Chapter 8 - The Festival(Final)

The Super Rookies team members were resting at the court of their next match when a group of boys approached them.

"I think they're the Super Rookies," said a tall boy while pointing at Hinata's group.

"They look really weak, not to mention short," said a boy with parted hair.

"Hey, don't underestimate people, they have one relatively tall guy and another orange-haired one who's quite tall," Kageyama warned.

"Those guys... aren't they from Kitagawa Daiichi's team, so they really came... and we'll have to face such a strong team," said Izumi.

"These bastards seem to be underestimating us... I should go talk to them to show them who's boss," said Sekimukai while practicing walking towards the other group of boys but was stopped by Hinata, who put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't go picking fights, we should respond on the court by showing them what we're made of," he said.

"I also don't want to provoke them and then lose and have to listen to their taunts," said Daisuke.

After this incident, they gathered in a circle, while a considerable number of people gathered in the stands to watch the game because they knew Kitagawa Daiichi's reputation and wanted to see their players in action.

"It's the first time I'll play with people watching, how scary!" said Suzuki.

"Don't let that affect you! Just play like you always do," said Hinata.

"Guys, this is our big test, to be honest, I don't think we'll be able to win against them, so we should face this as a way to test our skills against good players, but that doesn't mean I'll accept just being crushed, let's make this a tough game!" he continued, encouraging the team. "Hey, it's time for us to use our new war cry!" said Sekimukai.

"On three... One... Two... Three..."

"NO FEAR!" They all shouted in unison.

The game started with Kageyama serving.

"I'll aim at the tall orange-haired guy, he seems to be the opponent team's ace, so he probably isn't very skilled at receiving," he thought as he jumped and served hard towards Hinata, who managed to make the reception he had been tirelessly practicing and passed the ball towards Izumi, who observed Hinata preparing to jump at the back of the court, then set the ball in his direction but it ended up being too short, making Hinata have to hurry and jump before he couldn't jump and hit the ball without leaving the defensive zone (he was in position 6). He encountered a single-person block from the boy with parted hair, but he managed to hit the ball over this block, securing the first point.

"YEAH! Nice point, captain!" said Sekimukai while patting his back.

"What's your problem? The ball came up short from the setter, and it was obvious the ball would go to him, and yet you still were late for the block," Kageyama complained.

"Sorry, sorry," said the boy with parted hair but without seeming to really care.

"But this guy made your serve look easy to receive, this orange-haired guy seems to be really good, did you see that, Kindaichi?" he continued.

"Yeah, he jumped really high," said Kindaichi casually.

1-0 Super Rookies

Izumi serves and the opposing libero makes the reception, and the ball goes to Kageyama who sets to the number one on the opposing team who jumps and prepares to attack. "Come here and jump!" said Daisuke who noticed the movement and called Sekimukai and Kawashima to make the block which is overcome with an attack going towards Sekimukai's hands and going out.

1-1 Tied

"That middle blocker is also good, I got careless and let my movements become predictable and he ended up reading the play for the Captain," thought Kageyama.

"Phew, good thing the other two blockers were shorties, otherwise I don't think Hashikami's attack would have worked," said Kindaichi while going to the serving position.

He tosses the ball and serves towards Suzuki who manages to receive it, Izumi gets the ball and sets towards Sekimukai in position four.

"I'll show what a shorty is capable of doing!" he said while jumping but faced a triple block.

2-1 The Kings

"Damn!" he thinks while trying to attack the block but ends up being blocked and the ball returns to the floor of his own court.

"Shit! It was like a wall," he said.

"Relax, you'll score next time," said Hinata while patting his back.

"Make sure you serve well this time, Kunimi," Kindaichi shouted to the boy with parted hair who was about to serve.

"Whatever," he said while serving towards Suzuki who received without difficulty.

"Let's try that one," said Izumi while trying to make that kind of quick set to Daisuke who was at the net front, the boy whose eyes couldn't be seen jumped and slammed the ball on the opponent's court floor before the libero could reach it.

2-2 Tied

"That libero isn't bad either..." said Kunimi, not very enthusiastically.

After two successful attacks by the opposing team, it was Hinata's turn to serve.

The boy made his classic pose of holding the ball with both hands at neck height and threw it up and then jumped and hit the ball with all his strength which in seconds landed at the back of the opponent's court leaving everyone present impressed, including the crowd.

"Did you see that orange-haired guy's serve, that was super cool," said a guy, while various other people discussed the serve.

"Oh no, don't tell me this guy can do that too?" said Kindaichi, slightly annoyed.

"His serve is fast like Oikawa's but it's a bit different... and I don't think they're at the same level, it seems this guy hasn't completely mastered this serve yet."

He made the same serve four more times in succession where the opposing defense couldn't stop it, but on the fifth time, the libero managed to receive it.

6-4 Super Rookies

"I guess that's what I should expect from an elite team, in five serves, they managed to adapt to the speed of my serve," he thought.

"Now that you've seen the opponent's level, can you take it more seriously? We've been behind in the score too many times," said Kageyama.

"He's right, let's focus," said Hashikami.

"Since the captain is asking, let's do it," said Kindaichi smiling.

After this dialogue, the match continued with greater dominance from the Kitagawa Daiichi members who managed to win against Hinata and his friends 25-15.

Score: Hinata- 11 Points Daisuke- 4 Points

"Poor orange-haired guy, if he had a better team he could actually be capable of beating us, but the rest of the team was pretty bad," said Kunimi.

"It's not that bad, that middle blocker and the libero weren't bad," noted Kindaichi.

On the Yukigaoka members' side, the mood wasn't very pleasant.

"I couldn't get past those guys' block even once, so this is the national level..." said Sekimukai.

"They seemed to know every play I was going to make," said Izumi.

"Guys, we all knew something like this would happen, this just proved in practice that we're not ready yet, let's not get discouraged," said Hinata trying to raise the team's morale.

"Let's go," the boy continued.

Now at home, he was lying in his bed while thinking about today's game:

"I managed to score well today but I was still blocked a few times... I jump high but I still lack the power to overcome any and all blocks... and as for my serve, it's already at a good level but still needs to be better polished," thought the boy while preparing to take a nap.