23 Overcoming

"I finally got you!" The blocker who marked Hinata happily exclaimed when he was finally able to block him. Hinata just blankly stared at the ground and quickly returned to his spot. I looked at him and hoped this one block wasn't able to rattle him.

*Tweet

The ref whistled and the guy with the rooster head did a jump serve which gave a nice arc as it passed the net. Shifting towards the area of the serve I got behind the ball and dropped my shoulders allowing me to properly platform my arms and absorb the impact.

I gave a perfect pass to Kageyama while grinning towards rooster head which caused him to twitch in annoyance. Hinata did the same run up as before and just like last time got blocked again. Which caused us to lose the first set of the game.

"Don't mind, we still have the next set to play to get them back." Dachi said and all of us agreed. As we were walking towards the bench I began thinking back on my hits from the first set.

'That blocker kept on touching my spikes, what can I do…' I began to think back on his blocking patterns and his way of reading my hits.

'If I can just trick him or use my arm swing…!!!' When I thought of what to do, ideas popped up in my head.

I turned to Kageyama and asked him if he could incorporate quicker tempo sets along with the normal ones for me and maybe include the minus tempo since we haven't used it yet with me. He heard my suggestion and nodded.

After drinking my water I began to rotate my shoulder in a clockwise manner and smiled as I was excited to test out the ideas I have thought of during the break. The slight break ended and we returned back to the court.

*Tweet

It was now our serve and Kageyama did his routine before blasting the ball over to the other side. This serve caused the other team to be out of system so they had to set it to their outside. Daichi and Asahi jumped up for a block and were able to shut down the spike.

""Nice block!""

We gathered around and began celebrating the good first point. Kageyama continued to serve but this time they were able to pick it up. The setter gave it to their outside again and he hit the ball off our blocks this time.

Nishinoya quickly got the cover and Hinata once again went up for a hit and got blocked again despite trying to run away from the blocker. The game continued and I was finally at the front.

"Heyo nice to meet ya again." The rooster head on the other side grinned.

"Oh so soon already? I kinda wished you stayed at the back for a bit longer you know." I gave a exaggerated sigh and shook my head.

The opposite team served the ball and it went towards me. I positioned my feet and was able to pass the ball perfectly. I ran at a faster tempo than before and jumped up, having my torso slightly leaning to my left side aiming for a line shot.

Rooster head read this as a straight and pushed his arms to cover it. I smiled at his actions and using my shoulders, I rotated them and had my heavy arm swing switch to a cross and I smashed the ball at an angle.

*BANG

The ball went to the right side near their attack line and I got my hit in.

"Jeez I would've broken my shoulder if it wasn't as flexible as it was now.." I whispered as I felt like I can make that movement more fluid with more practice.

"Waaahh! What the hell was that swing, is your shoulder made out of jelly or something?" Nishinoya came up to me yelling, bringing along Hinata and Kageyama who were looking intently at my shoulder.

The other team were confused at what they saw since it looked like I was going for a line but hit a cross instead. I continued to use my shoulders to redirect hits and I started to get used to the feeling. I was happy that I find a way to trick blockers into misinterpreting where my hits will go.

The set continued and as we went on Hinata kept on getting blocked over again. We began to worry about him if his spirit would vanquish by getting blocked repeatedly but we were wrong.

The look on his face after his failures was calm and he had a quiet smile on his face. He looked towards me and I felt his stare. I felt the message he wanted to convey to me.

'I also want to fight in the air like that.'

I mouthed some words to him. 'Open your eyes' He read my lips and nodded seriously. The next few points of the match was Hinata trying to hit his quick with his eyes open which caused Ukai to call a timeout.

They decided to have Kageyama set the ball more indirectly rather than shooting it towards his peak, slowing it down slightly.

This was tried multiple times before Hinata was switched out in the back for Nishinoya. The match continued and I was blocking with Tsukishima and Kageyama. We were watching the setter to see his body movements when we noticed he quickly glanced behind him. Tskushima started to slant towards the side before I grabbed his shirt.

"It's a feint" I quickly said and he went back just in time to complete the block in the middle to shut down the quick.

"You're setter is pretty sneaky you know." I said to the rooster head and he smiled proudly.

"Our setter is the brain of our team. Of course he would have a few tricks up his sleeve"

The next points were us leading the set [24-22] and Hinata was still trying to hit with his eyes open. He had many errors but we were able to cover his hits that got blocked when finally.

*Swish

He jumped up and hit a cross avoiding the blocker that was following him.

"NICE!!" "Well done Hinata"

Everyone on the court celebrated as he was finally able to hit the ball after many trial and errors. Hinata then looked at me and I grinned back.

"The view up there is pretty amazing isn't it." he smiled and nodded his head. The second set finished with us winning and we continued to play ready to take on our opponents.

***

""Thank you for the game!!"" We yelled out as we finished up our practice match. We were able to reach a 5th set but unfortunately lost that last one [20-25]. We bowed our heads and thanked the head coach of Nekoma.

"You guys are very capable and I would say you have some serious offense that can rival top teams. All you need to do is find a way to connect them all together."

He slightly opened his closed eyes and smiled.

"Let us once again meet at nationals."

"Thank you for your guidance!!" We gave a final greeting and began to tidy up the gym.

"Hey playboy, make sure to stretch after since you don't want to wake up super sore the next day" I heard a voice behind me and it was the rooster head.

"The hell is the nickname 'playboy' rooster head." His eyebrows furrowed and their setter came beside him.

"Told you to fix your bed hair. Even someone else other than our team agrees that you look like a rooster."

"Shut up Kenma." He turned towards me and gave a small cough

"I'm Kuroo Tetsuro, the blocker who always prevented you from hitting properly." He gave a sly smile.

"I'm Haruto Watanabe, the hitter who was able to trick you into blocking somewhere else." I gave a sly smile back and we shook hands with our grip gradually getting stronger. I was also introduced to their setter Kenma Kozume but he didn't speak much.

We exchanged numbers and said our goodbyes after properly cleaning up the gym. We began to walk home with silent expressions.

"The next time we meet them and other opponents later on, we will win it all." Daichi said in a determined voice and we all agreed, prepared to work even harder to win our future games.

***

Reaching my apartment I saw the cherry blossoms and thought to myself that it has been a while since I last saw this view. I climbed up my stairs and opened the door going into my place.

"I'm home.." I said on reflex as I entered. As I took off my shoes the sound of chopping echoed and footsteps coming towards me was heard.

"Ah you came back just in time. Dinner will be finished soon, make sure you go change alright." Mahiru entered my vision and she gave a soft smile that froze me in place.

"Watanabe?" She tilted her head as I wasn't responding and I snapped out of my thoughts.

"It's nothing Shiina. Haaah I can finally eat your cooking again. How long has it been? Centuries?" I gave a sigh and she giggled

"Don't over exaggerate, I bet the food you ate at your camp made you forget about my cooking."

"Hmm maybe you're right the curry and rice was really delicious.." I said remembering the food I ate back then.

"Is that so.. What a shame I made some teriyaki chicken and some other foods a certain person might like but I guess they don't want it huh." Mahiru gave a can't be helped expression as she shook her head.

I froze and turned my head towards her.

"Hm? Something weird just happened. I seem to have forgotten what I ate back at the camp. Strange.. Anyways you said dinner's almost ready right I'll be right back." I rushed towards my room to change quickly.

Mahiru saw me rush by and smiled at my actions. She returned to the kitchen and prepared the dinner, happy that the previous empty spot in front of her during the past few days has finally become occupied once again.

***

Yay golden week training done! Now it's date time. On another note, anyone who plays HSR are you pulling for Silver Wolf or skipping? Peacu.