The Serve

"Touch! Touch!!"

Haruto yelled out as he turned around to look at the ball that flew upwards from his block.

"Tch." Kyotani clicked his tongue as he was getting annoyed with how Haruto was able to catch his spikes despite Oikawa's attempts to try and isolate him with a single blocker.

With the ball going high up in the air, Nishinoya popped the ball back up to Kageyama and he looked at his options.

Haruto noticed what he was doing and he quickly turned to Hinata who was ready to hit from the back. Hinata turned to look at Haruto and after a brief second they began to run in sync.

'These guys…'

Kageyama's eyes squinted when he noticed what the two wanted to do and stretched his fingers to get his hands ready for the set.

The two guys jumped up in the air and waited patiently for the ball to come to them.

'Slot 6, further out.'

Precisely knowing the location of where to send the ball, Kageyama used his fingers and tossed the ball quickly to Hinata who was ready for the ball.

*BAAM

He swung the ball quickly and it hit the fingertips of the single blocker who managed to jump upwards. It flew outwards and allowed for Karasuno to get one more point.

Points started to stack up for both teams when the scores managed to reach the last few points for the second set.

Oikawa rotated to the back row due to winning a point off a missed serve and stared at the score that showed that it was [23-21] with Karasuno potentially winning the game.

'I don't want to lose once again.' He thought to himself and spun the ball across his palm.

*Tweet

He tossed the ball in the air after hearing the ref's whistle and noticed something about the ball when it had left his fingertips. 

'Ah..this is the one…'

*BOOOM

Oikawa smashed the ball across and the force it had as it crossed over the net was more like a spike on an empty net rather than a serve.

Haruto's eyes locked onto the ball but he was too late as it landed near the edge of a corner that was too far away for him to get. The ref raised his arms towards Aoba Johsai as he had seen the linesmen point their flags towards the ground.

"A slightly higher toss with a quicker spin…" Haruto quietly spoke as he had his eyes glued onto Oikawa during his serve and felt like he found the reason for the improved power in his serve.

"I hope he gives the serve towards me now." He repeatedly squeezed his palms as he wanted to face against his brand new serve.

However his thoughts were unable to come true due to Oikawa's next serve hitting the tape of the net.

"Gugh.." Nishinoya grunted as he dove for the ball that was falling after hitting the net and managed to bring the ball upwards for them to use. 

Kageyama quickly transitioned and jumped up to set a quick to the middle who managed to hit it off the arms of the blocker.

Aoba Johsai's defense quickly surrounded the ball and got the ball back onto their court seeing the direction the ball had gone.

"Mad Dog-chan." 

Oikawa called out to Kyotani who jumped up to the ball on the right side and spiked it into the block Haruto managed to put up.

"Recycle the ball!"

Iwaizumi got the ball that went off Haruto's block and Oikawa decided to give another set to Kyotani. This time however he started to approach the net at a parallel and Karasuno got ready for the possible sharp angle.

Haruto saw the plan and decided to stretch his arms further outwards but he eyes widened when he noticed the ball being abnormally close.

*THWACK!

Haruto felt a stinging pain in the middle of his face but he still decided to look where the ball was going. Unfortunately he saw that the ball bounced out of bounds giving Aoba Johsai a point.

"H-Haruto you're bleeding!?"

"Huh."

Haruto heard the voice of Kageyama who suddenly acted nervous after seeing his current look. Haruto felt a warm liquid slowly pour down his nose and touched it with his hand. He saw the red print on his finger and got what was currently happening.

"Ref timeout!"

"Watanabe are you alright? How are your eyes doing?"

"I'm fine, it's just a small nosebleed."

Ukai called out and Takeda quickly approached Haruto who was trying to stop the blood from pouring out.

"I can still play…"

"No you're not going back until you stop bleeding." Ukai had a wry smile on his face as it was currently a close game right now but the wellbeing of his players mattered more right now.

Haruto went to the bench and got some tissues to help with the bleeding.

"H-Haruto!"

"Mahiru?" Haruto spoke in surprise when he saw Mahiru roughly breathing and her eyes showed an emotion of worry within them.

"It's just a nosebleed.."

"Just go and have it checked out to be double sure you're alright."

"...."

Takeda saw the unwilling look on Haruto's face so he tried his best to convince him to at least get his injury checked.

"Alright. Tsukishima that blonde guy, has a habit of hitting wherever he faces and be sure to watch the people who are hiding and not get caught in their faints."

Haruto who was getting dragged away by Mahiru tried to speak out his thoughts about the game and the team just looked at him with a funny look on their faces.

Oikawa who was by net stared at the scene and had a passive look on his face.

"I don't want to sound like a bad guy but let's break down their formation while they're currently messed up right now."

"Our captain is so scary right now~"

"Shut up."

***

"It looks like it's just a few ruptures in the nose so you'll be fine. Keep applying pressure and I'll be back in 5 mins to check again."

"Thank you."

Mahiru spoke out and Haruto nodded his head in thanks and watched how the doctor left the area they were in. Silence enveloped the two as Haruto closed his eyes to focus on applying pressure in his nose.

"We lost the second set [25-27]..."

"I see."

Haruto replied as he knew that Oikawa would not let this chance slip by as their formation is currently unstable due to the sudden shift of players.

He began to tap his finger on the chair and started to think of what he could do once he went back and decided to trust his team that they could hold off Oikawa from creating a lead that would be difficult to beat.

"A horizontal rotation on the toss…"

***

While Haruto was sitting to get his nose checked, the third set between Karasuno and Aoba Johsai started off rough.

"The engine on number 16 is going off now since he doesn't have someone constantly on his tail when he goes up to attack." 

Ukai whispered as he covered his mouth with his fingers. He tightened up his hand as he noticed Tsukishima trying his best to adjust to him but still needed some time.

He looked at the score and saw that it was [3-6] and felt the need to do something to prevent the lead from getting any bigger.

"I guess I should give him a chance…" Ukai said as he called over one player to get subbed in.

"Tanaka-san!" Kageyama called out as he gave a high toss to Tanaka to have him try and use the ball.

He pulled his arm back and swung his hardest against the blockers that covered his way. The ball bounced off their blocks and slowly floated above the tape of the net.

Tskushima noticed this and jumped up in the air jousting the ball with the person opposite of him and slid it off to the side to get a point.

*Tweet

Rotating to the back row to serve, Tsukishima noticed his number being held up, signaling a substitution to be made.

"Don't be nervous."

"..."

Tsukishima spoke calmly towards the slightly nervous Yamaguchi who was breathing out to relax himself.

"It will be different this time." Tsukishima left with some words as Yamaguchi remembered the time he missed his serve from the time during Inter Highs.

Feeling the frustration from last time, his body relaxed and walked up towards the service line. Yamaguchi felt the sharp gazes from the other side but he told himself to ignore them and focus on the ball.

*Tweet

Hearing the whistle, Yamaguchi felt the ball in both of his palms and slowly walked forward. As he was walking he tossed the ball up into the air and used a firm palm to hit the ball.

He watched as the ball made its way past the net and reached the back row on Aoba Johsai's side.

"Out!" The lib on the other side called out as he raised his hands and turned around.

Yamaguchi scrunched his face when he heard those words but he continued to watch to see where his serve would land.

*Swoosh

The linesmen on the court raised their flags and pointed towards the ground seeing as the ball had landed inside the court.

"!!!!!"

"Yamaguchi!!"

"Ace! It's an ace!"

Yamaguchi felt an ecstatic feeling of joy when he saw his team celebrating his service ace. The memory of him watching the others practicing hard during the training camp made him want to also contribute by focusing on the one thing he's got.

'So this is the feeling…'

He always wondered how it felt seeing people like Haruto and Hinata getting excited after getting points but now he seems to understand why they get so happy.

"Get another one." Daichi passed the ball to him and Yamaguchi nodded seriously going back to the service line.

*Tweet

Hearing the whistle once again, Yamaguchi threw the ball up into the air and did his float serve.

"I got it!" A player from the back row yelled out as he raised his fingers up into the air to volley the ball.

*Fwup

As he was about to pass he felt the ball slip through his fingers and eventually landed on the floor once again.

"Yes!!"

Yamaguchi pumped his fist once again when he saw that he was able to get another ace.

"I'm happy his hard work was able to pay off."

"Haruto! How is the nosebleed?" 

"It stopped."

Ukai suddenly jumped up when he heard a voice behind him and saw that Haruto had arrived from the checkup. He kneeled down behind Ukai as he was getting informed on what happened so far and smiled when he saw that the score was tied.

Yamaguchi once again tried to score another ace but was unfortunately met with Iwaizumi's overhand pass and a spike down the middle from the back row.

Ukai signaled for a substitution as he waited to see how far Yamaguchi could score to sub two players off at the same time.

"You have an amazing serve."

"T-Thanks!"

As Haruto was about to pass Yamaguchi he said a few words as he saw Yamaguchi's body soften up as if the tension left his body.

"It feels amazing right?" 

Yamaguchi saw the bright smile Haruto had as he asked the question and thought back to the scene that was now engraved into his memory.

"It did…"

"Then I'll count on you tomorrow once we play against Shiratorizawa."

After his words Haruto walked onto the court and Yamguchi nodded his head with a firm expression and walked back to the bench.

With Haruto back in the game, the defensive ability at the net increased greatly with the addition of having their offensive back to their usual aggressive nature.

This was especially true for Haruto, something that Kageyama noticed.

"You're attacking more aggressively." Kageyama said as he passed the ball to Haruto as he was going to serve the ball now.

"Yeah. I want to make up for all the points I could've got when I was gone."

Leaving with that sentence, Haruto walked up to the service line and changed the position of where he usually served the ball.

'I feel kinda happy though for being gone as I was able to think more about my serve.'

Haruto thought as he was constantly trying to expand his perspective on how he plays and looking for new ways he could improve. 

'I should thank you Oikawa for showing me.'

A small smile escaped his mouth and he waited for the ref and his whistle.

*Tweet

Haruto heard the same whistle but he didn't pay any attention to it any longer as he placed all his focus on the ball.

'A serve met with a solid platform straight on can be easily brought up into the air… but what happens when you take both of those away.'

A few steps back from the right corner of the line, Haruto threw the ball up with two hands instead of his usual one hand.

Using his right hand he tossed the ball on its side to give it a horizontal rotation while he guided the ball upwards with his left hand. Watching the toss, Haruto pulled his arm back and tensed his core to aim at the left corner on the opposite side of the court.

'What the hell..'

The people at the back row felt their eyes widened when they saw Haruto's serve curve intensely.

They placed their forearms straight on to catch the serve but the speed and angle it went through caused the ball to just scrape by their forearms and bounce out.

"This damn monster…"

Oikawa felt an unnatural smile grow in his face when he saw the serve Haruto just did.

'That's one…'

Getting the ball in his hands, Haruto bounced the ball and went back to the right corner, aiming to get another ace.

***

I hope you enjoyed it. Peacu