Rabies

Heavy Hit

  "Yamaguchi, one more! Nice serve!" The rest of the Karasuno team on the sideline yelled while striking a ridiculous pose, and a laugh just exploded out of my mouth that sounded like a goose honk. Damn, Karasuno was a strong team but, fuck, were they also goofy as shit.

  #12 took a deep breath as all eyes were on him as he served. It was high but slow, and the libero called it as out, so no one went for it. However, with it being so slow, it actually did hit just inside the court line. Karasuno cheered, and those on the side literally had to hold back their two smallest players as they were trying to run out onto the court.

  So that's what he could do- jump floats. I knew from experience those were tricky to deal with, but if our guys on the court could adapt to it quickly enough, we'd still have this set.

  "Kyōtani!" The libero called out as the second jump float was coming right at the blond. It looked like it would drop right onto his arms, but it kept going and nearly hit him in the face if he hadn't moved out of the way fast enough. He managed to still tap the ball, but no one was behind him to recover it, and Karasuno got another point, making it 23-21.

  "Damn it!"

  The third jump float went Makki's way, but he switched to an overhand hit and successfully hit it up. Shittykawa set, and it went to Iwaizumi who then spiked it over the block and hit Karasuno's #12. He nearly fell over from the power of the spike, and it looked like he even hurt from receiving it, but he still managed to make it airborne again.

  "Cover!!" They yelled, and their setter dove to save it. #11 tapped it over the net, hitting Shittykawa's hand lightly to where it fell down in bounds on our side. This time the Aoba Johsai coach signed for a time-out.

  "That #12....made a really bold receive." Iwaizumi actually looked irritated, and Shittykawa lowered the towel from his face.

  "That was just luck, though."

  "No, it wasn't." I piped up. "He was ready for it, though he wasn't ready for how hard it hit him." Glancing at Iwaizumi, I pointed at him with a water bottle. "Don't go easy on him next time. From what I've seen, they're actually on par with you guys. None of this is luck, they're just that good." The team around me paused and slowly looked at me with expressions of shock.

  "Yamiko...." Iwaizumi mumbled as his brows furrowed.

  "Did you just compliment them?" Shittykawa's nice demeanor faded away as it was replaced by a serious look.

  "I did. They've earned it. Some of them stand out more than the rest, but you have to keep an eye on the whole team. If they can keep up and even catch up this quickly...." I trailed off while clenching my jaw. "You all need to be careful if you want to win."

  When they were back on the court, #12 served a jump float again that tapped the top of the net and was going straight down toward the floor. Our libero tried to get to it in time but missed, and now the points were tied.

  The next time around, though, Iwaizumi managed to get the ball and toss it up and toward Shittykawa to set.

  "Nice receive!" Karasuno went to block but Shittykawa tossed over further to Makki, and he spiked it past them. They managed to save it and keep it from hitting the ground and went to spike it back, but our block was firm and they didn't break through. However, it went just out of bounds, and with Aoba Johsai the last to touch it, Karasuno got a point.

  My leg started bouncing again, quicker this time around as I was on the edge of the bench and watching the game so closely. And, it was at that moment as #12 was getting ready to serve again that I realized something.