Spray-paint and Skateboards (SakuAtsu Dancer AU)

Chapter 55: Second Chance

Atsumu stepped onto the court and all eyes were on him again. He just wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. Unfortunately, the ground did not do as he wished, so instead, he just walked to where Sakusa was and began his stretches.

"I promise they won't bite you, Atsu," Sakusa teased when Atsumu plopped down onto the mats next to him.

Atsumu just sighed and started his stretches, dropping into a full split and resting his chin on the floor, "They're still starin' at me, aren't they?" He asked glumily.

Sakusa furrowed his eyebrows and looked up, catching his teammates - Bokuto and Hinata being the exceptions - turning away at his glance.

Sakusa clenched his jaw and looked back down at Atsumu, "Ignore them. I think they're just a bit weary, you know, since our previous setter basically abandoned us right before the beginning of the season."

"Ya have a point, but they don't hafta stare at me like I'm an alien," Atsumu replied with a pout and Sakusa snorted.

Roughly ten minutes later, they had all gathered around Coach Foster as he began to explain what would be happening that training session, "Alright, so Miya-"

Bokuto quickly cut him off, "Coach, if you don't mind, he prefers Atsumu."

Coach Foster hesitated for a moment but nodded nevertheless, "Okay, Atsumu-kun and Inunaki, you two are with me, and the rest of you, go work on individual skills for now," and with that, they all went off to do as they were told.

Atsumu and Inunaki followed Coach Foster to the ball-basket beside the net. Inunaki Shion was the Black Jackal's libero. He was shorter than Atsumu but slightly taller than Hinata with the same deceptive strength, and his fluffy ash-blonde hair was light and airy. He was pale and his eyes were light hazel-brown.

Coach Foster grabbed a ball from the basket and tossed it to Atsumu, "Show me your best serve, kid," he directed, "Inunaki, go receive it."

Inunaki smirked as he turned to Atsumu, "Give it your best shot, though, I doubt you'll get past me."

Atsumu raised an eyebrow, "We'll see 'bout that, Inu-san," he answered simply, turning to step onto the court.

Inunaki blinked, his brain stuttering for a moment before he made his way to the opposite side of the court. Coach Foster then blew his whistle and Atsumu took his six steps away from the line. He turned back towards the court, his eyes settling on Inunaki. Taking a deep breath, he took aim.

He tossed the ball up, ran forwards and jumped high into the air, stretching his hand back with perfect form like a hunter loadshedding a shot gun. Then, he launched the ball across the court like a cannon, its landing echoing in the gym after it flew past Inunaki and struck the court just within the lines.

Inunaki was frozen in place with his eyes wide and jaw hanging. Along the side of the court, the Black Jackals all sported matching shocked expressions, except Hinata, Bokuto and Sakusa. Hinata was bouncing around like a spring-loaded grasshopper while Bokuto looked like a proud father and Sakusa had an uncharacteristically smug expression on his face.

Inunaki was broken from his stupor, "T-that had to be some sort of fluke!" He shouted.

Hinata laughed, "I don't know, Wan-san, that's exactly how I remember Tsumu-san's serves back in high school, except that was a lot more powerful than high school," he explained.

Inunaki furrowed his brows, "No! We're doing that again!" He pointed at Atsumu, "You! Serve again! I wasn't ready that time!"

Atsumu just shrugged, "'Kay," he answered and Foster tossed him another ball.

This time, Atsumu took three steps away from the line and executed a perfect jump-float serve that completely threw off Inunaki's hand-to-eye coordination with how much it curved and spun. It, too, landed just within the confines of the court.

"What??!" Inunaki exclaimed, "First, you hit me with the fastest freaking jump-serve in history and then you casually pull out the most deceptive jump-floater I've ever seen," he shouted, frustrated, "Are you even human??"

Atsumu smiled mischievously, "I still have one more trick up my sleeve, if ya'd like to see?"

Inunaki grinned angrily, "Do your worst," he dared.

Atsumu smiled at him and Foster passed him another ball. This time, everyone watched expectantly as Atsumu took six steps back from the line. He tossed the ball up, ran forward and jumped up to meet it. He hit it with a twist of his palm, that sent it spinning through the air directly towards Inunaki. Inunaki grinned as he got ready to dig up the ball, but with the insane spin and power behind the serve, the ball spun out of control and Inunaki was pushed backwards onto his butt.

"What kind of a serve was that??" Inunaki asked, exasperated.

Sakusa looked confused, "Good question... I've never seen you, or anyone else for that matter, use that technique before," he added.

Hinata's jaw was on the floor, "I thought they called you the Dual-Wielder because you could use two serves, but you just used three!!"

Atsumu giggled, "I was inspired by an anime, so I created a serve that utilized the same principles..." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "I've jus' never used it since I quit volleyball..."

Bokuto chuckled, "So, that's the serve you were working on back in third year?"

Atsumu nodded enthusiastically before Foster clapped his hands to gain everyone's attention.

"Alright, just because Miy- Atsumu-kun has a lot of talent in the serving department doesn't mean he's automatically on the team. We still have to see his sets and spikes, and his ability to work with the team," he explained, "So, everyone, get back to working on your skills while we go through a few more serves, and then we'll go into spiking practice after that."

Hinata began hopping around excitedly, "Yeah!! I get to hit Tsumu-san's sets!!"

Atsumu covered his mouth with his hand to suppress a giggle as he went back to serving.

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Any guesses on the anime that 'Atsumu' drew inspiration from?

Anygays, bye!!
-CrackshotReaper

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