third person pov
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Oikawa and y/n watched the game from the bench. The poor boy y/n met earlier, who she learned was Hinata, had completely given into the pressure. He even ran into the referee stand once. She felt bad for the orange-haired boy. "Have you ever seen him play before?" she whispered to Oikawa. The boy shook his head then pointed to another ravenette on Karasuno's team. "I know him though. That's Tobio-chan."
"Ohhhh." y/n muttered. Yes, she knew who he was, but she never actually knew what he looked like. The setter beside her chuckled quietly to himself for a second. "What's so funny?" she questioned as Aoba Johsai scored another point. It was now 24-13 in the first set, their school in the lead.
"The orange-haired boy looks like a shrimp. Chibi-chan!" the brunette explained which caused y/n to smack the back of his head with her clipboard. He whined and rubbed his head while mumbling incoherently. "So rude, y/n-chan."
"He has a name." she said through a tired sigh. "Hinata Shoyo, he's a first year."
"Doesn't ring a bell."
Then, as luck would've had it, it was Hinata's turn to serve, while Seijoh was at set point. Karasuno's whole team seemed to accept defeat right then and there. The shaking boy just stared at the ball, then jolted when the whistle blew. He served immediately, but the thing was, it didn't hit his hand correctly. The ball flew directly into the back of Kageyama's head and the whole gym fell silent.
Well, almost the whole gym. "Pft-!" y/n slapped a hand over Oikawa's mouth before he was able to start laughing. Iwaizumi shot a look at his best friend like he was telling him to shut up or he would beat his ass.
The referee blew the whistle, signaling the end of the first set. The team came together for a brief moment to grab water and take a three minute break until the next set started. "Well done, you guys." y/n said with a smile. "Not like there was much competition." Makki muttered before taking a swig of water. The girl shot him a look. "That could change, you know. If Hinata pulls himself together then you never know."
"Who?"
"The orange haired boy."
Makki just looked at her with raised eyebrows then pointed over to Kageyama and Hinata. The ravenette was looming over Hinata, and he looked like he accepted death right then and there.
"You really think that's gonna happen?" Mattsun questioned as he sat down beside Makki on the bench. y/n nodded, looking a little unsure. She then waved her hands and said "Okay, whatever the case is, you guys are gonna put in 100% effort. Alright? If you don't, that'll be an extra hour of conditioning."
Makki, Mattsun and Iwaizumi, who just now joined them, stiffened and nodded. "Yes, ma'am." the red head said and threw a lazy salute. Oikawa pointed at the three boys teasingly. "Have fun with extra conditioning!"
"That includes you too, Oikawa." the girl responded bluntly. The setter gasped dramatically and was about to speak when y/n cut him off. "You're apart of the team too. Are you not?"
The boy frowned and reluctantly agreed with her. She clapped Iwaizumi, Makki and Mattsun on the back and reminded them of her threat as they went into the second set.
As y/n and Oikawa sat on the bench again, the boy crossed his arms and huffed. The girl sighed, already knowing what was coming her way. "What is it." she asked, jotting down some notes as Yahaba went to serve.
"Can I go in~"
"OIKA-"
"Not like that!" the boy shouted, which earned the two a warning look from the coach. "I wanna serve." he said sadly and looked at the h/c haired girl with large eyes.
She furrowed her brows and slightly shook her head. "If they end up really needing you, then sure. But right now ..."
She gestured to the score, Seijoh in the lead. The setter scoffed and sunk down into the bench. "But don't worry," the girl said. "There's gonna be a third set."
"I didn't know you could predict the future." Oikawa said sarcastically. "How do you know that?"
"Well, look at Hinata. What's changed about him?" y/n questioned as she pointed at said boy. "He looks more confident." the brunette said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Exactly!" y/n snapped her fingers and continued. "In volleyball, playing emotionally doesn't get you anywhere. It's when your confident energy comes in that you play to your full potential. I'm sure you already know this."
Oikawa nodded, suddenly feeling really interested in what the girl had to say. "Well, he isn't much of an experienced player, but I've seen him jump. And he has a good approach, but maybe not the technical skills down yet. Anyways, he's gonna start to rack up some points. I know it."
The boy was speechless after y/n spoke. How could she get that much information out of a boy she doesn't even know? Let alone play properly! Regardless of his thoughts, Oikawa trusted y/n, and wanted to see if her prediction was going to render true. He already knew he held a type admiration for the girl, but this time it felt different. This time, there was another thing he adored: how she was so insanely good at reading a situation. It reminded the setter of himself, which made him like her all the more. Except, she was 10 times better at it than he was. It reminded him of how much respect he held for the girl, and how much he actually looked up to her.
In the next play, Kageyama and Hinata attempted a quick, but it just barely missed Hinata's hand. "y/n-chan, he just completely missed the ball." the boy piped up. "No, that wasn't his fault. Hinata was in the right spot, the set was just too high. Now look." the girl replied and watched as Kageyama approached the smaller boy.
"That was my bad, the set was too high." he said and walked back to his position. Oikawa's eyes widened in surprise. How was this girl predicting everything? "How did you even see that coming? The toss looked fine to me."
"I'm experienced what can I say? I've made my way through many teams, dealt with many difficult players, but it's just helped me learn. It's also perception."
Now, Oikawa's curiosity skyrocketed. He went through a number of teams himself but never got as technically involved like y/n did. He knew what perception was, but he never expected to have to use it in a match. Maybe he was going to need some of her help.
"y/n-chan? Can you help me be more like, you know ... you?"
"Excuse me?" the h/c haired girl chuckled and looked up at him. The setter furrowed his eyebrows and grabbed her by both of her shoulders. "I want to be able to understand the game more like you do." he said seriously. y/n shrugged off his hands and smiled at him. "It sure seems like you're needing a lot of my help lately." she said smugly and Oikawa covered his face with his hands. "Forget about the english class. I just want you to help me with volleyball."
y/n stopped herself from teasing him again and instead poked his temple with the eraser on her pencil. "Alright, I'll help you. Now watch the game."
Kunimi served the ball and a brunette on Karasuno's team received it. Within the matter of a second, Kageyama managed to set the ball to Hinata, who was already mid air, and he slammed the ball down onto Seijoh's side. Seijoh's blockers stared at where the ball landed in pure astonishment, then back at the coach, then to y/n and Oikawa. It was like their faces were saying 'how are we supposed to block that?'. The rival team cheered excitedly, slapping the duo on their backs.
The girl on the bench was stunned, and Oikawa seemed to notice this. "I may be good at predicting things, but I did not see that coming." she replied, staring at the orange haired boy. The brunette beside her rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "y/n-chan, his eyes were ... closed ?"
She nodded her head, still wrapping her head around what just happened. She watched a lot of volleyball, that's for sure, but she never saw a quick happen that fast before.
Throughout the remainder of the set, Karasuno continued to get more organized, just like y/n anticipated. With one final hit from Hinata, the opponent ended the second set. "What did I tell you?" she said, nudging Oikawa's side. He rolled his eyes and gave her an incredulous look.
The team gathered around to hear what the coach had to say about the second set, more specifically, what to do about Hinata. After a few ideas were tossed around, the team seemed to be looking hopeless. "Hey, wait." y/n interrupted. "I have an idea."
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word count: 1523