A/N: Hello, readers! I'm finally done with editing the season two chapters! Enjoy!

edited on january 8th, 2022 @ 2:49am

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CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO - INDIVIDUAL VS NUMBERS

SHIRATORIZAWA'S CHEERING SQUAD COULD BE heard as the third set began. Daichi was the first to serve. "Daichi-san, nice serve!" Atsushi called out. Daichi served the ball as Leon crouched down to receive it.

"Cover!"

Shirabu tosses the ball to Wakatoshi who spikes it past Tsukishima and Asahi, making Shiratorizawa get the first point.

"Don't mind! We're going to keep pushing through!" Daichi said.

"Right!" Nishinoya and Atsushi yelled back.

The game resumed as Shirabu tossed over to Tendou, who spiked past Hinata. Asahi tried to receive it but failed as Shiratorizawa got another point.

Wakatoshi spikes the ball that was sent to him as it bounced off of Nishinoya's arms, making him fall from the impact as the ball crashed into one of the blue stands. Shiratorizawa's cheering squad cheered.

Soon enough, Shiratorizawa took the third set with Karasuno only having 18 points. "Damn it..." Atsushi muttered to himself.

Daichi clapped, getting the brunette's attention. "Next! We'll get the next one!" He reassured.

"Are you all right, Nishinoya?" Asahi asked, holding his hand out, but stopped when Nishinoya had a dark look.

"There's no getting around the fact that the bigger you are, the greater your advantage is in volleyball." Nishinoya commented. "And right now, there's no one bigger than him. But that means nothing to a libero. The only one that's equal to him is me."

Both teams went to switch sides. Atsushi felt irritated with himself as he walked past his older brother.

Hinata and Wakatoshi stopped in front of each other. "Since you were able to move like that, I thought you'd be good at receiving and blocking, too. You can't fight with height, so what can you possibly do if your technique is clumsy, too?" Wakatoshi stated bluntly.

A lightning bolt went through Hinata as he remembered something Yachi had said. He had a stunned look as Wakatoshi walked away.

"Hey, stop dawdling!" Kageyama shouted.

"You and Ushiwaka are somehow alike." Hinata commented.

Kageyama then stopped. "Yeah?" He rubbed the back of his head. "Well... I want to eventually be able to hit spikes like that, too."

Hinata was on the ground. "That's not what I meant." He mumbled as Atsushi snickered a little bit.

"All right. Have a seat. Rest while you can. I'm sure you're finally getting used to both the finals and Shiratorizawa's cannon. What you're doing is technically not wrong. Don't get confused. I know you're probably tired, but always remember to keep your blocks together. With scattered blocks, you won't just be unable to stop the spike, but you'll get in the way of the receiver, too." Ukai explained. "With both offense and defense, using your numbers to create an advantage will lead to victory. Don't forget that."

"Right!"

TWEEEEEET!

Both teams got back onto the court as Goshiki was up to serve. Goshiki threw the ball up as he did his jump serve. "Out!" Atsushi shouted. He turned out to be correct as the ball went out.

"Lucky! Lucky!"

Daichi was up to serve as he threw the ball into the air in which Leon tossed it back up. Shirabu tossed the ball towards Wakatoshi.

Tsukishima and Asahi jumped up to block as Nishinoya received the ball. "Nice receive!" Kageyama complimented as he tossed the ball towards Asahi who spiked it down and gained a point for Karasuno.

"All right!"

Asahi and Nishinoya slapped their hands together in victory before slapping Tsukishima on the back.

Karasuno was now in the lead by two points. Shiratorizawa scored a point when Tendou spiked the ball and Daichi was late on receiving it.

"You're too slow. Blocking is all about reading and your sense of smell." Atsushi heard Tendou comment to Tsukishima.

"Blocking is systematic." Tsukishima informed before the two of them walked away from the net.

Hinata jumped up and spiked past Tendou as Yamagata received it. Shirabu tossed over to Goshiki as Hinata and Kageyama jumped up to block him. However, Goshiki hits the outside as he gained a point for Shiratorizawa.

"All right. That shot was amazing. It was amazing, but..." Daichi began. "That just means we have to use another method to get a point."

"Yeah!" Atsushi and Hinata shouted in unison.

Karasuno and Shiratorizawa were both tied with 7 points as the game resumed. Karasuno then began a synchronized attack.

"Oh, here it comes. That annoying attack." Sakamoto thinks to himself as he glanced over. "But..."

Kageyama tossed over to Asahi who ended up being blocked by Sakamoto. The ball landed on the court, getting Shiratorizawa a point.

"Nice kill, Sakamoto!"

"Sakamoto! Sakamoto!"

Karasuno ended up getting the point back when Kageyama tossed to Tsukishima, who earned the point.

"Daichi-san, nice serve!" Atsushi encouraged.

Daichi looked over towards Ukai, who nodded at him. Daichi served the ball up in the air in which Leon received it.

Wakatoshi headed for the ball. "We're going to stop him!" Tsukishima shouted as him and Asahi jumped up. However, Wakatoshi ended up getting a point as Tsukishima looked back in irritation.

Asahi did his jump serve in which it was received. Yamagata received the ball. "Here we go! Ready, and..." Tsukishima shouted as him, Kageyama, and Atsushi jumped up to block. Wakatoshi spiked the ball as it went high up in the air.

"If the perfect toss goes up to Ushiwaka, and he completely plows one through, there's nothing that we can do. We'll just have to do whatever we can to stop the rest. We'll have the center back's defense go one step back, if we're able to stick two or more blockers on Ushiwaka." Ukai explained.

"The thing that Kinoshita-san did in the Wakunan match!" Hinata exclaimed.

"That's it! Because our blocks with Tsukishima as the center are holding up more than we thought, we should definitely give this a try. It's merely one step... But it's still a step."

Asahi quickly received the ball. "Don't let it end with Hinata or Atsushi, whose reflexes are fast, picking it up. Get one that's not a miracle." Ukai thinks to himself.

"Daichi!" Asahi called out as Daichi covered for him.

"Got it!" He reassured, sending the ball over. "Atsushi, get the last!"

"Get back! Get back!"

"Nope!" Tendou said.

Atsushi jumped up and spiked the ball. However, he got blocked by Tendou as the ball crashed to the ground.

"What?!" Atsushi exclaimed in shock.

"He stopped it!"

"Miracle boy, Sa-to-ri!" Tendou exclaimed.

"Good job stopping that." Leon complimented.

"He had no time to look for a block, standing like that. And spikers frequently end up looking at the spot they're planning to spike." Tendou informed. "It seems Atsushi has been slacking ever since he decided to attend Karasuno. He wouldn't become that way if he was on our team."

"So that's how he was able to determine where the ball would go." Leon thought, looking over towards Atsushi who was irritated with himself. "Which means, Atsushi was going to hit where he had planned, regardless of where he was standing."

"I'm sorry!" Atsushi apologized.

"Don't mind!" Daichi reassured him.

"That block was pretty amazing." Tsukishima commented.

"Yes, it was! Tendou-san is amazing at what he does! As per usual!" Atsushi cried out in agreement.

Wakatoshi was up to serve as he bounced the ball a few times. Shiratorizawa was in the lead with 10 points.

TWEEEET!

Wakatoshi threw the ball up in the air and did his jump serve in which Asahi tried to receive it, but it went out instead.

"Sorry!" Asahi said.

"What? Is he Mr. Perfect?" Sugawara asked, having a dark and scary look plastered on his face. "Is Ushiwaka-kun Mr. Friggin' Perfect?!"

Atsushi looked over at the scoreboard.

Karasuno

09

Shiratorizawa

11

Wakatoshi did his jump serve once more in which Daichi dived down to receive it. "Cover!" Atsushi shouted as Kageyama got into setting position before tossing over to Tsukishima in which he scored a point.

Nishinoya then switched out with Hinata as Tsukishima was up to serve. He threw the ball up in the air in which Goshiki tossed it back up.

"Sorry! It's short!" Goshiki apologized.

"Ohira-san!" Shirabu shouted, tossing the ball towards Leon.

Hinata then stepped back a bit, running forward as if he was doing a spike as him and Atsushi jumped up to block. The ball hits the court as the crowd cheered.

"I'm jealous, but..." Hinata spoke up, getting Wakatoshi's attention. "I never said I wasn't going to fight with height!"

Both teams were now tied with 11 points as Hinata jumped up as him and Kageyama jumped up to block Leon. However, Hinata ended up crashing face first into the net.

"I'm so sorry!" Hinata apologized.

"Don't mind." Daichi reassured, holding his hand up.

"Think about how fast you're going, you dumbass!" Kageyama scolded.

Nishinoya then walked up. "Shoyo, this is from Ukai-san. The ideal jump is to jump straight up, but for now, he said you can go the sides, too. In return..." He trailed off.

"We'll support both sides." Atsushi and Kageyama finished in unison.

"Yeah." Atsushi added, before looking at the score.

Karasuno

12

Shiratorizawa

13

The game continued as Atsushi barely received the spike that was coming at him. Hinata raced forward as he jumped up to block Tendou.

Kageyama tossed the ball towards Hinata who spiked past Tendou and Goshiki, earning a point for Karasuno.

"All right!"

"Hinata, nice kill!"

Up in the audience was Iwaizumi. "Oh. You're here, too." Iwaizumi said as Oikawa flinched while Iwaizumi hopped over a seat.

"You said that you weren't going to come because it'd piss you off, no matter who won." Iwaizumi continued.

"No matter which sides wins, I'm gonna be able to see the other team's faces when they lose." Oikawa said. "Even better if I witness that bastard Ushiwaka get humilitated by his own kid brother."

"You really are a piece of crap." Iwaizumi commented.

"I don't have time to sit around feeling sorry for myself." Oikawa stated as Iwaizumi sat down.

"I see that their #10 sure is moving around a lot, like always." Iwaizumi said.

"He's definitely some kind of monster." Oikawa agreed. "However, it sure must be rough having to stick around that monster."

TWEEEEET!

Wakatoshi spiked the ball in which Daichi received it. "Sorry!" He apologized.

"Atsushi!" Asahi called out, covering for Daichi.

"Right!"

Atsushi jumped up and spiked the ball past Tendou and Shirabu, earning a point for Karasuno as they were both tied with 18 points.

"Tsukishima, nice serve!"

Both Kageyama and Hinata jumped up to block Leon as Daichi received the spike. "Left!" Atsushi called out as he jumped up and spiked the ball.

"One touch!" Tendou called out.

"Chance ball!" Goshiki shouted, saving the ball.

"Wakatoshi-kun!"

"Come on, Hinata. I'll... support you!" Atsushi thought as him and Hinata jumped up to block Wakatoshi.

Wakatoshi spiked the ball. "One touch!" Hinata shouted.

"Got it!" Asahi reassured, receiving the ball.

"Don't you dare get worn out!" Kageyama shouted.

"Shut up!" Hinata shouted back as he ran towards the opposite side.

However, Kageyama tosses the ball towards Atsushi. The brunette spikes the ball past Tendou and Shirabu in which Karasuno cheered.

"Atsushi! Great job supporting him!" Ukai yelled.

"Hinata, nice one touch!"

Both teams were panting and trying to catch their breaths as they looked at one another in determination.

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A/N: Another chapter is completed! Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 1947 words.