ONLY ME || Haikyuu x Male

CHAPTER TEN

The look of pure and utter hatred that the brown-haired middle blocker gave Ren made him want to tip his head back and laugh. The poor guy looked anguished, and he couldn't find it more funny. All that confidence had ebbed away, and beneath the seething rage, Ren thought that he saw a little bit of anxiousness in those brown eyes. Behind him, his teammates were screaming, whether in shock or excitement, Ren didn't care. He'd boosted the hope of Karasuno. He'd done something good for them. His body was burning and it felt amazing. He felt amazing.

Suddenly, the sound of the referee's whistle brought him out of his daze, and he glanced over at the sidelines to see Hinata waiting to substitute for him. Ren took a moment to process the action before frowning. He'd barely been on the court and he'd been damn good while he was, so why was he being removed?

As he jogged over to the coach after swapping with Hinata, the blonde gestured for him to take a seat on the bench. "That was good, Ren. Your strength, it was just what we needed. The perfect start. My intention with putting you in was for you to do just that -- become a model for our team. By starting off so strong, we scared Dateko. And after subbing out someone so powerful, they would start freaking themselves out at the very thought of how good the rest of our team was. So don't overthink it, alright?"

Ren sighed, but nodded. He hadn't expected to play the whole match anyway. At least he'd gotten a taste of victory before he'd been pulled off of the front ranks. He gave the coach a nod of his head and shuffled over to the rest of the benched players, moving to stand between Kinoshita and Yamaguchi.

The game continued on, and it was nerve wracking. The first spike that Hinata hit after being subbed in just barely managed to flop by the Dateko blockers, and such a flimsy victory made Ren's heart tense up. And as the minutes passed and the rallies continued, this sort of delicate back and forth only intensified, from Dateko getting a net foul to Asahi just barely scraping by when he caused the ball to fly out of bounds after hitting the block. By the time Hinata was approaching the ball again, cold sweat was rolling down Ren's face.

He watched as the tangerine pulled off a one-touch against the brown-haired middle blocker, which was swiftly received by Nishinoya. Tobio moved to set it, giving Hinata one more chance. And Ren really thought he would make it. But as Hinata rose and the block did too, he saw the blockers glance over in the direction where the first-year seemed to be aiming. His heart sank along with Hinata's chances of making the shot.

The ball slammed down on the Karasuno side of the court, and a wave of worry washed over him. It was a complete shut down, not even a chance of saving. He was concerned for the first-year's self-confidence, as any teammate would be, but a glance at Hinata's calm face shocked the anxiety out of him. He watched as Tobio moved closer to the ginger, muttering something to Hinata. Ren didn't catch what the setter had said, but he didn't need to read lips to realize what was going on between the two. Not after the lesson he'd ingrained into his teammates' brains just a few days prior.

+ F L A S H B A C K +

Coach Ukai had gathered the Karasuno team in a semicircle again, reviewing their game plan for the interhigh prelims, and Ren was being spotlighted, again. However, this time he'd chosen to be the center of attention, and he was absolutely owning it. Even the rowdiest team members were completely silent as he spoke, not even fighting through his lecture.

"Do we know why our freak quick was blocked by Nekoma?"

"Because Inuoka was very annoying?"

Ren fought the urge to roll his eyes, and forced his voice to remain calm, as if speaking to a toddler. "No, Hinata. It's because Nekoma is smart. They adapt. We got blocked because they got used to it, even though you always thought the attack was invincible. Undefeatable. And you were right to be cocky. It is a very strong quick."