Secrets (Haikyuu Fanfiction Series!!!)

50. Confidence

Haruka POV
(Last Day of Spring High Preliminaries)

Girls Volleyball Finals ~ Fukurodani Academy v.s. Nohebi Academy

"Haruka, guess what?" Kotori calls out to me from the other side of the net.

"Huh?" I scowl as I tie my hair in a ponytail and Kotori flinches. "What is it?"

"I'm gonna beat you!" Kotori declares.

"What do you mean? We're going to win," I tell her as I cross my arms.

Sparks fly between us two rivals.

"I feel like all the top players we've seen so far are weird and childish in some kind of way," Chika bluntly comments.

"You have a point," Emiko sweatdrops as she thinks of Bokuto, Haruka, and Kotori.

"But this will definitely be a good match for us," Kata states. "Nohebi girls' volleyball team is the tricky team that we lost to before, but this time we will definitely have to change our gameplay when we're going against them."

"True, but Kata, don't overthink things, let's just play like we usually do," I confidently tell my team as I take off my jacket. "They aren't that tricky. Owls eat snakes after all, so we can definitely beat them."

"..." The team stares at me confused by my logic.

"Forget what I said! It sounded cooler in my mind," I take my words back embarrassed and everyone on the team laughs.

I sigh. "We can do this. After all, we've gotten this far," I smile and put my hand out.

All the girls put their hands on top of mine. "Loud and proud! Fukurodani fight on!" We shout.

I glance over to Keiji who was on the other court getting ready for his finals match against Itachiyama then back to my own court in front of Nohebi.

"Match start."

(Fukurodani vs Nohebi ~ First set)

I've known Kotori since middle school. Yes, she's annoying and a little out there at times, but her skills in volleyball are quite impressive. I don't like admitting it to her face, but she's a good rival to have.

I bounce the volleyball preparing for a serve and I glance over to the scoreboard.

First Set:

Score: 0-0

Current Score: 21-24

It's just beginning and the first set is already close, but that's to be expected.

I serve the volleyball and Mamiko, their libero, receives it. Keita, their second year setter, immediately goes into position and tosses the ball to their third year spiker.

Mai receives the ball and it goes up into the air. The tip of her lips turn up. "It's up!" she shouts.

Chika goes into position while Airi and Emiko sprint towards the net and jump. Their blockers get ready to block them both, however, once they jump, from behind, Minako comes out and spikes down the ball and their libero fails to receive it.

"Yes!" Our team shouts, and the score changes to 22-24.

Kata serves the volleyball directly to Kotori, making her receive it. Kotori grunts and Keita goes into position to toss the ball and tosses it to their captain.

Airi, Minako and I block the spike, but their libero receives it. Keita, without a single second of hesitation, immediately tosses the ball to Kotori.