Unpolished Gems

Chapter 15

The break ended as quickly as it started seeing as how all the players were now back on the court playing their best. The score was already 2-2 as Asahi called for a toss.

"Hinata!" Daichi's voice called out to the ginger who seemed to be lost in thought in the middle of the match. Flinching at the sudden call of his name, Hinata watched as the ball Asahi spiked flew straight at him.

Silence filled the gym as Hinata flew back at the impact of the ball to his face. Multiple expressions of terror appeared on the players as they watch the first-year clutch his forehead in pain.

Multiple players surrounded Hinata as they were all worried for his wellbeing. Thankfully, the ginger was quick to resurrect and spring up to a sitting position.

"I'm all right. I'm sorry." Hinata said despite the obvious red on his forehead.

"Really?! Maybe you should sit out just to be on the safe side.

"I-I'm really alright! I didn't dodge in time, that's all. It's nothing serious. I'm used to getting hit in the face." Hinata was quick to panic and make up an excuse at the thought of being subbed out due to his own mistake of getting hurt.

"That's not a good thing." Sugawara comments.

All Hinata could do was laugh before freezing up at the person standing behind his seniors. A fiery aura appeared around Kageyama as he scowled at Hinata.

"Why were you daydreaming during a game?" The setter's voice was calm yet the murderous undertone was easily noticeable. Quickly standing up, Hinata backed away but Kageyama merely followed with a few steps of his own.

'Oh, crap! Kageyama isn't shouting, which means he's really mad. It's like the time I served a ball into the back of his head.'

"I know what you're thinking." This seemed to catch Hinata's attention as he finally met the setter's gaze. "Being an ace is cool. Being a decoy can't be my best weapon. That's stupid and lame. You wish you were as tall and powerful as Asumane so you could be the ace!"

"I-I don't think that way!" Hinata tried to deny it but it was obvious from the way he reacted to the words that Kageyama predicted his dilemma head-on. "Most of the time."

"Now that there's an ace, you're not only dreaming about being him. You're jealous of him!" The statement caused Hinata to flinch. "Clear your head of that kind of garbage during a game!" 

A dark look appeared on Hinata's face as he looked down. "What's wrong with being jealous? You've always been tall, so you could never know what it was like!"

"Hey, you, volleyball club." A voice suddenly called out causing everyone to redirect their attention from Hinata's sudden outburst. "It's time to wrap it up. You need to put this away."

Takeda was quick to run over to the door where the principal stood in order to negotiate things. Thankfully, the principal didn't back much as he simply agreed at the mention of Takeda locking up the gym himself.

Closing the door, the man gave his team a proud thumbs-up causing them to grin back at their advising coach. Clapping his hands, Daichi immediately told everyone to continue the match in order to wrap this up as quickly as possible.

Scoring point for point, the teams were now at 14-8 with the NA team still holding the favor of the match.

"Excuse me..." Kageyama spoke out loud catching the team in gree's attention. All eyes turned to him as they waited for his next words. "My next toss will be to him. Please block him to the best of your abilities." The setter announced as he pointed a finger at the ginger.