“What? That guy was lying to me just now?!” Bokuto Kotaro looked completely shocked.
“That’s right,” Akaashi Keiji nodded firmly.
After years of study, Akaashi considered himself a master of the Owl Care Manual. But at this exact moment, he was seriously debating whether he should add a brand-new chapter titled: ‘How to Prevent Your Owl from Being Kidnapped.’
Otherwise, he was genuinely worried that Bokuto would one day get tricked into following a stranger, then happily help count the money after being sold.
While Akaashi was wrestling with this thought, Bokuto suddenly exclaimed, “That’s an amazing lie! I didn’t notice it at all!”
Akaashi: “…”
‘Alright. No more hesitation. That chapter was definitely getting added.’
“Damn that brat! He actually tricked me! Just wait! I’ll crush him myself!”
Bokuto was angry. And when Bokuto got angry, the consequences were serious. The only question was: who was actually going to suffer those consequences?
Rolling up his sleeves, Bokuto looked ready to start a war. But seeing this, Akaashi felt his heart sink. ‘Ah… this is bad.’
“I mean, Bokuto-san, once the match starts, remember to stay calm and follow the game plan…”
Before he could finish, Bokuto impatiently cut him off. “You’re so annoying! I know already! Follow the game plan, right? No problem! Just wait, Aoba Johsai!”
Watching this unfold, Akaashi slapped a hand over his face. ‘Yep, he’s completely overheated.’ He quickly shot a meaningful glance toward the rest of the team.
The Fukurodani players immediately understood.
‘Huh? Already? Did he just set a new record?’
Though surprised, nobody wasted time. They quickly began preparing themselves. After all, nobody at Fukurodani doubted Akaashi’s judgment anymore. When it came to understanding Bokuto, Bokuto himself ranked second. Akaashi ranked first.
Tweet!
The referee’s whistle sounded. Warm-ups were over, and the match officially began.
As usual, Aoba Johsai chose to serve first. Iwaizumi Hajime stepped up and delivered the opening serve. The ball sailed cleanly over the net and was easily received by Fukurodani’s libero.
As one of the strongest teams in the nation, Fukurodani’s fundamentals were exceptionally solid. A team couldn’t reach this level by relying on its ace alone.
“Akaashi! Set it to me!” The moment the libero passed the ball up, Bokuto’s voice thundered across the court.
Akaashi’s heart skipped a beat. The bad feeling he’d had earlier only grew stronger. For a brief split second, he actually considered not setting to Bokuto.
The thought lasted about half a second before he gave up on it. The reason was simple: if he set the ball to an overheated Bokuto, there was roughly a fifty-percent chance the attack would fail. But there was also a fifty-percent chance it would succeed.
On the other hand… if he didn’t set the ball to Bokuto right now and Bokuto started sulking, that would be a far bigger disaster.
So in the end, Akaashi made the set. “Bokuto-san!”
Meeting the ball in midair, Bokuto spread his arms and leaped high. “You little brat! You actually tricked me! I’ll finish this in one spike!”
On the opposite side of the net, Asuto watched Bokuto rise into the air. One eyebrow slowly lifted. ‘This spike…’
Asuto felt that something about it was off. But when he looked closer, everything seemed normal. Bokuto’s jump was perfect, his posture in the air was flawless, and there wasn’t anything obviously wrong with the attack.
Against a spike like that, a solo block normally had very little chance of succeeding. So Asuto only made a token attempt. He jumped and reached out to take away Bokuto’s cross-court angle, figuring that would at least give the defenders behind him a clearer view of the ball’s trajectory.
Then, in the next instant…
Smack!
A crisp sound echoed across the court. Asuto felt a light impact on his arm. By the time he realized what had happened, the ball had already dropped onto Fukurodani’s side of the court.
…
Bokuto froze, his eyes turning into tiny dots.
Asuto froze too, looking down at his arm, genuinely baffled. The block he’d just put up had been incredibly sloppy; there was no way it should have stuffed a spike like that. This was ridiculous.
The other players on the court were equally stunned. Aoba Josei and Fukurodani stared at each other, their eyes filled with giant question marks. Even the spectators around the arena fell silent.
Only Akaashi Keiji suddenly slapped a hand over his face while thinking. ‘We are so screwed.’
…
The arena remained silent for a full three seconds before the commentator finally spoke.
[There it is! Fukurodani ace Bokuto Kotaro’s mysterious spike!]
[Faced with a block that was clearly taking away the cross-court angle, Bokuto Kotaro boldly chose to power straight through it! Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to break through.]
[As expected of the nation’s number one ace in terms of unpredictability…]
“Pfft, HAHAHAHA!”
“What was that?!”
“He actually attacked the blocker at a time like this!”
“That’s our Bokuto!”
“Hahahahahahaha…!”
The moment the commentator tried to explain what happened, the crowd completely lost it. Many of Bokuto’s supporters were already used to his occasional bizarre plays, but this time was different.
Today’s spike had somehow surpassed even Bokuto’s previous standards of absurdity. And the commentator’s valiant, but ultimately unsuccessful, attempt to keep a straight face only made things worse.
The stands quickly turned into a sea of laughter.
“Akaashi…” A ghostly voice drifted out from Bokuto’s mouth.
Akaashi immediately shuddered. ‘No way. Already? Did it really happen that fast?’
“From now on…” Bokuto pointed dramatically at Akaashi, his voice filled with utter despair. “Don’t set me any more balls!”
Akaashi: “…”
The rest of Fukurodani: “…”
“Ah, there it is. Bokuto’s Negative Mode.”
“This one came out really fast.”
“I think that’s a new record.”
The Fukurodani players looked helpless for a moment. Then, after about a second, they collectively decided to ignore him.
“Whatever. He’ll recover soon enough.”
“Let’s focus on the match.”
With that, everyone turned around and walked away.
Akaashi: ‘Seniors, you’re all so dependable.’
Bokuto: “Eh? Σ(△;)”
Left behind all by himself, the owl-haired ace stared blankly as his teammates abandoned him without hesitation.
…
(End of Chapter)