Phantom Opera: White Soliloquy

I was positioned as a left hitter starting in the front line. Interestingly I had found that Kamoshida-sensei had also followed me into the same role. A mirror match of sorts. Well, if I was the so-called echo fighter then I'm severely under-levelled. 

Not that the positions matter much at all, we would be rotating each and every point we made...

Wait actually scratch that, positions might be vital. Will we even score once whilst we're serving? It can't be that one-sided, can it?

Speaking of serving, Suzui was in the setter position at the back right of the court. Having the utmost privilege of serving first in the match, I know I don't want to be in that situation.

To my right was Mishima, apparently, we were trying with a good initial lineup, otherwise we might not score at all. This way we had the majority of the tall students in the front row. Mishima in the middle hitter position and Ishida on the very right position, the third tallest in our lineup. He was also the (quite unreliable) setter when Suzui was on the backline, although with his height he might be a better blocker and hitter. But who am I to say?

Directly behind me stood Takakura and to his right Matsumoto. Until finally ending back up at Suzui.

Honestly, I had my misgivings with this team. Or rather, why did Mishima pick these four particularly? It didn't seem as if he gave it much mind beforehand. And there were other club members ready, all of which were now sat with the rest of my new classmates to watch.

The sound of a ball impacting against flesh fully kicked me out of my thoughts. The serve had commenced and now the enemy team was alive. The middle player received it, signalling for clear space, perfectly the ball was placed above the setters head. And just as cleanly the ball was flung to the left wing where the giant stood before me. Or did. Before I could recognise the movement, he was already airborne, hammering down with the battering ram of an arm straight towards the ground. Crap, need to jump. Nope, no use. Too late.

The texture of the ball burned against the small fraction of my digits which skimmed the trajectory. All for naught, the ball sped past as if I weren't there. Out of bounds. Nonetheless their point. A fierce glint in his eye as he lands, his gaze focused on the fingers of my left hand. Those that were the only obstacle to his point.

"There it is! The god spike!"

"Nice receive, Akko!"

"Jesus, still crazy no matter how many times I see it!"

The crowd was going wild over the spike, and a few cheers for the supporting members of that team. They were known names, most students in my class weren't club members though. I take it they were friends, or are the members of the other team regulars?

"A bit too slow, Ayanokouji. Not a bad try, though." There he goes. At least I can gather my bearings whilst he's on the backline now.

Horikita had once jokingly insisted I become a phantom member of a sports club to increase funding. Honestly, I wish those were the type of club members I was facing. Even this early on it was obvious. Their team had good foundational skill and most importantly communication. Ours in comparison was lacking to say the least. No matter, this is only the first point.

Seeing as we had served, the possession switched, and our formation remained the same whilst they rotated. Their turn to serve. What exactly should we be expecti...?

Before I could even finish my thought pattern a strange serve came into the middle of the court. Not particularly powerful, but right between Mishima and Ishida. On the cusp where either could try to receive but enough so that the other would be in their zone of influence. Riding the boundary made it so neither could do much of anything. One of them had to assert control, yet that moment refused to come. Not a problem now, but indicative of a greater issue...

That's another point to them. If they continue that pattern it won't be good for us though. It's very easy for momentum to lead a team to victory. 

Another simple serve comes into the front area, this time between me and Mishima. 

"I've got it." I say that but receiving still feels awkward, I can't completely control the direction or force of my desires. That being the case I still try and get the ball above the setter's head. That being Ishida in the left wing. Hopefully he can see it, I still have my doubts with that haircut.

Beyond my expectations he meets the trajectory of the ball and propels it to above Mishima's head who awaits the prospective set. Alas, too obvious. All three front-liners meet him in the air completely shutting out the possible point. After landing he looked as dispirited as when I had first met him.

Needless to say, the ball returned to the opposition for another serve. I had prepared to receive the ball once again only to notice that it had landed in the back line this time, right towards Suzui. She received the serve but was out of position to set leaving Ishida as the only option. The individual currently in mind ran under the ball and finally flung it in my direction, no cue by any means. All I can do is jump. The lack of syncopation between myself and the setter led to a lacking connection, easily thwarted by my personal blocker. I attempted to rebound after the block, but it quickly went awry and no-one else managed to keep it afloat. The ball once again dropped on our side of the court.

"Ooh! Nice block Dai!" One of the girls practically plastered to Kamoshida earlier cheered.

Four points, that was all they had scored. But that momentum alone is enough to break the will of players. The assuredness of those points is also a factor, each and every one was deliberate. It wasn't a point by mistake, fluke or relying on an enemies weakness. These are points that they could score at any time. The first spike from Kamoshida-sensei was indicative of that.

"Oi, don't you feel embarrassed? Seriously, why are you even playing is this a joke?" The blocker chided me.

"We're up against an Olympian, give me a break." The result is obvious to any spectator.

"Whether coach's on our team or not the result would be the same." Not disputing that, really.

"Maybe, maybe not. Either way, this is just a practice match. Simply a bit of fun, I intend to take it as such."

"Whilst you have your 'fun', I'll be here to block every single one of those pathetic spikes. Please do tell me how much you enjoyed it after." My resignation to respond was apparently taken as an invitation for more prodding. 

"Man, I feel sorry for Shiho, God knows she could use some company better than you cucks. I can only imagine how unlucky she is, getting on your sorry ass team." Sneering he went back to focusing on the game. I'm not particularly familiar with whatever he was saying, though. I got the vague feeling of hostility akin to Housen. Whatever he said, I'm sure it wasn't a compliment.

The next serve came in. This time straight towards me, in a reasonable spot and not too much power. Are they probing? Either way, it's too good an opportunity to give up. Straight to Ishida, back to me. I ran and jumped with all my strength, throwing my arm back to deliver a powerful blow into the blocker's hands. There he was ready at the perfect timing, he watched and waited, jumping at the optimal height. The only factors he had to adjust for were the direction and power. Well, if I were going to shoot.

I let the power I had built dissipate as I rotated clockwise towards the setter, using my right hand I dumped the ball directly behind me, over the net and right beside my friendly blocker. Just in bounds.

"You're right, that was pretty fun." His face proceeded to boil after that. Before he could get whatever words were threatening to come out, he looked towards Kamoshida-sensei who already had his eyes trained in our direction. Immediately giving up on retaliating and resigning to simply stare at me. Either way that's the end of our so-called rivalry for now, after all I'll be on the back line until we score again... This isn't going to be the only point we get, surely?