Queen Of The Crows // Haikyuu

#25: The Threat of The "Left"

"Ahh, so this is the finals? There're so many people..." Tanaka murmured as he walked aside Nishinoya. "Ryu, this is no time to be scared!" The small libero said sternly, only to continue with, "Listen, Ryu. Picture this: The finals. Our opponents are Shiratorizawa. What do you think is going to happen when we play to a crowd this big?" A group of girls walked nearby, and both boys started to daydream about having them cheer for them. 

Meanwhile, Haneul was walking, holding hands with Kei, only for them to be stopped by reporters before they entered the court to warm up. "Miss Kazama! How does it feel being the only female in the court today?" "Miss Kazama, how do you keep up with the boys' training?" Tons of questions were being sent her way, and Kei could tell she was getting uncomfortable. He wrapped an arm around her and made his way through the press, making it to the court. 

Inside, everyone began to panic way too much, and Haneul thought it was funny. "Ne, ne, calm down! It's not the end of the world!" The brunette said, trying to calm them down. "That's not going to help," Kei chuckled, holding a volleyball. He saw her smile and look at the bleachers, and he turned too, with Haneul exclaiming, "Akiteru-niichan!" and waiving. He tried to hide from Kei, but he had already seen him.

The Shiratorizawa cheer team started, scaring Haneul in the process. She saw the others on edge, so she rapidly thought of a solution as they spoke, and she began chanting, "K-A-R-A-S-S-U-N-O! Ka-ra-su-no!" She caused them to smile and laugh a little, but then they saw their opponents arrive on the court, led by their captain, Ushijima. 

They started to warm up, and Haneul watched Ushijima intently. He spiked and the ball made its way to the bleachers. Tanaka asked Hinata and Kageyama to do their quick attack to intimidate the opposing team, and then asked Haneul to spike. She looked at Kageyama, who nodded and set for her. Everyone was amazed she could spike that well and jump as high, knowing that the net for men is set higher than in women's matches. 

Soon after their warm up, the opening ceremony took place. Haneul stood nervously aside Tadashi, who smiled at her from time to time. She cheered for the starting lineup as they were introduced, smiling brightly. "You know, even if 13 is considered unlucky, you sure bring us lots of luck," Tadashi smiled at her as the ceremony ended and they walked to the bench. 

Their strategy was to make Haneul watch Nishinoya receive Ushijima's spikes, so she could analyze the best position to counter his left-handedness. She watched as he failed to get the ball up in the air, but was confused as to why. He had received it perfectly, so why did it not go up? "Ha-chan, you look so scary," Sugawara chuckled. The brunette had her hand on her chin and seamed to be glaring at the court. "Ah, sorry." 

They seamed way too stiff, causing Sugawara and Haneul to yell at them. "Calm down! There's no time to self-destruct! What the hell are you so nervous about?! The TYV crews?!" "Quit messing around and play already!" The referee glared at them, with Daichi telling them to calm down. "Get used to it, Noya!" Haneul exclaimed to him as the next rally ended in a point for Shiratorizawa.

Finally, Tanaka made a point with a spike, but later the technical time out was called. Haneul cheered for the team along with the others in the bench, and Nishinoya slowly was getting used to the line shots. Haneul noticed then that the ball rotated a different way and directing because Ushijima was left handed, and when the time out was called, informed him. Tadashi mentioned that he jammed his finger, so she went over to wrap it for him. When she was done, she gave him a kiss on his finger and smiled, "You've got this, Kei." 

The blond smiled at her and ruffled her hair, "Thank you, Haneul." The time out was soon over, but everyone was still on edge, with Ushijima being up to serve. Daichi tried getting it, but it landed out of the court. Sugawara was trying to hold back his laugh as Haneul mimicked Nishinoya's stance and tried to move like him. Ennoshita joined his senior soon after, but they knew what she was really trying to do. Haneul moved and positioned her arms like the other libero, and everyone was amazed as he received the ball and it went up.