XIII. The Weight

Ushiwaka - Ushijima - reminds him of Generation of Miracles - strong, big, steady and a combination of Captain and Murasakibara.

Akashi's intensity, control, and superiority. Murasakibara's body, strength and preference to focus on only defence or offence.

And Murasakibara's color, of course, but then that applies to the whole Shiratorizawa.

The whistle resounded, the set begun. Hinata spread his feet, steady and ready on the ground and sunk down into the clear water surface.

Ushijima scowled. For a moment, Hinata could feel the air snap and he realized just how easy it is for the both of them to enter the Zone.

It's like a mockery to all the players out there, all the Generation of Miracle - except maybe Aomine - that here they are, two players, who can enter the zone with a flick of a finger and both of them are facing each other, and that they are both found on a low profile sport such as volleyball.

The ball is served, Karasuno returned it through Asahi's spikes but the ball is saved by their libero, who then, without thinking any further, set the ball to Ushijima.

Hinata joined the others in front of Ushijima and jumped to block.

But then the air snaps and there was another level of intensity and danger and there was that violet glint on Ushijima's eyes that screams I'll crush you, I'm stronger, much skilled, the better spiker -

Ushijima spiked a cross - strong, quick, powerful with a strong base -

1-0

And Hinata belatedly realizes that did Ushijima just entered the Second Door?

Every person's Zone requirements are different, and they function differently, works in different way -

But if Ushijima entered the Zone in the game and then the Second Zone on every spikes -

No wonder Ushiwaka is so strong.

Scary

But this is the kind of opponent he wants, right?

Karasuno is keeping up, but Shiratorizawa kept on scoring points and blocking Karasuno's spikes, while the only thing Karasuno can do is to spike, but then again, Shiratorizawa has a capable blocker.

Karasuno is locked down.

Hinata looked up to the huge double door.

Why can't he open it?

.o0o.o0o.

Monsters. He is surrounded by them on all sides.

Hinata and Kageyama, then there's all the opponents - Aoba Johsai's Oikawa, Datekou's Iron Wall, Nekoma as a whole team, and so so so much more.

Really, no matter how much he practice, he can never reach up to them - no one can reach up to them, much less Tsukishima Kei with only his height as a weapon - and it's a fact that he kept in mind every time he practice and everytime he go against them.

No one

That's why it surprised him that there is this fire blazing strong and want and desire for more more more more when he managed to block Ushijima's spikes - strong powerful his hand hurts so damn much.

It was just a one touch. The ball reconnected with Sawamura and passed onto the spikers.

But Ushijima's shock.

He wanted more more moremore of that.

Karasuno's plan was only to hold back Ushijima's spikes, to decrease his chance of spikes and to block his spiking path.

Tsukishima knows that. That's why it is a surprise to him when he felt dissatisfaction churning in his gut at the first few times he followed Karasuno's plans.

It's insulting to him.

He wondered when did he took his position as a middle blocker seriously. He is not one of those obsessive monsters.

All he had to do is jump and if the ball misses, oh well.

It's just a game. Volleyball.

But that shock. His expression.

There was that blocker over in Shiratorizawa - Tendou, his name is - who kept on blocking the balls despite not knowing for sure if that is the spiker that will spike the ball - using guess blocking, so very different than his read blocking. Tendou kept on sending him glances - irritating smug smirks like he knows Karasuno's plans, and that they are failing or at least will be failing.

How did he guess the players correctly, Tsukishima will never understand. He is smart, trusted his mind, trusted what he see, carefully predict the movements - it's impossible for him to choose the wrong player to block.

But Ushijima. The grand ace, extreme spiker, chosen for Japan's under 19 representative -

Yes, Ushijima. Karasuno's plan is bound to fail anyways. It wouldn't hurt to continue pressuring Ushijima, right?

Karasuno lost the first set 27 - 25

But he gained Ushijima's pattern, Shiratorizawa's attack pattern. He sent a smug smirk to Tendou the Blocker, because certainly guess blocking will never do as much good in the long run as read blocking is.

The second set begins. He kept his eyes on the setter on Ushijima. He followed Ushijima relentlessly - he was sure Ushijima is getting wary of him - and jumped for the ball -

Not enough. Even if he jumped and blocked, there's still weakness to be exploited, unguarded space that Ushijima can take advantage of.

"Oi, Asahi, follow what I say closely."

Ushijima's cross and straight spikes - he'll shut all those cross spikes, then Nishinoya or whoever can focus on a straight.

Ushijima jumped for the ball, Tsukishima followed, Asahi followed.

It worked.

The ball bounded down.

Karasuno on the lead, 17 - 16.

The way Ushijima's eyes settled on him with wariness That strong fire burning inside him -

It wouldn't hurt to give his all.

.o0o.o0o.

Steady beating. Follow him. To the right. He is jumping, but the ball won't go to him - it will to the other spiker -

Jump, block -

24 - 22 Karasuno's lead

There - there was that expression again. That shock and awe and disbelief -

He relished in that - he want more and more of that-

There was a slap on his back - Tanaka the bastard, he always slap the hardest - and he used his feet to steady himself.

"Horaaa! Tsukishima!" Tanaka shouted, loud and proud - as if he did anything to warrant that pride - "I didn't think you have it in you!"

Kageyama sauntered up to him, looking like he was about to murder someone - that's his usual face - and forced out, "K- knife."

"I think he meant Nice," Nishinoya piped up and slapped him on the back, though not as hard as Tanaka did. "Kageyama is working hard to compliment us, so what do you say, Tsukishima?"

Thank you for the compliment.

As if, Tsukishima scoffed as he could feel a smirk tugging his lips. If the seniors thinks he'll mellow out when being complimented by hard to impress King of Court, than they are dead wrong.

"Oh ya? Is someone as magnificent as the King incapable of saying a simple English word such as Nice?"

Kageyama's irritated glare is more than satisfying.

They changed their rotation, Hinata getting to the court to serve and replace Nishinoya.

Hinata immediately compliments him once the shorter boy got on court. Tsukishima's typical answer is to sneer.

Tch! Aren't you supposed to be a Middle Blocker? Then do what you are supposed to do!

Hinata hissed in offence.

Antagonizing other people never got old.

Karasuno won the set 25 - 23

.o0o.o0o.

They are tied.

3 more sets to go.

Karasuno will win this and go to the nationals.

"With how highly you spoke of Karasuno, I expected your team to be more."

"Ushiwaka," Hinata gritted out.

"Looking at the state of your team right now, Shiratorizawa will be getting the next sets."

With that, Ushijima walked away to his team.

It's true. Karasuno is already tired.

But surely, Hinata can cover the gap. He is strong.

But the opponents are strong. Stronger than ever.

Stronger than Generation of Miracles ever was.

Hinata forced and pushed and banged the door with all of his strength.

The door banged open - as if there's a strong gust of wind - and there's void, and- and-

-and everything became so very clear.

.o0o.o0o.

Everything is so damn clear

Kageyama is in his top game for the 3rd set. The 1st and 2nd set had sharpened his focus.

His body feels good.

Sawamura had just received the ball and tossed it back to him, and Kageyama surveyed the situation once more as he jumped for the ball -

A blocker to Tanaka. Hinata - free and running, but is marked, Sawamura still haven't gotten to position, Asahi is jumping in the back row -

-and tossed it to Tanaka, who had somehow found a way around the blocker and slammed the ball.

His mind feels so very clear, just like yesterday. Is this -

-the Zone?

The first point in the 3rd set goes to Karasuno.

There's something different about Hinata in this set, Kageyama notes. Stronger, quiet, silence and all seeing, as if he was waiting for a prey to fall -

The urge to toss the ball to Hinata is so much stronger than ever. It's like Hinata has become the sole most scariest beast on the court. That title should have belonged to Ushijima, right? But all of the attention on the court is going to Hinata.

The pressure is high.

The next serve was from Karasuno, which was returned by Shiratorizawa and saved by Asahi's one touch. Kageyama ran for the ball, jumped and toss it to -

Hinata is being heavily marked. Shiratorizawa is onto Asahi's spikes, Tanaka is unmarked -

So he tossed it to -

His mind is screaming to toss it to Hinata, but Tanaka is the logical choice so why -

The ball flew to-

Hinata

Hinata suddenly made the move - a small odd move - feint? - and jumped regardless of the blockers that are still there.

But one of the blockers didn't follow Hinata to the air, while the other one who jumped seemed to loose some of his balance. The one who didn't jump wobbled and fell on his knees. The one who jumped didn't managed to jump as high as he usually did.

Hinata spiked, safely, securely.

Karasuno leading 2-0

What was that? What the hell was that? What the hell just happened?

Their consecutive scoring were cut off by a serve from Ushijima.

The points continued to rise to 21 - 20 with Karasuno in the lead. There are occasions where the blockers or the spikers standing in front of Hinata will just freeze or slip. And each time, Hinata made a small odd feint that just doesn't fit the falling members -

That annoying blocker Tenrou had given up blocking if he is tossing it to Hinata. Hinata goaded - since when did Hinata goads? - him to come at him, block him.

Tenrou had flashed that annoying smile. "Blocking you is meaningless, but our libero will handle you."

Hinata became silent, a smile playing on his lips. "That's good," he finally said, "I thought you gave up."

Tenrou scoffed. "It's not how we usually operates, but since we can't shut you down, it can't be helped."

Shiratorizawa is a pure. Pure strength, pure speed, pure skills. Skilled individuals clumped together into a team and taught the barest team work for the team to workout. They don't trick, they don't go around the problem.

Karasuno is the epitome of trickiness and instability.

21 - 20 was the point Hinata completely immersed himself, and attack.

And the only one who managed to return the ball is the libero.

Karasuno won the set 25-22.

Faintly, Kageyama noticed that Hinata is getting tired a little too quickly.

He too is getting tired.

But he can still stay on court. He isn't too sure about Hinata.

.o0o.o0o.

Hinata pressed his cheek on the bench while the rest of his body is limp on the floor. He had gulped down the whole bottle and yet he is still so dizzy -

There's 3 people going down the stairs on the bleachers talking animatedly while pointing to the court - and then there's a group of 4 girls giggling while pointing at one of their phones - someone dropped something - a ring of sorts - to the ground and then there's Flower King wearing glasses in casual clothes leaning on one of the chairs-

Right. Stop. That's enough. Break 5 minutes before returning to the court, then he can reactivate the thing. Hinata closed his eyes and buried his face to the towels in an attempt to stop the strong blinding and dizzying light. He'll spend the rest of the break like this.

"Hinata, are you feeling well?" Hinata heard Suga's voice. Hinata cracked his eyes open and look up.

Suga - slightly furrowed brows, a small smile and hovering hands… that is… concern? - leaned over the bench to look at Hinata's face. Placing his hands - soft but rough, Hinata have those hands too, only much more calloused - on Hinata's forehead and hummed.

"That's a normal temperature if we are playing sports. But Hinata usually doesn't reach this point unless all of us do."

Coach Ukai scratched his chin - there're stubbles there - in thought. "Hinata, since when do you know how to do ankle breaks consecutively? Even in all professional sports career, ankle breaks are rare."

"I don't know," Hinata answered. "I just want to spike but there's so many obstacles so I want them gone and- and I can see their body and weight and movement - every single twitch - then I think that since they are following me, if I can make them move wrong, then they can fall or jump later."

Ukai clicked his tongue. "Close your eyes, don't focus anymore. Can you still play?"

"Yeah, I can," Hinata answered immediately.

"Then Hinata, for the next set, I want you to play normally. Don't make them fall. Take it easy."

Hinata looked like he wanted to disobey, but instead he relented. "But if we are losing, I'll be doing ankle breaks again."

Ukai scoffed. "You heard him. Don't let him break the ankles left and right, understood?"

"Hai!"

4th set began, and ended in Karasuno's loss 27- 25.

Coach Ukai deemed Kageyama too tired to play and subbed Sugawara in for the beginning of the last set.

.o0o.o0o.

Suga is a nice, kind man.

That is a common answer when asked what kind of person Sugawara Koushi is.

Suga knew better. He is generally friendly, but so extremely sharp when it comes to people's interactions, to their littlest quirks.

He is kind to the people on his side, but extremely crafty to his opponents.

Suga begins his serve. He was never one for flashy moves. He was steady, accurate, easy going -

And he knows where to aim where it hurts -

He was never one for flashy moves, but he aimed the ball to where he was sure it will cripple the team for the short time.

To that setter who keeps on setting for Ushiwaka. Slightly to his front, that way he will lean forward and lose his balance. That way the setter will be unable to set for Ushiwaka, the team will be in a mess without the setter.

And then there's that blocker, which had been giving difficulties to Karasuno spikers except for Hinata - Tendou, was it? - he uses guess blocking. If so, shutting him down should be simple enough.

It's annoying how Tendou has been blocking the spikes - how Tendou has been reading through all of the ball he sets -

Kageyama is much more skilled than he is. That is a fact he won't deny, but he is much more creative with all the simple skills he have.

He looked at Tendou in the eyes, stated with strong conviction.

"I'll be tossing to Tanaka on the next rally." he said, "He looks fired up since our beloved kouhai had just stolen his spotlight. And once Tanaka score a point, I'll switch to Asahi. Ah, wait, I'll keep on tossing to our dear Kouhai, that way we'll keep on scoring."

Tendou gritted his teeth. Suga smiled.

Give him doubt. 'Is he telling the truth?' 'Is this a lie?' 'Is he telling truth, and there will be some sort of feint to make it seems like fake?' 'A technique to boost moral?' 'Will he do it or will he not?'

Let him think in circles. Let him doubt. He'll be one step later than he usually is. Suga is not a genius, but he knows how to be creative with what he have.

Maybe he'll teach Kageyama social cues for Winter Cup.

He'll buy the time until Kageyama can return on court.

.o0o.o0o.

11 - 8 in Shiratorizawa's lead.

They only need 15 points to win in this set, and Shiratorizawa is winning.

Hinata heaved, his body feels fine, but it's getting so very heavy -

Kageyama entered the court.

No, just Kageyama is not enough.

Hinata dropped into the clear water surface, once again banging the door, begging, nd begging for the door to open -

Hinata's eyes shone a molten amber, and everything became clear. He ducked a little, twist his feet a little in this way and the blockers followed him - and Hinata darted back and jump.

The blockers fell on his knees.

Hinata slammed the ball from high up. The Libero almost - almost - reached the ball.

11 - 9

The ball was served, returned by Shiratoriawa through Ushijima's spike, saved by Nishinoya, unto Kageyama - Hinata made as similar twist using his ankles, body bending forward as if he is about to dart into a direction, the blockers fall on their knees - who then tossed it to Hinata -

11 - 10

The next rally begins, and Shiratorizawa returned the ball with a player feinting to spike, while Ushijima did the real spike -

12 - 10

Shiratorizawa's serve was returned by Captain, spiked by Tanaka, returned once more by a spike from Ushijima - again.

13 - 10

Another serve from Shiratorizawa, returned by Nishinoya, and Kageyama dumped the ball but it was returned -

14 - 10

Shiratorizawa match point.

Shiratorizawa's match point.

No, he can't let another point pass through. Not now, not ever -

When Ushijima jumped for the spike, Hinata followed, fervently, feverishly - eyes blazing with the fire of determination - slightly more power, one more step, just block this one point -

But he was too late - he jumped a bit too late, and Nishinoya was there to save the ball but the ball ricochets to the walls -

15 - 10

Karasuno… lost...

.o0o.o0o.

"Nuoooohhh!"

"Uwooooooohhhhhhh"

"Nghhhhhhhh!"

"Oraaaaaaaa!"

The moment they stepped back to Karasuno High, the very moment the coach had finished briefing, The whole team had taken over the Volleyball Gym and just let loose.

Kageyama and Hinata can be seen throwing volleyballs at each other as they run laps. The rest are doing their own thing - Tsukishima with his phone and Yamaguchi with a ball. 2nd years and the captain are hitting the ball for each other, Suga fussing over Asahi who seemed depressed.

A couple of hours passed. The captain finally shouted - frustration and regret clear in his voice.

"We lost! Against Shiratorizawa. Not because it's our fault, but because Shiratorizawa is so much stronger than us! We'll practice more, evolve more, and Winter Cup will be the place we exact our revenge! We will get into the nationals!"

The roar of agreement were so, so, soo much stronger.

.o0o.o0o.

A/N

Tsukishima hasn't learned the tricks to become a great blocker which Kuroo and Bokuto taught him in the Tokyo Training Camp. He is nowhere as skilled as canon when facing Shiratorizawa. The best he can do in my story is a one touch, which doesn't really require force.

For me, Suga is kind, but he is so damn cunning.

The last set is not because Karasuno isn't struggling enough. It's more because they are getting too tired. They've been relying on Hinata, the stamina freak, the get running. But suddenly Hinata got tired before all of them does and it just destroys the team's morale.

Lastly, THIS IS THE FULL EXTENT OF HINATA'S POWER! CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT IT IS? I mean HELLO! ANKLE BREAKS RIGHT HERE! It's very, very telling.

I'll elaborate the differences of Hinata's power and the original owner next chapter.

Sorry since this chapter is shorter than usual. But stopping here just feels right. The next chapter will be another new leaf for Hinata and Karasuno.

Spoiler : Akashi VS Hinata