Haikyuu - I Am A Different Hinata!

"What happened to Karasuno? They got crushed by Fukurodani! They've gotten worse since the last time!" Lev said, laughing.

"They tried a bunch of new things that didn't seem well-practiced, so it's normal... I guess," Kenma observed.

"That guy with the beard, it looks like he's trying to learn the timing difference attack, but he has no idea how to do it! That's hilarious!" Kuroo said with a mischievous smile on his face.

"Alright, everyone! We lost like we expected, but there's no time for moping... it's punishment time," Daichi announced.

"Ugh! Doing these floor dives is so annoying!" Tanaka complained as he got ready to dive.

"Wait, Tanaka-san! The punishment for losing this time is different!" Sugawara said, stopping Tanaka by putting a hand in front of his chest.

"What do you mean?" Tanaka asked, confused.

"Let's head outside!" Daichi said, leading the Karasuno players out of the gym and into the green, tree-filled scenery.

"This time, the punishment is in Shinzen's style—a refreshing run up the green mountain," Daichi declared.

"We just have to run to the top of the mountain?" Kageyama asked.

"It's not like it's the easiest thing in the world, either. If we don't improve quickly, polish our new tactics, and start losing a lot of matches... this is going to get really tiring and unbearable!" Hinata observed with a smile on his face, not minding the exercise since he already did his own workouts and runs during the week.

"Alright! Ready, go!" Daichi shouted as all the Karasuno players began frantically running up the green mountain under the scorching sun.

"THAT WAS EASY!" Hinata yelled, reaching the top first while the rest of the members followed, with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi being the last to make it.

"You're such an idiot. Why do you and that other idiot have to turn everything into a competition?" Tsukishima grumbled, pointing at Kageyama as well.

"Shut up! That's exactly what you're missing—passion. Everything you do is so low-energy it makes me want to sleep. I even got depressed. I'm heading down!" Hinata said, sounding exasperated by Tsukishima's remarks.

"Tsukishima managed to get under Hinata's skin!" Nishinoya commented, laughing.

"Is he really mad?" Asahi asked.

"Of course not! He's just bipolar or something!" Kageyama said, starting to walk down the mountain. He could already see Hinata chatting with Kiyoko and Yachi, smiling and drinking water.

"Like I said, it's just something like bipolarity," Kageyama commented to the other Karasuno members as they descended the mountain and saw Hinata already calm. They then approached to cool off as well.

"Oh, looks like Shinzen managed to get the upper hand against Ubugawa this time!" Hinata observed after hydrating. He went to check out the match that was happening, along with Yamaguchi, who had done the same.

"Darn it!" Gora said with a frustrated tone after losing. He led his team off the court, and as they passed Hinata and Yamaguchi, Gora gave Hinata a quick stare without saying anything before heading off to do his punishment.

"That guy... he stared at you... did you do something to him?" Yamaguchi asked, startled by Gora's presence.

"Well, not that I remember... I got past their block a few times, but I think only that guy with no eyebrows from Date Tech gets really annoyed by that kind of thing, and he didn't seem mad at me," Hinata said thoughtfully, watching Gora now running frantically up the mountain.

"What do you mean?" Yamaguchi asked.

"He just didn't seem hostile..." Hinata replied, still deep in thought.

"What are you two talking about?" Daichi asked, appearing behind them.

"It's nothing..." Hinata said, deciding to ignore the strange incident from moments ago.

"Then let's head back!" Daichi said, leading the Karasuno players back to Ukai.

"Our next match will be against Nekoma, and this time we'll start with most of our reserves, so... make the most of the opportunity!" Ukai said.

"YES!" everyone shouted in unison.

The game was underway, and Kuroo could be seen receiving a set from Kenma, who had faked with his eyes before setting the ball to Kuroo. Kuroo waited a few seconds before jumping and spiking the ball over Tsukishima, who had jumped at the wrong timing.

"That blond guy... he has potential, but it seems like he's not really trying compared to Kuroo..." Bokuto said, staring at Tsukishima, who had been subbed out for Asahi, with Hinata and Kageyama entering in place of Ennoshita and Sugawara.

"Sometimes he just doesn't know how to do it yet, Bokuto-san," Akaashi said, watching the game.

"Well, that makes sense... he's just a first-year!" Bokuto declared.

After Nekoma's point, it was Yamamoto's turn to serve toward Karasuno's court.

"I've got it!" Daichi said, receiving the ball without issue and directing the pass to Kageyama, who was about to make his first play. He made sure to fake with his eyes, looking at Hinata before setting the ball to Asahi, who tried to change his jump timing to deceive Nekoma's block. However, Nekoma didn't fall for Kageyama's fake, and after delaying his jump, Asahi leaped but noticed Kuroo wasn't affected by the timing change, jumping at the right moment to block Asahi.

"Don't try to use an unfinished play against me—I'm an expert at this!" Kuroo said as he felt Asahi's spike hit his hand and fly to the back of the court.

"Receive? No, I'll set!" Nishinoya thought as he saw the ball coming his way. Instead of his usual receive, he jumped before the court line to make a set.

"THERE IT IS! THE LIBERO'S CRAZY SET!" Bokuto said, impressed from the sidelines.

"HINATA!" Nishinoya called out, trying to set the ball to Hinata while in midair, sending it toward position four where Hinata was.

"Darn it!" Nishinoya thought as he noticed the ball fell short, almost going toward Asahi.

"Tsk!" Hinata said, jumping powerfully almost next to Asahi to spike the ball forcefully over Nekoma's block.

"Wow! He managed to hit it so hard in that situation... this kid's going to be a problem..." Kuroo thought.

"But not this time..." Kuroo said as he watched the scoreboard mark 25-17 for Nekoma, who had won the set against Karasuno.