16 Chapter 16
-Hiroyuki PoV-
It has been a long time since I set foot on the court. It was so strange since the former Hiroyuki spent his last summer playing with the national team. But for me, it has been more than two decades since I played.
However, there is no sign of nervousness in my mind. Maybe it is because of the mentality that Hiroyuki had combined with the experiences from my last life or something else, I don't know. But the only thing I feel right now is excitement.
While the rest of the team is taking a rest for the next set, I take a ball from the outside of the court and throw it high, and started to run. When the ball is falling down, I jump and hit the ball as hard as I can, and
*BAAAAM!!!!*
The ball land in the corner of the opponent's court. I nodded my head, pleased with the result. It is one of the strategies that the former Hiroyuki did to shake his opponent as psychological warfare, do something crazy for warming up. And I can see it did wonder, with all of the Karasuno's members widened their eyes in shock-with Hinata shrieking in fear.
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third-person PoV Karasuno
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"HIIIIII!! IT WAS CRAZIER THAN THE GRAND KING!!" Hinata shrieks in a high pitch. He got hit in the back of his head as a result.
"Calm down, stupid! If he sees your fear, he will target you in the next set!" Warned Kageyama. But it only makes Hinata worse, with him trying to hide behind Sawamura.
"Calm down, you two!" Coach Ukai trying to make his team focus again. But he can see from the worried look of all the members that the serve has already shaken his team. Only Sawamura and Nishinoya didn't react negatively about the serve.
'Well done brat, you have already won even before you played.' Coach Ukai grudgingly acknowledged the national tournament's MVP.
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Back to Hiroyuki PoV
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"Well done, Yuki-senpai! A beautiful serve, as always!" I can hear Kuroo's mocking clap behind me. The other member who knew the former Hiroyuki just rolled their eyes, knowing my intention to shake the opponent's mentality. But when I look at the Nekoma's bench, I can see by the look at their widened eyes that the entire first years are shaking too. I shake my head and ignore them for now and focus on Kuroo.
"Well, have you already finished your warm-up? Don't you dare to get injured because of that!"
"Of course I have! I won't dare to do that!" He grasped his chest as if he was getting hurt and said in a mocking tone. I rolled my eyes, but before I can answer back, coach Nekomata has already interfered with our bickering.
"Stop it, Kuroo! Yuki! Honestly, when will you two stop acting like a child." Coach Nekomata sighed while rubbing his forehead in exasperation. We just chucked sheepishly and shrugged, knowing that any answer will only rile up the coach.
"Okay, for the next set, Hiroyuki will play in Akira's position and Kuroo will substitute Inuoka. All of you better watch how the Japanese National Team's member play and learn something from them, is that clear!"
"HAI, COACH!"
"As for you two, kill the baby crow!" His evil chuckled is well mirrored to us, and I can see a few members step back in fear. 15 minutes after the rest, all of the players entered the court once again. I can see all of the Karasuno members stealing a glance at me with guarded eyes. I chuckled inwardly, knowing that my little psywar is successful.
The second set began with serve from Kageyama. It was a strong jump serve, but I can tell from the weak and inconsistent course from the first set that he just learned the serve not in a long time, just like their pinch server, Yamaguchi.
The serve itself landed right in front of Yamamoto in the left-back, who didn't have a hard time receiving it. The ball floated right to Kenma in the middle of the court, and I started to run from the right wing. Kenma glanced at me slightly, and that is enough for him to fool the entire Karasuno blocker. Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Tanaka took the bait and moved toward me, so Kenma send the ball to the left side where Nobuyuki waited. Without anyone trying to block him, he sends the ball easily to the area between Asahi and Sawamura.
0-1
"Nice kill, Nobuyuki!"
"Yeah! Nice kill!"
While everyone is congratulating Nobuyuki, I smirked at Kenma who gives me lazy eyes. Being the best player in Japan has its advantages, and one of them is being a good bait for my team. And knowing that, Kenma often used me to fool the opponent's blocker. I really don't mind being bait, because I know that when my team cannot break the score, the ball will come to me. And now, I have already retired from high school volleyball, so I will let them shine.
The game started again with the serve from Kenma. He did his trick like in the first set. It was a normal serve, but he placed the ball in the area between Hinata and Sawamura in the right-back. Both of them react quickly but hesitate after seeing each other's reaction, and the ball fall once again on the Karasuno's court.
0-2
Kenma serves once to the same area once again, but this time, Hinata let Sawamura received the ball. Then, Hinata started crossing the court to the left side for the quick attack. But when he spiked the ball,
*BAAAMM!!*
The entire court is silenced by the block from Kuroo. Their eyes widened, clearly shocked because the fast attack that has been a problem for all of their opponents now is getting blocked easily.
"Nice one Captain!" I high-fived Kuroo, ignoring the stare from Karasuno.
0-3
This time, Kenma sends the ball to Hinata, who received it a bit low for Kageyama in my opinion. But Kageyama and the entire team is already moving, trying to do a synchronizing attack.
"KUROO!! BACK!!" I shouted at Kuroo, trying to warn him about the back attack. After watching Karasuno play for one set before, I know that their synchronize attack will end up in a back attack from Asahi, an attack from Sawamura, or a dump from Kageyama. I can confidently say that this team can stop Sawamura's spike without any blocker, and I have already marked Kageyama for the dump. So the only problem is Asahi, and Kuroo will ensure that Asahi will not become a big problem.
And my prediction is coming true. When all of Karasuno's players are running, Kageyama trying to sneak a dump. Fortunately, my position is good enough for me to save the ball. After sending the ball to Kenma, I shouted,
"KENMA! QUICK!" and then I jumped as quickly as possible. Kenma who knows my intention sends the ball back to me quickly, and when the ball comes, I spike it hard enough to pierce Tsukishima's block in front of me.
"Nice one Kenma!" I high-fived Kenma.
0-4
Unfortunately, Kenma's next serve is getting too wide, so Asahi just let the ball fall on the left side of the court.
1-4
"Don't mind Kenma!" The bench shouted for Kenma. I know Kenma didn't mind it at all, because he knows he didn't have the best serve on the team.
Now, it is time for Karasuno to serve. This time, it is their ace, Asahi who did it. He did a good jump serve, with a weak course but a strong power, right into Fukunaga in the middle. Fukunaga send the ball forward, and without hesitation, I jump and smashed the ball to Sawamura who failed to save the ball.
1-5
Now, it is time for me to serve, and I can see a few Karasuno players gulping and stepping back. I chuckled inwardly and scan Karasuno's court to see where to aim. When I see they are a bit out of position -probably preparing for a strong serve-, I know where to aim. So, I throw the ball high enough and make a small run, and jump. But instead of a strong hit to the ball, I hit the ball and quickly pull my hand back to make the ball float to the area in front of their best defender, Nishinoya.
He clearly didn't expect that, but because the ball itself is not that fast, with his quick reflex, he is able to move forward and try to receive the ball. Unfortunately for him, the ball is moving wildly, and when it comes to his hand, it moves slightly and that was enough to make Nishinoya's receive went outside of the court.
1-6
Author note:
Hello! I am sorry for being inactive for two to three months. It has been a hard time for me to write. But I decided to continue this work once again, so I hope all of you can bear with me once again. Thank you! :)
You can also read five more chapters at my patreon account, pat_reon.com/zwolf1 (without '_' ). Thank you.
