𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 ◦ 𝐡𝐪 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐜

𝐬𝐢𝐱

THE NEXT DAY, tanaka and kenji will exchange between sets, because coach ukai said that they'll need kenji to practice playing with the team. he didn't explain what he meant, but kenji was a bit scared that he'll replace tanaka as a regular. he never wanted that to happen to his kouhai. 

all of their opponents were curious about kenji, but coach ukai told him to refrain from attacking. apparently, he already had a plan and tactic in mind, and they'll try that out today. 

while he was stretching, he glanced at the tall new player from nekoma. hinata told him about his encounter with the half-russian last night. kenji found it funny that he calls himself ace, when they have taketora-san, the mohawk guy with the strong spike. plus, according to kenma, his skills are even worse than hinata. 

kenji pursed his lips in thought. he's new, not even a year into the sports yet, but he already shows a lot of passion and potential. 

their first set is with nekoma. tanaka will play in this set, and kenji is okay with it. as they get ready on court, he glanced at the other side. he sent yaku a peace sign when they locked eyes.

he frowned when he realized he forgot to wrap his right shin. he then shrugged. it will be fine. it's just for a few sets. but he still felt exposed, especially since he feels the eyes of the other teams on him, gazing at the exposed scar below his knee support. 

the match started, and kenji can feel that something is bothering hinata. his eyes widened when lev, the tall half-russian, successfully stopped hinata's spike, so early into the match. it was not impossible to stop it, but kenji did not realize that lev will be the one to do so, given he's a newbie. damn those tall genes and fast reflexes... he gazed at hinata in worry. 

his mouth dropped when hinata jumped for the ball, when it was clearly set for asahi. they bumped into each other, hinata falling down on his back. the whole court was in silence. 

the team started shouting and assuring hinata that it was fine, but kenji pursed his lips, deep in thought. hinata is...

"hey, kageyama. the quick that goes like woosh... i'll... stop closing my eyes."

kenji let a small smirk appear on his face. he wanted to suggest this, but it looks like hinata realized it himself. that if he wanted to be strong, he needed to fight on his own. 

"i can't stay like this. i can't keep hitting quicks that are set just for me."

"you can't, and that's why we learned normal quicks. i don't know what's going on with you right now, but if you have something to say, i'll listen to it later." kageyama turned his back to hinata. "but if you're gonna do that right now, i'm not gonna set to a guy who i know will miss." 

kenji stared at kageyama. he doesn't get it. he already told the first year to help his partner get stronger. but then what is this?

kenji felt the atmosphere change. he sighed. 

the match ended, nekoma won with 25-18 on the score board. they started the lap of diving drills. 

 "you guys are the weakest team out of all the teams here." takeda-sensei said after the team huddled. kenji felt his confidence fall down the dumps. way to go, sensei.

"if we were to have an official match with any of these teams, they would all be troublesome opponents. are we going to view them as mere opponents, or teachers that we can absorb techniques from?"