Quirkless Volleyball (Adopted)

Chapter 18

When Midoriya dropped into the Hinatas' house, he almost forgot about their small argument. 

Almost. 

Now, as he stood in the very decorated room, with volleyball posters all plastered on the walls, did he start to get nervous. 

The two barely fought seriously, in fact, right after the one time they did, Hinata pushed him into a lake. Then again, he did request the boy to take his mind off things when he overthought things. But that didn't mean that he deserved being pushed into a cold lake, no matter how hot it was outside. 

He grabbed the volleyball bag that laid against the wall and ran out of the house. 

"Hey, okaa-san! Bye okaa-san!" he yelled as he ran by the kitchen. Aimi let out a chuckle as she watched the flash of green go by the kitchen and out the door. Those two boys were more similar than she ever predicted them to be. 

Midoriya made his way to the side of the house to get the bike that would allow him to get to Karasuno. Swinging his leg over the bike, Midoriya put his foot on the pedal to start his journey. 

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In ten minutes, he was at the Karasuno parking lot. Already, there was a bus in front of the school where chatter and laughter was radiating from, probably the team. Parking his bike, Midoriya ran into the gym and burst the doors open. 

"Ah, Midoriya, there you are!" Takeda sighed in relief. "I was afraid that we were going to have to leave you." 

"You best should hurry and change," Kiyoko quietly said as she slung a bag over her shoulder. "The boys are already on the bus. We're using the black uniform set, as usual." 

"Eh? Thank you, K-Kiyoko!" Midoriya said, flustered, and he raced into hallway, skidding as he stopped to open the door to the changing room. 

After changing into the black and orange uniform that represented Karasuno High's boys' volleyball team, he put on his bag and rushed out to the open. 

"Hurry," Takeda said. Kiyoko was nowhere in sight, most likely boarding the bus right now. 

The bus was still parked in the lot, right where he saw it last. 

"You're finally here!" Nishinoya yelled as he walked up the steps. He was sitting right in front of Hinata, and Midoriya ignored the sad twag in his heart when he saw Kageyama next to him. Usually, Midoriya would be sitting next to him, even if he was a bit late like today. But it wasn't too strange, there were several occasions where Midoriya had forgotten to do his homework or needed to study for whatever test he had. 

But he had already passed his finals exam and he usually was able to finish whatever work he had to do on the weekends, so the only reason Hinata could potentially be avoiding him was because of their argument, if you could call it that.

Or was he overthinking this? Not everything was about him, Kageyama might've just wanted to sit next to Hinata, or maybe they just wanted to sit next to each other to talk, or something. 

Midoriya sat in the seat behind the seat that was behind Sugawara and Daichi, right across from  Hinata and Kageyama. Risking a glance, he spotted Hinata was looking out the window and Kageyama's eyes were closed. 

Looking back in front of him, Midoriya decided to take out his notebook and to remind himself of the opponents today. 

Technically, this wasn't 'official', it was a practice match after all. But it was called a PRACTICE match for a reason, it was to simulate an 'official' one, so Midoriya was going to treat it like one. 

Pulling the turquoise notebook (Midoriya purposely bought it in the color that the Aoba Johsai volleyball uniforms were), he flipped to the first page, detailing Aoba Johsai as a team. 

'Aoba Johsai is one of the best all-around volleyball teams in Miyagi', one paragraph in his notebook read, 'With a style that isn't mainly offense or defense, they are able to adapt to whatever team they face against. Most of the team's strength comes from Oikawa Tooru, present 3rd year captain and setter, who draws out strength to those he sets to.' 

The next few paragraphs on the page involved those that the team had beat, as well as special attacks to look out for. 

The next page was what Midoriya was really looking for. 

Suddenly, Coach Ukai stood up. "Alright," he said and clapped his hands together. "We're, as you should know, going to Aoba Johsai for the practice match. I expect a good performance from all of you! We won't let them beat us again, especially after all our training when they beat us in the Interhigh Miyagi Preliminaries." A short pause followed, no doubt on purpose. "But that won't stop us," Coach Ukai said. "Remember, even if we do lose today, it'll be a stepping stone so we know what to work on for the Spring High Miyagi Prefecture Representative Play-offs! Let's do this! With that being said, we're going to be going right now. Don't talk to loud, you know what to do. We'll be there in around ten minutes or so."

"Alright!" they all yelled before going to back to what they were originally doing. Midoriya stared at the second page, dedicated to Oikawa. After all, the team's strength revolved around him, both mentally and physically, considering that he was captain. 

'Oikawa Tooru is the captain and setter of Aoba Johsai's boys' volleyball team. Standing a bit over 180 centimeters, he is one of the best, if not the best, all-round players in Miyagi, specializing in setting. According to his opponents and his team, he has a smug and flippant attitude that is called 'disgusting'. However, he is very cunning and intelligent, worthy of being called 'Great King' by Hinata. 

His sets are not only scary, but also his serves. Oikawa, though, does not like jump floaters, most likely due to them being tricky to receive when used against him.'

Midoriya yawned as he read the rest of the page. Flipping to the next page, he looked at the name. Iwaizumi Hajime, ace of Aoba Johsai, also childhood friends of Oikawa, making their combos increasingly difficult.

He rolled his shoulders before looking out of the window. Roads and houses flew past his window. Midoriya could see the reflection in the window and behind him, he could both see and hear Kageyama and Hinata talking animatedly. That used to be him and Hinata instead. 

But he wasn't jealous, no, he couldn't be jealous. Midoriya had already hoarded Hinata to himself, even if the two were best friends. But at this moment, Midoriya almost feared that his position as best friend was in jeopardy to Kageyama. 

Well, now he had something in common with Oikawa Tooru. Jealousy of Kageyama Tobio.

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Aoba Johsai's going to come!

If you don't know, I really like Oikawa and Atsumu, most likely because I like setting and because I relate to them, lol.