113 Sit In Comfort

Seated in one of the far corners of the gym was Kageyama who was relaxing his tense body after another intense session from training. 

The head coach had opened the gym to allow players to continue playing if they wished to. Some of the guys who were at the camp decided that they would end the day as their bodies were too worn out.

While some players in particular decided that they would continue as they still had enough energy to spare.

"Hey! I swear if you hold back on me I'm going to double dip my food in front of you every time I eat!"

Haruto who was on the other side of the net yelled out towards Sakusa who had a dark expression on his face.

Seeing that his words provoked a reaction from him, Haruto faintly smiled as he relaxed his body and waited for Sakusa to serve.

*BOOOM

The ball ripped through the air as Sakusa followed through with Haruto's request and placed his technique into his serve as he aimed at Haruto who was on the other side.

'That spin is actually nasty.'

Haruto lifted his feet off the ground as he used that momentum to propel his body towards the area the ball was curving at.

He managed to once again catch the ball that had given him trouble the few times he's received it and tensed his forearms to create a solid platform.

Haruto felt the ball's spin start to shake the platform he's held on but he still persisted and pushed it upwards towards the area where a setter would be at.

The ball was picked up and flew towards the net but Haruto's face scrunched when he noticed that it went over the net.

"Ahhh!! Dammit I got an overpass again!?"

Sakusa and Komori felt a change in their expression as they were nearby and felt some amusement appear on their faces when they saw Haruto letting out frustrated cries.

Sakusa might have not shown it but he felt relaxed after seeing the result of Haruto passing his serve and couldn't help but regard his skill in passing after looking at his progression.

'Well he did face against Ushijima so he should have solid passing skills anyway.'

He thought in his head and went to pick up another ball from the cart near him. In his mind however, Sakusa began to put Haruto's threat level near the top of his list.

"You should place more emphasis on your legs when you pass these types of serves."

"What do you mean by that?"

Komori who watched the way Haruto received, walked onto the court as he gave some advice to him.

"You have excellent form but be sure to not forget to create a solid foundation for you to move on."

Haruto watched as Komori moved his legs and feet in a way where his balance was solid.

"His serve spins a lot so only moving your arms to adjust the rotation will make it way harder for you to counteract the spin. Use your whole body to adjust and move."

Komori gestured his body in a way for Haruto to understand who was currently scanning how his body moved the entire time.

"So more emphasis on the basics?"

"Yup! You're pretty clever to figure out the meaning of my words."

"You make it sound like I'm pretty stupid to understand something like that."

"Yup!"

"You peanut brow. You speak very honestly, huh."

Haruto had a few dark lines on his face when he saw Komori laughing his hardest and grumbled as he gestured for Sakusa to serve once again.

"You sure have your hands full with having to match that."

Kageyama who was still watching from the sidelines, noticed a voice call out to him and saw Atsumu walking towards him with a sweaty face like he had just finished a big workout.

"Not really, I always try to match him since it gets under my skin if he's ahead of me."

"Oh my, that's pretty awesome of you."

Atsumu laughed to himself as he heard Kageyama's calm answer and felt intrigued by the competitive tone he had.

He looked at Kageyama deeply as he thought about his impression of him and his playstyle that he couldn't help but ask something.

"What kind of sets do you think are the best for a hitter?" 

"Hmm?" Kageyama looked at Atsumu slightly confused but all he saw was his sly smile.

"I guess one that is easy for the spiker to hit."

"Is that all?"

"Pretty much."

Kageyama replied as he continued to watch Haruto's training session why Atsumu took one last glance at him.

"So you allow your hitters to be captive to comfort, I see."

"...What?"

"Nothing~ just heard something interesting so don't mind me."

Kageyama's eyes frowned when noticed Atsumu's tone and watched as he walked out of the gym. 

***

"What does it mean when a person says 'you allow your hitters to be a captive to comfort'?"

"Doesn't that mean the person is some sort of chunni?"

"...."

Back in their room, Kageyama gave Haruto a blank stare as he watched him brush his teeth while answering his question at the same time.

It was their time to start their night routine and Kageyama was laying down on his bed while Haruto leaned against the wall listening to what he had to say.

"Don't tell me you're going into some sort of chunni phase right now…"

"No you bastard."

"Thank god. I had enough of seeing that from Akane so I'm sick of it."

Haruto gave a sigh of relief as he heard his denial.

"I just heard it from that setter you've played with when he was asking about the types of sets I liked to give my hitters."

"Atsumu likes to blurt things that come straight to his mind so don't wrap your head around it too much."

Kageyama turned silent when he heard Haruto's words but an irritating feeling still attacked him whenever he thought about it.

"How does his sets feel?"

"His sets?"

"Yeah I'm wondering since you've played with him a lot."

Haruto fell into deep thought as he tried to recall his time hitting Atsumu's sets and said the first things that came to mind.

"It's like he gives a false sense of security and opens up lots of options whenever I go up to hit."

He noticed that Kageyama was looking seriously at him as if he wanted to hear more and Haruto continued his train of thought.

"He just sends the ball where I don't need to think about anything else but how I should use the ball. Like how it urges me to put all my attention into hitting in directions where I haven't before or to push myself in a new area I haven't explored yet."

"A new area you haven't explored yet…."

Kageyama quietly mumbled when he heard Haruto's last few words and felt like something started to sprout within him.

"But don't worry! I still prefer you as my setter since you can actually match with my whims and give me a set that I can reliably use whenever I need them."

"...Ahem.."

"Pffft!!"

Haruto looked at the slightly proud face Kageyama was giving and couldn't help but burst out in laughter seeing the smug look he had.

Kageyama felt slightly embarrassed seeing Haruto laugh at him but his mind turned calm as he remembered his description of what Atsumu's sets were like.

His eyes gleamed as Kageyama's title as King of the Court began to slowly evolve itself and show its true meaning.

***

"Why am I a hitter…"

"I don't know but I should be saying the same thing."

Haruto and Kageyama were for once on the same team during their scrimmage but there was a slight alteration to their roles.

"You may be wondering why we placed you in these roles and well…" The coach looked on his clipboard as a paper was seen with a few names on them.

S: Haruto

WS: Kageyama

MB: Hoshiumi

"We just wanted for you to experience a change of pace to get you out of your comfort zone and try something new."

Haruto felt convinced by his reasoning and felt some expectation rise as he was curious as to what he could do as a setter.

"You better give me some good sets."

"Whatever, just use what I give you."

Haruto pushed Kageyama away and walked towards his position where he was near a short guy with white hair.

"What? Are you wondering if I could do good as a short middle?"

"Not really, I was just wondering if I should match you with someone I know."

"Someone you know…"

The guys frowned when he heard Haruto's words but quickly pushed it aside when he heard the coaches whistle ring.

Haruto took in a deep breath as he wiggled his fingers around and rubbed them together as he anticipated the ball to come his way.

***

I'm starting to finish the last few of my exams so I may have more free time. Anyways I hope you enjoyed it. Peacu..