Perfect Copy - Haikyuu x KNB

Chapter 22 - Slowly Moving Forward

The sound of volleyballs being spiked and hitting against the wooden floor filled my ears. Yawning, I rubbed my eyes, watching the boys practice. "Are you tired (Y/N)?" Kiyoko asked me and I nodded my head.

"I stayed up late since I was reviewing the notes from the Nekoma practice match," I explained, another yawn escaping my mouth. "I took too many notes."

Kiyoko smiled. "Doing too much isn't bad." I nodded, agreeing with that statement. It was never bad to do too much of something, you'd never know when it would be handy.

"Yeah, but man the boys really improved," I stated as I watched Daichi receive Ukai's serve.

"Make sure your block follow-ups stay in bounds! Don't let your eyes wander!" He shouted, Kiyoko passing him another ball to serve. "This is the final ball - think that at all times, and go after it! If you don't then in the match you'll regret the one ball you chose to ignore during practice!"

"Damn..." I mumbled, eyes sparkling. "Ukai may be old, but he can be cool at times!" I clenched my hand to a fist, pumping it while Kiyoko sweatdropped at me.

"Everyone, you did a great job in today's match against Nekoma." Tadeka said, his hands in front of him. "And this may be sudden, but the Interhigh Preliminaries are next month starting June 2nd."

"Miyagi doesn't have District Preliminaries so we go straight to the Prefectural ones. Of the sixty or so teams that enter only one will advance to the nationals. If you lose your match, your journey to the nationals is over," Ukai stated, crossing his arms. "If we're gonna get revenge against Nekoma, first we've got to become number one in Miyagi Prefecture. Being number two just won't cut it."

"Tokyo has a lot of schools so they choose two teams as representatives," I said, smirking. "But that's not going to be a problem for those guys since they were strong."

"One more match against Nekoma!" Hinata shouted and Ukai then served the ball at the ginger who was able to receive it, but due to the force he fell back.

"Nice one Hinata!" "Cover it!" "In front!"

Soon, practice ended and I started to help the boys clean up the gym. After we finished cleaning up I planned to meet Murasakibara in front of the Shiratorizawa gates.

"Uooooh! You're right that's amazing! The picture's huge!" Tanaka shouted, attracting the attention of Kageyama, Hinata, and I.

"What is?! What're you guys doing?!" Hinata asked, pulling up to them, Kageyama and I sliding in behind.

"Here look."

Tanak handed Hinata a magazine and he started to read aloud. "High school players to watch...?"

"Among this year's nationally notable players are three who have become especially noteworthy and Shiratorizawa's 'Ushiwaka' is one of them." Tanaka pointed out, causing Hinata to speak before thinking.

"Shiratorizawa is the school Kageyama couldn't get into!" He shouted.

"SHUT UP!" Kageyama yelled angrily and Tskushima, Yamaguchi, and I all snickered at the duo.

"...So who is this Ushiwaka...?" Hinata questioned causing me to facepalm.

"The heck, you don't know?" Tanaka blurted out in shock.

"Hinata's all about the 'Small Giant' after all," Suga and I said in unison.

"Waka-senpai is, without a doubt, the current number one ace in the prefecture. Ushijima Wakatoshi," I explained and patted Hinata's shoulder. "He was the guy that Tobio and I went against in the tournament, remember?"