"Onii...-chan?"

Karasuno's captain and foundation was on the ground. Tanaka was shocked as he clutched his right arm and the game momentarily stopped.

"Daichi-san...?"

They collided right after they returned the last ball

The collision triggered one of Ayame's past memories when her father died. It was the moment when her father and the man collided after he pulled her out of harm's way. She clutched her head as the scene kept repeating in her head, and her breathing turned shaky. Tears welled on the corner of her eyes as she tightly closed her eyes.

"No...Not now...Not now...breathe...take a deep breath..."

It's really hard for her to move on from that sin

She wanted to scream.

Shimizu didn't know which one she should attend to first, the first year's breakdown or the captain's collision.

"Ayame-chan! Can you hear me?" The manager rubbed her back but she can't seem to notice nor hear her.

A certain teen ran from his position and rushed to her.

Ayame couldn't shake that dreadful feeling off her head.

"Not again...!"

"Are you all right? Ayame, can you hear me?"

She looked up and saw the freckled teen looking at her worriedly while holding her shoulders. Slowly, her mind cleared and her breathing soon turned to normal.

"I...I can hear you..." she whispered.

She heard him sigh in relief "Thank goodness..."

Shimizu sighed "Thank you for rushing in to help, Yamaguchi"

"Hai, I'll be going back to our zone now before the referee gets mad at me for leaving" he sweat dropped when the referee was giving him a warning look and he quickly returned to the other bench players.

Even if they still not on good terms (slightly), he still shows that he cares for her and it's making her feel even more guilty.

"Ow..." she heard the captain say as he tried to sit up.

"Daichi-nii!" she ran to him, along with their coach and teacher.

"Where did you get hit?" the man asked him.

He touched his face "M-My face?"

The teacher knelt in front of him to check his memory "Sawamura-kun, where are you right now?"

"Sendai City, in the gym"

"Who are we playing right now?"

"W-Wakunan" he then realized what is about to happen "I'm fine!"

"But it appears you hit your head, so please go to the infirmary" Mr. Takeda told him "Go have them confirm you really are okay. That's the quickest way for you to return to the match"

"Please, onii-chan..." she pleaded at him, her violet eyes filled with worry and fear. Daichi knew that fear came from remembering her past due to what happened, so he complied to the teacher's orders to not to make her worry even more.

"Hai"

Shimizu slightly gasped "Blood..."

"Eh?" blood trickled down the captain's chin and he covered it with his mouth, while the manager covered it with a towel.

"Did you cut your lip?" Coach Ukai asked.

"He...doesn't seem to be showing any signs of dizziness but...that blood probably is from..." Ayame thought.

He spitted out a tooth, much to their surprise.

"A tooth?!" Ayame, Hinata and Yamaguchi freaked out after seeing the chipped tooth.

"Good thing that there's no concussion but... we can't let him play..." she thought, still feeling freaked out after seeing the tooth.

"Sensei, can I leave the rest to you?" the man asked.

"Eh? Ah, sure but..." the teacher glanced at the violet eyed girl "Shouldn't you be telling that to our assistant coach, Ayame?"

"Yeah, but, Ayame's pretty young and inexperienced and I don't think she can make correct decisions at this time. She can but she might need guidance. Seeing an injured player in an official match and nevertheless, someone very close to her, can be a shock to her and..." he lowered his voice as he glanced at the said girl as she watched the captain worriedly "I think...the collision triggered a bit of her trauma..."

"I see" he nodded, knowing what he meant "I understand. I'll take care of things here"

"One more thing, sensei"

While the two adults were talking, Ayame watched as Shimizu handed him tissues and a towel. Tanaka approached them, his face down and filled with guilt.

"Daichi-san" he called the injured captain "I'm sorr-"

"Sorry, Tanaka" Daichi apologized first, surprising Tanaka "I saw you dive in to cover the ball but my body moved on its own. But look, because you got that ball over, we're now in the 20's"

Score: Karasuno–20, Wakutani–17

He patted the second year's arm with a smile on his face. The captain then turned his attention to their assistant coach "Sorry for scaring you like that, Ayame-chan"

"Y-You should be..." she clenched her fists "You really...scared me...I was praying that at least, you won't get a concussion but..."

He patted her head and lowered his voice "Sorry if... I made you recall your past..."

She blinked and looked up "I-It's fine. We should be more worried about your condition now. P-Please rest and...I might forgive you for scaring me..."

"Might?" he sweat dropped.

"I'll take him to the infirmary" Coach Ukai told them.

"I-I'll go with you" she said but he shook his head.

"No, you stay here and help the team. After all, you are the assistant coach, right?" Ukai told her, patting her head "You should be used to this kind of thing. Accidents can happen in a game and might shake you up. Volleyball can be pretty cruel sometimes"

"I-I know that much..." she mumbled, but she knew that he has a point.

He patted her head to assure her "Take it as an experience. Don't worry, Sawamura will be all right soon so you don't need to worry, okay?"

"Hai...please take care of nii-chan..."

Ukai took Daichi to the infirmary for him to rest up.

"Ayame-chan..."

She turned on her side and saw the baldy facing down, unable to face her on the eye.

"I'm sorry. For running into Daichi-san, your onii-chan"

It was the first time she saw him without his usual confidence. Her eyes softened and she patted his shoulder.

"Ryu-senpai, please don't be so hard on yourself. I'm not blaming you and I'm not blaming anyone. Accidents like this happen in a match...and I know that much. That's why, please raise your head. I want to see the Ryu-senpai that is full of toughness and confidence, never broken down by an obstacle. The Ryu-senpai I respect as a senpai and the strong spiker of Karasuno. Please show it to me"

Everyone stared at them.

"Will that work?" she wondered as she looked back at Sugawara, who flashed her a thumbs up, telling her that it will be fine.

Tanaka raised his head, his eyes welling up with tears and he bowed to her "Thank you, Ayame-chan"

She smiled and raised her fist "Please do your best, Ryu-senpai"

He looked up and fist bumped with her "You got that right"

The one who took Daichi's place is Ennoshita, with everyone's agreement on it. His face was passive, but everyone could tell he is nervous and worried if he can carry out his role or not. Sugawara, as the vice captain, placed his faith on him.

"Ennoshita, you have every right to be worried" he thought "But if anyone has to replace Daichi, everyone on our team thinks it should be you. Ayame-chan believes that you can carry on his role in your own way"

"Ennoshita" Tanaka approached him "Sorry, we're counting on you"

He stared at him in surprise before noticing his current attitude "What do you mean, "sorry"? About running into Daichi-san? Was Ayame's pep talk to you not effective enough? Listen up. Of course one of you got hurt after something like that. In the end, maybe it may cause Daichi-san to leave the match, but what's on our minds right now..." he stepped and aside and gave way to the ace "Asahi-san, if you would"

Asahi took a deep breath and spoke "...is how glad we are that you weren't hurt, too"

The baldy was taken aback from their words. Ayame smiled at them.

He pushed Tanaka to get him moving "Right, right. Come on, come on. Our offense is already weakened just by having Daichi-san out. If you get depressed, it'll just make things worse"

"Ennoshita-san, you really have the potential to be Karasuno's next captain"

However, it's not that easy to synch in with the other regular players. Other than that, Ayame knew that Ennoshita is not on par with Daichi in terms of technique yet. Karasuno was scoring, but Wakunan are catching up.

Score: Karasuno–22, Wakutani–20

"This is bad... they are catching up on us..." she bit the end of her pen anxiously "Playing a full set against them with our current situation would be a problem, but we can't avoid it. If they steal the first set, the team's morale will lower down even more"

"Shimizu-san, please call Yamaguchi-kun over here" she heard the teacher say, to which the mentioned manager complied. And it surprised her that she was not informed.

As Yamaguchi sat next to her while waiting for the signal for the switch, the air was awkward between the two of them.

Like earlier, the two of them were still awkward with each other. She can't even tell him good luck or to relax. It's like, she can't find the right timing to apologize or talk to him properly. She's still guilty for having a fight with him when he was just being concerned and worried.

But right now, she was surprised that the teacher made the call to sub the freckled teen in.

"I...I want to say that he can do it...but, I can't... I'm sorry, Tadashi-kun. I'm being selfish..." she thought.

Meanwhile, Yamaguchi was too nervous at the sudden call of the manager, who told him that he'll be subbing Tsukishima in his serve. Even though he was trained to relax his nerves, he can't deny the reality of a real match, and his nervousness intensifies. He wanted Ayame's small and gentle hands on his own shaking hand, her words of assurance and gentle aura calming his nerves... but no. He can't right now because of their fight.

"I-It'll be okay... I can calm down..." he breathed deeply "Just take a deep breath...remember the training with Kazumi-san... Calm down-HIIIIEE!!"

He jolted when the whistle for the substitution call was made and he abruptly stood from the bench. His shaking hands raised the number sign "11", his face full of obvious nervousness and he looked like he might faint any moment, which made the violet eyed girl worried for him.

Mr. Takeda watched the freckled teen and then back to the wavering girl as he recalled what Coach Ukai told him.

(flashback)

"One more thing, sensei"

"Hai?"

"When Tsukishima's up to serve, we'll have Yamaguchi come in as a pinch server. In this situation, we just want them to avoid them coming back and taking this set. We're gonna make a run for it"

He nodded "Why are you telling me this?"

"Like I said earlier, Ayame can't most likely make the correct decision with what happened earlier. Also, even if she thinks that sending Yamaguchi in is the best decision, she can't call him like usual. As you can see, it seems that they're not in good terms right now"

"Yes. I noticed that"

"Sensei, I'm leaving this to you. Please guide her while I'm out"

"Understood"

(end)

"Takeda-sensei, did Ukai-san tell you this?" Ayame asked the teacher.

"He did. I'm sorry for not telling you, Ayame" he nodded before he added in a flustered manner "B-But we really believe in your skills as the assistant coach and I-I'm sure that-"

"Sensei, no need to" she stopped him from rambling and smiled "I'm not offended or anything. I understand his decision"

"W-Well, Ukai-kun told me that you might be shaken up because of what happened so he asked me to guide you in this match...but he only instructed me to do that"

"So, he wanted us to make a go for it"

"It seems so"

Tsukishima told the freckled teen as he grabbed the number sign that there is no need to panic, as it is not like last time where the other team was the lead. It made him feel better but he really felt more at ease if it were Ayame calming him down.

Tsukishima knew something was up between the two, but like Sugawara, he didn't try to interfere, even though he really wanted to slam their heads together out of annoyance.

Yamaguchi tightly clutched the volleyball on his hands. Ayame knew he's nervous, but she placed her faith on him that he can do it and she believed in his strength.

He jolted when the whistle was blown, indicating that he can now serve. He threw the ball on air, and he realized his mistake. Ayame's violet eyes observed his movements and the ball, and she realized what made him falter.

"The serve toss was low! But, not too low!" she thought.

The ball sailed as he did his jump float serve, and it hit the top part of the net. He paled as he recalled the match against Seijoh, where his serve failed. But, the ball rolled to the opposite side and it was a net in, earning a point for Karasuno, thus making it a set point.

"It's over the net"

"Just one more point!"

"Yamaguchi, nice serve!"

"One more!"

But, that only gave the first year pinch server second thoughts.

Ayame, Tsukishima and Ennoshita were surprised that he did a normal overhand serve.

"Why didn't he do the jump float serve?" she thought before softening her look "Tadashi-kun...were you afraid of the risk...?"

The ball was received cleanly and Wakunan is about to attack. Kageyama and Hinata were in front to block and it was a one-touch. The ball is in mid-air, falling in front of Yamaguchi, however he seemed rooted to his spot but luckily, Ennoshita was able to save it from falling to the floor.

"Azumane-san!" Kageyama tossed the ball to the ace, who spiked it pass blockers.

"Nice kill!!"

"All right!!"

Karasuno won the first set. Mr. Takeda and Shimizu sighed in relief and everyone was preparing to change court before the second set starts. Yamaguchi was disappointed and angry at his self for being useless earlier, unable to move and receive the ball when it was right in front of him.

While preparing for the next set, a very pissed looking Coach Ukai arrived and stomped angrily to the freckled teen.

"Yamaguchi!!"

The first year stiffened as he feared for what the man will say to him when Ayame stood in front of him to defend him.

"U-Ukai-san, please wait!" she started "Please don't be mad at him! I know that he knows, right, Ennoshita-san?"

"Yes" the second year stepped forward "He knows. I think he knows more than anyone else"

"That's why, please don't be mad at him" she said "I believe in him. He can still do it"

She looked back at him and her violet eyes showed how much she believed in him, and he saw that.

"Ayame..."

Tsukishima shoved a towel in his hands and walked away as he wiped off his glasses, with a surprised Hinata trailing behind him. He then recalled his outburst to the megane during the training camp.

"I acted all tough with Tsukki, but I'm just a coward..." he tightly clutched the towel "Ayame...she believed in me...but, I didn't believe in myself...I'm so lame..."

She saw the expression he is making and was about to grab his hand when Tanaka's question caught her attention.

"Ukai-san, how's Daichi-san?"

"How is nii-chan?" she worriedly asked.

"He's fine. There's no worry of a concussion"

They all sighed in relief. She teared up a bit and whispered "Thank goodness..."

"But his mouth is bleeding pretty badly, and he's in a lot of pain" he added, which made the oddball duo and Ayame flinch "I'm having him rest for a while, just in case"

Tanaka was shaking until he was slapped on the back by Asahi and Ennoshita "I-I know!"

Coach Ukai patted the violet eyed girl's head "Sawamura will be fine, so you don't have to worry much, Ayame. He told me that he wanted you to concentrate on this match"

"Hai..."

He looked at the players "We're gonna win, and ready the next stage for Sawamura. There's nothing else to think about right now!"

"OSU!!"

Ayame took a deep breath and her serious and focus mode was back.

"Everyone, I have something to tell you regarding about the outcome of this match"

"And she's back to her usual self" the man grinned proudly.

"Given our current condition right now, there's a high probability we will lose the second set. Our defense, particularly the floor defense, has decreased a lot. We lost our captain and our solid foundation but that doesn't stop us. We might have to sacrifice the second set, but, I guarantee that we can win the third set with Ennoshita-san's help" she admitted.

"Eh? Me?" the second year said.

"I'll give you guys the details of the mannerisms and tricks of Wakunan's players to give you hints on what they are about to do" she said "We can do this"

"Daichi-nii may not be here right now but...we won't lose. We're going to win this!"