Karasuno 2 : 1 Wakutani.
With the opening surprise attack of the Quick Attack and Ichinose Guren's outrageous, gravity-defying block kill, Karasuno once again seized the momentum of the entire arena right from the start.
"Hey, let's go look over there!"
"Huh? Why? What's there to see?"
"Someone just hit at 3.55 meters over there."
"No way. Didn't someone say earlier that Karasuno's #15 hitting at 3.50m was the tournament's highest already?"
"I swear on my dog it's true. That same guy just broke the tournament's height record again."
"...Okay, now I have to see this. There's no way the naked eye is that accurate."
"Go look first, judge later."
Spectators pushed and pulled each other as they rushed to Karasuno vs. Wakutani's court.
Meanwhile, on the court, Wakutani's players wore dark, strained expressions.
It wasn't for lack of resilience,
Ichinose's impossible interception earlier had simply been too devastating.
As Wakutani's captain and senior ace, Nakashima Takeru had spent three years polishing his aerial combat technique.
To his teammates, he was someone who never lost in a one-on-one power play.
Last year in Spring High qualifiers, even when Wakutani lost to powerhouse Aoba Johsai, Nakashima still scored 16 points, the highest on his team.
Even when Aoba Johsai began shutting down Wakutani's team attacks with airtight blocks,
Nakashima's tool-out spike was the one technique that continued to break through.
He was, in their eyes, one of the strongest attackers in Miyagi Prefecture.
And yet,
This very ace, in the opening plays of today's match, had his signature, certain-kill spike blocked the first time Karasuno saw it.
Blocked in a way that didn't even look like blocking,
It looked like a jump from another dimension, a soaring reach high enough to be considered aerial reception.
The shock to Wakutani's morale was immeasurable.
But Nakashima Takeru was not someone defeated by a single point.
He walked past his stunned teammates,
WHAP. WHAP. WHAP.
smacking each of their backs, ignoring their dazed stares.
He grinned.
"Don't freeze up. That was just bad luck."
His words didn't quite convince even himself,
but his voice carried absolute certainty as he continued:
"From here on, "
"I won't get blocked again."
He met each teammate's wavering gaze, forcing his unwavering resolve into them.
"Hands in!"
They stacked their hands together one more time.
"Wakutani!!"
"LET'S GO!!!!"
Even though momentum had swung toward Karasuno,
Wakutani's eyes showed no intent to surrender.
They would fight to the very end.
And facing them, were black crows perched high upon the branches of an ancient tree, staring down.
Ready to tear them apart.
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With the serve rotating again, Hinata stepped up and sent a standard serve across.
Wakutani, with their defense-first identity, passed it easily.
Their setter, Hanayama Ichiya, unfazed by the previous block, immediately ran their multi-layered attack formation,
And once again, the set went to Nakashima.
But this time it wasn't a solo strike,
His teammates ran with him, sacrificing stamina for speed, enabling an even higher, heavier spike trajectory.
The ball tore past Karasuno's two-meter wall, off Baizawa's fingertips, and flew out of bounds.
A clean tool-out point.
Even Ichinose couldn't reach this one.
The ball thudded against the floorboards.
thunk… thunk… thunk
A signal of Wakutani's counteroffensive.
===========
From there,Hinata, Ichinose, Baizawa, Asahi, even Kageyama's second-touch attack and Daichi's line shots, all kept Karasuno scoring steadily.
But Wakutani, led by Nakashima's endurance, refused to let the score widen.
And Karasuno's depth was finally revealed.
When Coach Ukai noticed Baizawa's aerial agility lagging, he substituted in Tsukishima Kei,
Shorter reach, but far better mobility and timing.
Tsukishima's face upon hearing he'd be subbed in to deal with this style, was… beautiful.
He hated it.
But he still went.
I don't want to do this. But I'll do it anyway.
His job was simple:
Shut everyone else down.
And when facing Nakashima,
just don't get tooled.
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Wakutani's reception ability was so high that they became only the second team after Nekoma to quickly adjust to Ichinose's serve.
And since the match wasn't at deuce point, Ichinose's Clutch Server ability wasn't triggered.
Even so, his serve was still powerful, but simply at the same level as Kageyama and below absolute national elites.
The moment Nakashima successfully received Ichinose's serve,
Wakutani proved they were still very much alive.
===========
After a grueling, relentless rally that drained both sides,
Karasuno 23 : 21 Wakutani.
Exhausted breaths filled the court.
Every player bent over, hands on knees.
A brief pause, a precious oasis.
But Karasuno's bench depth was far superior.
Ukai made substitutions without hesitation.
Kageyama, Hinata, Ichinose remained.
Hoshino substituted for Daichi.
Tanaka for Asahi.
Tsukishima stayed, Baizawa didn't have to return yet.
Karasuno was not yet the absolute strongest team in Miyagi,
But in terms of stamina, they were unmatched.
Ichinose, Kageyama, Hinata, Nishinoya, four players with Max stamina.
Tanaka wasn't far behind.
Wakutani, in contrast, had only one max-endurance player: Nakashima.
As the match hit late-set fatigue, the difference became painfully clear.
Hoshino received the weakened spike with ease.
He even had time to glance at the attacker.
The power… dropped.
No, our power looked weak before because Daichi-senpai was also exhausted.
Now that I'm fresh, I can feel the difference.
Ichinose leapt again, high, higher, and hammered another unstoppable spike.
The ball deflected off Nakashima's arm and hit the floor.
Karasuno 24 : 21 Wakutani.
Karasuno had set point.
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria