REINCARNATE

22, weaknesses.

"If you want to get past L/n, remember that she can't see well out of her left eye. Take advantage of that, force her to swivel her head until she's dizzy, make her move. If this were a match against her a year ago I'd say that trying to build pressure wouldn't work. However, now she's got an open weakness we can exploit and she knows it, so force her to realize that. She'll cave in eventually."

___________________

"WIPE!!"

"I GOT IT!!"

Y/n dove towards the  ball, stretching her right hand out as far as she could. She sighed in relief when her fingers caught the narrow space between the court and the ball just in time, now the rest was up to her teammates. They were near the end of the second set, caught in a deuce with the Rattlesnakes at 27 - 27. The girls were feeling quite confident today, they had already claimed the first set as their own but the Rattlesnakes were catching up to them, slowing acclimating. Y/n wasn't exhausted yet but she knew she would be if the game continued like this to the end. This was their last match and a five-set, whoever won this game would be crowned. The intensity of playing a game against her former team combined with the statement that Mae made by dumping the first ball had adrenaline crackling through the bones of every player like fire. 

"YUI!!" Mae dropped into a split underneath the ball y/n dug up and tossed it to her captain who slammed the ball past the double block straight into back row.

U18 Girls, set point.

28 - 27

The girls cheered loudly and the stands louder, screaming for one more point. It was Ayano's serve, she took a deep breathe and roughly bounced the ball against the ground a couple times. Y/n recognized Ayano's routine for a deep jump serve, almost a spike really. It seemed that Ayano wanted to end this second set as badly as everyone else. She held her breath as Ayano tossed the ball high and jumped up, her hand impacting the ball at just the right moment and rocketed towards the back corner of the opposing court.

"OUT!" A player called. Y/n and the girls tense up, waiting for the line judge to make the call.

The tip of the flag drops towards the court. 

Y/n's heart flutters in her chest as her team explodes into cheers, the second set was theirs, now they only needed one more. Her eyes locked with Hana's and the girl nodded back to her in acknowledgment, 'I'm not losing to you.'

Third set, 0 - 0

Y/n's team kept their usual lineup but she realized that the Rattlesnakes had changed theirs up a little. 'Classic move, swapping up the all rounders. So they're upping their offense hm?' Y/n thought, smiling to herself. 

Rio started off the set with a nasty jump floater, but the opposing libero got under it just in time. Y/n readied herself as she tracked the ball being set up to the opposing outside, 

Wait a damn minute, your run up is for right handed attackers so why the hell are you raising your left arm- oh shit.

Lost in her thoughts for a millisecond too long, Y/n instinctively set herself up to receive a right handed spike. The ball smacked against her arms and bounced up out of the court. She felt a hand slap her back and drag her out of a daze, 

Rattlesnakes 1 - 0

"Heads up, they're both lefties." Himari said, y/n nodded and struggled to clear her mind.

It's not that y/n wasn't accustomed to receiving spikes from left handed players, Akane and Riku were both left handed. There was just something about a new look in the Rattlesnakes' eyes that left her feeling slightly unsettled, but of course she didn't show it. 'What did Hana tell them?'

The third set proved much more brutal for y/n's team. The Rattlesnakes had increased their cross and cut shots, purposely forcing Y/n really start moving. She was panting heavily by the time their coach called the first timeout of that set.

"You good?" Rio handed y/n her water.

Y/n wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and sighed, "They know what they're doing. I think they're starting to figure out how to get their attacks past me."

Their coach put a hand on y/n's back, "Can you manage?"

Y/n didn't hesitate as the whistle signalled the end of their timeout, "Yeah."

I have to adjust, I have to acclimate to the attacks. Just one more point, and one more after that, we'll push through.

Again and again, y/n started to feel the pressure as she missed another ball and the point gap widened. They were forcing y/n to really feel the disadvantage that weighed her down. Twice y/n dove to dig out a ball and twice she missed because the spike was too far left for her to turn her head fast enough. 

U18 Girls  8 - 13

"CONNECT!"

Is that a cut sh-, holy hell that's a sharp cut shot, the ball was practically grazing the net.

In the rare occasion that y/n actually breaks down during a game it's because she feels like she is failing at her position, causing her to want to take full responsibility for each ball she wasn't able to save and each point her team loses. She tends to disregard all surroundings and make a desperate move to save the ball, regardless of whether she got hurt in the process or not. 

Y/n's legs burned as she ran, racing the spike to the point of impact. Shoving an arm into the ball's path, y/n felt joy rush through her as the ball slammed against her wrist instead of the floor, flying up to where Mae was rushing over to connect. 

"Y/N!!" Ayano cried out.

The breath was knocked out of Y/n as she felt her body hit the ground, tumble, and slam against the pole of the net. Sudden pain shot up and down her spine as y/n struggled to regain control of her senses. She looked up hazily and saw members of both teams staring down at her in horror, but the ball was still in the air.

Mae caught it just in time, sending the ball over to Himari who tipped it over in a panic. Y/n could hear her blood rushing, a loud ringing in her ears and her vision was fuzzy, did she hit her head? Y/n gently touched her face and blinked groggily, realizing that her fingertips were warm, wet.....and red.

Footsteps and voices surrounded her, y/n distinctly heard Hana's voice calling out, trying to rouse her. A hand shook her shoulder and a familiar voice murmured in her ear,

"Stay awake."

Still dazed, Y/n didn't respond but her eyes remained open. She felt a pair of arms slide around her waist and under her legs, the sensation of being lifted and the steady rocking of someone walking.

"Honestly, that was an incredible save but you think you could've done that without killing yourself? I've only been gone a few days and look what happened to you, tch."

Y/n's head was nestled in the crook of their neck, the spinning in her head slowed and she recognized the voice. Full of affectionate sarcasm to cover the nervous undertone, that could only belong to one person.

"Blood on my jersey, thanks. You're totally washing it when we get home."

Y/n smiled, "I can't believe you're here."

The person snorted, "Have you forgotten already that you're the one who made me come in the first place?"