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

edited on january 15th, 2022 @ 3:06am

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CHAPTER FIFTY - GUESS-MONSTER

LEON WAS NEXT TO SERVE as he spun the ball around in his hands a few times.

"Leon-san, nice serve!"

Leon threw the ball up in the air and did a jump serve. Daichi went to receive it, but it was a bit off.

"Sorry!" He apologized.

Tanaka quickly went to cover for him. "Kageyama, get the last!" He shouted at the first-year.

Kageyama jumped up into the air as Goshiki and Tendou jumped up to block him. Tendou ended ip blocking him as he got the point for Shiratorizawa.

"Don't mind, Kageyama-kun! Don't, don't mind, Kageyama—" Hinata began.

Kageyama interrupted him as he sent a kick towards the orange haired male. Rei looked at the score.

Karasuno

03

Shiratorizawa

04

TWEEEET!

Leon did another serve as Daichi was able to receive it on time. Kageyama tossed the ball to Hinata, who ended up being blocked by Tendou once more. Shiratorizawa got a point as Chiharu was late on saving the ball.

Takeda then called for a time out, which was expected.

"We're going to cut them off on the next one!" Daichi exclaimed.

"Hinata, we're going to switch things up! Get this next one!"

"Right!" Hinata agreed.

"Hey, Kageyama. What's wrong with your face?" Tanaka questioned.

"Nothing's wrong." Kageyama said as he was surrounded by an intense aura.

"You liar!"

"It's one thing when my spike gets blocked, but it pisses me off a million times more when a spike from my set-up gets blocked..." Kageyama thinks to himself in irritation.

"How is their #5 able to continue blocking like that?" Takeda asked.

"Sensei, you remember read blocking, right?" Ukai asked him.

"You see where the toss is going before jumping up to block, right?" Takeda responded.

"Yeah. "Read" in this case doesn't necessarily mean to read, but more to understand." Ukai explained. "Since you're jumping up after watching the ball, there's no danger in the toss tricking you. Their reaction will be slightly slower, but if you can cover by using three blockers, it's the most effective. We're still in the middle of practicing this ourselves."

"On the other hand, what's special about their #5's blocks are his reading and intuition. He does guess blocking. "Guess" means to presume something and he'll read the attack before the toss goes up, and then he'll jump pretty much on intuition."

"Guess?!" Hinata exclaimed.

"Of course, there will be times where his intuition is off, and he might get in the way his team's blocks and receives. This is definitely a style of blocking that doesn't work for everyone. But I think that #5 is so accurate with his guesses that it is scary. On top of that, he has a body that can react to those guesses." Ukai continued.

"It's better to think that his movements have no regularity to them. Don't think too hard and get fooled by them."

"Right!"

The buzzer went off again, signaling that the time out was over. Shiratorizawa was ahead by 5 points. Leon was up to serve again as he spiked the ball but it hits the net.

"Front!"

Daichi dived down to save the ball. "Sorry, it's short!" He apologized.

Kageyama tosses the ball to Hinata, who gets the point as Tendou was distracted as everyone cheered.

The game continued as Rei received the ball. Kageyama sends a toss to Daichi while Tendou thought he was sending it to Hinata. Daichi spiked the ball as Yamagata received it.

"One more, one more!"

Rei tossed the ball into the air. "Got it!" Kageyama said, getting into setting position. Hinata quickly moved with Tendou on his tail. Kageyama tossed to Hinata who spiked the ball and gained Karasuno a point when the ball bounced off of Yamagata's arms.

Karasuno scored a point, making both teams tied with 11 points.

Kageyama was up to serve next. "Kageyama, one more! Nice serve!" Tanaka encouraged. He did his jump serve as Yamagata received it.

"Nice receive!" Shirabu complimented as he sets the ball to Goshiki as Daichi and Hinata jumped up to block him. Goshiki spiked the ball as Asahi was there to receive it.

Kageyama tosses the ball to Tanaka who got blocked by Shirabu.

"One touch!" Tendou called out.

"Got it!" Yamagata reassured as he tossed the ball up in the air.

Shirabu sends the ball to Ushijima as Tanaka and Hinata tried to block the attack but Shiratorizawa ended up getting a point.

Rei looked over at the score.

Karasuno

12

Shiratorizawa

13

The game resumed as Hinata scored another point for Karasuno.

Ushijima got past Asahi and Hinata's block, scoring another point for Shiratorizawa. Asahi spiked down the ball, getting Karasuno a point.

Karasuno now had 14 points while Shiratorizawa was in the lead with 16 points.

"Hey, it's the normal guy." Tendou commented, noticing Tsukishima, who grew irritated.

"All right. Don't let him get to you." Daichi told him.

TWEEEET!

Kawamura was up to serve as he hits the ball in the air.

"It's going to fall!" Rei thought as he quickly used his misdirection and received the ball on time before it had hit the ground.

"Chance ball! Chance ball!" Kawamura shouted, tossing the ball in the air.

"Damn it... I'm sorry!" Rei apologized.

Shirabu sets the ball to Tendou who jumps up. However, Tsukishima was there to block him, sending the ball on Shiratorizawa's side of the court and getting Karasuno a point as they cheered.

"Hi. I'm the normal guy. The time lag attack may have fooled our wild beast over there, but it doesn't work on me." Tsukishima said. "Pleasure to meet you."

"I knew that all the first-years at Karasuno pissed me off, but you take the cake." Tendou claimed.

"Thanks." Tsukishima said.

"You piss me off!" Tendou exclaimed.

TWEEEET!

"Asahi-san, nice serve!" Tanaka shouted out as Asahi did his jump serve and Yamagata dived down to receive it.

Shirabu tossed the ball towards Ushijima as Tsukishima jumped up to block him, but Ushijima ended up getting the point.

Rei took a look at the scoreboard.

Karasuno

15

Shiratorizawa

17

The game continued as Tendou spiked the ball in which Tsukishima blocked it. "One touch!" He called out.

"Got it!" Daichi said as he received the ball.

Kageyama tossed the ball to Tanaka who spiked past Shirabu's block as Ushijima dived down to save it.

Shirabu tossed the ball towards Leon who got blocked by Tsukishima.

"One touch!"

"Chance ball!"

Kageyama sends the volleyball to Tanaka once more, who jumped up and spiked the ball past Shirabu and Tendou, successfully getting a point.

"Yeah!" Tanaka cheered.

"That was you, Tsutomu, you idiot!" Washijo's voice caught Rei's attention. "If you're gonna stare at someone, at least stare at a girl!"

Goshiki had a stunned look on his face as question marks appeared on his head. "Y-Yes, sir!" He replied.

"Pfft... 'Yes.'" Tendou snickered.

"I don't care if you run into each other! Go for the damn ball, ya idjits!"

Rei had switched out with Hinata while Sugawara switches in for Tsukishima. Shiratorizawa was ahead by 17 points.

"Suga, nice serve!" Daichi encouraged the vice captain.

Sugawara served the ball in which Leon received it. Tendou spiked the ball, getting a point for Shiratorizawa as Asahi was late on receiving it.

Kageyama and Sugawara made eye contact as they switched places as everyone else began a synchronized attack.

Sugawara tosses the ball to Kageyama as he spikes past Leon and Tendou, getting a point.

"Yeah!" Kageyama cheered.

"Nice, Kageyama!" Sugawara complimented.

Leon spiked the ball as Sugawara fell down from the impact and Shiratorizawa got a point.

Ushijima received the ball that was coming at him. Shirabu tossed the ball to Goshiki who spiked past Hinata and Daichi, getting another point.

Rei took a glance at the scoreboard.

Karasuno

19

Shiratorizawa

20

Shirabu was next to serve as he spun the ball in his hands and threw the ball up in the air.

"Got it!" Rei reassured as he received the ball. Kageyama tossed to Hinata who spiked past Goshiki and Kawamura, getting a point for Karasuno.

The buzzer sounded off as Rei looked over to see that Yamaguchi was being swapped in for Hinata.

Yamaguchi bounces the ball a few times as he took a deep breath.

"Nice serve." Tsukishima told Yamaguchi.

Yamaguchi does his jump float serve in which Goshiki dived down to save it.

"Sorry!" Goshiki apologized.

"Wakatoshi!" Yamagata shouted at the ace, sending the ball towards him.

"We're gonna stop him!" Daichi said.

"Yeah!" Asahi agreed.

Ushijima jumped up as Daichi, Tsukishima, and Asahi jumped up to block him. Ushijima spiked the ball past the three, getting a point.

Yamaguchi switched out with Hinata with disappointment on his face.

Takeda then called for another time out as the team gathered around Ukai.

"It's true that completely shutting them down, or breaking through a three-person block looks cool, and excites the crowd. But don't try to finish things. I'm sure that the rougher things get, the more you want to finish things in one shot. But don't forget to imagine your next plays, like one touches and rebounds. All plays are connected." Ukai informed.

"This doesn't mean you're supposed to put up your guard." Kageyama told Hinata.

"I know that!" Hinata exclaimed.

"I know I keep saying this, but even if plays don't lead to points, they start showing results later. We're finally doing a five-set match. It'd be a waste to spend the whole time dreading how long you've still got." Ukai continued.

This made everyone smile at his statement as they went back onto the court.

"Right! Let's do this!" Tanaka shouted out.

"Yeah!" Hinata agreed.

"Um..." Tsukishima spoke up, getting his teammates attention. "Would you let me set the timing for the three-person block?"

TWEEET!

Goshiki did his jump serve in which Daichi received it. Kageyama tosses to Asahi, who scored a point, making them tied with Shiratorizawa.

"Daichi-san, nice serve!" Tanaka called out as Daichi served the ball. Goshiki saves it and Shirabu tossed to Ushijima in which Tsukishima and Asahi jump up to block him.

"One touch!" Tsukishima shouted.

Everyone cheered as Ukai smirked. "They finally got a clean one in." He stated as Karasuno had determined looks on their faces.

"Total defense."

"Now... It has begun!"

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

Word Count: 1761 words.