"Don't just stand there, follow through!" Coach Ukai shouted at the team during practice. It was clear that Karasuno's practices had gotten stricter and more strenuous, as a result of Ukai. Whilst a lot of people would dread the increase in physical activity, Reo was practically thankful for it. It had only been a few days since the practice match against Nekoma, and already the atmosphere in Karasuno's gym had switched. Everyone was more competitive now after they all got a taste of what the matches at the preliminaries will be like.

"Go after every ball as though it's your last." Ukai yelled, throwing set after set.

They only had a month until the interhighs, so they were cramming all of their improvements into that small amount of time. Fortunately for Reo, she seemed to work best under pressure anyway- an ability that developed after she always left her assignments until last minute.

Despite the extended length of practice, it went by extremely quickly. As it was getting dark, the team began to settle down and pack up their stuff, Reo was returning from the water fountain after kindly filling up the teams water bottles.

"Hydrate or die-drate." She shouted as she threw the bottles at the boys.

"-Dude, that's nuts!" Noya exclaimed in bewilderment, after catching the water, "It's like a whole page!"

"Right?" Suga agreed as Asahi, Hinata and Kageyama approached the small group to ask what they were talking about.

"Look." Tanaka passed the magazine to Hinata, who widened his eyes as he looked at the page. "That's Ushiwaka from Shiratorizawa Academy. They named him one of the three players to watch in this years nationals."

"Ushi? Hold up let me take a picture of this." Reo cackled evilly as she whipped her phone out of her bag. "He hates seeing pictures of himself."

"...Ushiwaka? Is he the one that Reo is friends with?" Hinata asked, looking up from the page.

"You seriously don't know who he is?" Tanaka asked incredulously.

Suga patted the ground next to him inviting Reo to take a seat with them, "The only player Hinata cares about is the Tiny Giant." He said.

"Ushiwaka is his nickname." Reo informed him. "His real name is Wakatoshi Ushijima."

"And he's the number one ace in the prefecture!" Tanaka included.

"So we can't play Nekoma...unless we defeat them first?" Hinatas voice was low, obviously worrying about how he would win against the number one ace.

"Usually I wouldn't be so disclosing, but considering the circumstances I think it would be okay for me to tell you guys what they're like. I learnt a lot about how each of them play when I was with them." Reo sipped her water, almost spilling it when Daichi suddenly starting ruffling her hair from above her position on the floor. "Not if you keep doing that." She added, annoyed. He quickly removed his hand from her head and spoke instead.

"We'll definitely need a heads up about them nearer the time. It would be very helpful to know more about who we're up against. Thanks Reo." He said, Suga nodding in agreement.

Reo lifted up her bottle as if saying 'cheers' and continued relaxing.

"Remember guys," Coach Ukai approached everyone, "Shiratorizawa aren't the only good team. We will likely be going up against Date Tech, known for their 'iron wall'. Their team has higher blocks than anyone else around.

Reo didn't like the sound of that at all. If she ever gets positioned at the front of the court during the rotation, things won't be looking good for her.

"These guys beat us two to nothing in the prefectural public tournament back in March."

Reo saw Kageyama glancing in Asahis direction, where their ace stood behind the group looking very uncomfortable. It seemed that the past match against Date Tech impacted him quite a lot.

"They lost to Shiratorizawa which is why they're not seeded this year, so there's a good chance we'll be playing against them soon."

Reo thought back to last year. She had gotten back from practicing in Kitagawa's gym by herself after only a few of her team members attended practice, and Tendō skipped into the house, singing to himself. She sat at the kitchen table as her parents congratulated their son on winning against Date Tech.

"Then we have Aoba Johsai. I heard you guys played a match against them not so long ago?" Coach continued, reading through the papers in his hands.

"Oh yeah! The Great King!" Hinata hopped as Tanaka practically snarled at the name. Reo flicked the back of Tanakas head to get him to stop snarling, smiling to herself in amusement when he frowned like a lost puppy.

"That's the short version. I'll give you a more detailed version later." Ukai finished.  "Don't get ahead of yourselves. Remember, you're not the only team that are going their to win. Everyone has probably been training just as much as you guys or even more for this moment. Don't forget that. And one more thing: Don't allow them to call us 'The Clipped Crows' ever again!"

"Yes Sir!"

"You're all still in here?" Takeda Sensei shoved the doors to the gym open, wielding scrunched up paper in his hands that he proceeded to smooth out as he approached them. "I've got the pairings for the inter high preliminaries!"

Everyone scrambled around the see who they would be playing, Reo managing to get to the paper first so she held it out in front of her for everyone to read.

"If we make it through round one, and Date Tech does the same, we'll be up against them in round two." Noya spoke.

"I wouldn't get ahead of ourselves, you guys. Seijoh is also seeded in our block." Tsukishima pointed out, composed as usual.

"I don't like those odds." Kageyama grunted next to a fierce looking Hinata.

Reos fists tightened around the paper.

"This is great, guys." Her lips turned upwards into a forced smile, "It gives us another opportunity to crush them."

A few days passed, and the team kept practicing. Reo was running off of three hours of sleep on average per night, but that seemed almost normal for her now. She was beginning to think maybe her body was evolving to it.

Reo even finally served the ball for Noya to see if he could receive it! The first try, however got him laughed at by the rest of the team.

"How are you feeling?" Reo had to ask, as Noya was crouched on the floor hiding his face, wincing.

"I think... I think you broke my fingers." He gasped, being a hypochondriac.

"Better your fingers than your face." Reo furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head in fake sympathy as she gave him a hand up.

"One more time, i'll get it." He insisted.

It took a few tries, but once he adjusted to her technique, he was receiving so that the ball flew high enough to touch the ceiling.

They even had a pep rally. Reo stood at the end of the team line on stage, ignoring the looks she got from the audience who were wondering if she made a mistake walking on with the boys team instead of the girls. In other news, she did get to meet the girls team after the captains speeches. Daichi conversed with the girls captain as both teams stood behind them awkwardly. She made sure to smile and bow at the girls team, finding it strange that they easily could've been who she was spending every day with instead of her team now.

After the rally, Reo strolled through the halls. Not really having anywhere to be, she took her time navigating the school. She figured she'd stop by a vending machine to get some snacks or something, that was until Kiyoko approached her, lugging a box full of art supplies and a large fabric material that dragged on the floor behind her.

"Hey Reo...could I ask a favour?" She asked sheepishly.

She nodded, taking the large fabric sheet from her so that she would no longer struggle with everything she was holding.

"I was thinking about making a banner for your team. I know this ruins the surprise for you too, but I didn't really know who else to ask..." She looked down, shuffling, "I didn't want to bother the art club."

Reo grinned, folding up the fabric so that it was easier to carry. "That's a great idea, i'm down. I just hope you know I am an awful drawer."

Kiyoko smiled and began to explain her plan. It would be painted all black, with just the word "Fly" in the middle. Simple but effective.

The next month was a busy one. With classes as normal, practice and hanging out with Kiyoko, Reo barely had any time to herself. She enjoyed getting to know Kiyoko more however, and they were much closer by the end of the month.

Everyone celebrated in excitement as Coach Ukai crossed off today's date on the calendar, showing only one day until the preliminaries.

"I say we call it early and get some rest." Coach Ukai announced as he turned to face the boys and Reo.

Reo stood next to Kiyoko, watching as the boys began turning around to leave.

"Wait, don't leave yet! Shimizu and Reo have something to say, right?" Takeda Sensei motioned to the two girls, who smiled and made their way to the balcony's at the top of the gym. Reo heaved the rolled up banner to the top and they both got to the middle of the balcony exactly opposite the boys.

"I'm not very...good with words," Kiyoko began, sounding slightly embarrassed as Reo nodded at her, egging her on, "So we kinda did something."

Reo counted to three as they threw the heavy banner over the railings, hanging it there for Karasuno to see.

They were met with a collection of 'woah's and starry eyes looking up at them.

"You..." She continued, shakily. Reo could see that she wasn't accustomed to public speaking. "You can do it."

"Woooo!" Reo cheered her friend on, and the rest of the team cheered, touched by the gesture. Meanwhile, Tanaka and Noya were practically tearing up at the encouragement from their crush. Reo pointed down at them and laughed before they both descended on the ladder down to the floor of the gym.

"We're going to win the first round!" Daichi shouted.

Reo brushed off the crinkles from her clothes, taking a steady breath. There was a slight ball of nerves growing in her stomach, but she tried to change it to excitement as she prepared herself for the tournaments beginning tomorrow.

'We will win.' She told herself.