Capítulo 25: Chapter Twenty-Three: Kings Vs. Crows II
"ROLLING THUNDER!!!"
In a feat that could only be described as absolutely crazy, Nishinoya used his special move to save a stray ball off a one touch.
"Damn it!" Motomu yelled. Seeing his intentional deflection off the block get recovered was irritating.
Although Nishinoya received the ball in a superb feat of athleticism. It wasn't sent into a great spot, causing Daichi to set the ball up for an attack. While Daichi was a solid all-round player and a brilliant captain, he wasn't the best setter often going a bit higher than intended, throwing the spiker of their rhythm.
But when you're backed into a corner and there is no way out in sight, you fall back on the one person you have the utmost faith in.
The Ace.
A shock crept up Asahi's spine as he could feel Daichi's gaze on him, and without words he made his approach, making sure to put a little more power into his jump. Any extra height would prove to be invaluable, knowing Daichi's sets.
Daichi doing the best he could, sent the ball toward Asahi at a second-tempo pace. Giving Asahi a little more time to approach and get more height.
Thankful for the grace period, Asahi made his approach and leapt up high, coming face to face with a triple block consisting of Matsukawa, Kaneo, and Oikawa. Swinging his arm with the intent to kill the ball, his fingers made contact with the ball.
…
His fingers.
A whoosh of wind could be heard as Asahi had unintentionally whiffed on the spike, only managing to get a couple of fingers on the ball and sending just high enough to get above Matsukawa's fingers and start to fall behind the triple block.
"NICE ASAHI!" Tanaka roared from behind him, ready and waiting for a rebound should it happen.
The ball falling ever so slowly towards the ground landed gently, along with Naoki and Bodhi both lunging in to try and get it up but failed, being just centimetres away from getting it up.
The triple block of Aoba Johsai could only look on in disbelief towards Asahi, they knew that he knew that it was a complete mistake! But Nishinoya and Tanaka had other plans as they celebrated their ace's genius!
"Way to fake 'em out Asahi! Didn't know you had it in ya!" Nishinoya cheered, coming up to his shoulders and bouncing off of them.
"Man, what a sight! Pretty boy lying on the floor like, 'Oh no!' HAHA! Priceless!" Tanaka laughed, tears threatening to leak out.
Daichi who was the one who tossed the ball, could only sigh in relief that Asahi managed to make contact at all, he had sent that ball WAY too high! Walking up to Asahi he slung his arm around his shoulder and whispered a thanks in his ear.
Asahi who was still shivering from the looks Seijo's triple block was giving him, shuddered out a nod and went back to his position.
"Point Karasuno! 19-14 Seijo, Karasuno serve!" Mizoguchi said from the referee ladder. He was pleased with his team's performance so far. Matsukawa's training was starting to bear fruit and he couldn't be happier, after all, he was the one who had stayed behind and locked up the gym after he and Bodhi had done their extra practice. Which normally went on extra long.
He then glanced over to Naoki, who was currently focused on receiving Karasuno's serve, and he was happy to see him playing. Naoki had been somebody he personally invited to Seijo after all and he remembered it like it was yesterday.
Coach Irihata and himself had gone to one of Kitagawa First's matches in the Interhigh tournament (would it be Interhigh or Inter Junior high?) and he caught a glimpse of the then Kazahaya Middle libero in action. Although not the flashiest libero, like Shinji Watari they had already scouted, he was no doubt the better and solid receiver compared to the two. Also dealing with Kunimi and Kindaichi's spikes as well as Kageyama's serves meant he had the potential to be a great libero.
So, when Mizoguchi approached Irihata with the idea of getting Naoki to come to Aoba Johsai, he liked the idea although he wondered if Naoki would fit within the systems they employed.
Naoki when he was approached by Mizoguchi about attending Aoba Johsai was ecstatic at the chance to go and play for a powerhouse school. He had planned to attend Wakutani Minami High and play with his senior from the year prior, Takeru Nakashima. But he couldn't pass up a chance like this, so with vigour he accepted Coach Mizoguchi's offer and decided to attend Seijo.
Only when he arrived at the competition, he faced was on a whole other level than what he was expecting. The starting libero and third year was an intense guy and played each game like it was his last and when he found out he could impart his teachings to a couple of first-years, seeing as how there was no second-year libero he took both him and Shinji under his wing and taught them his ways.
Despite having an abrasive attitude and a heart that was just too big for his body, his technique was truly something special. The over-energetic libero never made an unnecessary movement when he made his receives and always made sure to give it to Oikawa in the best possible spot.
The training and practice were brutal, and Naoki wanted to quit more times than he could count, but he stuck with it, completing each drill like it was his last and he truly started to embody his teachings. Only things didn't quite go as planned for Naoki. Having practiced the same if not more than his fellow libero Shinji, he hoped all his hard work would pay off and he would be given the starting position.
But in an attempt to revamp the offence to have more options when they went against Shiratorizawa, they looked toward Shinji, a player who had experience as a setter and weaved him into the offence to give a greater range of options.
Shinji, who Naoki could confidently say was worse at receiving than him, took over the position known for defence because of his offensive potential. To say Naoki was devastated would be an understatement, he had worked just as hard as Shinji if not more and proved to be the one better at defence but all because he could do a jump set, meant he got the position over him. And it hurt all the more when Shinji was given the number 7, Seijo's Sentinel number.
Naoki was thrown into a spiral after that, and he skipped some practices after he found out. All of the time he spent improving himself was starting to feel like a waste, if he wasn't the Sentinel of Seijo, the pillar to be relied upon on defence, what was the point of going to practice?
It was here Mizoguchi remembered fondly as he brought Naoki back to his senses. He called in a favour and brought back the previous Sentinel of Seijo to give Naoki a kick in the pants.
~Flashback~
"Hey Naoki! I've heard you've been skippin' practice! The hell is up with that!" a boisterous voice yelled across the roof of Aoba Johsai.
"H-h-huh? Kira-san!? What the hell are you doing here?" Naoki said, sitting up from his lying position on the roof.
"You heard me brat! Why. Are. You. SKIPPING!" Kira yelled, getting all up in Naoki's face, demanding an answer from his pupil.
Naoki refused to answer, looking away from Kira's penetrating gaze. Fed up with not getting a response. Kira grabbed Naoki by the collar and slammed him into the wire fence, forcing him to look into his eyes.
Shocked at being thrown against a fence, Naoki began to fight off Kira's grip and what happened from there was a rumble between pupil and master.
5 minutes later they were both spent and both were lying on their backs staring up at the cloudy afternoon sky.
"…I lost…Shinji beat me," Naoki said. "I wasn't good enough!" Tears began to fall down the side of his face as he spoke. The emotions he had been holding in broke free.
"Yeah…I heard. Mizoguchi let me know everything. Would you believe it if I said I was like you?" Kira said, sitting up, causing Naoki to do the same.
"W-what? You failed too?" Naoki blurted out. A tick mark appeared on Kira's forehead at the blunt statement, but this wasn't about him, this was about Naoki.
Taking a deep breath in Kira explained. "Yeah, this happened before I came to Aoba Johsai and became their Sentinel. I was defeated by a person I thought was worse than me and I went off the rails screaming at the coach for making the wrong decision by picking him. I thought it was because he was quicker than me and better at overhand receives, but the coach said I couldn't be more wrong, and you know what he said? He told me I wasn't reliable enough as a player."
Kira let that sink in a moment before continuing.
"He told me that despite being better at receiving overall than him, I couldn't be relied upon by the others, they thought I roamed around the court too much, going for each and every receive thinking they couldn't handle it and that I was the only one who could. Being called out for being something I thought I was but really wasn't shook me to the core and I spiralled just like you, but he brought me back. Taught me how to channel the restless energy I had and make it into movements that wouldn't hinder my teammates and it was my first at Seijo where I put everything together and became the Sentinel, they could all rely on. You have that in you too Naoki, Shinji does as well but he decided to do something to get the edge on you. Hell, he came to me and asked what he could do to surpass you."
"What!? Shinji did that?" Naoki yelled in surprise.
"Yep, he knew that you were better at receiving than him, though in his words it's 'not by much', but he knew he had something you didn't and used that to surpass you differently. By becoming a more offensive-minded libero he made a case for the coach to pick him. Simple as that. Now you, my pupil should not have gone and thrown a hissy fit for not being chosen as the starter! What you should have done is buckle down and practice even harder! Or did you forget my teachings!" Kira yelled, standing up and pointing towards Naoki, demanding an answer.
Naoki thought for a bit before responding. He really was pathetic, wasn't he? "…I'm going to beat Shinji if it's the last thing I do! I'll use what you taught me and surpass him in a completely different way! If Shinji wants to become the Offensive Sentinel of Seijo I'll become the Defensive Sentinel and protect the back line!"
"THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO HEAR! LET'S GO NAOKI!" Kira roared, birds flying away at the volume he yelled.
"Where!?" Naoki asked, quickly gathering his backpack.
"Practice of course! Gotta make sure Oikawa ain't fucking too much stuff up!" Kira cheekily said.
Naoki could only shake his head at his master's antics. Despite not being the captain his first year, Naoki sure as hell was the Vice-captain in all but name.
"Iwa better be doing his job too now that I think about it…" Kira said, walking down the stairs and Naoki could only sweat drop at what was about to happen, he didn't want to be caught up in another lecture by Kira.
~Flashback~
After Kira's intervention and help Naoki started to come back to practice and only got better, but with the systems the way they were and Shinji becoming such an integral part of Seijo's offense it was near impossible to have Naoki sub in.
Only when Bodhi came and shook everything up, was Naoki able to shine and become the Seijo's Sentinel of Defense.
"Nice receive!" Oikawa shouted. Not moving from his spot, he sent the ball towards Maverick and with his usual precision the ball went right to where Bodhi wanted it and he blasted the ball past Tsukishima's block and scored a point for Seijo.
Smirking, Mizoguchi brought the whistle to his lips and blew. "*fwee!* Point Seijo! 20-15! Seijo serve!"
Mizoguchi locked eyes quickly with Naoki who just sent a thumbs up and got back into position. He sent a sly one back, making sure nobody saw, but it didn't go unnoticed by a certain blonde.
"Aww! Thanks, Mizoguchi! You're doing a great job to!" Bodhi said, giving a thumbs up back.
"HEY! Favouritism! Cheating! WE WANT A REF! WE WANT A REF!" Tanaka shouted, trying to start a chant.
"As if you know what that word means buzzcut!" Bodhi jeered. Bringing the near-bald second-year's attention to him.
"Wanna go pretty boy!? I'm game if you are!" Tanaka challenged.
"You wot mate? Boutta slap you 'round like Sheila does your mum!" Bodhi threatened.
*FWEE!* *FWEE!*
It's gonna be a long day… Mizoguchi thought.
Author Note:
Not much to say honestly, but are two updates weekly seriously not enough for you guys? Like some people have voiced their opinions that it isn't frequent enough but I do try my best and have been fairly spot-on when I haven't been sick. Ya know...with hacking up blood and whatnot.
BUT! I digress, I think two updates weekly is pretty damn good and I don't write short chapters either I always try and go for a minimum of 2,000 words. If this ain't good enough, well I really don't give a damn and I will finish this book rest assured. So if that is your problem, a fear of me not finishing, shove it where the sun doesn't shine and wait like a good little boy or girl for the next chap, which will be Friday like I have routinely done so far.
Anyhow, Night peeps!
-Daedalus19
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder