#oh look im crying over chapter 298 again lmaooo

[suckishima]

Chapter 158 vs. Chapter 298

“I am under no illusions that I could ever beat you on my own.”

(don’t mind me going insane under the cut)

ugh there’s two big things that make me crazy about this and 

1 is the surface level of just how yamaguchi’s individual growth keeps going even after the seijoh 2 match—when he gets those run of points and it becomes clear to us that his hard work has paid off—but it doesn’t just stop there! the first panels here are from the shiratorizawa match, the next match after seijoh 2, and i love this bc it’s another example of haikyuu saying “hey so that thing you wanted, you worked hard, you earned it, celebrate!” but then going on to ask “okay so what do we work for next?” and for yamaguchi he’s gone from ‘i just want to be on the court with them’ (deciding to learn jump floats) to ‘i wish i could get my body to listen to me the way theirs seem to’ (failing in siejoh 1 and doubling down during tokyo training camp) to the first panels here ‘i want to contribute/add value to the team’ to then finally the panels from the nekoma match where he can do more than just help, now it’s ‘i want all those things and more. i’m going to get these points with the team and for the team, all with my serve.’ and he DOES! like the GROWTH in his confidence!! aahh

and 2!! this is where i start to really lose it lmao, is his inspiration for all of that! why does yamaguchi play volleyball? because he thinks volleyball is cool. why is it cool? bc tsukki plays and tsukki is cool, and akiteru played and akiteru is cool, right? but is that enough?? by the time high school comes maybe it isn’t, bc of everything that’s happened and he’s a little disenchanted, but then he hears hinata and kageyama’s “as long as i’m here you’re invincible” and he thinks oh sHIT that’s cool! but he doesn’t have that kind of confidence, and he isn’t a setter or really a hitter, he’s barely even a server at this point—the only position on the court where you could gain points entirely alone—but THEN he also sees and understands the significance of a perfectly executed serve and block and he thinks not only is that ALSO super cool, but he realizes if he can get better he can do that super cool thing not just for himself, but for the team and more specifically, for tsukki. 

yamaguchi sees hinata and kageyamas totally insane, reciprocal declaration of making the other better and he starts to get mad at tsukki for not trying. because volleyball is cool, making each other stronger is cool, and tsukki is supposed to be cool too!! and instead of giving up, yamaguchi puts tsukki in his place and then yamaguchi just keeps trying even harder!! and his hard work and dedication is perplexing to tsukki. it’s frustrating bc he can’t understand it yet but he also can’t deny the fact that it certainly isn’t lame. yamaguchi’s passion has never been lame, and then tsukki starts to get inspired too. slowly it begins to cycle, and spiral upwards. yamaguchi took the first initiative to seek out shimada, tsukki joins his brothers practices and agrees to train with the gym 3 boys, yamaguchi has his ‘moment’ when he gets all those points in seijoh 2, tsukki has his when he stuffs ushijima (and neither of them is surprised by either of those moments!! of course they work they’ve been watching has paid off), and then by the time the nekoma match comes up yamaguchi’s confidence has grown tremendously, he gets an ace immediately after those panels and thennn he and tsukki execute their first successful serve and block. the volleyball equivalent of a perfect play. 

we never see yamaguchi and tsukki practice together, and yet separately they’ve been working toward this, silently inspiring each other over and over. individual work but not only individual growth. tsukki tells kuroo he never ever thought he could beat any of them on his own. in his own way, yamaguchi’s actions have made tsukki invincible too. and  kuroo and tsukki also both acknowledge that yamaguchi is already a step ahead once again, planning how he can do even more, starting the cycle another time. they keep passing the inspiration back and forth, connecting one volleyball moment to the next to drive the other to keep working, keep trying for even more!!!!! aaaaaahh