Haikyuu: I Grind To Beat My Genius Twin Brother

"And you, as a setter, having 94 in setting is one thing, but 94 in receiving too? What the hell?!"

"Can't you even set properly? If not, go be a libero!"

Yuma Kikuzawa: ferocious face jpg.

Yuma Kikuzawa considered himself extremely hardworking. Compared to normal peers his age, he was indeed outstanding - this could be seen by looking at Kindaichi and Kunimi's stats.

[Yutaro Kindaichi, 16 years old, 189.2cm, 74.3kg, reach 332cm, power 70, speed 65, stamina 85, intelligence 50, spike 76, set 55, serve 62, block 85, receive 63]

[Hideaki Kunimi, 15 years old, 182.8cm, 66.1kg, reach 320cm, power 67, speed 68, stamina 66, intelligence 91, spike 81, set 70, serve 70, block 75, receive 70]

For first-year high school students, having one or two physical attributes or skills above 80 already indicated talented potential.

But that damn Yuuki had a full 8 stats over 80! And 6 of those were over 90! Six! What kind of concept was that?!

Even Yuma's father, a retired athlete, only had 5 stats over 90.

"I can't sit still anymore, I need to keep training!"

Yuma Kikuzawa sprang up from the bench.

Every extra minute of rest made him feel another layer of shadow creeping over his back.

"Yuma-chan, done resting already?" Oikawa hadn't even sat down yet when he saw his diligent junior eagerly picking up a volleyball.

"Not really, I want to practice how to consistently spike perfectly even when exhausted."

Yuma clenched his fists. He had little hope for his stamina - his whole family had poor endurance. No matter how much they trained since childhood, their physical abilities barely improved. Probably genetic.

PS: Only grinding points from endurance training could improve stamina.

"I'll set for you."

Yuuki naturally followed his brother.

...Maybe you should keep resting.

Yuma really wanted to push Yuuki back onto the bench by his shoulders, but seeing those eager puppy-dog eyes, he ultimately couldn't refuse his little brother's "kindness."

Boom...!

"Next one!"

Boom...!

"Next one!"

Boom...!

"Next one!"

The rhythmic sound of spikes echoed through the gym again as the Kikuzawa brothers maintained a rapid pace, each spike heavy and steady.

Yuuki set from various angles, each ball like it had GPS navigation, perfectly reaching Yuma's highest hitting point at just the right distance for full-power swings.

Meanwhile, Yuma practiced spike precision while maintaining power, landing balls in sequence on positions 1, 2, 3, 4... repeating the cycle.

After just an hour of practice, the volleyball team members who had barely warmed their benches watched helplessly as these two overachievers blasted ball after ball across the court.

Each spike hitting the floor made their hearts tremble, gradually breaking them into cold sweats.

"We can't keep sitting!"

Oikawa too was fired up by their relentless drive. Throwing down his towel, he leapt up. "We already lost one match - if we can't even match their training intensity, how can we seniors maintain our dignity? Iwa-chan, let's go! Practice time!"

"Didn't need you to tell me!"

Flames of determination burning behind them, Oikawa and Iwaizumi grabbed volleyballs and joined the battle.

"Yahaba-senpai, could you set for us? We want to keep training too."

Kindaichi looked at the twitching Yahaba with starry eyes.

Affected by the overachievers' energy, soon the entire volleyball team couldn't sit still either, returning to the court with bitter expressions.

Coach Irihata sat sipping tea, remarking: "Ah, youth... good, young people should be energetic."

Team manager Mizoguchi: "..."

...

Yuma spiked ball after ball, feeling like his arms no longer belonged to him.

He kept glancing at Yuuki, seeing him equally breathless and drenched in sweat, clearly nearing exhaustion - yet that damn setting accuracy never wavered!

Every ball still came perfectly to Yuma's hand. Yuuki even noticed his hitting point gradually lowering and "thoughtfully" adjusted the set height down accordingly, continuing to deliver each ball with pinpoint accuracy!

Damn it! Who do you think you're looking down on?!

Yuma increased his approach distance, jumping with all his might to raise his hitting point again.

Boom!

The volleyball arrived perfectly under his hand again, position exact.

Not the slightest disturbance from the sudden rhythm change.

Rising when needed, lowering when needed, every set reaching the hitter's maximum reach. The terrifying precision made it feel like his thoughts were being read - this was Yuuki's setting.

Face numb, Yuma landed silently, stepped back silently, approached silently, jumped silently, preparing to spike another of Yuuki's chillingly perfect sets.

Whack!

Volleyball met cheekbone with a crisp sound.

"OW—!"

The ball flew far across the court, landing perfectly in a stunned Kindaichi's arms, while victim Yuma collapsed blank-eyed on the floor.

"Yuma-chan—!"

"Yuma-kun!"

"Are you okay?!"

Everyone crowded around, helping the stiff Yuma up.

Who am I? Where am I? What hit me?

Yuma dumbly touched his right cheek, blinking repeatedly before turning an utterly shocked gaze toward the completely innocent-looking (expressionless) Yuuki.

"YUUUKI—!"

His voice nearly cracked.

"You let a volleyball hit my face?!"

Yuma was indignant, furious, disbelieving.

He refused to believe someone with 94 setting could accidentally hit someone's face.

This little brat definitely did it on purpose!

Yuuki lowered his head: "Sorry, I spaced out."

Yuma exploded, jumping up to grab Yuuki's collar: "Who'd believe that?!"

"Hold him back!"

"Yuma-chan calm down! It must be a misunderstanding!"

Restrained by Oikawa (power 92) and Iwaizumi (power 94) on either side, Yuma's 89 power couldn't break free.

"Really was an accident. Sorry." Yuuki showed no concern about receiving some "loving discipline" from his dear brother, tone still ice-cold. "I heard a cat and didn't notice the ball's direction."

Yuuki wasn't one to lie. Yuma calmed somewhat, mostly believing him.

After much deliberation - torn between brotherly forgiveness and indignation for his poor face - he could only threaten weakly: "...You owe me your pudding."

Seeing Yuma was fine, the team relaxed and began questioning Yuuki.

"Cat sounds? Where?"

"Outside the gym? I didn't hear anything."

Yuuki: "..." Didn't want to talk to others.

After prolonged silence, Yuma smacked the back of Yuuki's head.

"Sorry, my brother's socially awkward. He's actually a good kid."

Watari suddenly raised his hand from the crowd's edge.

"I think I heard a cat too."

Yahaba: "Where?"

"Meow—"

All eyes turned toward the equipment room.

Iwaizumi took the lead, opening the equipment room's tightly shut door and turning on the light, revealing a calico cat curled in a corner behind stacked mats.

Hanamaki: "A kitten! So tiny!"

Matsukawa: "Don't crowd it, you'll scare it."

The group surged in, blocking the doorway.

"Let me see, let me see!"

Yuma weaved through to the front, squatting down to meet the kitten's round eyes.

"So small! So cute! So fluffy!"

Kindaichi: "Ahh it's hiding further back!"

Terrified by the strange two-legged creatures, the kitten flattened its ears and retreated deeper between mats and wall.

"I got this, I know how to approach animals."

Confident, Yuma squatted and started making "tsk tsk" sounds.

"Yuma-chan that's for dogs! Won't work on cats. Let the great Oikawa conquer it with charisma!"

Oikawa pushed the eager Yuma aside, smugly flipping his hair with what he thought was a gentle smile, pitching his voice higher with "here kitty kitty."

To the calico, this was a giant creature making strange noises. One two-leg in front, many behind - everywhere two-legs!

For a small, helpless kitten, this was terrifying.

The frightened cat suddenly darted out, kicking off Oikawa's thigh with surprising force, leaping over his head.

No one expected this. Off-balance, Oikawa staggered sideways.

Yuma looked horrified, reaching to steady the falling Oikawa but overestimating his strength against Oikawa's weight.

"Ah—!"

"Ow—!"

Two miserable cries as both went down.

___________________________________________

To read 40 advanced chapters you can visit my Patreon:"https://patreon.com/Excaliburs''