It's no secret that Hinata and Yachi have a close relationship, they're one and the same to many people. No doubt many have wondered what the two tiny volleyball lovers are to each other. But do they themselves know the answer?
The first set was a harsh battle they were playing. Every time the Miya Twins made a superhuman attack similar to Hinata and Kageyama's, Hinata grinder his teeth in anger
"Those twin sons of bitches think they can steal our attack and use it against us?!" Hinata growled
"Woah I've never heard you use that term for anyone Hinata." Sugawara said grabbing his underclassman's shoulders.
"Sorry..." he said in remorse "I just... I thought that was something only we could do."
While Hinata and Kageyama were in anger at this attack turned against them, Tsukishima was having a field day. Tsukishima's reaction time was impeccable as he managed to stop one of their quicks and slow down a few other attempts. He'd always wanted to stuff that attack and now he had opportunities to do. Karasuno adjusted as best as they could but even Hinata's commit blocking only got them so far. Kinoshita managed to help as best as he could even with his lack of confidence. Soon after Yamaguchi was able to turn the tables as his tricky serves took the lead of the set in favor of Karasuno. However his point streak came to an end shortly. Everyone felt the stress of the set, but Tanaka was visibly having the hardest time. He was constantly getting stuffed and barely making his serves. Not only that he was being targeted as he was considered the weakest player in the lineup by Inarizaki. His confidence was lacking, almost nonexistent. As he jumped a three man block was waiting for him, with quick thinking and mild panic he aimed for the line and swung. Although he managed to get around the block his spike went out slightly and cost the point.
He clenched his eyes in stress and sighed heavily. His stress notable by everyone around him. Kanoka watched his expression with concern.
Ryu-chan... you don't break... you never have... she thought
Tanaka groaned in agony Damn it... he thought
"It's ok it's Tanaka after all." Kinoshita said in reassurance
"He's pretty tough when it comes to matches, and out of us second years, the only one who stayed in the club no matter what happened... was Tanaka." Ennoshita added
Tanaka called out to the court to hype himself up. Ginjima smirked Cocky bald bastard... Let's see if you can handle this! He used all his power as he served, the ball hit the belt of the net. Kageyama quickly sent the ball to Tsukishima.
"Left!" Tanaka called out loudly for the toss
Tsukishima looked at Tanaka in the corner of his eye and sent the ball high to Asahi who smashed the ball scoring a waterfall ball. Although they got the point Tanaka's confidence went down another level.
"Man, that must've sucked for Ryu-chan." Yonezawa remarked with disappointment as she watched Tanaka slump further and further into himself.
Tanaka stood there in silence doubting himself. "Tanaka-san!" Hinata called out as he ran over to Tanaka "That one from earlier! When their #10 came right smack dab in the middle! You totally moved into that block and it was super awesome! Especially because you end up by yourself a lot as a middle blocker. When someone comes to your aid, it's super reassuring!"
"Y-You think so?" Tanaka asked
"Yeah! It was just like one of Date Tech's blocks! Seriously!" Hinata reassured
Tanaka was falling into a rut sure, but Hinata's glowing positivity was slowing down the degradation.
As Osamu ran toward the side to spike and Hinata followed to commit his block to the silver haired twin, Osamu already decided how to get around Hinata, after all he was just one blocker. As he winded up his arm Tanaka came in from the right to add manpower to the block narrowing Osamu's course to a straight, where Daichi waited for the ball and received it cleanly. Tanaka moved back behind the front line to ready an approach
I'm pretty sure I'm a normal human being. He thought to himself Especially when it comes to my build and abilities. When I was a kid, I was convinced I was a genius. I might've thought that until I was in middle school. Actually, I'm still convinced that I am.
But I'm probably never going to be 180 cm tall. I'm confident in my athletic skills, but on our volleyball team... He sighed and saw his teammates playing in his head, Hinata, Nishinoya, Asahi, everyone; I'm not number one in anything at this point in time. But that's not enough of a reason to quit, nor is it an excuse. Actually I don't usually think about this stuff. But once about every six months or so, when my mind just nosedives into negativity, I end up thinking... I'm nothing but average. But still... my average self... he asked himself Do you really have time to look down like that?
He remembered everything, his strength, his conviction, his loyalty, his resilience. Everything that he was made him more than the average human being, all his qualities made him someone everyone on the team relied on, it's what Shimizu admired about him and evidently revealed what she liked about him. He thought back to last night and his conversation with Shimizu that would forever stay in his mind and heart.
"When we're no longer teammates, whether we've lost the match tomorrow or won the whole tournament... then I'll say yes." Shimizu promised that to him "Then I'm making sure Karasuno goes as far as we can. So that when the moment comes when we're no longer teammates... I'll be fine whether we've won or lost." He remembered his promise to her. And Tanaka's loyalty and strength made sure he never broke his promise.
"Left!" He shouted loudly
"It's ok." Kanoka said to Yonezawa in reassurance
His loud call while shocking to most was the biggest reassurance to his friends, to Coach Ukai, to his sister, to Hinata, to Kageyama, Daichi, Kanoka, and Shimizu. He approached the net and jumped in his top form, as the blockers ran to his position he took a deep breath before swinging As long as I keep trying to until I can do it... I can... I can actually do it! He shouted in his mind. He swung his arm down and angled his wrist as he brought the ball down and sent it slicing down the front of the court in reachable by anyone in Inarizaki. Tanaka's secret weapon in his arsenal, one he was saving and honing since the summer training camp and inspired by one of the top aces in Japan; Tanaka's cut shot.
His sharp cut shot scored the point and took the first set giving Karasuno the foothold in the match.
As the team cheered and packed their things to move to the other side Shimizu smiled to herself and sighed "Tanaka usually makes it through okay." She said to Takeda
"Damn, Ryu-Chan's not bad!" Yonezawa exclaimed "Wait, was that just luck?"
I never liked being called big... but... Ryu-chan always genuinely seemed so envious... I was able to genuinely think, "wow maybe I am special." That it was ok to be proud. Kanoka smiled Ryu-Chan's always been straightforward and honest. She teared up as she made her realization that Tanaka did indeed mean what he said the night before about him having his heart set on another.
"I think... I really did just have my heart broken." She said to herself calmly.
She looked to Karasuno walking to the other side of the court and saw a raven haired beauty walking with the coaches and smiled She really is beautiful Ryu-chan... I hope she makes you happy like you made me.
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