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

edited on august 29th, 2022 @ 2:20am

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CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT - A CHANCE TO CONNECT

"AND THERE IT IS! Karasuno High School's lethal weapon! The quick attack of the first-years, Hinata and Kageyama!"

"We finally got to see it."

"The height of the hitter who just scored, Hinata Shoyo, is 164 cm! He's the shortest hitter out on our team lineups today!"

"Oh, man! That was so fast!"

"So cool!"

"Huh? His expression's totally changed from the training camp." Atsumu commented to himself in the stands. "Scary. Not to mention... Who the hell is he?"

"Talking to yourself, Atsumu? Makes me wonder why the girls like you so much."

Atsumu flinched as he glanced back and saw Nakamura wearing the same volleyball jacket he had on. "M-Mura-san!" He exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Wanted to watch my precious junior's first high school national match." Nakamura responded, leaning against the railing. "You told me he attended that training camp of yours. He must've gotten better since I last saw him."

"Daichi-san!"

Daichi easily crouched down and saved the ball. "Yes!" He cheered to himself.

"Nice receive!" Tanaka complimented.

"Sawamura! You're so good now!" Tashiro teared up.

"Yeah." Kurokawa agreed.

"You're so..."

"Sorry, I couldn't catch all that."

Karasuno soon began their synchronized attack. Instead, Kageyama does a setter dump, scoring a point for Karasuno.

"That was a beautiful dump that basically laughed in the face of their blocking! Tsubakihara Academy was caught completely off guard!"

"Kageyama, you bastard! You son of a gun!" Tanaka exclaimed.

"You're so annoying." Daichi commented.

"Your personality sucks!" Hinata shouted out.

"You cheeky little..." Nishinoya trailed off.

"Those were all insults!" Asahi complained.

Kageyama was up to serve as he spun the ball in his hands. The whistle blew as Kageyama threw the ball up in the air and it was received.

"Step back!" Daichi ordered.

Nishinoya tosses the ball over as Kageyama ran forward, setting the ball over towards Hinata who spikes it, scoring a point.

"He did it again! The setter Kageyama managed to flow right into that set!"

"Kageyama-kun is a first-year who was invited to the All-Japan Youth Training Camp."

"Er... They seem to be arguing about something... I wonder if they'll be okay."

"It's fine... We're used to this..." Rei thinks to himself, sighing as he did so.

TWEEEEET!

Kageyama served once more as it was barely received. Teradomari jumped up and spiked the ball past Daichi and Hinata as the ball ended up flying into the audience.

"They got one in! Tsubakihara smashes that one with their classic move! The set from Echigo to Teradomari!"

"All right! Their #10's in the back row!"

The ball goes up in the air as Tsukishima tries to block Teradomari. "One touch!" Tsukishima called out as Tanaka received it with one hand.

"Daichi, get the last!" Asahi called out, receiving it over towards Daichi.

"One touch!" Tsukishima shouted.

"Free ball!"

Kageyama tossed the ball towards Asahi, who jumps up and spikes it, but it was received.

"Nice, Maiko!"

"What an intense rally! Both teams have completely loosened up now!"

"Tera!"

"Three blockers!"

Daichi, Tsukishima, and Asahi jumped up to block Teradomari who did a line shot as Hinata received it with his face.

"Nice save!" Daichi complimented.

"Asahi-san!" Tanaka shouted out.

Asahi jumped up and hit the ball over the net, getting a point for Karasuno.

"Yes!"

Karasuno was now tied with Tsubakihara, both teams having 18 points.

"Man..."

Yamaguchi and Kinoshita began fanning themselves. "I can't tell if Hinata has really good luck or really bad luck." Yamaguchi commented.

"Nope. Shoyo actually meant to be there right now." Nishinoya corrected.

Asahi and Tsukishima both jumped up to block as Hinata tried saving it but got knocked back. Luckily, Daichi was able to dive down and save it. Tanaka tossed the ball over the net and got Karasuno another point.

"Echigo, get the last!"

Kageyama runs over and sets the ball back up in the air.

"The setter, Kageyama, gets the first touch."

"They limited the possible attacks by having Karasuno's setter receive the ball."

"Tsukishima!" Daichi called out.

"Right!"

"Left!" Asahi shouted.

"Azumane-san!" Tsukishima tosses the ball over towards Asahi.

Asahi jumped up to spike. "Three blockers!" Daichi called out as Asahi hits the ball against the blockers palms.

"All right!"

"#3 Azumane smashed the ball off three blockers! Karasuno manages to get two consecutive points!"

"Azumane... I guess it's not just your looks that got better!" Tashiro teared up.

"Yeah." Kurokawa agreed.

Asahi pats Tsukishima on his back. "Tsukishima! Nice toss!" He complimented.

"Uh, thanks." Tsukishima replied.

Tsukishima noticed Kageyama giving him an intense stare. "Could you not react the exact same way Hinata would?" Tsukishima asked him.

"What?!" Kageyama exclaimed in irritation.

"Man, is their #10 a pro at body slams, or something?"

"Use your hands!"

Hinata bounced the ball as the whistle blew. He served the ball as it got received. Tsukishima blocked an incoming spike.

"Nice deflect!"

"Free ball!"

Everyone than began rushing forwards. "Get them, Hinata!" Sugawara encouraged.

"Back minus tempo!"

Kageyama tosses the ball towards Hinata who spikes it down.

"Even his attack from the back row is incredibly fast. Hinata Shoyo!"

TWEEEET!

Rei glanced over at the score.

Karasuno

20

Tsubakihara

18

"Karasuno's tiny #10 looks like he's stopped in midair."

"He sucks at receiving, but he's damn good at attacking."

"Sugawara-san, what's a back minus tempo?" Ennoshita asked.

"It's Hinata and Kageyama's minus tempo attack from the back line. Sounds cool, right? Am I right?" Sugawara replied.

"How about adding "thunder" at the end?" Nishinoya questioned.

"But then it'd just sound like one of your special techniques, Noya-senpai." Rei pointed out.

"Hey." Kageyama grabbed Hinata's attention. "You'd better not mess up the serve once we finish our timeout."

"Of course I won't." Hinata told him.

TWEEEEET!

"Out!"

"Sorry!" Hinata immediately apologized, turning around so he wouldn't have to see the look Kageyama was giving him.

Karasuno was at 23 points while Tsubakihara was at 21. Kinoshita was holding the number 11 plate as he looked anxious.

"Kinoshita! Get a nice one over!"

The whistle blew as Kinoshita did his jump floater but it ended up being out. "Sorry about that..." Kinoshita said.

"Don't worry, next time." Sugawara reassured.

Kageyama tossed the ball as Tanaka slammed it down.

"And there it is. Karasuno High School is at set point for the first set."

Kageyama spun the ball in his hands as Tsubakihara was on high alert.

"Damn it. He has to serve right now?"

Kageyama threw the ball up in the air but the ball ended up hitting the net, falling to the ground and getting Tsubakihara a point.

"Damn it!" Kageyama exclaimed.

"Shake it off, shake it off!" Daichi told him.

"Don't sweat it!" Hinata gave him a thumbs up in reassurance, which received an intense stare from Kageyama.

TWEEEEEET!

"Tsubakihara Academy will be bringing in first-year pinch server Himekawa Aoi. Apparently, this is Himekawa's first official match."

"Yikes..." Both Yamaguchi and Kinoshita thought. "He's way more nervous than I am..."

The whistle blew as Himekawa stepped back and doing an underhand serve. But the ball ended up hitting the back of his teammates head, making Karasuno win the first set.

"O-Okay..." Shimada was lost for words as he turned around. "Let's just take that... Yeah!"

"Talk about lucky!"

"That sure was something!"

"Who the hell misses an underhand serve?"

"That must've hurt!"

"He's gonna have nightmares about that forever..."

"All right. You guys warmed up?" Ukai asked.

"Yes." Kageyama replied.

"Yeah, we're warmed up. So much so I'm beat." Sugawara's voice was heard from behind Tsukishima.

"Sugawara-san, could you not mimic my voice?" Tsukishima asked as Sugawara gave him his water bottle.

TWEEEEET!

The game resumed as Karasuno had 14 points while Tsubakihara had 12. "Nice kill!" Daichi called out.

Himekawa was up to serve again as Teradomari clasped his hands to the back of his head. Himekawa did his underhand serve as it shot up in the air.

"He served into the ceiling?!"

"Got it!" Daichi reassured as Asahi and Rei stepped back. The ball fell straight onto Daichi before falling to the ground.

"Sorry!" Daichi exclaimed.

"Don't worry about it!"

"That ceiling serve... was so cool!" Hinata exclaimed.

Himekawa did another underhand serve. "Got it!" Daichi and Asahi said at the same time before the ball fell onto the court.

"Uh oh! Karasuno just let the ball drop!"

"Sorry! That was my bad!" Daichi apologized.

"I got in your way." Asahi said.

"Hey! What the hell are you even calling the ball for?!" Ukai scolded.

"That's two service aces in a row for Himekawa! Tsubakihara Academy has taken the lead!"

Himekawa did another underhand serve once more as it flew high towards the ceiling. "Got it!" Asahi reassured as Kageyama covered for him when the ball fell into his hands.

"Left!"

Daichi then jumped up and did a feint.

"The front!"

"Right!" Himekawa crouched down and received the ball.

"Nice receive!"

Teradomari spikes the ball past Hinata and Daichi, getting another point.

"Karasuno couldn't help but take their second timeout."

"Please try to get the ball higher when you receive." Kageyama stated. "It's fine if it's short, as long as it's high."

"Sorry."

TWEEEEEET!

Both teams headed back onto the court. Himekawa was about to serve when he noticed all of Karasuno's players were more focused. He sent the ball into the air.

"Ooh, here it comes!"

Rei crouched down and saved the ball, smirking as he did so and everyone began running forwards.

Asahi spiked the ball as it went past Himekawa, getting a point for Karasuno. "This is... nationals!" Himekawa thinks to himself.

Both teams were now tied with 22 points as Asahi was now up to serve. The whistle blew as Asahi threw the ball up in the air before running forward and slamming the ball down.

"And there it is! A flawless ace!"

"Yes!" Asahi cheered.

"Yeah!"

"Karasuno High School is slowly closing in!"

TWEEEEET!

"Asahi, get one more!"

Asahi threw the ball up once more as it got saved and Echigo ended up doing a setter dump.

"Captain Echigo sure is keeping busy."

"You've gotta have guts to pull through a situation like this. As you'd expect from the third-years."

Rei received the ball as Kageyama tossed towards Tsukishima, who missed. "Damn it! Is he Weary-shima already?!" Kageyama thought.

"That jerk definitely just blamed this on me." Tsukishima noted. "That was definitely higher than usual!"

Daichi was able to receive it with one hand. "That's right... It's still too early..." He thinks to himself.

The ball falls on the other side of the court, making Karasuno at match point. "for us to go home!" Daichi finished.

"Match point..."

"They get this, and they win." Shimada pointed out. Tashiro taps Kurokawa on the shoulder, seeing that Sugawara was entering the court.

Everyone gave Sugawara some words of encouragement.

"Bring it on!"

Sugawara lets out a breath as he serves the ball in which it got received.

"Uh oh! Looks like their receive was a bit shaky."

"They aimed right for where the setter would have to get the ball."

"Tera!"

Teradomari spikes the ball as Asahi barely received it. "Sorry, someone follow up!" He shouted.

"Tanaka!" Sugawara shouted out, tossing the ball towards the second-year, who ran forward and spiked the ball down, but it ended up getting received.

Daichi soon received the ball that was spiked. Kageyama tossed the ball over for Hinata as the ball soon went back in the air.

Kageyama, Hinata, and Tanaka all jumped up to block Maruyama, making it fly off their hands.

"And that ball definitely went flying off the blocker's hands! But..."

Sugawara easily received the ball.

"There's Sugawara!"

"Go!"

"Stop them!"

Asahi jumped into the air as he spiked the ball down, making Karasuno the victor in which they cheered.

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A/N: Another chapter is completed! Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 2021 words.