Chapter 30

"So, what do you think of Oikawa?" Hiroyuki asked Matheo when they meet again in front of the entrance gate.

"I have to say your friend is very interesting, either as a person or a player. I have a high expectation because of your words, but as long as he didn't meet any bad accidents or injuries, I think he can go further beyond what I expect right now." Hiroyuki stared at Matheo with a surprised face.

"That good, huh?"

"Well, as you said before, he didn't shy to praise or criticize himself. When I asked him what he thought about himself as a player, he gave me a detailed explanation of his strength and weakness and what he did to improve it. He came clean to me about his past knee injury and how he wants to avoid the same in the future.

He is also a smart person. His insight about volleyball is really fresh, something we Italian would appreciate after several years dominated by senior players. The passion, intelligence, hard work, and diligent research he put to improve himself is the reason why I think he can be good in the future." Hiroyuki nodded, understanding what Matheo said as he spent a month training with Oikawa.

"Well, let's just hope what he said can be reflected on how he plays on the court, right?" Matheo smirked at what Hiroyuki said.

They came inside the stadium five minutes before the game begin, right when both teams have a warm-up.

"How about your sister's team? Is there anyone interesting?"

"Well, there is Oikawa's junior in the middle school. He was dubbed as the most genius setter in his generation, and I can see the reason why. But I don't think you will find him interesting." Matheo raised his eyebrow slightly as the answer and asked curiously.

"How so?" Hiroyuki took his time to think about what to say before he replied,

"You will see in the game that he has the most impressive technique and accuracy for any high school students you have ever met. That is something I will acknowledge. But he is being too dependent on the technique that sometimes he didn't trust his teammates. And when he is under pressure, he will get agitated easily and start to blame his teammates. The lack of communication skills is also a problem for him as a setter.

His creativity is good if I have to say. But he has a pattern and is quite stubborn to change it even when his opponents already know about it. Overall, I can say that he has big potential, but not something you will find interesting and until he can fix his communication problem with his teammates, he will have a hard time in professional volleyball."

Matheo stroked his chin while nodding, agreeing with what Hiroyuki said.

"Anyone else?" Hiroyuki smiles as he pointed his finger at Hinata.

"See that orange-haired shorty there?" Matheo nodded. "Well, he is the middle blocker." This time, Matheo snapped his head, clearly stunned at what Hiroyuki said.

"Really?"

"Yup. I trained with him and Oikawa for the last month. Before that, he is just a rookie that didn't have any professional trainer in his middle school. And seeing his progress, I think he can be someone good if he is serious about volleyball."

"If you said that, I cannot wait to see the game." Said Matheo excitedly.

-------------------------------

Meanwhile, on the court, Hinata is playing with a ball, trying to calm himself down from his nervousness. He remembers what Hiroyuki said about getting nervous during the game.

'It is in human nature to get nervous. But you have to remember that if you messed up due to your nervousness, you can say goodbye to the court and spend the rest of the game sitting on the bench. So, if you got nervous, just remember your frustration when you have to sit on the bench and watch as your teammates fought.'

That is what Hinata tried to do this time. He ignores all of the 'what if he messed up' thoughts and imagines himself just sitting on the bench watching his teammates fight. Surprisingly, the frustration from his imagination was enough to calm him down.

"Are you okay, Hinata-kun?" Sugawara asked with concerned eyes. Hinata nodded although there is a small trace of nervousness on his face.

"I think I am doing good. Don't worry though, my nervousness would not affect the team." Hinata replied confidently. This time, he got the answer loudly from behind.

"You better be! The last time you played against them, you were a big mess! Don't you dare to do the same!" While it sounds like a scold, Hinata knows that Tanaka said that to ease the tension on the team.

"Don't worry, Tanaka-senpai! I am better now!" Hinata shouted back with an energetic smile, resulting in Nishinoya slapping his back.

"That's the spirit, Shouyo-kun! Let's show this great king who is the boss here!" Everyone laughed at them while remembering how Hinata was at the game against Aoba Johsai before. Coach Ukai and Sawamura sighed, relieved that the tense situation within the team is gone now, so they can go all out from the beginning.

"Yosh, let's go, everyone! Let's give our best and win the game! KARASUNO!"

"FIGHT!!!"

Hinata, Tsukishima, Tanaka, Azumane, Sugawara, and Daichi come to the court as the starter for Karasuno. Then, the starter for Aoba Johsai also entered the court. There are Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Matsukawa, Hanamaki, Kunimi, and Watari as libero. Hinata frowned at the determination eyes that can be shown in Oikawa.

'There is something wrong with him. This game definitely will be hard for us.' Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and when he turned his head, he can see Kageyama seems struggled to say something. Then he heard a small and awkward mutter from Kageyama,

"Good luck." Then the setter leaves him alone.

It still shocked Hinata and his teammates how much Kageyama change after the game against Nekoma. He didn't shout a lot and tried to maintain his temperament on the court and praised his teammates sometimes. The setter even helped him develop their quick attack so that he could spike with open eyes. Unfortunately, they still could not do that often, so Coach Ukai told them not to do that in this game.

Then the whistle from the referee snapped his mind, as he prepared for the game. The first set began with Karasuno's serve, as Kageyama took his time to prepare it. He served the ball nicely with good power to the corner of the court, which unfortunately were received easily by Kunimi.

Tsukishima and Kageyama noticed Matsukawa and Iwaizumi on the front run quickly to do the quick attack so they marked the two senior members of Aoba Johsai. However, Oikawa did something that no one could predict. When everyone is expecting him to set for his teammates, he jumped at the ball and spiked it right at Tanaka who cannot receive the ball perfectly. A point for Aoba Johsai.

Everyone, even his teammates looked at Oikawa with a dumbfounded face, clearly didn't expect the aggressive opening from the setter. But Oikawa just smirked provocatively and said to the rest of the Karasuno team,

"Watch it, I will do the same next play."

-------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, on the supporter side, Matheo is letting a loud laugh at Oikawa's aggressiveness.

"Your friend is really interesting, Hori! He said to me before the game that he will do something big in the first play and I can say that he sure knows how to make a strong first impression. I cannot wait to see how he plays for the rest of the game." Matheo straightened his seat, watching the game excitedly.

------------------------------------------

Author note:

You can also read:

- Transmigrated Into Anime World as Kiyoko Shimizu's Older Brother up to chapter 37

- Naruto: Ashigaru up to chapter 07

I want to add more chapters to my Patreon account so you can read up to 10 chapters. But I still don't have that many chapters, so I just added them little by little. Hopefully, by the end of the week, you can read up to 10 chapters when you become a member. Thank you!

You can read all of it at my Patreon account, pat_reon.com/zwolf1 (Without '_') Thank you for your support! :)