivered under his stotic gaze. Kageyama and Hinata looked shocked.

"I have my reasons." Rei answered. "And frankly, you shouldn't talk about someone's business when you don't know the full story to it."

Kageyama and Hinata were about ready to leave.

"Running away?" Tsukishima taunted. "I guess the king isn't what he's cracked up to be. Maybe I'll win against the king this Saturday, too." He threw the ball up in the air, expecting it to fall back into his palm but Hinata jumped up and caught it.

Rei smirked at their shocked faces. "Shut up with the 'king' crap. I'm here, too." Hinata stated.

"Huh?" Tsukishima questioned, narrowing his eyebrows at Hinata.

"W-What? Hey..." Hinata stuttered. "You wanna fight, bastard?"

"Let's not get so intense. Let's do this cheerfully, for fun." Tsukishima said. "It's only a club activity, after all."

"What do you mean 'only'?" Hinata asked, getting offended.

"I mean literally." Tsukishima replied as it was the most obvious thing. "See you later."

"Hey, Saltyshima." Rei spoke up, getting the attention of the blonde and his friend. This also caught the attention of Kageyama and Hinata. "Volleyball isn't just only a club activity. To some people, it's their life. But I guess someone like you wouldn't understand." He continued.

He turned towards the blonde. "Don't talk about volleyball like it's 'only a club activity' because someday, you'll realize why it's important to some of us." Rei finished. Tsukishima said nothing as him and Yamaguchi walked away.

"That was deep, Oshiro." Hinata commented.

"I agree." Kageyama added.

"Thank you." Rei said. "Well, I'll see you two at practice tomorrow."

"Leaving already?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah." Rei replied.

"We understand. Goodnight, Oshiro." Kageyama said as Rei walked to the gates of the school. While doing so, he happened to walk past Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.

"That was a heart warming speech you gave me, Phantom." Tsukishima mocked. "Why is someone like you so passionate about volleyball anyway?"

"Someone I care about quit volleyball after their team was defeated. I mostly play for him. Everytime I think about what they did to him, it pushes me to do better." Rei explained. "Have a nice night."

Rei headed his way towards his house. He stepped in the door and headed towards his room, dropping his volleyball bag down and laying on his bed. He was silent for a moment as he looked at a picture of his junior high team on his shelf where his volleyball awards were. He was in between a blonde and a blue haired male.

Rei scoffed at the picture. "That was back before everything went crashing down. Before everyone changed. Before our team banner said 'winning is everything.'"

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Throughout the week, Kageyama and Hinata had been practicing for Saturday. Rei had been helping them out a few times. But because of this, he never got any sleep, so he slept in class.

Rei followed Tanaka into the gym as Sugawara was already there. The three of them watched Hinata save and receive the balls, one after another. "How long have they've been at it?" Tanaka asked.

"It's been 15 minutes since I got here." Sugawara replied.

"15 minutes straight?" Tanaka repeated with shock. Sugawara nodded. "What?"

"But you've reached your limit now!" Kageyama was shouting, hitting the ball to Hinata who received it. "You can't go any further."

"Not yet!" Hinata exclaimed. "I haven't dropped the ball yet!"

"Take that!" Kageyama shouts, hitting the ball towards Hinata. But it went too strong as the ball went further away from Hinata.

"Wow, bad character! How's he supposed to get that?" Tanaka asked. Kageyama looked surprised and nervous of his mistake.

"Hinata's athleticism has been amazing since we watched him when he was in junior high." Sugawara spoke.

"Huh?" Tanaka questioned, looking over towards the gray haired male.

"It's not just that, though." Sugawara continued. "I feel like he's got the fortitude to become a warrior."

"He has a different weapon, other than gifted physique." Rei stated.

"Or superior athleticism." Sugawara finishing the male's statement.

The three of them watched Hinata run for the ball before it hits the ground. Hinata took one big step, letting most of the strength into that leg before gaining speed again.

To everyone's surprise Hinata saved the ball but he fell over while doing so. "He saved it. That's amazing, Hinata!" Tanaka praised as they watched the ball go into the air again.

Rei looked over at Kageyama who slowly started raising his hands above his head. "He's gonna toss it to him." He thinks to himself as he watched Kageyama set the ball again.

"A toss?" Tanaka stated in surprise.

"Kageyama tossed to him." Sugawara said.

"Hinata's too worn out to spike it, though." Tanaka informed.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Rei commented as Tanaka looked at him with confusion written all over his face. "Take a look."

Hinata took notice of the ball and smiled widely, before running up to the ball and spiking it over the net in mid-air, he was clearly happy that he got to spike the toss that Kageyama gave him.

"He sure can jump." Sugawara pointed out.

"He recovered from being that worn out." Tanaka added.

"And look how happy he is." Rei commented.

"I think that meant something special to Hinata." Sugawara stated as Rei nodded in agreement.

"We have the ball tossed by the setter." Sugawara added. "That's something we take for granted."

"Hey." Kageyama says, getting Hinata's attention. "We're going to win tomorrow."

"O-Of course we will!" Hinata finally replied as he gave an expression that he was going to puke, which he did, making everyone panic.

"Tanaka, get water, water! And a washrag!" Sugawara ordered as Rei sweat dropped at them.

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The next day, Rei was walking to the gym when he heard yelling behind him. He turned around only to see Kageyama and Hinata running at full speed. Rei jumped out of the way and watched them run towards the gym.

"Why do I have such weird teammates?" Rei thinks to himself, running a hand through his black hair.

Once he made it to the gym, he saw Kageyama and Hinata on the floor panting. "What's the point of getting worn out before the match?" Rei questioned as Tanaka nodded in agreement.

"You'd better rest up." Tanaka instructed. Rei looked back to see the two talking about something then saw Tsukishima and Yamaguchi walk up to them.

"Morning, king." Tsukishima greeted them in a teasing tone and they all stare at each other with determination, well besides Tsukishima who just smirked at Kageyama.

Rei sighed. "This is gonna be an intense match..."

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A/N: Another chapter done! I'm making it up for not updating in like two months. Hope you enjoyed!

Word Count: 1460 words.