24 Chapter 24 - Practice Before Practice Match

***

Kaisei Academy - Middle School Gymnasium

Inside, one would immediately notice a bunch of teenage boys running and huffing around within the premises of the gymnasium. Practicing diligently under the humid temperature.

*whistle!*

Everyone stopped running as soon as they heard the high-pitched whistle and plummeted toward the ground, panting after a torturous sprint training.

"5 minutes break then proceed to the last drill!" Tatsuo announced quite clearly, even after the long sprint.

Tatsuo's physique was simply different from that of his teammates, who were only able to achieve the strength they have right now because of intense training at an early age. Tatsuo trained his body as soon as he could move his limbs, while others started training from age 7 and above. Out of his teammates, only Fukuhara and Nunoe could get close to his body.

It is also the reason why he had to practice at home, as he needed to watch over his teammates and act like a captain. Despite that, he was able to achieve a strong physique.

5 minutes later...

Tatsuo looked at his recovering teammates standing in front of him before he spoke.

"Okay, our last drill for the day is 'serve accuracy', same old rule. Whoever misses, drinks this juice, alright?!" Tatsuo said while pointing toward the non-transparent jar.

Everyone shuddered as they couldn't get used to drinking that vitamin drink, but they still complied with their captain as they walked towards the service line.

Service accuracy is simply a copy of a commercial break serve of Haikyuu with a slight twist of drinking Tatsuo's mixed drink. The name of this drink is 'Penal-tea' after he used 30 times as much caffeine as coffee and the same amount of vitamin C in 30 melons.

'Serve accuracy drill was really not a drill. It's more like a game for them to taste my mixed juice... No, it's for training their accuracy, believe me...' Tatsuo thought and accidentally revealed his true self.

"Alright, which one of you will drink my 'Penal-Tea' drink first~?" Tatsuo said under his breath playfully as he unconsciously spoke out his true intentions.

Besides Tatsuo, coach Inuoe Mamoru shuddered involuntarily after he heard Tatsuo whispering ominously and looked at his students standing in the service line, not knowing what was coming for them.

'Good luck, kids. I'll pray for all of you...' Inoue intertwined his fingers.

A moment later, Tatsuo called out for a player to step out voluntarily, or else he will have to turn to an alternative. And indeed, everything went according to plan as no one stepped out, he spoke, "If no one steps out, all of you will have to drink-"

And before Tatsuo even finished his sentence, his teammates pushed Fukuhara forward as their tribute.

Seeing who it was, Tatsuo clicked his tongue after missing the opportunity to have the first player taste his mixed juice.

••

•

Gakushin Fukuhara POV

'I guess I'll be the first one to try Tatsuo's drink...' Fukuhara thought as he looked back at his teammates with admiring eyes, 'Thank you everyone for your kindness!'

He bowed to them.

Most of his teammates waved their hands, gesturing no problem. It was already a common occurrence for the Kaisei Academy volleyball team, as they were used to Fukuhara doing something out of nowhere. 

Fukuhara separated from them after getting a ball and looked at the other side to find a bottle quarter filled with sand between the center and right end lines. 

*swoosh!*

Fukuhara tossed the ball up before running after it and then jumped! He waved his right arm slightly toward the right as he estimated the ball's direction.

*Bang!*

The ball flew over the net almost instantly as it moved toward the bottle, and he was able to knock it down with a slightly off calculation.

Everyone clapped in amazement after Fukuhara knocked down the bottle as the first player. Fukuhara thanked them before walking to Tatsuo and saying, "Can I still drink it?" excitedly.

Tatsuo sighed as he nodded and gave Fukuhara a glass of gurgling, mud-like liquid, while everyone else felt a cold run down their spine.

Fukuhara drank the whole glass in one sitting.

Everyone gulped their saliva as they nervously looked at the reaction to Fukuhara, because when Fukuhara was not able to handle it, then all of them would not be able to handle it.

'Hmm, it's kinda sweet...' Fukuhara went beside Tatsuo and Inuoe after.

Seeing no reaction from Fukuhara, everyone's nervousness decreased without knowing how bitter it was.

The next one to step out is Agata Nunoe.

•••

••

•

The game went on. Gagging and disgust can be seen on the faces of the players after missing the bottle except for the lucky guys, Fukuhara and Akira.

Well, that's almost lucky for Akira since he had to extend his sprint drill as a result of being excluded from the service drill. So, right now, he was exhausted to his bones after a sprint drill followed by another run. 

"Good work, everyone!"

'Do you see any good here?!' Everyone glared at Tatsuo's insensitivity. And they couldn't really have their proper vengeance on Tatsuo because when they did, they were sure to lose!

One time, Nunoe had the courage to ask Tatsuo for a challenge in service accuracy. All of them had high hopes at that time, but it was broken quickly when Tatsuo accurately hit the center of the bottle. Then, a few challenges happened, and all went to Tatsuo's favor; every time they lost, they needed to drink his hell of a drink. So, from that point onward, they decided to never challenge Tatsuo again.

Tatsuo had always known about it but acted like he didn't as he chuckled at their disgusted faces.

'Hope you all survive my next drink...' Tatsuo chuckled in expectation before staring intently at Fukuhara.

'Especially you, my nemesis...' he thought as he squinted his eyes.

…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...…....…...

Please comment on what you think or add a review if you can. Thanks :)

AN: I'm probably going to break for a while. Well, I need to catch up with the latest update on my library, you know. At the same time, to ease my mind and come up with more interesting ideas! That's all also, thank you everyone for reading this book and giving power stones! (⁠づ⁠｡⁠◕⁠‿⁠‿⁠◕⁠｡⁠)⁠づ