A/N: Hello, readers! Another chapter is here! Enjoy!
unedited
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CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX - RHYTHM
"I forgot to hit!" Hinata exclaimed. "How could I waste an opportunity like that?!"
"You don't need to be that depressed about it." Both Tanaka and Atsumu said in unison, causing Tanaka to look his way.
Hinata looked towards Kageyama who had an intense aura around him. "If you ever do that again during a match, I'm never setting to you again. You need to make sure you can do both." Kageyama told him. "You absolutely suck!"
"Got it!" Hinata exclaimed, straightening up a bit.
The whistle blew as Suna served the ball up in the air as Daichi received it. "Got it! Tanaka-san!" Hinata shouted.
"And the receive is a bit sloppy. Tanaka goes in for the last shot!"
Tanaka jumps up and spikes the ball, letting it go into the air.
"One touch!"
"Free ball!"
"Got it!" Suna reassured, getting ready to save the ball. However, Atsumu jumps up and sets to Aran, who spikes it down on Karasuno's side.
"Miya Atsumu sets the ball on the first touch! Then Ojiro Aran smashes it over the net! Karasuno High has completely stopped in their tracks!"
"Nice kill, Aran!"
"Nice kill, Aran! Jump, jump, Aran! One more time!"
"Nice kill!" Atsumu complimented.
"You scared the crap outta me!" Aran complained with an irk expression, making Atsumu chuckle.
"Inarizaki's always breaking the mold."
"Aran's not bad, though I'm better! Right, Akaashi?" Bokuto asked.
"Yes." Akaashi simply replied. "Of course that was a very direct suprise attack, but they were also trying to say, 'We're not going to be overwhelmed by our first match. This is a piece of cake,' and put pressure on them. I can keep calm while watching them play, but it'd suck playing against them."
"Wow, they piss me off." Hoshiumi commented.
"Nice serve!"
The whistle blew as Suna serves once more. "Right at the whistle?!" Daichi thought as he quickly dived down to save it.
"Sorry! That was a bit long!" He apologized.
Kageyama spikes the ball but was blocked by Osamu and Omimi. "He managed to rebound without turning around! That was good!" Osamu noted.
"There!" Nishinoya called out, receiving the ball.
Hinata then ran forward and jumped up as Kageyama sets the ball over towards him. Hinata spikes down the ball, getting a point for Karasuno.
"Hinata Shoyo ran out and got the point! That's the Karasuno first-year duo's famous slide attack!"
"Huh?" Hoshiumi said. "Huh?!"
"Way to go, Hinata!" Bokuto cheered.
"Absolutely terrifying." Akaashi stated. "Their first attack is always a killer."
"Wow..."
"What the heck was that crazy shot?!"
"It sure was crazy!"
"That's called a slide. You don't see that much in boys' volleyball."
"Huh..."
"So it's fast enough to break through a block... Yet they didn't sacrifice any height, either."
"How frickin' cool is that?!" Atsumu said in awe. "That thing's even cooler to see in person!"
"What's your deal? You always mentally regress, like, five years when we're in a match." Osamu said.
"Shut yer trap!" Atsumu shouted at him.
The Inarizaki cheer squad then began booing when Kageyama was up to serve. He spun the ball in his hands.
"It doesn't really seem like we're applying pressure to them..."
"That four-eyes earlier was basically smirkin' the whole time."
"I mean, you can try to distract my serve all you want, but..."
"Should we switch things up early?"
"Yeah."
There was sudden loud pounding on the drums that could be heard. The whistle blew as Kageyama served the ball. "That serve toss wasn't the best." He thought as the ball hit the net as Akagi dived down to save it.
Atsumu tossed the ball towards Omimi. "They're going into a quick from there?!" Tanaka thinks to himself.
Omimi spikes the ball past Daichi and Hinata, getting a point.
"Nice kill, Ren! Jump, jump, Ren! One more time!"
"Holy crap!" Bokuto said.
"You can tell with one look... His first step was as refined as it gets. That quick and accurate first step gives the setter time to set up and figure out where his teammates are, and gives them time to figure things out." Akaashi noted.
"When the middle blocker scores the point, the middle scores right back. Nice. Neither side is letting up."
TWEEEET!
Osamu was up to serve. Atsumu glanced back at his brother and smirked. Osamu throws the ball up in the air and spikes it.
"Nishinoya!" Daichi called out as Nishinoya dived down and received the ball.
"I was a half-step late!" Nishinoya thought with irritation.
Tanaka jumps up and spikes the ball down. "Hell yeah!" Tanaka cheered.
"Nice, nice, Ryu! Push it, push it, Ryu!"
"Cut them right off, Ina High!"
Inarizaki's band started playing once more as Tanaka held the ball out. The whistle blew as Tanaka threw the ball up in the air before spiking it, hitting the edge of the net and making the second-year groan in frustration.
"Don't worry about it!"
Aran bounced the ball before tossing it in the air and serving. The ball landed right in between Daichi and Tanaka.
"Yeah!" Aran cheered.
"Nice serve, Aran!"
"Inarizaki High's managed their second serves ace already this match. The difference in their scores just keeps growing."
Hideaki then glanced over at the scoreboard.
Inarizaki
07
Karasuno
04
Trumpets soon began playing, followed by drums. Takeda soon called for a timeout. "What the heck? Inarizaki's already taken over the arena." Bokuto commented.
"If only you guys had beaten Nekoma, you'd be playing here, too, Suguru."
"Y-Yup, Mika-chan."
Nohebi Academy Volleyball Team Former Captain.
Daisho Suguru.
The two looked over at Inarizaki's band. "Wow, they're so cool!" Mika commented.
"Talk about pressure... Glad I'm not playing against them." Daisho stated.
Saeko's taiko drum team then began playing.
"Hey, Japanese taiko drums."
"That's awesome!"
"It's Saeko-neesan!" Hinata exclaimed.
Both Nishinoya and Hinata clenched their chests. "Her awesomeness is lethal..." Hinata said.
"That's definitely a new way to die." Daichi commented.
"Thank goodness they made it in time." Takeda said.
"Yeah..." Ukai agreed.
TWEEEEEET!
"You're late!" Shimada scolded.
"My bad! We sorta got lost!" Saeko apologized.
"I just figured you were drinking until morning again." Takinoue said.
"I mean, I was drinking until 5 AM, but we still left on time." Saeko stated as both Shimada and Takinoue deadpanned.
Aran was up to serve once more as Tanaka barely received it. Kageyama jumps up and tosses towards Hinata, who spikes the ball down.
"Yes!" Hinata cheered.
"Thanks!" Tanaka gave a thumbs up.
"Wow! He's so fast!" Mika exclaimed.
"The national tournament is scary!" Daisho commented.
The whistle blew as Hinata was up next to serve.
"Nice serve, Hinata!"
Inarizaki's band began playing again. "Let's go!" Saeko exclaimed as the taiko team began playing.
"That one time really pissed me off." Saeko thought, remembering the match with Shiratorizawa. "But our job here isn't to beat the opponent's cheer squad. We might not even be able to give our boys the push they need. Because they're gonna keep moving forward on their own. So we just need to regain the balance in here a bit."
Hinata hits the ball up in the air as Aran received it. Tsukishima heads over to block with Daichi as Ginjima spiked the ball, hitting Hinata's foot.
"It hasn't touched the ground. It hit his foot." Kiyoko commented.
"The hell?!"
"Is that even allowed?" Mika asked.
"According to the rules, yeah. It's just... Super embarrassing, probably." Daisho responded.
"It's that guy again!"
"Use your damn hands!"
"I totally missed!" Hinata thinks to himself.
"Great job getting to the ball, Shoyo!" Nishinoya complimented.
Hinata rushed forward as he jumped up. The ball was sent over towards Daichi. "Daichi-san!" Tanaka called out as Daichi spiked the ball past Ginjima and Omimi.
"Nice, nice, Daichi! Push it, push it, Daichi! One more time!"
"Sawamura moves in from the right!"
"Nice set!" Daichi praised.
"I honestly thought the toss was going to Hinata Shoyo again!"
"Maybe Inarizaki is watching Hinata-kun a little too closely. I can't say I blame them, though. Looks like Karasuno's getting back into a rhythm!"
"It totally looked like he was setting to Hinata just now, huh?!" Bokuto questioned.
"Yes, it did." Akaashi agreed. "Simple decoys won't work on read blockers. But the first touch went up in the center of the court, and it looked like he was setting to Hinata, but it went further right. It's not just that Kageyama's got everything in his field of view. He probably knows how his opponents are viewing him. Also..."
"Hinata's so tiny, but he sure makes himself known on the court!" Bokuto pointed out.
"Indeed." Akaashi said.
"Not only did they place second in the Inter-High, they also have that overpowering cheering squad. But we may have been overestimating them far more than necessary. It'll be okay. If we approach each problem one at a time, we'll be able to figure this out." Takeda said.
"Yes." Kiyoko agreed.
"Nice kill, Hitoshi! Nice kill, Hitoshi!"
"Jump, jump, Hitoshi! One more time!"
Atsumu was up to serve. "And there's the duel wielder again." Takinoue said in irritation.
"What's that mean? Is he gonna use two balls?" Saeko asked.
"No!" Shimada exclaimed. "He can hit a spike serve or a jump float serve... Basically, they won't know if they're gonna get Izuki's serve, Kageyama's serve, or Tadashi's serve right up until he actually hits it."
"Ack!"
"And depending on which one it is, the positioning for receiving will be different. If they're even a step off, that delay can prove fatal when the serve comes in at over 100 km/h."
"Miya Atsumu-kun is a duel wielder when it comes to serving. Does that mean we won't know which serve is coming until he actually tosses the ball?" Takeda asked.
"No, you can tell them apart. Count his steps. When he's serving, he routinely measures his distance by the number of footsteps. When he's going for a jump floater, he's four steps from the end line. When he's going to do a spike serve, it'll be six steps. That's how you'll be able to tell them apart." Ukai explained.
"It'll make a huge difference if we can tell which one he's going for."
"They don't really show all the movements that go into doing a serve on TV, do they? I'm surprised you were able to figure that out!" Takeda said.
Ukai gave him a thumbs up. "I did a lot of research! I looked at videos online and videos my buddies took, too." He claimed.
"Thanks!"
Atsumu then began walking forward before turning around.
"That's four..."
"A jump floater."
"Bring it!"
TWEEEEET!
"You may have figured that out..." Osamu thinks to himself as Atsumu ran forward. "but that's just the starting line."
Atsumu did a jump floater as it headed for Nishinoya, who tried his best to receive it. However, the ball landed on the court. Nishinoya looked back and narrowed his eyes in irritation.
"Yet another serve ace! Miya Atsumu has two incredibly powerful serves under his belt!"
"That was an excellent serve! Powerful serves can make the team powerful, too. If they don't cut this off soon, Karasuno is going to be in trouble."
"Damn, that serve was insane!"
"Wow..."
Daichi then clapped his hands. "All right, guys. We've dealt with intense serves in the past, too. Now's not the time to panic." He said.
"Right!"
"Huh..." Atsumu walked up to his brother. "Say, Samu."
"Yeah, Tsumu?"
"We can't miss a chance to score. Am I right?" Atsumu asked as he walked forward and turned around again.
"Four steps."
"Another jump floater?" Nishinoya asked himself as sweat dripped down his face.
The ball went flying through the air as Nishinoya managed to receive it. Tanaka went over to cover for him.
"Hideaki-san!" Tanaka shouted.
Hideaki jumped up and spiked past Ginjima, Suna, and Osamu in which Akagi received it. Osamu then ran forward.
"This position... This timing... This angle! It's perfection!"
Atsumu tosses the ball over towards his twin who spiked it down, making everyone have looks of shock.
"Nice kill, Osamu!"
"Nice kill, Osamu! Jump, jump, Osamu! One more time!"
"Hell yeah!" Atsumu cheered.
"Th-That was almost like... Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun's weirdo quick?!" Takeda exclaimed.
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A/N: Another chapter is done! Thanks for reading!