It was Kurata.
Compared to the others in the volleyball club, Kurata Cat was the type of player who had absolutely no innate talent for, nor much interest in, volleyball.
Initially, Kurata joined the volleyball club for a simple reason: he wasn't interested in any other club, but the school mandated that every student participate in one. After much deliberation, he simply ended up in the volleyball club.
Once in the club, given his height and physical build, the only suitable position for him was Libero.
And so, after training throughout his first and second years, Kurata became a starter from his third year.
Kurata was not an exceptionally strong player, but he had never slackened off in training. After an entire set of adaptation, Kurata finally found the rhythm of Kitagawa Daiichi's quick attack.
...
The volleyball bounced high into the sky.
Mishita Ryuhei immediately shouted excitedly, "Great ball! Well done, Kurata!"
"Block them!"
Seeing their quick attack, close to set point, saved by the opponent, Kageyama Tobio's expression changed dramatically, and he yelled.
With that, he was the first to rush to the net, leaping high to face Akashi, stretching his hands toward the sky with effort.
In the next second, a massive shadow covered his vision. Akashi, suspended in mid-air, was jumping about half a palm higher than Kageyama Tobio. His shoulders and calves were pulled back, and the taut muscle lines highlighted through his uniform demonstrated his astonishing power.
BAM!
His right arm swung toward Kageyama Tobio. The volleyball, shot out with force, crashed into Kageyama Tobio's fingers, then effortlessly broke through the resistance and smashed onto the floor.
BEEP!
The referee blew the whistle.
24:22.
Senkoku reached set point first.
After landing, the two stood facing each other across the net, both expressionless. However, Kageyama Tobio's lowered hands were tightly clenched into fists, not releasing even when the veins bulged and his knuckles turned white.
Senkoku continued to serve.
This ball flew over and Kitagawa Daiichi successfully found an opportunity, launching a counterattack against Senkoku, pulling the score back to 24:23.
But immediately on the next ball, Kitagawa Daiichi served, and Senkoku successfully received and organized a fluid attack, scoring the point.
25:23.
Senkoku took the first set.
Kitagawa Daiichi's Internal Issues
During the break, the atmosphere on the Senkoku side, while not entirely relaxed and casual, was pleasant and harmonious.
However, the atmosphere at Kitagawa Daiichi was clearly tense. Even when they were at a disadvantage earlier, the team mood had never been this icy.
Kindaichi and Kunimi Akira were a small, unified group.
The other members of the volleyball club gathered with the captain, chatting among themselves.
Only Kageyama Tobio sat alone on a chair, drinking water with a gloomy expression.
A team of only six players was rigidly split into three factions.
The Kitagawa Daiichi coach's face was faintly green. Although he had noticed some problems within the team before, he never imagined it would escalate to this extent.
But even if he wanted to resolve it now, it wasn't the best time. After a moment of thought, the Kitagawa Daiichi coach began:
"Kageyama, you need to pay more attention to your teammates' State in the second set. The most crucial part of the game is not your individual technique; it's enabling your teammates to perform effectively. You..."
"I know!"
Kageyama Tobio interrupted the coach loudly and impatiently before he could finish.
The Kitagawa Daiichi coach saw this, took a deep breath, and was about to continue speaking.
But just then, the referee's whistle sounded. Kageyama Tobio immediately stood up and walked toward the court.
The second set began.
The Second Set Escalation
The starting serve was by a Kitagawa Daiichi player.
After the short break, the physical condition of both teams' players had slightly recovered, and the rhythm of offense and defense stabilized once more.
In other words, it reverted to the back-and-forth battle seen at the start of the first set.
Kitagawa Daiichi served first, so they lost the first point.
1:0.
Then the serve rotated to Senkoku, and Senkoku lost a point.
1:1.
After several rotations of the serve, they finally reached Kageyama Tobio and Akashi's serves.
However, neither player seemed to have regained their serving form. Kageyama Tobio's high-speed jump serve went directly into the net. Akashi's serve did make it over, but it was barely over the net and lacked sufficient power or speed.
The score progressed until 11:11.
The Senkoku players' physical condition began to decline, and this time, the decline was more severe than at the end of the first set.
Before, it was mere fatigue, but this was genuine physical exhaustion. This level of exhaustion could not be recovered from with a brief rest.
However, Shimokawa Sando did not call a timeout.
Because while the Senkoku players' condition was declining, their morale was growing stronger.
Conversely, while the Kitagawa Daiichi players maintained relatively better physical stamina, the problems on their side were clearly more severe than Senkoku's.
Almost from the start of the second set, Kageyama Tobio's setting speed had been constantly increasing. Initially, the Kitagawa Daiichi members could barely keep up, but as the match continued, their spikers had made several consecutive errors.
Although Senkoku later reciprocated with several technical errors of their own, preventing the score from widening, the issue facing Kitagawa Daiichi was clearly far more serious than a simple score difference.
The Kitagawa coach called a timeout.
It was difficult to hear the discussion clearly from the Senkoku side, but judging from the faint sounds and their expressions, Kageyama Tobio and the coach were likely in some form of intense dispute.
After the timeout ended, the match resumed.
The Senkoku players judged from the expressions on the Kitagawa Daiichi players' faces that the timeout had not solved the problem; in fact, it seemed to have made the atmosphere even worse.
The first ball after the timeout.
Kageyama Tobio served. Perhaps as a tactic set during the timeout, Kageyama Tobio did not use his high-speed jump serve but instead suddenly served a standard ball with an extremely tricky landing spot.
The sudden change did cause some confusion for Senkoku.
But they managed to barely organize a high set to Akashi. Facing a triple block, Akashi executed a tight diagonal spike, helping Senkoku regain the lead.
12:11.
"Tsk, this guy is unreal. The match is already this far along, and he can still maintain that height and power. Doesn't his stamina run out?" the Kitagawa Daiichi captain complained bitterly.
After regaining the serve, Senkoku rotated positions, bringing Akashi to Position 1.
Seeing this, the players at the net silently covered the backs of their heads and moved aside.
Tapping the ball on the floor a few times, Akashi took a deep breath and exhaled. Once his mind was calm, he gently tossed the volleyball high into the air, took a few steps to approach, and fearlessly leaped into the sky...