The Devil Who Can Stop Time: Haikyuu x Reader

Ch 6: Crash Course on Quick Attacks

This was a problem. If Hinata kept getting blocked every time he went in for a spike, Kageyama would be forced to start sending more and more sets your way, meaning Tsukishima would be able to put a wall up in front of you for every single hit. Sure, you were skilled enough to avoid a single blocker most of the time, but it would only be getting more and more difficult.

It was Kageyama's turn to serve now. He had a really strong serve, from what you remembered, and even if his accuracy wasn't perfect, it wouldn't exactly be easy to pick up, no matter who was receiving it.

"Kageyama," you stopped him just as we was walking to the line. "Tsukishima and Tadashi are both gonna struggle with their receives, since they're only first years, so try to aim for them in the future, but for this first one, could you aim for Daichi-senpai? I want to see what his skills are so I can figure out how to aim my spikes." Kageyama nodded simply, not saying a word. You grinned and nodded, turning your sharp eyes to Daichi. If you were going to be facing a wall every time you hit, it would be helpful to just dodge without having to worry about the players behind the blocker. Still, you had a sneaking suspicion that doing so wouldn't be an option against him.

Kageyama sent a strong ball over, but Daichi seemed to pick it up like it was nothing. You grit your teeth together and frowned. It was just as you'd thought. You'd have to be careful around him for the rest of the game.

Tsukishima set the ball up, and you managed to get a block up. Because you weren't sure if Hinata would be able to set one up for you, you decided to direct Tadashi towards him by covering for the line shot, but Hinata was still too shaky on his receives and wasn't able to pick it up.

"Did you think I would be a weak spot?" Daichi asked once the play had ended, gazing on at Kageyama. "I may not have as much raw talent as you, but I've been training in receives for a lot longer than you have." He got down into a ready position, smirking just a bit. "You won't break through that easy."

"Woah, that was so cool of you, Daichi-senpai!" You laughed excitedly, causing the captain to falter just a bit. Did you just call him cool while he was trying to intimidate you? "But actually, I'm the one who told Kageyama to serve to you. I needed to know where I should be aiming my hits, you know? I'd already figured you were pretty good at receives, but now that I've seen just how great you are, I'm gonna have to step it up a notch!" Daichi stared at you, completely dumbfounded. You had only sent him to ball to test out his skills? And the way you spoke, it was almost as if you'd be able to direct each of your spikes so that they would end up nowhere near him. Was something like that even possible to do midair?

"Your Grace," Tsukishima interrupted his thoughts. "Shouldn't you be taking this seriously?" You frowned and turned away from the blonde asshole. He wasn't worth your time.

"Dude, what's the matter with you? Why do you keep picking on the guy?" Hinata shouted, obviously getting frustrated by the tall boy's taunts. "Chill out with the fricking nickname!"

"What for?" Tsukki smirked. "Do you even know why everyone started calling him the King of the Court?"

"I just thought his enemies called him that because he's a really good player, and well, everybody was so afraid of him," Hinata furrowed his brow in confusion. You couldn't help perking an ear up. You had no idea who these guys were before this year, considering you'd grown up in Tokyo, so you were rather curious as well -- you only managed to vaguely recognize Kageyama's nickname because you'd heard it a few times while you were scouting Karasuno last year.

Tsukishima started laughing. "That's a common misunderstanding, but it's just not true," he responded confidently. You were already starting to regret letting him speak. "Well, if the rumors are to be believed, then his nickname, 'King of the Court' was given to him by the other players of Kitagawa First. Yeah, that's right, by his own teammates. The truth is, they were not paying a complement but calling him a tyrant. I've been hearing about it for a long time, but now that I've seen him play, I'm convinced. He got benched at the finals because he was a domineering, power-tripping dictator. That's why you won't try a quick attack. You're still shaken up over what happened that day."