effervescent (nishinoya yū)

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE / the slow evolution

You and Yachi did a double high-five as Asahi managed to score a service ace on Fukurōdani. "Service ace!" you both cheered.

Kiyoko smiled as she wrote in her notebook. "Bit by bit, everyone is making fewer mistakes," she said. You followed her gaze over to the scoreboard, which showed a three-point gap between Karasuno and Fukurōdani. "And they narrow the point gap with every set they play."

You nodded and put your hands on your hips. "Everyone's making such great progress," you said with a huge grin. "Is this what it feels like to be a proud mother?"

Yachi laughed and returned her attention to the game. "Maybe." The smile faded as Kageyama tossed the ball to Hinata, only for it to fall short yet again. Your own smile fell and was replaced by a frown. Karasuno as a whole was improving rapidly, but Hinata and Kageyama as a pair...

You shot your hand out to the side to protect Yachi from a stray kill. She yelped and shrunk closer to you. After murmuring a quiet thanks, she shook the shock off and turned back to face the front. You stifled a laugh and did the same yourself. Seems like the volleyball team isn't the only one improving, you mused.

Fukurōdani ended up winning their set, and although you didn't expect Karasuno to win, the shrinking point gap felt like a large enough reward for the team's hard work since day 1. Your frown persisted as you handed out water bottles, watching Karasuno slowly recover from yet another hard series of matches. This damn heat is only going to get worse. I hope nothing bad happens...

Karasuno's next match was against Nekoma. As usual, Nekoma had a pretty strong grip on the lead, with Lev as big of a problem as ever. He spiked over Hinata's low block with a smirk, Asahi barely just managing to dig it before it hit the ground.

Hinata reset and raised his hand up. "Center!"

Tanaka bumped the ball up to Hinata. The short middle blocker entered a joust with Yamamoto and Lev, only to lose it within a few seconds. Nishinoya slid on his stomach to try and retrieve it, but he landed just a second too late, making it Nekoma's point.

You flinched as Hinata's face contorted with irritation and he let out a loud curse that carried over Nekoma's cheers. He bent over and put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. You exchanged a worried look with Kiyoko and Yachi. You'd never seen Hinata look or sound that pissed off.

After a few more rallies, the score read 18-15 with Nekoma in the lead. Nishinoya passed a chance ball up to Kageyama and Hinata ran up to the net for another quick. This time, Hinata managed to make contact, his fingers skimming against the ball and just barely making it over Lev's block. He landed on the ground and the ball fell into Nekoma's court, earning Karasuno the point.

You expected Hinata to celebrate, or at least look pleased. However, what you didn't expect was for him to get up in Kageyama's face and shout, "You held back, didn't you?"

Your eyes widened in bewilderment. As you thought about the difference between the most recent toss and the developing one, you couldn't really think of anything that different. You crossed your arms and involuntarily shivered as you saw the look in Kageyama's eyes.

"Held back?" he repeated. "Me? With volleyball?" He reached out and grabbed Hinata by the collar of his shirt. "Say that again."

Yachi grabbed your sleeve in a death grip. "They aren't going to start fighting again, are they?" she asked, her voice shaking. You reached over and patted her shoulder comfortingly, letting yourself relax a little as Takeda called a time-out.

A shadow passed over Hinata's face. "That wasn't the falling toss," he growled.

Takeda had come back over to stand next to Ukai. "It wasn't?" he asked the coach.