章 6: Chapter 6: Demolishing Serve
(A/N: If you couldn't tell, Yukigaoka vs. Kitagawa Daiichi is gonna take a while. This is somewhat of a slow-paced fanfic.)
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A few more rallies passed by as the game became even more heated. Kitagawa Daiichi lead by two points, mostly scoring by offense, a few stuff blocks, and service aces. Yukigaoka managed, getting points off of Hinata's hits, Hayato's blocks, and of course, Kageyama's mistakes.
Speaking of which, due to the surprising frequency of balls Yukigaoka had been dropping on their setter. Kitagawa Daiichi had also been giving out more tips and short balls as their team mostly hesitated to get any balls not near or coming straight at them.
Still, with Hayato's keen vision and experience, he could mostly tell when that was going to happen. Mostly.
[7-9]
They had already been on the court for a good twenty-five minutes, and neither side was giving up.
"Got it! Got it!" Hinata bumped the ball back low. Izumi quickly brought it back up in a high arc, sending it Hayato's way. Eyes flickering around for a bit, he set the ball over, straight towards the opposing setter.
"Tch! Mine!" Kageyama received it, sending the ball flying. A wrathful glare filled his face as he bore a hole into Hayato's head. He'd done this quite a few times now. Despite their "prodigious" setter not getting the first ball, the other players seemed pretty happy. They wouldn't be set anything as unreasonable.
While this could work in ways against Yukigaoka when Kageyama did get the ball on the second touch, he would usually set something too complicated, and it would be an easy point.
Hayato strode across the court, reaching up, his hands towering above the hitter's head. Widening his eyes, the guy tipped the ball overhead. Thrusting his hands down, he dropped quickly, attempting to get the ball.
*Wmp!*
And then, the orange blur arrived. The ball bumping against his shoulder, Hinata cried out. "I got it!"
Hayato grinned as he watched the ball rise up above him. It was actually a decent pass if you didn't consider the… The unique way it was bumped. "Get back, Hinata!"
With full trust in his teammate, the taller temp-setter tapped the ball back over his head gracefully as the orange flash arrived once more, seemingly sliding through the air to get to the ball.
"A back one!?" The blockers scrambled, reaching up as Hinata rose above them.
*Bam!*
The ball rocketed down the line, as they dived for it.
*Fweee!!!*
The bright red flag flourished down. The ball was in.
"Let's go! Didn't expect you to pull that off, but what can I say, you are indeed full of surprises." Slapping him on the back, Hayato laughed. Despite his lack of experience, for the most part, he could set whatever he wanted, and that orange ball of energy would get it. What a confiding feeling.
"Huh!? Thanks!" Hinata smiled, Koji and Izumi scrambling around them in excitement. They were getting pretty hyped up. The ball rolling back over, Hayato felt his spine tingle. Picking it up, he turned, watching one Tobio Kageyama stare at him intently.
It was an intense stare filled with curiosity and anger. That was a given. Hayato had only made himself known this final year of middle school, not to mention his skill. And, finally of all, the obvious fact that he kept on targeting Kageyama.
Sure, it was normal to try to make the setter get the first touch, but the way and flair that he did it could piss some people off.
Shaking it off, Hayato walked to the backline. Finally, it was his time to serve. Most of the people in the gymnasium had seen him do that one jump serve, so it seems all the pressure was on him to do that again.
"Ah…. What a shame. Wanted to do a nice jump floater to start it off. Too bad, really, too bad." He said with no remorse at all. Of course, he was going to nail a ripper down the freaking backline! What fun was Volleyball without doing that at least once!? To a bunch of middle schoolers too!?
That made it all the better. He was technically a professional player, so bullying children seemed sort of mean. Eh. Who cares? Not like anyone could tell. He couldn't wait for those jaws to drop. But that was only if… He made it. Hadn't done a jump serve in-game for a while now. Things could end up pretty embarrassing if he missed.
Spinning it about his palm, he closed his eyes for a second. Down the line. Perhaps between the middle and the setter? Yes, that would do, that would do. His blood boiling and forehead sweating, he listened to the sound of the whistle, before commencing.
"Watch this." Hayato tossed the ball up in a high arc, his arms swinging back as he took off. The highest point of contact. Arm raised like a whip, he made contact with the top of the ball, curling over as he flicked his wrist.
*THOOM!*
Within the blink of an eye, it smashed down on the other side of the court like a speeding bullet, ricocheting back into the air, bouncing against the second-floor balcony.
"H…. Huh?" Kitagawa Daiichi was frozen in place. What… What the hell was that!? None of them had even moved an inch to get the ball. They, one of the top middle school teams in the nation had stopped in its tracks.
Kitagawa Daiichi's coach felt himself shiver. What…. This feeling. Gripping the caps of his knees, he took a deep breath, as with a blow of the whistle, Yukigaoka had scored their first service ace of the game.
Hayato landed on the court with a stop, his teammates looking at him wide-eyed. THey'd felt the wind of that ball from there…. At least, it felt like that.
And then, the crowd went crazy. Sure, middle-school volleyball tournaments were less popular than high school ones, but there were still a good number of people.
"OH MY GOD! What the hell did I just see! Sugawara-san!? Daichi-san?" Ryunosuke Tanaka was not at a loss for words, as he was screaming stuff, but he was, however, extremely shocked. He'd never ever seen anything like that in his life.
Daichi Sawamura and Koshi Sugawara seemed to consider this for a moment, before simultaneously sighing.
Karasuno had gone up against quite a few good servers and they had one too, but something about this one just…. Reeked coolness. It was just… So mind-blowing for some reason. Was it because it had been done by a middle schooler? Perhaps. But there was just something else so amazing about it….. No one knew what.
"I'm the greatest to ever live! Give me that!" As per usual, the childish side of Hayato was in full bloom as he scored his first true ace of this life. Jumping up into the air, he bumped chests with Koji, causing the latter to stumble a little as he punched his fist into the air, screaming.
The fresh 1st-years were also screaming in excitement as they high-fived each other.
週次パワーステータス
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