Maybe it is because of his insignificant pride. Maybe it is because he’s confined himself to barren land long enough that he thought this was all he was ever going to let himself amount to.

But he learns from his mistakes, learns that the hard part of falling isn’t the feeling of him crash landing back on the court with bruised limbs and burned skin–it is standing back up on shaky knees and an ever shakier resolve, intent on steeling himself back together to hiss out, “one more.”

And maybe that’s why Oikawa had uprooted and planted himself to a potentially better prospect, a gamble on his part to give himself that opportunity to possibly grow into something more. And through hardwork, yet again, he has managed to cultivate his talents and thoroughly flourish into something greater, grander, and everything he has dreamed to be.

He is here, on the court he’s dreamed of since he was a child, wearing the jersey of the national team, donning the flag of Japan right where his heart is, fingers bandaged and tingling from his last toss that has his heart jumping up his throat and his knees shaking a quake in his system.

He watches Ushijima airborne and striking at the ball before Oikawa even lands back down on the shine of the court. The loud resounding smack of the ace’s palm on the heft of the volleyball reverberates into the hollow of Oikawa’s bone, and it feels much like a victory than anything else with the way the spike blows past three blockers and rebounds on the opposite side of the court.

The whistle blows, signifying the end of the match and the win of Japan’s national team.

Oikawa’s eyes do not leave Ushijima’s, watching the man take in deep breathes, powerful chest heaving up and down, before turning his body to face the setter.

Everything around them quietens into background noise, until all Oikawa can hear is the way his breathing matches Ushijima’s, and how fast his blood is rushing through his ears. He feels like he’s on top of the world and the air is thin it feels like the heaviness of Ushijima’s stare is the only thing keeping his feet on the ground.