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

unedited

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CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE - BROKEN HEART

"Service ace! Relief server Yamaguchi Tadashi is living up to his title!"

"Whoa, they put one over on us!" Atsumu exclaimed.

"Quiet down, Atsumu!" Nakamura scolded.

"Huh?" Atsumu turned to look towards him.

Aran had covered his face with his hand. "I'm so sorry!" He apologized.

"See? Now look what you've done!" Nakamura said, pointing over towards Aran.

TWEEEEEET!

"One more time!"

Yamaguchi did his jump float serve once more, except this time, Aran managed to receive it. "Nice receive..." Atsumu complimented as Yamaguchi easily placed the ball in the air.

Tanaka ran forwards to try and save the ball but ended up crashing into the wall, making Mika cringe.

"Couldn't he see he wouldn't get it before he hit the wall?" She asked. "Even if he did, he couldn't hit it back, could he?"

"I'm pretty sure the only thing on his mind was that the ball hadn't touched the ground yet. How do I put this? He doesn't have the luxury of just giving up." Daisho replied.

"Damn you." Tanaka muttered.

The whistle blew as Omimi was switched out. The ball was served as Daichi dived over to receive it.

"That was powerful! The ball's in Inarizaki's court!"

"We need this chance." Sugawara muttered.

That's when Kageyama suddenly ducked under the net. "Don't let it slip away!" Sugawara shouted from the sidelines as Kageyama received the ball over towards Karasuno's side of the court.

"Get the last!"

"Got—" Rei started to say.

He was interrupted by Asahi jumping up and spiking the ball down.

"And that's a block out!"

"Thanks, Kageyama!" Daichi told him.

"Yup." Kageyama simply replied.

"You're totally like an ace, Asahi-san!" Rei gave him a thumbs up.

"Thanks!" Asahi replied.

"I mean... He is the ace." Tsukishima commented.

"Everyone's totally on their game right now." Tanaka thought.

"Is he allowed to cross over the net like that?" Mika questioned.

"Well, the ball and the player didn't actually go into Inarizaki's court, so yup." Daisho replied.

"Man, I hit it toward their #1! And after I was told to shoot for their #5 baldy..."

"Don't worry about it." Omimi reassured.

"Karasuno gets the set point first!"

"If they miss this chance, the next server is Miya Atsumu-kun. I'm pretty sure that Karasuno wants to seal the deal with this next point."

The game resumed as Daichi quickly went to save the ball. Kageyama tosses the ball as Tanaka came from behind Tsukishima. However, he got blocked by Atsumu, Suna, and Nakamura.

"And he's shut out! The one who stopped him is the middle blocker, Suna Rintaro!"

"Nice kill, Rintaro!"

Both teams were now at set point. "Sorry about that. It was a bit short." Kageyama apologized to Tanaka.

"Nah, I totally thought I could go for it." Tanaka reassured.

"If it were me down there, I'd be so annoyed that I'd either be spiking the ball into the net or out of bounds by now." Bokuto commented.

"He actually realizes this?" Both Akaashi and Fujita thought in surprise.

Tanaka slapped his cheeks as Atsumu was up to serve.

"Aim your serves at their #5. Their #5 hasn't made any great plays today. If we're gonna drag them down... Start with their #5."

Lightning went through both Atsumu and Tanaka. "It's gonna come at me." Tanaka thinks to himself as he smirked. "Everyone aiming for me is nothing new."

The whistle blew as Atsumu tossed the ball up. "Come at me!" Tanaka shouted out as Atsumu spikes the ball, aiming it towards Tanaka.

He was able to receive it but Rei charged forward and received it instead. "Yeah!" Rei cheered as the ball went back up in the air.

"What?!" Atsumu exclaimed.

"Am I just, like... extra lame today?" Tanaka wondered as he clenched his fist. "Nice receive!"

Karasuno soon started their synchronized attack. "All of you, bring in the blockers, little by little!" Ukai thought as Kageyama tosses the ball over towards Daichi, who was coming in from behind Tsukishima.

"To be honest, I'm not great at this, but..." Daichi spikes the ball down as Akagi was late on receiving it.

"And Sawamura scores from the back!"

"Yeah!" Ukai cheered.

"Nice, nice, Daichi! Push it, push it, Daichi!"

"Karasuno managed to limit Miya Atsumu to one serve!"

"Not bad." Atsumu said.

"Nice kill, Daichi-san!" Tanaka praised.

"Thanks!" Daichi responded.

"Karasuno is at set point yet again!"

TWEEEEEET!

The whistle blew as Asahi served the ball in which Akagi received it. "Nice!" Atsumu praised as he tossed over towards Osamu but ended up missing.

"They're using that quick they're not used to yet when their opponents are at set point?"

"Ha, that's great! Keep it up!"

"Free ball!"

Suna runs over towards where Osamu is as Tanaka was in the air. "He's fast!" Tsukishima noted.

Tanaka spiked the ball but ended up getting blocked by Suna and Osamu. "The time it takes them to complete their blocks... It's getting shorter." Tanaka thought.

Rei used his misdirection as he dived down and saved the ball on time. Atsumu then tossed the ball over.

"A C quick." Tsukishima thinks to himself as Tanaka quickly went to aide Tsukishima in blocking Suna.

"We're gonna stop it!"

The ball then goes over towards Daichi, shocking both Tanaka and Tsukishima. "Damn it..." Tanaka cursed.

"Left!" Tanaka called out.

"Tanaka!" Asahi passed the ball over towards him.

"What did I even do?" Tanaka asked himself as he jumped up.

"Three blockers!"

Tanaka soon saw an open space. He spikes the ball past Osamu, Suna, and Nakamura. The ball eventually was an out.

"You're overreacting... Or maybe not." Akaashi thought. "Inarizaki's persistent blocking, compounded with Karasuno's eagerness to score... And the stress of being targeted causes even a single miss..."

"It makes you feel like everything is going wrong."

"Man, that was lucky!" Atsumu said.

"It sure was." Osamu agreed in a bored tone, causing Atsumu to flinch. "You owe me some damn pudding. Not the kind that's sold in three-packs."

"Sorry!" Atsumu exclaimed.

"And they're tied yet again! Can Karasuno make it through this?"

"Did they do something super bad?" Mika asked, seeing the look on Daisho's face.

"That miss wasn't exactly isolated. It's more like... It's proof that the pressure from Inarizaki's blocking is piling up, and he's missing." Daisho explained.

Daichi pats Tanaka on his back. "It's all right, Tanaka! That was a good shot!" He reassured.

"Right!" Tanaka said. "Damn it!"

"Hey, baldy! Do better!"

"Now's the time to show your stuff!"

"Come at me!" Tanaka challenged.

The whistle blew as Nakamura tossed the ball into the air, jumping up to serve as the ball touched the net and Kageyama received it.

"Got it!" Tsukishima reassured.

"Their setter touched the ball first. That only leaves Tanaka on the left up front." Akaashi thought.

"That baldy's gonna have a really hard time if he can't make this." Daisho commented.

"How do you know it's going to go up to him?" Mika questioned.

"That'd just be a standard play, and also, uh... The wing spiker up front is like the last bastion when it comes to offense." Daisho responded as Tanaka soon recalled a certain memory.

"I didn't call the toss just now. I got scared for a second, damn it!"

"What's lame isn't losing the match... It's to be scared of the match!" Tanaka raised his arm in the air. "Left!"

"Azumane-san!" Tsukishima called out, receiving the ball over towards the ace.

Tanaka drops his hand down at his side again as Asahi spikes the ball. It hits the net as it falls to the ground.

"Karasuno is still managing to inch away from Inarizaki's reach!"

"Aw, they didn't give the ball to baldy." Mika commented.

"Yeah." Daisho said.

Bokuto looked like he was about to collapse until Akaashi caught him. "Bokuto-san! Get ahold of yourself!" He said.

"Tanaka-san" Hinata rushed over towards Tanaka. "That one from earlier! When their #10 came right smack dab in the middle! You totally moved into that block and it was super awesome! Especially because you end up by yourself a lot as a middle blocker. When someone comes to your aid, it's super reassuring!"

"Wow, that idiot said something decent for once." Tsukishima noted.

"Y-You think so?" Tanaka asked.

"Yeah! It was just like one of Date Tech's blocks! Seriously!"

The whistle blew as Tsukishima served which got received by Aran. Hinata went over to block Osamu as Tanaka soon joined him.

Daichi easily receives the ball. "Awesome block, Hinata-kun, Tanaka-san!" Rei thinks to himself.

"Both that airheaded smooth talker and the guy who'll take compliments are scary." Tsukishima thought.

"Nice receive, Daichi!" Sugawara called out. "The rest of you better put your lives on the line and get that ball over!"

"I'm pretty sure I'm a normal human being. Especially when it comes to my build and abilities. When I was a kid, I was convinced that I was a genius. I might've thought that until I was in middle school. Actually, I'm still sorta convinced that I am. But I'm probably never going to be 180 cm tall. I'm confident in my athletic skills, but on our volleyball team, I'm not number one in anything at this point in time. But that's not enough of a reason to quit, nor is it an excuse. Actually I don't usually think about this stuff. But about once every six months, when my mind just nosedives into negativity, I end up thinking... I'm nothing but average."

Tanaka takes a pause for a moment. "But still, my average self... Do you really have time to look down like that?" He asked himself before he raised his hand.

"Left!" He shouted out.

Kageyama passes the ball over towards Tanaka as Suna rushed over to block him. He spiked past Suna's block and scored for Karasuno.

"Hell yeah!"

Everyone rushed out to congratulate him. "Nice kill." Tsukishima said.

"Baldie!"

Bokuto also cheered as he grabbed onto Akaashi and Fujita in excitement.

"Seriously, what the hell is with that guy?"

"He's so awesome!"

"The old contenders swoop in to take the first set from the ultimate challengers, Inarizaki! Who knows where the match will go from here?"

"Wow... For a moment there, I really didn't know what was going to happen." Takeda commented.

"Tanaka usually makes it through okay." Kiyoko stated.

"True!" Takeda agreed.

"Am I a freakin' genius?" Tanaka asked.

"You sure are, Genius-senpai!" Hinata replied.

"Tsukishima." Tanaka called out, making Tsukishima stop. "You totally ignored me earlier, didn't you?"

"Huh? Well, I figured that Azumane-san had a better chance of scoring the point, so..." Tsukishima responded.

"Did you really have to be that blunt about it?!" Tanaka exclaimed.

"Well, you and your insane mental toughness are scary. Don't you ever get depressed?" Tsukishima questioned.

"Uh, I was depressed!"

"When?"

"Just a second ago! For like a few seconds!" Tanaka argued. "Well, just think about it. A super-depressed me or a super hype squad me... Which is cooler?"

"Uh, neither to be honest..."

"Obviously it's the hype squad, am I right?" Tanaka answered his own question. "Once you fall, the only way to go is back up!"

"And I'm telling you it's not that easy." Tsukishima commented.

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A/N: Another chapter is completed! Thanks for reading!