The Queen of the Crows {Haikyuu!!}

32

"TA-KE-RUUUUU!" loud cheers from one family catch my attention. "They've increased since yesterday?" Sugawara winces. I raise an eyebrow, "They were here yesterday?" Tsukishima answers, "Yeah, where have you been?"

"She's been in the zone~" Hinata wiggles his hands like a wave. "Boke! Don't make it weird," Kageyama slaps the back of his head. Daichi calls the group's attention just in time for the set to start.

As the whistle tweets, I begin getting a little warm. I shuck off my Karasuno jacket and tie it around my waist before sitting cross legged on the wooden bench with my clipboard.

Third POV

"They're already on Hinata, this could be a problem," Takeda-sensei glances over to Chihiro. But she doesn't even move to acknowledge him. Like his words bounced off an invisible bubble. "Strongest receives I've seen since Nekoma... Alert and ready for anything..." Chihiro babbles on to herself, trying to think of what to do.

One spike gets hit into the fingers of Hinata and it ricochets off into the crowd. "Small Giant's technique," Ukai notes, catching Chihiro's attention. "Hitting to his fingers..."

She perks up, "We need to harden up defense. Daichi and Nishinoya can take care of the back just fine. Our blocks need to be focused on. We can't just guess block and hope for the best," Chihiro spews out her information. "The mid-air battle will be what determines if we win,"

While the team is occupied with Hinata, Asahi comes into the light with a killer spike. "Yes!" Chihiro grins. Karasuno grins as they take the lead.

~~~

Asahi spikes the ball but it gets recieved. When they spike, our three-man block meets them. When the ball hits, it shoots off barely on our side of the net. Daichi dives to the ball with a grunt. The ball goes back up but it is too close to the ground. Daichi, Nishinoya, and Tanaka all dive for it. Nishinoya draws back just in time. The ball gets over the net and scores us a point.

But the celebration is short lived. "D-Daichi?" Motionless on the ground, Daichi lays there. "DAICHI!" "SAWAMURA!" voices overlap as they rush to his side. Chihiro, once again acting on instinct, darts to his side before anyone else could get to him. Fear crawls up her throat. She remembers the last time her brother was on the ground, he didn't get back up. No, that wouldn't happen, Daichi will be fine, right? Thoughts flood her mind behind a stone mask.

"Daichi-san, are awake?" She slides down on her shin. A groan emits from him. As he tries to get up, Chihiro sits him up. He holds his swollen face in his hand. "Daichi where are you right now?" She rests her hand on his shoulder. 

"Sendai City Gym," She sighs in relief, "Who is your opponent?"

"Wakunan! I'm fine I sw-!" Chihiro looks over the side of his face. "It's still a hit to the head. The infirmary is a formality," Daichi goes to protest but Takeda steps in.

"Please make sure you're okay so you can make your swiftest return to the court!" He nods reluctantly. Chihiro stands up and offers him her hand. He looks up at the small girl hesitantly, worried he might pull her down. He takes her help anyway, despite his initial judgement. Her strong vice-like grip pulls the third-year captain up with no effort.

"That little coach is insane," the crowd, players among them included look at the small girl with wide eyes. "Wasn't that the girl we met at the sports equipment store?" Oikawa notes from up in the stands.

"I think she is. I'm pretty sure she's the coach who knew our positions," Iwaizumi continues. "Funny, I didn't see her at Inter-high,"

~~~

"Ennoshita, we're subbing you in," Ukai tells him right before the timeout is finished. When he wobbles onto the court, he fits right in to the puzzle. "Will it be okay if we start with quicks on the right from the get-go?" Kageyama asks. 

"Chikara! #1 likes hitting it out off a block so keep that in mind!" Nishinoya advises. "Sorry Ennoshita," Tanaka apologizes for injuring Daichi. Ennoshita pushes him forward onto the court, "What's with the apology? Daichi might have been removed from the court but what we're all thinking is both of you could have gotten hurt. Asahi-san," He gestures for the ace to speak.

"It's a good thing you weren't hurt!" he screeches. "Thank you, Asahi," Ennoshita finishes.

~~~

First POV

Ennoshita quickly gets into the groove of the team once on the court. My frazzled nerves have since calmed and I return to my previous mind state. "We can't let them take the set out from under us," I shoot a glance to Ukai. "I think it's time for a pinch serve," he replies.

"Yamaguchi? Did he serve during Inter-high?" Ukai nods, "He cracked under pressure however,"

"He's grown since then, in skill and confidence. I say why not," Ukai calls over Kiyoko so she can inform Yamaguchi to get ready to sub in when Tsukishima goes to serve. 

When he holds up Tsukishima's number, he's sweating profusely. "You're too nervous. This time is different from last. Now, everyone is thinking, 'we'll be in luck if this works'," 

"Thanks Tsukki!" he responds to the blunt 'encouragement'. He gets onto the court with the ball in hand. The whistle blows and he flinches. When he flinched, he tossed the ball up but not high enough. "It's short," I whisper as the look on his face reads the same.

He visibly recoils as it hits the net. I bite the inside of my lip as the ball stalls on the top of the net for a few moments. Thankfully, it rolls off the net and Wakunan doesn't have the time to react, earning us a point and set point. "YAMAGUCHI!" the wing spikers, libero, and little middle blocker cheer. He flinches again. I feel you buddy.

~~~

The second set is not doing us well. "Wakunan's going to take the set. A timeout now won't change a thing," Ukai says, reasoning through the factors. "Tch," I cross my arms in frustration. I force myself to pick apart our opponents further. "One-touch #1, react fast, don't get too excited, just keep going," I mumble to myself. I lean back in my chair and hang my head over the back. 

"Doubt and apprehension is setting in the longer Daichi is absent not to mention we're missing his defensive foundation," strings of words and sentences flow from my head out through my mouth. uuuuhhHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGG!!! I hate this!!!

Takeda-sensei inches his gaze over to me in concern, "A-are you o-okay?" I think he was asking himself that more than he asked me. I lean forward in the metal chair with a groan. I knead my cheeks with my hands, "This is killing me..." I yank at my now red cheeks, waiting for this set to end. "I hope you have a motivational spiel in your arsenal because I think I'm the one who needs it right now,"

He sits up at this. "O-oh of course!" he clears his throat and begins, "Do you remember the team back when you first started coaching?" I nod. "Now compare that skill level to now. You see, we have the capability, we just need to use it. Daichi may be gone at the moment, but that's why there's six people on the court. It's so that not a single player has to bear the entire weight of the game. Just look at our players," I focus my eyes on the back row.

Nishinoya makes a solid receive without breaking a sweat. "Azumane!" Kageyama shouts to our ace. Asahi slams the ball down and earns us a point. "They've got it covered. And you're there off the court for us too," I'm taken aback for a moment, when he mentions me.

"And they have faith in your ability to steer them in the right direction. You're just as much as a part of this team as the one on the court. You are a part of the Karasuno revival, so act like it. Getting worked up about a little roadblock is not what brought us this far. And it certainly won't be what will stop us," the tweet of the whistle ends the set in favor of Wakunan moments later.

As the players come off the court Takeda-sensei and I nod to each other.  The player binch up in front of me, waiting for my words."Alright so this is what I've got,"