Nakashima did a block out and Wakunan won the second set, just as she predicted.

"They're pretty good...we can't deny that" she thought.

"She's pretty calm about this...maybe I underestimated her a bit..." Coach Ukai glanced at the girl beside him "She really has her mother's toughness"

The third set is about to start. The players gathered around them and they all noticed how Ennoshita is feeling down. Ayame couldn't help but worry as well, since he's most likely pressured by the responsibility and his current position as an opposite hitter.

Kinoshita patted her head and winked at her "Leave him to us second years"

"We'll do something about him" Narita nodded.

"Eh?"

"Hey!" Kinoshita called out to Ennoshita "You got a look on your face like the world is going to end!"

"Eh?!" she blinked in surprise, clearly not expecting that.

Tanaka suddenly placed his hand on his shoulder with a grin on his face "It's too early for the world to end"

"I'm the Earth Defense Force!" Nishinoya spread out his arms to give emphasis but he hits the second year's chest.

Annoyed and pissed, the Ennoshita pushed them aside "I do not look like that!!"

Ayame stifled a laugh. The libero grinned "All right! Chikara's back!!"

She was grateful for the second years' support to Ennoshita and she could tell he was glad for it and was able to clear his mind.

"There's nothing we can do about if the ball gets blown away" Coach Ukai told them.

"Please don't be stressed about that. There are some balls you can pick up then score" she added "Their captain alone is a handful, and adding their team's combinations can be quite stressful, I know. Let's just focus on attacking while maintaining our defense as well"

"Your attacks are also getting there. Keep it up!"

"HAI!!"

"Ayame!! Coach!!" Hinata suddenly called out to them "So the Little Giant was like Wakunan's #1?!"

"Not exactly, but his play style can be compared to that of the Little Giant" she replied "You see, the way he would pass through the blockers is closest to him, in a sense"

"Like Ayame says, his play style is probably the most similar in the prefecture right now" he nodded in agreement.

The orange haired teen stared hard to Wakunan's captain.

"Hey, don't try to duel with him" Kageyama told him in an annoyed voice "He's better in mid-air battles than you are. Just play like you usually do"

"Why do you have to break my heart like that?!"

"That was just some kind advice!"

"Kind?!"

Ayame stepped in between them "Kageyama-kun, you don't have to be so harsh on him. Shoyo-kun is trying his best, too. Also, Shoyo-kun, he's right. We are still no match against Nakashima Takeru-san's personal skills, especially you. For now, just play like you usually, okay?"

He nodded and faced the setter again "Try to pick up from Ayame! At least she's telling it to me the nice way! I know that they're good! That's why I'm trying to figure out what to do!"

"I'm still learning from her, okay?! Don't try to use the brain that you don't have!" he countered.

"What did you say?!"

"Now, now, don't fight" she clapped her hands "The third set will start soon. Remember what we told you"

"Osu!"

For the few points, Wakunan had the upper hand. Ayame, along with the adults next to her sweat dropped when Hinata spiked way over the blockers. And you could guess that the setter was not happy about it.

Coach Ukai's shoulder's sagged "As what you and Kageyama said, right now we're definitely no match against Nakashima's personal skills"

"I cannot deny that..." she nodded with a matching sweat drop on her head.

Wakunan served and Nishinoya received it. Kageyama back sets it to Asahi but it was picked up by #10. Their setter sets it to Nakashima and he did block out on Tanaka and Hinata. The shorter teen's eyes followed the ball that was blown away.

After his feet landed on the floor, the orange haired teen shifted his direction to where the ball is going and ran after it using his speed.

And the direction it headed off was to where Ayame and the others are seated.

"Look out!"

Ayame and Shimizu quickly stood from the bench as Coach Ukai grabbed the bench to make way for the teen to receive the ball, causing the surprised Mr. Takeda to fall on the floor on his back.

"He managed to control his fall after the receive!" Ayame remarked as the teen properly did the diving receive. One of the good effects of doing those penalties during the training camp.

Kageyama sets the ball after the receive, and he tossed it to none other than Hinata after quickly getting up and doing his running approach.

Though the shorter teen collided with the setter after spiking the ball.

Ayame cringed when she saw them "That movement was too fast... no wonder he crashed to Kageyama-kun..."

As expected, the two got into an argument after Kageyama mentioned that Hinata is "light" when Asahi slightly panicked and got worried after they collided. But it didn't last long like usual.

Coach Ukai helped Mr. Takeda up after the teacher fell and apologized "S-Sorry. Are you all right, sensei?"

Ayame picked up his glasses and gave it to him "Takeda-sensei, your glasses"

"Oh, thank you, Ayame" he put on his glasses and smiled in amusement "I totally flipped backwards. You wouldn't believe he'd been having trouble with diving receives with that one"

"Yeah" he nodded in agreement.

"I guess doing those penalties during the training camp paid off" she smiled as she watched the team "Still, I've seen it so many times but, I can't help but always be impressed by Shoyo-kun's fast reflexes and maneuverability"

As the match progressed, the block out spikes of Nakashima is giving the Karasuno players a hard time. It had been racking up points after their defense have dropped when the captain was out. Ennoshita took a deep breath and looked back to his teammates.

"Ano... May I have a moment?"

Ayame watched as Ennoshita relayed his plan to his teammates and Coach Ukai noticed it as well. She heard a bit of what they are saying and she slowly understood what he's planning, and she smiled.

"Good plan, Ennoshita-san"

The plan was fairly simple. Ennoshita will step back a bit near the end line while Tanaka and Asahi guard the straight sides, leaving a huge space in the middle. Meaning, the second year will cover the middle. However, the real purpose of this plan was for him to catch up the blocked out balls that goes outside when Nakashima spikes.

And Ennoshita's strategy worked. Nishinoya covered and sent the ball to Hinata. The set was shaky and the violet eyed girl could tell that if he hits it, the ball would be blocked. To her surprise, the motion of his arm was different, and the shorter teen purposely hit the ball against the blocker's hands to regroup.

"That wasn't by chance. He intentionally hit it against the blocker's hand. That was a rebound!" she thought "Since when did he learn that?"

Kageyama sets the ball to Tanaka after the receive was made and the baldy spiked it past the blockers.

"All right, Hinata, Tanaka, nice kill!!" Ennoshita said.

"Chikara!" the libero called out to him "Nice receive"

Ayame and Coach Ukai grinned "He's in"

"Pardon?" the teacher asked.

"He's just a substitute" the man started "And he can't completely blend in with the vibe on the court since he doesn't belong. I think that's how Ennoshita felt. But I think that play just now banished that feeling"

"That play just now?"

"He thought of it on his own, told the team, and carried it out. Plays like that give you confidence"

"I see" Mr. Takeda understood what he meant before realizing something "W-Wait a minute, is that the reason why Ayame didn't give out any strategy when Sawamura-kun was out? I thought it was strange when she didn't give out any plans"

"Not really" the violet eyed girl shook her head "True, as Karasuno's assistant coach and strategist, it's my responsibility to give support to the players. But, my strategies aren't really 100% on point since they change depending on the flow of the game"

"Actually, most of them are dead on point..." Coach Ukai sweat dropped when he recalled their previous matches.

"That's why, in this case, I have given the team and Ennoshita-san my observations and analysis regarding Wakunan. I gave him the chance to think of a strategy on his own. Not only his own strategy could work, but it will help him blend in with the other players" she smiled as she watched them.

"That was pretty risky, knowing our current situation" he told her.

"Risky, yes. But I truly believe in our player's strength...every one of them, I believe in their strengths. I just know that Ennoshita-san can do it"

"Her amount of faith to her teammates is immeasurable. As expected from Ayame" Mr. Takeda thought as he smiled.

However, Coach Ukai glanced at the freckled teen and muttered "It's difficult"

"The only person who could bring Yamaguchi's true strength is Ayame but...he can't do that unless he also believed in his self and his own strength..." he glanced at the girl next to her "I'm hoping you two would get over your fight and return back to normal! Kids these days..."

The game progressed with Karasuno catching up. It was a tight game, with only a point or two as a gap of their scores.

"Just a little more...we can do it..." she prayed. She silently held her breath when Hinata slightly panicked when the toss was a bit high for him but Ennoshita managed to tell him to take it slow and steady. Wakunan's captain spiked the ball and did a block out, but the ball was saved by Ennoshita from the back. Kageyama sets it again to Hinata and they earned the last point, ending the match with Karasuno as winners.

"All right!!"

"Nii-chan, we did it!" she grinned and high fived with Shimizu "We won!"

She approached the second year as they were preparing to leave "Ennoshita-san, you did a great job as the future captain of Karasuno. That plan you made was a job well done"

Ennoshita was taken aback by her words and he smiled as he bowed in front of her "Thank you very much, strategist Ayame!!"

"Unfair... Ennoshita was praised by Ayame-chan" Tanaka grumbled on the side. The violet eyed girl heard him and smiled at him.

"Ryu-senpai, great job on your mental toughness. Thank you for not breaking down in the middle of the game when we needed your offense power the most"

He, like they all expected, swooned from her words, with Nishinoya patting his back as he cheered for his buddy.

As they were about leave the court to rest, they stopped when they saw Daichi standing by the doorway with a bruise on his face and Yachi was standing next to him.

"Etto..." he scratched his head as smiled a little "Sorry"

Ayame's hands were trembling when she saw him "D-D-D..."

"Daichi-san!!"

"Daichi!!"

Nishinoya ran to greet him while Sugawara was repeatedly punching his stomach, much to the captain's pain and surprise.

"Yuu-senpai! Suga-san! Please stop it! You're hurting nii-chan who just got out!!" Ayame yelled to stop them. The two stepped back as the captain clutched his stomach while Yachi looked really worried next to him.

"D-Daichi-san, are you-" Tanaka slightly stuttered.

"I'm fine" Daichi answered after regaining his composure "No, seriously. I got some rest, and honestly, I'm better than before the match"

Ayame silently stepped forward with a shadow crossed on her eyes, her shoulders trembling and her lower lip quivering. She clenched her fists and yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Idiot!!!"

Daichi's eyes widened when Ayame landed a single, powerful punch on his stomach, much powerful than Sugawara's.

"EEEEEEEEH?!" everyone's jaw drop upon seeing the (usually) ever so gentle Ayame land a powerful punch on their captain and nearly knocked the wind out of him. The blonde manager inched away from them in fear and cowered behind Shimizu.

The corner of her violet eyes was brimming with tears as she hugged him afterwards "Id...Idiot... Daichi-nii... you big idiot...! D-Don't do something like that next time...! Don't scare me like that..."

She was tightly gripping his jacket as she buried her face on his chest. He nodded and patted her head "Yeah, I know... I'm sorry, Ayame-chan, for scaring you and making you remember your past"

She remembered what happened earlier, when the only person who managed to snap her to her senses was the freckled teen.

"I didn't...thank him..."

Guilt settled in her stomach.

The captain smiled at them as soon as she lets him go "I'll work twice as hard in the next match"

He then guided his kohais like a caring parent and told them to rest after a full set game before he stopped.

"I was watching from around the time the score was 20"

Ennoshita flinched.

"At first, I wanted to get back as soon as possible, but I saw you guys and thought you'd be okay. I thought I'd actually destroyed your rhythm if I showed up" he turned to face the second year "That last one... Nice receive, Ennoshita"

He was surprised a bit "...Hai"

They took a rest in the halls before proceeding to the bleachers upstairs. The first years were climbing the stairs while talking about the match earlier, but there were certain people who weren't as hype as Hinata and Yachi.

"That was amazing!" the blonde manager beamed at them "I was watching the last bit with Sawamura-san"

"We're gonna win the next one, too!" the orange haired teen raised his hands and grinned "Right, Ayame?"

They stopped when they noticed her looking at the silent freckled teen.

"Ayame?" he said again.

She didn't answer, but her hands were clenching and slightly trembling. Yachi could see the gap between the first year couple and she was worried, even though Ayame's punch earlier nearly scared her to death.

"Yachi-san" Hinata whispered to her "Are Ayame and Yamaguchi fighting?"

"I...I don't think so..." she whispered back "But, doesn't Ayame-chan and Yamaguchi-kun seem down?"

"It's more like...they can't find the right words to say to each other" she thought.

"Sorry... I'm gonna go to the bathroom" Yamaguchi told them "So go on ahead"

He went downstairs and left. Tsukishima looked at the violet eyed girl, who is standing still and looking down, as if hesitating about something. The megane's face may be his usual I-don't-care looks, but he's actually really, really frustrated at their slow progress and hesitations, and he badly wanted to tell her to just go after him with no questions asked.

"He's really pumped up going to the bathroom" Hinata noted

"He must need to take a shit" Kageyama said.

"Say "poop"! You're so vulgar, Kageyama-kun!" the chibi blocker scolded him.

"I don't think he actually went to the bathroom..." Tsukishima said before leaving, but he was observing the violet eyed girl's reaction.

Ayame quickly stepped down the stairs before looking back "I will go after him. Please go ahead!"

The remaining first years stared to her direction.

"What was that about?" the orange haired teen tilted his head in confusion "Ayame wanted to follow Yamaguchi to the bathroom?"

"I-I don't think that's not what Ayame-chan meant" Yachi sweat dropped.

Tsukishima was mentally smirking when he heard what the violet eyed girl said, thinking that Sugawara will be extremely happy once he knew what happened.