Kyotani Kentaro was a second-year at Aoba Johsai. Because of his volatile personality, he had clashed with the third-years back when he was a first-year. After that incident, he stopped coming to practice with the volleyball club.
That didn’t mean Kyotani hated volleyball. If anything, it was because he loved the sport so much that he’d ended up arguing with those upperclassmen in the first place. After all, before Oikawa joined the team, the atmosphere in Aoba Johsai’s volleyball club hadn’t exactly been the best.
Even after leaving the club, Kyotani never gave up on the sport. He simply found other places to train, sometimes practicing with the girls’ team, other times playing on public courts. Back in junior high, Asuto had actually crossed paths with Kyotani once.
Not long ago, when Kyotani finally returned to the club, Coach Irihata Nobuteru gave him a simple skills test. After confirming that not only had Kyotani’s abilities not declined over the past year, but had actually improved, he added him to Aoba Johsai’s Nationals roster.
There was a reason the coach could do that. Aoba Johsai’s roster hadn’t been full to begin with. An official tournament roster allows for twelve players, but at the high school level, plenty of schools don’t even have that many club members.
Aoba Johsai was in a similar situation.
Counting Asuto and Mishita Ryuhei, they only had ten players who could truly be counted as reliable. Even after adding Kyotani, they still didn’t have a full roster and would need to bring someone up from the second string just to fill the spots.
Otherwise, if all twelve roster spots had already been taken, no matter how talented Kyotani was, Coach Irihata wouldn’t have been able to add him.
After all, Kyotani hadn’t played in the prefectural qualifiers. Taking someone else’s spot out of nowhere would obviously have been unfair.
Even so, bringing Kyotani along had originally just been a backup plan. Coach Irihata hadn’t expected to actually use him during Nationals. While Kyotani had clearly gotten stronger, his personality and lack of coordination with the rest of the team made him a double-edged sword.
The coach’s original thought was simply that Kyotani had great potential and was only a second-year. Once Oikawa and the third-years graduated, he’d be a valuable addition to the team.
So he had brought him to Nationals mainly to let him gain some experience. But now, with Bokuto rapidly catching fire, Coach Irihata had no choice but to gamble.
“Huh? The coach is really going to put him in?”
Before Kyotani himself could react to hearing his name, the rest of the team was already staring in surprise. Even though many of them hadn’t known him for very long, they had all learned to keep their distance from the team’s “Mad Dog.”
Coach Irihata nodded. “That’s right. Right now, the team needs Kyotani’s strength.”
He turned toward Kyotani, whose eyes were already lighting up with excitement. “Kyotani, I heard you’ve developed a pretty good serve lately. Is that true?”
Kyotani instinctively glanced toward Asuto before answering. “Yeah.”
“Good. Then get ready to substitute in for Iwaizumi.”
The coach turned to the rest of the court. “Oikawa, Asuto, I’ll be counting on you two to keep an eye on Kyotani once you’re on the court.”
Oikawa flashed an OK sign. “No problem! Looking forward to working with you, Mad Dog Chan.”
Kyotani frowned. “Don’t call me that!”
Oikawa grinned. “Ara, ara, don’t be so angry. We’re teammates now, aren’t we? Come on, let’s shake hands first.”
Kyotani’s face darkened. “Get lost!”
…
The match resumed. Fukurōdani was a little surprised to see Kyotani Kentaro replacing Iwaizumi Hajime, but that was about it. It wasn’t because they were especially calm; they simply didn’t know much about Aoba Johsai in the first place.
Forget the substitutes, even at this point in the match, some of them probably still couldn’t remember the names of Aoba Johsai’s starting players.
Making his Nationals debut, Kyotani was obviously nervous. Still, judging by the eager look in his eyes, his excitement far outweighed his nerves.
“Seriously… is this guy really going to be okay?” Watching Kyotani, the Aoba Johsai players on the bench looked even more nervous than he did.
“He should be… right? This is Nationals. Even with his personality, he wouldn’t do anything reckless…”
“…Probably.”
“Let’s just hope Oikawa-senpai and Asuto can keep him under control.”
Tweet!
The whistle blew. Fukurōdani’s serve flew deep into Aoba Johsai’s court. Watari Shinji received it cleanly and passed it to Oikawa.
“Asuto!”
Without hesitation, Oikawa set the ball toward Asuto. Asuto moved into his approach, preparing to jump, but then something unexpected happened.
From another direction, Kyotani suddenly charged in as well. Judging by his line, he was clearly trying to steal the set.
“What the hell?! No way!”
“Has that idiot completely lost it? This is Nationals! What’s he trying to do?”
“The coach never should’ve put him in.”
Kyotani’s sudden move shocked both the players on the court and everyone on the bench.
Contesting for the same ball is one of the most dangerous things that can happen in volleyball. Not only can it ruin the offense, but it also greatly increases the risk of players crashing into each other. The moment everyone realized what Kyotani was doing, their expressions changed.
Just as it looked like he was about to cut in and take the set, he suddenly stopped. Charging forward at full speed, Kyotani slammed on the brakes and froze right at the three-meter line.
“Whew… thank goodness. At least he still has some common sense.”
Seeing him stop in time, a few people let out relieved sighs, thinking he’d come to his senses. But only a handful of people saw what had really happened. Kyotani hadn’t stopped because he’d changed his mind.
He had been stopped by force.
“…Whoa. That’s terrifying.”
Oikawa, standing closest to the two of them, saw it more clearly than anyone. Kyotani hadn’t chosen to stop. In that instant, Asuto had suddenly released an overwhelming aura of authority that completely suppressed him, leaving him unable to move another step.
Neither of them said a single word. But the pressure radiating from Asuto made one thing crystal clear to Kyotani: ‘That ball is mine. Nobody touches it.’
Come to think of it, this might have been the first time Oikawa had seen Asuto display such overwhelming dominance. Actually, no, it was the second time. He remembered being frozen by that same pressure once before.
Looking at Kyotani, whose face was pale with fear and sweat was pouring down his forehead, Oikawa let out a silent sigh.
‘Ah, Mad Dog Chan… Mad Dog Chan.’
‘Why did you have to pick a fight with Asuto?’
‘An ace’s ‘absolute pride’… isn’t something you can taunt so easily.’
(End of Chapter)