V

Although Kageyama didn't say anything, Suga could tell their visit to Aoba Johsai had changed something in him. It was subtle, but everything about him had been altered slightly. Suga was relieved things had worked out the way they had, and he would've been fine with not going any further.

Oikawa, though, felt differently.

Their trip to Tokyo had been on their calendar for months and months. The trip was optional, but everyone had opted to go, even Yachi and Kiyoko. It was only for two days, but Daichi had constantly lectured them about the other teams they would meet and how they had to be on their best behavior.

"If I hear one little thing about anything from anyone, I will send whoever did it back home like that." Daichi had said, snapping his fingers. They had all been seated on the ground, while Suga, Kiyoko, and Yachi stood beside Daichi. Suga crossed his arms and tilted his head. "Daichi, relax. No one has done anything- yet."

Suga glared at them all, almost daring them to misbehave on the trip. Everyone gulped: Suga was scary when he was serious. Tanaka and Nishinoya both nodded vigorously. "We'll be fine, Suga! Don't worry!"

Daichi and Suga had both looked at them doubtfully and then moved on.

Aside from that, they were all excited.

Everyone was pumped up on adrenaline when arrived, and Hinata and Nishinoya practically sprinted into the room all the boys would share. Daichi groaned and hurried after them. Suga looked at Kiyoko and Yachi. "Your room is right across from ours."

He handed Kiyoko a key and went into their room. Daichi was chewing out Hinata and Nishinoya inside. "...and stay calm and quiet! Understand?"

They both nodded and started talking again. Daichi sighed. "Luckily Sensei and Ukai are in their room. Suga, do you have a list of the teams that'll be here?"

"Right here." Suga dug through his backpack and pulled out a folder. "Here!" He pulled out a sheet of paper and started to read off the names. "Aoba Johsai- Fukurodani- Nekoma- Shirotorizawa- Date Tech- and a few others."

Kageyama dropped his bag on his bedspread. "Oikawa's going to be here?"

"What's wrong? I thought you two made up." Asahi asked. Kageyama looked down. "Yeah, but... still."

Suga punched Kageyama's shoulder. "Oh, you'll be fine! What, do you expect them to launch an ambush on you?"

Kageyama rubbed his shoulder. "No..."

"Then you'll be fine. Chill out!" Suga straightened and headed to the door, but then stopped and looked back at them all. "I'm going to talk to Sensei. You all better be lights-out when I come back."

He flashed them a sharp look and walked out of their room. Everyone immediately started to get ready to sleep. Daichi crossed his arms and looked over at Ennoshita. "How come they don't listen to me like that?"

The next day, Daichi woke them all up early in the morning. Nishinoya groaned, "It's too early."

"We're going to be meeting everyone in a gym. We might as well get some practice in while we're at it! Come on!" Daichi ordered. Grumbling, they all picked themselves up and started to get ready for the day. Tanaka asked, "Hey, Daichi? What do you want us to wear?"

"Just your volleyball uniform. The game one." Daichi added. Twenty minutes later, they all trooped downstairs to the lobby, where Kiyoko and Yachi were waiting. All of their jaws dropped in astonishment: both of them were wearing dresses. Kiyoko noticed their surprise. "Is something wrong?"

They all shook their heads and returned to reality. Nishinoya and Tanaka were practically floating after Kiyoko, who barely glanced at them. "Sensei went on without us. You all were running late so they asked us to wait for you."

They all flushed, noticing Kiyoko's exasperated expression. "Let's go."

Daichi waved to them all. "Come on! We have to walk!"

Ennoshita asked, "Walk? Is it far?"

"It's close by," Suga assured him. They left the hotel and walked for a few minutes. Hinata was starting to have serious reservations about Suga's definition of 'close.' "Suga, how much farther?"

"It's right there!" Suga exclaimed, pointing at an extremely ornate group of buildings that sprawled across the land. They climbed a staircase and stopped in front of what had to be the main building. Daichi took a deep breath. "Let's go, I guess."

They all walked through the intimidating doorway and were immediately greeted by Bokuto, Akaashi, and Kuroo. Bokuto spread out his arms. "Karasuno, hey, hey, hey!"

Hinata jumped up. "Bokuto-san!!"

The two of them immediately began talking nonstop. Kuroo crossed his arms and flashed a smirk. "So, Daichi, did you finally see the real city, country boy?"

Daichi laughed and held out his hand. "We saw it."

They shook hands as Akaashi nodded to them all. "Hi. Coach Ukai said to wait here for you."

Suga rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, sorry, have you been waiting long?"

"No, it's only been five minutes," Akaashi said. "The gym is this way. Everybody else is already here."

Everyone followed Akaashi through an endless path of hallways. Finally, they arrived at a set of double doors. Kuroo pushed them open and yelled, "Hey, guess who's here!!"

They walked into the gym, which was crowded with people. "Karasuno!!"

Everyone cheered and waved. Hinata immediately spotted Kenma across the gym and ran over to him and the others from Nekoma. "Shoyo!"

The only thing Kageyama saw was the entire Aoba Johsai team staring at him from across the court. Slowly, one by one, they all raised their hands in welcome. Tanaka pushed Kageyama forward. "Well? Go!"

Kageyama stumbled and glared at Tanaka, who raised his eyebrows. Finally, Kageyama sighed. "Can someone go with me?"

Yachi awkwardly raised her hand. "I'll- I'll go."

Kiyoko said, "Me too."

"Thanks..." Kageyama walked towards Aoba Johsai, his pace growing slower with every step. Oikawa, who had been talking with Iwazumi, glanced over. "Hey, Tobio!"

"Hi," Kageyama looked down. Yachi gave a small wave. "Hi."

Kiyoko just nodded to them and stayed close to Yachi. Oikawa looked at Yachi: "So you're Karasuno's new manager, right? How's it going?"

"Fine," Yachi shrugged. Iwaizumi asked, "What do you think of the team?"

"Oh, they're great! Like Kageyama is such a great setter and Hinata's an awesome spiker, and they work so well together!" Yachi exclaimed. "And Daichi is a really good captain, and Suga kind of just knows what everybody needs! And Tsukki's such a great blocker, and he's getting really good about actually talking with other people. And then there's Nishinoya, the libero! He's so cool and can pick up any receive! And Tanaka's a really great wing spiker and can work with anything! Yamaguchi has this super cool jump float serve that throws everyone off. And Ennoshita, he'll be captain next..."

Everyone was barely listening to what she was saying and was paying more attention to how she said it. Yachi's voice was excited and so... passionate about all the players and volleyball, especially for someone new to it. Yahaba and Kindaichi were staring at her, their expressions blank as they listened to her describe the team. Just as she finished, Yamaguchi ran over. "Hey, Kageyama, we're going to practice with Nekoma and Fukurodani. You want to come?"

"Yeah, sure," Kageyama looked relieved to have an excuse to leave them, but then Yamaguchi looked at Aoba Johsai, his smile wavering. "You want to join too?"

Oikawa nodded, "Sure!"

Kindaichi and Kumini glared at him, and Oikawa sent them a silent message: Don't mess this up.

"We'll get the balls," Kiyoko pulled Yachi over to the volleyball cart and started throwing balls to everyone. Daichi jumped up to catch his. "Thanks, Shimizu!"

Yachi threw one into the air and hit it with her hand: for once, her serve went well and sailed over the net. Nishinoya jumped sideways and received it. "Nice one, Yachi!"

When they were done, Kiyoko and Yachi backed away instinctively. Hinata laughed. "They're already getting prepared for stray balls."

"Well, there are five times as many people as they're used to," Daichi said. "They want to be ready."

Hinata glanced at Oikawa. "Do you think he'd toss for me?"

Kageyama looked at Oikawa: he was talking with Iwaizumi and the rest of his team on the other side of the net. "You can ask him when he's done talking. Come on."

Hinata looked over to the sidelines. "Hey, Yachi! Can you throw us some balls?!"

She looked nervous about all the balls flying everywhere but walked towards them anyway. "Sure..."

Yachi caught the ball Kageyama threw to her. "Ready?"

The two of them positioned themselves. "Ready."

Hinata ran out just as Yachi threw the ball to Kageyama. Everyone in the gym looked at the three of them as Hinata ran forward. Oikawa and Iwaizumi glanced over just as Hinata hit the ball so hard it ricocheted off the floor and hit the wall. Oikawa jumped up and caught it. "That was insane," he said under his breath.

Oikawa went over to Hinata, who was repeatedly spiking the balls Kageyama was tossing him. "Hey, Hinata, Kageyama, could you spike a few of my tosses?"

Kageyama avoided Oikawa's gaze. "Yeah... sure, I guess."

"He's still nervous around me," Oikawa thought. And then he felt frustrated. He had apologized: what else could Kageyama possibly want?

"Oikawa!" Hinata called. He and Kageyama were both staring at him, ready. Oikawa shook his head. "Right-"

"All right! It's time for lunch!" One of the coaches shouted. "It's your one day off: live a little!"

Everyone groaned at the same time. Yachi and Kiyoko, though, looked relieved. Kageyama fell in beside Hinata as they walked outside, but his mind was somewhere else.

He wasn't sure why he still felt nervous around Aoba Johsai... but he did. Even if he had talked to them, they were still the people who had once hated him.

And Oikawa? Kageyama could tell he was trying to fix everything. So why didn't he just accept it?

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