Hey Mr. Moon! ~ 𝚃𝚜𝚞𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚊 𝙺𝚎𝚒

Nineteen | 十九

Yamaguchi swallowed nervously as he clung onto the edge of his sport jacket with both of his fist, his eyes followed the ball flying back and forth from court to court. The atmosphere of this game was nothing like Ohgiminami, instead it was belligerent and hostile.

Next to him stood Tsukishima with his hands in his pockets and his white Somy headphones on over his ears, although nobody needed to know that nothing was playing through them and he could hear the game just fine.

He remained silent through the entire game so far, not one snide comment or even a peep which wasn't very characteristic of him. He stayed away from the overly enthusiastic bunch, he much would have not come at all but Sugawara really insisted on having everyone together.

The game was 23-21 with Karasuno one point away from match point, Ainu tightened her long black hair more securely into her hair tie and called for the ball from the Ref. She started towards the serve line and bounced the ball as she kept fierce eye contact with me, grinning the entire time as she set herself for the serve.

She tossed the ball up in the air with a straight arm before striking her palm against the ball. The force of the impact produced a boom through the entire gym, and the ball passed so fast that the colors seemed to have merged with each other.

The ball had angled itself to no one in particular and headed straight for the ground; I hurtled towards the ball and barley knocked it with my one hand even after being fully stretched out. That's a heavy serve! I gasped to myself as my hand stung from the pure impact of the ball.

"Nice save!" Michimiya announced as she played the ball over to Ami behind her, the tall setter raised her hands over her head as she claimed "Got it!" she tossed the ball behind her straight to Eiko and she pursued it up with a steady spike. The tall Aoba Johsai girls had foiled her attack but Mao quickly saved the ball and passed it to Ami once again for another offense attack, I raced up closer to the net as Ami tossed the ball over to Michimiya.

The steady legged girl bolted into the air from the back row with her eye's full of determination as she winded her arm back and sent the ball over the net and onto the floor within the blink of an eye, it felt like everything was moving in slow motion and the Aoba Johsai girls pulled out of their trances as the Ref tweeted his whistle.

Karasuno was at match point!

The Karasuno boys hollered at the top of their lungs as their spirits were at a total all-time high "AMAZING!" Hinata and Nishinoya yelled the loudest as they bounced around with excitement, Yamaguchi threw his hands into the air as he yelped out "Amazing save [Y-n]!"

I heard Yamaguchi's calls, and I shifted around to where the boys' were standing, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima stood not too far off from them. Yamaguchi continued to encourage, and I gave him a slight smile and a wave to thank him, Tsukishima seemed to have been paying mind to something else because our eyes didn't meet at all.

"Those wing-spikers really are insane" Iwaizumi let his words hang out in the open "They didn't even need to exchange words to know what the setter was doing"

"I think [Y-n] is really the coolest! Don't you think Iwa-Chan?" Tooru's face held a gentle smile as he watched me give Manami a high five. He never truly got to see me play in any real matches, so it came as an amazement to him to see how impressive I actually was. He felt the sheer amount of energy radiating off me and he held his hands on his cheeks "She's developed so much"

"Stop, you sound like the pedophilic uncle" Iwaizumi's eyes didn't leave the game as Oikawa pretended to weep "You really are cruel Iwa-Chan!" he melodramatically cried out.

"KARASUNO FIGHT! KARASUNO FIGHT!" The boys were truly fired up now, especially Nishinoya, Hinata and Tanaka who were practically hanging off the railing "You three back up!" Suga worried as he tried pulling them back.

Mao wiped the sweat off of her cheek with her shoulder as she kept the volleyball between her hands. She smacked the ball on the ground before she held the ball in front of her with a straight arm. She gathered her concentration before swinging her arm, playing an underhand serve that created a perfect arch to the other side of the court.

Their #5 obtained the ball with comfort before playing it to their setter "Captain!" Aoba Johsai's #4 called before she tossed the ball into the air, "What a delicious serve!" she blurted before she bent her knees and sent her arms behind her as she glided up into the air.

She struck the ball with her palm and Chizuru defensively reached her arm out "I don't think so!" She yelled as her fingers barely tapped the ball and it drifted behind her, Ainu's insane grin returned as the ball started its way out of bounds "Cover me!"

It was an instant, a split second decision-

I chose to be a Libero so that I could the person who people depended on, the person who could rile the crowd up when the ball got oh so close to the ground. Libero's never get close to the net so I never got to see the summit I always hear about, I wonder what it's like on the other side?

My sneaker squeaked with a deafening screech as I pivoted on one leg and I ran.

My legs burned from exhaustion as I tore through the air, my eyes focused so hard on the ball it looked feral from the crowd's perspective. I'm so close!

 There was unquestionably no way my arm could hit the ball, perhaps if I had another 6 centimeters on me. My lungs hurt as I held in my breath, I didn't dare to exhale out of fear my breath could push it further.

Lifting one of my legs, I whirled it up and under the Volleyball and it smacked harshly between my foot and ankle. I gritted my teeth as I kicked it back to the inside of our court I slipped onto by backside. I turned around on the floor as I looked over to my team.

"SEND IT BACK!" I yelled as I watched as Ami received the ball and used her arms to pass it to the other side of the court. Yanking my body off of the ground, I dashed back into the court, I couldn't help but sporadically grasp at the air to fill my lungs. "Yua!" Ainu called as the ball headed towards Aoba Johsai's wing-spiker. The girl with short black hair struggled to receive the ball but managed it to get back to their setter "Naomi!" Yua called as the ball settled in her fingers.

She gave a panicked look around before her eyes settled on player number #7 "Kyo!" the setter yelled as the ball sped from her hands towards the blonde with long hair.

"#7!" I becan directing Chizuru, she left her post where she was guarding the captain and jumped up to the blonde. Player #7 gritted her teeth as she hesitantly slammed her palm against the ball, Chizuru's arm bent back as the ball crashed against her and rolled down the net of Aoba Johsai.

"Save it!" Ainu yelled, but before anyone could reach it, it had already bounced off of the ground. The whistle tweeted, and they added the final point to our side. We let out a loud roar of excitement as we processed what took place, "WE WON THE FIRST SET!" I announced at the top of my lungs.

"YEAH!" all the boys cried and Tsukishima almost did too. He observed as the girls' dragged me in for a group hug, and he genuinely regretted what he had told me days before.

She's not Akiteru, why would I suggest something like that to [Y-n]...

I split from the girls and headed to the hall away from the gymnasium before holding my nose. Warm liquid trickled into the palm of my hand as I promptly made my way towards the washroom once again.

I bent my head over the sink as my blood dripped into the running water, going back to pinching my nose after I had properly cleaned both of my hands as I focused on my breathing as I slowed my heart rate.

I definitely pushed myself too hard on that first set... The next set begun, and I opened my eyes to focus on the court in front of me, seeing Ainu's grin disappear after the first game gave me the confidence I needed.

Sweat glued my hair uncomfortably to my neck as I swayed back and forth in my position. My eyes stayed on Ainu and I smirked.

Don't underestimate us because if you keep your eye on one crow, you won't see the entire flock behind it.