The volleyball flew straight over the net. Haruki Komi chased after it at once. The spin on the ball was extremely obvious, and it was moving fast, as if it was about to smash the floor to pieces.
Haruki Komi ran so fast that his legs almost did not feel like his own anymore.
The volleyball's path slowly dipped. This ball was about to hit the floor, and Haruki Komi could see he was not going to make it in time.
He was frantic, wishing he could just fly over there.
Seeing that the volleyball was still some distance away, Haruki Komi gritted his teeth.
If he could not catch up by running, then he would roll over and receive it.
He bent down and flipped into a somersault on the floor, then immediately followed it with a dive, stretching his arms as far as possible and covering the spot where he thought the volleyball would land.
"Bang!"
Everyone could only see Haruki Komi roll across the floor in a mess, then throw himself forward to receive the ball.
The spectators had thought this ball was definitely done for. They never expected him to actually get it up in the end.
"That was amazing!"
"So cool!"
"Aaaaaah!"
The spectators in the stands screamed at the thrilling save, then cheered again when they saw the volleyball had been kept alive. Everyone loved watching that kind of last-second escape from a desperate situation.
Haruki Komi lifted his arms with all his strength and swung them hard backward, making sure the ball could be sent back into the court behind him.
Keiji Akaashi ran toward the ball Haruki Komi had saved, then jumped into the air and held it with both hands.
He had to end Kamomedai's serving rotation. Keiji Akaashi thought so in his heart.
Then, without hesitation, he set the ball to Bokuto once again.
The last ball had indeed failed to score, but Bokuto's mood had not changed much. Keiji Akaashi believed that Bokuto would definitely take this point back. He was the super ace, Kōtarō Bokuto.
Bokuto did not need Keiji Akaashi to call him. He knew this ball was definitely meant for him. Because he had failed to score on the last ball, Keiji Akaashi would keep setting to him until he scored smoothly.
Bokuto charged out from position six at the diagonal rear. Konoha followed behind him as usual to cover the attack. He was worried that Bokuto might get too fired up and have his spike blocked dead by the other side. That was something no one wanted to see.
This time, the one blocking was Hirugami again. It was as if he had locked onto Bokuto, wanting to shut down every single one of Bokuto's spikes. A block point would be best, but even a touch would do if he could not manage that.
Suwa was worried Hirugami could not stop Bokuto alone, so he also ran over to form a two-man block.
Although Hirugami was already incredibly strong in his eyes, smarter and better than every junior he knew, he did not think Bokuto had no way at all to deal with Hirugami. Those years of matches had not been played for nothing.
Bokuto jumped, raised his hand, and prepared to spike. Then he found Hirugami's arm blocking his view. Bokuto glanced at Hirugami in midair, then grinned, showing a flash of white teeth. In the next second.
"Bang!!"
Hirugami was confused for a moment by Bokuto's smile, but in the very next second, he felt a tremendous force strike his arm.
The sheer power bent Hirugami's arm slightly, and his expression twisted. His arms were thrown a little out of control, and the volleyball forced a gap between them. It shot straight through the space between his arms.
Then it landed with another "bang!"
"Beep-------------!"
"Keiji Akaashi!"
The moment Bokuto landed, he turned his head. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Keiji Akaashi, clearly asking him for praise. That excitement was just like a child who had finished sweeping the floor for their parents, feeling as if they had accomplished something incredible, then puffing out their chest and waiting to be praised.
Keiji Akaashi was still standing there in a daze. Bokuto tilted his head in confusion.
"Keiji Akaashi?"
The stray tuft of hair on his head even swayed twice.
Before Keiji Akaashi could say anything, Konoha rushed over and hugged Bokuto.
"That was amazing, Bokuto! What was that? What was that?! Super Invincible Thunder Little Whirlwind?"
Bokuto peeled Konoha off himself, then nodded very perfunctorily, his eyes still constantly glancing toward Keiji Akaashi.
Washio held back a laugh as he walked over to Keiji Akaashi.
"Keiji Akaashi, if you don't praise Bokuto soon, he might start crying."
Keiji Akaashi did not know whether to laugh or cry at Washio's words, then shouted loudly to Bokuto,
"Bokuto-senpai! That ball was really cool!"
After hearing Keiji Akaashi's praise, Bokuto's eyes burst with such brilliant light that it almost burned a hole through Keiji Akaashi. Even his hair seemed to perk up with excitement.
"Hey, hey, hey! I knew I was the strongest!"
Only then was Bokuto in the mood to answer Konoha's earlier question, words spilling out of his mouth in a rush.
"That wasn't Super Invincible Thunder Little Whirlwind. That ball is called Lightning Spike! It's a new move I came up with. Listen, you do it like this..."
After he finished, Bokuto still had to add one more thing to Konoha.
"Keiji Akaashi just praised me, you know."
Having received Keiji Akaashi's approval, Bokuto now looked like a peacock with its tail fully spread, showing off so much he could barely contain himself. If the referee had not warned him with his eyes several times, Bokuto probably would have gone around telling everyone one by one,
"Keiji Akaashi just praised me."
See? There he went again.
Bokuto stood in position three at the net, then spotted Hoshiumi and said it again while bobbing his head around.
Hoshiumi's mouth twitched. Who wanted to hear that? So childish.
Then, huffing in anger, he turned his gaze toward Kazuyoshi Bessho, his eyes accusing him of not praising him.
For a moment, it was hard to tell which of them was more childish.
Kazuyoshi Bessho, who had been inexplicably scolded by Hoshiumi's gaze, felt completely innocent. What was wrong with Hoshiumi? Was he in a bad mood? Right, Bokuto was standing across from him now, so it was normal for him to be unhappy.
Hirugami had rotated to the back now, and his eyes were fixed tightly on Bokuto. His arm was still tingling uncontrollably. The power of that last ball had gone far beyond his expectations. It was already on par with Ushijima's spike, and it even felt like it might have surpassed Ushijima's level...
Hirugami fell silent for a while, his arm still burning. He regretted his carelessness just now. After being opponents for two years, he should have known long ago that Bokuto was no easy opponent. He had still been a little too careless.
Because Bokuto had scored in this rally, the serve passed to Fukurōdani. Keiji Akaashi took the volleyball and walked to the service area. This rally would be his serve.
Everyone watched intently, waiting to see what would happen next in the match.
Up in the stands, the group from Inarizaki had already finished their match and slipped in at some point.
Shinsuke Kita led everyone through the stands, looking for seats. Unfortunately, the stands were already packed, and there was not a single empty spot left.
Atsumu Miya huffed impatiently.
"It's just one match. Do this many people really have to show up?"
The moment Atsumu Miya said that, Osamu Miya rolled his eyes.
"Then what are you here for? There are only so many chances to watch a match like this. We might not even get to see one again."
And that was the truth. Matches like this were rare. By the time it came down to the later schools in the tournament, their overall strength was usually high, creating a steep gap between them and the schools below. The strong gathered with the strong, and the weak fell behind in groups.
What made this match so exciting was the third-years and some of the second-years. Next year, the third-years would graduate, and no one knew what level the players who came up afterward would reach. Once the third-years graduated, most of them would join professional teams, the national team, or clubs. The chances of them gathering again to play a match were already slim, let alone on a stage like the Tokyo Gymnasium.
This year's matches really were the most exciting in recent years. Talented players kept appearing one after another, each with their own style. Pick any one of them at random, and you could probably find a page on them in Volleyball Weekly. Even if there was no page, most spectators would still know who they were.
No wonder Inarizaki's coach had sighed when he saw the schedule.
"This generation really deserves to be called the era of monsters. The third-years are all strong players, and the second-years behind them aren't inferior either. Even this year's first-years have plenty of rising talents. You don't see a scene like this in the volleyball world very often."
His tone had been both nostalgic and emotional.
Atsumu Miya choked on Osamu Miya's words, then, unusually, did not argue back. Atsumu Miya was the kind of person who was stubborn to the end. Even if the sky fell, his mouth would be there holding it up.
Shinsuke Kita looked left and right, but truly could not find anywhere to sit. In the end, he could only say helplessly,
"There are no seats. We'll stand and watch."
"Aaaah~"
Atsumu Miya opened his mouth and complained, his voice stretching into a whining rise and fall.
Shinsuke Kita glanced at Atsumu Miya, and Atsumu Miya immediately went silent, not saying another word.
At that moment, Ren Ōmimi, who had been looking around, spotted the Shiratorizawa group sitting on someone else's bench below and said in surprise,
"Shiratorizawa's match is over too. Looks like we really are playing them this afternoon."
Osamu Miya quietly muttered,
"With Shiratorizawa's strength, it'd be stranger if our afternoon opponent wasn't them."
But Atsumu Miya's focus was not on that. He clung to the railing, staring straight down.
"Why do they have somewhere to sit?"
The look in Atsumu Miya's eyes very clearly said, I want to sit there too!
Hearing that, Shinsuke Kita and the other players also leaned forward to look over there.
Meanwhile, Ryosuke, sitting below, felt something strange. He kept feeling like someone was watching him. Tendo sensed it too.
The two of them looked up together, following the source of the gaze, and saw a whole row of heads neatly lined up over the railing at the very top of the stands.
At first glance, the sight was honestly a little frightening.
Fortunately, it was broad daylight. If it had been night, there was no telling how badly Ryosuke would have been scared. Of course, even now, he had been scared plenty.
Ryosuke tucked his neck in and turned his face toward Tendo. Tendo rubbed Ryosuke's hair.
Then he narrowed his eyes and carefully looked upward. Once he focused, he realized it was the group from Inarizaki. Among them, Atsumu Miya's head of blond hair was especially flashy against the railing.
Tendo said to Ryosuke in a sour tone,
"Look over there. It's your Atsumu Miya-senpai."
Only after hearing that did Ryosuke poke his head back out and look up.
"Friends, looks like our opponent this afternoon is Inarizaki."
Tendo looked over there and said this in a voice that was neither too loud nor too quiet. Everyone turned to look at Tendo, then followed his gaze and saw the Inarizaki group leaning over there, staring in their direction. It looked like they had nowhere to sit.
Ushijima and Reon exchanged a look, then stood up at the same time, planning to go up and check the situation.
Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki also wanted to join the fun, but Reon rejected them with the excuse that there were too many people up there.
"They're coming over."
Michinari Akagi saw Ushijima and Reon coming up the stairs from that side of the stands.
Atsumu Miya quietly suggested,
"If they can sit over there, then we should be able to sit there too, right?"
"Probably not. That's another team's bench. What would it look like if we went over there?"
Ren Ōmimi looked completely opposed. Atsumu Miya turned around with a huff, then looked at Shinsuke Kita, trying to make him soften.
"Captain, we played all morning. I'm so tired. I want to sit down and watch the match too."
The moment Atsumu Miya started acting pitiful, Shinsuke Kita hesitated. He had originally thought that sitting on another team's bench would be very rude, but now that Shiratorizawa was already there, it probably was not that serious...
Just as he thought that, Ushijima and Reon had already crossed through the stands and found them.
"Long time no see. Looks like you won your match this morning?"
Reon smiled as he said this to Shinsuke Kita.
"We did. We'll be in your care this afternoon."
"We'll be in your care too."
Seeing the two of them still exchanging polite greetings, Atsumu Miya could not hold back anymore. He leaned right toward Reon and asked,
"Reon-senpai, we want to sit with you guys too!"
That one "Reon-senpai" left Reon stunned. After all, Atsumu Miya rarely called anyone senpai. Then Reon's expression turned a little hesitant.
"I don't know. We went straight to ask the two coaches. Why don't you go ask them too?"
Shinsuke Kita pulled Atsumu Miya back, then looked at everyone. Seeing that their faces all carried varying degrees of fatigue, he could only say,
"Then wait here for a bit. I'll go ask the two coaches."
"I'll go with you."
Aran stepped forward, preparing to go with Kita, but Shinsuke Kita firmly refused.
"No. You need to stay here and watch them. Don't let the twins cause trouble."
This was an extremely important task, and Aran immediately became serious.
"Don't worry. I'll keep a close eye on them."
Reon was a little curious. Just how annoying were these twins for Shinsuke Kita to take them this seriously? His own juniors really were better.
The group left the stands and headed straight for the two coaches.
Coach Takurō and Coach Aaron naturally had no objections. As had been said before, the kids of this generation had basically grown up under the eyes of the various coaches. Several schools often ran back and forth between each other for training camps, and Coach Aaron and the others really did treat everyone like children from their own schools.
"Reo Inube, go move over a few more long benches."
"Got it."
Reo Inube agreed immediately.
"Tsutomu Goshiki, you go too."
Coach Washijō also sent Tsutomu Goshiki along. Since they were sitting on someone else's territory, they could not just sit there and do nothing.
After getting permission, Shinsuke Kita went back and brought everyone over.
Then the whole group greeted one another with laughter and chatter. For a moment, the atmosphere seemed incredibly harmonious.
...
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