88 Unpredictable
""Let's have a good game!""
On one specific area on the court there were two teams bowing their heads as they greeted each other before they played. One of them had a distinctive black jersey while the other side wore a bright orange one.
"YAAHOO!"
"LET'S GOO!"
Leaving the line and going back onto their side, Haruto and the others heard a loud shout as their opponents jumped up in the air.
But that was quickly stopped when the manager on their team tried her best to quiet down the main culprit who started the shouting and everyone on that side calmed down.
"They're pretty lively…"
Takeda who saw the other team wore a wry smile and turned to Ukai to have him say some last words.
"It looks like Johzenji is pretty excited to play you guys so let's give them back the same energy our own way. Azumane start us off with full power alright."
Ukai turned to Asahi as they won the coin toss to get the first serve and wanted to get into their groove by getting a good serve in first.
"Karasuno, Fight!"
"""FIGHT!"''
""Fight!""
As they ended their talk with a cheer, Mahiru and Yachi who were by the stands yelled out loud as if to join them in their cheers.
They began to walk onto their positions on the court and waited for the ref to signal Asahi to start his serve.
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Asahi took in a deep breath when he heard the whistle and held the ball in front of him. Looking at the opposite side of the court, he threw the ball in the air and swung hard trying to get a tough serve in.
With him swinging his arm and snapping his wrist, the ball quickly made it's way over the net trying to break the opponents formation which was successful.
"The ball is out of play." Haruto yelled out loud as he noticed Asahi's serve bounced off one of the players on the other side.
"Nice way to cover it!"
Johzenji yelled out loud as they saw how their libero kept the ball in play when it went out towards their left side but it gradually flew towards their back area, not controlling it properly since they were in a tough spot.
"Free ball."
Kageyama called out when he saw where the ball was going, making everyone shift backwards a little.
"Wait a bit."
As the people at the front were moving back, Haruto stopped Tsukishima as he noticed one of the guys who was getting the ball, jumped up and twisted his body in their direction.
When Haruto finished his words, he saw how the guy slammed the ball from the endline, making it catch onto the net and falling over onto their side where Haruto and Tsukishima tried their best to keep it alive.
Unfortunately they were too late as the ball went to a bad spot letting Jouzenji get the first point.
"Hooh..safe~"
"Terushima that was way too close, you bastard!"
"Hey I still got the point though."
Johzenji surrounded Terushima who got the point and started to cheer excitedly while Karasuno got together to talk about that recent point.
"So that's why they're called the "Party Team.""
"Yeah they have a pretty easy going attitude."
Haruto smiled slightly when he noted how they seemed to put on a happy face when they were on and off the court.
"I guess we should watch carefully for any of those unpredictable plays or actions they could do."
Haruto glanced at Kageyama who looked at him back and the both of them nodded their heads.
A few days before the playoffs they got together with some people on the team and shared what they found about each of the potential teams they may face in their bracket.
There was not a lot of info about Jouzneji but the main things they noted was that they were unorthodox and unpredictable when it comes to playing volleyball.
"Get a nice serve in~"
Terushima who was by the net, called out when he saw his teammate walk up to the service line to serve.
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The guy at the line served a normal overhand and Karasuno was able to easily get it up as Daichi was quick to react to the placement of the ball.
Kageyama used this opportunity to use the middle since he noticed that the people on the other side of the court decided to spread out their blocks from the left and right side.
With the plan in mind he watched Tsukishima run up and precisely placed the ball in front of him to allow him to fully extend his arm to hit.
"Shit! Help me get the ball."
Due to the quick attack they were only able to put the ball up and they quickly called out to the people at the front since the ball was headed towards the net.
The ball was too high for them to do a regular set, so the setter on Johzenji decided to do his best with the ball.
He jumped up and instead of using his hands to set, he rolled his hand into a fist and punched the ball towards his left side where Terushima was.
"Haha is this your new way of setting!"
He laughed when he saw the ball coming his way at a quick pace and swung his hardest but this time instead watching Haruto and the rest of the guys at the front quickly reacted and placed a triple block.
"Touch!"
Placing his hands on the ball, Haruto managed to stop the momentum of the cross Terushima did with the ball and Nishinoya who was behind them, got the ball off the block.
The people at the back saw how bunched up Haruto, Kageyama and Tsukishima were since they just finished a triple block on the right side.
"Run behind Kageyama!"
Haruto noticed the scenario they were in and quickly yelled out to Tsukishima who also noticed the situation they were in.
Luckily due to them practicing together with the Kaji Wild Dogs, they somewhat knew what each other meant by just a few words and the two of them ran up near Kageyama.
Kageyama on the other hand felt a bit surprised when he saw Tsukishima moving in sync with Haruto as both of them went for a quick attack on both of his sides.
'What did Haruto do to make this uninterested guy actually move...'
Kageyama thought in his head and set a fast quick to Haruto who was in the middle, which he swung downwards making it bounce high up in the air.
"Pheew, that guy sure has some crazy firepower."
Terushima whistled when he watched how the ball flew back down after getting hit with such force.
"Yo man, hit another one of those alright."
"Sure if you give us an easy ball then I might do one again."
"Ehh I can't do that boss."
Haruto chuckled when he noticed Terushima shrugging and shaking his head when he heard Haruto's suggestion.
After their brief talk with each other they went back to their positions and continued to play the set, trying to get used to each other's playstyle.
The points continued to grow with Karasuno eventually getting a lead on Johzenji.
"Nice course!"
"Guh."
Haruto called out when he saw Asahi spike down the line, which made the other team have a hard time getting the ball up. Asahi, Daichi and Hinata who were at the front grouped up at the net as they tried to see where the ball would go.
"That was a good spike… Hey let me hit too!"
The setter muttered to himself when he saw Asahi hit and suddenly yelled out, moving towards the attack line to attack, surprising the people at the front.
They suddenly watched how a player from the back row jumped before the attack line and gave a back set towards the setter who ran up to hit from the right side.
'These guys really like to do whatever they want so suddenly…'
"Great save Haruto!"
Haruto thought to himself as he dove for the fast ball that went down the line and got it up for Kageyama in the back row.
Using his arms and chest to help slow down his dive, Haruto quickly got up and watched how Kageyama gave a minus tempo set to Hinata, getting them a point that extended their current lead.
The score was currently [19-16] as they were able to slowly get used to the rhythm that Johzenji played at, but there were still some points where they switched up out of nowhere like the play that currently happened.
Haruto celebrated with his team but a certain idea suddenly popped up in his head when he saw that play Johzenji did, making him rub his fingers together.
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The whistle from the ref snapped Haruto out of his thoughts and focused on the game. Daichi served the ball and Johzenji passed the ball towards the setter and they ran the play of a quick that went to the right side.
The opposite hitter went up to hit the ball and noticed how the block was a bit lower from the middle compared to the line since Hinata was the one blocking right beside Asahi.
Using this chance he decided to hit a hard cross and the ball was unfortunately picked up by Kageyama who was in the direction of the ball.
"Someone get the second ball!"
Kageyama called out as he was now out of play and wanted someone to get the ball. It flew close to the attack line and Nishinoya got in place to get the ball.
"I got th—"
"Leave it!"
Nishinoya was about to underhand pass the ball but suddenly stopped when he heard Haruto's voice behind him.
"Block him! He's about to hit the ball."
Terushima quickly called out when he noticed Haruto jumping from the attack line and saw him attempt to swing at the ball on the second touch.
They quickly set up a triple block to stop him but their eyes widened when they saw him suddenly switch his hitting form midair.
Haruto who was in the air suddenly switched from his spiking form to suddenly placing his hands above his head and gave a set towards Kageyama who was on the right side.
Kageyama on the other hand was surprised for a bit when he saw Haruto suddenly setting the ball towards him but he was fast to adjust to the sudden play.
He watched the ball coming his way and jumped up to swing at the set given to him, getting a powerful line shot.
"What was that!?"
"I swear he was about to hit the ball!"
"That was a really good trick play."
The spectators suddenly cheered when they saw the play Haruto did, making Mahiru who heard their words put on a proud grin.
"I never thought I would see our positions suddenly switch like that."
"The set was pretty good, right."
"It was alright."
Haruto felt his cheeks twitch when he heard Kageyama's blunt words and felt like his words were familiar. He just shook his head and went back to his position after celebrating, trying to wrap up the first set against Johzenji.
***
I hope you enjoyed it. Peacu.
