Miyagi Prefecture - Karasuno High School Gymnasium.
The squeak of sneakers was dull, lacking its usual energy. It had been a few days since their defeat against Aoba Johsai in the Interhigh Preliminaries. The third years had announced they were staying, but the sting of losing to Oikawa still lingered in the air like a bad smell.
Hinata Shouyou was spiking balls set by Kageyama Tobio, but there was a desperate edge to it. They were trying to run away from the memory of the blocked last point.
SLAM. The gym doors burst open.
Takeda-sensei ran in, clutching his phone, his glasses crooked. He looked like he had seen a ghost.
"Coach Ukai! Everyone! Stop!"
Daichi wiped his sweat. "Sensei? What's wrong? Did the bracket for Spring High come out already?"
"No," Takeda gasped for air. "It's Tokyo. The Tokyo Interhigh results."
"Tokyo?" Nishinoya perked up. "Did Nekoma play?"
"Nekoma..." Takeda swallowed hard. "Nekoma just defeated Itachiyama Institute in the semifinals."
The gym went silent.
Ukai Keishin dropped the volleyball he was holding. "Itachiyama? The number one seed? The team with Sakusa?"
"Yes," Takeda nodded furiously. "Score 2-1. Nekoma is going to Nationals."
"EEHHH?!" Tanaka and Nishinoya screamed in unison. "THEY BEAT THE KINGS?!"
Kageyama froze. He remembered the practice match during Golden Week. He remembered the giant redhead who blocked his quick and served aces like he was throwing rocks.
"Gojou..." Kageyama whispered the name.
"Is there video?" Hinata shouted, jumping up and down. "Sensei! Let me see!"
Takeda held up his phone. It was a shaky fan-recorded video from the stands. The quality was bad, but the sound was clear.
CRACK.
On the tiny screen, a red blurry figure wearing Number 10 rose above a three-man block. He didn't spike around them. He blasted the ball off the middle blocker's fingertips so hard it hit the ceiling.
"BOSS DEFEATED!" The voice in the video roared.
Hinata shivered. "He got stronger. He's way stronger than when he played us!"
"He defeated Sakusa Kiyoomi," Tsukishima muttered, looking at the screen with a rare expression of unease. "That means Nekoma isn't just a defensive team anymore. They have a cannon."
Daichi clenched his fist. A fire ignited in his eyes.
"Our rivals are going to the National stage," Daichi announced to the team. "They're leaving us behind. Are we going to let them wait forever?"
"NO!" The team roared back, the depression of their loss replaced by the hunger of rivalry.
Miyagi Prefecture - Shiratorizawa Academy.
The gym was massive, clean, and filled with elite players.
Ushijima Wakatoshi, the "Super Ace," was drinking water after a set of 100 spikes. He looked like a machine that had just completed a routine diagnostic.
"Wakatoshi-kun~!"
Tendou Satori, the "Guess Monster," skipped over, waving a smartphone. "News from the capital! The Weasel got eaten!"
Ushijima didn't blink. "Itachiyama lost?"
"Yup! To Nekoma. You know, the cats," Tendou grinned, showing the video. "Look at this rookie. He's a first year. 190 centimeters. Red hair. Looks kinda like a delinquent version of you."
Ushijima looked at the screen. He watched Ryuu's form.
He watched the loose wrist snap. The raw power. The arrogance in the way he stood over the defeated Itachiyama players.
"His form is messy," Ushijima stated flatly. "He wastes energy on his approach."
"But he won," Tendou pointed out. "He beat Sakusa."
Ushijima handed the phone back.
"Sakusa is a perfectionist. He struggles against chaos," Ushijima said calmly. "This player... Gojou... is chaos."
Ushijima picked up a volleyball.
"If he comes to Nationals," Ushijima said, his voice carrying the absolute weight of being the strongest, "I will show him that chaos breaks against a solid foundation."
Miyagi Prefecture - Aoba Johsai High.
Oikawa Tooru was stretching. He was in a good mood. He had beaten Kageyama. He was the King of the Court in Miyagi (until he faced Ushijima, at least).
"Oikawa-san," Iwaizumi walked over, looking grim. "Did you see the Tokyo scores?"
"I don't care about Tokyo, Iwa-chan. I only care about crushing Ushiwaka."
"Itachiyama lost."
Oikawa stopped stretching. He looked up. "Sakusa lost? To who? Fukurodani?"
"Nekoma. A team that hasn't been to Nationals in years."
Oikawa frowned. "Nekoma? The defensive specialists? How did they stop Sakusa's spin?"
"They didn't just stop it. They overpowered it," Iwaizumi showed him the score. "27-25 in the third set. It was a brawl."
Oikawa looked at the name on the score sheet. Gojou Ryuu (1st Year).
"A first year..." Oikawa's eyes narrowed. A familiar jealousy flared up—the hatred of "geniuses" who appeared out of nowhere to disrupt the hierarchy.
"Great," Oikawa smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Another monster added to the pile. Japan is getting crowded."
Tokyo - Metropolitan Gymnasium (Hallway).
The atmosphere outside the court was tense.
Daishou Suguru leaned against a wall, watching the Itachiyama players walk by. They were heading to the warm-up area for the 3rd Place Match (against Nohebi, coincidentally).
Sakusa walked past. He looked like a dark cloud.
"Hey, Sakusa-kun," Daishou called out, unable to help himself. "Rough game? That rookie really messed you up, huh?"
Sakusa stopped. He turned his head slowly.
Daishou expected a glare. He expected anger.
But Sakusa's eyes were blank.
"He's not a rookie," Sakusa said quietly.
"Hah?"
"Rookies hesitate," Sakusa said. "He doesn't. He plays like he's the protagonist and we're just in his way."
Sakusa walked away.
Daishou swallowed hard. He looked at his own hand, still bruised from Ryuu's spike yesterday.
"We have to play Itachiyama for 3rd place now," his teammate whispered, looking terrified. "And they look... angry."
Daishou sighed. "Yeah. We're dead."
______________________
Nekoma Waiting Room.
Ryuu lay on a bench, a towel over his face. His chest rose and fell in a slow rhythm.
"Is he asleep?" Lev poked Ryuu's leg.
"Leave him alone, Lev," Yaku slapped Lev's hand away. "He just played three sets against the best team in the country. Let the battery recharge."
Kenma sat in the corner, holding his PSP, but the screen was off. He was staring at Ryuu.
Kenma had played with many people. He knew Kuroo's reliability. He knew Hinata's boundless energy.
But Ryuu was different.
Ryuu played volleyball like he was speed-running a video game. He found exploits (the wrist snap), he abused mechanics (targeting the libero), and he treated the opponents not as rivals, but as levels to be cleared.
"He's scary," Yamamoto whispered, looking at Ryuu's sleeping form. "Did you see that last block? He practically strangled the ball."
"He's a Villain," Kuroo grinned, leaning back in his chair. "And for the first time in Nekoma history... the Villain is on our side."
"Wake me up in an hour," Ryuu's voice mumbled from under the towel. He wasn't asleep. "I need to dream about crushing an owl."
"You're awake?" Lev asked.
"I am meditating on violence," Ryuu muttered. "Go away."
The team laughed, the tension of the finals easing slightly. They had taken down the King. Now, they just had to fight the wildest, loudest, most unpredictable team in Tokyo.