A/N: Hello, readers! Another chapter is here! Enjoy!

edited on february 5th, 2022 @ 3:28am

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CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO - INDIVIDUAL VS NUMBERS

SHIRATORIZAWA'S CHEERING SQUAD COULD BE heard as the third set began. Daichi was the first to serve. "Daichi-san, nice serve!" Tanaka called out. Daichi served the ball as Leon crouched down to receive it.

"Cover!"

Shirabu tosses the ball to Ushijima who spikes it past Tsukishima and Asahi, making Shiratorizawa get the first point.

"Don't mind! We're going to keep pushing through!" Daichi said.

"Right!" Rei and Tanaka yelled back.

The game resumed as Shirabu tossed over to Tendou, who spiked past Hinata. Asahi tried to receive it but failed as Shiratorizawa got another point.

Ushijima spikes the ball that was sent to him as it bounced off of Rei's arms, making him fall from the impact as the ball crashed into one of the blue stands. Shiratorizawa's cheering squad cheered.

Soon enough, Shiratorizawa took the third set with Karasuno only having 18 points. "Damn it..." Tanaka muttered to himself.

Daichi clapped, getting the second-year's attention. "Next! We'll get the next one!" He reassured.

"Are you all right, Shiro?" Asahi asked, holding his hand out, but stopped when Rei had a dark look.

"There's no getting around the fact that the bigger you are, the greater your advantage is in volleyball." Rei replied. "And right now, there's no one bigger than him. But that means nothing to a libero. The only one that's equal to him is me."

Both teams went to switch sides. Hinata and Ushijima stopped in front of each other. "Since you were able to move like that, I thought you'd be good at receiving and blocking, too. You can't fight with height, so what can you possibly do if your technique is clumsy, too?" He stated bluntly.

A lightning bolt went through Hinata as he remembered something Yachi had said. He had a stunned look as Ushijima walked away.

"Hey, stop dawdling!" Kageyama shouted.

"You and Ushiwaka are somehow alike." Hinata commented.

Kageyama then stopped. "Yeah?" He rubbed the back of his head. "Well... I want to eventually be able to hit spikes like that, too."

Hinata was on the ground. "That's not what I meant." He mumbled.

"All right. Have a seat. Rest while you can. I'm sure you're finally getting used to both the finals and Shiratorizawa's cannon. What you're doing is technically not wrong. Don't get confused. I know you're probably tired, but always remember to keep your blocks together. With scattered blocks, you won't just be unable to stop the spike, but you'll get in the way of the receiver, too." Ukai explained. "With both offense and defense, using your numbers to create an advantage will lead to victory. Don't forget that."

"Right!"

TWEEEEEET!

Both teams got back onto the court as Goshiki was up to serve. Goshiki threw the ball up as he did his jump serve. "Out!" Tanaka shouted. He turned out to be correct as the ball went out.

"Lucky! Lucky!"

Daichi was up to serve as he threw the ball into the air in which Leon tossed it back up. Shirabu tossed the ball towards Ushijima.

Tsukishima and Asahi jumped up to block as Rei received the ball. "I can't let us keep losing! We didn't come this far just to lose in the end!" Rei thinks to himself.

"Nice receive!" Kageyama complimented as he tossed the ball towards Asahi who spiked it down and gained a point for Karasuno.

"All right!"

Asahi and Rei slapped their hands together in victory before slapping Tsukishima on the back.

Karasuno was now in the lead by two points. Shiratorizawa scored a point when Tendou spiked the ball and Daichi was late on receiving it.

Hinata jumped up and spiked past Tendou as Yamagata received it. Shirabu tossed over to Goshiki as Hinata and Kageyama jumped up to block him. However, Goshiki hits the outside as he gained a point for Shiratorizawa.

"All right. That shot was amazing. It was amazing, but..." Daichi began. "That just means we have to use another method to get a point."

"Yeah!" Tanaka and Hinata shouted in unison.

Karasuno and Shiratorizawa were both tied with 7 points as the game resumed. Karasuno then began a synchronized attack.

"Oh, here it comes. That annoying attack." Kawamura thinks to himself as his irises glowed. "But..."

Kageyama tossed over to Asahi who ended up being blocked by Kawamura. The ball landed on the court, getting Shiratorizawa a point.

"Nice kill, Kawamura!"

"Kawamura! Kawamura!"

Karasuno ended up getting the point back when Kageyama tossed to Tsukishima, who earned the point.

"Daichi-san, nice serve!" Tanaka encouraged.

Daichi looked over towards Ukai, who nodded at him. Daichi served the ball up in the air in which Leon received it.

Ushijima headed for the ball. "We're going to stop him!" Tsukishima shouted as him and Asahi jumped up. However, Ushijima ended up getting a point as Tsukishima looked back in irritation.

Asahi did his jump serve in which it was received. Yamagata received the ball. "Here we go! Ready, and..." Tsukishima shouted as him, Kageyama, and Tanaka jumped up to block. Ushijima spiked the ball as it went high up in the air.

"If the perfect toss goes up to Ushiwaka, and he completely plows one through, there's nothing that we can do. We'll just have to do whatever we can to stop the rest. We'll have the center back's defense go one step back, if we're able to stick two or more blockers on Ushiwaka." Ukai explained.

"The thing that Kinoshita-san did in the Wakunan match!" Hinata exclaimed.

"That's it! Because our blocks with Tsukishima as the center are holding up more than we thought, we should definitely give this a try. It's merely one step... But it's still a step."

Asahi quickly received the ball. "Don't let it end with Hinata or Tanaka, whose reflexes are fast, picking it up. Get one that's not a miracle." Ukai thinks to himself.

"Daichi!" Asahi called out as Daichi covered for him.

"Got it!" He reassured, sending the ball over. "Tanaka, get the last!"

"Get back! Get back!"

"Nope!" Tendou said. 

Tanaka jumped up and spiked the ball. However, he got blocked by Tendou as the ball crashed to the ground.

"What?!" Tanaka exclaimed in shock.

"He stopped it!"

"Miracle boy, Sa-to-ri!" Tendou exclaimed.

"Good job stopping that." Leon complimented.

"He had no time to look for a block, standing like that. And spikers frequently end up looking at the spot they're planning to spike." Tendou informed.

"So that's how he was able to determine where the ball would go." Leon thought, looking over towards Tanaka who was irritated with himself. "Which means, their #5 was going to hit where he had planned, regardless of where he was standing."

"I'm sorry!" Tanaka apologized.

"Don't mind!" Daichi reassured him.

"That block was pretty amazing." Tsukishima commented.

"Yes, it was!" Tanaka cried out in agreement.

Ushijima was up to serve as he bounced the ball a few times. Shiratorizawa was in the lead with 10 points.

TWEEEET!

Ushijima threw the ball up in the air and did his jump serve in which Asahi tried to receive it, but it went out instead.

"Sorry!" Asahi said.

"What? Is he Mr. Perfect?" Sugawara asked, having a dark and scary look plastered on his face. "Is Ushiwaka-kun Mr. Friggin' Perfect?!"

Rei looked over at the scoreboard.

Karasuno

09

Shiratorizawa

11

Ushijima did his jump serve once more in which Daichi dived down to receive it. "Cover!" Tanaka shouted as Kageyama got into setting position before tossing over to Tsukishima in which he scored a point.

Rei then switched out with Hinata, slapping his hand as he went by him. "Come to think of it, didn't Ushiwaka say something to Hinata between the sets?" Sugawara questioned.

"Oh, yes." Yamaguchi replied. "A shrimp that sucks like you has no reason to live. Apparently."

"Seriously?! Are you sure he didn't imagine some of that?" Sugawara asked.

"That's what I thought, too, but apparently that's what he meant." Yamaguchi responded.

"I wonder what Hinata's going to do after being told that..." Sugawara said.

Ennoshita gave him a deadpanned look. "Should you be laughing at that?" He questioned.

"Well, I mean, if his heart was going to break after being told something like that, he wouldn't be here right now." Sugawara stated.

TWEEEET!

Tsukishima was up to serve. He threw the ball up in the air in which Goshiki tossed it back up. "Sorry! It's short!" Goshiki apologized.

"Ohira-san!" Shirabu shouted, tossing the ball towards Leon.

Hinata then stepped back a bit, running forward as if he was doing a spike as him and Tanaka jumped up to block. The ball hits the court as the crowd cheered.

"Shiro." Sugawara suddenly said, making Rei look over to see Ukai was making a gesture to come towards him.

Hinata jumped up as him and Kageyama jumped up to block Leon. However, Hinata ended up crashing face first into the net.

"I'm so sorry!" Hinata apologized.

"Don't mind." Daichi reassured, holding his hand up.

"Think about how fast you're going, you dumbass!" Kageyama scolded.

Rei then walked up. "Hinata-kun, this is from Ukai-san. The ideal jump is to jump straight up, but for now, he said you can go the sides, too. In return..." He trailed off.

"We'll support both sides." Tanaka and Kageyama finished in unison.

"Yeah." Tanaka added, as Rei looked over at the score.

Karasuno

12

Shiratorizawa

13

The game continued as Tanaka barely received the spike that was coming at him. Hinata raced forward as he jumped up to block Tendou.

Kageyama tossed the ball towards Hinata who spiked past Tendou and Goshiki, earning a point for Karasuno.

"All right!"

"Hinata, nice kill!"

Up in the audience was Iwaizumi. "Oh. You're here, too." Iwaizumi said as Oikawa flinched while Iwaizumi hopped over a seat.

"You said that you weren't going to come because it'd piss you off, no matter who won." Iwaizumi continued.

"No matter which sides wins, I'm gonna be able to see the other team's faces when they lose." Oikawa said.

"You really are a piece of crap." Iwaizumi commented.

"I don't have time to sit around feeling sorry for myself." Oikawa stated as Iwaizumi sat down next to Hayashi.

"I see that their #10 sure is moving around a lot, like always." Iwaizumi said.

"He's definitely some kind of monster." Oikawa agreed. "However, it sure must be rough having to stick around that monster."

TWEEEEET!

Ushijima spiked the ball in which Daichi received it. "Sorry!" He apologized.

"Tanaka!" Asahi called out, covering for Daichi.

"Right!"

Tanaka jumped up and spiked the ball past Shirabu and Tendou, earning a point for Karasuno as they were both tied with 18 points.

"Tsukishima, nice serve!"

Both Kageyama and Hinata jumped up to block Leon as Daichi received the spike. "Left!" Atsushi called out as he jumped up and spiked the ball.

"One touch!" Tendou called out.

"Chance ball!" Goshiki shouted, saving the ball.

"Wakatoshi-kun!"

Tanaka and Hinata jumped up to block Ushijima as he spiked the ball. "One touch!" Hinata shouted.

"Got it!" Asahi reassured, receiving the ball.

"Don't you dare get worn out!" Kageyama shouted.

"Shut up!" Hinata shouted back as he ran towards the opposite side.

However, Kageyama tosses the ball towards Tanaka. The second-year spikes the ball past Tendou and Shirabu in which Karasuno cheered.

"Tanaka! Great job supporting him!" Ukai yelled.

"It's a senpai's job to always be there and help his precious juniors." Tanaka said.

"A haiku!" Sugawara commented.

"Hinata, nice one touch!"

Both teams were panting and trying to catch their breaths as they looked at one another in determination.

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

Word Count: 1982 words.