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

edited on january 8th, 2022 @ 2:40am

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CHAPTER FORTY-NINE - THE THREAT OF THE "LEFT"

"DON'T MIND, SHIRO! NEXT, NEXT!" Tanaka told his junior, giving him a high five.

"Yeah." Rei agreed, returning the high five.

Rei watched as Kawamura was up to serve. He threw the ball up as it headed towards Daichi, who thought it was out, but it ended up being in.

"Yeah!"

"Sorry!"

"Nice serve, Kawamura!"

TWEEET!

"Kawamura, one more! Nice serve!" One of his teammates shouted in encouragement as the ball hit the net.

"Got it!" Tanaka and Asahi shouted in unison.

"Tanaka-san!" Tsukishima shouted at the same time.

The ball fell to the court once more, getting Shiratorizawa another point.

"Sorry!" Tanaka apologized.

"My bad!" Asahi said.

"Don't mind!"

Shiratorizawa was now three points ahead of Karasuno.

"Calm down!"

Rei winced as he heard Sugawara's voice from the sidelines. "There's no time to self-destruct! What the hell are you so nervous about?! The TV crews? Quit messing around!" Sugawara shouted.

The referee gave Sugawara a dead panned look. "Got it! We got it, Suga, so calm down!" Daichi told him.

"Suga-san's scary..." Rei thinks to himself.

"I'm so sorry!" Daichi apologized to the referee.

TWEEEET!

Kawamura was up to serve again. He hits the ball up as Daichi kneeled down to receive it. Kageyama tosses to Tsukishima who spikes it but Goshiki ended up saving it.

"Wakatoshi!" Leon shouted, receiving the ball as Ushijima jumps up and spikes the ball. Rei tried to receive it but Shiratorizawa ended up getting a point as Rei looked irritated.

"Give me three." Rei spoke up, holding up three fingers. "I promise I'll get used to it."

Daichi and Asahi both smirked and nodded.

"Bring it!" Tanaka shouted, jumping up and spiking past Tendou and Ushijima, earning a point for Karasuno as the cheering squad cheered.

Asahi was up to serve as he was given words of encouragement. He did his jump serve as Yamagata saved it. Ushijima spiked the ball and gained another point for Shiratorizawa.

Rei took a look at the score.

Shiratorizawa

08

Karasuno

03

There was a buzzer sound that went off as Karasuno gathered around Ukai. "Blocking all comes down to timing! If they get through the top, it'll be difficult to prepare to receive, as well. You need to touch the ball, even if you can't stop it! Make Ushijima feel that there's a wall." Ukai announced.

"Right!"

The buzzer went off again as Karasuno headed back onto the court. The game continued on as Asahi spiked the ball and Yamagata was able to receive it. Shirabu tossed the ball to Wakatoshi who spiked past Daichi, Tsukishima, and Asahi. Tanaka tried to save it but it was too late as the ball had already hit the court. Rei took a look at the scoreboard.

Shiratorizawa

11

Karasuno

05

"Damn it!" Rei thinks to himself.

"Um... I know I'm not as cool as Noya-senpai, but..." Rei began as his team looked at him. "But if Shiratorizawa has Ushiwaka, Karasuno has me. I am a shadow, after all."

Ukai let out a laugh. "Right." He agreed. "Stopping all of Ushijima's attacks, or even picking them up, is impossible. But..."

Ukai slapped his hand onto the whiteboard. "All you've got to do is make those impossible spikes possible." He continued.

"Hm?" Hinata hummed, tilting his head in confusion.

"Total defense." Ukai explained. "Ushijima's really good at angle shots, as we've seen in past games, so we're going to tighten up our block on those, and place Oshiro where the now opened straight path would be. We're going to set it up so he's hitting to our libero."

Ushijima went up to spike again as Daichi, Tsukishima, and Asahi jumped up to block him. He spikes the ball as Rei received it, making the ball go out and Shiratorizawa getting another point as Rei released a breath, remembering what Nishinoya had told him after the meeting.

"Not as cool as me?" Nishinoya asked the first-year as Rei glanced over at him. He yelped when Nishinoya slapped his back. "Cut the crap, Shiro! Stop putting yourself down! You have a remarkable talent that no one else in volleyball has."

TWEEET!

Goshiki was up to serve as he tossed the ball up and did his jump serve. Tanaka quickly dived down to receive it.

"Chance ball!" Yamagata shouted.

"Damn it! I'm sorry!" Tanaka apologized as Yamagata received the ball.

Shirabu tossed the ball as both Kawamura and Ushijima jumped up. Tsukishima and Asahi went to block him, but their timing was too fast as Ushijima ended up scoring a point.

Rei looked over at the score.

Shiratorizawa

13

Karasuno

05

Kawamura spiked down the ball, earning another point for Shiratorizawa as they were now at 15 points.

Kawamura was up to serve as he threw the ball up, but the ball touched the net and getting Karasuno the point.

"Sorry!" He apologized.

"Don't mind!" Leon reassured him.

Asahi was serving next as he threw the ball up in the air and did his jump serve. As Ushijima was about to jump up again, Tsukishima jumped up to block him. Ushijima spiked the ball past Tsukishima and scored a point. The buzzer sounded once more.

"You were so close, Shiro!" Ennoshita informed Rei, who was gulping his water. "You're actually able to react to Ushiwaka's spikes!"

"The spike that I was actually able to touch is definitely not his full strength." Rei stated. "He's probably still warming up his engine, and concentrating on getting his spikes over our blocks."

"I remember in middle school, getting passes from a guy that was left-handed was really hard." Tanaka stated.

"So apparently Ushiwaka's shots... his off-speed shots are killer, too." Daichi spoke up.

The buzzer went off as both teams headed back onto the court.

"Guys! Your faces are stiff! Relax! Relax! Rel--"

Takeda paused when he saw that Ushijima was up to serve as he was bouncing the ball. Once the whistle blew, Ushijima threw the ball up and did his jump serve. Daichi tried to receive the ball, but it bounced off his hands as Shiratorizawa gained a point.

Rei was concentrating on Ushijima who was about to do another serve. "Bring it to me." He thinks to himself.

"Come on, bring it!" Rei shouted out.

Ushijima jumped up in the air. He spikes the ball as both Daichi and Rei headed for the ball. Rei ended up receiving it as the volleyball went back up in the air.

"It went up!"

"All right! Perfect!"

"Finish it!"

Kageyama jumped up, acting like he was going to hit it. But instead, he sends a toss to Tanaka, who spikes the ball and sending it to Shiratorizawa's side of the court.

"You seem pretty relaxed, considering we're playing against Shiratorizawa." Tanaka informed.

"Well, no one scares me more than Oikawa-san for the time being." Kageyama stated.

Tanaka laughed. "I see!" He exclaimed as Rei had switched out with Hinata.

The buzzer sounded as Rei saw that Sugawara was being switched in with Tsukishima.

TWEEEET!

Sugawara let out a breath as he served the ball in which Leon receives it. Shirabu tosses the ball to Tendou who jumps up and spikes it, getting a point for Shiratorizawa. Tendou cheered as Hinata looked irritated. Tsukishima switches back in with Sugawara.

Shiratorizawa now had 18 points with Karasuno having a measly 9. Leon was up to serve as he jumped up and spiked the ball. But the ball ended up being an out.

Kageyama was up to serve next as he did his jump serve and gains a point for Karasuno in which they cheered.

Once the whistle blew, Kageyama did another jump serve but this time, Leon had crouched down and saved it as Shirabu covered for him.

"Goshiki!" He shouted at Goshiki who jumped up and spiked past Hinata and Kageyama.

"Let's go, Kageyama." Hinata told him.

"Yeah." Kageyama agreed as Rei looked at the score.

Shiratorizawa

24

Karasuno

16

The game resumed as Asahi spiked the ball and Leon received it. "Ushijima-san!" Goshiki shouted, sending the ball to Ushijima.

Ushijima jumps up and spikes past Hinata and Kageyama, but Rei used his misdirection and received the ball on time.

"Damn! I didn't catch it completely." Rei scolded himself.

Tanaka quickly covered for Rei as he received the ball. "Hinata, get the last!" He shouted, giving the ball to Hinata.

Hinata ran up before jumping up and spiking the ball, hitting it against Tendou and Goshiki's block.

"Once more! Once more!" Asahi shouted, tossing the ball into the air.

Hinata ran up once more and jumped up. He spikes the ball past Tendou but Ushijima crouched down and received it.

"Ushijima-san!" Shirabu called out, sending a toss to Ushijima who jumped up and spiked the ball, getting a point.

TWEEEET!

Shiratorizawa had taken the first set as both teams walked off the court.

"Next, next!" Tanaka reassured his teammates.

"There's no reason to panic. They just happen to take the first of five matches. And about this match... Ushijima scored eleven points, so he scored almost half of the points." Ukai began as Hinata looked irritated. "But the fact that the ball is going to Ushijima so often means you're frustrating Shiratorizawa that much. Ushijima is also human. He'll eventually reach the end of his stamina. He'll eventually start to feel even the attacks that he's not making himself. Don't forget that!"

"Right!"

TWEEEET!

The second set had finally begun as both teams headed back onto the court.

"Bring it!"

Goshiki was next to serve as he bounced the ball a few times. The whistle blew as Goshiki threw the ball up and did his jump serve and Daichi went over to receive it.

Karasuno then began their synchronized attack. Kageyama tosses the ball into the air as Daichi spikes it. Yamagata tried to save the ball but it was too late as the first point went to Karasuno as the cheering squad cheered once more.

"Daichi-san, nice serve!" Tanaka encouraged. Daichi served the ball and Leon received it.

"Nice receive!" Shirabu complimented as he tosses the ball towards Kawamura who scores a point for Shiratorizawa as Nishinoya was late on receiving it.

"Nice." Kawamura told the second-year setter, giving him a high five.

Asahi spikes the ball, getting another point for Karasuno. He was up to serve next as he bounced the ball a little. The whistle blew as Asahi did his jump serve in which Goshiki crouched down to receive it but it was off.

Shirabu quickly covered for him. "Ushijima-san!" He shouted, sending the ball towards Ushijima.

Ushijima spiked past Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Tanaka, getting a point for Shiratorizawa. "Damn it..." Nishinoya cursed.

"Don't mind! Don't mind!" Daichi told him.

The whistle blew as everyone on Karasuno was on high alert. Ushijima threw the ball up in the air, doing his jump serve as the ball bounced off of Tanaka's arms. The ball landed on Shiratorizawa's side as Yamagata was late on receiving it.

"It's just as I planned!" Tanaka exclaimed.

"You're tearing up." Tsukishima informed in a dead panned tone.

"Well done, Tanaka!" Daichi complimented.

Tsukishima served the ball up in the air once the whistle blew. The game resumed as the ball was in the air.

"Chance ball!" Tanaka shouted as Tsukishima saved it on time.

"Give it to me!" Hinata called out as he jumped up. However, he got blocked by Tendou, leaving both Kageyama and Hinata in shock as the ball dropped to the ground.

Tendou looked at the duo. "If you want to beat Wakatoshi-kun, you're gonna have to beat me, first." He declared.

"Ya know?"

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

Word Count: 1987 words.