𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

lxvi - lectures

"So," Ukai reiterated what the two had told him as Crow was watching the children peppering. "You couldn't figure out what to do with this deviant fast attack that Crow was complaining about last night and you are helplessly running away, eh Coach?" He smirked at his grandson, who scowled in return, obviously not liking being called on his bullshit. And then the man was flying as his grandfather threw him. "THAT'S YOUR TEAM, GROW SOME BALLS ALREADY!"

"COACH?!" Hinata gasped, shaking as he remembered what Tanaka had said about Coach Ukai being the crazy crow coach. Swallowing his fear, the first year spoke. "P-p-please help me!" He hadn't meant to stutter that much, or at all.

"With what?" Ukai crossed his arms. "I don't go around smacking random people. Just weaklings and Crow if he's been bad."

"Damn you old man!" Keishin gritted as he pushed himself up off the ground.

"I-I came here to learn to fight on my own!" Hinata blurted, which made the old man Keishin was cursing smirk.

"You want to master aerial combat at that height?" He teased, but the way the ginger's countenance changed made him pause.

"I want to because of my height!" He confirmed. Blinking, Ukai found himself seeing Tenma in front of him like all those years ago. Closing and opening his eyes again, he was reminded that his prodigy was no longer living when all that stood before him was a Tenma-wannabe. "I know it might sound weird, kedo..."

"What's weird about it?" The old man asked, which seemed to surprise the first year. Moving over to grab one of the balls, Ukai picked it up. "Even if you're dealing with a prodigy of a setter in the type of attack known as a fast attack, the one controlling the pace..." He pointed his finger at the boy. "Is you."

Keishin looked confused, so his grandfather threw him again. "YOU'RE THE COACH! DON'T LOOK SO DUMBFOUNDED, PUNK!"

"You could've been a baseball champion with that throw, dude," Crow snickered as he walked over, drawing attention from the two left standing since Keishin had yet to land.

"Bah, who gives a damn about baseball?" The old coach scoffed, then glanced over at the kids. "Told em to pepper, huh? Lazy ass."

"I haven't warmed up yet so I was using the time to stretch out," The ravenette shrugged, and Ukai nodded. Hinata looked between them with a thoughtful expression; it was like he was seeing a conversation between equals: they both knew the other well enough to poke jabs but also to trust the other's words, and he could feel the respect between them.

It almost made him wince at how badly his coach was treated in comparison.

"What do you personally--" Crap, coach Ukai was talking to him! "--think about that so called freak quick attack?" Ukai asked Hinata, causing the boy to pause and start using gestures as he explained.

"Let's see... I run like zoom, and with a bang I jump with all my might. That's where a set vrooms in, so I swing with a whoosh and it perfectly hits my hand and slash! We nail it," He beamed. Keishin sweatdropped, probably not understanding a word.

"Er," He tried to translate it anyway. "What he's trying to say is when he jumps with his eyes closed, our setter, Kageyama, sets the ball directly to--"

"I get what you're trying to say," Ukai closed his eyes, and looked like he wanted to pinch his nose in frustration. Then, opening his eyes, they were as sharp as his next words. "But you got it all wrong, shrimp," He told Hinata. "Even for that deviant fast attack, as long as it's a type of fast attack, you still hold the initiative. Make sure you really understand that: Don't think of a weapon you wield as unfamiliar. Well," He glanced at Crow, who nodded to him and turned to go get the kids set up for some hitting practice. "I guess it's faster to just show you. Shrimp," He addressed as the kids got in a line. "You try blocking for a bit. You're a middle blocker, right? Try stopping these." He smirked.

With that, Hinata nodded and bounded over to the middle of the net so he could block as Crow stood in the setter's spot.

"You're in junior high?" One of the kids asked.

"Which school?" Another tilted his head.

"I'm in high school!" Hinata flared with offense at the assumption.

"That's enough guys," Crow waved them away from the ginger. "Come on, let's get started."

"Okay!" They all cheered. One of the children tossed the ball up for him.

"Third tempo!" Ukai called out from the sideline. With that out, Crow set the ball and the kids did their approaches. Hinata easily blocked the attempted attack, but the ball smacked into his face instead of his arms, causing him to reel back.

"What an amazing jump!" The kid who had just gotten blocked exclaimed. "Your face was totally above the net!"

"Well yeah!" Hinata laughed as blood flowed from his nose. Ukai's eyes were wide at the discovery.

"You've definitely got some spring in your step," He murmured, then shook his head. "Alright, next!" The kid threw the ball to Crow again. "Second tempo!" the old coach called out. This time, the kids moved right as Crow set the ball. Hinata still managed to block it, drawing a chuckle from the old coach. "Alright, next!" He shouted, and another ball was thrown at Crow. "First tempo!"

This time, Hinata had barely moved by the time the kid hit the ball over, so no block appeared. "Whoa!!" The ginger's eyes, which were filled with stars, darted between Coach Ukai and Crow like they were living gods or something.

"Well?" Ukai smirked with his hands on his hips.

"It's fast!" Hinata exclaimed excitedly.

"Think you could block that?"

"I doubt one person could handle it unless it's Crow," the ginger answered.

"In the three tempos you just saw," Ukai tilted his head slightly with his arms crossed. "Was there a big difference in how the spiker hit?"

"No, I don't think so sir," Hinata responded respectfully.

"Then what was the difference?" The old man prompted, giving the ginger a few seconds to piece things together. Putting his hand to his chin thoughtfully, Hinata replayed each time in his head. Crow hadn't done anything different each time except maybe lowering the arc of the ball, but each time, the kids would leave at different times. That must be his answer!

"The timing of their running approach?" Hinata supplied.

"Yeah," Crow confirmed for the old coach, causing Hinata's attention to turn to him. "That's what tempo is, as well as the height of the set. But the height of the set is really the setter's job to work out, so you don't have to worry about it," He explained thoroughly.

"Listen Shrimp," Ukai regained the boy's attention. "The speed of an attack is determined by its tempo. It's not how fast or slow the set may be: it's the timing of the spiker's running approach. The fastest is first tempo," He went on. "It's the best way to get around a block and is probably the attack you were doing without realizing. Demo," He pointed to his head. "You need to really understand it. You need to start your running approach before the set goes up. The setter sets to the spiker. In other words," His arms were once again crossed as he finished his lecture. "The freak quick attack is still an attack with the initiative on the spiker."

"First.. tempo.." Hinata breathed the new information.

"And so," Ukai turned to his grandson. "I don't know what kind of special attack the deviant fast attack is, but there's one thing I'm certain of: there's no better set than one the spiker can easily hit."