Winning the Meat

Winning our first match was relatively easy as our opponents were although not amateurs, were not up to our skill level.

Getting points through our serves and blocking were our main reason for winning with only having very few hits in.

We went to the side of the court and drank quick sips of water to hydrate ourselves due to jumping and running around. As we were doing so Tsutomu had to go with the official to locate our next match.

Hinata who was right beside us was in deep thought and turned to Kageyama to say something.

"Kageyama, can we not use the minus tempo in this tournament… I want to use this chance to improve the way I hit the ball with my eyes open." Hinata said while looking strongly at Kageyama.

Kageyama, who was drinking, took the bottle out of mouth and stared at Hinata.

"I wasn't going to use it in the first place idiot. We're in a place where our future opponents can see us play. So I wouldn't want to reveal our secret weapon too soon."

Kageyama said as he looked around and saw many volleyball players playing on courts around him.

"Plus I think you should also practice your passing since you still suck at them."

"Shut up I know already!" Hinata yelled out feeling embarrassed by his passes during the first game.

Haruto heard the conversation beside him and thought back during the golden week training camp.

"Hinata, do you still remember the signs that Sugawara gave you about the different plays?" Haruto asked, remembering during golden week Sugawara gave all the first years the different hand signs for different plays.

Hinata nodded and remembered memorizing them during the camp and also when he went home.

"Let's just use those hand signs for practice. We can use different plays without relying on the minus tempo. At most after seeing you play they will just think that you have a really strong jump."

This idea earned a nod from the two of them and they all put their hands together.

"Let's win that wagyu!!"

""OHHHH""

***

The next few games were an easy win as our team had two strong hitters and receivers with Hinata also showing up for the normal quick, surprising the blockers that were marking both Haruto and Tsutomu.

"Let's see.. our final match is at court 7." Haruto said to the guys around him as he looked towards the paper. They reached the court and their opponents were already warming up.

As Haruto looked across he saw a tall guy with missing eyebrows staring at him. He suddenly pointed at Haruto which made him very confused.

"Aone, I told you not to do that!" A guy with short curly hair and black cat-like pupils yelled out while trying to hold down the outward arm. He pushed the Aone away and turned to Haruto.

"I'm sorry for his behavior! He just has a habit of marking you if he knows that you're a strong hitter." The guy apologized while scolding Aone for his habits.

"Yikes, it seems like you have a tall blocker marking you Haruto. How do you feel?" Tsutomu whistled and gave a grin towards Haruto.

"Well it's still the same as always. They can put up a wall but I will always find a way to hit through." Haruto gave a big grin as he also started to stare at Aone.

"Was he always like this when you played with him?.." Hinata whispered to Tsutomu

"Hahh.. pretty much. Does he still give that perverted smile when he meets good players.." Tsutomu sighed and whispered back.

"Oi I'm not a pervert you asshole!" Haruto heard them even when they whispered and chased them after they ran away.

***

The two teams finally got on the court and got in the same positions used in the previous games.

Haruto's team had lost the coin toss and got ready to receive the serve. The other team did a regular overhand serve and aimed it towards the left corner. Before the serve Kageyama pulled his shirt to cover his hand and showed a closed fist with his pinky down.

This told them the play that was going to be used was a quick set behind the setter. The ball went towards the corner but Haruto was able to pass using his fingers. The ball went towards Kageyama and both Tsutomu and Hinata ran up for a quick.

The two blockers on the other side were watching intently at where the ball was going to go. Kageyama jumped up and gave a quick set behind him and Aone went towards the ball.

Hinata looked at the ball in the air and saw hands enter his vision. In the previous games he played today he was always nervous facing this obstacle but currently he was feeling calm since he had gotten used to it after getting blocked lots of times.

Seeing the line open he hit the ball and the palm of the blocker touched the ball which went out.

""Nice Hinata!"" We celebrated and Hinata gave a goofy smile. Haruto looked on the other side and saw how fast the tall blocker was reading the set. He called over Kageyama.

"Try to set the ball so we can have a 1vs1 scenario everytime we hit since it will be harder for them to block us if we separate the two players at the front." Kageyama heard this and looked down before eventually nodding his head.

Tsutomu was at the line and prepared his serve. He tossed the ball and it did an arc crossing over. The opposite side was able to get the ball up but was out of system.

"Futakuchi get the last hit!" The guy with short curly hair yelled out while bump setting the ball.

'Shit I hate hitting high tosses.' The player named Futakuchi looked at the high toss and cursed in his mind. He ran up and Kageyama got in front to block the hit. In the air he saw a cross open and hit towards it.

Tsutomu read the hit and quickly tried to get the ball which he got up. Kageyama quickly got under it and gave a quick set towards Haruto.

Haruto ran up and jumped in the air and saw the hands of one blocker in front of him with the addition of another one who quickly ran from the other side of the net to block a cross.

He looked at his options and hit as hard as he could down the line. The ball hit the side of the blocker in front of him and went out.

"Thanks Mr. Setter." Haruto went to Kageyma and gave him a high five while smiling. Tsutomu went back to the line to serve and try to get our third point in a row. The ball went over but this time they received the ball and got a set towards their middle.

'I can't touch it.' Tsutomu looked at the spike going above his block as he jumped too late. The ball was hit and landed before Haruto or Hinata could reach it.

"Aone nice kill!" The other team celebrated and got ready to serve.

"My bad I reacted too late to the set" Tsutomu apologized and the rest of the guys said not to mind as they also couldn't reach the hit fast enough too.

Haruto looked at the score [2-1] and got into position to get ready and receive the upcoming serve.

***

"Hinata stop getting tricked by their feints you idiot!"

"SORRY!"

Kageyama yelled out as he tried to block the hitter. The hitter hit the ball at a cross but Haruto was able to get the ball up. As the ball was going up Haruto transitioned quickly from the ground after passing to get his approach in.

He ran up to hit which caught the attention of the blockers and quickly moved to him. But they were surprised to see that Kageyama set the ball in the middle, having Tsutomu hit the ball straight down as there was no one to block him.

"YOOSHAA!" "OHHH" Tsutomu yelled out with his fists raised high and Hinata was yelling alongside him after admiring that spike he just hit.

"Idiot stop yelling and go to your position." Haruto smacked Tsutomu on the head earning him a glare from him as he was rubbing his head.

Haruto grabbed the ball given to him and looked at the scoreboard which said [23-20] They had won the first set and they just needed two more points to finally win the prize.

Haruto got the serve over and they passed the ball. The setter gave a back set towards their opposite hitter. Haruto read the set and quickly got up for the block.

"Touch!" Haruto touched the ball and Hinata was able to pass the ball off the block. He ran up and tried to hit. The two blocker stood still and watched the hitters intently.

This was seen by Kageyama and he took advantage of it. Kageyama jumped up and twisted his body and hit the pass that was given to him and got a point off it.

"YOOO WHEN DID YOU LEARN TO DO THAT?!?" Haruto yelled out and Kageyama just said that he saw Oikawa do it once and wanted to try and copy it.

Haruto nodded his head and quickly got to the line and put the ball on his forehead to think.

'May this serve earn me that wagyu.' Haruto thought and threw the ball in the air. With an upright torso he rotated his body as fast as he could and blasted the serve over.

The opponents tried to get the ball but were too late to react.

*Tweet

The whistle was heard and this meant they had finished the game.

"Haruto you got the wagyu for us!!" "MEAT MEAT!"

Tsutomu and Hinata excitingly came over with Kageyama following along with the same look.

Haruto smiled and looked towards Aone who came towards them.

"Next time." He quickly said and returned back to his side.

"Next time?" Haruto repeated the word he heard and a thought quickly came to his head.

"You said that Date Tech had the best blockers in Miyagi right?" Haruto turned to Kageyama to which he nodded before quickly realizing why he asked that.

"So those guys were players from Date Tech... Looks like you got a blocker waiting for you in the inter high." Kageyama said to which Haruto just smiled.

"Well I think that's a good thing. If he places his focus on me.." Haruto said before quickly glancing at Hinata

"He would not be able to expect our secret weapon." After he said this, the other two gave an excited smile.

"Hey can you tell me what that secret weapon is?" Tsutomu slyly asked which Haruto ignored.

"Congratulations for winning the tournament! Here are packages of premium meat for winning!" One of the officials gave them each a big package of meat which caught the attention of the four guys.

They lined up holding the meat and took a celebratory photo for winning the tournament.

From a few feet away from them two guys were watching them take their photos.

"So what do you think Miracle Boy? Do you think a strong opponent finally appeared." A guy with spiky red hair smiled as he asked the tall guy beside him.

The guy had dark olive brown hair and matching coloured eyes. He had a stoic expression which made him look very intimidating.

"Doesn't matter. In the end we will be the winner no matter what." He said bluntly before giving a final gaze and turned around to leave.

Haruto felt a stare and turned his head but was unable to see who was looking.

'Weird.. Anyways I should probably call Shiina to ask if she could cook this meat as a celebration for today' Haruto thought in his head before reaching for his phone and looked for Mahiru's number to call.

***

Never tried wagyu before. Sadge. Peacu.