章節 15: Chapter 15
Hinata stood in front of Shiratorizawa's gymnasium with mixed emotions. He was nervous, but there was also a bit of excitement. He couldn't believe 'this' was the special training Ukai had mentioned.
"Oya.. what's a middle schooler doing here?" asks a person in an oddly familiar sing-song voice.
The person in question leaned out halfway through the gym doors, and looked at Hinata like he was the most amusing thing he had seen all day.
The teen was tall with a medium build. He had a mop of spiky red hair and a mischievous gleam in his eyes, which immediately marked him as a troublemaker.
It was Satori Tendō. The Guess Monster himself.
Hinata's eyes widened when he saw him. He looked exactly as he had expected him to look. Well.. maybe a few centimetres short, but that was to be expected as he was still in his 2nd year.
He snapped out of it and was just about to introduce himself, when he saw Satori look sideways and grin mischievously.
"Coach.. I think we've got a suspicious person here!~" he exclaimed, in that same sing-song voice.
Hinata knew he was just being playful, so he didn't mind his antics and introduced himself properly. A few students had started to move towards the entrance, to see what Satori was up to this time.
"I'm not a suspicious person. My name is Hinata Shoyo, and I'm here because I have a delivery for Mr. Tanji Washijō." he replied calmly and pointed towards the crate of 'Sake' strapped to his bicycle.
By then, coach Washijō, along the a few other members, had arrived at the entrance. Despite being barely taller than Hinata, he cut an imposing figure. Even Tendo shut up upon his arrival.
Tanji Washijō scrutinized Hinata carefully, as well as the 'Sake' crate on his bicycle. His face looked like someone had taken a piss in his coffee, but as far as Hinata could remember, that was how he usually looked anyways.
"So you're the runt I'm supposed to let into our training huh? You don't look like much." he grunted, and then fixed Hinata with a glare.
And as if it has the intended effect, Hinata saluted him in a panic.. "Sir yes sir!" he blurted out, without even thinking about his words. This old man was way too intimidating.
"Pftt..."
Behind Washijō, Tendo clutched his mouth to keep himself from laughing out loud.
Washijō kept staring at him for a while before turning around to leave. He stopped to look back when Hinata didn't follow him.
"Well.. what are you waiting for? Get changed and warm-up. I don't have all day."
Hinata didn't wait to be told twice. He took his bag and sprinted towards the changing room. Washijō then instructed the other players to carefully carry the crate of 'Sake' inside.
It didn't take long for him to change into his all black training outfit. He stepped out of the changing room and was on his way to get warmed up, when something caught his eye.
He looked towards it and witnessed the green, white, and red of a volleyball, high in the air, and the almost picture perfect form of a spiker suspended in mid-air.
It was his first time witnessing Ushijima's spike for himself, but as he saw the hand approach the ball, his focus heightened and everything went silent. His entire attention was on that ball.
He didn't even realise when he moved, but he was off in a flash, just as the hand made contact.
The ball travelled with an intense display of force, but was intercepted before it could even reach it's destination.
The spike slammed into his arms with an incredible force behind it. The left handed spin on it was no joke, but Hinata had already anticipated it. The recoil from the spike knocked him over, but he used the momentum to roll and was back on feet in a crouching position, just in time to see the ball make a beautiful curve through in the air. It would have be an easy receive for the setter, if there was one.
The sound of the ball hitting the floor echoed through the now silent gym, and the world zoomed back into focus. The first thing he noticed when he stood back up, were eyes like steel that bore into him through the net.
It was then that he realised the situation he was currently in. He'd stopped a spike from one of the three best high school aces in Japan. One that had recently represented the Japanese U-19 team, no less.
Shiratorizawa's cannon kept staring at him, but he refused to back down, and stared right back. Looking away now would be a sign of weakness, and Hinata wasn't weak. Not this time.
'Holy Shit' he thought in his head.
_____________________
Tanji Washijō had forgotten to buy the 'Sake' he wanted to gift his wife for their anniversary.
He had panicked when he realised that none of the stores nearby had the brand he needed, in the quantity he wanted.
So he had resorted to asking an old friend for a favour, in order to avoid the calamity waiting for him at home, if he couldn't get it in time.
He had ignored his pride and dialed Ukai's number. The old fart had a grandson, and that grandson had a store. He could only pray that the store had what he wanted, and could deliver it to him on short notice.
The old fart had laughed at his predicament, and had hung up with a promise to take care of it. He had then called back a few minutes later.
"Keishin can get it delivered to you in an hour, but it won't be cheap. Full price and a favour."
Washijō gritted his teeth in annoyance. While a favour was hardly something compared to his wife's disappointment, he didn't like owing Ukai anything.
"Let me hear the favour first. I can never be too careful with you."
Ukai laughed that ugly annoying laugh of his that to him, sounded like someone was scratching his nails against a board.
"You are too cautious. Well.. I'm sending you a boy to deliver the 'Sake' and you're gonna let him join Shiratorizawa's training. Good?"
"Why?" he frowned.
"That's not important. Now.. do we have a deal or not?" he could tell Ukai was having quite the time.
"Fine. Your boy can join." he said and hung up. While Washijō was curious about why Ukai had taken interest in some random boy, he refused to spend his time thinking about it. Anything that concerned Ukai wasn't worth his time.
When the kid finally arrived with the delivery, he was even more puzzled.
The boy barely about 165 cm tall, with striking orange hair and hazel eyes. He looked fit, and had a good looking face. But other than that.. Washijō couldn't find anything special about him.
His eyes twitched in annoyance when he thought about letting some random kid join his practice.
He sent the kid to get changed, and ordered some of the players to put the crate in the staffroom. He decided to give the kid a reality check. Ukai was really naive, if he thought he was gonna go easy on his boy.
**************
He noticed the kid as soon as he emerged from the changing room. He decided to call for everyone's attention to announce that they'd be running laps around the court. That boy had to learn that volleyball wasn't all fun and games. He was just about the call for them, when his voice got stuck in his throat.
Washijō watched the kid move with incredible speed, and the next thing he knew, the boy was already intercepting the spike from his strongest weapon.
His lean body couldn't handle the recoil, but he skillfully rolled back to his feet.. while the ball made a beautiful curve and went to the place it needed to be. It was perfect.
Washijō eyes widened in shock and he gasped a mouthful of air. It was only after the ball had landed, that he was able to breathe normally.
The kid stood up, and didn't back down when he met Ushijima's stare. Instead, he returned it with the same intensity. It was then that Washijō knew he had underestimated Ukai.
That old fart didn't send him some random kid, he sent him a monster.
Washijō gritted his teeth. Was Ukai trying to mock him by telling him that Shiratorizawa's defence was lacking? Well.. he wouldn't be totally wrong.. seeing as they lacked a strong defensive player, and Washijō had been on the lookout for such a player.
And now, his old enemy sent him a boy that didn't fit anywhere near his picture of strength, but was exactly what he needed. Was that old fart trying to give this boy a future, or was he trying to just piss him off?
If only he knew that Ukai senior had nothing to do with it, and it was his grandson that was responsible for this.
Washijō repressed his own grin. He hadn't been challenged for a while, and he was going to enjoy seeing the extent of Hinata's skills. This was just a continuation of his and Ukai's old rivalry over their conflicting ideologies about the sport.
His watched as Hinata got an excited scream from Tendo, while the other players started to swarm him too. Some with excitement on their faces, and the others with a rivalry. Washijō already knew how he'd test him.
If he wanted to challenge Shiratorizawa's strongest cannon, then so be it.
"Everyone calm down" he called and all of his players immediately followed. "We'll play 2v2 today. Your pairings will be written on the board, but until then, all of you are going to run some laps. Understood?"
They didn't look that eager at the mention of laps, but shouted their affirmation anyways. They knew from experience that complaining would only make it worse.
The boys got to work and Washijō turned towards his assistant coach.
"I'll be the one deciding the teams today." he stated, with a dark smile on his face.
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MrDixie
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章節 16: Chapter 16
"That was a really interesting introduction! Don't you think so?" Tendō asked, while running next to Semi.
"Yaa.. It was." Semi replied.
"I mean.. a spike from Ushiwaka!? And on the first try too. Was that just luck, or is that shrimp a monster?" By the time he finished, Tendō's face was just inches away from Semi.
"Who knows.. But first, get your face away from me!" Semi pushed his face back.
"Semi-Semi.. Just think.. isn't it interesting. Even Ushiwaka looked like he wanted to talk to him for a few seconds after he stopped that spike. How often do you see Ushiwaka take even a little bit of interest in someone?" Tendō was once again near Semi's face when he finished.
Semi just tried to ignore him. He knew Tendō understood hints well enough, but he also knew Tendō didn't give a flying fuck about it. He did what he wanted. It was best to just ignore him, and pray he found something else that interested him.
His prayers went unanswered. Semi sighed and decided to just answer him. At least, that'd make Tendō move his face away form him.
"I don't know. You'll have to ask Ushiwaka yourself. Besides.. you're pretty good at reading his expressions. I don't know how you can read them though. His expressions look the same to me."
Tendō took his face back and nodded with a proud smile. "You just have to look for even the slightest twitch in his expressions. After carefully observing it for a while, you kind of become good at it. But even then, it's not always accurate. Hmmm.. maybe I should observe more closely?"
"That sounds creepy.. Can't you just stop doing whatever it is you do?"
Tendō looked like he was seriously considering it, but then.. he turned towards Semi and grinned infuriatingly. "No"
Semi just sighed. He didn't know how to deal with Tendō. Nobody knew.. except for the coach. Maybe he should follow Tendō and try to observe the coach inste-.. He shivered and furiously shook his head. Nope. He'd stick to prayers.
He would have tried to speed up and shake Tendō off, if he didn't know the result already. He'd tried that before.. a lot of times.. but Tendō always managed to keep up, and Semi just ended up getting exhausted faster. He had no choice but to accept his fate.
"Look.. That shrimp is even keeping up with Ushiwaka. Maybe Wakatoshi-kun has finally found some to befriend?"
"I highly doubt that."
Tendō ignored it practiced ease. "Ah.. they grow up so fast! I'll miss the time when Ushiwaka's only friends were me and his first-year stalker!" He wiped a fake tear from his eyes.
From behind them, Shirabu sent Tendō a glare, but the redhead ignored him too.
"I wonder who'll get to play with shrimpy. I'd love to play with him, but I also want to play against him. Ahh.. fresh meats are always interesting!"
Thankfully, Semi didn't have to endure it for much longer. The coach called them over, and they walked towards the board to see their teams.
Reon - Kawanishi
Satori - Jin
Ushijima - Shirabu
Semi's eyes widened when he saw the two of them paired together. The canon and his dedicated setter? He felt pity for their opponents.
He checked who their opponents were and almost screamed at the injustice.
Hinata - Semi
Semi realised that the days torture was far from over. He now had the privilege to enjoy a sound thrashing from Ushiwaka.
He sighed and spotted his partner walking towards him with a smile. While he was certainly curious about the short boy and wanted to see his skills, he wasn't optimistic enough to believe they'd beat Ushijima.
Since it couldn't be helped, Semi could only try his best and hope for it to be painless. The coach would have his head if he slacked off anyways.
"Hi.. I'm Hinata Shoyo. It's nice to meet you." he replied with a slight bow. Up close, he felt even smaller, but Semi noticed he had a pretty fit body.
"Eita Semi, I'm a second year setter."
Hinata smiled. "That's perfect. I'm in my last year of junior high and I'm currently training for all positions."
Semi raised his eyebrows. "All positions? Well.. if can play play all positions about as well as that receive you did, we might just survive total annihilation."
"I'm confident about my receives. I'm just a bit worried about that recoil. It'll definitely upset my balance and it might take me time to get back to my feet. I believe I can spike pretty well and I'm decent with my sets. As for my blocks, I'm not sure I can shut Ushijima down completely. His spikes are just too strong. I'll try to get 'one touches' and we'll figure out the rest during the match."
Semi just stared open mouthed. Was he really talking about blocking 'the' Ushiwaka. He talked like they had a fair chance at winning, but Semi couldn't help himself from feeling a bit sceptical.
While he doubted almost half of what Hinata said, he nodded anyways. He didn't see any point in arguing. Besides.. in 2v2.. they didn't have the luxury of choices. They had to do pretty much everything.
Akira Saitō, the assistant coach then signaled for them to start and Semi found himself looking at Ushiwaka and Shirabu across the net. He noticed both of their attention was on his partner. Hinata did a few last minute stretches and entered the court.
Hinata's entire demeanor changed as soon as he stepped into the court. He looked at Shirabu, who had been sending him a few glares, and the setter unconsciously took a step back.
Everybody focused their attention on the two teams standing on the court. They could feel something special was about to go down. If not for any other reason, then simply because Ushiwaka was playing. Watching him play was always exciting. Adding Hinata to the mix just elevated it even more.
Semi turned to his partner. "What is your ball preferences?"
"I want high sets. And I'll be able to set even if the receive is off."
Semi nodded. "I'm pretty flexible. As long as you get the ball to me, I'll set it for you."
Hinata nodded. "Just one more thing.. make sure to know my position before you set for me. I'll should be able to manage it, even if it's a bit off. Just make sure to keep track of me."
Semi's left eye twitched. Why would he lose track of someone in a 2v2? He didn't have time to say anything though, as the referee whistled.. signalling the start of the match.
Ushijima tossed the ball high into the air and delivered a powerful jump serve. It crossed the net before Semi could even properly prepare himself. He looked right, just in time to see Hinata duck, and the ball made contact with the floor.
The referee whistled and 1 point was added to their team. It was then that he realised the ball landed outside. Semi breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good judgement"
Hinata just nodded with a stiff smile. He didn't expect Ushijima to start with such a strong serve. Maybe he was checking if that receive was a fluke or the real deal?
"Wakatoshi-kun, no killing kids okay?" Tendō called with a carefree expression, his hands behind his head.
Ushijima didn't say anything, he just continued to look at Hinata.
It was Semi's turn to serve. He took a deep breath and tossed the ball into the air. He did a jump serve and aimed it at Shirabu. The setter was forced to pick receive it, but the receive was off. It just showed that while his receives weren't necessarily bad, it wasn't as good as it would be in his 2nd year. Ushijima tossed the ball for Shirabu to spike. Hinata quickly approached the net and jumped, just as Shirabu made contact. The ball hit Hinata's hand and immediately shot down, landing on their opponents side of the court. Shirabu was completely shut down.
Hinata could hear a few gasps but he was used to them at this point. If they were surprised by this much, they had another thing coming. He looked at Shirabu, and saw him looking like he had just swallowed something sour. He moved his gaze towards Ushijima, but couldn't quite tell what he was thinking.
Hinata turned to give Semi a high-five but saw the setter looking at him in surprise. He understood that Semi hadn't quite believed he could jump that high. Hinata just smirked, the setter hadn't seen anything yet.
"That was a really good block.. You must have been serious when you were talking about blocking Ushiwaka."
"Of course I was.. Now let's get another point!" Hinata cheered.
Semi found himself smiling. This match might not be as terrible as he'd initially thought.
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MrDixie
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