Intuition

 Days passed by at a relatively normal pace with the upcoming interhigh hanging over the boys' heads. Resu yawned widely and stretched. Another practice was over and she wanted to get home as soon as possible. She felt exhausted for some reason and she wiped at her eyes as she helped put the nets away.

Resu noticed some of the team huddled on the floor, a magazine in between them. Thinking it was some kind of girly pin-up thing, she walked over to sneer at them, only to find they were only looking at a volleyball article. Her bottom eyelid twitched. She supposed that wasn't that surprising, now that she thought about it.

"What's so interesting?" The second year asked, skimming the article as it was handed to her reluctantly. It was about Ushiwaka, the ace from Shiratorizawa. Her nose crinkled slightly. He almost seemed too perfect, from the way the article described him.

"He definitely looks like an ace though," Daichi commented, pointedly looking in Asahi's direction as he said this. Naturally, the ace became dejected, but Nishinoya and Resu patted his shoulders in an effort to comfort him.

"Shiratorizawa isn't the only formidable opponent," Ukai spoke up, joining the group. "There's also Wakutani Minami..."

Resu zoned out momentarily, volleyball logic lost on her.

"...Date Kogyo..."

At the mention of that school, Asahi stiffened noticeably next to her. She raised an eyebrow before hearing that Karasuno had lost to them last March. It dawned on Resu that that was the match Asahi had been blocked nearly every time, which had caused him to take a break from volleyball in the first place.

"...There's also Aoba Johsai, which has Oikawa Tooru."

It was Resu's turn to freeze up. Although it was not known to the boys, she had went to the school for her first year. You could say she knew Oikawa...pretty well, although she wasn't proud of that fact. A deep frown settled on her face. There was a high chance she would run into him at the interhigh, which was not something she was looking forward to.

Minutes later, Takeda-sensei burst through the doors, the match-ups for the prelims in his hand. They were first up against a school called Tokonami and both Dateko and Aoba Johsai were other seeds in their block. It was highly possible that if they won their matches they would end up facing the two schools that were proved to be some of the most powerful in the country.

Resu's eyes narrowed. While it was true that Karasuno had come a long way, how far had they actually improved in comparison to other schools? They'd only had, what...two practice matches? Was that enough?

That question hung in the back of her mind as she made her way home.

-----

The next day, Resu and Nishinoya were on their way to Asahi's classroom to walk with him to the gym. The taller girl slowed her pace slightly and turned to Nishinoya, an eyebrow raised slightly in concern.

"D'you think Asahi will be alright? I mean..." She gestured in no particular motion, at a loss for words, but Nishinoya understood what she was referring to.

"He better," the second year replied, almost bitterly. "Otherwise I'll knock some sense into him!"

Resu chuckled dryly as he barked at Asahi, who seemed to be brooding over the match-ups. His classmates regarded the two oddly, whispering as the gentle third year joined them out in the hall. As they began walking, they were silent. None of them wanted to address the issue directly, but somehow...

"I'm not going to run away, if that's what you're thinking," Asahi spoke up, to their surprise. Resu glanced sideways at him as he continued. "I know everyone's behind me."

At this point Nishinoya nearly skidded to a stop, Resu catching herself before she almost bowled him over. The two eyed Asahi expectantly.

"This time, I'll stick out my chest, and declare 'I'm the ace of Karasuno!'"

Resu felt a smile twitch onto her lips as Nishinoya slapped Asahi on the back, clearly pleased at his words.

-----

The interhigh was tomorrow. Resu herself wasn't even competing in it but yet she felt a deep feeling of anxiety in the pit of her stomach. But there was also a twinge of pride for the boys, her friends, that had managed to come this far. When she was younger (and even still sometimes) she gave up on things pretty easily, never really seeing anything all the way through. It was nice to see people that worked at something get to the next step of where they wanted to be.

As practice drew to a close, a sort of commotion caught her eye. Oh, right. She wandered over near the boys as they watched Shimizu and Takeda-sensei ascend to the balcony, carrying with them a long piece of fabric. They both unfolded it and displayed it over the railing. It was sheer black with their school name and 'Fly' written in white paint. The design was rather simple, but it spoke numbers. Daichi quieted Nishinoya and Tanaka as they shouted their excitement. Shimizu wasn't finished.

"Do..."

The boys were silent, hanging on the edge of their nonexistent seats.

"...Do your best."

You know the whole calm before the storm phrase? The gym felt like that. The third and second years quite literally burst into tears, whooping and hollering about how they had the strength of a hundred men. Resu smirked at the embarrassed Shimizu, narrowing her eyes in amusement at their reaction to the sentiment. The third year manager had asked her to help clean the banner earlier in the week, to which Resu wholeheartedly complied.

While the boys continued to yell their excitement, a sinking feeling once more made itself known in the pit of Resu's stomach. Why did she have such a bad feeling about this? Was it just her and her negative tendencies? She frowned.

Probably. I have a knack for doing that, after all.

But as she smiled along with them, she couldn't shake the sickening feeling. The second year crossed her arms around her stomach tightly, a wave of nausea slowly making its way to her throat. Resu swallowed thickly, shrugging her bag onto her shoulder as she waited for them to finish cleaning up.

Asahi offered to walk home with her and for once she didn't object. Noticing her almost pained expression, he spoke up, his tone tinged with concern.

"Are you feeling okay? You look kind of sick..." He trailed off nervously, unsure about how she would react to his question. To Asahi's surprise, she only sighed, her head lowered slightly and her eyes glassy.

"Yeah, I guess. I don't know, I just feel really nauseous..." Resu trailed off, her frown deepening. "I just have a bad feeling for some reason."

"Do you think we're going to lose?"

The forwardness of his question shocked her a little and she turned to see him looking at her seriously. Resu shrugged, avoiding his gaze.

"I mean... I believe in you guys, obviously. I'm just worried that all the work you put into this isn't going to be enough. That sounds kind of shitty, huh?" She laughed quietly.

"It's sort of natural to be anxious for us," Asahi replied with a slight smile. "For a while I had the same feeling but...I guess I kind of just put it aside? We've gotten this far, right? Who's to say we can't go further?"

"Yeah... You're right. Sorry I'm being negative." Resu managed an apologetic grin before waving goodbye and entering her house.

Asahi paused, staring after her, her words still lingering in the air. He had never seen her so nervous and disoriented. It worried him, seeing her like that. But he supposed it was normal to be worried about them, especially considering what happened last March. Asahi shook his head to clear it of negative thoughts and continued walking home.

We'll just have to see what happens tomorrow.

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hhhhhhhey guys, sorry this chapter is long overdue and pretty short. i still have writer's block and i hate everything but i hope this is okay. while i'm here i wanted to thank you guys for the comments you leave! they're all so nice and it makes my day when i see them. you guys rock.

the next couple chapters will pick up the pace of the story and some things will happen!! but what kind of things..?? i guess you'll have to keep reading to find out. ;)))))

next chap will hopefully be out soonish! i have some motivation so i'll try to work on it while i can. thank you all sooooooooo much for being patient with me. it really means a lot.

see you laterrrrrrrrrrrrr!