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After two consecutive rounds had passed, it seemed that the members of the volleyball club hadn’t been affected much.
Club activities continued as usual.
Yet, beneath this seemingly calm surface, it felt as though nothing had changed… and, at the same time, it was as though something had.
A week passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, it was Saturday again, and the volleyball club’s matches were still ongoing.
In the third round, Sengoku faced Tsuneiwa.
After two consecutive elimination rounds, most of the teams that had only entered the Prefectural Athletic Meet to make up the numbers had already been eliminated. The remaining teams were all fairly skilled.
Tsuneiwa Junior High School was not much stronger than Aota.
However, Aota’s defense was stronger, while Tsuneiwa’s offense was better.
This match ultimately turned into an all-out offensive battle. This was the first time that Sengoku Junior High School had played a full three-set match.
In the end, thanks to Asuto’s superior attacking power, Sengoku Junior High defeated their opponents 2–1 and successfully advanced to the next round.
After the match,
Everyone, including Coach Shimokawa Mitsuto, remained excited for quite a while.
This was because, according to the tournament progression, winning three consecutive rounds meant that Sengoku Junior High had advanced into the top 16 in the prefecture.
This result was already the best in the 13-year history of the Sengoku Junior High Volleyball Club.
In a sense, this generation of members had equalled the school’s record.
However, this excitement only lasted until the next morning. When the fourth-round matchups were announced, it felt as though a bucket of ice water had been poured over everyone’s heads, chilling them to the core.
Prefectural Athletic Meet – Round 4:
Sengoku vs. Kitagawa Daiichi
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“Cough, cough… Sorry, everyone. It seems my luck hasn’t been very good lately.”
Coach Shimokawa Mitsuto coughed lightly and spoke with some embarrassment after noticing the unusually quiet atmosphere in the lounge.
And indeed, it was unfortunate.
Before the top 16 of the Prefectural Athletic Meet, the matches were arranged according to the association’s schedule.
However, after reaching the top 16, all teams had to draw lots again.
Although it was called the ‘Top 16’, only twelve teams had actually advanced through the rounds. The remaining four were the top four teams from last year’s Prefectural Athletics Meet.
As ‘seeded teams’, they did not need to participate in the earlier rounds.
During the draw, if Shimokawa Mitsuto had drawn any school other than Kitagawa Daiichi, the outcome might still have been uncertain, but at least they would have had a fighting chance.
Yet, as fate would have it, he had hit that one-in-fifteen chance precisely.
“Well, what’s done is done. Since it’s already happened, there’s no point in dwelling on it. From here on, there’s only one thing we need to do: play this match well.”
Just as Mitsuto was starting to feel overwhelmed by the resentful stares of fourteen- and fifteen-year-old boys, Asuto finally spoke up to help him out of the situation.
Hearing this, the others could only temporarily compose themselves.
“However, after this match, Coach, you’ll have to treat us to a meal to make up for it.”
Just as Mitsuto had finally breathed a sigh of relief, he suddenly heard Asuka add this line.
“Yeah!!!”
Everyone’s eyes lit up instantly.
“Ah… well… alright!”
Faced with more than a dozen pairs of sparkling, expectant eyes staring straight at him, Shimokawa Mitsuto ultimately nodded in reluctant agreement.
Meanwhile…
Shimokawa was silently cursing his terrible luck.
For other schools, the difference between reaching the top 16 and the top 8 might not be significant. But for the Sengoku Junior High Volleyball Club, the two were completely different concepts.
Currently, they had only managed to equal the club’s historical record. If they could go one step further, however, they would set a brand-new record.
The same applied to Shimokawa Mitsuto himself. If he had been just a little luckier this time, he might have achieved something remarkable.
“During his tenure at Sengoku Junior High School, he led the Volleyball Club to break its all-time best record.”
In a sense, this achievement might carry more weight than a club advisor from another school winning a prefectural championship.
Not long after, a staff member came to the lounge to inform them that the previous match had entered its final stage and that they could head to the court early to prepare.
The Sengoku Junior High members arrived at the court and began warming up.
A moment later, the Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High School players, dressed in their uniforms, walked out from the passageway.
As soon as Kitagawa Daiichi appeared, Asuto could clearly feel the chatter around him increase.
And this was only natural.
After all, in the current Miyagi Prefecture junior high division, there were quite a few strong volleyball teams. But compared to Kitagawa Daiichi, they were on a completely different level.
And the reason for that… was just one person.
“Whoa… what an overwhelming presence.”
“They’re so tall… seriously, what did these guys grow up eating?”
“Are we really going to play against opponents like this?”
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The members of Kitagawa Daiichi had an average height of over 180 cm.
At the junior high level, this team’s height alone was intimidating, not to mention their fearsome reputation.
Facing such formidable opponents, Sengoku, a team that usually got eliminated in the first round, was already at a disadvantage before the match had even begun.
And even someone like Asuto could clearly notice this.
But even knowing this, he couldn’t do anything about it.
He didn’t possess the ability to single-handedly turn the atmosphere of an entire team around.
People like that… like a ‘sun’ who can uplift everyone are extremely rare.
More often than not, once a team’s morale collapses, individuals are dragged down into despair with it, not the other way around.
If the match were compared to a war, then Asuto might be the kind of peerless general who could cut down the enemy commander amid thousands of troops.
But he would never become a qualified commander.
Beep!
The whistle sounded.
The match officially began.
It was Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High’s turn to serve.
At the junior high level, very few teams deliberately practice their serves, partly because it’s difficult and partly due to limitations in physical development.
A fairly ordinary overhand serve landed on the court. Normally, this kind of ball would be easy to receive. However, Kurata Mao’s reception was unusually stiff today, causing the ball to deviate far from the setter’s position.
With no other option, setter Mishita Ryuhei moved quickly to chase where the ball was drifting and forced a pass.
Whoosh!
The ball flew above Asuto. Asuto frowned slightly at its trajectory but still jumped, swinging his arm against a double block from the opponent.
Bang! Smack!
Two crisp collision sounds rang out. Beside him, Omae Masato could only see a blur, and the ball had already fallen onto their side of the court.
In an instant, the atmosphere fell into complete silence.
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(End of Chapter)
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