15 Chapter 15
Hiroyuki PoV
I chuckled after looking at their dumbfounded reaction. Not that I blame them, mind you, because I have never said anything about Kiyoko except to Kuroo and my old teammate.
"Well, you know now Kiyoko is my sister. We can address this issue later after the game. Now, we have a game to play, right?" They only nodded and go back to the bench. I can still hear a whisper like, 'I cannot believe they are siblings' or something like that, but I choose to ignore them.
"Well, that was a huge revelation ne, Yuki?" Nekomata-sensei chuckled at me. He didn't seem to be surprised at all. So he has already read the news about father, I guess.
"Anyway, let's put this issue aside and gather around, everyone." Nekomata-sensei clapped, gaining Nekoma's players' attention.
"As you can see, we will have our former captain, Hiroyuki will play with us in the last set. What I didn't say is, I want him and Kuroo to sit on the bench for the first leg. I want to see how the team managed on the court without our best player, so you better do your work or I will increase your training, brat!" All of the players shivered after hearing what the coach said, while Kuroo looks surprised. I guess it is Nekomata-sensei's plan.
"So, for the first set, all of the regular will play except Kuroo, and if I see any of you slacked off on the game, I will not hesitate to change you. Understood?!"
"HAI, COACH!"
"Okay. Yamamoto, Nobuyuki, Kozume, Fukunaga, Yaku, Akira. You better be ready for the game. As for Kuroo's position, Inouka! You will be responsible for the middle blocker position. Can you do it?"
"HAI, COACH!"
I raised my eyebrows slightly after hearing the name of who will play. While I know Inouka from the manga, Akira is someone that I didn't have any memories of them. So that means he is not coming from the manga, I guess.
As for the other, Yaku is the only player old Hiroyuki had played with in the past. Nobuyuki, Yamamoto, Kozume, and Fukunaga were just a bench players last year. So that means this will probably be Nekomata-sensei's choice for the Interhigh next month.
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third-person PoV
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Hiroyuki decided to sit beside Kuroo and asks,
"What do you think of this team?" He raised his eyebrows, but still give Hiroyuki his answer.
"Well, of course, this team is not as strong as last year. All of you senpai were monsters after all. However, I think we can go far for the Interhigh. As for the spring, who knows? Maybe we can win the spring tournament for the second time?" He smirked
"That good, huh?"
"Well, Nobuyuki is very determined to be like you. While his block and his spike power are not like you, he is just slightly below Bokuto, and that talks a lot about him. Yamamoto, as you know, is a hothead. But he is a well all-arounder player with an iron mentality. Kenma is..... Well, he is still Kenma. As you said last year, if only he has more stamina, he can be a top player in high school tournaments. He is still lazy, though, so you better didn't raise your expectation. For Fukunaga and Akira, well, they are solid players. However, Akira is more of a heavy hitter than Fukunaga, and he is a training junkie, so you can expect a lot about him as an opposite hitter. He is also a great blocker, so on the paper, we usually make him our second middle blocker. As for Yaku, well, you know his capability. Only a few liberos can compete against him. His defensive range and reflex are insane after all."
He nodded at Kuroo's explanation. So, Nobuyuki, the opposite hitter, will be the ace of the team, not Yamamoto like in the manga. Meanwhile, Fukunaga and Yamamoto will be the outside hitter.
As for Karasuno's team, they have a samurai wannabe, Azumane Asahi as their opposite hitter and the ace of the team. Sawamura with his defensive capability will be suitable as an outside hitter, and Tanaka's brute power is like screaming 'I am an opposite hitter' to the world, and Tsukishima with his height will be the middle blocker, so that means Karasuno will play with two blockers with Hinata.
After a few minutes, the game finally begins. Karasuno will be the first to serve after Sawamura won the coin toss. That means Yaku will be on the court right now as libero, and after two rotations, he will be substituted with Inouka as a middle blocker.
Asahi starts the game with a powerful jump serve. That was a good serve. The power is decent enough, but his control is a bit off, Hiroyuki hummed. With so little control, the ball is coming directly to Nekoma's best defender, Yaku. He easily received the ball and send it to the setter, Kenma. And Kenma with his trick sends a subtle glance to Nobuyuki on the right court to hook Karasuno's blocker. Looking at the opponent's blockers who have already moved to Nobuyuki, Kenma smirked a little and send the ball to Yamamoto on the left, who easily spiked the ball to Tanaka's direction. The first point for Nekoma.
0-1
"Kenma has already played his little game, huh?" Hiroyuki snorted. While he is lazy, he still has a brain and often comes up with a lot of nasty tricks and strategies to mess up his opponent. Sometimes he swear that Kenma is the reincarnation of Nara's clan from Naruto.
The game is starting again, and now it is time for Kenma to serve. Kenma didn't have a powerful serve, but he has a wicked aim. He send a normal ball to the area between Sawamura and Asahi. Both of them reacted, but they hesitate after looking at their teammate's reaction. That result in point for Nekoma.
0-2
Kenma does the trick once again and secures one more point for Nekoma before Karasuno called a time-out.
"Good job, Kenma. But the same trick will not work again after this. Now they will choose who will receive the ball if your serve comes to the area between them. So, you better send the ball to the samurai or to the setter if you can." Said Nekomata-sensei.
"Hai,"
After the time out is over, Kenma serves once again, and now he sends it to Asahi. Considering Kenma's serve is pretty normal, Asahi doesn't have a problem receiving it, sending the ball to Kageyama. Hinata who is still in the left-back position starts to run just before Kageyama received the ball, and when Kageyama gets the ball,
*BAMM!!*
Before anyone can realize what happened? The ball is already bouncing at the floor.
"Wait WHAT! What the hell is going on here?!"
"Is that a quick?!"
"How fast is that?"
"Is that the orange-haired chibi?"
The first year from Nekoma is still having a shock after receiving the very-quick attack from Hinata, while Karasuno's players smugged at Nekoma's reaction. Meanwhile, on Nekoma's bench,
"Did you see it, Kuroo?" Hiroyuki throws a glance at Kuroo. Not only Nekoma's captain, but every senpai in the team is having a little surprise, but not for the same reason as the first year.
"Is that Samu-Tsumu quick combination?" Kuroo asks Hiroyuki. After all, the twin from Inarizaki used the same quick against them, and that was very bothersome. However, Hiroyuki shakes his head,
"Not really. While the speed is very similar, there are a few things that are still not the same. The quick that Karasuno have is depending on the chibi's speed, and I think he can be more faster than that. However, he didn't have the power to overwhelm our receiver as Osamu did. So, after two or three times receiving their ball, I think we can react to it. Moreover, did you see anything wrong with the chibi when he spikes the ball?"
"Hmm? What is wrong with him?"
"So you didn't realize. Wait until they do it again." Hiroyuki smirked. Kuroo can only smile wryly because he knows that Hiroyuki will never tell him until he figures it out himself.
After that play, Nekoma was able to recover quickly and show their capability as the champion team. A spike after spike was sent to Nekoma, but they will receive all the ball perfectly. This is Nekoma's strength. They are not a heavy hitter team like Shiratorizawa with Ushijima, or a trickster team like Inarizaki. They are defensive specialists, and doing a long rally that cost a lot of stamina is their specialty. A lot of people might find the playing style boring, but as long as the ball didn't fall to the floor, Nekoma will fight for it.
Karasuno is starting to get frustrated after their attack was easily received, before
"KAGEYAMA!" Hinata shouted and run quickly to the right side. Kageyama knows what Hinata wants, and sends a very quick toss to Hinata. However, he didn't realize that one blocker from Nekoma is following Hinata to the right side. Fortunately, his timing is a bit late, so the ball is still going in for Karasuno's point.
"WOAAAH!! That is very cool!! I cannot wait to block it next time!" Inouka, the first-year blocker who is able to follow Hinata's movement gleamed. However, Karasuno's players were alarmed. That was the first time someone almost block their quick attack. For Kageyama and Hinata, their quick's strength is Hinata's unpredictable fast run. So if someone can follow his movement, that will be the end for them.
On Nekoma's bench,
"He closed his eyes! Is that what you mean before, Yuki-senpai?" Kuroo almost shouted after looking at the quick for the second time. Hiroyuki smirked at him,
"Yeah, and that means the spiker is still a newbie, or the setter is very genius. To be able to find the spiker's hand while the spiker is jumping and closing his eyes is a very hard task, and he did it easily. Oh, it will be very fun next set."
"Do you mean you will have a great time messing up with the setter?" Kuroo asks wryly. Hiroyuki only chuckled hearing that,
"Oh, you know me so well, Kuroo... You know me so well... Hehehehe..." Kuroo decided to ignore his senpai and throw his focus back to the game.
While the game continues, Hiroyuki talks again.
"Inouka's reaction is faster. However, he only follows the ball and sometimes Hinata movement. Is he a rookie?"
"Yes Senpai. Inouka and I are on the football team in middle school, so it is his first time playing an official game." the first year who Hiroyuki didn't recognize answered his question.
"Oh well, he has great potential. If he is more trained, he can be like Tendo from Shiratorizawa, and that will be scary." Nekomata-sensei nodded hearing that.
"Yes, I have a plan for him. He will take Kuroo's spot next year."
The game continues with Inouka getting closer and closer to blocking Hinata. However, Hiroyuki frowned at the bench.
"Fukunaga is the one who leads the defense when Yaku is out, right? Then why did he let Hinata dance freely like this?"
"Well, that is my instruction. Inouka is a fast learner, but he didn't have any experience in volleyball. So, battling against that very quick attack will be a good development for him." Nekomata-sensei answered.
Nekoma is still leading the game with 19-21. Honestly, Karasuno is not that bad. Tanaka and Asahi have the brute power to crush any block in front of them. However, Tanaka's game sense is not that good, and his defense is just average. Asahi on the other hand will have a mental breakdown when he gets blocked.
Tsukishima is a decent blocker. However, he didn't work well together with Kageyama, so the blocking defense is not perfect. Hinata is too depended on Kageyama. Take Kageyama out of the court, and he will be Karasuno's problem. Kageyama himself is a bit predictable. He cannot keep his face straight, so everyone knows when he gets impatient with the game. And when it happened, he will send the ball fur quick attack with Hinata. On a side note, he didn't communicate well with his teammates, which is bad for a setter.
The only players who are ready for the national tournament are the captain and libero, Sawamura and Nishinoya. Both of them have amazing defense ability and great mentality on the court. It doesn't matter how many spikes they received, as long as the ball is still alive, they will get up again and again. They are really amazing players.
When the game is almost over, 24-23 for Nekoma, finally, what everyone in Nekoma waiting for is happening. After a strong serve from Akira, Asahi managed to receive the ball shakily. Kageyama quickly moves to toss the ball, and Hinata is already running to the front. However, before anyone realize what happened,
*BAM!!*
Inouka has been there, waiting for Hinata's jump, and blocked the quick straight to Karasuno's side, silencing the hall. A moment later,
"YOOOOSSSHHH!!!!" Inouka shouted, celebrating his block with his teammates.
"Finally he did it." Nekomata-sensei muttered.
"Yeah, even if it took one whole set for him to get used to it, finally he did it." Said Hiroyuki.
"Well, now that the baby cat finally learned how to walk, how about you two showed him how to run?" Nekomata-sensei smirked at Kuroo and Hiroyuki. The smirk reflected both of them, and with a quick nod, they both answered,
"HAI, COACH!"
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Author note:
I just realized how hard it is to write a good volleyball game. This is the best that I can do right now. What do you think about it?
You can also read five more chapters at my patreon account, pat_reon.com/zwolf1 (without '_' ). Thank you.
