Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium - Center Court.
Gravity felt heavier than usual. Ryuu lay flat on his back, staring at the high-intensity lights that were burning retina-shaped spots into his vision.
"Ryuu-senpai! Are you dead?!" Lev's face appeared in his field of view, upside down and terrified.
"I'm not dead, Lev," Ryuu croaked, his voice sounding like he'd swallowed sandpaper. "I am simply... rebooting. Don't touch the power button."
"WE WON!" Yamamoto screamed, jumping over Ryuu's legs. "WE'RE THE KINGS OF TOKYO!"
Ryuu closed his eyes. Kings of Tokyo. It sounded nice. It sounded like a title that came with a massage chair.
A shadow fell over him. A very large, very spiky-haired shadow.
Ryuu cracked one eye open.
Bokuto Koutarou was standing over him, hands on his hips, staring down with an expression of pure, unadulterated shock. Behind him, Akaashi looked ready to offer a formal apology for whatever his ace was about to say.
"You," Bokuto said.
"Me," Ryuu replied from the floor.
"You didn't jump," Bokuto accused. "At the end. You didn't jump your highest."
Ryuu smirked. It was a weak, tired smirk, but it was filled with malice.
"If I jumped my highest," Ryuu whispered, "you would have hit my hand and it would have been a block-out. You win the point."
Bokuto's eyes widened.
"But because I jumped like a grandpa," Ryuu continued, tapping his temple (or trying to, he missed and poked his ear), "your targeting system malfunctioned. You aimed for a high block that wasn't there."
Ryuu chuckled, coughing slightly.
"You overshot the runway, Owl. You aimed for the moon and hit the parking lot."
"GAAAAH!" Bokuto grabbed his head, dropping to his knees beside Ryuu. "I KNEW IT! I FELT IT! I THOUGHT 'WHY IS HE SO SHORT TODAY?!' AND THEN THE BALL WENT FWOOM AND I WAS LIKE 'NOOOO'!"
"Bokuto-san, please get off the floor," Akaashi sighed, trying to pull his captain up. "You are disturbing the corpse."
"He tricked me, Akaashi!" Bokuto whined. "He used his shortness as a weapon!"
"I'm 190 centimeters," Ryuu mumbled. "Calling me short is a hate crime."
_____________
"Come on, Ryuu." Kuroo hauled Ryuu to his feet. Ryuu draped his arm heavily over Kuroo's shoulder, using the captain as a crutch.
"I can walk," Ryuu lied, his legs wobbling like gelatin.
"You look like a newborn deer," Kuroo laughed. "Just try not to fall on the net."
They shuffled to the center. The "Kings of Tokyo" lineup looked less like conquerors and more like survivors of a natural disaster.
Ryuu stood opposite Bokuto again.
Bokuto was pouting. His lower lip was actually trembling.
"That was anti-climactic," Ryuu said, extending a limp hand.
Bokuto took it. "It was supposed to be a bang! A explosion! I was going to smash it through your block!"
"And instead," Ryuu grinned lazily, "you gave the line judge a panic attack. Seriously, Bokuto-san. Out by two inches? In the Finals? That's the kind of ending that gets the manga canceled."
"SHUT UP!" Bokuto turned red. "My finger slipped! It was the sweat! It was the humidity! The atmospheric pressure was weird!"
"Excuses," Ryuu tsked. "Admit it. You saw my face and got scared."
"I DID NOT!"
"Bokuto-san," Akaashi interjected calmly. "You hit it out. It was an unforced error. It was very anti-climactic."
"AKAASHI! WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?!"
Ryuu laughed. It hurt his ribs, but it was worth it.
"Don't worry," Ryuu patted Bokuto's hand (since he was still holding it). "You're still Top 5. Just... Top 5 at hitting home runs. Maybe try baseball?"
Bokuto looked like he was about to cry. "I hate you. I'm going to defeat you at Nationals. I'm going to hit it so straight it buries itself in the floor!"
"Sure, sure," Ryuu pulled his hand away. "Just make sure it lands in the court next time. The court is the orange part, by the way. In case you forgot."
Bokuto let out a sound of incoherent rage as Akaashi dragged him away toward the sobbing Fukurodani bench.
______________
The awards ceremony was a blur.
Nekoma stood on the center podium. A man in a suit handed Kuroo a plaque. Someone put a medal around Ryuu's neck.
It felt heavy.
"Gold," Ryuu muttered, lifting the medal. "Tastes like sweat and victory."
"Don't eat it," Kenma warned.
"I'm hungry, Kenma. I've burned 40,000 calories today. I might eat the trophy."
"Please don't."
They stood for the photos. Ryuu tried to look cool and imposing, but he ended up leaning heavily on Yamamoto, making the ace look like he was carrying a backpack.
"Smile, Ryuu!" Yaku pinched his arm.
"I am smiling," Ryuu grimaced. "This is my 'I dominate Tokyo' face."
"It looks like your 'I need a bathroom' face."
_______________
As they walked out of the gymnasium, the sun was setting. The orange light bathed the Tokyo streets.
They were champions. They were going to Nationals as the First Seed of Tokyo.
"We did it," Kai said softly, looking at the plaque. "We actually did it."
"Of course we did," Ryuu yawned, walking toward the bus. "We have the plot armor now."
"You barely moved in the last five points," Kuroo pointed out. "Your plot armor has cracks."
"Efficiency, Captain," Ryuu corrected. "I won by doing nothing. That is the ultimate form of dominance."
He stopped at the bus door and looked back at the gym.
He thought about Sakusa's spin. He thought about Bokuto's insane cut shot. He thought about Komori's digs.
He touched the medal on his chest.
"Hey, Kuroo-san."
"Yeah?"
"Nationals..." Ryuu's eyes gleamed, the exhaustion fading for a split second. "The monsters there... are they bigger than the ones here?"
Kuroo grinned. A sharp, cat-like grin.
"Oh yeah. Much bigger. There's a guy in Miyagi who hits harder than you. There are twins in Hyogo who play like telepaths. There's a guy in Kyushu with shoulders like cannonballs."
Ryuu smiled.
"Good," Ryuu stepped onto the bus. "I was worried I'd run out of things to break."
He sat down in his seat, pulled his jacket over his head, and was asleep before the engine even started.
[End of Arc 2: The Battle for Tokyo]