Five Years Ago, May
"This year, I'll see you at nationals." Ukai said.
"Heh! You say the same thing every year." Nekomata said.
"Shaddup! This is gonna be the year!" Ukai said.
"We're looking forward to the Battle of the Garbage Dumpster at nationals this year!" One fan of both teams exclaimed from the bleachers.
"But at the June inter-high, both schools narrowly miss earning a ticket to nationals. In March of the next year, Karasuno High, representing Miyagi prefecture, and Nekoma High, as Tokyo's second representative, both appeared in the Spring High School National Volleyball Tournament, however...
Karasuno was defeated in the third round and Nekoma was eliminated in the quarterfinals. They held many, many practice matches, but both coaches retired without ever crossing swords in an official capacity. This led to the steady decline of both teams." Takeda narrated.
"So that's the reason why they have that match known as the "Battle of the Garbage Dumpster." Ishigami said.
"Nationals isn't an easy competition if I'm gonna asked. You'll face the best of the best teams from different prefectures and you can't easily calculate or analyze each of them because there's too many of them!" Fujiwara said.
"Is our school part of Tokyo, right? Then why we can't see nor hear our school stepping on the national stage in volleyball?" Fujiwara asked.
"Unlike theirs, your school isn't more focused on sports and entertainment. But you do focus on certain things like business and other stuff." Rize said.
"That's right! Let's see if we can reach Nationals this year!" One teacher said.
"We should put some of our attention to our athletes though. So that they won't feel that we're not paying attention to them." Another teacher said.
"That's a great idea! Let's ask the Student Council to help the sports teams in our school to make sure we can also be good at sports!" Another teacher said.
"And who'll you have as your spiker, Miyuki over here? The student council president?" Giyu asked.
"N-No! That won't do! I may be good at playing volleyball but I don't have some sort of special Quirks like Hinata or Kageyama!" Miyuki defended.
"You can create one if you want to." Giyu said.
"Uhm... I don't know but, all regions in volleyball are cool. Spiking, receiving, blocking, serving..." Miyuki uttered.
"Fujiwara can play but, I'm afraid she has those big--" Ishigami stopped as Fujiwara slaps him.
"Don't try to mention it, Ishigami!" Fujiwara pouted.
Kenma can be seen a bit shy and looks away as Hinata suddenly realized that Kenma is playing for Nekoma.
"But how... Let the fateful rematch begin!" Takeda narrated. The title "The Cat and Crow Reunion" appeared on the screen.
"Kenma! Y-Y-You, go to Nekoma?!" Hinata asked.
"Uh, yeah." Kenma replied.
"How come you didn't tell me?" Hinata asked.
"You never asked." Kenma replied.
"He has a point." Ichigo said.
"Yeah." Zorome said.
"But you said, "See you later"! You must've known something!" Hinata said.
"The words "Karasuno High School" were on your T-shirt." Kenma replied.
"We knew it!" Iino said.
"That was pretty obvious due to the screen zooming the name of their school!" Futoshi said.
"Huh?" Mitsuru asked.
"Hey, hey, hey! What business do you have with our setter?" Tora menacingly asked Hinata who stepped back in fear.
"Hey." Kenma scolded.
"I-I'm sorry!" Hinata nervously replied. He stopped stepping back as he bumped on Tanaka.
"What about you? What business do you have with our first-year? Eh?" Tanaka asked with a menacing look on him.
"What's it to you?" Tora asked.
"You wanna rumble, city boy? Eh?" Tanaka asked.
"Crap!" Miku said.
"And the two punk heads of each team have met." Ishigami said.
"I'd never expect this would happen!" Goro said while laughing.
"They care for their teammates, right? What's funny about it?" Kaguya asked and everyone looked at her with blank looks.
'You sure don't try to join yourself with the flow, eh?' Everyone thought.
"O-Okay, what's with the looks?" Kaguya nervously asked.
"You're about to rumble in the match we're about to play. And stop saying "city boy." It's embarrassing." Sugawara said.
"Yamamoto, stop picking fights all the time. It makes you look stupid." Yaku said and the two fell silent in shame.
"I apologize on behalf of my embarrassing teammate." Yaku said.
"I apologize for mine as well. I'm very embarrassed. Tora suddenly cried in fear as he sees Shizuku who nods at him.
"Female manager... Good!" Tora uttered while blushing in defeat.
"Right on!" Yuki said.
"They have a female manager! Yakisoba bun score!" Inouka added and they high-fived with both hands.
"You'll pay for this!" Tora cried.
"Taketora, stand your ground!" Yaku warned.
"Nekoma have zero points and Karasuno have one because they have a female manager, and a pretty one she is." Ishigami said.
"When did you think to be a scoreboard for them two?!" Miyuki asked.
"Why do you know one of them personally?" Kageyama asked.
"I happened to run into him while we were out jogging. He's Nekoma's setter." Hinata said.
"Setter?" Kageyama asked as he is fired up on what he just heard.
"Yeah? Kageyama is now pumped as well after he heard that Kenma is a setter?" Miyuki asked.
"How will Kenma impress us though?" Futoshi asked.
"You'll know it once you're about to see them play later." Giyu said.
"I'm looking forward to our match today." Kuroo said with a smile.
"I'm also looking forward to our match today." Daichi said as the two shook hands.
"Woo-hoo! The ceiling is so high!" Hinata exclaimed.
"It's just a ceiling." Kageyama said.
'Oh, he's the shrewd type.' The two captains from each team thought to each other.
"Same goes to the two captains as well. They'll be good friends in the future!" Fujiwara said.
"I don't think I can imagine that well." Hiro said.
"It's been eight years. What's the deal with your hair, Ukai?" Nekoma's assistant coach, Naoi asked.
"Shaddup, Naoi. You should try something new for a change!" Kenshin said and the two grinned.
"Hey, Keishin!" Nekomata called.
"It's been a long time, Mr. Nekomata!" Kenshin said.
"I see you still have the race the old man gave you." Nekomata said.
"I'm Takeda! We spoke on the phone. Thank you for going out of your way today." Takeda said.
"It's hard to ignore all those phone calls. I had to respond." Nekomata said.
"Forgive me!" Takeda said.
"I'm only kidding. We had ourselves some good practice matches in the last three days. Thank you for the match!" Nekomata said.
"Yes, sir! Thank you!" Takeda said.
"And I don't care if you're not the old man. I'll show you no mercy." Nekomata said while opening his eyes to the two.
"Uh oh. That's a nice welcome to them." Kokoro said.
"I hope we can see Coach Ukai's grandfather so that they can see their schools playing against each other once again after five years." Miyuki said.
"Indeed. It would make the old man happy and wish he can coach once again for Karasuno." Ishigami said.
"To be honest, we've only just met, and we're still awkward and uncoordinated. Plus, this is our first match using these members. I don't know what kind of wall we'll be up against with Nekoma. But once we are up against that wall, that will be our chance to rise above it!" Daichi said to his teammates.
"We are plasma. Keep the flow in motion. Distribute the oxygen so the brain can run smoothly! Let's go!" Kuroo said.
"Yes, sir!" Everyone replied.
"It means they'll do their roles for Kenma to work well with them?" Goro asked.
"You can say that as yes. That's genuine to see that Nekoma has their quote to boost their players' spirit." Kaguya said.
"I wanna hear what will Karasuno's quote for themselves!" Fujiwara said.
"Kuro, can you stop doing that? It's kind of embarrassing." Kenma said.
"What's wrong with it?! It's for the atmosphere." Tora said.
"It's like self-hypnosis." Kai added.
"Exactly." Kuroo said.
"We made it!" Shimada said as he and Takinoue arrived on the court to cheer for Karasuno.
"It's been a long time since the last Battle of the Garbage Dumpster." Takinoue said.
"We will now commence the practice match between Nekoma High and Karasuno High!"
"Let's have a good match!" Both teams said to each other.
"You aren't nervous today." Kageyama said on Hinata.
"Woah. You're tiny!" Inouka said on Hinata.
"D-Don't you mock me!" Hinata yelled.
"I'm not mocking you in the slightest!" Inouka said.
"R-Really?" Hinata asked.
"Yeah!" Inouka replied.
"Tch." Kageyama clucked his tongue and made the two shiver in fear.
'He could at least let his guard down.' Kageyama thought.
"It's just a practice match, why so serious?" Iino asked.
"He is just a competitive guy. Deal with it." Giyu said.
"Also in practice games? That's scary." Fujiwara said.
"Shouyou. I know I said that I think I have a pretty good team... but I'm not good. We all are." Kenma said and walks away.
"Give us a nice serve, Kenma!" Kuroo yelled and the game has started.
"Asahi!" Nishinoya yelled.
"Got it! I'm sorry. It was too short!" Asahi called.
"It's your fault for skipping a whole month!" Nishinoya angrily yelled.
"I'm sorry!" Asahi said.
"Oh? Bragging that in the middle of the match, huh?" Ishigami said.
"Well, he is right though." Miyuki said.
"Kageyama, cover it!" Daichi yelled.
"Right!" Kageyama replied. Hinata starts running quickly to the right and Kageyama spikes the ball towards him, resulting in a point and shocking everyone especially Nekoma.
"That was really fast. What was that?" Inouka said with a fazed expression.
"A fast attack from that far away?" Yaku asked.
"What was that? He didn't even look at the set." Nekomata said.
"There you have it, the Demon quick set!" Zero Two said.
"You're making it sound like villainous, Zero Two." Iino said.
"Now how will Nekoma counter that, huh?" Goro asked.
"They'll get stunned by it from the beginning. But when time passes, that technique won't last for long." Mitsuru said.
"When did you become an analyst, Mitsuru?" Ishigami asked.
"That's amazing. I'm surprised." Kenma said on Hinata.
"Good job, Shouyou!" Nishinoya said.
"Thank you!" Hinata replied.
"Let's get going!" Tanaka said and serves the ball.
"Fukunaga!" Yaku yelled and the ball was received.
"Take that!" Tora yelled who spikes the ball but was saved by Nishinoya.
"Nice receive!" Kageyama yelled and Hinata runs again.
'Another fast attack!' Inouka thought. The ball was set to Asahi instead of Hinata who lures in two blockers to him and freely lets Asahi spike the ball without any blocker.
"You could hardly expect him to retrieve that." Nekomata laughed.
"I'm counting on you!" Nishinoya said and slapped Tsukishima's arm which made him stop.
"I'm counting on you." Inouka said on Yaku.
"Right." Yaku said.
"Well done." Sugawara said and offers Nishinoya a bottle of water.
"Thanks. Their libero is a threat. He'd never seen Asahi spike before, but he touched it. I'm sorry! Take this!" Nishinoya quickly said as the possession ended and returns to the court.
"What's wrong about that?" Ichigo asked.
"It means that even the Libero of the Nekoma team hasn't experienced Asahi's spikes, he can still stop it at any costs. For newbies, they won't dare to stop the ball as they do not know how powerful the opponent's spiker is. But in this case, he still managed to stop the ball partially even if he hasn't seen Asahi spike before and it might be trouble for Karasuno, especially that Asahi is their only cannon." Ishigami said.
"He's learning more..." Rize chuckled.
"Yeah." Giyu said without a care.
"Shake it off, guys!" Nishinoya yelled.
"Nishinoya sure switches a lot." Takeda said.
"Yes, sir. Since the libero specializes in defense, they go on and off the court many times. Our middle blockers, Hinata and Tsukishima, go to the rear to serve, and once the rally is done, they swap positions with Nishinoya." Sugawara explained.
"Now it's my turn!" Tanaka yelled and scores for Karasuno. The same goes for Hinata who successfully scores also after the serve. Kenma starts to see all of the attacks from Karasuno from each player they have.
"Right on!" Everyone from Karasuno yelled.
"That's ridiculous." Nekomata said and calls for a timeout.
"Ooh!" Takinoue said.
"A hasty timeout." Shimada said.
"They have a good libero and good spikers. The most ridiculous of the lot is their setter. He's a monster. He quickly sets to the spiker's optimum striking point. He has the control to thread the needle. Anyway, you can't do anything about a prodigy. But they're not gonna win this thing just because they happen to have one prodigy on the team." Nekomata said and looks om Kenma.
"If Shouyou is their attack axis, we should stop him." Kenma said.
"Shouyou?" Tora asked.
"Their nimble number ten." Kuroo said.
"Their number nine and number ten...are like a demon and his iron club. We'll take the iron club from the demon." Nekomata said.
"Just what like Zero Said earlier, their quick is a Demon type." Hiro said.
"Attack axis...?" Miyuki asked.
"That means he's the one who initiates the attacks from Karasuno and he can be the one to score or not." Fujiwara said.
"The other spikes aren't as good as Hinata so they need to maximize their defense towards him." Ishigami said.
"But wouldn't let the other spikers hit freely if they all focus their defense on Hinata?" Kokoro asked.
"No. I think they're up to something." Ikuno said.
"Let's do this!"
"This is great! They're at their best!" Takeda said.
"They give me the willies." Ukai said.
"Huh?" Takeda asked.
"It's as though they're feeling us out. Like we're being scrutinized." Ukai said and Hinata scores another point.
"Dammit!" Inouka cried.
"Shake it off! You almost had it!" Tora said.
'Their number seven is keeping up with Hinata.' Kageyama thought.
"Nekoma has moved their blockers to the side." Takinoue said.
"Yeah, a dedicated block." Shimada said.
'This block isn't designed to keep the ace marked. Could it be...' Kageyama thought.
'They're attempting to lead Hinata?' Ukai thought.
"Just shrink down Shouyou's movement area. From what I can tell, Shouyou simply charges to wherever there are no blockers. So if we put our blockers on one side, he'll move to the opposite side. After that, keep following him." Kenma said.
"I think that anyone would be taken by surprise seeing their fast attack for the first time. In a game, the more you repeat a level you can't pass at first... the more you get used to it." Kenma said.
"He used a game as a reference to their problem just now. And he has a point to it." Ishigami said in a bit surprised look.
"The more they can get used to the quick attack, the higher chances they can stop them at great points." Ichigo said.
"Kenma is a good observant. He scrutinized the situation by allowing Karasuno to score and deduce how to fix all of the problems they're dealing with after seeing all of it." Miyuki said.
'Follow number ten. Follow number ten.' Inouka thought. Hinata goes for the blind spike but Inouka touches the ball.
'He touched it again?!' Kageyama thought. Fukunaga receives the ball up high towards Kenma.
"It's a fast attack!" Hinata said. Kenma jumps and suddenly dumps the ball towards them.
"Damn..." Nishinoya uttered.
"Shake it off!" Daichi called.
"A setter dump." Takeda said.
"A setter dump?" Hiro asked.
"An attack which makes the setter decide to throw the ball surprisingly towards the other side without the opponent blockers noticing it. That technique is useful on critical moments of the game and can give the victim an absolute shock." Fujiwara said.
"That means they won't know if the setter of the other team will dump or not. That's scary." Goro said.
"Setters can score at that sneaky but effective way. Repeating it many times will make the opponent get pressured more on the setter." Kaguya said.
"Volleyball is a sport where you can't be surprised too much." Ishigami said.
"Hey, don't get too tense. They can see through the cracks." Kageyama said.
"Front!" Daichi yelled and Tanaka dives for the ball.
"I'm sorry, Noya! Cover it!" Tanaka yelled.
"I've got it!" Nishinoya said.
"Right!" Kageyama called.
"What?! Kageyama called for a set?!" Hinata asked in shock.
"Kageyama, finish it!" Nishinoya said and serves the ball to Kageyama who has a perfect lock on his target and scores, making Tanaka and Asahi shiver in fear.
"Hey! That was a straight spike! You go straight along the line. You need to learn to choose your hits!" Kageyama said on Hinata.
"It seriously pisses me off how he's so good at everything." Tanaka said in a pissed tone.
"Wow! What a perfect straight!" Fujiwara said.
"How he can do that?! He's just a setter, right?" Futoshi asked.
"Aren't you paying attention? He scores greatly too like a spiker and that's what makes him a prodigy." Mitsuru said.
"You said it." Sugawara said. Tsukishima tips the ball and scores for Karasuno.
"Nice tip, Tsukishima!" Daichi called.
'This guy is smart. He thinks calmly and observes his surroundings. The exact opposite of Shouyou.' Kenma thought.
"Nice serve!"
"Yamamoto!" Kuroo called.
"All right!" Yamamoto receives the ball up.
"Nice receive!"
'Which side should I give it to?' Kenma thought as he looked behind him.
'The right?' Tsukishima thought and moves to the left.
"No, the left." Kenma thought and sets the ball to the left, making Tsukishima stop at the moment.
'He did watch closely, as I thought. And he has fast reflexes.' Kenma thought, and Fukunaga scores for their team.
"All right!"
"They both like talked through telepathy!" Fujiwara said.
"He tested Tsukishima and managed to outplay him. He's special." Miyuki said.
"A battle between two great minds." Hiro said.
'That glance was a decoy!' Kageyama thought.
"Because he's not good with people, he became so self-conscious of where they were looking that he became very observant of their eyes. He's good at predicting his opponents' moves. He can predict how someone will act based on what their personality is like. Although, that isn't what makes our team strong." Nekomata said.
"Their defense is also a strong too. You saw earlier how they punished a team by receiving all of their balls continuously and scoring at the perfect time when they get exhausted." Miyuki said.
"Karasuno's offensive firepower will be tested against Nekoma's defensive prowess. To be fair, Karasuno still won't stand a chance now that the enemy team looks prepared and ready for the surprises they have against them." Goro said.
"I hope they win in here." Kaguya said.
"We all do, Kaguya." Fujiwara said.
'I've never had any luck making any friends. I wasn't good around people, so I wanted nothing to do with them. But I became extremely self-conscious of their eyes. I didn't let it get to me so that I wouldn't stand out. My only playmate was Kuroo, who was my age and lived nearby. I don't really like sports, but I've always fiddled with volleyball.
In junior high, Kuroo persuaded me to join the volleyball team. It was a little fun. In high school, I found myself still playing it. Our school had a good team not long ago. There were so many people. I decided I couldn't handle it.'
Kenma narrated.
"That sucks to not have any friends before. Those people aren't friendly at all!" Fujiwara said.
"His only best-friend was his video games, just like Ishigami over here." Miyuki said.
"Thanks to Kuroo, he can use his gaming mindset at volleyball and also to prevent him from getting isolated from everyone." Iino said.
"I wish I can be his friend." Miku said.
"Me too!" Zorome added.
"Hey, first-year! You need to clean up faster or we can't go home!"
'The people we ca upperclassmen just happened to be born a year or two before us. So why do they act so bossy?' Kenma narrated.
"Don't quit on me. You have keen observation skills, and you deliver accurate instructions. The current first-years and second-years know how great you are. You'll definitely make the team stronger." Kuroo said.
"He doesn't stand out." Takeda said.
"Huh?" Ukai asked.
"It's obvious to an amateur that Kageyama gives off sharp vibes. Nekomata's setter might indeed be doing amazing things, but it's hard to tell by looking at him." Takeda said.
"That's due to the consistency of their receiving. The most important thing to set up a wide variety of attacks is received that delivers the ball neatly above the head of the setter. Those receives enable their setter to utilize his best potential.
Kageyama is holding together his uncoordinated team with overwhelming talent, while Nekoma's setter, Kozume is supported by the receiving skills of his entire team." Ukai said.
"We don't need a superman for an ace. As long as we earn the points one by one, slowly but surely." Nekomata said as his team is on the set point.
"Huh?! Nekoma snatched the lead just now?!" Goro asked.
"Kenma's intuitions are starting to take effect. His teammates now understood and kept their motion of playing of defense against Hinata and their receiving as well." Zero Two said.
"Damn it... I thought Karasuno will get this one!" Miyuki said.
"It's just the first set, don't worry." Kaguya said.
"If this keeps up, how will Karasuno adjust to their mistakes? They have no powerful weapons other than Hinata and Kageyama's insane quick." Ishigami said.
"This is a problem then..." Kokoro said.
"Kageyama, I'm going to make the next spike count, so set for me!" Hinata said.
"Right now, it's set point for the opponent. Mess up and we lose the set." Kageyama said, making him shiver.
"I know! I'll do it!" Hinata said.
"Nice receive!" Tanaka called on Nishinoya.
'In a game, the more you repeat a level you can't pass at first... the more you get used to it.' Kenma narrated as Inouka blocks Hinata with one hand and the game ends at 25-22, in favor of Nekoma.
"I finally caught you!" Inouka said on Hinata.
"They lost..." Miyuki said.
"That isn't surprising. Kenma observed them and analyzed their next movements as he knew them already. Aside from that, their number seven really can keep up with Hinata with his height." Hayasaka said.
"This isn't over yet! We're going to have a second set!" Fujiwara said.
"Yeah! We can bounce back!" Zorome added.
"Hey, we can't let each little thing get us down. We're going to take back the next set!" Kageyama said on Hinata who looks down after the last possession.
"There's no spike that can't be stopped. Don't get distracted." Ukai added.
"Let's nail the next one, Hinata!" Tanaka said.
"Smash it!" Nishinoya added.
"Yes, sir!" Hinata replied.
"Not again." Shimada said on Hinata who gets blocked again.
"This gets worse than I thought." Hiro said.
"Ah! Damn that middle blocker! He's so fast!" Zorome cried.
"You have no choice but to accept what you're watching right now." Ikuno said.
'Their number seven is no fluke. He's learning how Hinata moves.' Ukai thought.
"Daichi, nice cover!"
"Left!"
"Do you want to ask why I don't swap out Hinata?" Ukai asked Tsukishima who looks at him.
"Not really." Tsukishima replied.
"If this was an official match, I might swap him out. But right now, this is his chance to find the solution. However, if that results in Hinata losing his will to fight, maybe I should take him out of the match once." Ukai said. Hinata on the other hand goes quickly to the left instead of to the right.
'He turned around!' Kageyama thought and Inouka still blocks Hinata once again.
"Shit!" Tanaka cursed.
"It's no good!" Takeda said.
'Completely shut out in the first and last match in junior high. No match for Tsukishima's height in school. But he finally obtained a way to fight opponents far taller than himself. To Hinata, this is his sole, most powerful attack. All prevented by a single blocker!' Sugawara thought.
"It's the spirit-breaking "human wall." The more you hit it, the more your spirit breaks." Nekomata said. Kenma was shocked all of a sudden on Hinata who expressed a smile after getting blocked so many times, a smile that will usually keep your guard on. With this, some players including Kageyama were surprised by it.
"He's smiling." Nekomata said.
"Is that good news...?" Fujiwara asked.
"He's still smiling even after getting blocked many times." Mitsuru said.
"That means he gets more excited and thrilled to the challenged tasked to him. On how to score against a single blocker who's been stopping you the whole time." Miyuki said.
"But how he'll score when he can only rely on his attacks from Kageyama's sets?" Zorome asked.
"Hey." Kageyama called.
"It's different somehow. It's not the same as back when I felt confused because I couldn't see the other side past the blockers and didn't know what to do. It's different somehow. I can tell that my opponent is having trouble keeping up with me. Until now, I felt fear and hate when I was blocked. Now, I get excited when he shows up in front of me.
With your sets and some kind of plan, I think I can get it past him. So please send one more set my way!" Hinata said.
"That goes without saying." Kageyama said.
"He's finally realizing it." Miyuki said.
"Realizing what?" Kaguya asked.
"Realizing that he isn't the only one who gets into trouble but also the one who's facing him. Just like before, when the blockers come and stop you, you can't do anything but feel defeat and down. Right now, Hinata may have an idea now on how to get past Inouka, or he won't be able to overcome his weakness and achieve a new tactic against his blockers." Miyuki said.
"I see. That means, if Hinata can make a tactical move against Inouka which he can't do, that might be his chance to score past him." Kaguya said.
"I don't get a single thing on what they're saying." Futoshi said and his friends facepalmed on him.
"Give us a nice serve!"
Kageyama tosses the ball to Hinata but this time, his eyes are open and he found a spot to where to hit the ball but he didn't spike the ball in time.
"Hinata was looking at..." Sugawara uttered.
"...the set." Yamaguchi finished.
"Until now, he left the ball fully up to Kageyama and just took the swing!" Sugawara said.
"T-Time out!" Ukai quickly yelled after what they just witnessed.
"He looked at the set?!" Zero Two asked in shock.
"But the ball flew away and he crashed awfully." Mitsuru said.
"That was different this time. He is now looking to where to hit the ball!" Ichigo said.
"Amazing, Hinata!" Iino said.
"See? He's now trying to adapt new things in this battle against Inouka." Miyuki said.
Kageyama quickly looked at Hinata who failed to hit the ball from his set.
"I-It's not like I don't trust your sets... How can I say it?" Hinata said in nervousness.
"Why are you panicking?" Kageyama asked.
"Kageyama, I want you to give slightly weaker sets to Hinata. Rather than the usual direct delivery..." Ukai said.
"Indirect delivery." Kageyama said.
"In..." Hinata uttered.
"Rather than the usual powerful, straight trajectory set, it needs to float a little. It might be tricky to change it up this sudden." Ukai said.
"I'll do it." Kageyama said and their time-out ended.
"Why would you have him change the set?" Takeda asked.
"To give Hinata freedom in mid-air. A moment ago, Hinata attempted to dodge the blocker in midair." Ukai replied.
"Huh?" Takeda asked.
"He probably tried to mimic Kageyama's technique to dodge a blocker. Although it was crap." Ukai said and Takeda chuckled about it.
"Oh! That's why he opened his eyes and failed to hit the quick ball!" Goro said.
"Slowing the pace of their sets this time may give the blockers also a good chance to form their block better on Hinata." Ishigami said.
"His quickness can deal with it, don't worry!" Fujiwara said.
The two continued to try the new type of set but as usual, it still failing over time.
'Until now, I've hit the ball without a thought in my head, so it's confusing to suddenly be the one aligning the shot!' Hinata thought.
"One more time out!" Ukai yelled.
"Hinata, you need to calm down." Ukai said.
"Yes, sir! I'm sorry. I keep making mistakes." Hinata said.
"Go on! I always get to hit the ball unmarked thanks to you! I think I'm allowed to totally own a match once in a while." Tanaka proudly said.
"Although Asahi is scoring more points than you!" Nishinoya said.
"You shaddup! Anyway, it's all good! Right, Asahi?" Tanaka asked.
"Uh, yeah. He's right. We'll make back the points." Asahi said.
"If you keep screwing up, you could be swapped out." Tsukishima teased.
"Tsukishima!" Tanaka yelled.
"He's salty as always." Everyone said.
"Eh?!" The casts acted shocked by the crowd's reaction.
"If you're on the verge of learning something, keep at it. You jump alone, but we're all here, right behind you. After all, the ace claims he's going to win back all those points." Daichi said and smacks Asahi.
"Daichi, don't put pressure on Asahi! You wouldn't wanna damage him." Sugawara said
"That's right! His heart is very fragile!" Nishinoya added.
"Please make it stop!" Asahi cried and the game continues.
"Asahi!"
"Left!"
"Go!"
"Nice hit!"
Hinata returns to the court and still can't smash the ball properly from the slower sets of Kageyama.
"Aw, it's all he can do to return it. What would it take to make it go smoother?" Takeda asked.
"Nobody can be expected to get a play right the first time. But the initial effort is the beginning in all things. Remember how the Little Giant used to play for Karasuno?" Ukai asked.
"Hinata's dream ace?" Takeda asked.
"True to his name, he stood around 170 cm, and at first, he kept being stopped by blockers. But by the latter half of his second year, no one could match him in aerial battle. He couldn't complete with the high blockers, so he aimed for the gap and fired. He would intentionally hit the blockers' fingertips and make it ricochet. That's how he found a way for a smaller guy like himself to fight. At least, that's according to what my gramps told me." Ukai said.
"You mean the previous Coach Ukai?" Takeda asked.
"Yeah. I remember what my gramps told me very clearly." Ukai said.
"Man doesn't have wings, so he finds a way to fly."
Inouka jumps again to stop Hinata who now is about to spike the ball but this time, swerving it to the right and avoids the tall hands of Inouka.
"Yeah! He did it!" Fujiwara said and the crowd clapped to Hinata's attack.
"Aw! It's out!" Takeda cried after the whistle of the referee.
"No!!" Everyone cried.
"That was quick." Goro chuckled.
"Not bad, Hinata! At least he has shown a new trick against blockers!" Iino said.
"His progress gets better in this one." Ikuno said.
"That was amazing. That was amazing, Shouyou!" Inouka said.
"One more time!" Hinata said with a serious look and the screen turned off.
"He's getting hyped now!" Fujiwara said.
"Yeah! Things are getting better now for their team!" Hiro said.
"Into the next one." Giyu said with a lifeless tone.
"Give some life to your words, dear." Rize said.
"My, my. Did you just call him your "dear"? A voice from backstage called on Rize and Giyu and this made everyone look at the figure.
"Uh oh..." Rize uttered.
"I'm dead." Giyu said.
To Be Continued...
Another chapter is done! Sorry for the very late update! I hope you liked this one as always! Stay safe and have a great day!