Inarizaki's Hidden Foundation

Ch. 11 - End of Training Camp

The next day is shorter, practice only taking up half the day since the team had to drive all the way back to Hyogo and actually get there at a reasonable time. Last night's events replayed in your head and at random times you would smile stupidly.

"Someone got up on the right side of the bed this morning," Atsumu comments.

You quickly wipe the smile off your face and retort, "Shut up, Atsumu. Focus on your serves, they're getting messy."

His eyes bug out at your remark. "What, really? Goddamn it."

Whew, that was close. You sigh. Keeping your new relationship to yourself was going to be harder than expected. Especially because you couldn't even tell Mina, who'd inevitably tell Osamu and then the whole team would know.

"Damn it!" you hear Suna shout. He had spiked it well but the other team was able to receive it. Seeing him reminded you of the notes you took the day prior about the strength of his swing. How could he improve it? There has to be some kind of technique or else you'd just have to suggest he hit the gym more often. Than an idea hits you: No better way to research how to spike well than to observe the best player in Japan.

You walk over to the next court to watch Itachiyama's practice match, closely eyeing Sakusa. In the next rally, the setter sets the ball towards the curly-haired ace. Running up to the net, he jumps while extending his arms and smacks down the ball to win the point. At the point of contact.. the angle of his body.. that's it!

Running back to Coach's side, you tell him what you saw and how Suna could improve the strength of his spike. "If he could just angle leftwards while he swings his right arm a little more, the momentum he gains from it can cause him to hit it harder!" you explain. Coach rubs his chin in thought.

"Hmm.. I don't want him to mess up his already developed technique but we can try it.. Suna, come here one sec!"

Suna jogs to you and Coach. "What's up, Coach?"

The older man nods to you, giving you permission to speak.

"Suna, so Coach and I were talking and we want you to try something out." You go on to explain what you told Coach. Suna listens, nodding.

"Ok, I'll try it." He goes back to join the others, asking Atsumu to set for him. The ball goes up, he runs towards it and ..

"HUH?!" you exclaim. When Suna went to hit the ball, he took your advice to the extreme, turning completely sideways so his upper body was parallel to the floor. BAM!! He hit it and the ball went flying.

"Wow, nice home run!" Atsumu calls out. Yeah, it went flying out of bounds but he was able to hit it with so much more force than before.

You turn to Coach to see his face in surprise. He then smirks. "If he could somehow control that to go into the court, that could be a deadly weapon." You beam in excitement. For the first time, you feel excited about helping out for the advancement of this team.

When it's time to leave, the teams come together in the gym to bid each other goodbye. Some friendships or at least aquaintance-ships seemed to have been made between many players.

"Bye, Y/N! We'll see you at Nationals!" Aki says, hugging you.

"Haha, yes you will. You can bet on it," you reply. You both exchange numbers and you board the bus, waving.

On the busride home, you tell Kita about what took place earlier with Suna's spike.

"I think he'll be able to learn how to control it and win a lot of points for the team! We'll definitely be able to get far in Nationals," you say excitedly.