The next point, Tendou scored with a time lag. "Ya like that?!" He cheered, his hands raised in victory. That made it 18-9, so it was obvious who was going to win that set at least. Reon was up to serve, but served it out. Marking it down, Kazane watched as her twin brother scored an ace, and winced as she felt Washijo's dark aura expanding.
Tobio served it again, this time Reon got it up. Shirabu tossed it outside, yeeling for Goshiki who hit it straight. The future ace looked back at Ushiwaka, but the current ace was complimenting Reon's recieve.
"You really should look for validation elsewhere." Shirabu advised. Elsewhere, huh? So you. Kazane smirked at the thought, and as if he had heard it, Shirabu gave her a death glare.
The next play, Kazane was pretty sure she had about three heart attacks. First, from Hinata's jump, managing to get away from Tendou and hitting it at Ushiwaka. Second was her boyfriend's aura right after he received it, and third from how hard he hit the ball. And that's how the first set ended.
"Hot damn." She whistled.
"Well now, is mister serious over there getting his little undies all twisted up? Color me intrigued~" He backbended. Switching sides, Kazane started handing out water bottles again as Tendou waked over to his best friend. "Hey Ushiwaka, are you and karasuno's number 10 buds?"
"I met him on the street."
"Street?" Tendou raised an eyebrow.
"He told me he was going to beat me and go to nationals."
"Ballsy!" the redhead jumped, surprised at how outrageous that sounded.
"Yeah, it is."
"Come to think of it, didn't you get scolded for letting some strange kids into the school?" Shirabu brought up.
"Those were fun times." Kazane snickered, remembering it.
"Oh okayyyyy, he's a mouthy kid who picks fights i get why you like him so much!" Tendou processed.
"Actually, I hate him." This statement even made Kazane look up in shock. "I loathe arrogance with nothing to back it up."
"Haaaaa?" Tendou's shoulders rose, almost as if he was a cat with hackles. "Did my ears deceive me? If shortie can make the great stoic Ushiwaka have an emotional response like that..." He trailed off, straightening. The look on his face made Kazane shiver. "...It sounds like this could be a lot of fun for me as well~"
"Baki baki ni ore~"
"NO! We're saving that for later!!"
~*~
The first point were to Karasuno, and Kazane had to hand it to them: a sync attack was a pretty good way to discombobulate their opponents. Marking down that Yamagata shanked the ball, she looked up. "Come on! You can do this you guys!"
"Right!" They responded, getting back into the zone. They got the point back, Taichi doing a back one and getting the kill. Kazane marked him down. The next few points were back and forth, and then it was Ushiwaka's serve. Tanaka received it with his face, but somehow managed to get the point from the overpass.
Kazane facepalmed.
It was 2-3 and Tsukishima's serve. Goshiki hit it, but the block made it a chance ball. Hinata did his cross jump, but just as he hit it, Tendou stuffed the ball right back on their side. Landing, he smirked. "You're gonna have to go through me if you wanna take down Ushiwaka." He said, his hand raised, "Shall we?"
"YEAH WAY TO BLOCK SATORI!!" Kazane cheered, and he let his tongue roll out of his mouth as he held up a peace sign. The next point, Tendou shut down Tobio, which made Kazane snort.
"Feelin' goooood!" Tendou grinned. Reon served again, Daichi receiving it nicely. Tobio glanced at Asahi, which made Kazane's eyes narrow. Too obvious to be real.
Her suspicion was proven correct as Tendou blocked Hinata once again, and she could see how pissed off her twin brother was getting as waves of annoyance and anger rolled off of him. She snickered as Karasuno took a time out.
"Man it feels like I'm playing at 120% today~" Tendou praised himself.
"Those were a really nice set of blocks, Tendou." Saito praised as they arrived at the bench.
"Why thank you~" The redhead replied, then patted Ushiwaka on the back. "Sorry bud, I'm not sharing the spotlight this game muh man."
"It's not a big deal." He answered.
"Nice going Tendou! You're definitely playing at the top of your game today." Kazane told him, then grinned at her boyfriend. "You are too Wakatoshi!"
"Thanks Kazzy~"
"Thank you."
Getting back out onto the court, it was 5-3. "One more pretty serve pretty please~" Tendou called behind him to Reon. The point was snatched by Karasuno, mostly because Tendou wasn't paying attention. Kazane deadpanned.
Noticing Tendou talking to her brother and the expressions on both of their faces, Kazane's lips upturned. He's probably teasing Tobio, she decided. The next point, Tendou messed up, jumping with Hinata but the ball went back to Daichi.
However, Yamagata got the ball up. It went back as a chanceball to Karasuno, but at least the ball hadn't touched the floor. Hinata suddenly went dashing to the other side of the court, Tendou quick on his heals. The point ended up being Karasuno's as Yamagata shanked it, whih made it 11-11.
Tobio up to serve again, Yamagata received it and Goshiki hit it over. Asahi got the spike up, allowing Tobio to get under it. Tendou was tracking with Hinata, but then for whatever reason decided to go to block the outside, making it a one touch. "Got it!" Yamagata received it with his hands, allowing Shirabu to give it to Ushiwaka, which scored them a point.
"Nice going!" Kazane cheered.
"OoH, it's the normal guy~" Tendou pointed at Tsukishima, who's face immediately darkened. He got back at the comment by stuffing Tendou's time lag.
"Hello, I'm the normal guy." He greeted, making Tendou scowl. "Your time lag may have worked on our feral child, but it won't work on me. Continue to use it though."
"And here I thought all of Karasuno's first years were a pain, but you really are a cut above the rest!" Tendou growled.
"Why thank you." Tsukishima grinned.
"YOU'RE PISSING ME OOOOOOFFFFFFF!"
A few points later, Tanaka scored by hitting the seam between Goshiki and Yamagata. Kazane facepalmed. "THAT WAS FOR YOU GOSHIKI YOU IDIOT!!!" Washijo yelled, now having enough of silently sitting and watching. "DON'T JUST STARE AT THE BALL! DO SOMETHINGGG!"
Goshiki's face was priceless. "h-Hai!"
"Oh Goshiki-" Tendou snickered.
Washijo continued to rant as Hinata switched in for Nishinoya. It was 17-16, and Suga was switched in for Tsukishima. Kazane's eyes narrowed as the serve was called. Reon received it, and Shirabu set Tendou a quick. Daichi got the spike up, which allowed Suga and Tobio to switch. The third year set Tobio, who shot it down line for a kill.
"Gah! The arrogance!" Washijo leaned back, saying something about it being a family trait.
"Ah that's right, Karasuno's coach is coach Ukai's grandson, isn't he?" Saito spoke up, the head coach nodding.
"That's right. That imbecile Ukai always relied too much on gimmicks to make up for weaknesses. That old geriatric bastard!" Washijo growled. "Sadly because the high school roster changes every year, we're limited in what we can achieve. Polishing what raw materials we have is our best bet."
Several points later, after Tendou and Kazane sang the Baki Baki Ni Ore and Eita questioned their sanity, it was a time out. As the boys were going back onto the court, Eita called Shirabu. "Please think about when you pass to Ushiwaka."
"Yeah, sure, whatever." Shirabu bowed, then jogged onto the court. Eita's veins pulsed.
"I am serious!"
"Settle down kids~" Tendou grinned.
After the time out, the points were going back and forth, neither team being able to pull ahead. But then, at 29-30, Shirabu made a mortal mistake. He knew it, Washijo knew it, and Kazane knew it. The set was a low and fast back shoot to Ushiwaka.
Of course he had no trouble getting there, but the thing was, Tsukishima had been waiting for that moment. Leaving a gap in the block between himself and Asahi, the blonde made Ushiwaka think he'd be able to hit there.
And of course, as soon as he hit, Tsukishima blocked him right out. Karasuno won that set. "Don't worry guys, it's not like Wakatoshi getting blocked is new." Kazane reminded them once they had switched sides. "Just step it up a notch."
"Shirabu." Everyone tensed as Washijo spoke, and the setter jogged over.
"Yes?" Looking up at him, Washijo grunted.
"I can tell by the look on your face you already know." Gesturing with his head to go back to the team, Shirabu bowed before doing so.
"You alright there Shirabu?" Tendou sang.
"You know if this had been a practice match, he would have slapped me."
"It's not like your set was the only mess up in the game, these things happen to the best of us."
"It wasn't just a simple mistake.." Shirabu trailed off, then slapped his cheeks which made Tendou gasp in his dramatic way, also drawing the attention of the other players.
"Don't worry Shirabu, I believe in you and so does everyone on this team." Kazane patted him on the back, and he nodded.
"Thanks."
The next set was a slaughter, it was as if that one won set meant they could slack off to Karasuno. However, Shiratorizawa was still playing at the top of their game, now using all of their weapons now that they were feeling comfortable. Winning the game at 25-18, it was time to start the fourth set.