AN:
This fanfiction is something I wrote in 30 minutes.
This is how I want the Tokyo Interhigh arc to end, obviously with Karasuno victory but most of all I want the world to recognise Hinata's power. And yeah, I freely used the Zone from Kuroko no Basket to explain what's going on inside Hinata's head when he goes all focused on the game.
I think that's another big step for him because he can finally receive and analyse the game but most of all I think he realised he has some God-like reflex and mental alertness that he didn't know he had.
This will make him the worst enemy ever on the court. Or the best ally!
Ok, nothing, this is all my delusion, I just want more fanfic about pro-player Hinata or about his ability.
Bye and Happy New Year!
ps: I'm Italian, English is not my first language, so please help me if you see any error. Thank~
The black.
The silence.
The Zone was right in front of his eyes, an infinity series of stairs leading to higher places and stronger opponents. And, between the Zone and the place Hinata was stuck, there was the dark abyss nobody thought he could surpass.
He was going to finally feel it, to be part of it. The dark place beyond the cliff he was standing on.
He knew he was at a dead end, no more road before him, the soil behind him vanishing in a dark, cold abyss. On the other side of the abyss not even watching him, Kageyama, Sakusa, Komori, Oikawa, Ushijima, even Tsukishima were going on ahead.
He had to jump, he had to try and reach them, or die miserably being absolutely nothing.
Many times he was told he was too short, too skinny, too weak to be an ace, Karasuno's Ace. He watched as Kageyama went ahead alone, smirking at him and being chosen for the All-Japan Youth Intensive Training Camp. He watched while his legs where captured by roots, immobilising him and stopping all his efforts to become a better player, a better decoy, a better spiker. Yeah, he could jump, but what of it? He had to develop skills for mid-air battles – done -, he had to develop a new consciousness for his surroundings – done -, he had to strengthen his basics – done -, he had to full use his stamina and ability – done.
Talent, first requirement.
He had to be better to jump over the barrier in front of him. Because he wanted to win.
Will to win, second requirement.
All of Hinata's thoughts vanished from his mind the second he watched the ball being spiked by Sakusa, Itachiyama's ace.
Fifth set (Karasuno 23 – Itachiyama 24) of the finals at the National Volleyball High School Championships aka Spring Interhigh Volleyball aka Koushien of Volleyball.
Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
Chance ball for Itachiyama team: the setter tossed the ball to Sakusa, who with his clever eyes looked for an opening in the enemy court while jumping. His mind already elaborating the trajectory, the movements of every single player of Karasuno High, their stamina, their ability, their positions.
And then he spiked aiming for the left side of the court.
This was their last set, the fifth. Their last chance to win, and Sakusa wanted to win.
Sakusa never thought much about Karasuno team. They were all ordinary players, Kageyama and their libero Nishinoya being the only real threats. But here they were, playing their fifth set and struggling for winning, just like how it went for Shiratorizawa-Karasuno match.
The seconds he saw the ball almost touching the court he turned around, his eyes smiling. Because he knew that they won.
This match was going to be Nishinoya's death. Because this was the final, this was the fifth set and this was aired in real time all throughout Japan. He bet he would receive oh-so-many love letters after this match. Maybe one from their Ace if he was lucky enough.
They were almost there, two step from winning when he saw the ball being tossed to Sakusa and Itachiyama Ace's eyes going to the other side of the court. The side nobody was watching. His body moved before his brain completed the thought. His desire to win was too strong, was too deep inside him. He was the libero, he was there to connect and to keep the connection.
His body was flying towards the ball, his hand stretched out in front of him knowing that until his fingers were preventing the ball from hitting the ground, someone would be there to spike, to score, to connect.
Only 2 cm, but it was enough.
"CHANCE BALL!"
Hinata's focused eye observed the momentum of the ball the instant it crossed the net going towards their opponents court. He watched Komori receive the ball, he looked Itachiyama setter raising his hands and instinctively he knew even before the setter that that ball was meant for their Ace.
Everything slowed down in front of him and Hinata's mind filled up with a range of possibilities. He began to discard one by one, taking into consideration how Sakusa's mind worked, how his teammates worked, how Hinata's teammates would react. And he bet.
Or, to be more precise, he predicted the next few moves. Not only instinct, no more intuition, but real prediction based on datas.
Hinata took a few steps back from the abyss, ready to jump and to reach the Zone.
Hinata's eyes shined with a new realization the second he saw Itachiyama's setter toss the ball and he sprang into action.
Noya's receive was off and the ball bounced towards the end of the court, taking with it Karasuno hope to win.
Karasuno whole team's hearts stopped, their mouth open ajar and eyes terrified, the knowledge of their failure starting to sink deep down. The fear that they had lost, in the end, was getting the better of them.
Kageyama set his eyes on the ball, his legs moving with his last supply of willpower. He knew he was not going to make it, he knew that even Tsukishima – who was moving desperately towards the ball -, the one who was closest to the ball trajectory would never make it, but he wasn't going to go down without a fight.
A blur of black and orange surpassed him even before he managed to step forward and before he acknowledged the position of the ball. He didn't realize immediately how the hell Hinata managed to be already at the end of the court, already jumping – not his usually hoppety hop jump, but a serious, frightening powerful jump – but his brain finally started working when he saw how high Hinata's legs made him fly.
He watched as the red head intercepted the ball course and spiked a powerful hit past the net.
24-24.
Before anyone in the entire stadium – maybe even in the entire nation – managed to understand what the hell happened – and how – the ball was already flying past Sakusa right cheek and hitting the ground on Itachiyama's part of the court.
Nobody moved, the referees too shocked to whistle. After 5 long seconds everything started moving again, the whistle coming and stopping the game to check the recording because everything happened so much damn fast that nobody managed to see where the ball really landed and where the players where.
The players on the other part of the abyss, the players that were fighting their way inside the zone to become the very "best" felt something weird behind them, something that could threaten them.
They had managed to overcome the gulf that separated the ordinary from the stronger players. They would be part of the elites someday, playing, representing their nation at the Olympic Games. It was not so easy to enter the Zone, to jump across that big and scary abyss, it's even more difficult to proceed, to climb the long staircase in front of them.
But they heard it, they felt it when a black-orange blur jumped over the abyss, surpassed the outmost players - the last who entered the Zone -, landed in the middle of them all and started to run onwards, his eyes scaring them all into stillness.
Kageyama knew he was coming, but he never knew he would flash by like that. He tried to catch up on him, but he was flying.
Hinata was finally flying, leaving him in the dust and using his wings to go to the very top.
With a bitter smile Kageyama closed his fists and inhaled some airs. He wouldn't let Hinata go too far away from him.
Hinata jumped, jumped higher and farther than he could and he connected: connected with the Zone and connected with the ball. His eyes had a fearsome gold glint in them as he raised his head and watched the players on Itachiyama part of the court.
"We are still not done yet. We still haven't lose."
Kenma was watching from the bleachers, Nekomata out of the tournament thanks to Karasuno. His eyes were wide with stupor but his mouth was shout. On the contrary his teammates were shouting and yelling like idiotic grade children.
"Shoyo really always does something new."
The referees watched the play again, confirming that the spike from the end of the court Hinata managed – how? - to blow was actually a point for Karasuno.
After the first few seconds of surprise, the newscasters finally managed to analyse the spike and Hinata Shoyo, the little number 10 from Karasuno.
"This is a shocking news but we are sure we never saw something like this! Not even the Little Gigant managed to jump that high and hit home with a back row spike like that!"
"What can we say? He really is a sun in the heaven."
Karasuno players were screaming, they eyes shining and their hope up. They could definitely win this one.
"Oya I won against Sakusa, I'm the number one ace!" Hinata heard Bokuto-san screaming from his seat.
"...what?"
"Akaaaashiiii! Because I won over Chibi-chan and over Tsukki, so I'm the number one obviously AHAHAHAH"
"...Bokuto-san please, urusai."