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

edited on october 19th, 2020 @ 2:51pm

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CHAPTER FIVE - RIVAL

TADAHIRO WATCHED AS HINATA JUMPED up to spike the ball, however he misses, making Tadahiro quickly rush over and save the ball before it could touch the ground.

"Nice save, Kagami-san!" Nishinoya praised him.

"It's in."

"Front, front."

Tadahiro saw Inuoka save the ball. "Nice, Inuoka." Yaku praised.

"Bring it!" Yamamoto exclaimed as Kenma gets to the ball and receieves it. "Tora." He says as the ball made its way to Yamamoto. Daichi, Hinata, and Tanaka were the blockers as Tadahiro kept his eyes on the ball.

Yamamoto gets blocked, as the ball was about to touch the court, but then a Nekoma member saves it, making Tadahiro narrow his eyes. He watched as Kenma receives the ball as Yamamoto spiked it down onto Karasuno's side.

Tadahiro dives down to save it, but it was too late. He hissed in annoyance. "Shit..." Tadahiro mumbled as Daichi walked over and offers a hand to help him up.

"Don't mind." Daichi reassured him. Tadahiro nodded and allowed Daichi to help him up.

"You're still straining. Your timing's slower than usual." Kageyama stated to Hinata, who nods.

Tadahiro looked at the scoreboard.

Karasuno

13

Nekoma

17

It was also the second set, making Tadahiro run a hand through his hair.

"Nice serve."

Kenma serves the ball, as Tadahiro watched the volleyball like a hawk. However, he saw that the ball went to Hinata who looked as if he was having trouble on deciding if he should receive it. Tadahiro growled.

"Hinata!" Tadahiro yelled. He gasps as the ball hit his face.

"Cover, cover." Tadahiro called out as Nishinoya gets there on time and saves the ball.

"Kagami-san!" Nishinoya calls out to his upperclassman.

"All right! Asa-chan's not the only one who can score in a pinch." Tadahiro exclaimed as he jumped up and spiked the ball, gaining a point for Karasuno.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Tadahiro and Nishinoya high fived each other. Soon it was Karasuno's turn to serve to which they do as the ball made it's way across the court. Tadahiro saw Kenma about to set, as Hinata was getting ready to block. However, Tadahiro noticed someone dash forward, he then sees Inuoka come up from behind #2.

"He's going to spike..." Tadahiro thought. He was about to warn Hinata, but stopped when he saw he also noticed it. Hinata managed to one touch it.

"Nice one touch!" Nishinoya yelled.

"Chance ball." Tadahiro called out as Hinata speeds off.

Kageyama sets the ball to Hinata who spikes it down, but just barely, but Karasuno was able to gain a point.

"One more!" Tadahiro heard Inuoka and Hinata shout in unison.

The game was continued as Yamamoto scored a point for his team. Tadahiro glanced at the score. Karasuno was at 15 with Nekoma being the lead with 18. Tadahiro rested his hands on his hips as he saw Inuoka was about to serve. He also noticed that Kuroo takes the spot that Inuoka was.

"Inuoka's 20cm taller than you, and yet you've played an even match. That's amazing, shrimpy." Kuroo smirks down at Hinata who was taken aback by his words.

"You can call me a shrimp, but you're the real shrimp." Hinata hissed as Kageyama dragged Hinata away to talk. Tadahiro sighed at the two and ran a hand through his hair.

"You all right, Hiro?" Kuroo asked.

Tadahiro ignored his question and glared at him, making Kuroo chuckle. "You can't ignore me forever, Kitten." He informed. Tadahiro could've sworn he heard Daichi growl.

The whistle blew as Inuoka served the ball. Nishinoya saved it as the ball went to Kageyama who performed a quick attack to Hinata, making Karasuno get a point.

"Smart thinking..." Tadahiro thought.

"Okay, it's my serve next!"

"Get it over the net, okay?"

"I know that!"

Tadahiro watched as Hinata goes to the serving line with the ball. "Hinata, nice serve!" Tanaka called out as Hinata serves the ball. Yaku saves it as it went to Kenma. However, Tadahiro saw all the spikers run around, confusing the team.

"They're doing a synchronize attack... Those are a pain in the ass." Tadahiro thinks to himself, as it was tough to pinpoint who was gonna spike.

Yamamoto jumps up to spike, but he was a decoy as Kenma did a back-row attack instead, the guy in the back spikes it. However, Hinata saves it... with his face.

"Chance ball." Kuroo calls out as he receives the ball.

The ball goes to Kenma as Asahi, Tsukishima, and Daichi were going to block, but they didn't know who was spiking this time. Tadahiro sees Kuroo jump up to spike, he runs to the ball and only managed to touch it, making it go out of bounds.

"Damn it..." Tadahiro growled at himself.

Yamamoto soon did his serve, Tadahiro watched as the ball made it to Nishinoya who receives it to Asahi who jumps up to spike, which he does and Yaku saves it.

Tadahiro watched as Kenma tossed it Kuroo, however, Kuroo didn't jump right away. "A delayed jump..." Tadahiro thought as Kuroo jumps up and spikes the ball, getting a point for Nekoma.

Tadahiro narrowed his eyes as Kuroo high fives Kenma and he grins at him. "Thinking about coming back to Nekoma yet?" He asked, but before Tadahiro could respond, Daichi clicked his tongue and dragged him away from him.

Soon the game continues, as Yamamoto serves once more. Nishinoya quickly saves the ball. "Pound them with your power and speed!" Tadahiro heard Ukai yell at them, making Tanaka grin slightly.

"In other words, force them to surrender?" Tanaka grinned.

"That's kind of villainous." Hinata spoke from the sidelines with Yamaguchi and Sugawara.

Tadahiro couldn't help but chuckle darkly, making his team stare at him with wide eyes. "Villainous, huh? You know what they call a flock of crows? A murder. So in a way, we are villainous." He grinned mischievously.

"Kagami, you look really scary!" Takeda squeals, backing up a bit and hiding behind Ukai.

"We'll make up for our lousy quicks and receives with sheer brute force. You guys are rough around the edges and awkward, so use that as your weapon!" Ukai yelled.

"Wield your weapons with all your might. Attack, attack, and keep on attacking!"

Tsukishima, Asahi, Tanaka, and Tadahiro all managed to get points each time the ball came to Karasuno, their score was building up.

Tadahiro jumped up to block Inuoka, making Karasuno gain a point. He looked at the score to see the results.

Karasuno

20

Nekoma

22

TWEEET!

Nekoma called for a timeout, making everyone else rest a bit. Tadahiro walked over and gulped down his water, feeling worn out.

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Tadahiro panted, as Nekoma was at 23 points with Karasuno being at 21. He jumped up when Kageyama set the ball to him, and spiked it down hard, making Karasuno get another point.

"Nice one!" Yamaguchi called from the sidelines, as Tadahiro looked at the score.

"One more point, and Karasuno will be even with Nekoma." He thought.

However, the ball came to Kenma and he did a setter dump, making Nekoma get a point, Nishinoya was too late to save it.

"It's a match point for Nekoma..." Tadahiro mumbled to himself, narrowing his eyes at Nekoma, as he noticed him and his team had the same aura. Determination to win— no matter what.

"All right... We'll even the score!" Tanaka yelled, running forward as him and Hinata jump. Kageyama sets the ball to the far side, and Daichi spikes the ball as Karasuno gets a point.

"One more... and we're even." Tadahiro thought excitedly.

It was Tanaka's turn to serve the ball, as Daichi yells for encouragement. Tanaka serves it, but it got saved, the ball game back to Karasuno's side as Tadahiro received over to Kageyama who gets ready to set it.

Kageyama sets to Asahi who spikes it down, but Yaku saves it, but it was chance ball for Karasuno.

"Azumane, direct spike!" Ukai yelled at Asahi, who jumps to slam it down. When he did, the ball got saved yet again. But it was Karasuno's chance ball once more.

Tadahiro panted, as his eyes were starting to get heavy from all the watching. He managed to receive the ball to Kageyama once more, as Hinata ran over to spike it. Kageyama responded by setting the ball to Hinata.

Yaku saves it, but the ball touches the net, as it then bounces off the net and into another Nekoma player's arms, but he failed to save it properly as the ball goes down and down.

However, Kenma was quick and slides down to save it.

Tadahiro growled a little, as him, Hinata, and Nishinoya all race towards the ball to save it.

It was too late.

The ball touched the court, making Nekoma the winner of the match. Tadahiro scoffed in annoyance, but tried not to show his anger. "I'm one of the top 3 spikers in Japan? What a joke..." He thought.

Tadahiro saw and heard everyone praise Kenma. "Once more." Hinata voices out, making everyone turn to look at him in surprise. "Once more." Hinata begged, causing everyone to sweat drop at him. "Let's do it."

Nekomata chuckled. "Yeah. I'd like that. That's what a practice match is for, so we can do it 'once more.'" He stated as Hinata beams at this. Tadahiro paled however, not wanting to play more, but he didn't say anything.

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The last match ended, and this time, everyone was panting in exhaustion, even Tadahiro was sitting on the floor, tired from all the spiking, blocking, and receiving he did.

"Once more!" Hinata yelled, but everyone glared at him.

"I'm gonna punch the hell out of him." Tadahiro thought.

Ukai stomps over and picks Hinata up by his shirt. "Hey now, we can't. We have to catch the bullet train." Ukai informed making Hinata grumble as he was let go.

"Huddle."

Ukai and Nekomata swap teams so they could talk to them. "His granddad and I are old aquaintances. We did a lot of practice matches together. They were good matches, every time." Nekomata said, glancing over at Ukai who was talking with the Nekoma team.

"However..." Nekomata sighed as he told them that the old Ukai coach had retired and such. "But a good rival is hard to find. Old Man Ukai made a comeback but collapsed soon thereafter... I was afraid Karasuno would be done after that." Nekomata explained as he looks at Karasuno.

"But frankly, your abilities exceeded my expectations. Especially #9 and #10's quicks on offense. You guys are pretty much unstoppable." Nekomata said as he looked at Tanaka and Asahi. "And you two on the left, you're both powerful weapons." He praised the two.

Nekomata then looked at Tadahiro. "You... I can't seem to put my finger on you. But I can tell you have extraordinary talent. I can understand why you're one of the top 3 spikers in Japan." He informed, making Tadahiro widen his eyes at him.

He then looked at the rest of them. "Practice maintaining connection." Nekomata informed.

"Yes."

"As a team, you're rough-hewn and lack training, but you have overwhelming potential. The more you train, the stronger you'll become. You guys make me happy." Nekomata smiled as he glances at his team who all look back at him.

"We finally have a good rival again. Let's meet again at Nationals. In front of a huge audience, in an arena swirling with emotions, in that shining, glistering, enormous gymnasium. The Battle at the Garbage Dump. Let's have our best match ever." Nekomata smiles at them and everyone nodded.

"Yes."

"All right. Let's start cleaning up!" Ukai yelled for everyone.

"Yeah!"

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Tadahiro was mopping the floors as he heard someone walking up to him. "Hey..." He looked up to see his Kuroo looking at him.

"What do you want, Tetsu?" Tadahiro asked with venom in his voice.

"I just wanted to clear the air between us. I feel bad that part of the reason that you left Nekoma was because of me." Kuroo replied.

"It was because of you, Tetsu." Tadahiro reminded him. "You completely played me, and for what? Just to get extra cash?"

"You don't have to remind me. I know it was a dick move." Kuroo stated. "It started off as a bet, but I grew feelings for you, Hiro. Before I could tell you someone already told you it was a bet."

"Come back to Nekoma, Hiro." Kuroo finished.

Before Tadahiro could reply, he felt Daichi's fingers intertwine with his. "He's part of Karasuno." Daichi growled protectively.

"Not for long..." Kuroo smirked and walked away. Daichi sighed as he rubbed Tadahiro's knuckles.

"Don't go back. We need you." He said.

"Aww, you really do care about me, Dai-chan." Tadahiro teased as Daichi smacked him on the head. "Ouch! I was joking! Besides, Nekoma and Tetsu are my past Karasuno and you are my present and future."

Tadahiro sees Kageyama mumbling as he stares at Kenma, asking crazy questions that were making Kenma overwhelmed. Tadahiro snorted as Kenma ran off. He then sees Hinata and Inuoka get along, as he watched the two bounce up and down.

"What the heck are they talking about?" Tsukishima mumbled besides him.

Tadahiro sighed. "I don't even wanna know." He replied back as Tsukishima snorted.

Tadahiro looked around to see to see Nishinoya, Sugawara, and Yaku talk. Well, more like Nishinoya said something before running off as Sugawara told him to come back, but Nishinoya didn't listen.

Tadahiro felt stares as he turned around to see Yamamoto blushing at him. He then felt Kuroo's smirk going his way. He felt overwhelmed as he headed over to Sugawara.

"Suga-chan!" Tadahiro called out, as he hides behind his friend.

"Uh, you okay?" Sugawara asked, concerned.

"Tetsu and that Yamamoto guy keep looking at me... It's creeping me out." Tadahiro replied, giving the two Nekoma players glares.

Suga sighed. "Of course. Just stick with me." He said. Tadahiro looked over at Yaku who smiles respectfully at him.

"It's nice to see you again, Yaku-chan." Tadahiro said, appearing from behind Sugawara once Yaku yelled at Kuroo and Yamamoto.

"You as well, Kagami." Yaku said as the two began talking and catching up with one another.

Once everyone was done cleaning, Karasuno headed off, Tanaka and Yamamoto cry as they shake hands.

"Till we meet again, my friend." They said in unison.

"Those two are really dramatic." Tadahiro thought.

Tadahiro looked over to see Daichi walk over to Kuroo to which they both fake smile as they shake hands, both gripping the others hand tightly.

"We won't lose next time." Daichi smiled.

"We won't lose next time, either." Kuroo grinned. "Not to mention we'll have Hiro with us again."

Daichi fake laughed. "That's cute how you think that I'll let you take him away from us..." He stated.

"Terrifying! They're terrifying!" Yaku and Sugawara exclaimed in unison.

"The next time around, things won't go your way like they did today." Ukai says to the other coach as they grip hands.

"Fine. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a good practice." The other man stated.

"And them, too!"

"They're so immature!"

Once everyone said their goodbyes, Karasuno headed off, waving to Nekoma who waves back at them. Kuroo gave Tadahiro a finger gun to which Nishinoya and Tanaka glared and growled at him as they guided their senpai away.

"If today was an official match... It would have been all over after we lost the first match." Kageyama spoke up, as everyone took in his words. "All over."

"I know." Hinata replied as everyone kept silent.

"I'm glad you know. And the official matches, the Inter-High preliminaries, are right around the corner. When we get back, we'll think about and analyse today's practice match. Then we'll train." Ukai announced as he walked off, everyone nodded in unison.

"Yeah."

At the garbage dump, the crow and the cat looked at each other, before the crow flew away.

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A/N: Finally caught up to where I am in the anime! Hope you enjoyed!

Word Count: 2728 words.