Chapter 18: Karasuno Team Achieved
The day after Mahiru and I had our first dinner together, it went as usual with classes being boring and practice being in the morning and after school.
*Squeak
"Kageyama here!" I called for a set and was given one that had a faster tempo than a usual set. I jumped up and went for a line shot that was open as the cross had been blocked off. I torqued my body to hit the line but then a small figure quickly came in and received the hit but didn't go to the setter.
"God dammit Nishinoya! let me get a line shot in at least."
"Heh you have to hit a bit harder than that." I saw the smug look on his face and got irritated by it. The ball was out of system and the other team wasn't able to get a proper set in and had Daichi hit the last ball. Both Kageyama and I got into position to block and jumped up.
Daichi hit the ball and it bounced off the hands of Kageyama, going towards Hinata. The ball was a bit low for an overhand pass and went directly into his face.
*Bang
"You idiot! Use your arms not your face to pass!" Kageyama yelled at Hinata but he was not listening as he was currently seeing stars on the ceiling.
"Alright guys let's use this moment to take a break while our advisor Takeda sensei has a few words to say." Dachi got the attention of the club and told us to take a break after seeing the state of Hinata. We all went to get our bottles and began to drink while listening to our club advisor.
A man with messy black hair with brown eyes wearing glasses stood in front of us with a smile. "I just want to make sure you guys will be doing a training camp for the upcoming golden week right?" He asked this question and Daichi nodded his head. He gave a big smile when he heard Daichi's response.
"Well I just received a call and I was able to get a practice match for us during the final day of golden week." When we heard this we all clapped for him to which he seemed to like. We asked which school it was and he said that it was Nekoma High School.
"Nekoma? Well that's some coincidence." When I heard the school name I was surprised.
"Hmm? Haruto you know that school?" Hinata heard my words and asked me.
"Well it was the school that I wanted to go to for their volleyball team but it was too far from where I lived so I chose to come to Karasuno instead." When I told Hinata my answer he nodded his head and returned his gaze back onto our advisor.
"We have some history with them as our destined rivals. So I was able to call in some great help which took me some time to do." After Takeda said his part, a man with blonde hair that's slick back and brown eyes appeared through the door.
"He is Ukai Keishin and he will be the one who will be handling coaching." When we heard his name we were surprised that we got a coach but third and second years paid more attention to his last name.
"Ukai.. are you somehow related to.." Daichi asked him.
"Yes he is my grandfather and you seem to know about him by seeing your reactions."
"How can we not! He was the legendary coach who brought Karasuno to the nationals back then!"
Ukai smiled wryly at the team's reaction to his last name. He brought out his cellphone and messaged some people while also checking the messages he received prior. After a few minutes 4 adults came through the door of the gym.
"Since we have a practice game coming up and being your new coach. I would like to have a practice match right now and see what type of players you guys are." Ukai said to the team and had us separate into different teams.
*Creak
As we were trying to figure out the teams the door opened and Asahi walked through shyly. Everyone was shocked to see him but were extremely happy seeing him come in.
"Asahi you came!" I said to him happily and greeted him as he approached us. He just gave a small and nervous smile while looking towards the third years on the team. When the third years saw this they just smiled and welcomed him back while Nishinoya was just silently looking at him. Ukai decided to put Sugawara, Asahi and Nishinoya with the Neighborhood Association since they were missing some people. On the other side was the lineup that was used against Aoba Johsai.
I looked across the net and grinned, finally excited to play against the ace of the team with the bonus of adult players with them.
***
"Nice pass Haruto" Kageyama said and looked at the players in the front with him. It was Hinata and Tanaka. Hinata saw the opportunity and jumped up with his strongest in front of him Kageyama gave a set that was about to reach his highest point but went past it going towards Tanaka.
He hit the ball with a cross but Nishinoya was able to receive it.
"This team's offense is pretty strong huh.." Ukai was watching the game while trying to analyze each of the players on the court. While he was watching he saw Kageyama touch the hit of one of the adults making it easier for his team to pass. Dachi passed the ball.
'I wonder who will the setter choose' Ukai saw the orange midget jump up with his eyes closed but thought it was a fake until.
*BANG
The ball was hit without a chance to see what happened. Ukai was shocked and turned to Takeda beside him but saw a smug face on him. He decided to ask the duo after the match.
'That baldie has strong hitting power, their captain has solid defensive skill, the tall blonde looks like he analyzes his opponents while he tries and blocks them, and the two freaks that did the attack…' He turned towards Kageyama
'The setter on this team seems to be a genius when it comes to setting and has incredible game sense. While the orange midget has many skills lacking in volleyball, he can compensate for it with his physical abilities and reflexes. And finally' He turned towards Haruto.
'This guy has incredible passing skills and is able to position himself in spots where the hitter would most likely aim at.. Did he learn from their libero on the other side since he moves in a way similar to him.. I still need to see his hitting abilities since he still hasn't arrived to the front court.' After a few rotations Haruto finally made it to the front court and began staring at Asahi.
Asahi who has been a bit absent throughout the match got a set and hit the ball into the block of Kageyama and Tsukishima. The ball went back to their side to where Nishinoya saved the ball, getting the opportunity for Asahi to hit again blasting the ball off their blocks.
'Woah, that guy has some serious firepower.' Ukai said to himself. Haruto saw the amount of power Asahi had and smiled to himself, getting ready to hit himself as if he wanted to compete with him. When the ball was passed to his side he began to do his approach with shoulders relaxed and went up to hit. His arm swing went fast and heavy with the ball also blasting off the opponents blocks. He looked at Asahi while he also looked back. Haruto gave a small chuckle while Asahi gave a small weary smile.
'His arm swing is incredible… That Haruto kid ran his approach with very loose and relaxed shoulders through the back swing while also opening up his body to the setter and keeping his torso upright into the air… This made him add additional torque to his swings adding more power and vertical reach to his hits..' Ukai began to fully analyze Haruto's arm swing technique and gave credit to his very flexible shoulders creating that heavy arm whip motion.
Ukai began to smile while thinking about the potential that this team had and how he will better integrate each of the unique players to create a fearsome team.
***
The game was finished with the set being 3-2 with us being the victors as although Asahi had incredible firepower he took a month break and his stamina wasn't up to par to the other players who have been practicing regularly.
"Asahi, your hits were incredible! And that's when you took a month break." Haruto went up to Asahi after the game and began talking with him.
"See, I told ya Haruto isn't our ace amazing" Nishinoya gave a smug smile. After the game the relationship between the two seemed to have gotten better and they both had smiles on their faces.
"It's nothing Haruto and your hits were incredible as well.." Asahi said and began to get nervous on deciding what to say until he finally made up his mind.
"I-I will try my best as the ace and I will try my best to not l-lose to you Haruto!" Asahi said with a quiver in his voice while his eyes showed a strong conviction. I smiled.
"Well you better not slack off on training then since if you're not careful I might snatch that position away from you without you knowing."
"The hell Asahi will continue being the ace so you can just keep on dreaming" Nishinoya yelled out and we began to bicker with Asahi timidly trying to stop us. The team looked at our interaction and laughed.
"Other than a few players you guys suck at receiving. So for the next few days we will begin working on them. The team nodded and we gathered around signaling the end of the practice and the Karasuno team finally completed.
***
Yay I'm back but I might not be able to do daily chapters like before. Anyways I wanted to use this chapter to give some analyses on how Haruto hits and what gives him the power as he wasn't born with it. Also with golden week coming up expect some fluff to come. Peacu.
Weekly Power Status
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