XXI

The second they were out of the gym, Isuma asked, "What'd they tell you, Kosaku?"

Yuto smiled slightly, pushing the door for her. "I'll tell you later. Come on, let's hurry. Did you not get to Kamino when you and your brothers were looking at schools the other day?"

"No... we looked at a lot of schools, but not Kamino Academy." Isuma answered. "What if their match ended?"

"This fast? At most, they're halfway through the second set." Yuto stopped to look at a sign on a notice board and ran his finger down the list. "They're in the third gym... come on."

They walked down the hallways; Yuto pushed a door on their left and the two of them silently walked in. The gym inside was crowded, almost as much as their own. Neither of them made any motion to sit down; Isuma leaned over the railing, watching the players. "Is it fine we just left our own match to watch another one? I know they don't need us that much right now but, well, it's their first game of this Inter-high, and shouldn't we-"

"You worry too much, Isuma." Yuto stopped her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "It's fine; we'll probably be back before the end of the second set."

"Right." She managed a small smile before turning her gaze to the court below them. The two teams playing each other were already in their second set, and one of them was losing badly. Isuma asked, "Come to think of it, how does Kita Senpai know that if we win, we'll be playing Kamino Academy? The other team could've won."

Yuto leaned against the railing beside her, watching the match. "Kamino Academy's coach is a strategist. He's careful and cautious. His team doesn't do anything risky; they win through synchronized, perfect plans. Every move they make has been planned. They have techniques to encounter any situation they come across. A long time ago... they made it to Nationals." Yuto's tone was flat and grim. Isuma murmured, "Nationals... they must be really good."

"They were really good years ago, but I don't know about now. That's why we're here." Yuto pointed at the team in blue and white jerseys, and Isuma followed his gaze. "I should write this down somewhere..."

Yuto pulled out his phone. "Go on. I'll type out everything you say."

Her eyes darted back and forth across the court, taking everyone in. "Their #1, the wing spiker over there, he's not jumping as high as he could be. I'm pretty sure he's been injured previously and he hasn't fully healed. Our attackers should try to aim for him when he's blocking; his blocks will be lower, and so will his spikes. Michinari Senpai should be a little farther to the net because his attacks will be more long than high. As for his serves..."

Yuto hurriedly typed everything she was saying, occasionally asking Isuma to repeat something. Once she had finished with the players on the court, Yuto looked at the ones on the bench. "What about them?"

"...they're not moving, so it's harder," Isuma admitted. "But I can try." 

She couldn't tell much about them, but Yuto wrote it anyway. As she'd finished, Kamino Academy reached match point, while the other team was still at 14. Yuto muttered, "The other team is really far behind, right?"

"Yeah..." Isuma could tell something was off. "But none of their attackers really stood out, save for their #6, and even he is just barely above average." 

"Hold on- look at their #5, on the bench." Yuto suddenly said. "He's sitting down and has a towel and water bottle. He's sweating. He must've been playing earlier; they had probably just taken him out when we came."

"I can't really tell anything but..." Isuma focused on him, taking in every tiny detail. "He's a middle blocker." 

"How can you tell?" Yuto asked. Isuma paused. "I don't know. Maybe the way his fingers are taped? It looks like it's for blocking."

"Anything else?" Yuto looked up from his phone. Isuma looked over their #5 again. "Nothing I didn't see earlier." 

"That's good enough-" Just then, Kamino's setter did a setter dump, taking the last point they needed. The gym erupted in cheers and exclamations as Yuto demanded, "He did a setter dump from there?! These guys are supposed to be careful!!"

"That was careful, Kosaku." 

Yuto looked at Isuma, surprised: her eyes were locked on the Kamino setter. "From the second they served, they were planning the setter dump. It's complicated but... their setter's position was slightly different. Their libero received it differently- he didn't need to get it to their setter this time, and he knew. They planned all that out, and it worked perfectly."

Yuto blinked. "So, what're you saying? They're unbeatable and the perfect team? I really didn't need to hear that." 

"No, of course they aren't perfect. They have plenty of flaws, but they know how to work around them. What we're going to have to do is force them to come face to face with their flaws. That's when we get them." Isuma's voice didn't have a trace of doubt. Yuto was watching her in disbelief; he hit his forehead with his hand. Isuma looked up. "What's wrong?"

"You. You're so much like Kita Senpai it's crazy." Yuto sighed. Isuma took a step back. "I'm- hold up, what? I'm nothing like him-" 

"No, you completely are. Not all the time, of course. But just now, when you were talking about how we would win, you were exactly like him. He has the same... aura when talking about a strategy. Neither of you thinks we can fail with it."

"What do you mean?" Isuma asked. Yuto rubbed the back of his neck. "Well... see, you and Kita Senpai think a little differently. There's only a handful of people in the world who think the way you do. Most people think, 'we may win by doing this,' or 'we can,' or 'we might.' You and Kita-san... you think, 'we will win by doing this.' It doesn't occur to either of you that you could possibly fail. That amazes me, Isuma-chan." She looked stunned by what he'd said, and Yuto hastily added, "Sorry! That probably didn't make sense..." 

"No, I get it." Isuma looked down. "I see what you mean."

'I'm not like you, Shinsuke.'

Yuto didn't even know she'd said that- or thought that- and yet he'd perfectly given her every reason to reconsider that.

'Rethink everything you just said and say it again to me later. 

It was eerie how right Kita sometimes was. He'd practically predicted that something would happen to make her reconsider.

"Uh, Isuma-chan?" Yuto was waving his hand in front of her face. She blinked, as if just remembering he was there. "Oh, right, sorry. What were you saying?" 

"I was just saying we should back. They're probably well into the second set." Yuto repeated. Isuma checked her phone for the time. "You're right. Let's go, then."

They glanced at the Kamino players before leaving; they were talking with their coach, taking long drinks of water. All of them were already past their victory and focusing on their next obstacle. 

"They're terrifying," Isuma murmured under her breath. Yuto laughed. "I know some people who're even more terrifying when it comes to volleyball."

"Who? Ushiwaka? Or Sakusa?" 

"Nope. Your brothers."

"They're not terrifying." Isuma answered. Yuto shook his head. "Not to you, but they are to other teams. Heck, they terrify me sometimes. Those two are crazy risky." Isuma looked over at him. "That reminds me- what did Hitoshi tell you before we left?"

"Oh, that?" Yuto smiled. "He gave me a set of very specific instructions of what to do if a guy tried to talk to you. And Kita Senpai added some... details."

"Kosaku! What did they ask for you to do?" Isuma asked sharply. "Nothing! It's not important; come on." Before she could protest again, they reached the gym where their team was playing.

Sure enough, the second set had started. "Looks like we won the first set."

"That's-" Isuma was interrupted by Kita and Akagi noticing them and motioning for them to come over. "How's it going?"

"They're doing great. What about you; how did it go?" Kita turned towards Isuma and Yuto. "There was this one player, their #6... he wasn't playing, but I'm sure he's a starter. I couldn't find out much about him."

Yuto pulled out his phone and handed it to Kita, who scrolled through it. Akagi looked over his shoulder interestedly as Isuma focused on the court. Everyone on both sides were panting heavily, but none of them looked defeated. Ameba High's players were shouting and encouraging each other... but the score was 23:14. 

There was almost no way they could catch up. She almost- what was wrong with her? Was she actually feeling bad for the other team. No, they came here knowing they could lose: it wasn't her burden to sympathize with them.

"Bring it here, Atsumu!!"

Ginjima's voice snapped Isuma out of her thoughts. She watched as Atsumu hesitated briefly, going through his options. At the last second, he set it long, and the ball went up perfectly for Ginjima. He broke through the the blocker's hand and dropped to the ground. "Yes!!"

Isuma could tell Ameba High was getting desperate. Their players were moving slower, their fatigue was finally setting in. Her hands were clenched and she was forcing herself not to say anything... but Kita noticed her uneasiness anyway. "What's wrong, Isuma?"

"...nothing, Senpai." She couldn't look at him: everything that had happened earlier with him and now this was making her head hurt. She couldn't think straight- everything going on was overwhelming her... what she'd talked about with Kita, Yuto... her almost-wish for them not to win so she didn't have to see the other team suffer...

Her head suddenly hurt; Isuma's hands flew to her forehead and she winced. Akagi grabbed her arm. "Isuma?- Isuma!"

Chill out, nothing bad is going to happen- yet. Probably. But I promise you she's mostly fine for now. Also, you know that in the original plot of Haikyuu!! Kageyama was the main protagonist instead of Hinata? I just thought that was cool and it makes sense, because Kageyama's background is so much more complicated than Hinata's, so it's understandable that he was intended to be the main character at first.