Karasuno's Mangers: Little Ukai and The Runaway

21: Setter's Intuition

Toxic feelings were manifesting into desperate and reckless movements.

This was a ball Daichi could have saved, Ennoshita thought as the ball dropped in front of him.

Why can't I focus? Noya growled as he skidded across the court.

My shoulders are cramping up, Tanaka hissed as he tried to dodge another block.

Move faster legs, move, Hinata tripped, barely catching himself.

"One-touch" Tsukki yelled but he knew the ball would be too far out of bounds to be saved.

There is no place I can set the ball which would make it easiest for the spiker to hit, Kageyama thought.

The scoreboard read 15:9. Tadashi and Kinnoshita had both come in as pinch servers in an attempt to change the flow of the game. Date Tech managed to stop them both with one serve each.

In the team area, the first years were becoming restless, having already been called out by the referee for standing outside of the box.

"This is not good." Emiko leaned over the railings.

Mirae winced as Tanaka's spike was stuffed, bouncing off of Noya's arms out of bounds. Their faces were red, their jaws clenched. The cheers of Let's go Date Tech, Date Tech, here we go! grew louder as the point gap increased.

16:9

"The setter has two or three seconds maximum to take in all the information on both sides of the court. Kageyama's hyperaware. Out of everyone on that court right now, he's the one most in pain."

"Please, please, please," Akira murmured, hiding behind her hands.

Keeping up team morale was proving difficult. Coach Ukai had taken up all his time-outs in an effort to alleviate his players' stress, yet the second they stepped onto the court Date Tech was reminding them that they were cornered.

The Iron Wall was becoming an Iron Dungeon.

"Mirae," Emiko slapped her arm. "The cheer squad behind us are being lousy." They looked over their shoulders and sure enough, the banners were lowered and the visitors were frowning.

Mirae frowned. She nudged Emiko. "Didn't you say something about drawing on your ancestor's powers?"

A sly grin grew on her face and she waved at the people who were silently watching from the seats behind them. "You losers are going to repeat after me, got it?"

They blinked.

She stomped her foot and repeated herself. "Don't make me hack your bank accounts. I will do it."

Before Mirae could cover her mouth and apologize, the visitors nodded their heads.

"Good. Akira, you sit still and don't say anything. Mirae, grab my shirt so I don't fall."

Emiko swung her legs over the railing and sat comfortably. She cupped her hands around her mouth, ignoring Mirae's shrieks and instead chose to do well on her promise.

"Hey-a Captain!"

From behind her, a roar of voices repeated; "Hey-a Captain!"

"That's your team!"

"That's your team!"

Ennoshita looked up, a puzzled expression on his face. The server on Date Tech's side paused. Even the referee was frozen.

"Break those walls is what we scream!" She turned around and glared at the crowd behind her. Instantly, they raised their flags and began to chant.