𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐖

lxxxi - ougi south

"The previous match is over," Daichi told everyone, who had all changed into their jerseys. "Let's go!"

"Yeah!" Karasuno cheered, striding onto the court like the bye-ers they were.

"Shut up, idiots," The other team that they would be player gave them death glares, but Tanaka was not one to be out-glared. Hinata froze for a second, shaking in his shoes as he hid slightly behind Tanaka.

"Ougi South looks like they're a team full of delinquents," The cueball observed with no small degree of annoyance.

"That's rich coming from you," Suga commented with a deadpan. "And stop with that face."

He stopped with the face, but then during their seven minutes on, the other team started calling Tanaka's haircut lame, which in itself was a rather lame insult. Crow blinked at the sight of the usual delinquent looking... holy? His hands were together and there was a light coming from nowhere, so it was something. "I will go forth. Let us have a good match." What is with the formal speech? Crow's eyebrows knit together as Tanaka charged ahead.

The cueball absolutely slaughtered the ball. "SUCK ON THIS!"

"Nice kill," Kageyama said, and suddenly the holy Tanaka was back as he folded his hands together and bowed slightly.

"Thank you for that opportunity."

"Huh?" The setter blinked, also not sure what to do with holy Tanaka. That was the only time he emerged though, the rest of warm ups were usual Tanaka, so that was a relief. Crow didn't know what he'd have done if the cueball had stayed in divine form. Maybe he'd have slapped him to get him out of it.

And then it was time to line up. "Let's have a good match!" Both sides bowed as the referee whistled for them to do so. With that out of the way, the two teams went back to their coaches for a last minute pep-talk.

"Listen up," Keishin stood with Takeda, the boys around them. "All of their third years are already gone, but their power has always been with their second years. They won their first round match in straight sets as well. Don't let your guard down!"

"Says the person benching me."

"You shut up Crow. I'm giving Sawamura some play time, and we might switch it up with Sugawara and Kageyama setting a six-two in the second set if things go well. For now," He smirked at his players. "Be especially careful of their left wing spiker, number one. Other than that, kick ass boys!"

"Yessir!" The team echoed excitedly, and then Takeda stepped up.

"Since the end of the interhigh prelims until now, you've taken on unfamiliar challenges and haven't been in sync. On top of that, you've lost about 25 practice matches against the powerhouse schools from Kanto. But the new weapons which were useless at first are now starting to take shape," He told them. "Please get a win that makes up for all of the frustration you've felt so far."

"Yessir!" Everyone promised, and then they circled up. "Karasuno, fight!"

"YEAH!"

Flooding onto the court like the rapid water of an overflowing river, Karasuno's starters got into their positions. Asahi was the first server with Tsukishima in position two, Kageyama in three, Tanaka in four, Hinata in five and Daichi in six. Nishinoya stood off to the side, waiting for the down referee to check the line up before switching out with the ginger.

"Give us a good serve, Asahi-san!" Nishinoya called as the up referee signalled for the serve. Breathing out slowly, the ace threw the ball into the air, did his approach, and slammed the ball on their opponents' endline. The team went wild with cheers.

"All right!"

"Yay! That was awesome!"

"Not bad."

"All right.." Keishin smirked as Crow sat next to him. "Let's go!"

Point after point, ball after ball, block after block, dig after dig, Karasuno's score soared. Everyone was on point, each doing their part in attacking and defending like it were clockwork. "How do I put this.." Takeda spoke up, catching Keishin's attention. "Everyone seems to be more sure of their movements than previously."

"It's not like they only practiced their new stuff during the training camp," The coach snickered slightly. "They had tons of practice against powerhouse schools that were all totally different. The power behind their serves and spikes, the diversity in their attacks, their defense..They're far more used to facing all of that stuff at a high level than before."

The winning point of the first set was scored with a freak quick, and then the two teams switched sides. In the middle of their peptalks, Karasuno whipped to face Ougi South. "WE'RE GONNA BEAT KARASUNO, MAKE IT THROUGH THE PRELIMS, AND DEFEAT SHIRATORIZAWA!" Their number one yelled, probably trying to make himself believe it. Some of his teammates laughed, some argued, but in the end, it was time to start again.

"CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!" Tanaka roared. While things had gone well the first set, Keishin decided to let Daichi stay on the rightside, and it turned out well as Karasuno sat at match point with their opponents at 13. And just like the first set, the second set and the entire match was won with a freak quick. "YEAH!!!" Karasuno cheered.

"All right!" Keishin, Takeda, Crow and Kiyoko all stood up.

"They made it through their first match," The advisor grinned as the two teams lined up and bowed to each other.

"Thank you very much for the match!"

~*~

"He's so disgusting!"

"It's a weapon... His height itself is a weapon.."

"Looks like our next opponent has been decided," Kageyama said with his mouth full, stepping up next to a trembling Yachi and Hinata. The ginger glared at his setter scornfully. That didn't last long as Daichi started assessing the situation.

"If we win our next match, we get past the first round of the prelims and advance to the decider tournament in October," He exacted. "We're definitely gonna advance!"

"Yeah!" The team echoed.

"Oi," A hand fell on Crow's shoulder, causing him to glance at the owner of it. Keishin gave him a solemn look. "You think you can go head to head with someone that size?"

"Two meters?" The ravenette did a lopsided smirk as he leaned his head back, making the snarkiest look his cousin had ever seen from him. "Easy."

Time would tell. Soon, Karasuno would stand against a team with a middle blocker the size of two meters, and would test their skills to see if height really was a cheat in the sport of volleyball, or if they could overcome that difference and come out on top.