Mishita Ryuhei couldn’t understand it.
Nevertheless, he acknowledged the strength of the third-year seniors.
After all, even with Akashi Asuto in excellent form, they had managed to return his serve after conceding only two points. During junior high, Mishita Ryuhei had never encountered that level of skill.
The score became 3:2.
The Serve returned to the White Team.
Even at the high school level, Power Jump Serves were mastered by only a minority of players. This was primarily because training a powerful jump serve was extremely difficult. Most players were already exhausted from practiCing their basic techniques, so how could they possibly have extra stamina for additional specialiZed training?
Secondly, even professional volleyball players didn’t need to master every technique. Each of the six players had their own role, and it was only when they combined their skills that the team was complete.
When all six players were strong, the team became stronger still.
After rotating positions, Hanamaki Takahiro moved to Position 1 and sent out a stable overhand serve.
The landing point of the ball was tricky, but that didn’t faze Shinji Watari. Unlike Asuto and the others, Shinji Watari was originally Aoba Johsai’s starting libero, so he knew his teammates’ habits and mentality inside out.
He received the volleyball cleanly with a slap.
Mishita Ryuhei adjusted his footing and prepared to set, glancing across the opposing blockers with the corner of his eye.
The White Team currently had two blockers in the front row: the 187 cm middle blocker, Matsukawa Issei, and the 179.3 cm ace, Iwaizumi Hajime.
In this situation, choosing the shorter Iwaizumi as the breakthrough point was obviously the better option.
However, the Red Team only had one front-row attacker: Kindaichi Yutaro.
‘Could he really coordinate properly with him?’
Thoughts raced through his mind.
A moment later…
Mishita Ryuhei suddenly laughed softly.
“Seriously, why am I overthinking this? I was never the kind of person who could work well with others anyway. For an ordinary Setter like me, there has always only been one way to deal with difficulties.”
Whoosh!
Mishita Ryuhei flicked the ball upwards with all ten fingers, and the volleyball instantly soared high into the air.
The next moment…
A tall figure suddenly leapt out from the back row.
“Trying a back-row attack? First-year, you’re still too inexperienced! Your setting intention was way too obvious!”
As soon as the volleyball left Mishita’s hands, Iwaizumi and Matsukawa Issei moved quickly to stand directly in front of the ball, jumping together to form a towering block.
But in the very next second… a ferocious spike came crashing through with unstoppable force. It blasted apart Iwaizumi’s hands, pierced the block, and smashed onto the court, scoring a point.
“Setting intention?”
Mishita turned towards Iwaizumi and Matsukawa Issei on the opposite side and said calmly,
‘“Sorry, Senpai. Our ace never needs those kinds of disguises.”
· · · · ·
Time slowly passed.
The match between the two teams gradually reached a fever pitch.
Playing against Aoba Johsai’s experienced seniors brought back memories for Mishita and Asuto of their junior high match against Kitagawa Daiichi.
Just like then, it was an all-out offensive and defensive battle once again.
One team centered around its Ace Spiker, while the other centered around its Setter. Though their offensive styles differed, both teams displayed astonishing firepower.
“Iwaizumi-chan!”
Oikawa used a signal play to send the ball to Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi jumped decisively, and, in the next second, the volleyball flew into his optimal hitting point.
But just as Iwaizumi was about to swing his arm… a pair of arms suddenly appeared in front of him. The height of the block completely surpassed his hitting point.
“Damn it…”
Iwaizumi’s expression changed. In that critical instant, he immediately changed his spike approach, turning the smash into a tip-out.
Bang!
The volleyball struck Kindaichi’s arm and bounced out of bounds.
White Team scored.
23:21.
“Well done, Iwaizumi-chan!”
Oikawa threw his arms around Iwaizumi in celebration, but he had no time to pay attention to him.
His gaze was fixed on Kindaichi Yutaro on the opposite side, and his expression gradually became serious.
Earlier, Asuto’s performance had been so dazzling that Iwaizumi had somewhat overlooked the other members of the Red Team.
However, when Kindaichi suddenly stepped up, Iwaizumi Hajime finally realized something.
Aside from the setter, the other two blockers on the opposing side also seemed pretty tall.
…
“Sorry, I couldn’t stop him.” Kindaichi said, breathing heavily, from the Red Team’s side of the court.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. You were only a tiny bit short. Besides, we’re still in the lead, so there’s no need to panic yet.” Shinji Watari patted Kindaichi on the shoulder and smiled as he comforted him.
Shinji Watari was in an exceptionally good mood at the moment. Although, when he had first been assigned to the Red Team, he had been slightly reluctant.
Now, however, he had already figured out exactly how he was going to mock those guys for the next month:
Aoba Johsai’s traditional welcome match:
The senior team had been completely beaten by the freshmen team, which was absolutely unprecedented in the history of the Aoba Johsai High School volleyball club.
In a sense, Asuto and Ryuhei Mishita had broken another historical record for the volleyball club.
Shinji Watari was secretly beginning to feel lucky that he hadn’t been assigned to the seniors’ team. Otherwise, he might have ended up nailed to the ‘pillar of historical shame’ too.
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll win this point back,” Mishita Ryuhei also patted Kindaichi on the shoulder and spoke.
.,..
White Team Serve.
Yahaba Shigeru sent out a standard overhand serve. After crossing the net, the volleyball was easily received by Shinji Watari, who passed it to Mishita Ryuhei.
Without hesitating for a moment, Ryuhei set the ball up for Asuto.
This blatant attack made the front-row duo of Matsukawa Issei and Hanamaki Takahiro furious.
“Don’t underestimate the third-years’ strength too much, you damned first-year brat!”
Matsukawa and Hanamaki jumped to block together. At 187 cm and 184 cm respectively, they were among the tallest players on Aoba Johsai’s team.
As they rose into the air, their towering block completely sealed off Asuto’s straight-line shot.
Asuto was already airborne and had intended to switch to a cross-court spike. However, at that very instant, he suddenly caught sight of Oikawa Tooru standing in the backcourt cross-court lane.
“A trap!”
Asuto’s heart skipped a beat, and he abandoned the cross-court attack decisively.
Then, in that split second, inspiration struck. Relying on his increasingly powerful hang time ability, he adjusted his posture subtly in midair and swung his arm fiercely against the block in front of him.
Bang!
A thunderous explosion rang out.
Carrying faint white airflow around it, the volleyball almost grazed past the side of Hanamaki Takahiro’s arm as it pierced through the block, leaving behind a slightly curved trajectory in the air before smashing directly onto the floor.
Tweet!
The referee’s whistle sounded.
In an instant…
The entire court suddenly fell silent, and players from both teams simultaneously looked toward the referee.
Only several seconds later, when the referee slowly extended his hand toward the Red Team’s side, did the Red Team finally erupt into excited cheers.
24:21.
Match point for the Red Team.
······
(End of Chapter)