Haikyuu!
Higher
Chapter 10: Collision

Futakuchi grinned, seeing two pretty girls on the other side of the net. He knew that Karasuno was stronger than ever, and something in his gut told him that those two girls who were a part of that strength.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Karasuno warmed up, both girls scribbling in their notebooks.

As his name was called, he immediately prepared to receive, which he did easily, sending the ball right back the way it came. That kind of rookie move was easy for him to execute. He lazily strolled to the back of the line, but froze when he felt a pair of eyes on him.

Most of the time, someone's gaze was easy to ignore. He found that the easiest part of standing on the court to be dealing with the crowds looking at him. For him to freeze under someone's gaze, they had to be looking straight through him.

He slowly turned, his eyes meeting a pair of striking, dark eyes that stared right back at him. His own eyes widened as he met the gaze of one of the girls on Karasuno's side. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail as she stared right back at him, like she was studying him. She didn't break her gaze as her pen danced across her notebook, no doubt writing something about him, something that she saw in his receive.

Her eyes sent a shiver of fear down his spine.

She's dangerous.

"Number 7 is, of course, going to be the biggest obstacle in the so-called Iron Wall," Aika recited, reading the notes she'd taken from watching their practice. "He's got good reflexes and he's pretty smart about his blocks when it comes to reaction, but I don't think he'd be very good at anything else, except maybe straights. Their captain and vice captain are definitely the smartest people on that team, but they're not as frightening as 7 can be. The captain is the setter, and he meshes well with the team. Watch out for the vice's spikes. They'll hurt if we can't block them."

She looked up at the boys and frowned. "As for number 6, he's the only other player really worth talking about, but only because he reminds me of Tsukishima, but a much more hard-working version of him. His spikes might be a little tricky, but other than that, he's kind of stupid. That freak quick of yours? It'll work against him. But not against 7. And not against both of them together."

The boys in front of her nodded, absorbing her information as she spilled it to them. She met all of their gazes as she stared them down, seeing a fire burning inside of every single person. She grinned widely, holding up her fist.

"Go get 'em."

A roar of approval began with Shoyo, Nishinoya, and Tanaka, and grew to include most of the remaining players. Sawamura met her eyes and nodded at her, a mutual understanding of respect passing between them. She smiled back at him, giving him a victory sign as she did so.

He slowly turned away from her, facing his team, and yelled, as loudly as he could.

"Karasuno, fight!"

The match started quickly, with Hinata receiving the first toss and earning the first point.

It was clear from the start that this match was not just about tearing down the Iron Wall that Date Tech was building up, but about flying over it. The Iron Wall was formidable for sure, with number 7 (who Aika learned was called Aone) using read blocking, and using it surprisingly effectively.

"Most of our points are from them missing their blocks," Aika murmured, her eyes narrowing as she stared at the tall, fearsome number 7. "But we can get around it. We're faster than them."

Sugawara, who stood next to her, nodded in agreement. His hands were shaking badly, as he wanted so badly to be the one in the game. He wanted to help Asahi tear down the Iron Wall with his own two hands, take revenge for what they'd done to them in the game last year.

But I can't toss that quick for Hinata. It has to be Kageyama. It has to be them. They can open up the Wall and break it down.

He curled his hands into fists, willing them to stop shaking.

It didn't work.

The match went back and forth, swinging in Karasuno's favor in one moment and in Date Tech's the next.

Kageyama kept his eye on the ball, moving closer to it until it was directly above him. A blur of movement caught the corner of his gaze, and he adjusted, moving his hands, the web that would catch the ball. As if he was a robot, he locked directly onto where the ball needed to go.

The slam of the ball onto the court was all he needed to hear as he and Hinata rejoiced, both of them celebrating the return of the quick that felt like magic to execute. Kageyama's lips turned upwards in a fearsome grin.

There is a way around the Iron Wall. We just have to be faster and smarter. We can use this in our favor.

Aika grinned dangerously, her eyes darkening in victory.

Everything was going according to plan.

It was like a pendulum, going back and forth and back and forth. For every point one team scored, the other was there to pick up the pace and take the next point.

Futakuchi panted, wiping away sweat as his spike landed handily on Karasuno's side. He grinned slightly, earning him and Date Tech a point. He could feel as if he was on a roll, as if he was going to be the Ace to carry Date Tech to the next round against Aoba Josai.

But then, as he turned back to the net, he caught that scary gaze again, the one that felt as if it was piercing right through him. A cold shiver ran down his back, and the sweat that fell down his face wasn't from exerting himself, but from fear.

That girl was watching him again.

Her eyes were unnerving to him. It was like they didn't match her soft, feminine exterior. She seemed very passive, almost submissive, but her eyes said otherwise. To Futakuchi, her eyes told him that she wasn't passive, but observant, she wasn't submissive, but simply waiting for him and the rest of Date Tech to slip up. If they did, she would easily take advantage of it and use it against them. She was smart, and she was terrifying to be opposing.

"Futakuchi." He looked over to his captain, Moniwa, who was watching his expression with narrowed eyes. "What's wrong?" asked the third year, putting his hands on his hips.

The brunette nodded towards the girl with the fearsome eyes. "She's watching us."

Moniwa followed his junior's gaze, only to flinch at the eyes of the girl who had been fixated on Futakuchi up until that moment. Her piercing stare was now aimed at the captain, who shifted uncomfortably. He cleared his throat and looked over to Futakuchi, who was frowning.

"She's scary," Moniwa managed. "She seems pretty smart. She's probably one of the smarter members of Karasuno." He took a deep breath, then sighed. "She's probably their strategist or something, but she can't do anything until between sets or until they call a time out. We'll be fine until then. We'll worry about it when we have to."

Futakuchi nodded, agreeing silently with his captain, but as he moved back into his place, he chanced another look back at the girl with wine-red hair.

She was scribbling away in her notebook in short, clean strokes. Her eyes were softer as she gazed at her own team, watching them as they set up for their next play.

"Yamada, what do you think?"

Aika's sharp gaze turned towards Ukai, who was frowning as he stared at the court, where Date Tech and Karasuno were going at it, point after point being given to each team. His arms were crossed, and it was clear to Aika that he was tense.

She sat up, her gaze softening as she sighed. "We have to hope they'll call a time out now. Hopefully that play took them by surprise."

The sharp blow of the referee's whistle signified that Date Tech had called for a time out.

Ukai grinned like a beast that had its prey in its grasp. "We're in luck. I'll talk to them quickly, so sort out what you can in that time." Aika nodded, flipping through her notes.

The coach talked to the players, giving them advice on their receives and how to reply to read blocking, which was how Date Tech had gotten most of their points. She could hear the panting athletes slurping down their drinks as they wiped their faces with their towels.

"Yamada."

She stood, her notebook in hand. "You're slow," she said bluntly. "All of you are responding to the read blocks exactly the way they expect you to. There's a way over, around, or through every block. They know all of those ways. We should also have someone prepared to receive spikes, even if Nishinoya," the tiny libero cleared his throat, to which she rolled her eyes, "Nishinoya senpai isn't there. Most of all, don't let your guard down if you just get one point. One point is great, one point is a lead. But if they get another point on us, we have to get two more. Right now, they're focused on Shoyo. Keep that focus there."

Everyone nodded at her words. She flipped through the pages of her notebook and narrowed her eyes. She glanced towards the Date Tech team, who were sipping at their own water bottles.

Her eyes met the chocolate brown orbs of number 6, Futakuchi. She narrowed her eyes, then looked away from him.

"As for players… keep an eye on number 6. He's smarter than I thought he was. Stronger, too. Both 7 and 6 are the priority threats, since they are the Iron Wall. Prepare to fight for every point, especially with that setter leading. He's what's keeping them together." She looked sharply at Karasuno, who were looking somewhat taken aback. "You have two options. Tear down the Iron Wall by breaking through it with Shoyo, Tanaka, and Azumane… or," she paused, "you can break the foundations of what makes it so strong."

With that, she looked at Moniwa.

"It's your choice. Just know that he can't receive for shit, and their libero isn't as fast as ours. That's all I have for you."

Kageyama didn't like the idea of breaking down an opponent. He liked beating them with brute strength and talent, beating them by just being better than the person in front of him.

But Date Tech and Karasuno were direct opposites. If Karasuno was good at attacking repeatedly, Date Tech was good at taking as many of those attacks as they needed to. Neither team would take the lead by just repeating their same tired strategies.

Should we? Is it worth it? Should we break the Iron Wall from the foundation?

Kageyama kept his eyes on Moniwa, on how he handled his team. He was the captain, yet he was incapable of stopping fights. He wasn't an exceptional setter, either. He didn't seem strong in any sense of the word. Yet for some reason, his entire team respected him and they listened to what he had to say.

He was the foundation, just like Aika said.

Karasuno's setter looked to the girl, only to see her looking guilty. That was the only way Kageyama knew how to describe her expression. She held her notebook against her lap, her pen resting on a blank page. Her hair fell in her face as she bit her lip.

It's not worth it, not even to Aika. She gave us an option, but she doesn't want us to take it. She doesn't want anyone to be hurt.

His fingers twitched, knowing exactly what was happening.

A grin took over his face, knowing that Karasuno was now strong enough to take down the Iron Wall with their bare hands.

Sugawara looked to Aika, who was looking anywhere but at Date Tech, even as the fearsome number 7 continued to target Hinata. He saw the look on her face, like she was about to cry, and frowned. She silently stood, leaving her notebook behind, walking towards Ukai as Asahi flew into the air, spiking the ball, which landed with a resounding thud.

She didn't celebrate, just stayed silent as the rest of Karasuno cheered. She leaned over to Ukai, whispered something to him, and moved towards the exit, stumbling as she did.

Sugawara frowned.

"Yamaguchi," he called. The freckled first-year looked towards him with a confused look. "I'll be back. If anyone asks, I went to the bathroom."

Yamaguchi nodded slowly, not questioning his senior, even though it was clear that he wanted to ask. He simply returned to the match, worry floating in his eyes. He even glanced towards the bench, biting his lip when he saw that their assistant coach had disappeared.

The silver-haired setter jogged towards the gym doors, pulling on his Karasuno jacket as he did. As he stepped into the hallway, he noticed how empty it was. His brow furrowed as he couldn't even see which direction Aika may have gone off in. His footsteps echoed through the halls as he looked for her.

How did she even manage to disappear so quickly like that?

He looked around, unwilling to call her name. He feared that she wouldn't want to talk to him, but would hide away even further. That was the last thing he wanted. He simply wanted her to be able to confide in him if there was something that was bothering her. He wanted her to be able to trust him.

A blur of red caught his eye and he slowed down, his footsteps coming to a halt. Out the window of the front doors, he saw Aika, sitting against the pillar of the entrance. Her face was buried in her knees, her shoulders shaking slightly as she cried softly. Her hair fell into her face as she rubbed at her eyes with balled hands. Her eyes, as he caught a glimpse of them, were teary.

Sugawara's heart fell into his stomach as his feet unconsciously moved towards the sobbing girl. He pushed the door open, causing her to look up at him with his teary eyes.

Kageyama paused between plays, his eyes darting over to where Aika should have been. For some reason, she had disappeared, leaving nothing but her small notebook in her wake. Her pen was slowly rolling towards the edge of the bench until it fell off, clattering onto the floor of the gymnasium.

The sound echoed loudly to Kageyama, who winced.

He turned around, searching for her among the players, only to find that Sugawara had also gone missing. He frowned, remembering the look of pure guilt she'd had on her face after the time out. She'd probably run off out, due to the guilt that was probably weighing down on her, and Sugawara had probably followed her, out of pure concern for the girl.

His hands shook as he wondered if she was alright. He wanted to leave the court in order to find her, but he couldn't. Sugawara wasn't there to sub in for him, and he couldn't afford to leave the game. Karasuno needed him.

Sighing deeply, he decided to take as many points as he could.

That way, she wouldn't have to worry as much when she came back.