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

edited on december 23rd, 2020 @ 1:33pm

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN - SENPAI'S TRUE ABILITIES

TADAHIRO WATCHED AS KAGEYAMA JOGS off to Sugawara and gently grabs the number sign, so he can officially switch out. Kageyama was just about to pass Sugawara but Tadahiro saw Sugawara place a hand on his shoulder, muttering something to Kageyama. But Tadahiro couldn't hear what they were talking about.

Soon, Sugawara came onto the court and got into his position. Suddenly, Tadahiro heard Hinata yell at Kageyama. "I said I'd be the one that defeats you!" Hinata exclaimed, gaining everyone's attention.

"Hinata, you're gonna get in trouble—" Yamaguchi tried to warn him, but Hinata ignores him.

"So don't lose to anyone else before that!" Hinata yelled, as everyone stared at the duo, mainly at their orange haired teammate in surprise at this declaration.

"The match isn't over yet, so I haven't lost."

Hinata had a gleam in his eyes when Kageyama replied to him, but before anything else was said, Yamaguchi drags Hinata away.

"You're going to get in trouble!" Yamaguchi scolded as Tadahiro chuckled at the scene. He watched as Sugawara jogged over to them as his teammates welcomed Sugawara into the game.

Tadahiro was shocked that Sugawara had punched Daichi in the chest. "Hey!" Sugawara had yelled before he karate chopped Tanaka's head.

"Hey!" He yelled once more, as he then punched Asahi.

"Hey!" He exclaimed as he turned to Tsukishima and did another karate chop on his head.

"Hey!" Sugawara announced as he turned to Tadahiro. The red haired male braced for the impact. "Please don't hit me!" Tadahiro panicked, closing his eyes, only to be met by Sugawara ruffling his hair with a bright grin.

"Hey!" He smiled, before letting Tadahiro go to give Nishinoya a high five.

"Hey!" The two announced to each other. Sugawara looks at his teammates with a gentle and assuring smile.

"It'll be fine. Let's break their streak." Sugawara informed as his teammates blinked at him. Or at least Tadahiro did.

Everyone smiled back or at least Daichi, Asahi, Tanaka, Nishinoya smiled back as Tsukishima just fixes his glasses and looks away.

"All right!" Everyone announced in pride and got into position as Sugawara looks around.

"Daichi, you're not being as loud as usual. A captain can't lose his composure!" Sugawara scolded, sounding like a mother, Tadahiro snickered at Daichi's confused expression.

"Yeah, I'm sorry."

Tadahiro noticed Asahi and Tanaka share a similar look as they stare at Daichi and Sugawara. "Tsukishima." Tadahiro heard Sugawara say, gesturing for the blonde to come closer to him. Tadahiro didn't hear what they were saying as he continued to stare at the two, before his ears heard Oikawa from behind him from the other side of the net, talking to Iwaizumi.

"Iwa-chan, the defensive block will be low straight forward where #2 is standing, so it'd be a good place to aim." Oikawa whispered but Tadahiro had heard. Which made him smirk to himself.

Tadahiro narrowed his eyes and continued to stay calm, but now that he knew where they were aiming, this just makes his job so much easier.

"Oikawa really should learn not to speak about his plans when his opponent is nearby..." Tadahiro thought.

The whistle blows as Aoba Johsai serves the ball, Tadahiro kept his eyes trained on the ball as it went up and over on their side. Daichi saves it with ease.

"Nice receive!" Nishinoya praised as Tadahiro watched Sugawara about to set the ball as Tsukishima jumps up, only for Sugwara to set it to Tanaka, who spiked it down. Karasuno almost got a point but Aoba Johsai's libero saved it.

"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa shouted as he sets it high for Iwaizumi. Tadahiro darkened his eyes in concentration, and watched as Iwaizumi jumped up to spike. "Sorry, but you're not getting this point." Tadahiro thinks to himself as he used his speed and suddenly appeared in his eyesight.

Iwaizumi widened his eyes in shock, probably thinking how Tadahiro got to him quickly. Soon, Tsukishima had copied him and helped Tadahiro block, making Tadahiro believe that Sugawara told him earlier to help block the area that Iwaizumi was aiming at.

"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa warned but it was too late as Iwaizumi had spiked down the ball, but Tadahiro and Tsukishima blocked him, and Karasuno successfully gains at point. Sugawara started patting Tsukishima and Tadahiro's shoulders.

"Nice block, Hiro. Tsukishima. Nice, nice!" Sugawara praised them.

Tadahiro blushed in embarrassment and looked away. "Yeah, whatever..." He mumbled as he grinned and ruffled his hair.

"You're so adorable, even when you act like a tsundere! Daichi's a lucky guy!" Sugawara exclaimed.

"I-I'm not a tsundere!"

"You so are!"

"But you're the one..." Tsukishima tried to explain and also interrupted Sugawara and Tadahiro, but Sugawara chuckled gently.

"Whenever we're up against a strong team, they usually aim right for me since my block is so low. I figured that'd happen this time, too. I feel so relieved, being next to someone so tall." Sugawara grins happily as Tsukishima glanced away.

"Um, well... right."

Sugawara then looks at Tadahiro. "But how'd you know where they were going to hit?" He started to say as Tadahiro grinned, making everyone around him tense up.

"I overheard their conversation earlier. You know, for someone who's really unpredictable, he should really keep his mouth shut when he talks about his attacks when he's in front of his opponent." Tadahiro stated with a sly grin.

"You scare me sometimes, Hiro." Sugawara commented bluntly with a sweat drop.

Hinata was soon on the court, Tadahiro noticed Sugawara smile and gesture for Hinata to come to him. "Hinata." Sugawara gestures to him. It was now Tsukishima's turn to serve the ball.

"Tsukishima, nice serve!" Daichi encouraged as the ball goes to Aoba Johsai's side.

Tadahiro saw Oikawa toss the ball up, doing an A-quick. When suddenly Hinata jumped high and had managed to block the spike, getting Karasuno another point.

"All right!" Tadahiro's teammates cheered.

Tadahiro just stared from afar as he sees Oikawa look annoyed by Karasuno. He glanced at Tadahiro as he gave him a cocky smirk.

"You're not winning this game." Tadahiro stated in his head, as he turned away. Sugawara started to ruffle Hinata's hair.

"Hinata, great job!" Sugawara praised.

"It's just like you said, Sugawara!" Hinata grinned as he cleared his throat to what Sugawara said to him. "Next time their receive goes directly to the setter, the centre will probably do a quick set. Don't panic, though. Just jump a little higher than usual." Hinata repeated as Sugawara smiles proudly.

"Right?"

Tadahiro looked at the score, wondering where they were at with them now.

Aoba Johsai

20

Karasuno

12

Tadahiro frowned a little at this, but shook it off and soon Tsukishima was serving again as Daichi did his usual encouraging yell. Tadahiro glanced at Sugawara's hand to see what kind of set he'll be sending to Hinata, he holds up five fingers.

Hinata nodded at him. The whistle blows as Aoba Johsai soon tried to spike the ball but Daichi saves it in time, the ball going to Sugawara as Tadahiro noticed Iwaizumi and another player see Hinata run forward, but noticed he wasn't yelling words.

"He's not Tobio, so there won't be any god-like quicks!" Tadahiro heard Oikawa call out to the two. Who deadpan and flinch at this obviousness.

Hinata had jumped up, ready to spike the ball as Sugawara tosses it, and the ball gets spiked down, making Karasuno gain a point.

"All right!" They announced happily as Sugawara and Hinata high fived.

They soon continued the game as Karasuno was finally gaining points. Tadahiro watched as Kindaichi spiked down the ball and gets a point, making Tadahiro gulp.

"Don't mind, Hinata." Daichi assured them as Sugawara came over.

"Hey..." Sugawara said as he gestured for Daichi, Hinata, and Tadahiro to listen to what he has to say. "The timing of Seijoh's quicks seems to be a bit slower than ours. Build up just a bit more than usual, then."

They nodded at him in agreement, and Tadahiro heard the girls squeal, making him scowl at this. He looked over to see Oikawa was about to do his serve.

"Bring it!" Nishinoya and Tanaka announced. Oikawa had threw the ball up and spiked it down. Tanaka and Nishinoya run forward to save the ball, but stopped when they nearly bumped into each other and Oikawa gets a point for his team.

"Now he's aiming between them. He's aiming at the optimal spot." Tadahiro noted in his head, feeling annoyed as Nishinoya apologises to Tanaka. He sees Oikawa serving once more.

"A jump floater?!" Tadahiro thought with shock, seeing as Oikawa had hit the ball less powerfully, and the ball sways.

"The front!" Ukai exclaimed as Hinata, Daichi, Nishinoya, and Tadahiro all dive down, but they still failed to save the ball.

"Damn it. It's their set point."

Tadahiro panted and wiped away his sweat by lifting his shirt up a little and wiping his face with it. The air hitting his toned abs for a second, not noticing that some people were blushing at him.

Tadahiro got back into position and concentrated on the ball as Oikawa was about to serve again. "I got it!" Daichi yelled as he saved the ball, as Asahi allowed him too. Hinata and Tadahiro run forward, as they both jump up for Sugawara to set to one of them, only for it to be a back attack as Asahi spiked down from behind.

The ball gets saved, as Tadahiro watched it in the air, it was coming directly at Hinata, as Tadahiro saw Hinata had a panicked look.

"Hinata, it's coming directly to you!" Kageyama yelled from the sides.

Hinata gulps as he also jumps to spike it, as he only managed to get the ball over the block. "You suck!" Kageyama insulted from the sidelines.

"Oh, shut up already!" Hinata yells back as Tadahiro rolled his eyes at the two.

Tadahiro watched as Iwaizumi saves the ball just in time, and then Kindaichi runs forward as Oikawa gets ready to set the volleyball. Kindaichi spikes it but Hinata jumped to block.

"Back! Go back!" Tadahiro heard Irihata yell out, but the libero failed to save the ball in time, everyone waited for the referee, only for the referee to raise the red flag and blow the whistle, making Tadahiro groan.

"It was out?!" Tadahiro complained in his head, groaning in annoyance as Aoba Johsai had won the first set. Karasuno got off the court as they had to switch sides. They all lined up, getting ready to play the second set.

TWEEET!

Before they got back on the court, Kiyoko and Takeda handed out water bottles, Tadahiro took his and thanked Kiyoko before gulping down the liquid. They all surrounded Ukai.

"We'll go as-is with our second set." Ukai stated as everyone nodded.

"Right!"

"Since the most troublesome thing we're facing is Oikawa's serves, we'll be changing up our defence to maximise efficiency with a few players." Ukai stated as everyone listened. "When Oikawa does his super fast serves, even the slight hesitation or faltering is deadly." Ukai continued as he showed them the mini whiteboard. "So we'll use Nishinoya and Sawamura, the few who received his serves, to counter. It's a formation we've never used in practice. But considering it's you guys..." Ukai informed, glancing at the two people who were placed in the positions.

"We can do it." The two say in unison.

"So cool!" Hinata beamed at the two players.

They split up to rest more before the next set. Tadahiro yawned as he looked around his surroundings. He didn't know what happened, but he saw Iwaizumi head but Oikawa, making Tadahiro chuckle in amusement.

He looked around to see Sugawara and Kageyama conversing. They were both setters, so they could depend on each other.

TWEEET!

"Let's go!" Daichi yelled as his team walks onto the court.

"Yeah!"

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Tadahiro made sure to have his eyes focused on the ball as everyone gets into their given position. The ball soon gets served as Tadahiro watched Tsukishima spike it down, instantly getting a point. "All right!" Everyone cheered for the first point as Sugawara praises Tsukishima.

Tadahiro looked at Oikawa and Iwaizumi, who both had annoyed expressions. "We're not backing down. We'll take this set and the next one." He thought.

Soon the voices of the girls get louder, as Karasuno sees Oikawa was about to set. "It's the Great King's turn to serve!" Tadahiro heard Hinata gasp. Tadahiro scoffed but didn't say anything. Karasuno watched with nerves as Oikawa did his usual jump serve.

"Daichi!" Sugawara yells out, as Daichi moves to the left side and saved the ball.

Tadahiro watched as Sugawara tosses the volleyball into the air, as he jumped up and slammed it down. "All... right!" His teammates cheered.

Sugawara and Nishinoya run at Tadahiro as they pat and ruffled his hair, which made him a bit uncomfortable. It was Tsukishima's turn to serve the next ball. Asahi spiked the next ball and got them a point. Tadahiro looked over at the score.

Karasuno

14

Aoba Johsai

13

The game continues on as Iwaizumi gets a point by spiking down the ball. "Yes!" Aoba Johsai announced. Tadahiro sighed in disappointment that they didn't stop the ball in time. But continued to try and stay focused on the game.

Oikawa did his jump serve, but Nishinoya saves it as Sugawara then tosses the volleyball up and over to Tanaka as Tadahiro witnessed three blockers jump up to block Tanaka and gain a point.

Aoba Johsai serves again and Nishinoya saves the ball in time, Sugawara gets ready to set to someone, he sets it up as the ball continues to be in play. Tadahiro watched as Asahi crouched down and saved the ball as Sugawara tosses the volleyball up and over to Tanaka who gets blocked again.

Tadahiro glanced at Kageyama who had a determined look as he clutched his fist. "He wants to be on the court again... I mean, anyone could see it." He noted to himself as he looked back at the game. "And I honestly don't blame him." Tadahiro added in his head.

He saw the ball coming towards him, making him crouch down and save the ball with ease. Sugawara gets into position and Hinata rushes in, as he jumped up and spiked the ball, only to get blocked by Kindaichi. Tadahiro scowled at this as Aoba Johsai was getting used to Hinata's speed and attacks.

Tadahiro heard the whistle blow, making him along with his teammates to see Kageyama jog over to their coach. Tadahiro watched with curiosity. The game goes on as the volleyball gets served, Daichi saves it in time, the ball goes in the air as Sugawara sets it to Asahi from the back and Tadahiro grinned when Asahi spiked down the volleyball and got Karasuno a point.

TWEEET!

Tadahiro looked over to see Kageyama was now being swapped back in to play as setter, Sugawara smiled gently and jogged over as he took the number card before heading back to the sidelines. Sugawara bowed to Ukai.

"Right! Thank you very much!" He exclaimed as he jogged over. Tadahiro sweat dropped.

Tadahiro looked back at Kageyama, before turning back to Oikawa who stares at Kageyama coming back. "We're going to win this match. Only one person can beat that bastard Ushiwaka, and it's gonna be me." Tadahiro declared in his head.

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A/N: Another chapter done! Please let me know if there's any mistakes, it's much appreciated. Hope you enjoyed!

Word Count: 2640 words.