Convincing this group of stubborn monsters, who've made it all the way to Nationals, to give up? That was harder than climbing to the heavens.
Aoba Johsai regained serve.
It was Oikawa Tooru's turn to serve. Whether it was nerves or overconfidence due to the still-manageable scoreline, his serve unexpectedly ended in a fault.
The score gap narrowed back to two points.
9:7.
"Damn it!"
Oikawa's lips twitched as he let out a rare curse.
In truth, a service error wasn't the end of the world. Volleyball is a game where missed serves happen all the time, nothing unusual about it.
The problem was when the error occurred.
He had no proof, but ever since Korai Hoshiumi's back-to-back explosive spike and block in the previous rally, Oikawa had felt a deep, ominous premonition stirring within him.
It was like the air before a natural disaster, if they didn't respond in time, Aoba Johsai could suffer serious damage.
And sure enough,
Oikawa's instincts were dead on.
Next up to serve was Korai Hoshiumi.
His serve wasn't exactly weak, its speed, power, and placement were all quite sharp.
But compared to the likes of Akashi Asuka, Sakusa Kiyoomi, or Miya Atsumu… something was missing.
To put it simply,
Because every aspect of his serve was decent, none of them stood out.
That was how his serves had been before,
Bang!
With a sharp yet not overpowering thump, Korai launched his first serve.
It lacked the brute force of Akashi's.
It lacked the blistering speed of Oikawa's.
Yet somehow, this serve, neither the fastest nor the strongest, landed squarely on Aoba Johsai's court untouched. Not a single player managed to receive it before it hit the ground.
Thud!
9:8.
The gap narrowed once again.
"What… just happened?"
The Aoba Johsai players stood frozen, disbelief written all over their faces. Even though they were stunned, they hadn't managed to return it.
Hajime Iwaizumi and Watari Shinji exchanged glances, both clearly wondering the same thing: Why didn't you go for it?
Then they both froze.
Because in that instant, they realized, they both thought the other would receive it.
And just like that, Korai's second serve came flying in,
This time, Watari and Iwaizumi were ready, both eyes locked onto the ball the moment it began to drop. They dashed simultaneously toward its landing zone.
Then,
Crash!
They collided. Hard.
Both players tumbled to the floor, dazed and dizzy.
And the serve? Landed perfectly once more.
9:9.
Whoosh,
The moment the score was tied, the entire stadium erupted in a frenzy.
["What a serve!"]
["Beautiful placement!"]
["With those two brilliant serves, Korai Hoshiumi has brought Kamomedai back to an even score, this could be the turning point they've been waiting for!"]
"Tch tch… See what I mean? This is why finals are so thrilling. Even now, they've found a way to claw back."
"Aoba Johsai might be in trouble."
"Yeah, if they can't shut down Kamomedai's momentum, they'll have a hard time winning this set."
────────── ✦ ──────────
In the stands, fans from teams previously defeated by Aoba Johsai couldn't help but express a little schadenfreude. It wasn't that they couldn't accept their losses, but expecting them to have zero resentment? That was unrealistic.
BEEP,
Back on the court,
With the score tied, Aoba Johsai immediately called for a timeout.
"Asuka, that guy…" Oikawa barely made it to the bench before urgently turning to Akashi Asuka.
Before he could finish, Akashi nodded, confirming his suspicion.
"Yeah. Kamomedai's Korai Hoshiumi, looks like he's in."
Clear Mirror, Still Water. That was how Akashi described the state he sometimes entered.
In more practical terms, it meant being in the zone, a peak-performance state where everything just clicked. Though unpredictable, almost every athlete would experience it once or twice in their career.
And when it happened,
Their performance could surge to 100%, or even exceed it.
The catch? It was almost impossible to trigger at will. Most athletes stumbled into it during regular training, not crucial matches.
But there was no doubt, right now, at this critical moment, Korai Hoshiumi had managed to enter that very state.
"No wonder…" Oikawa muttered. "Both of those serves, right into our defensive blind spots."
Akashi's confirmation deepened the frown on Oikawa's face, his brows knitting.
The power and speed of Korai's serves hadn't changed much compared to earlier. What had changed was the difficulty in receiving them, it had jumped dramatically.
Because now, his serves are struck with surgical precision.
Both had landed exactly in the gaps of Aoba Johsai's formation.
That kind of accuracy couldn't be achieved through technique alone. It required perceiving the entire defense, identifying vulnerabilities, and exploiting them without hesitation.
It was beyond human capability.
"Can you get into that state again?" Oikawa asked, though he knew the odds were slim.
"Not through normal methods," Akashi replied, hands raised.
By "normal methods," he meant relying on Ryuhei Sanashita, the key, to open the door again.
But since that door had already been opened once in this match, the same key couldn't be used again.
"Normal methods won't work. What about abnormal ones?" Oikawa pressed, catching the loophole.
"I can try. No guarantees, though."
"Then we're counting on you, our ace."
Oikawa looked Akashi straight in the eyes.
"Don't forget what you said. On Aoba Johsai's path to the championship, there's no room for surprises."
Akashi grinned.
"Got it!"
At this point in the match, even Oikawa had run out of fancy tactics. But luckily, he no longer had to carry the entire team on his back.
As Aoba Johsai's ace, Akashi Asuka had already earned the team's full trust through countless victories.
Now, even a single sentence from him was enough to ignite their fighting spirit.