A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to another chapter! Enjoy!

edited on january 24th, 2021 @ 10:42pm

════ ∘◦ᵒ 𓅓 ᵒ◦∘ ════

CHAPTER FIVE - PRACTICE MATCH WITH SEIJOH

THE NEXT DAY AT SCHOOL, everyone gathered in the gym, sitting on the ground as they listened to Daichi who was telling them about their positions for the practice match. "Now, concerning the positions for the practice match... I think this is how we'll do it." He said as he showed them the board that he held.

Atsushi looked at the board to see that he was a wing spiker. Then, he noticed that Hinata was in a position for tall people.

"I want to use Kageyama and Hinata as a set, and Tsukishima is one of our few tall players. I want to see how you'll fight against Seijoh." Daichi informed.

"Yes." Tsukishima replied with boredom.

"You're using Hinata where height matters?" Tanaka questioned.

"Middle Blocker? I'm in the same position as the lanky jerk Tsukishima?" Hinata exclaimed. Atsushi chuckled a little at his words as Tsukishima gave Hinata an annoyed look.

"Oh, j-just a second. Can I read up on the positions?" Takeda asked, reading a volleyball book.

"Setter: The control tower that tosses for spikes and organizes the offense. Wing Spiker: An all-round, well-balanced player who attacks the core of the opponents. Middle Blocker: He defends against the opponents offense, and scores points. Mainly using "quick." Furthermore, he plays the decoy to draw the opponents blockers away." Takeda reads before looking over at Daichi.

"Would you say these are right?" He asked.

"For now, those are all." Daichi replied with a gentle smile.

"Listen, Hinata... you're the ultimate decoy." Kageyama announced making Hinata yell in amazement.

"The ultimate... decoy?" Hinata exclaimed but he didn't seem to like how that sounded. "There's something uninspiring about that."

"We'll let you score lots of points using "quick" and direct the opponents blockers attention to you. That's when the other spikers will come into play." Kageyama explained making Hinata give him his attention.

"Oh." Hinata gasped out.

"Big guys like Tsukishima will fall like idiots to your movements... that'll feel good, won't it?" Atsushi grinned, Tsukishima had an annoyed look on his face.

"I like it. I like it a lot." Hinata agreed.

"Hey. Are you calling Tsukki an idiot?" Yamaguchi exclaimed.

"Shut up, Yamaguchi." Tsukishima hissed.

"Sorry, Tsukki." Yamaguchi apologized.

"On the other hand, if you're not effective, know that the other attacks will all fail." Kageyama stated bluntly, pressuring the orange haired male.

"Hey... don't put so much pressure on him." Daichi whispered.

"All fail... All fail.. All fail."

Daichi widened his eyes. "You see?" He stated to Kageyama.

"What about blocking though?" Tanaka asked. "Even if he can jump high, the taller players will reach the highest point of their jump faster."

"Yes, the reason we want Hinata to be the focus of blockers isn't to smack down the opponents spikes, but to touch them. With Hinata's crazy reflexes and speed, he can touch the opponents spikes, and slow down their momentum. We'll set the pace to our advantage and make our counterattack." Daichi explained.

"It's not gonna go smoothly right off the bat." Tanaka stated.

"It probably won't." Daichi agreed.

"Huh?"

"Right off the bat, anyway. But we should still try it." Daichi replied. "Maybe we'll learn something as we go along. It's a practice match, after all."

"Fine." Tanaka sighed.

"Anyways, for in-air battles, we've only got Tsukishima and Kageyama who can match Hinata's jumps. So Hinata, have confidence, and..." Daichi turned to Hinata as he got cut off by the orange haired male getting nervous.

"Yes! I'll do my best! I'll score lots of points. I'll be a decoy."

"I'll serve. Block. Quick. Everything." Hinata exclaimed. Daichi runs over and places his hand on the first years shoulders.

"Hey, hey, calm down!" Daichi panicked.

Suddenly, Hinata blew a fuse.

"He blew a fuse!"

"Hinata blew a fuse!"

Tanaka yells in panic.

Later, everyone else was in the club room as Atsushi waited outside, already dressed and thinking about things.

Tanaka suddenly rushed out of the club room. "Hinata! You're wearing my pants!" He shouted. Hinata's pants were bigger and baggier.

"What are you doing, Tanaka? You pervert!" A girl from the tennis club exclaimed. "Are you stupid? You're the worst."

Tanaka paled at her as he quickly rushed back into the club room. Atsushi sighed to himself. "I'm on a team full of idiots..." He thought.

════ ∘◦ᵒ 𓅓 ᵒ◦∘ ════

Atsushi arrived at school, as him and the team had their jackets on. They had their bags packed and ready. In front of them, Takeda was in front of the bus. "Line up." Daichi ordered as they did so. They bowed to Takeda. "Let's play!" They all announced.

"Yes." Takeda smiled as everyone got on. Atsushi got on the bus, taking a free spot as he looked out the window.

"You okay?" Atsushi looked up to see Sugawara and Daichi taking the seat behind him.

"Yeah, just a little nervous I guess." Atsushi responded.

"Will you be alright for the match?" Daichi questioned.

"Yeah... yeah, I'll be fine." Atsushi replied.

The bus soon drove off as Atsushi had his earbuds in, music calming him down a little. He was just about to take a nap when Tanaka started yelling.

"Stop the bus!"

Atsushi jumped and looked over at him. "Well, this is worse than we expected..." He thought. Sugawara, Daichi, and Kageyama also looked at Tanaka. Hinata had puked on Tanaka's pants.

════ ∘◦ᵒ 𓅓 ᵒ◦∘ ════

Karasuno had finally arrived at Aoba Johsai. Hinata was apologizing to Tanaka for puking on his pants. Hinata went to the bathroom while Kageyama followed him.

Meanwhile, two Aoba Johsai players were talking about Kageyama and Karasuno. "Besides, all I know about Karasuno is that their manager is a beauty." Yahaba was saying, making Kindaichi look at him with interest.

"Are you serious?" Kindaichi asked.

"That's right. She's kind of sexy. Oh yeah, and there's a riffraff kind of guy there too. He's got a shaved head, and an unpleasant look in his eyes. He looks real stupid." Yahaba explained. They rounded the corner but stopped when they saw Tanaka had a scary look on his face.

Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Kageyama, and Atsushi also rounded the corner to see Kindaichi and Yahaba looking scared at Tanaka. "Um..." Yahaba commented, gulping a little.

"Don't underestimate us too much..." Tanaka warned.

CAWW!

The sound of a crow echoed, as the the sky looked darker and multiple crows flying in the back, making the Karasuno players look dangerous and intimidating. "...Or we'll eat you alive." Tanaka hissed, finishing his sentence.

The two Seijoh players shivered in fear. Tsukishima and Atsushi both noticed this as they smirked. "You shouldn't say things like that, Tanaka. Look what you did. You scared these poor elites. Now I feel sorry for them." Tsukishima said.

"Oh, let Tanaka-san have his fun. Besides..." Atsushi started to say as he glared at the two players, who flinched under his olive colored eyes. "It'll be interesting to see if they can play as well as they run their mouth."

"Oh, you're right. We should save our bullying for the match." Tanaka said. Daichi ended up catching up to them as he apologized to the two Seijoh players.

The Karasuno players entered the gym as it was very big. Hinata was acting more nervous as Tanaka was pressuring him. He ended up having to go to the bathroom again.

"You put pressure on him again, Tanaka-san..." Atsushi sighed. Tanaka mumbled to himself as he went to go find Hinata.

"We will now begin the practice match between Karasuno High School versus Aoba Johsai High School." The announcer spoke up.

"Let's play."

The match began as Hinata was still shaking like a leaf. Soon enough, Aoba Johsai was ahead, and it was time for Hinata's serve.

"He can't do this... He's completely overwhelmed..." Atsushi thinks to himself.

Hinata ended up smacking the ball right to Kageyama's head, making everyone silent and stare at the first year setter.

"Listen to me. In volleyball, everybody on this side of the net is your ally." Tanaka was saying as he gestured to Kageyama, Tsukishima, Daichi, Atsushi, and himself. "It doesn't matter if you're lousy. It doesn't matter if you're a nuisance. You can slow us down. That's okay. But to make up for those things... that's why you have your team and your senpais." Tanaka declared.

"Oh!"

"Go on. Call me Tanaka-senpai."

"Tanaka-senpai."

Tanaka laughs at this, enjoying being called senpai.

"Once more."

"Tanaka-senpai."

Atsushi sweat dropped. "I think he just enjoys being called senpai..." He thought.

It was finally Atsushi's turn to serve as he spun the ball around. His olive colored eyes concentrated on the opposing team.

"Atsushi, nice serve!"

The brunette tossed the ball up into the air and served it, making it go above the net. Iwaizumi tried saving it, but was too late as the ball dropped to the ground.

"Kunimi!" Yahaba shouted as Kunimi jumped up to spike.

Atsushi quickly followed the ball. "Atsushi, cover!" Tanaka shouted.

"I got it!" Atsushi yelled as he received the ball, making it go towards Kageyama.

Karasuno finally won a set as they celebrated. "Hmm? Atsu, you okay?" Kageyama asked, noticing him distraught.

"Seijoh's setter..." Atsushi muttered. "He's not their official setter."

"You noticed it too, huh?" Kageyama stated. He was about to say something else but was cut off by girls screaming.

"Oikawa, you're back." Irihata greeted.

"I knew he would be here." Atsushi thinks to himself, narrowing his eyes at him in concentration.

"You know him, Kageyama, Atsushi?" Hinata asked.

"That's Oikawa, a super offensive setter. I'd say he's at the top of his class for attacks and team play." Kageyama turns to Hinata, an annoyed look on his face. "And he's got a bad attitude too."

"Worse than you?!" Hinata exclaimed.

"Maybe even worse than Tsukishima." Atsushi added.

"That's awful." Hinata commented.

"So he's from Kitagawa Daiichi?" Tanaka asked.

"Yep." Kageyama replied.

"Yoo-hoo! Long time no see, Tobio-chan. Nice to see you. Still doing the king thing?" Oikawa asked. "Oh, hello to you too, Little Ushijima."

"Don't call me that, Oikawa-san." Atsushi said.

"You got your brother's attitude alright." Oikawa stated.

Kageyama ignores him and explained how he learned everything he knows from Oikawa.

The game soon resumes as Karasuno hits set point. Aoba Johsai was trailing behind by four points. The whistle blew as Atsushi saw that Kunimi was being swapped out for Oikawa. Atsushi sighed.

"If we don't get a handle on Oikawa's serves, it'll be over sooner than we think." Atsushi thought.

Oikawa smirks as he points to Tsukishima. "He's targeting Tsukishima." Atsushi mumbled. And he was correct. Oikawa throws the ball in the air does his famous jump serve and gains a point through Tsukishima's bad receive.

"Yeah, I thought so." Oikawa places a hand on his hip. "I started watching midway through. You two, number five and number six... You're bad a receives." Atsushi had to hide his snicker behind a fake cough due to the offended looks of the two. "You guys must be first-years."

"Okay, I'm going to do another." Oikawa announced. He gives Tsukishima another ball which calls for another bad receive leading to another point for Aoba Johsai.

Atsushi realizes that Aoba Johsai only needs one more point until they're at set point as well.

"Hey, you, Grand King!" Hinata shouted. "Aim for me! I can take it! Target me!"

Daichi was able to widen his receiving zone. Oikawa noticed what Daichi had done. "Hmm.. So the captain, expert at receiving, is expanding the defence... However, you can't defend by yourself." He stated, spiking the ball down, aiming it near the edge.

"He's aimed it near the edge." Takeda said.

"But he sacrificed some of his power to get that accuracy." Sugawara added.

A flash of brown hair appeared in front of Oikawa's eyes. He gasped as Atsushi quickly saved and received the ball, leaving everyone in the gym with shocked faces while Karasuno just smirked.

"What the heck?"

"Hey... That guy is a first-year, right?"

"He just received Oikawa-san's serve like it was nothing!"

Soon enough, Karasuno had won. They all headed out of Aoba Johsai. "Takeda-sensei complimented us, but frankly, if we're facing Seijoh and Oikawa in an official match, we'd be lacking." Daichi stated.

"Lacking? Oh, he means players." Atsushi thinks to himself.

"Spoken like a true captain. You know your stuff." Oikawa spoke as he turned to them with a smirk on his face.

Tanaka makes a scary look, as Yamaguchi and Hinata look like they want to fight Oikawa as Tsukishima just watched with an annoyed look.

"The Great King makes his entrance."

Tanaka walks closer with Hinata hiding behind him.

"You got a problem, dude?"

"What do you want?"

"Wanna fight, huh?"

"Wanna fight, huh?"

Atsushi rubbed his temples in annoyance as Oikawa looked amused. "Don't be so hostile. You little one." Oikawa spoke before gesturing to Hinata, who flinched. "Your last one touch and broad attack was amazing."

"Oh..." Hinata said.

"Let's give it all we got next time, right from the start. You didn't get to see our set up. Oh, yes, We'll be improving our serves too." Oikawa said. "It's true, your offense is amazing, but your receives are slow. I'm not the only one who hits powerful serves. The Inter-High preliminaries are coming up soon. Don't get eliminated, okay?"

"Because I..." He started to say as he points to Kageyama. "Want to pulverise my dear underclassman, setter-on-setter, in an official match."

"And also." Oikawa continued, pointing at Atsushi next. "I want to face off against my rival's dear little brother in an official match as well."

"Why am I always being dragged into Toshi-nii's affairs?" Atsushi asked himself, huffing in annoyance.

"There's not much time until the tournament. I'll be looking forward to seeing you there." Oikawa finished as he walked off.

"Don't let him get to you. He likes to razz people like that." Kageyama said to Daichi.

"It's true. We don't have much time left before the Inter-High preliminaries, but he should be coming back soon." Daichi stated. Atsushi raised an eyebrow.

"He?" Atsushi questioned in his head.

"Who's coming back?" Hinata asked.

"The Guardian Deity of Karasuno." Daichi replied.

"Another member, huh? Interesting..." Atsushi thought.

════ ∘◦ᵒ 𓅓 ᵒ◦∘ ════

A/N: Another chapter done! Hope you enjoyed!

Word Count: 2435 words.