Rabies

Coach Yamiko....?

  "Mad Dog-chan!" Oikawa called out while tossing up the ball. Kyōtani came running almost completely parallel to the net with three blockers on his side before jumping and spiking at such an extreme angle. The ball was within the court when it hit the ground, and the blond hopped a few steps to keep from falling when he landed.

  The gym erupted into cheers, and so did I, raising my fists while roaring with excitement. That tight cut shot was one of the things Kyōtani and I had worked on, and with his incredible power and flexibility, he could pretty much hit from every angle now.

  "Iwaizumi, nice serve!"

  "It's coming back! Chance ball!" Shittykawa yelled. They set up a double-quick, and the ball was shot to Kyōtani, and their #10 didn't react fast enough to block it.

  "Great, great, Kentarō! Push it, push it, Kentarō! One more time!" Iwaizumi got ready to serve again, and I glanced at the shorty in black. Even though he hadn't reacted fast enough to block Kyōtani, he was still quick enough to determine which of the two was going to get the ball from Shittykawa.

  Shittykawa set again, only this time Kyōtani ran to steal the ball from #3 and ended up crashing right into him while still managing to get a point.

  "Kyōtani!" I shouted from the bench. "Don't make me drag your ass off that court!" He shot me a glare while getting up. "Watch the team!" He huffed but nodded.

  "And here I thought we were the coaches."

  "Iwaizumi, nice serve!" Shittykawa called, but this time the serve hit the net, making it 04-02 with us in the lead. Shittykawa made it look like he was going to toss to Kyōtani, and Karasuno went to block him, but he sent the ball in the opposite direction to Kindaichi.

  "Kindaichi, nice serve!"

  "It's up! Cover!"

  "Got it! Kyōtani, get the last! Sorry! It's close to the net!" Kyōtani still went for the spike but there were three blockers on him already.

  "Send it back one!" Shittykawa yelled, but Kyōtani swung anyway, and the ball smacked down back on our side. There were cheers, but the coach beside me looked ready to explode.

  "You idiot! There are other ways to hit or even feint!"

  "If I don't attack in with all I've got, it doesn't feel good!" The blond shouted back.

  "Why, you-"

  "Now, now, Mizoguchi. He'll eventually correct what he has to correct."

  "Right...."

  "Nice, Makki! Mad Dog-chan!" He went for another sharp-angled spike but didn't aim right and ended up hitting the net. Kyōtani made a face while looking at his hands, no doubt getting upset with himself, but the game went on.

  "He finally got one in. Oikawa used him well. If it were me, I would have passed to someone else."

  "Tenacity and boldness. You can't use the Mad Dog if you're scared."

  "Kyōtani, nice serve!"

  "Out!" Sighing through my nose, I could see that the blond was getting frustrated both at his mess-ups and being used as a decoy. And if something didn't change that fast, he was going to be even more of a double-edged sword for the team.

  Another narrow angled spike was set up for Kyōtani, but he went faster this time and made it over the net while scoring a point.

  "All right!" The team cheered, and Kyōtani had this huge grin on his face while his eyebrows were still deeply furrowed. By the time it was the shorty #10's turn to serve, we were 13-11. Karasuno tried a back attack, but it was blocked- Shittykawa must have predicted it and warned the team based on how prepared they looked for that play.