Fly (Keishin Ukai) - COMPLETED

10 - Aoba Johsai

The whistle blew. Yuki watched as her team got into position, she swallowed nervously, turned and walked to the back of the court. It was only the first match; there were not many people in the audience, mainly people for the team they were playing against - Aoba Johsai. Both their boy and girl team were strong and were always contenders for the nationals. The crowd cheering for them made Yuki tense up. Her eyes glanced to the audience; there was no one there for Karasuno. She looked down at the Volleyball in her hand. That would change, one day, there would be people in the crowd supporting Karasuno - supporting her. She turned, ball in hand and head held high. Her team was in their positions, ready for her to start the game. Serving first was a different type of pressure, it was what set the game into motion - whatever team got the first point could set the pace for the whole set.

"Nice serve!" Izumi told Yuki, who nodded and prepared herself. She took five-step backwards, her arm raised, the ball balancing on her open palm. With a final sharp breath, she launched the ball high into the air. She watched it for a moment before taking her first step, then her second, then her third, the ball was on it's way down, and she was one step away from the outside line of the court. Her arms swung back, and her knees bent, her eyes never left the ball, and she jumped, focusing all her power on the ball of her feet. The cheers from Aoba Johsai were silenced as the audience awed at the height Yuki had reached. Her left hand connected with the ball before anyone had a chance to blink, the force of it made everyone realise Karasuno was not going to be such an easy team to beat like the last few years.

The whistle blew, and Yuki saw from the corner of her eye, Ukai's eyebrows scrunch together.

"He never normally misses that bad..." Ukai mumbled, she looked up and saw Kageyama at the end of the court, fist clenched by his side and eyes wide.

"I'm sorry," he said, quickly bowing to his teammates. Yuki looked to the scoreboard and saw Abohosai was up 3 - 1, she had zoned out. Her hands clenched the bench nervously as Oikawa was next to serve. He was the biggest problem. They needed to stop him as quickly as possible - if he got too many points the moral of the team would drop, and they could lose the set without getting anything going.

The crowd supported Oikawa as he served, the connection between his hand and the ball made Yuki uneasy, she swallowed nervously.

"H-He's aiming for Y-Yu," she mumbled. If Yú did not receive the ball, the morale for the whole team would diminish. He was their best receiver - if he could not stop Oikawa's serves, who else could? Yuki's eyes grew wide as she watched the ball fly towards her little brother. It was going to curve, she wanted to yell to him but found herself frozen in place.

Some of the crowd gasped, and others cheered as Yú stepped to the right and perfectly received Oikawa's serve. Yuki's heart was in her throat, and she was slightly off her seat, leaning forward. Her worried expression changed into a smile, and her hand squeezed whatever she was holding. She looked to Ukai and saw his cheeks slightly red. Her eyebrows furrowed together, but before she had time to ask, she looked down to see she had grabbed his hand. She quickly pulled it anyway, her cheeks flushing red too. Thankfully, Hinata scored a point, diffusing the situation and she looked to her brother, giving a toothy grin and a thumbs up.

"Nice receive, Sanri," Yuki complimented the libero after their team had scored another point. The libero gave a smile, and Yuki internally sighed a relief. The opposition's server had intentionally aimed for Karasuno's libero, and if Sanri missed, the morale of the team would have plummeted. They were down by a few points, but they could turn it around - Yuki would make sure of it. Aoba Johsai was a strong team, and she knew simple tactics would not win them the game. The two sides fought hard, but the score gap stayed the same no matter what Karsuno did. Yuki got the coach to call for a time out.