Little Monster 2
By: TheDeadGirlRisen
Beta'ed by: N/a
Author Notes: Woo Second Chapter written! So the more canon scenes will be kept brief, while new scenes will be in more detail.
Word Count: 2352
Date Written: 3/9/20
Date Posted: 3/10/20 (Ao3) 3/12/20 (Fanfiction)
The Freak Quick
"What are you doing here?!" Shouyou demanded a scowl coming across his face.
Kageyama scowled and after a bit of prodding he learned that the 'king' had tried to apply to Shiratorizawa but had been denied. And that the king also hated to be called by that name now.
Shouyou backed away acting scared of Kageyama's scary face. He watched as a slight tension released from Kageyama as the boy seemed pleased by his reaction. Shouyou inwardly smirked, he would be able to read the setter no problem.
Soon enough they were introducing themselves to the third years. He was quite surprised that they recognized him, 'The number 1 shortie' who had those 'wicked blocks and fast jumps.'
He grinned, quite proud that they had recognized him, "I'll become your ace one day!" He promised giving a thumbs up.
Shouyou got a bit of teasing from the bald headed one, and pleasant smile from the grey haired one who said it was good to aim big.
Of course Kageyama snorted and insulted him. Shouyou wasn't just going to take being insulted lying down so he responded back. He only stopped when he heard the older kids saying the vice principle was there.
Which got Kageyama to call him a coward.
And then the 'king' got in trouble with the vice principal after he angrily threw a ball at Shouyou who stepped out of the way and it managed to hit the principle and knocked his wig off.
Somehow Shouyou still managed to get kicked out with Kageyama, and it was totally that boys fault, he was the one who kept picking the fights. Shouyou only defended himself. Now they wouldn't be let in unless they could work together.
Shouyou stared tilting his head as he looked at Kageyama who looked annoyed. "I'm perfectly willing to work with you to play volleyball, but the question is do you value your pride or volleyball more."
Kageyama shoved him back pushing himself to be in front of the door demanding to be let in that he would be willing to work with him. The captain of the volleyball club, who had introduced himself as Daichi Sawamura, looked out at them with a frown. "What are you really thinking?"
"If I have to play with Hinata as he is now, whether it's receiving tossing or spiking, I'd rather do it by myself than with him."
"Hey!" Shouyou protested.
Daichi gave a chuckle, "You actually told me what you were thinking, I like that!" His expression hardened a bit, "But, you know, in a game where you can't let the ball drop or have the same person touch the ball twice in a row…. In this kind of game… how do you plan to play by yourself?"
The captain smiled at him and then closed the door. Kageyama scowled an intense aura radiating from him. Shouyou sighed, inwardly grumbling, 'So what if Shiratorizawa denied him, couldn't he have tried other school's?'
Shouyou paused and snickered, 'Maybe he did and they all denied him.'
Kageyama turned to glare at him upon hearing his snickering, "Something funny?"
Shouyou gave a bright grin in response, "Nope! Just thinking of how to convince them to let us play."
Kageyama growled, "I have to find a way to get in there quickly."
"That isn't possible, so why don't you come over here and we actually plan something."
"I have the potential to make them better, that by itself is enough of a reason to let me join."
"Wow that is some confidence coming from you," Shouyou muttered a bit impressed. "Or rather arrogance." He tacked on unable to prevent himself from poking at the obvious weak spot.
Kageyama sent him a death glare. The two argued a bit before agreeing that they would challenge the older kids to a 2 on 2 match.
They ended up with a 3 on 3 match with the bald headed kid, Tanaka, being with them. Yet if they lost then Kageyama wouldn't be allowed to be a setter. "You'll still be allowed to play though, besides spikers are cooler," Shouyou said with an innocent smile.
Kageyama grabbed and lifted him up by his shirt, yelling how setters were the coolest. "Spikers are cooler," Shouyou continued on, "And blocking is also pretty fun."
"You only managed to block half the time, the other half you ended up on the other side of the court."
"Mistakes happen," Shouyou responded with a shrug.
Then they overheard Tanaka say that the practice would be at 7 and so they agreed to arrive at 5.
The next morning they were both there along with a tired Tanaka who held the keys and a grin, "Gwaahh! You're the best Tanaka-senpai!" Shouyou said giving a large beaming grin that Koji had once described as earnest yet also intimidating.
"But I wasn't trying to be intimidating."
"It's only intimidating in how large it is, like it makes you question how someone can be so happy, it's a good sort of intimidating."
Tanaka just laughed, "Again!"
"Tanaka-Senpai!" Both he and Kageyama said making the second year smile at them happily.
Of course then Kageyama had to go and ruin the wonderful morning practice by refusing to spike to him, calling him useless and that he wasn't needed to win.
So he made a bet with Kageyama, that he would get better at receiving. That week he solely practiced his receives, asking advice from the older students as well as meeting with Satori on wednesday after school to have the older boy help him figure out how to read where the ball was going to go.
At the end of the week he was able to start receiving Kageyama's hits. He kept the ball up. Shouyou would not lose. Then a toss went up and Shouyou smiled widely a true genuine smile as he raced forward and lept up spiking the ball down on the other side of the court.
In two days time they would defeat whoever they were up against and play volleyball.
The night before the match as he and Kageyama were getting some last minute practice in they met the other two first years, Tsukishima Kei, and Yamaguchi Tadashi. Who offered to throw the match. Which was horrible because they could win on their own merit thank you very much.
The next day Tsukishima spoke loudly, "Now who should we crus- block first? The short one or Tanaka-san~? And I really want to see the King lose."
Tanaka growled upon hearing that and hissed, "Time to show these guys are game faces." Then his voice raised up a bit, "Did you hear that just now~? Saying such a thing, geez that Tsu-Kishima-kun… honestly," He turned facing towards the opposing team, his eyes narrowed and his lips pulled back into a snarl, "Well pulverize ya."
Shouyou stared up at Tsukishima, his eyes wide and he tilted his head over so slightly his bangs falling to cover one of his eyes. 'Monster' echoed in his head, but he didn't care. So what if he was?
Kageyama stood behind him so he could not see the face he was making, but he could feel the intense aura that the boy seemed to radiate and so he assumed that Kageyama was making his own face at the opposing team.
He enjoyed watching as a flash of nervousness passed through Tsukishima's eyes before it was gone.
Now it was time for the 3 vs 3 game to begin.
As they played he kept getting blocked by the others, and his blocks weren't doing as well. Tsukishima was freakishly tall. But, Shouyou was able to at least get a one touch on the ball. Still the fact that Tsukishima kept blocking him was annoying. Then he learned about how Kageyama was abandoned and that they refused to accept his toss.
Shouyou shook his head, "That doesn't matter."
So on the next toss he jumped making sure he was there and Kageyama sent the ball to him. Then he gave a motivational speech, saying it didn't matter what kind of toss it was, so long as Kageyama was tossing to him.
He managed to hit the ball, which was apparently a quick attack, something Satori had never told him about. After to do it he would have needed a proper setter.
Now he had one and so the two tried to do the attack, but he kept missing. Eventually Sugawara talked with Kageyama and the dark haired boy seemed decisive as he said that he would get the ball to Shouyou.
'Don't watch the ball?' Shouyou thought with a frown. How was he supposed to do that? Still he needed to do something so when it came time he ran and jumped. Closing his eyes he swung his arms and took in a deep breath as he felt the ball hit his hand. Opening his eyes he saw the ball land on the other side.
Tanaka was instantly congratulating him, and Kageyama was soon asking why he had his eyes closed. He replied that the taller boy had told him to not look at the ball. It took a little bit more practice, but soon the duo got the hang of it and were quickly making more and more quicks.
Finally they won the first set and Tanaka shouted at Tsukishima taunting him about the fact that the taller blonde had said that he would crush them. The first year clicked his tongue in annoyance and ignored them.
They went onto the second set and eventually won. Shouyou was exhausted but a feeling of happiness spread through him, lighting his nerves with an unquenchable fire. 'More! I want to win more! Play more!'
The two chatted for a bit as they pumped themselves up to practice their new quick attack. "Freak quick," Tsukishima muttered.
Suddenly a man rushed in gasping about a practice match against one of the best schools in the prefecture, Aoba Johsai. The teacher soon introduced himself as Takeda Ittetsu, that he had no volleyball experience but would help them out however he could.
"Please tell me you didn't beg for the match," Daichi asked, his tone worried.
"Not this time, but they do have one condition."
"Oh?"
"Yes, Kageyama-kun is to play as setter the entire game."
The team seemed surprised by that and the other third years looked towards Sugawara to see his reaction, "I look forward to seeing the quick in a real match," He said, his expression bright and happy.
The next day the group was talking about the roles which they had planned out last night. Shouyou was going to be a decoy, and they commented on his lack of blocking skills. Shouyou pouted, 'I'll practice even more than!'
Although his stomach twisted even more as he thought about going to the practice match, it was incredibly nerve wracking, knowing that if he messed up then they could replace him. That weekend he went over to Satori's house letting himself in with the key they had given him.
Their parents had seen how often the two boys visited each other and had let them open the doors to each other so both boys had keys to each other's place. He went to Satori's room after calling out to the house.
There he found Satori with someone else, a really tall person. "Shouyou! You're here! Meet my friend I made, his name is Ushijima Wakatoshi."
Shouyou bowed, "Pleased to meet you."
"Wakatoshi, this is my best friend Hinata Shouyou."
The taller boy looked down at him and nodded.
"What brings you here Shouyou?" Satori asked, tilting his head.
"I need to improve my blocking, my team said that they were bad."
Satori gaped, "Bad! You're not bad! Wait… did they think you were read blocking or something?"
Shouyou blinked, "Actually I don't know, they just said blocking. Still some extra practice won't hurt."
"You play?" Ushijima asked, his naturally narrow eyes narrowing further.
"Yes," Shouyou replied stoutly staring up at the taller player.
"Are you a libero?"
"No, I am a middle blocker."
Ushijima frowned.
"My Kouhai is the second best person I know in guess blocking~" Satori said, leaping over to rest his head on top of Shouyou's. "And his spikes would be good too if he had a proper setter."
"I see."
"So how about it Wakatoshi? Want to help me train Shouyou-chan's blocking some more."
The taller boy was silent for a moment before giving a single nod.
That weekend the three practiced and Shouyou started to get used to at least being able to touch Ushijima's spikes. The tall boy was quiet and didn't speak, and Shouyou got the feeling of disapproval coming from the older player. As the weekend came to a close and Shouyou decided to return to his house Ushijima stopped him. "You have potential."
Shouyou grinned, "Thanks."
"It's being wasted," Ushijima continued.
"Eh?"
"You won't be able to improve enough at that no name school of yours."
"Where else could I go? Shiratorizawa's coach would not accept me due to my height."
Ushijima blinked and then nodded, "Why not go to one of the better schools, like Aoba Johsai?"
"My second choice was Karasuno because one of my idols used to go there."
Ushijima frowned and after a moment of him staring at Shouyou he said his goodbye and left.
"Wow~" Satori said staring with wide eyes, "Wakatoshi-san is soooo hard to read. I can't tell if he likes you or hates you~"
"Me neither," Shouyou said with a sweatdrop.
"Well good luck in your practice match!"
"Thanks!"
When he returned to his house his mother frowned at him, "You didn't tell me you were going to be at Tendou's house."
"Sorry Kaa-san, I forgot."
She shook her head and waved him off to his room. "Next weekend make sure you're home, your father will be here."
"Alright," Shouyou said nodding.
The next morning he went to school and the team practiced their setup one last time. Tomorrow would be the big practice match.