"Congratulations to our graduating class!" Resounding applause reverberated throughout the gymnasium. Cheers could be heard from both parents and students alike.

Some tears and cries were mixed in. Underclassmen cried for their graduating upperclassmen. Parents cried for their graduating children. Friends cried on each other's shoulders.

All of them were filled with tears of sadness and tears of joy. Although, some screeching could be heard on two fronts.

On one side of the room, Tanaka and Nishinoya were clinging onto each other, comically crying their eyes out. "Noya-san!" "Ryu!" "Noya-san!" "Ryu!" "NOYA-SAAAN!" "RYUUUU!"

After a few smacks on the head from Ennoshita, the two gave each other one last embrace before clutching each other's hands in a rather masculine handshake.

"Keep in touch!" "Of course!" They then looked at the graduating third-year trio, Ennoshita, Narita, and Kinoshita, with expectant eyes. They both thrust out their arms, silently but assertively asking for a group hug.

Ennoshita squinted his eyes at them. "Please wipe your faces first…" Though he didn't really mean it. Ignoring him, the loud duo continued to cry and forcefully squeezed the three of them in their arms.

On the other side of the room, more screeching could be heard. The first-years, now second-years going on third-years, were also balling their eyes out.

Well, it was really just Hinata and Yachi with a few sniffles from Yamaguchi. Although they didn't exactly show it, Kageyama and Tsukishima did feel a bit saddened by their departure from the club, even if the blond would never admit that.

Much crying could also be heard from the new first-years of the team. They had another successful run in their last year, so the graduating third-years were leaving with confidence that the team would be fine without them.

"Tanaka! Nishinoya! Ennoshita! Narita! Kinoshita! Congratulations!" The graduating third-years turned to see their seniors. "Daichi-san! Suga-san! Asahi-san!" Tanaka shouted. His tears had just started to end, but they flew right back out at the sight of the previous third-years, now college students.

"You guys have better not left the volleyball club in tatters!" Sugawara teased. "They're in good hands. I made sure of it!" Ennoshita shouted back. "We can always count on Ennoshita to keep things in check." Daichi smiled.

"Uwaah! The first-years are third-years now, huh? That's crazy to think about…I feel so old." Asahi joked. "Well, you certainly look the part." Sugawara stated, Daichi nodding in agreement. "You guys are too cruel!"

"Ryuuuu! Congratulations!" The boy turned around at the sound of his name to see his family. His older sister had streaks of tears running down her cheeks, and one arm was waving frantically at him while the other was desperately wrapped around Tsukiko.

Tsukiko was returning the hug with her own tears. Tanaka gazed at her with fondness, smiling tenderly. She returned the smile, desperately trying to wipe her tears so as not to worry him.

Everyone began exiting the gymnasium to meet up with their friends and family. Tanaka met with the rest of the volleyball team and alumni while Tsukiko met up with the Student Council members.

The former Co-Presidents, Matsumoto Hiroki and Hanamura Chie, were surrounded by the distraught younger members. They both pat the members' backs, trying to console them. "Now, now! It's not like we're dying! We'll come back to visit, promise!" After a moment's hesitation, Matsumoto continued. "Well…I promise that I'll come visit."

He received a prominent smack to the head by Hanamura, followed by laughter from the others. It was nice to see that things seemed like they wouldn't change with those two even after graduating.

Upon noticing Tsukiko's arrival, Matsumoto pushed his way through to hug her. "Ki-chan! You came to see us off!" She returned his hug without any hesitation. "Of course, I did!"

Resting his hands on her shoulders and putting her arms-length away, he stared seriously at her. "We're counting on you to take care of the Student Council, new President!" At her decisive nod, he gave a big grin.

Hanamura walked up to them and said, "If Katsuo and Katsuro give you any trouble, don't hesitate to let me know. I'll make sure they don't do it again." Tsukiko nodded. "Hey! We wouldn't do that!" The twins shouted indignantly.

After everyone had their fill of 'good-byes' and tears, each of them began heading off. Matsumoto whispered to Tsukiko, "The boss lady is going off to see her boyfriend, so you're free to go too!" He received another smack to the head, causing the new President to giggle.

She went on her way to see Tanaka, nearly skipping in excitement. She found him saying his last 'good-byes' to his teammates. All of them headed their own separate ways, leaving Tanaka and Tsukiko alone.

Neither of them said a word to each other, easily leaning into a chaste kiss. As they parted, their foreheads remained in contact. They held wide smiles, Tsukiko's being adorned with tears.

"Hey, what did I tell you about tears? I can't stand to see you cry, even if it is tears of joy." Tsukiko giggled. "I know, I know. I just can't help it, Ryu-senpai!" He kissed her again and pouted. "We also went over the whole 'senpai' thing too, didn't we? Come on! It's been almost two years!"

The two heard some wolf whistles. "Kita-senpai! See you next year!" Some first-years going on second-years shouted as they passed by. Tanaka raised his eyebrows at her. "You can't call me 'senpai' forever, and not when you're a 'senpai' now!"

Although he rather enjoyed being called 'senpai' over the years, Tanaka found that he enjoyed her calling him by his first name much more without any honorific at all. "R…R-Ryu…" Tsukiko had gotten rid of her stutter for a few months now, but it came back whenever she was feeling nervous or anxious. That happened quite frequently, but her state now was miles away from where she started.

Tanaka smiled, finally getting her to ditch the honorif— "-kun!" "…" Tsukiko held a blushing face as she avoided his eyes. The boy just chuckled, willing to let it go. He was positive that he would spend the rest of his life with her. Surely, she'd be able to say it with no problem somewhere in that timespan.

He held her hand and began leading her towards the school. "Eh? Ryu-k-kun, are you sure it's okay to go back in the school?" "Shh! It's fine if nobody sees us!" As a member and new President of the Student Council, she shouldn't have condoned this behavior, but she also couldn't ignore the slight thrill of going with him.

They stopped in an empty and seemingly random hallway. Looking at her glancing around with a confused face, Tanaka chuckled. "Tsukiko, you may not remember, but this was the first place we met." At his words, she looked directly at him.

"You looked lost and I was trying to give you directions, but you mistook me for a delinquent and started crying." Tsukiko's face grew horrified. She felt the heat returning in her cheeks and she held her hands to them, trying to cover the redness. "Ahh! That was so embarrassing! P-Please don't remind me!"

Tanaka laughed as he pulled her hands away from her face, allowing him to admire her beauty. He replaced her hands with his own, gently holding her head between his hands. "But that was our first meeting! Don't you want to remember?"

"O-Of course, I do! I'm just embarrassed that I misjudged you like that." She leaned her head slightly into his hands. "Especially now that I know how amazing of a person you are."

Smiling at her with his own blush, he pulled her in for another kiss. A much longer one.

As he pulled away, he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a button, his hand brushing past her home-made charm. Tsukiko looked at the button in his hand and looked back at his uniform, realizing that it was the second button from the top.

The one closest to his heart. The one meant for his most beloved person.

She started blinking rapidly, trying to hold back the tears but to no avail. To others, it would've seemed like such a common or cliché act, but to her, every moment was special when she was with him.

Nothing was common.

His smiles, his laughs, his kisses. They were all so special.

The fact that he was willing to share it all with her brought her to tears more times than she could count.

Tsukiko used one hand to hold against her mouth to prevent her cries from emanating throughout the hallway. The other hand shakily took the button from him.

Both hands now free, he wiped at her tears. "I love you, Tsukiko." He declared before pulling her in for a deep kiss.

Even after they parted, she was unable to say it back because she was so overcome with emotion. Tanaka didn't need to hear it though. He knew exactly how she felt.

Instead, he just held her tightly, occasionally kissing her cheeks or the top of her head.

When he heard her crying turn into small sniffles, Tanaka spoke again. "Your dad invited me and my family over to dinner tonight to celebrate." Tsukiko nodded against his chest, already aware of this plan.

"…Are you sure he's not inviting me over to murder me or something?" Tsukiko giggled. "Papa is over that phase now. He said he would only hurt you, not kill you." "You know, that really doesn't make me feel any safer going to your house." She giggled again as he led her back outside to find their families.

The families had a grand and pleasant dinner, save for some small threats from Norio. Afterwards, Tsukiko and Tanaka went into her room – Not without some protests from her father about leaving the door wide open, of course.

When Tanaka seated himself, Tsukiko thrust her arms out, holding a gift-wrapped box. He gratefully accepted and tore it open to reveal a Mikasa volleyball. However, he saw some black scribbles that weren't the logo or normal print on their volleyballs.

He realized it was a signature. Not only that, but a signature from one of his favorite pro volleyball players. His head snapped back up to look with wide eyes at Tsukiko's excited face. "H…How did you get this?!"

She laughed. "Thank Papa! He said he knew a friend that had some kind of relation to him when I mentioned that you really like that player." She was immediately met with a tackling hug from Tanaka. "Thank you, Tsukiko! If it weren't for you, he would've never gotten it though!"

Releasing her, he took a few more moments to admire the signed volleyball. He lifted it to the light, shouting the player's name triumphantly. As he placed it back in the box, he pulled out a wrapped box of his own from his bag.

Handing it to Tsukiko, she gasped. "Ryu-kun! This is your graduation. I'm supposed to give you the gifts. You're not supposed to give me gifts!" She fiddled with the button she got from him. "And you've already given me such a great one…"

He smiled widely at her. "Well, I want to give you another one! Open it! Open it!" She laughed as she immaculately unwrapped it, slowly tearing at the tape holding the wrapping paper together.

She pulled out a dress. It was a simple black and white dress that looked like it would reach the knees. It was a strapless, straight neckline dress that somewhat flared out from the waist down. There was a moderately sized bow pinned to the top left side. It was mostly white with only the top of the neckline, the lace at the ends of the skirt of the dress, and the outline of the bow being black.

There was something oddly familiar about it…

"Do you remember it? It's the one from our first date." Tsukiko's eyes widened. "Well, maybe not our first official date, but the one from before we started dating that Nishinoya and your mom set up. I recognized it because I remembered that I thought you would look so beautiful in it when we saw it in that store."

Oh boy. She could feel that stinging sensation in her eyes again.

"I know that I'm the one graduating, but it's because I'm graduating that I wanted to do this. We won't get to see each other as often anymore, since I'll be going to college. It's not far so it's not that big a deal, but I really wanted to do this as a show of my love and dedication to you." He looked to the side in embarrassment and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I thought I could get you jewelry, like maybe a necklace, but that seemed too little. I've heard of guys giving their girls promise rings, but all the ones I wanted were too expensive…Then I came across this dress online."

He started nervously chuckling at her silence. "I-I hope it's not too mu—" He was cut off by her lips pressing against his.

Tsukiko pulled away with pink cheeks to see Tanaka with bulging eyes. He hastily used his hand to cover his mouth and cheeks, although he was rather unsuccessful in hiding his completely red face.

They had kissed many times before, but it was rare for Tsukiko to initiate like she did just now. In fact, all the other times she initiated the kiss were when he was urging or begging her to.

His brain was currently in shambles, but he didn't think there was any other time that she had initiated it completely of her own free will and without prompting.

Tanaka was just about to faint from the heat, when she gently pulled his hand away from his face.

"I love you, Ryunosuke."

She slowly leaned in for another kiss. This time, he pulled himself together enough to return it with equal passion.