𝚃𝙾𝙱𝙸𝙾'𝚂 𝙱𝚁𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁

Chapter 27*

"N... No way..."

Aoba Johsai's side was frozen in shock. In the audience, everyone had a look of astonishment on their faces. Tobio gripped the handrails, trying to hide how amazed he was. Coach Goro smirked, feeling like a proud father.

The ultimate combination... 

"Ace. You're up."

In this team... everyone acts as a decoy. Their strength is their ability to cooperate as an entire unit, seemingly able to sense what another teammate is thinking. Even if Chiba and Kaito aren't in the official starting lineup... they have come to understand each other well. So much so that a collaborated deception isn't impossible.

"Chiba, do your best~" Hattori teased as he walked away, Futoshi coming in to take his place momentarily.

Chiba pouted in annoyance at the third-year's continued attempts at teasing him. He shook his head, placing his attention back on the game. He spun the ball in his hands before looking up, glancing at the players of Aoba Johsai's side. 

"Nice serve, Chi-kun!"

His seriousness was ruined, hearing his teammates call him by the nickname he hated. He could hear their snickers behind him.

"Chi-kun, don't get cold feet now!"

"You got this, Chi-kun!"

He sighed heavily, growing steadily more annoyed.

Just ignore them... Just ignore them...

He took a deep breath and regained his composure, relocking his concentration on the game once more. He tossed the ball up in the air. His confidence was slowly coming back to him.

I've watched the captain make this kind of serve all the time... Surely, it can't be that hard.

Chiba jumped up. His eyes darted everywhere on the court, taking into consideration the opposing team's positions. A single spot caught his eye.

There...

He put all of his confidence in this serve and swung his hand down. His palm made contact with the surface of the multi-colored ball, sending it barreling over the net. On the opposing side, Kyotani was ready to receive it, feeling confident in where it would land. 

His eyes widened when he saw the ball curve slightly and dive past him, landing a few inches further away from him than he had anticipated. "Tch..."

Matsubara  |  Aoba Johsai

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Chiba snickered to himself. "Not bad..."

The ones on the bench cheered to themselves. From the stands, Nishinoya whistled. "That guy's not half-bad. But, I've never seen him on the court before."

"They might not be active on the court much, but," Suga said. "I get the feeling that their benched players can play just as good as the ones on the court."

Tanaka's eyes were wide, impressed with everything that was happening on the court. "Yeah. No kidding. What do they feed these guys anyway, man?"

The ball was given to Matsubara again. "Again, Chiba-kun!"

Chiba took a deep breath and tossed it up. He jumped up and swung his arm. The ball arched down into Seijoh's side, slipping past Kindaichi before he had time to react.

Yes! That's two!

Matsubara  |  Aoba Johsai

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