The Volleyball Goddess || Female Hinata Shouyou

Chapter 15

Weeks before the Spring tournament, the Karasuno team invited the team with the strongest blocking in the prefecture, Dateko for a practice match.

They all bowed to each other in greeting, the more friendly ones being louder than ever. When Dateko bowed in unison to Karasuno after introducing themselves, most of them shifted nervously from the intimidating aura they radiated.

"Tsukki! Hinata-chan!" Koganegawa exclaimed loudly, making his teammates looked at him in exasperation and some of them were downright irritated and told him to shut up, which he deliberately ignored.

"Kogane!" Hinata returned the greeting with the same fervour while Tsukishima just casually walked away without greeting him back.

"Aone-san, hi!" She bounced to the quiet giant and bowed in greeting, which he returned shyly. The other Dateko players were surprised by this, wondering how their teammate knew Karasuno's number 10.

"How did you know Karasuno's number 10, Aone?" Futakuchi asked after the girl returned back to her team.

"I bumped into her during the qualifiers," he answered bluntly, which the brunette sweatdropped at.

"Oh, okay."
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Hinata was on her period, which started a few days ago and should be ending soon. However, for her sake, she didn't join the practice match under the managers' advice. The coaches and her teammates understood and wished she get better soon.

From her spot at the sidelines as she watched the game, Hinata noticed there was something wrong with Kageyama. Ever since he came back from All-Japan training camp, his scowl became more prominent than ever, and he often looked as if there was something bothering his mind.

Even though she already gave him Romero's autograph, which he requested, he only accepted the gift with a scowl and a grunt of thanks.

Throughout the first set of the match, everyone could feel the intensity of his frustration. The first sign was when he snapped at Nishinoya in a not-so-gentle tone, which luckily the libero noticed his own mistake and brushed it off even though he was ready to start a fight at first. And as the match went on, he snapped at anyone who failed to hit his sets and couldn't score. Tanaka and Tsukishima didn't hesitate to express their irritation at his attitude and Asahi, the most sensitive one, just patiently kept quiet.

At the end of the first set--which they lost, Asahi approached Kageyama who was silently fuming. "Uhm, Kageyama, listen--"

"It's not my fault!" He yelled angrily. "I'm just putting the ball up the way you want it! So stop screwing around and just score already!!"

As soon as he said that, he immediately closed his mouth shut, realizing what he had done. The entire team watched in a shocked silence, except for Hinata who was giving him a calculating look and Tsukishima who shot him a smug grin.

"Well, well. If it isn't his Royal Highness, back in his kingly form."

Memories of what happened in middle school flashed through his mind and he bowed his head down in shame. "I-I'm sorry..."

"You know, Kageyama, this have been bothering me for a while now," Hinata piped in as she walked up to them, shooting a piercing stare at the setter, "what's wrong with being called a king? Honestly, I think it's a pretty cool name."

"Is it because you're egoistical, tyrannical? Who cares? If I don't like the way you talk to me, then I won't listen."

"I second that," Tanaka added.

"Same here," Tsukishima agreed as he wiped his glasses.

Kageyama looked at them, dumbfounded while Coach Ukai only smiled as he watched them from the back.