Komori stared at the roaring stands and sucked in a breath.
This was incredible. The moment Ryosuke stepped onto the court, the cheers nearly blew the roof off the arena.
"Wow. This is almost as loud as when Bokuto played earlier."
Sakusa nodded proudly.
Of course it was. Ryosuke had always been the one everyone favored, ever since he was young.
Now, whenever Ryosuke stepped onto the court, people looked at him as though he were their savior, certain that he would lead the team to victory.
Ryosuke settled at the service line with one shoulder facing the net. He tossed the volleyball with his left hand, twisted through his waist, and struck it viciously with his right.
"Bang!"
Standing deep in the backcourt, Akagi had already broken into a cold sweat without realizing it.
The moment Ryosuke served, Akagi's entire body tensed. Knowing he might not be able to receive the ball but still having to try was an awful feeling.
The volleyball traced a wide arc over Shiratorizawa's court, spinning violently as it flew toward Inarizaki.
From Ryosuke's swing and the ball's general rotation, Akagi could roughly judge where it would land.
Judging it was one thing.
Actually receiving it was another.
I'll dive for it.
Akagi made up his mind.
A diving receive had looked easy enough during the previous set, so he would try it on the first serve and see whether it still worked.
Once he identified the landing point, Akagi sprinted toward it as the ball descended.
Just before it touched the floor, he launched himself forward.
"Thud!"
Akagi hit the court at the same moment the volleyball came down.
His palm lay flat against the floor, and the ball appeared ready to strike it.
Then, a split second before landing, it twisted away.
The volleyball slipped around his hand and hit the floor.
Akagi tried to adjust his palm, but there was no time.
It was the same problem Yamagata had encountered earlier. Aside from a forearm pass, every other receiving posture had one obvious weakness.
There was no time to adjust.
"Beep----------!"
"That was amazing!"
"Whoa!"
In the stands, Haruki Komi stared at Ryosuke with shining eyes.
That serve was incredible.
He wanted to try receiving it himself.
It was so cool.
Haruki Komi could hardly take his eyes off Ryosuke.
"Nice one! I knew Ryosuke could do it!"
Tsutomu Goshiki clenched his fists and cheered as though he had scored the point himself.
"That may be true, but you can't leave everything to Ryosuke. You'll put too much pressure on him."
Reon patiently instructed his inexperienced junior.
Tsutomu Goshiki nodded to show that he understood.
"Akagi, why did you dive for that?"
Aran couldn't understand Akagi's decision.
He could have received the ball with a forearm pass, which would have been much quicker and easier.
"Heh. I thought diving would be more accurate."
Akagi scratched his hair with an innocent grin.
Aran nodded thoughtfully.
Right.
A libero's logic could never be understood through ordinary reasoning.
Akagi wasn't upset about missing the serve.
He had already learned during the first set that the opposing middle blocker's serves were difficult to handle.
That was fine.
He would receive one eventually.
It was only a matter of time.
After using a couple of serves to warm up and get accustomed to the spin, he would manage it.
Ryosuke returned to the service line and raised the volleyball.
At that moment, he looked like an emotionless serving machine.
Sakusa watched Ryosuke standing there, pride filling his eyes.
He wanted to tell everyone around him to look.
That was the person he loved.
Ryosuke was shining.
To Sakusa, Ryosuke looked breathtaking whenever he played volleyball.
As Ryosuke tossed the ball, Sakusa's attention shifted toward it.
For now, watching Ryosuke serve was more important.
"Bang!"
Akagi had already taken his position in the backcourt.
This time, he chose a forearm pass.
Just as Aran had said, it would be easier to receive the ball that way.
Akagi was good at taking advice.
Once the serve left Ryosuke's hand, Akagi tracked its path.
When he saw it heading toward the left side of the court, he immediately ran after it.
Still, something felt strange.
Ryosuke had targeted him with the previous serve.
Why wasn't this one coming toward him?
Was this some new strategy?
After serving, Ryosuke felt slightly guilty.
He had made a mistake.
On the first serve, it had felt as though he had suddenly found the trick to controlling the landing point. He had deliberately sent the ball near Akagi.
Ryosuke had intended to do the same again.
Instead, his palm had brushed across the volleyball with a smaller contact area than before.
The mistake sent the ball away from the direction he had intended.
Akagi chased it desperately, his legs nearly giving out beneath him.
The ball had traveled much farther than expected.
He finally caught up just before it landed.
By then, it was already too late for a forearm pass, so Akagi had no choice but to abandon that plan.
He dove toward the landing point.
By sheer coincidence, the ball struck the back of his hand and barely rebounded into the air.
"Whoa!"
Atsumu Miya's eyes lit up.
He got it!
He actually got it!
That was amazing!
Atsumu Miya immediately raced toward the rising ball.
Akagi hurriedly scrambled to his feet.
He had really received it?
Even he found that hard to believe.
Aran, meanwhile, wore a complicated expression.
He had only just told Akagi that diving wouldn't work and that he should use a forearm pass.
Now Akagi had saved the ball with a dive.
That stung a little.
"Sorry! Sorry! That serve was my mistake!"
Ryosuke shouted his apology while moving into defense.
It was all his fault.
Had he not made that mistake, the serve would definitely have scored.
Damn it.
He had gotten careless.
"It's fine! Keep going on the next one!"
Reon shouted while running.
It was only one mistake.
There was nothing serious about that.
Ryosuke was already far better than Reon had been at the same stage, so Reon's expectations were nowhere near that unreasonable.
Coach Washijō, however, looked displeased from the sidelines.
A serving error?
Had Ryosuke grown complacent?
That wouldn't do.
He would need extra practice once they returned.
Even if Ryosuke was Coach Washijō's most cherished student, the coach never went easy on anyone when it came to additional training.
Tsutomu Goshiki and Ushijima had already begun their approaches for the next attack.
This time, Ryosuke didn't choose to mark Suna.
Instead, he studied Inarizaki's formation and tried to determine who would attack.
Seeing Ryosuke scanning the court, Suna immediately realized he was selecting a target to block.
Suna rushed toward him and tried once again to obstruct his vision.
But he was too late.
Ryosuke had already seen Atsumu Miya jump from the backcourt to set.
He immediately sprinted in the direction of the ball.
At that point, there was no use in Suna trying to shadow him.
He simply couldn't run as fast as Ryosuke.
Tsutomu Goshiki also saw the direction of Atsumu Miya's set.
He and Ryosuke both raced toward position two, where Osamu Miya was waiting.
Atsumu Miya had run deep into the backcourt to reach Akagi's receive, then sent a precise set all the way to Osamu Miya at the front of the net.
One of them had been near the back boundary.
The other was waiting at the net.
Atsumu Miya's setting accuracy was remarkable.
Before Osamu Miya could even jump, he saw two blockers rushing toward him.
Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki seemed to fly across the court and appear directly opposite him.
Osamu Miya raised an eyebrow in surprise, but there was no time to think.
Atsumu Miya's set had already arrived.
Hearing the ball approach, Osamu Miya jumped and swung.
He knew the attack would probably be blocked.
That was fine.
He had the strongest possible support behind him.
Seeing Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki's arms stretched across the net, Osamu Miya aimed for the outside edge of Ryosuke's arm.
The instant Ryosuke saw the ball coming toward him, he swept his arm sideways.
He met the spike perfectly.
"Thud!"
The volleyball struck Ryosuke's arm and rebounded toward Inarizaki's court.
It seemed ready to hit the floor.
Then Shinsuke Kita charged in from behind and threw himself forward, digging the ball before it could land.
The volleyball bounced upward.
Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki were still airborne.
Their eyes widened as they watched the ball rise again.
A faint smile appeared on Osamu Miya's lips.
"Thanks, Kita-senpai."
He spoke quickly, then jumped and slammed the overpass down.
"Bang!"
The volleyball struck the floor again.
Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki had no time to react.
"Beep-------------!"
The point went to Inarizaki.
Osamu Miya landed and high-fived Shinsuke Kita.
"Kita-senpai, you're amazing."
"You were amazing too."
Shinsuke Kita turned and smiled at him.
"Ah! Why did that happen? I checked! There wasn't anyone behind him! How did that happen?"
Tsutomu Goshiki clutched his head and wailed miserably.
The sight made Osamu Miya laugh.
He really did look like a child.
"It's okay. It's okay. We'll take the next point back."
Ryosuke bent over awkwardly and tried to comfort him.
Tsutomu Goshiki immediately wailed even louder.
Reon walked over, rolled his eyes, and dragged Tsutomu Goshiki away by the arm.
He knew exactly what the brat was doing.
Tsutomu Goshiki wasn't upset at all.
He was only putting on a noisy performance.
Caught in the act, Tsutomu Goshiki looked up and grinned ingratiatingly.
He had only thought Ryosuke looked funny while trying to comfort him, so he decided to tease him.
He hadn't expected Reon-senpai to expose him so quickly.
It was a little embarrassing.
Seeing Tsutomu Goshiki smiling, Ryosuke's eyes curved helplessly.
Forget it.
As long as Tsutomu Goshiki wasn't genuinely upset, that was enough.
Osamu Miya and Shinsuke Kita returned to their positions.
Osamu Miya would serve next.
Before walking to the line, Osamu Miya glanced at Shinsuke Kita.
It felt as though Shinsuke Kita's presence alone gave him endless courage.
As long as Shinsuke Kita was there, Osamu Miya never had to worry about a ball being lost.
Shinsuke Kita would always be behind him, ready to save it.
He was Inarizaki's greatest support.
The libero was the foundation of a team.
Their magnificent captain was something different.
The entire Inarizaki team revolved around Shinsuke Kita.
He was the team's core.
Osamu Miya stood at the service line.
Yamagata looked up at him with fresh confusion.
What was going on?
Why did Osamu Miya's presence feel different every time he prepared to serve?
Did his intensity increase in stages?
Did Osamu Miya have some kind of activation system?
All sorts of ridiculous thoughts ran through Yamagata's head.
Osamu Miya had already tossed the volleyball.
He followed it with several running steps, then jumped when it reached the right height.
His palm struck the ball with tremendous force.
"Bang!"
Yamagata raised an eyebrow.
Was that serve really this powerful?
The volleyball came at them fiercely, crossing into Shiratorizawa's court in the blink of an eye.
It continued flying forward at tremendous speed, looking as though it might sail out of bounds.
Yamagata ran toward its path.
At first, he didn't realize it might go out.
But when he reached his predicted receiving position, the ball was still traveling forward.
Something was wrong.
For a moment, Yamagata didn't know whether to receive it.
His instincts as a libero told him not to touch a ball that would go out.
Yet part of him refused to believe the serve would actually miss the court.
He froze.
Yamagata closed his eyes briefly.
When he opened them, his resolve had returned.
He couldn't doubt his own judgment.
If the serve was out, then it was out.
Even if his call proved wrong, at least he had made a decision.
The only thing more embarrassing than making the wrong call was being too afraid to make one.
"Out!"
Yamagata decisively called the ball out.
Everyone stopped the moment they heard him and turned to watch whether the serve would land outside the court.
Osamu Miya clenched his fists.
He was worried the serve hadn't come off properly.
What if it went out?
The volleyball continued flying rapidly.
Just before crossing the boundary, it lost speed.
Then it dropped directly onto the line.
"Thud!"
"Beep----------!"
The point was valid.
The serve had landed in.
Only after hearing the whistle did Osamu Miya finally relax.
"What a spectacular serve onto the line! It appears Inarizaki's Osamu Miya can place his serves directly on the boundary and has successfully scored a point! But that raises a question. Why didn't Osamu Miya use this technique during the first set? Was he holding back?"
The commentator voiced the question everyone was wondering.
Of course, this wasn't an interview.
Even if someone asked Osamu Miya directly, he wouldn't answer.
"Nice one, Samu!"
Atsumu Miya cheered and ran over, wrapping an arm around Osamu Miya's neck.
That had been incredible.
As expected of Atsumu Miya's younger brother.
Osamu Miya expertly shrugged Atsumu Miya's arm off his shoulders once again.
"Nice one, Samu."
Shinsuke Kita also came over and praised him.
Osamu Miya immediately felt vindicated.
Of course.
There was no way he would lose to that unreliable idiot of an older brother.
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
p-@-treon/GhostParser (40 Chapters Ahead)
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.