Setter Ace of Shiratorizawa

49. The Finals - Part Five

Tadashi was put in to serve, and he managed to get three points off of Shiratorizawa. Two of those points were from Goshiki's mistakes, something Kazane didn't feel very happy about. Her baby was being picked on, even if that net call was his fault.

The future ace was close to his mental limit, and Washijo has just started to have enough, when suddenly Ushiwaka stepped in. "What's the matter Goshiki?" He questioned, "there's no reason for you to beat yourself up. Remember, you're a talented player."

Those words coming out of their ace's mouth made everyone pause in what they were doing. Kazane smiled behind her clipboard, way to go.

"Thanks," The future ace said, also a bit shocked.

"We'll stop the next one."

"Right!" The two went back to their positions, readying for the ball. Reon received the next one, and even from the bench, Kazane could see Shirabu's eyes shining. That was a nice receive after all.

Setting backwards, the setter let Goshiki deal the final blow. Kazane would have stood up and screamed but she knew excessive (excited) jumping would be bad for her leg so she settled for yelling, "NICE KILL GOSHIKI!!!"

"Bet that felt pretty good for him, especially after missing that last receive," Saito pointed out, and she nodded in agreement before her eyes returned to the game. It was Goshiki's turn to serve.

"Goshiki! Keep a level head!" Tendou called out from the bench beside Eita.

"I already know that!" He snapped back before letting out a breath. "Here we go!"

"Bring it!" The karasuno recievers yelled, only to have him drop his serve up front. Noya managed to get it up, but Ushiwaka slammed it back down. That put them at 14-13.

Uninjured leg bouncing in anticipation, Kazane didn't let her gaze leave the court for even a moment. She was pretty sure she messed up the stats but she couldn't bring herself to care right then. It was too striking, seeing the teams battle out the final points.

At 14-14, anyone could see how desperate Karasuno was when they could barely even return the ball over the net. They wanted to win that rally so bad, but in the end their hopes were crushed as Ushiwaka slammed the ball over their wall.

It seemed like moral had just hit an all time low when suddenly, the coach stood up, "Don't you hang your heads! Stop it!" He yelled, causing the stadium to quiet, "volleyball is a sport where you always have to look up!"

Kazane felt second hand embarrassment and she didn't know why. (Me too, I cringe every time)

And then the salt express made his grand return.

Yunohama was subbed in for Taichi, and Kazane made sure to give the light brown haired male a high five as he joined towards the bench once the subbing has been completed. The pinch server did his jump float, which Daichi received nicely.

And then Kageyama had the audacity to dump against Tendou, who didn't react in time. Bet he's beating himself up for that, Kazane snickered.

"I can hear you laughing Kazzy, stop it!"

"Sorry!" She continued to laugh, louder now. Tendou scowled at her but had to return his attention to the game as Tsukishima was being subbed in.

Ushiwaka raised a hand in apology, which Kazane noted and smiled at. Now that's proper sportsmanship ladies and gentlemen and all those in between.

But then when he aimed for that injured hand, Kazane winced and gasped at the same time as she put her hand over her mouth. Well played.

However, the rally ended with Tanaka getting a kill off Tendou after Tsukishima faked a slide hit. Whistling, Kazane marked down the point on her stats sheet as Washijo called for a time out. It was 15-16, and both teams were sweating and hurting a shitton.

Kazane sat next to her boyfriend, watching the others when suddenly Shirabu spoke up. "Hey, Ushiwaka?"

"Hmm?" The ace glanced over at him.

"When you told me to pass to you no matter what the situation was, you, uh, meant that while you were still useful, right?" He clarified. Kazane's jaw dropped, as did many others in the team. "I'm just guessing here."

"Hey where did that come from?! You can't just talk to someone like they're a little kid-"

"He's right," Ushiwaka smiled, and honestly the gasps all around him were well founded. The ace of the Shiratorizawa boys volleyball club smiling? Once in a damn century.

With the buzzer, he stood up and discarded the towel around his neck. "Now let's go."

"I see hearts in your eyes. It's really creepy. Stop it."

"Shut up Washijo."

The next few plays didn't happen, since the next few servers couldn't keep the ball in bounds. When they finally did manage to, the points went back and forth, neither side getting more than one in a row.

At nineteens, Saito pointed out, "Karasuno is only moving out of sheer willpower at this point," He said, "With Ushiwaka rotates back to the front, now's our chance."

Kazane nodded in agreement as Shirabu served. It hit the net, but dribbles over. Nishinoya managed to get it up, but Goshiki hit it back over. Somehow, Noya got his hit up, which made everyone go crazy. He was already on the floor, how'd he even react that fast?!

With the ball up, Kageyama sent it to Asahi who scored the point. 19-20.

"Come on guys, get it back!" Kazane called out to the team, "You can do this!"

With that point, Hinata was rotated to the back and the salt express came back in for Nishinoya. Once the whistle was blown, the ball of orange served which Yamagata got up easily. It's Hinata serving, it's not like it's hard..

And then, Shirabu set Taichi a quick, which Tsukishima got a one touch on. Tanaka managed to get it, and everyone went in for the synchronized attack. Kazane's heart jumped into her throat as she watched Hinata go for a minus back attack.

Taichi went up with him, getting a hand on it. The contact killed the ball's speed, making it drop. Kazane's heart wanted to explode out of her mouth at that point. Luckily, Ushiwaka got it up and yelled for Shirabu. Ever the dependable setter, he gave his spiker what he wanted.

Hinata got practically annihilated since he was on the straight path, but still managed to get the ball up. Tanaka followed up and Kageyama got the last, sending it over.

Kazane shivered, her eyes drawn to her boyfriend as he stood, just waiting for the ball. Shirabu's grin told her he could see it too, and that he was going to use it. "Ushiwaka!" He yelled, back setting him.

As he went up to spike, Kazane's eyes widened. Washijo's eyes narrowed. Karasuno was using their three man block to stop a straight that time. She tighted her grip on her clipboard.

And then he hit the ball cross court, which Kageyama barely defended his face against. Daichi followed up, getting the flying ball back into the court. And then Asahi got last, hitting it. They managed to block him, but Tanaka wasn't going to let that ball hit the floor.

In those last moments, they all looked so serene as all of them, including the orange ball of sunshine, went at the same pace for an entire team synchronized attack.

Taichi jumped to block as Kageyama set Hinata the ball. This time, he didn't even get a hand on it as the ball of carrot shot it towards a hole, which Yamagata dove for. It glanced right off his arms, and before everyone's eyes, the ball dropped onto the floor.

Not one person dared breathe at that moment. It was too surreal. But the reality was that Karasuno High School had just beaten Shiratorizawa at 21-19 in the fifth set of the finals for the Miyagi prefecture boy's volleyball spring deciding tournament.