Disclaimer: I do not own Haikyuu! I write this for entertainment purpose only, so I do not make any profit. Please do not sue.
Set before the match of Karasuno vs Aobajousai at Spring High Tournament.
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"You know," Daichi remarked idly, looking at his teammates practicing. "I kind of have a feeling that everyone looks like they're thinking that tomorrow's match is the actual final, while the fact it's just still a semifinal."
Sugawara smiled, wiping up his face that was wet with sweat.
"It's understandable though," he tossed the towel back to the bench. "Seijou is kind of like our arch enemy. What with the rivalry between Kageyama and Oikawa, and our crushing defeat at the Interhigh. I guess they are out to seek vengeance."
"It felt like if we win the match against Seijou, somehow the rest wouldn't be as hard."
"That's why it is going to be a tough match."
"I'm sure they'll manage," Daichi said, his voice was brimming with a mix of pride and confidence.
"You should have said 'we'," Sugawara teased his captain by bumping into his shoulder lightly. "You sounded like a dotting father talking about his children."
Daichi snorted. "Don't let anyone hear you said that. They'll start making you the mother."
"Why?"
"Don't ask."
"Spoil sport," Sugawara chuckled softly. "Although they're undoubtedly going to be the most troublesome children ever. I remember Fukurodani only has problem with Bokuto-san alone."
Daichi shook his head in half disbelief and amusement. "I still can't believe how he could persuade Tsukishima, of all people, to practice on his own. Not to mention he also managed to improve his skill."
The vice captain pursed his lips slightly. "I believe Kuroo-san also participated on that front," he nodded to himself in a contemplating manner. "And Yamaguchi added his two cents as well."
"Their combination really had been working wonders to Tsukishima," Daichi mused. "I hope his sudden fluctuation in enthusiasm for volleyball would last at least until we reach the nationals."
"We can worry about that later," Sugawara said. His eyes twinkling softly as he tugged on his best friend's sleeve. "Come on. Let's join them already."
Daichi smiled as he let the silver haired teen half dragging him into the court. Somehow their team had been split in two side, and they ended up being in a same team as Nishinoya and Asahi, similar to the practice game when those two finally announced their comeback.
It was the lack of orange hair which gave him a clue that Hinata wasn't at the opposite team.
"Where's Hinata?"
Daichi asked the room in general, but the one who answered was Kageyama. No one seemed to be surprised.
"The dumbass forgot his knee braces."
"That means we don't have to deal with that insane quick strike for a little while," Daichi commented dryly. That weapon was very useful in a match, indeed, but he wasn't sure if it would be as fun with him at the receiving end, not at the same side of the net.
"Don't worry, Daichi-san," Nishinoya said reassuringly. And really, he was pretty good when it came to make people trust in his skill. "I can handle even that monstrosity of quick attack."
Daichi didn't exactly know why, but something was nagging at the back of his mind so he gave the libero a suspicious look.
"You are not planning to use that rolling thunder again, are you?"
Nishinoya, for his part, looked mildly afronted. "Of course not!"
He wasn't entirely convinced, but he decided to shrug it off when they started playing. The senior team was pulling the lead, but the junior was keeping up just as well. They went for first tempo attack, and as Tanaka jumped up for a spike, Daichi should have known better than to just accept Nishinoya's word that he wasn't going to do something stupid.
"HRRR... ROLLING THUNDERRRR!"
The rolling receive was absolutely flawless, but Sugawara was surprised by the libero's loud yelling that he missed the toss. The ball bounced on the net before falling to the floor with a low thump.
Nishinoya grinned sheepishly. "Oops?"
Daichi felt his temple throbbing. "I was thinking that I could believe your words, Nishinoya." He spoke in a normal tone, but everyone knew that their captain was angry.
The short second year looked a bit miffed. "Which words?"
"You said that you were not planning to use the rolling thunder again! Are you telling me that you forgot about what you said just five minutes before?"
"Of course I remember that!" Nishinoya said defensively. "I just don't understand why you said I didn't keep my words."
Daichi was torn between feeling incredulous or even angrier by that statement. Was Nishinoya trying to pull his leg? How could he deny doing something that he so clearly did?
Sugawara tried to help his captain from dying at such young age just because his junior was giving him a killer headache. So he turned around to face the underclassmen.
"Well, Nishinoya," he scratched the back of his head while looking expectantly at Nishinoya. "What did you say about using the rolling thunder again before the match started?"
"I wasn't planning to."
"And what did you shout when you receive Tanaka's spike?"
"'Rolling thunder'."
"Are you still going to deny that you didn't keep your words?"
"But I really didn't do rolling thunder again!" Came Nishinoya's loud objection that sounded a bit desperate. His teammates were desperate too, because they couldn't get why the first genius of Karasuno was so adamant at saying he was innocent when any blind man could tell he was not.
"Nishinoya," Asahi tried to placate the smaller teen. For some reason he couldn't wrap his mind around, Nishinoya was angry too. Maybe it was because both his seniors didn't believe him, but was there anything to believe when it was obvious Nishinoya was the one at fault? He still tried nonetheless. "I think... you could just apologize."
"But I didn't do anything wrong!" Had it been Nishinoya was someone else, Asahi could tell that the boy was on the verge of tears. "Why are you all ganging up on me? Do you hate me that much?"
"Don't be such a drama queen, but let me try this," Ennoshita crossed the net to approach him. "You are aware that you did agree to Daichi-san's opinion about using your rolling thunder again, correct?"
"Yes, but-"
"Correct?"
"...yes."
"Then you are also aware that you were doing just that when you received Tanaka's spike, right?"
"No."
"Come again?"
"No, I'm not! I wasn't doing rolling thunder again back then!"
"Sorry, Captain. I give up," Ennoshita shook his head as walked back to his original spot. "There's only so much stupidity I could handle."
Just when Daichi was about to lose it, Hinata strolled into the gymnasium. His skipping walk was put into an abrupt halt upon realizing that the atmosphere was a bit tense. Nishinoya spotted him and all but launched himself to the younger teen, shouting loudly.
"SHOUYOU! JUST THE PERSON I NEED TO SEE! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO COULD SAVE ME!"
"Eh, Noya-san?" Hinata blinked rapidly. "What happened?"
"They're all ganging up on me! Told me I'm a liar, can you believe that?"
"Eehhh? Why would they do that?"
"Just because I was shouting 'rolling thunder' when Daichi-san already told me that I must not do the rolling thunder again. Don't you see that I did nothing wrong here?"
"Ah!" Hinata's eyes were filled with realization and understanding nobody could manage for the last ten minutes. "I see why you're frustrated, Noya-san."
"Hold on," Kageyama stared at him in a blatant show of disbelief. "What do you mean by that?"
Hinata tilted his head to look at the setter's direction. "Why, Kageyama. Didn't you say something about Noya-san's special technique before the match with Datekou?"
Kageyama's eyes widened slightly as his mind was finally able to comprehend what Nishinoya was trying to say. He nodded. "I think Tanaka-san also made a similar comment about that."
The second most powerful spiker in their team gave him a confused look. "I have no idea what you're on ab-oh!" Tanaka changed his course of speech once he also realize what his junior meant. "Well... I think I stand by my statement then."
He smirked and Nishinoya scowled.
Daichi decided that enough was enough. His juniors were spouting nonsense and he should stop it before he took a drastic measure. Which he was sure that no one was going to be happy with.
"What are you talking about?!"
The four of them; Nishinoya, Tanaka, Hinata, and Kageyama, looked at him, and as if they were in synch, all of them chorused together.
"The 'rolling thunder' is different with the 'rolling thunder again'."
Daichi could feel his jaw was almost to the floor, his brain had gone haywire for the sheer of incredulity he felt about that revelation. Apparently he was not the only one, since other than those four, the rest of the team was as flabbergasted as him. They just stood there with mouth slightly agape when Tanaka called the two-color haired teen.
"Which is why I said that your naming sense sucks."
"Shut up, Ryu! It is so not, damnit!"
"What are you doing there, dumbass? Get into the court already."
"You don't have to call me names, Kageyama idiot!"
Sugawara was the first one to recover. He decided that the best course of action was to steer his captain out of the court until his head could function normally. Daichi was silent when Sugawara pulled his hand away, barely noticing that his teammates were back to practice. It wasn't until he was sitting on the bench that he finally spoke.
"Hinata was the only one who understand him right away."
"Hm?" Sugawara didn't quite sure he knew what his best friend meant.
Daichi answered with a sigh. "I guess the saying is right. Geniuses do speak the same language."
The once-regular-team-setter grinned as he patted Daichi's back softly. "Well, there's also saying that there's a very thin line between a genius and an idiot."
Both of them exchanged a same look and the Karasuno's leader deadpanned.
"Right."
Sugawara laughed merrily.
"Yeah, right!"
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FIN
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A/N: Don't you just love those dorks? Review please!