The Newbie ~ Tsukishima Kei

Chapter 20 ~ Underwhelming

AKIKO HAD BEEN UNDERESTIMATING SEIJOH'S ACE, Iwaizumi. He didn't look big, apart from those guns, and certainly didn't have that much height. He was being overshadowed by their mad dog, but he seemed to be just fine with that.

In a way, she envied him.

He was able to keep calm, keep his head in the game, while the mad dog took his spotlight.

Maybe he was used to it, maybe he didn't like the spotlight, maybe he was better than that, better than a petty teen seeking attention. Maybe he was underdog with as big of a role to play as the star of the show.

Or was the mad dog just a big decoy for the ace?

Nevertheless, he didn't seem to care.

The third set was starting, Akiko wouldn't be playing. She was there to substitute Tanaka or Daichi if they were tired, but thing is, Daichi is the teams backbone. She wasn't ready to 'replace' his role in the team. It didn't feel like she could, not even at the very end of the year.

Either way, not playing in the second set got Tanaka pumped. He had this pent up energy from watching them play, as he is a regular.

Did they lose the second set just because she was playing?

Tanaka let out what they joked to be a 'war cry' when he scored both Karasuno's and his first point of the set. He seemed energetic, that's for sure.

Every time the mad dog scored, Tanaka tched, and vice versa. It's like they were picking a fight with each other or they were already fighting.

Now that she thought about it, they were fairly similar. 

Judging by Saeko, Ryu probably had blonde hair. She's willing to bet that it looked just like the mad dog's, probably without the black stripes.

They were both the second big scorer in their teams, second to their ace, though one seemed to hold a grudge about that and the other seemed to be just fine with it.

But lastly, the mad dog was reckless, taking big risks from time to time. Tanaka, on the other hand, knew his limit and the risks to not take.

In her opinion, though, Tanaka was better. Despite both of them seeming to be the same age, Tanaka seemed more experienced for some reason. Maybe it's because Tanaka is her upperclassman, while the mad dog is not.

Oh, the mad dog had been switched out for their former regular, the relaxed lazy looking guy.

It was a good call, seeing as the mad dog looked really pissed off. Tsukki had been predicting him really well, he'd noticed the somewhat 'fight' before anybody else did.

Ah, my man's so smart!

The game continued on as usual, it'd only been four rallies and the mad dog was back. Why did they put him on the bench. Calm him down? Four rallies didn't seem to be good enough for that. Maybe this mad dog got mad easily but also let off steam faster.

Well, it wasn't like their #13 was doing much. Apparently he used to be Kageyama's teammate from middle school, so Kageyama knew his technique by now.