10 Chapter 10: Morale

(A/N: Jet lag sucks.)

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"Tch! Sorry I couldn't get it! My bad!"

The Yukigaoka players high-fived each other as they assumed their positions once more. The opposing server skipped as he drew his hand in a straight flying swing, the ball floating on over at head-level.

Izumi flipped his fingers forwards, the ball going in a low arc towards the net. Dashing out, Hayato slid down, sending the ball out in a high toss behind him. In middle-back, immediately Hinata was on too it, his arms swinging up as he took off.

As his hand smashed into the yellow-blue ball, on the opposite side, the three blockers had risen again, their domineering forms denying it any entry.

The ball zipped in a flash from Hinata's position, smashing down into a blockers caving hands, shooting straight down. He'd been stuffed out.

*Wmp!*

As Hinata landed on the floor, he tried to dash forwards. He tried to get the ball despite the impossibility of making it. And then, Hayato arrived. It was essential for at least one person to always cover the hitter in case of their ball being blocked. This was one of those cases.

His legs bent far back, he puffed his cheeks as the ball hit his forearms, ricocheting back into the air on their side.

"Izumi! You got the ball! Get back, guys!" Hayato screamed as he skipped on backrow. As his feet screeched over the midline, Izumi had already tossed it back up.

Hinata arrived once more, taking a short leap as he downed it back over the other side with a flick of his wrist.

The ball was in their control the moment it touched the first player's arms. He bumped the ball up as the players stepped back. Kageyama viciously pulled out, missling the ball towards the right side.

The hitter awkwardly lurched, his left hand swinging to the side as he managed to hit it back over.

"Mine! Mine! Mine!" Hinata ran over, shuddering a little as he bumped it directly above him.

Running over, inky-black hair swaying as he did, Hayato tapped his left foot, jumping up on his right. Eyes glancing for a moment, he turned his attention to Hinata. While drawing out rallies could get Kageyama frustrated, it also left Yukigaoka more margin for error. Better get on the offensive.

"Hinata! It's going to you!" He called out, his face contorting a little.

Hands pushing out, Hayato's hands shot out like a gust of wind, the ball shooting back fast, opposite of the court.

Kitagawa Daiichi hesitated for a moment, unsure of what was happening before Kageyama widened his eyes. It was a shoot! He tried to yell, but it was too late.

Using the entirety of his vertical, Hinata blasted into space, cocking his arm like a bow and arrow as the set ball blasted towards him. And then he took a full swing, upper body snapping down-left, the ball thrashing down just over the net on the other side. It blasted just inside of the backline.

*Wam!*

With a flourish downwards, the red flag told it all. The ball was in.

"A back row shoot attack… That's a new one for sure." Sawamura Daichi pondered over this matter. It was a hit or miss, trying something like that. Unless the hitter had considerable power, if the set was off by a certain margin, it probably wouldn't work.

But No. 1 with his uncanny timing and athleticism had gotten hold and hit the ball. Wherever these two were going for high school, he knew that they were going to be the stars of the team. They'd come to watch the King Of The Court but got a lot more than they bargained for.

Suga watched thoughtfully. Despite the awkward jump, No. 7 had given them quite the show with that straight no-spin set. Honestly, it looked like something the two had rehearsed for years…. But there was something in his heart that told him it was improvised.

"Oh my god! What the hell!" Meanwhile, the most one-tracked of the few, Ryunosuke Tanaka was still trying to word his excitement and such.

[19-17]

The scoreboard keepers were somewhat uncertain as they changed the score. All they could think of was that this was quite the match.

"Nice kill Hinata! Way to flick that wrist!" Meanwhile, sparkly little Yukigaoka was once again lost in a barrage of compliments. Hayato and Hinata seemed to be competing as they complimented all of their teammates and each other.

"No nice set! It was awesome!"

"Good job getting it up Izumi!"

"Nice call Kawashima!"

It was a big bubble of positivity.

Meanwhile, on the other side, things were much different. When Daiichi had just thought that they had tied things up, that bastard setter on the other side had done something stupid. It was a lot of groaning and sighs, before their almighty Highness spoke.

"What are you guys doing!? Run FASTER and hit my sets! Go for the ball idiots! You're all too slow! We are losing to a team where half of the people can't even dig a free ball! Why!?" Kageyama screamed in all his frustrations, a murderous glare upon his face.

Above, the crowd murmured, a few of the parents muttering some disapproval. The fragile string that had kept the setter and the team together was beginning to break away, despite that earlier set. In the end, the King Of The Court was still the tyrant he always was.

Fujin Hayato looked over, sighing a little too. While they were the opposing team, he sort of felt bad for them. Seeing a team break down into conflict was always a terrible thing to witness.

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Ask me if you have any questions relating to the story.