Ch 25 Chidoriyama Part 3

"Rolling Thunder"

Following the energy infused scream, the ball made its way over to the setter. The setter quickly shuffled his feet, got under the ball. Taking a quick glance at his attackers, his eyes narrowed briefly. 

Milliseconds after, his calves tensed and relaxed, launching himself into the air to meet the ball. In response, Kitagawa Junior High's blockers, Daniel and Kindaichi, jumped and formed a wall.

Their wall, constructed with seamless teamwork and understanding, a stark contrast to the lone Chidoriyama setter in their aerial battle. 

With an unshaken gaze, he simply hit the ball against the wall, attempting a rebound. 

"RESET"

Successful in his attempt, he yelled out to not only readjust his team but himself as well.

The previous play had no doubt shaken his team, if not for Nishinoya's timely intervention he was sure the team's morale would have plummeted even further.

Startled by the setter, the rest of Chidoriyama's players readjusted themselves. Nishinoya Yu stepped up and bump passed the rebound to the setter once more. A close replication of the play prior to the current one. However, this time, it was not just the setter making a move. 

The Outside Hitter was moving into his approach but so was the Right Side but he was instead going with a delayed approach, aiming to catch both the blockers and the defense.

They were not the only ones, a player at the back readied himself for a back attack. 

With 3 options for an attack, the setter couldn't help but feel emotional, seeing his teammates back him up. Rising to meet the ball, he sent it over to the Outside Hitter.

Kitagawa Daiichi blockers shuffled quickly to meet the Outside Hitter in the air and stuff him. The back players adjusted accordingly, taking various angles behind the blockers that would serve best in predicting the trajectory of the ball. The blockers fell short by seconds and the Outside Hitter got the hit off. 

It did not end there. Rather than his hitting hand's palm facing forward, it was now facing towards the right side of the court. 

The Outside Hitter had done the unthinkable, a cross body spike.

Discarding the conventional path of a straight down, in utter disrespect, he cut through the wall right in front of their very hands and performed a cross body spike towards the deep corner.

*3 minutes before this very play

IWAIZUMI's POV

Iwaizumi had been moved to the back after Oikawa and Daniel's little stunt. 

'Damn you, Shittykawa'

He couldn't help but curse his childhood friend. 

He had an inkling Oikawa was stirring something up but he definitely wasn't expecting anything to this extent. Now he was delegated to the back and..

"Huh?"

Seeing the Outside Hitter suddenly performing a cross body spike, making the ball head towards his zone. Now he had no choice but to deal with this monstrous spike.

The cross body spike wasn't a regular technique any wing spiker could execute. It required exquisite timing, and precision to simultaneously adjust their body position mid-air. Too little would send it into the opposition's hand, too much would launch it out of bounds and into the stands.

You don't choose to use the cross body spike, the cross body spike chooses you.

Facing the unexpected ball heading his way, Iwaizumi was left stunned, finding it a struggle to react appropriately to the approaching ball.

His fingers twitched, his body coursing with adrenaline. Time seemed to slow down as his eyes followed the dropping ball's trajectory. 

'As if'

Roaring internally, a surge in willpower forced him to step into the ball's path with his arms in front of his face. With the split second decision, he managed to make contact with the ball in time, as it bounced off his forearms. This move sent the ball ricocheting between the stands and Daniel on the right side. 

The emotions riled up from his last minute save and his anger at Oikawa led him to cry out in desperation.

"CRAPPY-KAWAA"

"Ugh." Oikawa couldn't help but flinch in response. The scary look on Iwaizumi's face didn't help either.

Looking over to Daniel, he moved closer to his position. His reach was enough if support was needed or to attack. Daniel quickly got under the ball and hit it upwards and behind him. 

The ball's trajectory seemed to approach the net and would subsequently lead to a joust, another aerial battle. 

Once again, Oikawa Toru proved to the spectators, his teammates, his opponents and his coaches that he alone was..

Enough. 

Not bothering to adjust, Oikawa brazenly smashed the ball with no regard for the wall set up in front of him. Perhaps, due to not expecting such brazen behavior from the setter or maybe he suddenly erupted with newfound strength; the wall broke. The blockers hands were split apart so easily they might as well have not been trying to close it. 

Not caring for the feelings of the people on the court, the ball was in the air but was fast approaching the sidelines. The sequence of events forced Chidoriyama's setter to forfeit his second touch. 

Gritting his teeth, he bump passed it across the court to Nishinoya and made his way back to the net. Nishinoya receiving the pass sent it over the net to reset and counterattack for his team was surely disoriented. 

The ball, now on the other side of the net, met the hands of Big B in the back court of Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High. He set it up in the air, to no one in particular, not sure who was doing the setting after the previous fiasco, leaving it to the setter duo to figure out themselves. 

Undoubtedly, Daniel stepped up to set it but not before taking into account his available options. 

There was the obvious attack option, the starving gaze Oikawa was projecting to him made it very clear, he was going to be part of the attack.

Or actually maybe the neglected middle blocker, onion head Kindaichi, deserved some love.

'Sure enough, who else but him to get the last hit'

With a soft thud, the first year setter set the ball. However, the ball's arc was too long for a middle blocker but it was also far behind for a wing spiker.

*Squeak

The lift off accompanied by the squeaking shoes, the ace of Kitagawa Daiichi made his presence known once more. Meeting the ball at the height of its parabola, with a powerful back attack, the ball met no resistance as it came into contact with the ground. 

The contact the ball had with the waxed floor could mean one thing. It had only one meaning, the game point. As a result, the ref's whistle echoed through the gymnasium. Thus, the Chidoriyama junior high vs Kitagawa Daiichi junior high practice match came to an end.