Karasuno's Queen of the School [Kageyama Tobio]

[35] Is Ukai Convinced?

When it was Hinata's turn to serve, everyone instinctively covered the back of their heads, crouching down lower than needed. I couldn't complain about it since I couldn't serve any better, but since it did touch the net and barely make it over, I supposed it was a lucky shot. It was enough to make Shimada incorrectly receive it.

"Sorry!" he called out as the volleyball flew off course, "I'll leave the recovery for you!"

Dad managed to slide into place to save it, calling out to Asahi at the last second. "The last hit's for you, Jesus!"

Suga gasped and Tanaka started to sprint over to his side of the net. To my surprise and at the same time not, no one really acknowledging the fact that my dad had called Asahi-San 'Jesus'. Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Tanaka stood with their knees bent side by side, hands ready to block. I smiled when Asahi started to run forward with less hesitation than before.

"We're gonna stop it!!" Tanaka hollered, trying to play off his nervousness.

Tsukishima wasn't fazed, responding just as unenthusiastically as I would expect. "Please don't order me around."

Asahi jumped high --not nearly as high as Hinata would do since Asahi had the height Hinata lacked, but it was still high-- and swung his arm down, smacking the ball with such a force that I winced, afraid Kageyama's arms would be snapped off.

I managed to keep my eyes open through the spike, becoming used to the hard sounds and hits each play made. Though, I admit that I would probably scream if Asahi hit it that hard to towards me.

Kageyama and Tsukishima just barley blocked the ball, sending it straight down back onto the other side of the court. Dad was too far away to save it and for a moment, I had forgotten that Asahi had his star libero to guard his back.

Nishinoya slid, or better yet, dove to follow the ball up, bringing it back into play miraculously as his knee pads skid across the wooden floor. Much to my relief, Asahi's look of devastation eased up slightly when the ball was saved, landing back down on the ground as he looked around to find the ball.

"DAMN, NICE FOLLOW UP!" Dad shouted, rushing back to give the ball some room. Tanaka started to blubber beside Tsukishima, clearly unsettling him.

I grinned as a surge of excitement rushed through me and cupped my hands around my mouth. "Nice receive, Nishinoya!"

Almost instantly, Kageyama spun to face me, eyes narrowed.

"Whose side are you on?!" he demanded, still positioned to play. My eyes widened and I stuttered to come up with a response. Both, of course, but why was he was so annoyed by me cheering for a practice match?

"Bakeyama!" Hinata scolded, finger in Kageyama's face. It looked like Kageyama was ready to bite off Hinata's finger but he didn't really seem to notice.

"Don't yell at her, King, she's fragile, remember?" Tsukishima mocked. His eyes glanced at him from the corner of his glasses and Kageyama instantly stopped his behavior, turning to focus back on the game. I bit my inner lip.

"Nice block, Kageyama!" I called out weakly, offering a smile and thumbs up in hopes of easing his irritation. Kageyama's refused to look back at me as his shoulders flew up and his head ducked down, flinching at my words. Tsukishima snickered beside him but neither one of them had the time to start bickering.

"Call out for the toss!" Nishinoya shouted, scrambling to his feet, "One more time!"

Volleyball, being the quick sport that it was, rarely gave anyone any time to understand what was happening. The mass of the ball and the force of gravity did not allow for much time in between hits. It went up and came down just as quickly as it had been tossed into the air. So it was too fast for me to see when Suga set the ball to Asahi, who then spiked the ball one more time, this time hard enough to break through the three-person block. I could only manage to hear the shouts and someone calling Kageyama a sadist. Most likely Tsukishima.