HELLO EVERYONE SUPER SUPER SORRY ABOUT EVERYTHING! ! So much was happening that we neglected the story for a while, but we're here now and here's the last chapter! Everyone's lovely reviews have been read and appreciated, and thank you everyone for your kind words! It sounds mean to also say thank you for your tears, haha, but I'm glad we could affect you with our little story.

(And to LittleChomper, there's a little Inuoka cameo. It's not much but I hope that will be enough!)

Anyways, thank you everyone for following us up to the end! It's been a great journey for us, so I hope that it was fun for you as well. If you remember this story from time to time, I'll be thankful for our little impact on your life. 'Til next time

- Zakkie

Even though Zakkie did, I want to thank you all again for reading our story. I remember when we first had the idea and how hard we worked on it and I'm so happy that so many people read it and enjoyed it. It means a lot to both of us. Hopefully see you all again for another story!

- Toph

( )

"Practise tournament!" breathed Hinata, eyes shining. "Practise tournament!"

"Calm down, Hinata," tried Ennoshita as the team walked out of the school gates towards the bus. "It's not really a tournament of any kind."

"But it's almost a tournament!" he protested, jiggling between two feet. "Really almost! Ohh… Suddenly I'm nervous…"

"Dumbass," grunted Kageyama. "It's only a few practise matches."

"Still…!"

"Just don't go getting too worked up about it," chided Suga, swinging his sports bag in his arms. "We've got a whole bus journey ahead."

"Yeah, and I only brought one pair of shorts!" Tanaka laughed, then immediately sobered. "But seriously though, I don't have spares today. Please don't barf on me."

"I-I would never…" Hinata looked down, twisting his lips as Takeda chuckled beside him. "Not on purpose, anyway."

"Just try not to think about it and the feeling will go away. That's what I do," mumbled Asahi. "Your friend from Nekoma will be there, right?"

"Yeah!"

"Let's get going then." Takeda clapped his hands and before chatter broke out again, the team were ushered onto the bus and away. The journey took a while, with a few enthusiastic travel songs from Tanaka and Nishinoya (who eventually had their heads conked together by a certain vice-captain who had gotten just a little too fed up with 'The Wheels on the Bus').

A good distance away from Karasuno, they reached their destination. A few other clubs were milling around outside, some uniforms familiar and some new to the eye. The team spilled out of the bus in a sleepy-legged bundle of black and white, giving the more energetic members of the team the opportunity to immediately initiate a game of tag.

"Alright, alright, listen up!" called Ukai, catching their attention just as Suga snagged Noya's collar on his third lap of the parking lot outside the courts they were using. "There are quite a few other teams here today, from a lot of different regions. It'll be great to practise against some fresh opponents. Everyone on your best behaviour, right?"

"Right!" chorused the students and less than two seconds later Tanaka jabbed Noya in the ribs and dashed between the other players in a smaller continuation of their game.

"Guys, come on," said Takeda. "You're not grade schoolers anymore."

"Let them stretch their legs," replied Suga, and Shimizu nodded as Nishinoya began to scale Asahi's back. "They'll smarten up by the time we get over there if they know what's best for them."

Suga's prediction came true, at least, to the extent of 'sensible' that the noisy students understood. They weren't sprinting up and down the corridors of the court building, and that was enough to please Ukai and Takeda.

Despite their relative peacefulness, rumours began to fly about the team like they normally did.

"What school is that? Torino? Karasuno? From all the way out there? Never heard of them before…"

"I heard they were strong once. They have some good players."

"They don't look all that strong… We might have a chance of beating some nobodies like them a few times, huh?"

But then, different things, worse things, started to weave their way into the mix.

"Never heard of Karasuno? Do you live under a rock? That was the team that got held in their school gym back then! The gun hostages!"

"Are you sure? I heard it was the basketball team, because one of the students was huge enough to take on the gunmen but he ended up getting shot after he killed one of the five of 'em."

"No, it was definitely volleyball. That guy though, the long-haired one – he must be the one who knocked off the gunmen. There were at least seven of them, and I heard he beat them up with his bare hands!"

Naturally, Asahi took the brunt of the whisperings. He tried to twist his face into a mask, but his eyes darted evasively and he had to bite his lip to stop it from trembling.

It wasn't long before the rumours spread to the other team members. Words flew like a scattering flock of birds and soon enough, Karasuno found themselves wading through a tangle of assumptions, lies and exaggerations.

"It was someone in the team's dad. It must be that baldy guy though, don't you think he looks shifty? He was probably trying to get his teammates bumped off or something."

"Was it a terrorist attack? Do you think one of them is actually in a cult? Like what about that little guy? His hair's so bright, he's gotta be a foreigner! I bet he's the one behind it."

"Him? Are you kidding me? I don't think anyone's a spy or anything. It was just something that happened. But seriously, weren't there only two guys? That captain looks solid enough to take one on, at least, and with those tall guys there… He should have done something. I know I wouldn't have just sat around 'til the police came in."

"Don't be ridiculous! They had guns! The police were the only option. Their teacher should have done something, though. But did you know Nekoma's number one and five were there as well? Yeah, 'cause of them the whole Tokyo division got involved!"

"Their manager wasn't involved, right? Good. They've gotta be all messed up in the head from that. I'd quit if I were them. Their grey-haired member looks twitchy like that, doesn't he? And what do you make of Nekoma's captain? It's obvious he's wrecked…"

Takeda and Ukai moved off to sign the team's name in, leaving them in their empty part of the foyer full of clubs. The teacher cast a worried glance back at the team, but no-one was looking.

"They're talking about us," whispered Hinata, and not even Kageyama picked on him for this obvious statement.

"Do they really think I killed seven people?" fretted Asahi, wringing his wrists. "I couldn't even kill a moth… I'm actually worthless."

"Nobody said you were worthless, Asahi," Daichi assured him tensely, but it wasn't the tone of annoyance he usually reserved for berating the ace's self-deprecation. He just sounded vaguely threatened.

"They're all morons," grumbled Tsukishima, sneering. "Who do they think they are to talk about us like that?"

"Rumours will fly," mumbled Ennoshita. "We all knew that before we even got here. You shouldn't let them get to you."

"They're just so much worse than we were expecting." Nishinoya looked around the building, brow furrowed. "I wish I could just stand up and tell them all what really happened!"

"I don't think that would be a good plan," put in Suga. "No matter how much I want them to know we didn't really do all those things, I'm not really a fan of the idea of people wanting to poke at Asahi's scar, go off bothering poor Kuroo and Kenma or asking if I'm genetically a psychopath."

Nobody really knew what to say in reply to this, so they just waited for the adults to return in silence.

Meanwhile, in another part of the foyer, the rumours had caught the ear of another person indirectly involved with the incident.

"N-nine people?" Bokuto veritably squawked, flicking his head from side to side as he looked for confirmation. "That can't be right. Kuroo never said anything about that many gunmen… And I'm pretty sure he didn't shoot anyone either."

"I dunno." Konoha shrugged. "Just what I heard."

"Yeah, well… Kuroo wouldn't lie to me. Right, Akaashi?"

The setter shook his head. "I don't think so. And I saw the news report. There were only two gunmen, and only one of them died."

"So the fifteenth grader did snuff someone…" Someone from another team swallowed nervously and looked in Asahi's direction.

"Kuroo said it was one of the bad guys that shot the other one," retorted Bokuto stubbornly. "And he hasn't lied to me yet. Well, he does sometimes, but not about anything serious… I don't think he'd lie about something like this. He wouldn't lie about that, would he?"

Akaashi shook his head a second time. "I saw that on the news as well. And no, I don't think Kuroo would lie about it."

Bokuto shifted restlessly on the spot, eyeing the Karasuno team. "Argh… The whole thing is ticking me off! I wish everyone would just stop making stuff up! They're exaggerating everything and it's so stupid!"

"Coming from you, captain…"

Bokuto ignored the remark and kept going. "I mean, they've gotta be pissed off, don't they? This is their team that's getting badmouthed like that. Kuroo and Kenma too. And they must have thought it was all over by now, and people keep bringing it up. You know, I'm gonna march over there and tell them something."

"Bokuto, you don't even know them," Akaashi pointed out. "And besides, what are you going to say?"

"I dunno! Something cool!"

"Leave them to themselves." Akaashi watched Bokuto drop back onto the bench and continue to twist agitatedly. "You know how Kuroo described that team. If you trust his recount well enough, trust that they'll be strong enough to sort themselves out. They survived guns, after all."

This sentiment spread through the Fukurodani team and the team they were sitting with, slowly winding its way across the foyer until everyone was whispering about the rumoured integral strength of the Karasuno Volleyball Club and the shady Nekoma duo.

Some of the more extreme fabrications were eradicated, and sympathy began to take their place.

"I feel kinda bad for them. Maybe we should go easy on those teams?"

"I thought they might be an easy win, but…if they've really been through all that…"

"We should just be careful around them. Don't talk to them."

In a way, it was almost worse than before.

In yet another part of the foyer, a team clad in blue and white had been listening in on all of the action and someone had finally asked the opinion of the captain.

"What are you talking about?" he said. "They seem fine to me. The only thing that's bothering them is how much everyone's talking about them!"

"But everything they went through…"

"It's got nothing to do with why they're here now, does it? They came to play volleyball, same as us. What does it matter what happened before they got here?" A smirk twitched his lips upwards and his teammates looked on, puzzled. "And anyways, there's no way I'm taking it easy on my dear underclassman."

"Oikawa…"

"Yes, Iwa?"

The ace shook his head. "You know what, never mind it. You go on whatever crazy spiel you want."

"So mean, as usual." Tooru 'Grand King' Oikawa pouted, but it was quickly pushed off in favour of an all-knowing nod. "If you all don't believe what I'm saying, I can prove it."

"Prove what, exactly?" queried Matsukawa.

"The fact that they're not a nervous wreck of a team here for us to pity or gossip about," Oikawa proclaimed, rising to his feet.

"Captain, what—" Kindaichi was cut off by Iwaizumi standing as well.

"Oikawa, you'd better not be doing something stupid, because I will kick your knee out of action again."

"Relax, Iwa," the setter said with an easy-going grin. "This is all for a good cause. And if something bad happens, I'll swallow my words."

"You'll swallow my fist, more like," muttered Iwaizumi as his captain sauntered off.

"To-o-obio!"

Oikawa's call was loud enough that it bounced all around the foyer, catching the attention of many onlookers and bringing down the overall volume to a hushed murmur.

"Long time no see!" he continued, approaching Karasuno whilst everyone else stared at him like he was heading up to a live landmine. "And all of Tobio's team as well! It's been a while, hey?"

"It has," replied Kageyama, his usual glare set in motion.

"Grand King!" mouthed Hinata conspicuously, sidling up next to his teammate and staring intensely.

"It looks like we'll be opponents again today," began Oikawa conversationally, ignoring the baffled looks he was getting from bystanders. "At least, I hope we will. I'm looking forward to seeing how much you've improved! All of you, I mean."

He flashed a cocky smile and thick, cloying silence followed.

"I'm gonna kick his teeth out," muttered Iwaizumi to himself, but the effect of the line was ruined by the way his lips twisted worriedly. He hated seeing his friend's confidence drag him into messy situations, especially if he ended up taking a fall for his pride.

Most of Karasuno's eyes were on Kageyama, and a few were on Oikawa. Asahi looked the most surprised, flicking between the two.

Kageyama looked to Daichi, who blinked impassively and shrugged as if to say, I think you can handle this one.

Tanaka and Noya had extended their limbs across the club's area, effectively cordoning off a small zone for Shimizu. They'd seen Oikawa trying to talk to her once. Despite this familiar action, their faces were stormy in a way that indicated they had something else on their minds other than protecting their precious manager.

The other second years shrank into themselves, not quite sure how to react. Next to them, Tsukishima was admiring the carpet and Yamaguchi admiring him doing that.

Suga's expression was unreadable. He just looked intent on watching them.

On the other side of the foyer, Nekoma High were looking on curiously. Surprisingly enough, Kenma and Kuroo were listening less than attentively.

"What do you two make of that?" asked Yaku quietly, motioning with a thumb.

"Not that interesting," replied Kenma softly, tapping away at some puzzle game. A suspenseful music was drifting from his Ds.

"What he means to say is we know exactly what's going to happen," Kuroo put in. "Even though it took us a while to get back on our feet, we did it, didn't we? There are a lot more of them than us, so I don't doubt they recovered even faster than we did. Wouldn't you say, Kenma?"

Kenma tapped at his screen, unblinking.

"There's no way Karasuno is going to just shy away from this. They're not weak."

Kageyama rose then and Hinata quickly scrambled up after him. "If that's what you want, you can see it on the court," growled Kageyama. "Bring it on."

"We'll be coming at you one hundred percent!" added Hinata boldly, from where he hid a little way behind his teammate.

That was all it took to prompt Tanaka and Noya to their feet.

"Come at us, Mr Grand King!"

"Yeah, yeah! We'll bring you right down!"

"Right down!" chirped Hinata aggressively.

"I'll echo that enthusiasm," said Daichi from the floor with a threatening smile. "You can expect full throttle from us. Right?"

"Definitely." Everyone nodded except Tsukishima, who just sort of looked up.

Back with Nekoma, Kenma's Ds flicked to a different tune as a bold 'CORRECT' slid up onto the top screen. "Consider this puzzle solved," said the man in the game.

"What'd we tell you?" Kuroo smirked and rested his hand on his chin. "They're a strong team."

"But not stronger than we are," insisted Yaku, bouncing a fist of his captain's shoulder. "Right, captain?"

"'Course not," replied the third year, wrapping his arm around Kenma's shoulders.

The setter stiffened, looking up at his friend. Most of Nekoma stared with him.

"What?"

"You haven't done that in a long time," mumbled Inuoka.

"Oh?" Kuroo flashed his teeth again. "Wonder why."

Yaku didn't feel the need to point out that the whole team already knew the reason Kuroo's physical affection had been so restrained, and they knew the reason for his recovery too – support, teamwork and a touch of friendly competition.

There was no way Kuroo was going to let Sawamura beat him to the punch, even in such a twisted contest.

"That's right," said Suga lowly as Oikawa strode off, scolded by Iwaizumi for 'making a spectacle of himself'. "We came here to win, right? What's the point of getting thrown off by all the rumours?"

"Right, right!" burst in Nishinoya. "That's true!"

"What's on court and off are worlds apart! Let's forget it all and play!" added Tanaka boisterously.

"We should never be all depressed when we play!" Hinata butted in. "Right?"

A series of affirmative nods followed this, with an eye roll from Tsukishima. "It's a nice distraction, at least," he said.

"This whole hostage thing was a distraction from what I wanted," grumbled Kageyama. "You know how many sessions of training we missed?"

"Like, five!" interjected Hinata.

That was met with another silence, but not a tense or unhappy one. It was the return of the regular fondness that followed the pair's united enthusiasm.

Suga grinned and mussed Kageyama's hair roughly, a habit he'd taken to pulling out with increasing frequency of late. "Do you two think about anything else?"

"Not really," admitted Hinata. "Sort of."

"No," answered Kageyama.

"You talked a lot of smack about beating Aoba Josai just now, but we really don't know if we're even going to play against them today," said Asahi with a nervous frown. "The thought of it is kinda enough for me, to be honest."

"Don't be a baby," scolded Daichi and he punched the ace in the arm for good measure.

"I'm not…" Asahi trailed off when he realised the attention had shifted away from him.

The focus was now on Yamaguchi, who was tapping his foot against the floor anxiously. He was biting his lip, a glimmer of quivering zeal in his eyes.

"I want us to play them," he said fervently. "I really want us to win today."

"Naturally!" laughed Suga. "We should be wanting to win every day!"

"And we should," added Kageyama.

"We will," finished Daichi. "Can't win them all, but we can sure as hell try. And you never know, we might get lucky."

"Yeah!"

"We're gonna win for sure!"

"Karasuno, fight!"

( )

Not all things can be rebuilt.

But then again, not all things can't.

A house with weak foundations is destined to crumble in against itself. Even one with the standard strength will collapse if you push it hard enough.

But after that, after everything falls down, it's entirely possible to clear away the rubble, toss away the bad memories, let it go and start afresh.

Then, with that flat land, you can build a new building. A tower, a castle, a gym, a home.

Sure, you could build it back up exactly the way it was before, but that's difficult and there will always be a piece or two you can never truly replace.

That's why most people tend to build back up with a tougher structure, learn from the faults of the past and create something better.

Something stronger.

Something with a core that can never be broken.

And that's just what those twelve people did.