~Timeskip, a few weeks later~

-
"Akiri, get your ass here right now!" Coach Kurosu yells as M/N sits on the ground within the reserve members' area.

M/N was literally the only one sprawled on the ground like he was forced to be there as the Inarizaki team plays their last match in their block before being able to qualify.

The atmosphere was extremely tense to the point where a knife could cut. And yet, M/N laid there like a dead fish ignoring Coach Kurosu's calls.

Now, it was not as though M/N did not care for the Inarizaki team. Not at all. He cared very much. It's just that, he was really, really tired.

Why?

Let's just say that he was up talking to this random stranger online on those anonymous friend-making applications which caused him to lose a lot of sleep.

The loud cheering of the audience and those stupid Inarizaki drums were already irritating M/N, adding on with the awful shrill voice of Coach Kurosu hollering for him, it is an absolute disaster in M/N's mind. He is seriously getting an intense migraine from all the noise.

What did the wonderful Coach Kurosu want now?

Upon glancing at the scoreboard, M/N then realizes that Inarizaki is already on their last set, with a score of twenty-one is to twenty-two, with the points in the opposing team's favor. It is currently a really close match.

Now to see what the coach wants...

M/N slowly stands up, hobbling towards the highly agitated coach questioning, "Yes Coach, you called?"

Seeing the lackluster persona of M/N Coach Kurosu wanted to take back all his original intentions, but with another sharp tweet indicating that the opposing school had scored another point, he had no choice but to bite the bullet.

Coach Kurosu really had not wanted M/N to participate in the Interhigh. Firstly due to the fact that M/N himself had not seemed all that interested, and secondly because M/N was not even a permanent member of the team. He was just here for an exchange program. The team could not jolly well fixate a team around a temporary member, could they?

But Coach Kurosu was nearing desperation, and he hoped that M/N would be able to pull Inarizaki through. The team was thoroughly exhausted beyond belief due to it being the final set of their game.

"I'm going to sub Ginjima out for you, Akiri. Good luck." Coach Kurosu pats M/N on the back firmly.

"Hah?!" M/N exclaims in shock. "B-but wha? Am I acting as a pinch server or?" M/N was really confused. His brain really could not process anything due to his sleep deprivation.

"I don't know, I'm sure you'll figure it out! We're in a pinch right now, and we lost to Ichiyama last year so, we're counting on you!"

M/N stares at Coach Kurosu as if he had seen a ghost. Did the coach really say that he was clueless? What in the world?

"But we're not playing Ichiyama now?" M/N's brain was absolutely not working.

Coach Kurosu sighs, "No we're not. You don't have to think so hard, just do your best out there."

"O-okay?" M/N was just lost.

M/N was so befuddled that he swore that just a second ago he was in front of the coach but on the next, he was on court holding the volleyball in hand, apparently getting ready to serve.

How the heck did I get here? M/N wonders to himself as he absentmindedly spins the ball in his palms.

"Nice serve M/N! Nice serve!" Cheers from his fellow teammates could be heard from the sides before the whistle blew.

M/N could feel a yawn bubbling up his structure as he gracefully tosses the ball upwards, taking harsh strides before leaping off the ground to smack the ball in a perfectly accurate jump serve.

The ball flew speedily to the corner of the court in a blink of an eye in one powerful smash, leaving the opposing team and his own, stunned. What's more detrimental was the fact that instantly after that impactful serve, the raging yawn that had been simmering was finally released, causing M/N to let out a rather distinct yawn upon landing.

The audience, his team, and the opponents were in shock. Due to M/N's tiredness, his yawn could not be timed any better as his accidental act caused a huge misunderstanding to occur. Giving the whole arena the impression that M/N found the opponents' team being way too weak and boring which led to his uninterested attitude after the serve.

The ladies in the audience simultaneously let out a dreamy sigh as they marvel and whisper over how cool M/N was, radiating attractive bad-boy vibes.

-
Tweet!
The score is now 22:23, still not in Inarizaki's favor.
-

As M/N walks back in position, preparing to serve another ball, Atsumu proceeds to cheer for the ravenette— not liking what he was distantly hearing from the audience about how handsome and cool M/N is. "Nice serve M/N! Good luck!"

M/N gazes at Atsumu for a moment nodding his head in appreciation of his support, all without words. M/N was just too jaded to speak.

But even so, M/N's little tilt of his head still made Atsumu's heart soar as the all-rounder had indeed acknowledged him. What a dream!

This time, wanting something softer, M/N continues to spin the ball in his hands, and upon the signal, he gently tosses the ball upwards taking a few steps forward before jumping ever so slightly with his arm raised aiming to propel the ball forward. M/N locks his wrist as he meekly gave the ball a solid high five, sending the ball across the court.

Due to the nature of M/N's jump float serve, the ball hovers at face level upon reaching the opponent's space causing difficulties in receiving the ball. Unluckily, the ball came flying right smack into one of the players' faces before falling straight onto the floor.

-
Tweet! Another point to Inarizaki.
The score is now 23:23.
-

"What the actual fuxk?" Atsumu breathes out as he looks at the one player that practically kissed the ball, his face red before turning back to M/N.

"I never knew you could do that?" Osamu asks out loud as he glances at M/N who did not even look the slightest bit sheepish that his ball just bashed into someone's face.

Kita who was at the side was also amazed. Though he was rather caught between astonished and amused. Despite that, he still supported his odd friend, "Nice serve, M/N!"

Yawning once more, M/N fiddles with the ball on hand as this time he purposely took his time to serve his third ball. All to raise the tension.

Instead of instantly moving upon the whistle, M/N slowed down a few bits. Not to the point where he was violating anything, but just enough to get the opponents stressed. Just enough for them to feel scared, to sense the pressure.

Especially as M/N took strong strides this time, everyone expected a replay of the first serve. A strong and quick jump serve, which cause the opponents to take a few steps back in preparation to receive. However, they weren't exactly right.

M/N, being the little shit that he was purposefully aimed for the tip of the net. Yes, it was a powerful jump serve, that was correct. But because of the way the ball hit the net, its momentum decreased significantly, allowing the ball to fall fast and not as far back as expected. And because they were so confident that the ball was to be at the back, the ball fell. Inarizaki won another point.

-
Tweet!
The score is now 24:23. Inarizaki is at match point.
-

What a turn of events! M/N had just scored three consecutive points for the team.

"Wow, M/N is insane..." Suna utters out as he gets back into place, ready to receive or spike the ball any time.

As it turns out, Inarizaki had not needed to be prepared as upon the whistle, M/N had let things rip once more, scoring the final point. Though this time, it was purely an accident.

M/N was going to do a proper Oikawa-style jump serve, but he got so exhausted due to not sleeping(or was it his negative luck kicking in again? Who could tell?), everything went off.

The ball literally ended up dancing on the net for a millisecond before happily falling into the opponent's side of the court. All because M/N lost focus.

-
Tweet!
The score is now 25:23.
Inarizaki wins!
-

Everyone was pretty much confused at the last ball's outcome as each person stood frozen on the spot. It was only after another yawn from M/N, did everyone react.

The whole Inarizaki team dashed onto court, surrounding M/N with tears of joy streaming down, cheering as they had just won.

"Nice service ace, Akiri!" Akagi came barreling towards M/N giving him a hard solid pat on the back which astoundingly caused M/N to keel over onto the ground.

"Ah, M/N!" Osamu cries out as M/N, unceremoniously flops onto the ground after Akagi's smack on the back.

"Urgh, I'm tired. Let me sleep. Night." M/N mutters out before passing out into the realm of sleep.

Aran gazes at M/N incomprehensibly before asking, "Did he really just fall asleep?"

Not at all bewildered at M/N's odd tendencies anymore, Riseki exhales loudly in exasperation, "Yes, he is dead asleep."

"How are we going to thank the audience with him like that?" Suna inquires while sneaking in multiple photos of a peacefully asleep M/N.

Kita sighs, "We'll support him first. Can I get one person to lift him on one side? I'll do the other side."

Riseki hurriedly raised his hand as he volunteers before anyone else could say anything. He needed to keep pesky flies away from his seatmate after all.

'What a troublesome person M/N is.' Suna sighs as he peeks at the ravenette who is still fast asleep being dragged over to the front of the audience.

__________________

Author's note:
Hello, my dear readers! Welcome back heheheh.
I'm here to address something. As I  was scanning through my past chapters to refresh my mind about the story's current plot, I came across an interesting comment. It intrigued me as I finally realise that someone had noticed it. (✷‿✷)

I can't remember exactly word for word as to what the comment said, but in general, the person was saying that they didn't trust the narrator.
You might be wondering, why is that such a big deal? But the thing is, as you all know, the story flows from 2 point of views(POV). One in M/N's POV called the first person narrative, and the other from a more omnipotent perspective known as the third person's POV.

So what I'm assuming the comment meant was that they had noticed a discrepancy between what M/N does and says(the concrete things), and his described feelings. For example, it is stated that M/N had smirked upon hearing Atsumu's answer, and yet he is described to be feeling confused over Atsumu's reply. Clearly, something doesn't tally here. How could M/N be feeling puzzled when his actions allows for an inference that he distinctly knew what was going to happen, and why?

Thus, I'm here to answer this conflict. As the author(hehe), I'm here to inform you that the comment was right(Nice job spotting this!).

The narrator isn't to be fully trusted. The narrator is very obviously biased towards our main character. However, the narrator isn't able to change the facts (which are M/N's concrete actions). But, what the narrator is able to do, is to alter how M/N "feels".

The narrator desires to paint an innocent image onto M/N. Therefore twisting reality into lies, revealing its inaccuracy within his words.

Moral of the story: Take the words of the narrator in System X with a pinch of salt when it comes to M/N.

Anyways, my apologies for the long rant, if you all do enjoy my writing, please do drop a small donation to me if possible(link is on my profile bio). I would really appreciate it.

Stay safe and

Stay happy readers! (人 •͈ᴗ•͈)

P.S.
I don't really know how this whole Inarizaki Interhigh goes, so just roll with it. ʘ‿ʘ