Wings of Steel

Part 11~Oikawa

Oikawa huffed as he watched Shoyo bouncing around Kageyama. "Who's that?"

Iwaizumi glanced across the court, shaking his head. "Hinata Shoyo, apparently Mizoguchi-senpai knows him, but other than that, he's a mystery."

Oikawa crossed his arms. "I don't like him."

Karasuno served as Aoba Johsai moved. Oikawa set the ball, sending it to Iwaizumi as he spiked past the blockers. Tsukishima gasped, barely able to keep the ball in bounds. Kageyama ran under the ball as Shoyo dashed to the side.

"Not this time!" Kindaichi jumped up as the ball spun past Hinata. Tanaka screamed in delight, slamming the ball down.

21-8, only 13 more points to catch up.

~~~

Ennoshita received as Kageyama moved. He could feel Oikawa's eyes on him. He had to choose. Tanaka and Shoyo ran forward. Kindaichi moved to stop them when Oikawa jumped up, stopping Shoyo before the others could reach him.

"If you think your little fast will work against me, you need to reevaluate, Tobio-chan."

Kageyama tutted as he turned back.

24-11. All Aoba needed was one more point.

"If you look that depressed, you won't win." Shoyo grinned, his eyes sparkling as he looked at the tree trunk in front of him.

~~~

Shoyo slid in to receive, easily sending Kageyama the ball as he shot to run. Oikawa watched everything Kageyama was doing as the ball shot over the net. Tsukishima almost smirked in pride, having jumped over the Aoba Johsai team. Instead, he scowled. "Your tosses are too accurate. It gives me the creeps."

Kageyama snarled, glaring at Tsukishima. "What?! I can just aim at your glasses if you like."

"Try it. You'll get banished from the gym again."

"I'll do it so no one will notice."

"A word of advice, Kageyama," Shoyo popped up between the two bickering teammates. "If you're going to plan attacking someone and get away with it, don't plan in front of fifty witnesses. That's stuff we think, not say." Shoyo winked as Kageyama scowled.

"You want me to attack you?!"

"You can try, but I'm sure you couldn't pull it off."

Kageyama growled, reaching his hand to grab Shoyo, but he ducked and walked away.

"Stop looking at them," Iwaizumi ordered, jabbing Oikawa's side. "We just need one more point."

Oikawa nodded as Daichi served. The ball was easily received and sent to Oikawa as the spikers moved, one thought in their minds, one more point. Tsukishima waited for where the ball would go, but as Oikawa jumped up, he didn't send it to his spikers.

He dunked it.

Karasuno gaped in horror as the whistle was blown. Karasuno lost. "Line up."

Karasuno left the court, their heads a little low, all but Shoyo's, which was held high. "That was amazing!"

"We lost, boke." Kageyama reached out his hand to grab Shoyo as he laughed. "What's so funny?"

"You thought we could win. I didn't. The most important thing from today is what we learnt from this, ain't that right, Takeda-sensei?"

Takeda looked almost lost as Suga whispered in his ear. "Sensei, maybe give a critique or something."

"Oh, I see." He paused. "I'm just a beginner when it comes to volleyball, but even I can tell that something amazing is going on here. We may have lost, but we have some amazing first-years this semester. They were hard to handle in the beginning, but I learned something today. We're nothing if we don't cooperate. A chemical synergy happens when each one encounters the other even this very moment is giving birth to other encounters that will change the world.

Maybe in some far, remote country. Maybe on the other side of the planet. Or maybe at an ordinary volleyball club, at an ordinary high school, in a northern countryside on a small island in the east. I think that encounters like that happened to Karasuno today. I know I can't prove what I say, but it's better than not believing. All of you will most likely become stronger. Much stronger!" Takeda paused as the club went silent. Panicking, he backed up quicker than Kageyama giving a compliment. "Sorry! That was a little poetic!"

Daichi slid forward, trying to calm him down as Shoyo snickered. "I don't think this club is normal."

~~~

Karasuno walked back to the bus as a group, careful not to let anyone wander off this time.

"Takeda-sensei complimented us, but frankly, we're still lacking." Daichi frowned, a deep look in his eyes.

Oikawa grinned, leaning against the gate wall and waiting for Karasuno to show up. "Spoken like a true captain. You know your stuff."

Tanaka snarled, glaring at Oikawa hatefully. "What do you want?"

"Don't be so hostile." Oikawa laughed, brushing off the attitude of the club. "You, little one. Your receives are quite something, and your broad attack was amazing."

Shoyo raised his eyebrow. "Cheers, I practised in the hospital."

Oikawa paused before ignoring the comment. "Let's give it all we got the next time, right from the start. We'll be improving our serves, too."

Shoyo almost forgot who he was talking to as he shot forward. "Even more powerful?!!"

Oikawa laughed. "You're really weird."

"Yeah, but because of the reason you think."

"That so? Then what?"

Shoyo paused, considering his options before he grinned. "Extreme head trauma." Everyone fell silent as Shoyo grinned. "But don't think that'll stop me from beating you. This club will show you up next time."

Oikawa shook his head softly. "If you say so. But I'm not the only one who hits powerful serves. The Inter-High preliminaries are coming up soon. Don't get eliminated, okay?" Okinawa walked down the middle of the club, stopping before Kageyama. "Because I want to pulverise my dear underclassman, setter-on-setter, in an official match. There's not much time left before the tournament. I look forward to seeing you there."

Oikawa finally left.

"Your ex-upperclassman is weird." Shoyo pouted as Kageyama tried to attack him once more.

~~~

Shoyo paused, before the bus, glancing at Takeda. "Hey, about what you said earlier, it gave me an idea."

Takeda jolted, looking at Shoyo in confusion. "What is it?"

Shoyo chuckled, a smirk coming to his face. "You ever heard of the club Nekoma?"