"Is that..."

"Could that be..."

"The Skytree?!" Nishinoya and Tanaka exclaimed, staring at a transmission tower.

"No, that's just a normal transmission tower" Kai said and Kuroo burst out laughing.

"Ah~! It's been a while I've been to Tokyo!" Ayame stretched out her arms and inhaled deeply "Ah, Yuu-senpai, Ryu-senpai, please stop staring at the transmission tower. That's not the Skytree"

"It's not?!" both second years cried out in shock.

"Take it from the girl who lived in Tokyo for a couple of years" Daichi placed his hand on her head "She knows what the Skytree looks like, don't you? Ayame-chan?"

She smiled "Of course, nii-chan!"

"You're awfully cheerful considering you just woke up like us after our trip" Tsukishima yawned and walked slowly.

"Come on, walk faster!" Nishinoya pushed the sleepy blonde to make sure he moves faster.

"Yo, Ayame" Kuroo waved his hand and Kai did the same.

"Kuroo-san! Kai-san! Hello!" she approached them and waved her hand "It's been a while, hasn't it? Where's Kenma-san and Yaku-san?"

"Inside the gym" Nekoma's captain replied "By the way, aren't we missing some people?"

"Eh? Who?" She thought for a while and realized who he meant "Well, actually..."

(flashback)

Hinata's score in English: 21

Kageyama's score in Modern Literature: 38

"What...what...what..." Ayame was at lost for words as she stared at their test paper. It's the first time she saw scores this low in her life and she didn't know how to describe it. Yachi's hands were shaking as she looked at their scores.

"They're right...They're right!" tears fell from the blonde girl's eyes as she looked up at them.

"I pulled an all-nighter just to give you guys an easy summary for the whole lessons in ALL subjects. I made sure that you guys can understand it and yet..." a gloomy aura hung above the violet eyed girl's head and comical tears were streaming down on her face "All those nights I pulled...it was all a waste~...."

Kageyama and Hinata sulked even more.

"You guys, why can't you pass these subjects? Ayame was absent for a couple of days and yet she passed the exam. How come you guys can't pass even though you guys were never absent the past weeks?" Tsukishima crossed his arms.

"Even though they worked so hard!" Yachi continued crying while clutching the paper closer to her face.

"I give up...." Ayame sulked on the corner with a gloomy aura.

the megane thought while looking at the sulking girls.

"I pity Ayame and Yachi-san who made an effort in teaching you guys..." Yamaguchi sighed "I guess you guys had no choice but to take the supplementary exams"

Kageyama and Hinata slumped when they heard the words "supplementary exams".

"I don't think I can help them anymore..." Ayame cried comically "I failed to help them...I'm sorry..."

"A-Ayame, don't say that!" the freckled teen tried to assure her "You've done a lot of things for them! You too, Yachi-san!!"

"Daichi-san will kill you two if he knows that you didn't pass when Ayame made an effort to help you even when she was sick" Tsukishima said.

The oddball duo flinched and crossed their fingers, hoping what the megane said is wrong.

(end)

"So the power duo's taking some supplementary exams right now?" Kuroo asked.

"Yeah...But, well..." Daichi was about to say when a certain blonde Mohawk haired boy suddenly yelled.

"UWAAAAAH!!! T-T-The girls have multiplied!!" Yamamoto slumped on the ground as Shimizu placed a protective hand in front of Yachi "Now they've got three pretty and cute girls!"

"A Mohawk...Tokyo's intense" Yachi blinked.

"Y-Yamamoto-san?" Ayame stared at him "Are you...all right?"

"Do you see, Tora?" Tanaka had a monk-like expression and bright light behind him as he stood in front of Yamamoto "This is what Karasuno's true ability looks like"

"So bright!" he shielded his eyes as the bright light blinded him and the baldy laughed victoriously.

"Please ignore them" Ayame told Yachi. The blonde nervously nodded and walked with Shimizu. Karasuno entered the gymnasium and the violet eyed girl was happy and nervous to see plenty of players from other powerhouse schools in Tokyo.

"Ayame!" Yaku ran to her and waved his hand "It's been a long time! Over here!!"

"Sorry, Yachi-san, Shimizu-san, I would like to talk with them for a while" Ayame said.

"Sure, I understand" Shimizu nodded "Hitoka-chan, let's go"

"H-Hai!" she followed the third year and Ayame ran to the Nekoma team.

"Hi, Yaku-san" she waved back to him and to other Nekoma players "Everyone, hello!"

"Long time no see, Ayame" Kenma smiled a little "Huh? Where's Shoyo?"

"He and Kageyama-kun are stuck in their supplementary exams" she sighed "But I'm sure they can make it here"

"Oh..."

"Ayame-san!" Inouka and Shibayama happily waved their hands.

"Inouka-kun! Shibayama-kun!" she smiled "How are your practices doing?"

"Great! I've gotten faster than last time in blocking!" Inouka proudly stated.

"Me too! I've gotten faster in receiving!!" Shibayama said.

"Amazing! Keep it up!"

"She's popular with them, isn't she?" Kai said.

"When you're pretty, kind and a genius, there's no doubt that you're popular with the guys" Yaku nodded.

"Oh~!" a tall, grey haired teen stared down at her with his green eyes "You're tiny!"

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"...Idiot..." Kenma and the others stared at him.

"LEEEEEEEEV!!!!" the libero kicked his back in anger "Apologize, you idiot!"

"Ack!" the poor guy fell on the ground while rubbing his back where the libero kicked him.

"Huh? Who's that guy?" Ayame thought, looking at the tall, grey haired player wearing the same kind of practice clothes as Nekoma's "I never saw him during the Golden Week training camp...and he's freaking tall. Maybe a half Japanese?"

"Y-Yaku-san, y-you don't have to..." she told him "It's okay..."

"No, I won't let his rudeness pass!" the third year crossed his arms and glared at the taller boy.

"I said it's okay...there's no need for violence..."

"Oh! Your eyes! They're violet!" he said again "Are you a half Japanese?"

"Lev! You're being rude!" Yaku scolded him "Introduce yourself first, idiot"

"Haiba-kun, you're too excited" Shibayama told him.

"Sorry! I'm Haiba Lev, a half Japanese and half Russian first year from Nekoma. And I'm going to be Nekoma's ace!" he proudly pointed to his self.

"Nekoma's...ace?" she said, staring at him "He...kinda resembles Shoyo-kun when it comes to their dreams. For a first year, he's freaking tall. But...is it me or is he too proud of his self?"

"Uh...Do your best, Lev-kun"

"Hai! I'll be Nekoma's ace in no time!!" he grinned widely.

"Ayame, please don't encourage him. He'll develop a big head if you encourage him" Kenma told her.

"Well, he already has a big head and it'll get bigger anytime" Yaku sighed.

"What? How can you be Nekoma's ace if you can't even do the basics properly, huh?!" Yamamoto mocked the taller teen with a dark aura.

"But, chibi-san said that I'll do my best in becoming Nekoma's ace" he said.

"CHIBI-SAN?!" Nekoma's players repeated in shock.

"Don't call her chibi-san!!" Yaku kicked his back again "Her name is Mizuki Ayame! Remember that!!"

"I-I'm sorry!"

"Please forgive his rudeness" Kai apologized to Ayame on Lev's behalf "He's a little...reckless and excited in some things..."

"Ah..." she said "I hope Yaku-san will be okay with him..."

"Lev's driving him nuts..." Kenma sighed.

"Ahahaha...." She laughed sheepishly "Ano...excuse me, our practice is about to start. Talk to you guys later!" she waved her hand and returned to her teammates.

"Eh~...Ayame-san's really cute, right?" Lev said, staring at her "Doesn't she have a boyfriend?"

"Hmm...I think she doesn't have one yet..." Shibayama said.

"Really? With a cute girl like her?" he said and an idea sparked in his head "Then, can I ask her out?"

"What an idiot..." Kenma sighed.

"Like you have the guts to do it, idiot!" Yamamoto stuck out his tongue.

"Don't even think about it!" Yaku karate chopped his side "Listen up, there's someone reserved for that position so don't steal that, all right? It'll be interesting how he'll do it..."

In Karasuno's side, Yamaguchi felt a chill run down his spine and he slightly shivered.

"What the heck's wrong with me?" he mumbled.

"What's wrong, Tadashi-kun?" Ayame asked him "Are you having a cold?"

"No, I'm fine" he waved it off "It just passed so don't worry, Ayame"

"Thank goodness, I'm worried that you caught my cold after all those visits you did" she sighed "Well, since you're okay, I'm letting you play some practice match since Shoyo-kun and Kageyama-kun aren't here. Ukai-san approved my decision and it will be a good time to practice your jump float serve, right?"

"Really?! Thank you!!" he bowed gratefully "I'll do my best!"

"Yeah!"

A bright aura was emitted by the two first years and the others stared at them curiously and suspiciously.

"Eh? What's with the sparkly backgrounds these two are showing?" Nishinoya said.

"Don't you think that's really sweet of them?" Sugawara grinned.

"It's cute" Shimizu smiled.

"..." Daichi glanced at them wordlessly and tried to distract his self by watching the other team practice.

"Worried, aren't ya?" Sugawara nudged the captain teasingly "Don't worry, Daichi! Ayame-chan will be all right!"

"I'm not worried" he grumbled "Come on, coach is calling us"

"He's worried" the grey haired setter whispered to the ace.

"Definitely" Asahi nodded.

The players of Karasuno gathered around their coach and assistant coach. Coach Ukai motioned Ayame to tell them her observations and plan. She cleared her throat and started.

"As you know, we're facing some of Tokyo's powerhouse schools. I'm sure it's pretty obvious what they specialize in but I'll say it. First, Ubugawa High School's serves are their ultimate attacks. Second, Shinzen High School, they are masters of using combination attacks. Third, our very own destined rivals, the school's known to pick up the ball, connect, wait for the perfect chance to counterattack, Nekoma High School. Lastly, a powerhouse school whose team is lead by a powerful ace to compete in Nationals: Fukurodani Academy. Their ace is one of the country's top five aces"

"Is that supposed to be a pep talk?" Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at her.

"Hahaha...no" she said seriously "Since Shoyo-kun and Kageyama-kun aren't currently here, I'm pretty sure are offense will be a little weaker. That's why, I would like to try five attack formations against them. If they were here, there would be ten attack formations"

"Five?!"

"What? You got a problem with that?" she raised an eyebrow. They all shook their heads at the same time "Good. We keep playing while waiting for Shoyo-kun and Kageyama-kun to arrive"

"They will be here by late afternoon. Supplementary exams will be done early in the morning since those two idiots failed one subject each" Tanaka told her "Assuming they pass, that is"

Ayame sighed "Let's hope they pass"

"Ayame, our first opponent will be Shinzen High. The game will start in 15 minutes" Coach Ukai informed her.

"That's plenty of time" she said "In our first six, Suga-san will be playing as the setter and Tadashi-kun will be playing. In later time, I'll try to switch Tadashi-kun and Kinoshita-san in serving since they use jump float serves. We'll use the jump float serves to try and break their formation so they won't use their combinations. In our defense, we have both Asahi-san and Tsukishima-kun as tall players for blocking and Daichi-nii and Yuu-senpai for the floor defense. I can't guarantee that we'll win against them but we have to try"

"You can count on us" Sugawara grinned.

"Guys, take note, the team who loses their set will do a penalty lap of diving drills around the court" she added.

"GEH!!"

"Don't be like that! It's a good way to improve our receives!" she clapped her hands "All right! Karasuno~ Fight!"

"FIGHT!!"

***

"It's expected...they are strong..." Ayame noted. They nearly won a set from them but they still ended up losing. Everything went well in her calculations but it was not enough for them to win. It was nearly evening and they fought almost every team and didn't win a single set.

"One lap of diving drills!" Daichi told them. Karasuno did their penalty again as Ayame watched them. She gripped her pen tightly that it might snap in half.

"Screw it! I came here to get stronger! I don't want to disappoint them anymore! But...nothing has changed since then. I can't help them win!" the violet eyed girl gritted her teeth in frustration. Coach Ukai and Mr. Takeda patted her back.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Ayame" the man said "You did your best"

"But it wasn't enough..." she muttered.

"That can't be helped..." he sighed "They are stronger than us"

"Yeah"

Yachi was looking at Ayame while giving water bottles to the exhausted players. She didn't know anything about volleyball yet but she already idolized the violet eyed girl because of her great knowledge in volleyball and her skills as the assistant coach, even though they are in the same year.

"How many times have they lost already?" a player from Shinzen said.

"They're not exactly weak, just sorta...mediocre"

"Who are the first years that Nekoma had such a hard time with?"

"Maybe they are exaggerating"

"But you know, if I have to say something about their team, it's that violet eyed girl"

"Yeah, to be honest, she's pretty amazing. She's their strategist, isn't she? But, she didn't exactly use her skills to full potential"

"Maybe she's nervous?"

"Who knows?"

The blonde girl's ears widened as he heard the rumors and looked at them in dismay.

"Calm down, Hitoka-chan. There, there" Shimizu told her "It's okay"

"But, Shimizu-senpai, they're talking bad things about the team and Mizuki-san and-"

"It's okay" Ayame walked to her with a poker face "They're right, after all"

"Mizuki-san, you're not mad at them?"

"Oh, I am mad" she smiled at her with a dark aura behind her "Because I know that they will be here soon and we will prove them wrong..."

"She's scary..." Yachi inched farther from her and hid behind Shimizu.

Karasuno just finished their penalties and were taking a break. Ayame tapped her clipboard impatiently as she stared at the time.

"I hope you guys can make it...If what Ryu-senpai said was true, they should be here any minute..."

"Hey, they're still at it!" a blonde woman entered the gym with a grin on her face "We totally made it. Not bad at all!"

"Nee-san!" Nishinoya was looking at her with awe.

"Wait, Nishinoya, that's your sister?" Asahi asked.

"No, she's Ryu's sister"

"Looks like they made it in time..." Ayame grinned as she saw the oddball duo breathing heavily.

"Your sister's not bad, Ryu-senpai" the girl told him and he chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm glad that they made it in one piece. Nee-chan can be a wild driver but she's pretty dependable"

Kageyama and Hinata were standing by the doorway, panting and trying to look cool by the ground entrance.

"Don't act cool yet, tardy test flunkers" the violet eyed girl smirked at them.