'He's making a puppet out of you...'
'You need to stop doing this!'
'It's your life, so do what you want with it.'
My brother's words echoed through my head as I sat beside the coach. The match against Dateko had just started a few minutes ago. Kei's words also rang through my mind. I pushed the thoughts out of my head, deciding I'd deal with it later. I looked back at the court, where Dateko's Kamasaki served.
He jumped and slammed his hand against the ball. There was a lot of power behind it, but it simply wasn't good enough a serve. Daichi easily returned it and passed it to Tobio. He jumped, his form clean. He tossed the ball to Shoyo, but Dateko's blockers were already jumping.
My eyes widened as I observed the blockers. Shoyo spiked the ball, which was blocked by Dateko, but managed to fall through the gap between them and the net. We scored a point with that one, but just barely. I looked back at Dateko's blockers. Aone had been standing on the other side of the net when Tobio tossed, so his reaction was extraordinary.
I narrowed my eyes and huffed. "I hate read blockers." I said.
"All our previous opponents used commit blocks, they jumped when they found out who would get the toss. Dateko has perfected the read block. They jump as soon as the toss goes up." Coach said. "In other words, they aren't easily tricked by a decoy." he said.
Sighing, I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I looked back to the court when Tobio served. Unfortuneatly he hit it right to the libero. The libero received the ball easily and sent it to their setter. Aone jumped up and spiked it. Yuu managed to receive it, but it wasn't a perfect receive. Tanaka covered and sent the last ball to Asahi.
However, his spike got blocked. Yuu dived to try and save the ball, but he failed. "Asahi-san! I'll definitely save the next one!" he exclaimed. He bowed, apologizing.
Asahi smiled at him. "Right, I'm counting on you. Though, I'll score next time." he said.
A smile made its way onto my lips at his words. I closed my eyes, thinking back to when he was still depressed about being blocked. When I opened my eyes, I locked eyes with Asahi and smiled, giving a small thumbs up.
The match continued and finally, we scored another point. It was through a net violation, but a point is a point. Asahi spiked again, but got blocked. Thankfully, the ball slammed out of bounds and so we still earned a point. Asahi clenched his fists and I frowned. 'How long will he be able to keep up.' I thought.
After we got a chance ball, Shoyo jumped, Tobio sending him a toss. Trying to trick Dateko into thinking he was spiking the other way, he glanced at another spot. When he swung his arm, Dateko read it and blocked him anyway. I scoffed again, glaring at Dateko's side of the court, where their supporters went wild.
'A high, fast and expansive wall... How can we overcome this?' I wondered. I looked up and saw Tobio taking Shoyo apart, telling him it was time to show Dateko their freak quick. Shoyo's face lit up and he started getting excited, jumping all over the place.
Dateko's coach glanced at Shoyo, obviously confused. Futakuchi of Dateko served, Ryuu receiving and sending it to Tobio. A smirk formed on my face when I watched Shoyo sprint down the court and jump, slamming the ball down on the other side of the court. Dateko's blockers stood frozen in their place, not even able to move a muscle.
While my team cheered, Dateko's side was having a heated discussion about what they'd just witnessed. It was Yuu's turn to go out, and Kei's turn to go in. I looked at Kei as he walked up to the court. "I'm counting on you, Kei." I said, a smirk on my face.
Kei looked over his shoulder and smirked at me. He turned back around and held his hand up. I bit my lip to stop myself from smiling, shaking my head. 'That smirk could kill me...' I thought.
The moment Kei stepped onto the court, fire spread. Flames seemed to burst around him and Tobio. "King, toss a little away from the net. I don't want to get blocked." Kei said boredly.
Tobio's lips moved, but no sound seemed to come out. "What?" Kei asked, leaning closer.
"I said, okay!" Tobio snapped.
"You didn't speak up clearly." Kei said.
"What? You don't want to take orders from peasants? Is that it?" I asked Tobio, going along. A dark smirk spread on my lips as I snickered at Tobio's angry face.
Tanaka quickly came in between us. "You guys! Don't you ever learn?" he hissed.
When I followed his line of vision, I saw a raging Daich watching us. "Oh... so that's why." I said. I nodded to myself before looking back at the court.
Shoyo served, but missed. This caused him to go out, switching with Yuu. "I'm sorry, Noya-san." he said. Yuu simply shrugged it off. He grinned at Shoyo flashed him a thumbs up. As the game continued, Kei scored us another point. Dateko scored right back and that's exactly how it continued. Neither team wanted to let the other get a lead.
All too soon, Shoyo rotated to vanguard again. We were ahead of Dateko with a single point, meaning anything could happen. Dateko served, but the ball hit the net, rolling onto our side. Yuu managed to save the ball, sending it back up. Tobio and Shoyo quickly did their freak quick and scored. It had the same results as last time, Dateko stunned and us cheering.
The whistle blew, signaling a time-out for Dateko. I saw Dateko's coach discuss something with the team. I knew it had to be about our quicks. I held up a bottle and a towel for Kei to take. "Nice spike back there." I said.
He looked at me, shock flashing through his eyes. "Thanks." he mumbled. He grabbed the towel and bottle of water, taking a sip. Soon, the break was over and he gave the bottle back to me.
"Now go make yourself useful." I told him as I waved him off.
He smirked at me before turning around and returning to the court. Everyone had their eyes on Shoyo the moment they went back on the court. This is exactly what we wanted. Immediately after the start of the game, Tobio tossed. Shoyo jumped and slammed the ball down, scoring us a point.
Dateko served the ball, Yuu receiving it effortlessly. Ryuu and Shoyo both ran forward to spike the ball. Shoyo ran up to the net, the blockers jumping. Just before he jumped, Shoyo stopped for just a second before jumping and slamming the ball down.
I smirked. 'That freak quick isn't our only way to thwart a block.' I thought. Soon after the match continued, Shoyo ran up to the net again, blockers jumping up. Again, he stopped for a second, but sprinted the other way this time. He jumped up and slammed his hand against the ball. I watched as Dateko's Aone read the toss and blocked Shoyo.
A scoff escaped my lips as I glared at the tall player. 'He's tall, but his arms are long as well. Besides that, he has broad shoulders and is calm and collected. He has it all...' I thought as I watched Shoyo jump again. When he got blocked, Yuu was there to save the ball and keep it in play.
Three of our spikers ran up to the net, all with the intention to score. Shoyo jumped, getting fully into it. Aone jumped to block him, but Tobio sent the toss all the way to the back of the court, to Asahi. I smiled when Asahi spiked the ball with tremendous power. He scored against Dateko for the first time since they'd been slaughtered by them. I smirked and clapped while the others cheered.
With Shoyo finally accepting his role as best decoy ever, we were able to score a lot more and clear the path for the other spikers. Soon enough we won the first set, 25-19. While looking quite cool on the outside, I was actually thrilled form the inside. Even though, I wouldn't be playing in this match, it all felt like I was right on the court.
While the others were discussing the tactic for the second set, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. Without looking at the caller ID, I picked it up. "Hello?" I asked.
"Akira." my father's deep voice sounded.
I tensed up, jaw locking into place. I automathically crossed my legs and sat up straighter. "What can I help you with, father?" I gritted out.
"Do not give me that tone, Akira." he warned. "You will attent our business meeting in an hour. Kaoru will come as well, so behave yourself." he said.
I felt a chill crawl up my spine at his words. I let my bangs fall in front of my face, casting a shadow onto my eyes. I knew my teammates were staring at me, Kei in particular. "No." I whispered.
"What did you say?" my father asked. His voice became deeper, more threatening then before.
I exhaled slowly as I lifted my head up. "I'm sorry, father, but I will not be attending the meeting. I have to support my team in their match against Dateko. I will call you when we win." I said. Before my father had a chance to speak up, I said, "Goodbye, father." Then I quickly hung up.
It felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders as soon as I'd refused my father. It was the first time I had ever refused him, and I felt liberated. A smile spread across my face as I laughed. I must've looked like a madman, but I didn't care. I jumped up from the bench, looked at Kei.
A large grin spread on my face. "I did it!" I exclaimed. "I finally refused him." I said.
Kei smirked at me. I saw pride flashing in his eyes as he scoffed. "Good job, for a shorty like yourself." he said. "You're shaking, though." he taunted, motioning to my trembling form. "I told you you could do it. I'm always right after all."
My jaw dropped, eye twitching as I watched him run onto the court as soon as the whistle blew. "This cocky bastard..." I mumbled.
I frowned when I realized Kei would be up against Aone a lot this set. "I don't envy you, Tsukishima." Asahi said, looking at Kei.
Kei turned to Asahi and smiled fakely. "Nah. Nobody expects me to beat number 7 head on." he said, waving a hand in front of him. "It's Hinata's job to steal the spotlight. It's my job to keep trouble from happening while Hinata's rotated into the rear guard." he said. "It's the usual situation, isn't it?" he asked.
I bit my lip as I heard him speak. It was clear to me he felt inferior to Shoyo, as much as he'd hate to admit it. Soon after the start of the second set, Dateko scored, but we scored right back. It became a back-and-forth game once again. When the score reached 4-4, Shoyo rotated to the front and scored immediately.
Dateko quickly called for a time out when Shoyo allowed us to score one after another. After the time out was over, Futakuchi served and Ryuu received it. Tobio ran under the ball and tossed it to an awaiting Asahi. I could tell when he jumped, he'd found a hole in the wall. Too bad Aone quickly covered that hole as well, and blocked Asahi's spike.
Our ace spiked again, determined to get one through. Dateko used a quick to try and score, but we had our own wall. A smile twitched onto my lips when I watched Kei and Asahi block the ball. And also, Shoyo finally rotated back to vanguard. Kei served the ball solidly and sent it to the other side.
After Dateko's attempt to spike, Asahi received the ball, sending it to Tobio. "Bring it!" Shoyo yelled as he jumped. He spiked the ball as soon as it appeared in front of his hand. I fist-pumped slightly as a smirk appeared on my face. I grabbed my phone from my bag when I felt it buzz. As I looked at the caller's ID, it showed my father's name. I closed my eyes and threw it in my bag. 'I'm not letting your ruin this.' I thought.
The score quickly hit 20-22, us in the lead. Asahi got a nice one-touch in. "Bring me a toss!" Shoyo yelled as he jumped. Tobio tossed the ball over Shoyo's head to Asahi, who spiked it down. Dateko's libero scrunched up his face when the ball hit his hand and flew out of bounds. Yuu received Dateko's serve easily and sent it to Tobio, who jumped and tossed to Asahi.
He spiked the ball, but was blocked once again. I bit my nail, brows furrowing as I watched Asahi. I'm sure he was frustrated by now. Yuu failed to receive and Dateko earned a point. They served the ball, Yuu successfully receiving it. Shoyo immediately ran forward, jumped, and spiked the ball. Aone quickly jumped as well, managing to hit the ball. Luckily it fell through the gap between the net and we still scored.
Match point.