Chapter 5: Scarlet Eyes of a Snake

Akatsuki was walking to the gym when she hears loud smacks and hits of the ball. She walks in and sees Hinata and Kageyama doing their Freak Attack.

As the ball was going to hit the floor, Kageyama sees a flash of scarlet and a shadow.

In a nick of time, Akatsuki is there, receiving the ball and the ball goes over the net.

"How-"

"If a blocker is in front of you, they will easily block it, just like what happened in your match against Aoba Johsai," Akatsuki says coldly.

"Can you do better, then?" Kageyama is a bit pissed off.

"I'm sorry, I have been to Aoba Johsai. They suck under raw pressure and power, just like how they lost to Shiratorizawa. They focus on tactics and observation from different teammates, but that might not be a saviour in front of raw power. Their captain is officially afraid of me."

"... Great King is afraid of you!? How!?"

"Because the first day I came to their school, he pissed me off. I punched him in the stomach. That's how."

"HA!?"

"Yeah. If any of you lot pissed me off, I will do the same. You might even pass out from the punch."

"O-oh..." Kageyama and Hinata sweatdrop.

"Anyway, back to practice. You know that your so-called 'Freak Attack' won't work unless you, Hinata, think about the situation and see where to spike the ball, which requires you opening your eyes, which will ruin the attack because you will get distracted.

"Now, Kageyama-kun, I think you are not giving Hinata the right spike he wants. You are becoming the King of the Court, and both you and I don't want that.

"I want you to come to me alone to discuss the right spike for Hinata. I will talk to Coach Ukai to become Karasuno's assistant coach. Don't argue." Akatsuki turns to Hinata.

"Hinata, I will have an individual talk with you about some attacks, and I will give you a hint to where you can train yourself later. Right now, do what you can.

"And here goes my long speech. Don't argue amongst yourselves. I will personally murder you both."

That makes the two shiver.

"I keep my words."

She's scary...

Time Skip

"Coach Ukai."

"Um? Akatsuki-san?"

"Coach Ukai, I request myself to be an assistant coach."

Silence for legit three seconds.

"EH!? What's that all of a sudden?"

"I see how this team sucks, so I want to make it better."

"Well, uh, we are going to have a training camp in-"

"Tokyo, invited by Nekomata."

"How do you-"

"I read minds." Akatsuki lies, "Anyway, that's not the important thing. Akakage, the boy you have seen when I came in is only there to help me with my emotions. He has only touched basketball before so... He can be part of the volleyball team if he wants to, okay, Ukai-san?"

"Eh? S-sure, I guess."

And here goes the training camp, where that freakin' Kuroo the flirty, tall guy, purple Broccoli guy, a hand-whip, golden-eye lunatic (Sorry, don't get offended) and some other weird players.

Time Skip (Italics and Bold is English, Italics and Underline is Chinese, but I will write the Chinese down and add the translation)

"I'm back to Tokyo, s**t."

"Watch your language, Akatsuki."

"I don't care."

"Well, I do."

"Fine, you do, and so?"

"Hey what are you talking about?" Tanaka butts in.

"Shut up."

"Tsk, Akatsuki."

"I don't care."

Akakage sighs.

"Karasuno's finally here, uh?" Nekomata smirks.

"Nekomata's smirk is called 笑里藏刀. (In literal translation, the smile has knives hiding in them, commonly describes people with freaking harmonious outside smile, but s**ty rotten creepy insides.)"

"Nekomata-san! Thank you so much for inviting us!" Takeda Ittetsu, the teacher of this volleyball club says.

"No problem! Come and join us for practice!"

"I just realised these people are either tall, motherf**kingly have long arms and have an intelligent mindset."

"Right. So you have observed their every movement, what plan can you make for the three teams?"

"You wanna know?"

"Well, after Karasuno has played every team."

"Then promise me that you do the blocking."

"Okay..."

Karasuno has played against every other team and the result? Lost every single one of them.

"You guys suck."

That was the first sentence out of Akatsuki's mouth.

"Think about them, okay? We tried our best." Ukai starts.

"If you can play better, than why don't you play?" Tsukishima asks.

"I intend to do that, too, Tsukishima-kun. Thank you for your suggestion and agreement."

The polite tone is creepy.

"Coach Nekomata!"

"What's the matter, Shiroyuki-san?"

"I am sorry to drag the other team into this, but can I make up a team myself against the other teams?"

"Well, of course! Go ahead! But if you lose, the same punishment applies like your teammates."

"I know. That's why I won't lose, Nekomata-san."

The cold, confident tone gives Nekomata shivers.

Is she going to win? That's not gonna happen.

"Um, team gathering!"

The different teams, in the colours purple, dark blue, light blue, dark green and light yellow, lines up.

"Just from a suggestion, Shiroyuki-san here decided that she wants to create a team of her own to play against all of the other teams. This will take place after a 20-minute break! Dismissed!"

"Eh? Akatsuki-san is seriously going to challenge all the other teams into a match?"

"Yeah."

"Let's see how this turns out."

Hinata and Kageyama enter.

"You guys came just in time! We are going to see the special matches from Akatsuki-san!"

"Really? Akatsuki-san is going to play?" Hinata asks in surprise.

"If she can win, that will be a surprise. I doubt she would." Tsukishima says.

"Then I shall surprise you, Tsukishima-kun."

Tsukishima shivers.

"W-WHEN ARE YOU HERE!?"

"Well, I just walked over here and I heard you saying these words." Akatsuki states, "What are you so shocked and scared about?"

"The matches will start soon, Akatsuki-san. Have you decide who is going to be on your team?" Sugawara asks.

"Kageyama, Akakage, me."

"Three people!?"

"I mean, I will do the spiking and receiving, Akakage will mainly do the blocking, Kageyama will mainly do setter."

"Will that even work?"

"I said it's a surprise. I have a plan, and I will deliver.

We will win. That's absolute."

On that note, she leaves with Akakage.

Time Skip

It's time for the matches.

Everyone thought that three people against a full team will definitely be Karasuno's downfall.

But sorry, they are facing Akatsuki.

Calculations, observations, plans are the daggers.

Instinct and deliver is the motion, the bloodlust that moves the daggers.

That's why it hurts to play against her.

"You have to tell us about your plan. We have only three people, Akatsuki-san!" Kageyama asked before the match.

"Kageyama, just do what you do always. It will be fine."

"Akakage, blocking is timing, and I know you are good at it. The blocking and first-hand defence are in your control."

"I'll do what I have to do."

"Don't let me down, you two."

"We won't."

Starting with Nekoma.

Serve, set, spike.

One step at a time.

Then for the opponent to receive.

And Akatsuki receives.

Well, she receives and gives a chance to Kageyama for a set.

A set that gives an opportunity for her to spike, just like Hinata.

A push by Kageyama.

A lift and leap of faith.

The eyes of scarlet look down at Nekoma.

The eyes of a Gorgan.

Freeze the actions of every teammate of Nekoma.

Cats are afraid of snakes after all.

The ball bounces off the floor to the opposite court.

Akatsuki drops to the ground.

"You're too hard on them, Akatsuki."

"Shut up. I want to let Karasuno's little crows know that your assistant coach knows a thing or two."

Akatsuki serves next.

Surprisingly, it's almost the same, exact copy of Kageyama's jump serve, except it is customised just for her.

Another point.

The next serve and Nekoma finally caught up to the pace. One received.

The ball goes towards the direction of Kenma.

"Next point, Akakage," Akatsuki says.

"Yeah, I know."

Kenma sets to the right where Akakage is running into.

The spiker? Lev.

Well, that spike failed because Akakage blocked it.

Sorry to say, but At the end, Akatsuki's team of three people won all of the teams.

They did this without rest.

It was just instructions and steps given by Akatsuki.

Something like: for the first position, you start here to the right side of the net and then move left about two steps away from the first position. This is what you will do if my spike was blocked. If it wasn't, proceed the third position, which is moving back about 5 steps and ready to receive. Just keep up the steps in rotation: first, second, third. If the distance or side changes, still do the same way but you have to predict the trajectory of the ball and its ultimate point and run to there, or just run the same exact length but to the other side, or both. It really depends on the scenario and how you deliver.

Nothing is there to say.

Nekomata was quite shocked about how Akatsuki has delivered through the different matches.

Akatsuki makes a good Libero, but she also can be a setter, spiker and blocker.

But most of all that shocked him is how simple the plan she made and pulled out was. It didn't make players wear out stamina, instead, just like dance steps, a few steps that are clear and yet easy to adapt in different situations used in this plan to defeat all players. All the plans aren't the same for every team, she made customised plans for different teams just in the preparation time.

Nekomata starts to wonder if she was using the time when Karasuno was playing against different teams to observe the movements.

But then again, how can she predict every single step of the other team, and, perhaps, her own teammates?

Accidents do happen, right?

Some times things are unable to predict, right?

Well, sorry, to answer Nekomata's questions, he has to understand this:

Akatsuki has these personalities: The shield of Innocence, A mature 18-year-old smartass and a sociopathic inside.

The smartass does the planning, observing the normal instincts and movements in volleyball and in everyday life, the innocence leads the opponents to underestimate her skills and the sociopath to kill the opponents' hearts, leaving no mercy.

Most of the people who had played with her gave up their sport, mostly because the new sport was mastered by her in merely 10 minutes.

But Nekoma's different, and so are the others.

They are the ones that have some strong hearts.

"You know, the only outstanding performances in Nekoma is probably Kuroo and Kenma. They actually think." Akatsuki says coldly.

"How did you see through our every move, Akatsuki-san?" Kuroo asks.

"Patterns."

"Don't just answer with one word! That does not help us!"

"It does. Move on. I have to admit, Shinzen high's broccoli hair is quite impressive with the syncronising attacks, but the setter's action is an easy give-away. I don't know what to say, but Bokuto of Fukuroudani... Welp. Ubugawa, well, great job at the jump serves...

"Well, I don't know what it is like to be passionate about a sport or anything particular, what I do know is that if you want to feel the, what was it called again, joy? The joy of winning and see your, what, friends? Friends' smiles, then you have to fight with everything you've got, notice actions and the patterns they have during the sets they have played, and take advantage of such things. They wouldn't notice, but that would be a great help in predicting movements of your opponents. Well, since practice is finally over, if you want further practice, go ahead, learn what they have, and improve on the tactics. That's all from me."

After dinner, some are in evening practice, and Akatsuki just happens to walk past the door.

"Hey, will you do us a favour?" Kuroo asks.

"What? Blocks?"

"How do you-"

"I know things. Shut up, and I'll help."

"It was quite shocking when you have that long speech." Kuroo says while practising, "You said that you don't know what it is to be passionate about something and you don't know what friends are."

"Well, what are friends?"

"Friends are the people you help, just like how you are helping us through practice."

"And what does it mean to be passionate about something?"

"Means that you love something to the point of dreaming it in your sleep."

"What is loving something?"

"Do you even have feelings?"

"Do you wanna die?"

"No!"

"There you go, your question's answer."

"But why?"

"Because I had once tried to kill myself."

"Wha- Why?"

"Because of bullying. They are jealous of my intelligence and said that I am 'not a normal human being' and that I am 'a monster'. As a result, after surviving suicide, I ended up less empathetic and sympathetic. I don't see the point of loving a subject unless it's useful to me."

"Then that means you don't have friends then?"

"Yes. That does mean that I have enemies around me then."

-----

Hello, readers! I have finally finished this record-breaking more-than-2000-word chapter on the fourth day I have created this draft!

I think you guys know from this chapter's ending that the next chapter is a flashback of Akatsuki, or Bai Xue Yue, right??

I have moved to Singapore yesterday, so I didn't get to write...

The same day as I have opened up the draft, it was Miku's birthday.

So, happy birthday, Miku/Kazami!

Well, I guess it's goodbye?

'Til Next Update!

Silence as Deduction/Sweet Silent Death