Kageyama's Queen of the School [Kageyama Tobio]

[9] That Damn Wink

I bit my nails with slow anxiousness as I shuffled in my seat, calculating where the ball would land and who it would be sent to with accuracy that in other moments would have made me proud, but at the moment, made my heart skip a beat. The game was becoming too predictable and that only meant that the worst was yet to come.

"They have a pretty good setter," Dad noted with a nod, "he's kinda small, though."

I nodded slowly and watched Asahi score. "His name is Kenma Kozume."

Dad sat back in his seat as he crossed his arms and chewed away on his second helping of nachos, which was gooing with cheese and making a mess everywhere. I cringed and scooted away just in time to see Hinata and Kageyama pull off another quick. The Nekoma player who wore a jersey with the number seven on it had actually managed to graze the ball with his fingertips although it hadn't done much at all since it still rocketed to the ground.

He groaned and clenched his fists in frustration while the freak duo looked at him warily. The score was 14 to 11 now, the number reassuring but the new reoccurring play troubling... just by the glances Kageyama was sending Inouka, I could tell we were thinking the same thing.

He was starting to catch up with Hinata.

Leaning against the railing, Takinoue-San and Shimada-San spoke their thoughts while the game continued on, watching the other side of the net carefully as I scribbled down my findings. I'd given up on color coding everything after it took to long to open up the orange pen and close the red ones, so I opted for a mechanical pencil instead.

"After their time out... Nekoma has kept all their blockers bunched up on one side," Takinoue-San commented, rubbing his chin. Shimada-San nodded and I scrambled to stand up and catch a glimpse of what they were seeing before the rally started and everyone moved all over the court.

"Yeah. Are they trying to stack block?"

I pursed my lips. A stack block was a type of blocking strategy where all three blockers are bunched on either the left or the right of the court. I learned that after Tsukishima insulted Hinata for doing it wrong.

Immediately, I searched for our decoy and tensed when I saw that they were right in front of him, with Inuoka right on the end. It would be more-or-less where Hinata would run to in order to get a clean spike in, giving him the advantage of a second head-start.

I clenched my jaw. They were closing Hinata in and he was falling for it.

What I wouldn't give for another time-out.

"Agh, this is bad..." I mumbled, panicking. I was stuck in the stands and couldn't do anything to help and with an idea in mind on how to avoid being overturned but unable to share it, I wanted to scream. Out of desperation, I snatched the soda out of my dad's hand and chugged it down, eyes watering as the carbon burned my throat going down.

If each game was just as nerve-wracking as this one, I'd never want to go to another one ever again.

On the court below, Kageyama (much calmer than I currently was) sent the ball to Hinata and again, Inuoka was there to touch it. For his size, I had to admit that Inuoka was still quick. Slightly scary with how focused he was on stopping Hinata, but quick. Behind him, Yaku-San bumped the volleyball that slipped by back towards the net and Kenma-San stood still, watching it soar calmly, unbothered or even reacting in the slightest. Kageyama was already scrunching his nose in frustration, eyes locked on the opposing side.

Kenma sure knew how to hide his thoughts well. I couldn't even tell where he would send it to.

"I'm not too bad at a quick either, y'know!" Inuoka shouted as he sprinted forward. This made Hinata frown, instinct making his knees bend to get ready for a block. I scrambled up from my seat and braced myself for the worst.