ONLY ME || Haikyuu x Male

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

With the stress of the match and the incredible amount of energy it required, Ren's hallucinations came as no surprise. For the entirety of the third set, he blanked, letting his weirdly omniscient subconscious puppeteer him around the court. But even though he did good, as far as he could tell anyway, Karasuno ended up losing 25 - 18, making the succeeding set far more important. If they lost the fourth, they lost everything. This would be the decider of their fate.

And Ren was benched for it.

He didn't mind the break, especially considering the mild headache that was beginning to throb through his brain. It gave him a chance to recover and regain his stamina, along with an opportunity to grant his teammates some well-deserved cheering. They all fought hard, and Tanaka especially was the morale-booster that they needed on court. Despite his best efforts, Ren simply couldn't compare with the excitable second-year, and no doubt that it was such over-the-top spirit that pushed Karasuno towards victory over Shiratorizawa 29 - 27. It was a close call, and one that sent a slice of worry cutting through his optimism.

Our team is so small that so many of us have been playing for all four sets and will continue playing for the fifth. I'm sure they're at their limits, Tobio especially. I mean, at that last point he wasn't able to properly line up with Tsukishima and we almost let the win slip through our fingers. It isn't like him to make such mistakes. I'm not sure if he'll be able to keep up with the intensity of a fifteen-point set.

Ren's fretting turned out to be meaningless since the first year setter was being subbed out for Sugawara anyway, but that still didn't eliminate his concerns over his teammates' energy. Their health came first, and he really didn't want any of them dropping dead from exhaustion. However, there wasn't much he or anyone else could do about it, so he was rendered to praying for the best and hoping none of his team was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of effort they would have to exert for this last set.

They started off on a high note, immediately scoring four points to Shiratorizawa's one. Within that time, they even managed to pull off a perfect synchronized attack with Noya's setting, Sugawara getting a hit off of the opposing team. Such a strong head start definitely made them a tad too comfortable, and they were swiftly humbled by Ushijima gaining a five-serve streak, pulling ahead of Karasuno by the smallest but the most meaningful margin.

Oh shit.

Such an incredible feat set everyone on high alert. Fifteen points would go by in a flash, and it was always much harder to reclaim control on short sets like this. The pressure was definitely starting to become more heavy on their shoulders as the game continued, and Ren could feel his own body growing stiffer from the stress.

Fuck, that's not good. If my muscles start to seize up and I can't move fast enough, then I might end up costing us the game.

But subbing out is a bad idea. It's highly likely that everyone else is in just as bad of a state, if not worse off since they just played an entire set when I didn't. Agh, I guess that means I'll just have to tough this one out.

I only hope I'm not making a mistake by doing so...

Ren tried his best to shrug off the intensity, focusing his attention instead on the ball, watching it with keen eyes and a sharp mind. If he could just stop worrying about the outside circumstances and play like he usually did, this would go by much easier for everyone involved. But of course, in a world like this, nothing could ever possibly go his way.

Not two points later, disaster struck in the form of Ushijima's monstrous hit. The ball came at such an awkward angle and met the outer edge of Tsukishima's block, glancing off the blonde's hand and spiraling out of bounds, granting Shiratorizawa the point. But none of the Karasuno crows could possibly worry about that when their dependable first year was hunched over, gripping his palm with an aura of agony hovering about him.