ONLY ME || Haikyuu x Male

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

It became very obvious very quickly that the Guess Monster liked to show off. Within moments of making his first attention-grabbing appearance, Tendo was able to shut down both Tobio and Hinata in two attempts to score. His blocking was swift and brutal, almost like a killing move as opposed to merely being defense. Certainly impressive, though a little flashy for Ren's taste.

For the first few rallies, he lay low, observing the redhead in action and focusing more on receiving rather than attacking. He tracked every movement, searching for a pattern, some hint of cognitive forethought. But all he gathered was that Tendo based everything on instinct, intuition, and a little bit of luck. The blocker jumped without even taking Tobio into consideration, going straight for what he believed the outcome of the set would be.

Fuck that's annoying. Shirabu really downplayed how aggravating playing against this guy can get.

It wasn't long before Karasuno called their first timeout of the set, and Ren took his time walking off court, keeping his gaze locked on Tendo for as long as he was able. His tongue passed between his lips, wetting them in a habit he'd picked up whenever he was deep in thought.

If he really just dives into plays headfirst with no strategy, then I'm going to go out on a limb and say that trying to outsmart him won't do us any good. No, our best bet is to match his brainless energy. Following our gut feelings.

Well, lucky for Karasuno, I have a medical condition that literally forces me to do that.

He breached the semicircle coagulation of his teammates and Takeda-sensei granted him permission to take the floor, claiming the spotlight. "Okay, from here on out, I don't want anyone worrying about the Guess Monster. Completely forget about him, pretend he's not even there. That will be our best defense against his unpredictable behavior."

"But that's not really stopping him, is it?" Kinoshita posed the question, honestly startling Ren a bit as he hadn't been expecting his fellow classmate to speak. "You're sort of just jumping in and praying for the best."

"That way of going about it definitely isn't an offensive approach, but you all don't have to worry about that. We set up Nishinoya and Tsukishima as a counter towards Ushijima, right? Well, for Tendo, I'll be the one to handle him." Ren glanced over at Tobio, maintaining unwavering eye contact with the nervous-looking setter. "I'm not going to call for the set, but if I go for it, I want you to send it to me with your freakishly fast reaction time. And if I start to hallucinate, then send it to me even more. I can't really explain it, but I can promise you that whatever stunt I pull, it's our best shot."

Despite the lack of a detailed explanation, his teammates seemed to accept his reasoning, agreeing with his non-strategic strategy. Their timeout concluded soon after that, and they returned to court, hopefully without concerns regarding Tendo, as Ren had requested.

Shiratorizawa managed to gain a couple more points off of them before they finally scored one, Tobio shifting to the back row in order to serve. Ren relaxed into his habitual stance as the ball sailed over his head, the opposition moving fluidly to pick it up. He felt nothing, thought nothing, just watched the spinning sphere lurch over towards Goshiki who spiked it down into Asahi's waiting arms. Currently, Ren had no idea what he was doing. But he trusted his body to know what was the right move, and before he knew it, he was making his way towards the net.

His steps were slow at first, but then they accelerated and he jumped, the ball already present against the curve of his palm as he swung downwards. It didn't feel like his movements were his own at that moment, almost as if he was being puppeteered by some higher being. But whatever the case, every motion that he went through felt solid, and when he contacted the ball, he felt it in his heart that he would score.