My Big Ball of Gas

Chapter 2

The inevitable practice match soon dawned upon us. Teamwork was still rough, and plays weren't quite coming together, but we had to make do with what we had.

We nervously walked to the gym. It wasn't even an actual game, but if we didn't perform well Washijo-sensei would totally get on our case.

As the team was warming up, Washijo-sensei walks in with the alumni team.

"Thank you for the game!" We shout and bow.

"Looks like Shiratorizawa's team is as scary as usual Washijo-sensei," one of the alumni says.

Each team got warmed up, and then were called to line up. The referee blew a whistle and the game started.

It was a rough start; we even lost the first set. But everyone was eventually able to get used to each other's movements (though not completely). However, Goshiki-san's spikes kept getting blocked. During the set two we were able to separate ourselves by 5 points, but the blocks caused the college team to catch up. This forced Washijo-sensei to call a time out. He was furious.

"Goshiki-kun! What are you doing? There aren't any girls in the crowd to distract why aren't you scoring? Your movements are way too obvious, hide it!" shouts an enraged coach in the Miyagi dialect.

Saito-sensei wasn't here to translate, so his instructions just end up confusing Goshiki-san.

"Y-yes sir?!"

The other members snicker at his reaction.

"Um, could I suggest something?" I ask quietly.

"Oh, what's this~? Our manager has something to say?" asks Tendou-san, poking his head out from behind Ushijima-san.

"It's about Goshiki-san's spikes, or rather his approach." Then, I whisper my idea into Goshiki-san. "Do you think you can do it?"

Goshiki-san looks at his hand questioningly, doing a few motions to try out what I said. Goshiki-san clenches his fist and determinedly says, "I wouldn't be an ace if I didn't try."

.

.

.

Once the time out ended, Goshiki-san was in the back. The referee blew the whistle and the college team served, forcing Ushijima-san to receive the ball. This made Shirabu-san toss to Goshiki-san.

"Goshiki!" he calls out.

Goshiki-san eyes the ball and starts his approach, running diagonal to the net.

"He's coming in for a cross shot!" The other team shouts as the blockers get ready.

Everything about his run, body position, and arm angle were screaming cross shot. But at the very moment Goshiki-san hit the ball, he twisted his upper body slightly and snapped his wrist so the spike ending up being a straight, successfully getting past the blockers.

We all look up at the referee, waiting for an in signal. But the flag was raised, it was barley over the side line.

"Argh!" Goshiki-san groans.

"Hey, that was a nice try! I was expecting it to work on the first try" I encourage, but still a bit disappointed.

The other members looked a bit surprised, I'm sure everyone thought he was going for a cross shot.

"Hmmm," hums Washijo-sensei, taping his chin thoughtfully.

It took a few tries, but Goshiki-san was eventually able get one in and scored match point for set two!