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We bowed to each other before my team turned to the audience and we bowed to them.

If I am honest. As much as I could say that I was happy about winning, I felt a little bit guilty for those third years who didn't get to have the nationals as their final High School victory.

The audience gave us a loud cheer, congratulating each one of the members.

Then they turned to us third years and told us that they will support us no matter what pathway in life we choose.

I felt a tear on my eyes.

"Oh Kageyama, you barely shed any tears throughout the past three years! You're going to make us cry" a person said as they took of their glasses to wipe away their tears.

"Thank you very much!" I said and I bowed to the audience once again, leaving them with a shocked yet confused expression at my sudden action.

They soon started clapping again and cheered at my sudden gratitude, the gratitude that they were not expecting over the past three years.

"Let's go, there's another match waiting for tbe court to be free" Seiko said and we all nodded as we went to the changing room to have a talk.

I walked down the stairs, from the stands to the court.

I was still thinking about my decision until Komori suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"Kiyoomi" he told me and it picked my attention.

"If you still don't know an answer, just follow your heart" he said.

"To follow... my heart...?" I asked him and he nodded.

"But whatever you choose, don't regret the choice that you made and live through the consequences of that choice" he told me, in a threatening tone that I never heard before.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked him.

"For your own good, now let's go" he said and we kept walking towards the door that led to the door to meet up with our teammates.

The captain went first and I got called a little after him.

"Number 4, Sakusa Kiyoomi, Ace" the man said and I started jogging towards the court, leaving behind any of the thoughts that I had before.

I air high fived the coaches before going to the court.

"This is the second time that Fukurōdani and Itachiyama face off in the srping nationals for two consecutive years" the commentator said.

"I wonder if Fukurōdani will take the win today or allow Itachiyama to take the victory home once again" the second one said.

I jogged next to Komori and I looked at him, he had a really serious expression that could scare anyone.

If looks could kill, Komori would've killed the opposite team by now I thought to myself as I turned to face Fukurōdani, who have started to line up.

The one guy who picked my attention was Akaashi, who was directly looking at me. While giving him a death glare, I gritted my teeth as I was getting annoyed by his decision to stare at me.

I decided to look away as I stared at the stands and I noticed a familiar (h/c) girl looking directly at the court, not anyone in particular, she seemed to be looking at the floor.

And I knew why she did that, to avoid contact with me. As much as she hates it to be in the stands right now and watch the match, she has to because of Seiko. I thought to myself.

But I was wrong, she turned her gaze to Akaashi for a few seconds before briefly looking at me. As if our eye contact had startled her, she soon turned her gaze away from me.

What am I going to give Yuriko as an answer? I thought to myself.

Will it be a yes, or a no? I asked myself as both sides of the teams bowed.

I waited for the captain to confirm which teams will be serving first and it pointed to Fukurōdani's side of the court.

I took a sigh of relief as Komori went to the back line and I went to the front line, just on the left side of it.

Fūkurodani served as Komori received it and passed it to the setter, he gave me a nod and set the ball to me making me spike it.

"And that's one point gone" the commentator said.

The match was getting more tenser than two tournaments ago when we last faced off against them.

With the old third year ace gone, I wonder how much Akaashi has been able to improve in just a little bit under a year. I thought to myself as we got into a blocking position and blocked the ball.

Akaashi looked at us before whispering something to his teammates, they all gave him a quick a nod before going back to their positions.

He looked at me with a calm yet serious expression, it was always difficult to read people like him who don't show any emotions whilst on the court.

"Say" he said.

"Have you ever made a decision that you regretted in your life?" he quietly mumbled, but loud enough for me to hear. After all, I was the one he was talking to.

I shook my head in disagreement before his eyes started giving a deadly glare.

"I see... so you haven't noticed" he said as he went to set the ball but instead did a dump, causing his side of the team to gain a point.

"What didn't I notice?" I asked him and he shook his head.

"Find out by yourself" he told me and it made me wonder things a lot more.

I eventually lost concentration, making me get switched out for the set.

"What's wrong with you today Sakusa?" the coach asked me.

"I'm sorry..." I replied.

"You better gain your concentration, we won't be able to win against them without you" he told me and I nodded.

Then I guess... I'm going to have to think about the answer for now. So I can play the match and win it for the team. I thought to myself as I looked at the floor.

Actually, it's not even the answer that Yuriko asked me for. It's what that Akaashi guy was talking to me about before.

What is it that you want me notice? I asked myself as Fukurōdani scored the last point and took away the first set.

If I don't hurry up in finding out what it is that you want me to know... then we'll end losing the match overall... I thought.

"Sakusa" I heard someone call out to me.

"Hey, Sakusa" Komori said as he started shaking my shoulder.

"What is it?" I asked him.

I felt a splash of water on my face as someone then put a towel all over my face.

"We need you, so gain your concentration back" one of the team members said as all of them nodded.

"Your teammates want you Sakusa, so the question is. Will you let your thoughts take over you, or ensure that you lead your teammates to victory?" the coach asked me.

"The latter" I replied as I shook away those thoughts, smacking both of my hands against my cheeks so I could fully regain my concentration once again.

"Allow me to be in the court again, coach" I said and he gave me a nod while smiling.

"But if you lose your concentration once again..." he started saying.

"I'll switch you back out" he told me and I nodded.

I took a deep breath as the break finished and I was able to step into the court once again.

I looked at Akaashi.

"I don't know what you mean, but I'll think about it after the match" I told him.

"That's alright, as long as you think about it" he told me before he put his hands on his head.

His team served and it ended up being a service ace.

I went to the back line to serve.

I served twice in a row, both of them being a service ace.

"Seems like Sakusa has regained his concentration" the commentator said as I went back into the court because Fukurōdani was now serving.

I took a step backwards as I received the ball and passed it to the setter before he set it to the middle blocker. A point being scored by him.

The second set was won over by us.

This is a best three out of five match? I asked myself as I looked at Komori.

"This is a best three out of five sets right?" I asked him and he nodded.

"You should pay more attention to these things" he told me while shaking his head.

"Yeah..." I said.

"Get ready for the next set, we have another two to three more sets to play" he told me and I nodded.

It was the fifth set was now being played.

I eventually forgot about what Akaashi had said, and had being concentrating on the match a lot more now.

I took a deep breath as I was now serving.

The score was 21-21

Oh my god, can we just finish this already? I asked in my head as I was now getting tired.

The whistle blew and I tossed the ball up in the air before jumping and spiking it as hard as I could.

And that's the advantage for us.

I took another deep breath as I was now right in front of the net.

Just one more... I thought to myself as Fukurōdani had served.

The ball going from teammate to teammate before going to the other side of the court and being passed around.

It was as if the ball was dancing in the air, it didn't touch the floor; it kept being put up in the air.

I looked at the ball and I noticed that it was coming over.

Akaashi looked at the person that was in front of him before dumping the ball once again.

"I'm not letting you win" he said and went back to his side of the court.

Fukurōdani served and it was a service ace.

It was now my turn to serve.

I took a deep breath once again and the whistle blew, causing me to do my usual serve.

Fukurōdani's libero had received the ball and with that, they passed it to Akaashi who tried to dump it but I blocked him from doing.

I kept trying to push the ball to Akaashi's side of the court while he was trying to push it to my side of the court.

In an instant, I had lost the battle.

Causing Fukurōdani to get the winning point.

"And with that, you lost everything that you had" Akaashi said as he turned around and walked away but then stopped.

"And this win... was for Bokuto" he added and continued to walk away once again.

The crowd let a loud cheer as I looked down at the floor.

"You fought well" Komori said as he patted my back before going to the back line to bow to the audience.

And that's how I ended my High School, without a victory.

I was walking down to the court to get the medals giving to us once again until I noticed Keiji.

"Are you waiting for someone?" I asked him and he shook his head.

He gave me a small smile before patting my head.

"Let's go" he said and I nodded.

We all lined up and bowed our heads to the Prime Minister who was giving us our medals.

"Thanks a lot for your effort" he told me as he put the medal around my neck.

"I wouldn't have been able to do it without my teammates" I told him and he gave me a nod.

He then moved on to the next person before finishing giving my team the medal and moved on to Fukurōdani.

I gave Keiji a small smile as he looked back at me and the medal around my neck.

When the ceremony finished, we went to the usual restaurant to eat for another victory.

Seiko had gone to comfort her boyfriend while Sakusa was just behind them.

He looked upset... I should go talk to him.

"You tried your best, don't let it get to you too much." I told him as I leaned against the wall, a little bit to his left.

"Yeah, but it's still my fault for losing focus in the first set." He had told me, looking directly at my eyes.

His facial features were becoming more and more clear, and it was only then when I realised how close we were to each other. Making my cheeks hit up.

"Are you okay?" I asked, (Y/N) soon turned her face away before giving me a slight nod.

"I'll see you around" she said and walked back to her team as the coach called in for Seiko's final speech.

Right, I need to find out what Akaashi meant before meeting with Yuriko. I thought to myself as I looked at Komori.

"Can you help me out later?" I asked him, he seemed to be interested on my sudden request and gave me a slight nod.

"I honestly wouldn't have thought that I would be the captain on my last year..." she started saying. "However, I am grateful for all of your support and I hope that you're able to win the nationals once again next year, and the year after that. If there comes a day where all of you are stuck and don't know what to do... make sure to listen to what your heart is telling you to do. I am thankful for the last three years, and I hope that all of you grow to be whatever you want to be. It doesn't have to be a volleyball career, as long as you enjoy it" she said before tears started falling down her face.

I disinfected her shoulder before comforting her.

"You've done a great job" I told her and she gave me a nod.

"You should say something (Y/N)" the coach told me and froze on the spot.

"Do I have to?" I asked her and she nodded.

"Alright..." I said as I did not want to do this.

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This uh chapter was edited a bit so maybe it's not as trash as it used to be anymore?

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