~Back In The Game~

~Chapter Twenty-Two~

-Last Time-

"They're a Tokyo school, and I hear they used to be very good." Takeda begins. "It's Nekoma High School."

"Nekoma in Tokyo?" Hinata wonders.

"Nekoma? You mean the school that was supposedly our biggest rival for many years?" Suga asks Takeda.

"The very same!" He replies. "If I recall correctly, they're known as The Cats."

"Yeah!" Takeda begins. "We learned about them last year. See, our old coach and theirs were supposed to be big rivals, like, forever. So they'd always hold practice games together."

"Really?"

"I hear both our teams were equally good and played well off each other, so their practice games were worth the long trip." Suga adds. "In fact, they were such good games that people in the area would come by and watch. A must-watch game!! It was The Cats and The Crows in an all-out Dumpster Battle! or something..."

"Was it really that special?" Tsukishima asks.

"A lot of us talked about how we'd like to try playing them sometime." Suga expresses.

"I can't wait to watch you guys!" You say excitedly.

"But we lost contact with them years ago. How did you...?" Daichi asks Takeda.

"I'll tell you more about the details later." Takeda begins.

'He must have begged...' You assume.

"But since the moment I heard about our friendly rival Nekoma... I've really wanted to put together a new grudge match for our teams." Takeda continues. "And once he hears we're playing Nekoma... I'm sure he'll finally make a move." You and Daichi look at Takeda questionably.

-Meanwhile at Sakenashita Market-

*ACHOO!!* A certain shopkeeper sneezes before helping a few students check out.

-Karasuno Gym-

"Okay!" Dachi shouts to get everyone's attention. "Let's not waste the chance that this practice game will give us! Everybody gets ready to work twice as hard in practice and during the training camp!"

"Yessir!"

"A Tokyo team huh? *Heh Heh* Those city slickers don't know what kind of beating they're in for." Tanaka says mischievously.

"City Slickers?" You whisper as Tsukishima says the same thing but in a mocking manner.

"Tsukishima, you smarmy punk! Shut it!" Tanaka demands angrily.

"Daichi," Noya says from next to said captain. "I'm sorry...but...I won't play in that practice game."

"Because Asahi isn't back?" Daichi asks only to receive silence as an answer. "Listen. I know you're upset at him because you believe he ran away, but don't you think you're taking this too far?"

"Shoyo's a good kid." Noya starts. "The other rookies are all kinda weird, but they're fun in their own ways. With all of them on board, I think the team is headed in a really good direction. I do want to practice with them. I do want to play with them. But... If we go into that practice game, and I play with the team, and we win...that'll be like saying we're perfectly okay without Asahi. That we can win without him. After all that time we spent playing together...I don't want to say that everything will be okay and we can without him. I know it's selfish, and I'm sorry."

"Okay. But at least come along to the camp." Daichi responds.

"Noya-san! Noya-san! Do it again! Do the Rolling Thunder again!!" Hinata exclaims excitedly.