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"Quitter's Battle" (Japanese:
Overview
In a backstory, it is revealed how Ennoshita was chosen to become the next team captain and his involvement with the volleyball club. Though a year has passed since these events, Ennoshita still carries some burdens within him that he must now overcome in order to help his teammates.
Plot
In a flashback, Ukai has gathered the second years to inform them that the third years will still be present and in charge of the team until the Spring Tournament. He still requests that they soon decide who they will pick to become the next team captain.
Later after practice, Nishinoya suggests that Ennoshita should become the captain; shocking Ennoshita in the process. With Nishinoya unable to become the captain due to being the libero, Kinoshita suggests that Tanaka could be the captain but he and Narita think that it might not be a good match considering the personalities of the first years. Tanaka also agrees that Ennoshita would be the most fit for the captain position but encourages Narita and Kinoshita to consider themselves for the position; though the two immediately deny they would be fit to be captain. Ennoshita also believes that he would not make a good captain as he remembers how he had left the team the previous year when the elder Coach Ikkei Ukai was training the team.
Under Ikkei's coaching, two other first years left the club and soon Ennoshita was not able to handle the pressure and had called in sick to practice. Though he felt guilty about ditching, he felt more relieved at not having to run drills or being yelled at in the summer heat and could instead use the extra time to focus on his studies. Eventually, he began to skip more practices and even after being asked by Daichi to return and nearly dragged back by Tanaka and Nishinoya, Ennoshita left the club.
Eventually, Ennoshita began to miss being part of the club and one day decided to ask to be allowed back. He apologizes to the team for skipping practice and though most welcome him back right away, the team captain, Hiroki Kurokawa, berates Ennoshita for wanting to rejoin while still wearing his school uniform. Ennoshita leaves to change and Kurokawa tells Daichi that only being nice can only do so much. Ennoshita returns to the gym with Kinoshita and Narita and the three join in the practice. Out of five first years that left the club, only three returned. Ennoshita admits that returning to the club after leaving was probably the hardest thing for him and he is unsure if he will ever be over the guilt from leaving.
Tanaka says that the fact that Ennoshita returned is the reason why he would be a good fit to be captain as he understands the types of players who are and are not completely into the game and give it their all. Despite the support from the other second years, Ennoshita still doubts a quitter could lead the team.
In the game, Ennoshita receives Takeru's serve. Kageyama sets to Asahi and the ace scores. Asahi serves next and gets a service ace when Kawatabi fails to receive. Kawatabi receives the next serve, not wanting to allow Asahi to score off him twice in a row. Kawatabi calls for the last hit but is surprised when Hanayama does a setter dump. In the warm-up box, Narita notices that Kiyoko is calling for Tadashi.
After Tanaka scores and Tsukishima is next to serve, everyone watches as Tadashi is suddenly called to rotate in to serve. Ukai had instructed Takeda to send Tadashi in the next time Tsukishima was up to serve. Seeing Tadashi is incredibly nervous, Tsukishima tries to calm him down by telling him the current situation isn't like when they played against Aoba Johsai and they were behind in the score. Ennoshita then asks Tadashi if he is feeling like throwing up. When Tadashi answers that he doesn't, he sees Ennoshita look like he will. Tanaka sees that this is actually a ploy Ennoshita is carrying out in order to get Tadashi to relax.
Feeling slightly more confident after having put in more practice, Tadashi prepares to serve but gets startled when the whistle sounds. He becomes frightened when his toss is too low and the ball clips the top of the net as he remembers what happened during the Seijoh match. However, the ball goes over and lands before any of the Wakutani players can save it.
With this, Karasuno has reached set point first.
Debut
- Hiroki Kurokawa (flashback only)
Appearances
- Keishin Ukai (flashback only)
- Hisashi Kinoshita (flashback only)
- Ikkei Ukai (flashback only)
- Daichi Sawamura (flashback only)
- Chikara Ennoshita
- Takeru Nakashima
- Yūki Shiroishi
- Tobio Kageyama
- Kei Tsukishima
- Asahi Azumane
- Kazumasa Hanayama
- Teppei Naruko
- Kōshi Sugawara
- Shōyō Hinata
- Yū Nishinoya
- Ryūnosuke Tanaka
- Shunki Kawatabi
- Kazuteru Akiu
- Makoto Shimada
- Tadashi Yamaguchi
- Kazuhito Narita
- Kiyoko Shimizu
- Ittetsu Takeda
- Saeko Tanaka