It had been a while since Kyoya even watched a volleyball match between two schools and he had to admit; Nekoma was good. When Asahi went in for a point, Nekoma's libero killed it. He received it with ease and even Nishinoya-san was impressed. Who wouldn't, after all?
Nekoma ended up winning the first set. What's more, their number seven, a middle blocker, managed to stop the freak duo's quick. All those talent and hardwork, gathered here in this gym; it just gave Kyoya the shivers. The anticipation crawled in his skin and made him restless which caused Sugawara to place a hand on his head to keep him from moving too much.
"Shimizu-kun, calm down."
"He's practically vibrating on the spot." Ennoshita commented.
"I want... to receive that!"
The third year setter blinked. "Receive what?"
Kyoya turned to him with the purest excitement Sugawara had ever seen on the first year libero. "That! That blocked spike of Sunshine's! Sunshine's already unpredictable and receiving that quick is already hard! But for it to be blocked— and if I could receive that—!" The usually feisty first year began to sparkle which caused the rest of the team to back away in caution.
He looked like he was about to explode any minute now.
"Shimizu!"
"Hai?!"
The coach sweatdropped when the second libero answered rather... enthusiastically. "You'll be replacing Tsukishima—" the first year began shaking faster. "— and try not to be too excited once you step on the court."
"Hai!~"
Tsukishima suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine. Sensing someone burning a hole through his head, he turned around to find Kyoya staring at him as if he wanted to kill the middle blocker.
Soon enough, the second set started and Kyoya ended up being rhe starting libero for this one. Nishinoya patted him on the back as he made his way to the court. "Show them your awesome skills, my protege!"
"Osu!"
As he passed by the blond middle blocker, Kyoya gave the tall first year a rather painful sounding high five. It caused Tsukishima to wince and look down at him with distaste. "Show some restraint, your lordship." But he was ignored by the shorter boy.
"Sunshine~"
Hinata blinked as he saw Kyoya standing behind the back line, waving at him as if they were at a park. "Kyo-chan! You're finally playing!" The ravenet grinned and puffed out his chest. "That's right! That's why attack all you want, Sunshine! I've got your back!" Everyone on the court stared at him, thinking how cool he was.
Meanwhile, Nishinoya was bragging about his protege to everyone else. "HAHAHAHA! DO YOU SEE THAT?! THAT'S MY DISCIPLE!"
"Ah, chibi-chan, you're finally on the court." Kuroo commented with a smile, waving at the first year behind the net. "I'll be receiving your spikes, Kuroo-sama!"
"We'll see~"
The whistle blew and Nekoma served. It went directly to Daichi who sent it right back to Kageyama. Kyoya watched everyone intently, not just the ball, and noticed how ever since the rally started, Kenma's eyes had been on him all this time. He didn't really notice it before but Kenma was c u t e. Shoot, he mentally pinched himself. Focus, idiot!
Movements near the net caught his attention. Kageyama had already tossed to Sunshine; it was that freak quick of theirs. He already knew that what happened a few moments ago wasn't a fluke; that number seven from Nekoma had shut down Sunshine because he could, not because of luck.
That's why Kyoya moved even before the ball reached Hinata which earned him a curious glance from the opponent's setter. Watching the ball be brought back down on their side of the court, Kyoya's eyes basically screamed his intentions; I will be keeping the ball in play no matter what!
And that's what he did.
Everyone watched as the first year successfully sent the ball back to Kageyama, a loud thump noise echoing in the gym when the ball made contact on his forearms. "One more time, Shoyo!" Kyoya dropped the nickname that snapped the tangerine out of his stupor. As soon as he landed, he went for the center.
The blockers were all rooted in place, surprised, and were too late as Hinata brought the ball down on the opponent's side of the court.
The whistle blew and that brought everyone back to reality. Hinata turned to face Kyoya with a sparkling expression. "U-UWAH! KYO-CHAN, THAT WAS AMAZING! Y-You went swoosh and then ba-bam and-and guwah!" The tangerine explained, accompanied by exaggerated hand movements. Kyoya simply laughed in confusion.
"I don't understand what you're saying but I guess I did, Sunshine."
"That was an amazing receive, Shimizu." Daichi complimented. "Thanks, captain!"
Feline eyes still didn't stray away from him.
The next following rallies were long.
If Ukai thought that Karasuno first years needed to work on their receiving skills, then he didn't know what to say about that feisty brat. Nishinoya was an amazing libero, no one could argue with that. However, upon seeing a few more rallies, Ukai finally noticed something what made Nishinoya and Shimizu different despite both being great liberos.
Whereas the second year was more agile, his intuition sharper, and has faster reaction; the first year analyzed every little thing. It was like he could see the entire court and make predictions out of the data he collected. Was that possible though?
Much to Nekomata's surprise, Karasuno managed to almost gain a seven-point lead from them from the get-go. Between that loud yet silent number four and that loud and Kuroo-worshipping number thirteen, their defenses strenghtened about four-fold. To him, it was like having two Yaku's on the court. Those two liberos had different skills despite being defensive specialist.
It was honestly surprising.
Almost halfway through the second set, Kyoya and everyone else were surprised when Hinata opened his eyes for a spike... but it ended up not working out all. Still, the tangerine was adamant about it until he managed to get it right even if it had gone out.
It was Nekoma's turn to serve.
The ball ended up hitting the net and fell down quickly at the front. Kageyama, much to his annoyance, made the first touch. Nekoma thought that with this, they wouldn't be able to attack as smoothly as they have always been.
"Mine!"
A shout from the backline stopped Tanaka from approaching the ball. Kyoya jumped just before the attack line, catching everyone by surprise. At the benches, Nishinoya's eyes were sparkling as he watch his protege in awe. "Baldie, make sure to hit it right!" Said baldie clicked his tongue and began his approach.
"Of course I will, you shrimpy brat!"
The libero tossed the ball for Tanaka who successfully earned them a point from that set. "ORYAAAAAA!" Tanaka screamed in delight, followed by Shimizu and the two unknowingly high-fived each other in their moment of excitement. When they realized what just happened, Kyoya drew back in disgust and Tanaka in horror.
"Did I just seriously set for an ungrateful peasant?!"
"Gah! I complimented a set from that brat?!"
On the other side of the net, Kenma tilted his head. "Hey, Kuroo," the blond called out his friend. "Don't you think Kyo is a little familiar?" The Nekoma Captain hummed, and shrugged his shoulders. "Not really. Why do you ask?"
"I... seem to recall playing against him before."
At that, Kuroo raised an eyebrow and took a glance back at chibi-chan. "We could ask later—" he paused when he noticed Kenma's deadpanned expression. "Fine, fine, I'll ask him. You obviously tolerate chibi-chan and shrimpy-chan though."
"Shut up, Kuroo."
bruh, I dunno what's happening anymore—