A/N: I've finally done editing season one! Enjoy the chapter!

edited on june 13th, 2021 @ 11:31am

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CHAPTER ELEVEN - CENTER ACE

IT WAS A LONG DRIVE from Miyagi to Tokyo, but the Karasuno volleyball team eventually made it. Excluding Hinata and Tobio since the duo had to stay back to do their supplementary exams. Takashi felt bad about leaving them behind, especially since they were excited, but it couldn't be helped.

When Takashi exited the bus with everyone else, Nishinoya and Tanaka quickly looked up to see a transmission tower, to which they mistook it for something else entirely different.

"Is that..."

"Could that be..."

"The Skytree?"

Takashi snorted at the two second-years, since it was clearly not the Skytree. "No, that's just a transmission tower." Kai Nobuyuki, Nekoma's vice captain, had corrected with a sheepish but amused look.

Kuroo, who was beside his teammate, had turned away and hunched over a bit, while grabbing his stomach and letting out a hyena-like laugh.

"Here we are, Tokyo!" Nishinoya and Tanaka shouted.

"And I thought my team was chaotic." Takashi thought, sweat dropping as he did so.

"The scenery's different from Miyagi." Takashi heard Asahi comment, as he looked around with Sugawara at his side.

"Well, we're in the suburbs." Sugawara informed with a smile, as Takashi noticed behind the two third-years to see Nishinoya was pushing Tsukishima around with Yamaguchi tiredly following.

"Walk faster!" Nishinoya ordered as Tsukishima had a look of annoyance.

Takashi blinked at the two, before sighing in disappointment.

"Hey, Takashi. Feeling any better?" The older Kageyama looked up to find Matsuda walking towards him and looking at his knee brace.

"Mm. I'm fine, Ren. Don't need to worry about me." Takashi reassured him. "I've decided to use my hiatus to help Karasuno more. I'm starting to wonder if this is how Nagata felt with our team back then."

Matsuda laughed. "You guys were a handful, but you were the best group there." He commented as the two entered the gym.

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Karasuno had gone to get their gym uniforms which was their white shirts with their uniform shorts that they wore for official games. When they got to the gym, Takashi scanned every team that was there.

"Let's play!"

Takashi looked around to see what kinds of teams where present.

Ubugawa High Volleyball Club.

Shinzen Volleyball Club.

Fukurōdani Academy.

"And then there's also Nekoma and Karasuno. All of the schools here have really high stats. Can we really win against them?" Takashi noted, feeling a little nervous.

"Once we're done with our warm-ups, we'll regroup, and the teams will play each other in rotation." Kuroo spoke up.

"Right!" Daichi responded, as Kuroo did his famous smirk.

"After each set, the losing team has a penalty of one lap around the court, flying." Kuroo informed.

"Hey, was that guy with Nekoma the last time we had a practice match with them?" Sugawara spoke up, gaining Takashi's attention, as he glanced at him and Asahi.

Takashi widened his eyes to see a tall and lean guy looking at them, with an intense stare, as if he was watching them like a cat.

"Ren failed to mention that Nekoma had a new player and his stats are off the charts. Especially in his arms and legs." Takashi thought.

"The one who's staring hard at us?" Asahi jumped back, also noticing the gaze of the young male.

"Yeah." Sugawara responded.

"No, I don't think so." Asahi mumbled, as the unknown male continued to stare at them.

Takashi looked at his appearance. He had neatly parted light grey hair and catlike slanted green eyes framed with thin eyebrows. He was very tall, with exceptionally long arms and legs.

The male must've sensed Takashi watching him as he turned and meets his gaze, only flinching in response when Takashi gave him a hardened glare, as if challenging him.

"He must be the Japan setter and captain that Matsuda-senpai was talking about." The unknown male thinks to himself. "It's true what they say about him. He really does have an emperor-like aura."

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Karasuno was currently playing against Fukurōdani, which was a powerhouse school from what Takashi had read online. Sugawara was being the setter since Hinata and Tobio couldn't do their famous quick attacks.

Takashi glanced at the score and sighed at it.

Karasuno

16

Fukurōdani

24

"It's not like we're doing horrible... It's just that this school is tough to beat. As expected from a powerhouse." Takashi thinks to himself.

"Number 7!"

"One blocker!"

The ball gets to their side as Nishinoya successfully crouched down to receive it. "Nishinoya, nice receive!" Sugawara praised.

"Left! Go left!" Fukurōdani's captain ordered. Takashi narrowed his eyes and glanced at him. From what he gathered from his teammates, his name was Bokuto.

"Asahi!" Sugawara called out to the ace. Asahi jumped and slammed down the ball once it was in front of him, however, he was blocked by three people, as the volleyball bounced back to Karasuno's side and gaining Fukurōdani won the game.

TWEEEET!

The match ended with Fukurōdani taking the win, which shouldn't have been surprising. "One flying lap!" Daichi announced as he dived down for his penalty.

"Right!" Everyone called out as they individually do their flying laps.

Takashi's ears caught the sounds of yells from another team, which made him glance over to see Ubugawa High School going against Shinzen. He observed the teams.

"Serving is their ultimate offense." Takashi noted, looking at Ubugawa before his eyes moved over to Shinzen. Who saves a ball and they all do a synchronize attack, Takashi watched as Shinzen's captain jumped up from the back and got a point.

"I shouldn't be surprised, Shinzen High School is known for their team combinations." Takashi thought with interest, hearing more sounds of the volleyball being slammed. Takashi looked over to see Nekoma versing Fukurōdani.

"Nekoma is known for their perfect receiving..." Takashi thought with an amused look.

"Akaashi!"

"Bokuto-san!"

Takashi's ears heard the sound of two people from Fukurōdani, the captain and the setter. The male, known as Akaashi calls out to the captain as he sends the ball to him. "Bokuto from what I could see is like Ushijima... One of the top five aces in the nation." Takashi thinks to himself as Bokuto jumped up and slammed the ball powerfully.

Takashi noticed that the ball was about to hit Tsukishima. "Tsukki!" Yamaguchi called out as the tall blonde, widened his eyes at the incoming ball. Takashi widened his eyes as the ball bounces off his arm and headed towards him.

"Coach Takashi!"

"Move out of the way!"

"Dodge!"

"Tch, are they really doubting me?"

Takashi blocked out the warnings from them as his eyes settled on the ball coming towards him.

People who watched Takashi tensed up when they saw the professional volleyball player's eyes darken. Before anyone could reach him or call out, they were surprised to see Takashi jump up and spike the ball, as the volleyball makes contact with his palm and was sent to the ground with a loud bang.

"What the hell was that?" Some people thought.

"Such power!"

"Wait, I recognize him now! He's Kageyama Takashi! Captain and setter for Japan's National Team!"

Everyone stared at him with their mouths opened, even the people who were always loud were quiet.

"Ah, shit. I really shouldn't have done that with my injury." Takashi thought as he looked up to see everyone in the gym staring at him.

"What the hell are you staring at me for?"

"N-Nothing."

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Karasuno had just finished another game with Ubugawa, except they lost with 20 points.

"All right! Flying, one lap!"

"Right!"

Takashi watched as everyone did their fair share of flying laps. Once everyone was done with their laps, Yachi passed out water bottles.

"Hey, they're still at it. We totally made it. Not bad at all." A female voice announced, making everyone who heard looked over to the gym doors.

They saw a female slightly under-average in height, and had short, honey-blonde hair and four earrings on her ear. Her eyes were slightly slanted. She wore a green top that exposed her midriff and cleavage. She also wore two arm bracelets with metal spikes around it.

"Nee-san!" Nishinoya announced.

"Oh, it's Saeko." Takashi thought, walking up to his friend.

"Wait, that's your sister?" Asahi asked, also confused and shocked by this new information. Nishinoya however just looked down at Asahi who was busy tying his shoes.

"No, she's Ryu's sister." Nishinoya stated with his usual smile.

"Now that you mentioned it, they do look alike." Sugawara commented as everyone turned back to the female, but of course, Takashi smirked when he saw Hinata and Tobio.

"So, the stars are showing up fashionably late? Pisses me off!" Kuroo commented as he looked over towards the door, Kenma following his gaze as well.

Tobio and Hinata panted but they were just glad they made it in time for another game.

"Nice to see you again, Saeko. Thank you for bringing my younger brother here... in one piece." Takashi sighed in relief.

"Eh?! You're so mean, Takashi! I'm a great driver!" Saeko argued. Which made Takashi sweat drop along with Tanaka.

"You really aren't..." Takashi and Tanaka thought at the same time.

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Takashi noticed that Hinata and Tobio weren't holding back, making him wonder if they've been itching to play all day. Tobio took the place in the match as setter with Sugawara being swapped out.

The ball went towards Tobio in which him and Hinata do their famous quick attack, gaining Karasuno a point. "All right!" They all cheered. Takashi saw some teams who were watching the match stare at Tobio and Hinata in shock.

"We're stopping the next one!"

"Right!"

Takashi found it amusing for him to hear Shinzen sound so confident with them winning. He looked back to see that his younger brother was serving.

"Nice serve!"

Tobio did his usual jump serve, the ball however gets saved as it went up in the air.

The volleyball continues to go back and forth from each team, as Hinata and Daichi get ready to block an incoming spike. The two jumped up when the spiker from Shinzen jumped up, Hinata managed to get a one touch on the ball. The second he lands his feet he races off to the other side of the net.

"Eikichi, stop their number 10!" Shinzen's captain exclaimed.

But of course, it failed as Hinata and Tobio did their quick attack and Karasuno once again got a point. "Having Hinata and Tobio back sure makes a difference." Takashi thinks to himself.

TWEEEET!

It was the first time Karasuno had won against another school. Hinata and Tobio were panting, as Takashi watched Tanaka come up behind them with a slightly dark look.

"Don't be showing off, flunking tardy boys." He scolded at the two tensed at them.

"I'm starving!" Nishinoya complained.

"Looks like it's Ubugawa versus Nekoma over there." Takashi heard Tanaka spoke, which caught his interest and he glanced over at the match between Nekoma and Ubugawa. They both were doing well, as Tanaka looked away to glance at the clock on the wall.

"Considering how late it's getting, this might be the last game for today." Tanaka informed, making Nishinoya look at him with a small smile.

"Yeah..." He grinned. Takashi blinked and looked over to Hinata who was quiet, he seemed to be deep in thought. 

"Yaku, nice receive!"

Takashi looked over at the match and saw that Inuoka was on the sides and not playing. "Huh? Inuoka's on the sideline?" Takashi heard Hinata question in confusion.

"One block!"

"Go, Lev!"

"Lev? Wasn't he that new guy Ren was bragging to me about?" Takashi thought, before his eyes wandered over to the new male on Nekoma's team and his eyes widened in shock when he jumped and saw his arm swing back like a whip as he slammed down the volleyball and got Nekoma a point.

"All right!" Nekoma cheered as Takashi blinked. "Geez... and I thought Ten's spikes were insane." He thinks to himself.

"Wow..." Asahi gasped at the male.

"That Number 11... At first glance, it's hard to tell because he's slouching, but he's pretty big. He might be over 6' 3." Sugawara spoke looking at the tall male in front of them.

"His arms and legs are so long."

The game ended with Nekoma winning and Ubugawa losing at 20 points.

Once all of the games were done for that day, they lined up to bow at everyone.

"Thank you for the good games!"

"Thank you for the good games!"

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It was the next day of the training camp, Karasuno was currently playing against Ubugawa, it was only the first set, but they had managed to score 9 points with Ubugawa having 5. "Bring it!" Takashi heard Hinata announce as he watched him run forward for a quick attack, in which Tobio sets the ball to him and they get a point, making them cheer.

"All right!"

TWEEET!

The team called for a timeout as everyone surrounded Ukai to see what he had to say. "All right! Our opponents still aren't able to counter your deviant quick attack, so keep on using it!" Ukai informed, looking at Tobio and Hinata who just nodded.

"Right!" Tobio responded.

"Right..." Hinata added.

After they took the time to catch their breath as they took gulps of water and Yachi handed out towels.

"Number 4!"

The yelling caught Takashi's attention. He glanced over to see Nekoma was versing Fukurōdani. He looked over to see Bokuto spike down the ball past three blockers, however a Nekoma player saved it.

"It went up! Kenma, cover!" Takashi heard Yamamoto call out as Kenma followed the ball and got into setting position.

"Left! Left!"

"Give it to me!"

Takashi looked over at Lev who was calling for a toss, a broad jump to be exact, Kenma seemed surprised but without hesitation he sent it over to Lev, who spiked it down and got Nekoma a point.

"All right!" Lev exclaimed as he cheered.

"Nice kill, Lev!" Yamamoto praised. Takashi widened his eyes at how well Lev did with the broad jump. Lev then walked over to Kenma.

"Sorry for being rude. I overstepped my bounds."

"And I keep telling you not to worry about it. I'm more disturbed that you suddenly asked for a broad jump setup."

"So that thing just now is called a broad jump? That's so awesome!"

Takashi widened his eyes at Lev, as Tobio walked over to his side, hearing what Lev said as well. "That broad jump was just a spur-of-the-moment?" He asked in shock. Tobio was just as stunned as his older brother was.

"But we were able to do it." Lev added as Takashi narrowed his eyes and glanced towards Hinata, who stayed silent as Tobio went to grab his water bottle.

"Center ace..." Takashi heard Hinata mumble, making him look at him in slight concern.

"He better not be thinking about doing anything stupid. Ten did a lot of that in high school." Takashi thought, sighing as he did so.

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A/N: Do you guys remember a few chapters back like, a way long time ago, I had mentioned something about making a prequel to this?

Well, that book is sitting comfortably in my drafts and if you guys want it I'll publish it. I just hope it won't be plagiarized by the same author who copied this book.

The book is still up by the way, Wattpad really needs to do their job when it involves copyright issues.

Anyhow! I'm back to doing episodes now. Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 2635 words.