Score: Fukurodani 6 - 3 Nekoma.
The echo of Ryuu's missed spike—the failed copy of the inner cross—still lingered. The crowd murmured. Had the Monster finally hit his limit?
Kenma held the ball. He looked at Ryuu.
Ryuu wasn't looking at the floor. He was looking at the ceiling lights, his chest heaving slowly.
'No more tricks,' Ryuu thought. 'I'm tired. My flexibility is C-tier compared to Bokuto. So why am I trying to be an Owl?'
Nekoma received the next serve. Yaku bumped it up perfectly.
"Kenma!"
Kenma set the ball. He followed the order. He pushed it high. Extremely high. An "Open" toss that gave the spiker time to take a full approach, but also gave the blockers time to set a wall.
Washio and Konoha jumped. A solid two-man wall.
Ryuu took his approach steps. They were heavy, deliberate.
STOMP. STOMP.
He launched himself into the air.
He hovered above the net. He saw the blockers. He saw the court.
He didn't twist his body. He didn't snap his wrist sideways. He cocked his arm back like a loaded catapult and swung straight forward.
BOOM.
He hit a straight line shot.
But it wasn't a precision line shot that hugged the antenna. It was a power line shot that blasted right through the small gap between the blocker's hand and the antenna.
The ball hit the floor so hard it bounced up and hit the wall padding with a loud THUD.
Nekoma 4 - 6.
Ryuu landed. He exhaled a long breath.
"Simple is best," Ryuu muttered.
Across the net, Bokuto blinked. Then his eyes lit up.
"WHOA!" Bokuto yelled. "That sounded like an explosion! You gave up on the curvy stuff?"
"Curves are for show-offs," Ryuu wiped his sweat. "I prefer blunt force trauma."
"Oho!" Bokuto grinned. "A challenge! Who can hit the loudest?!"
"Bokuto-san," Akaashi interjected calmly. "Please aim for points, not decibels."
_________________
The game transformed. It wasn't a tactical chess match like against Itachiyama. It was a slugfest.
Fukurodani 8 - 6.
Bokuto hit a cross shot that ripped past Yamamoto's block.
Nekoma 8 - 7.
Ryuu hit a cross shot (standard, heavy top-spin) that Komi (the Libero) dug, but the force sent it into the stands.
Fukurodani 12 - 10.
Bokuto hit a "Rebound" off Ryuu's hand, reset the play, and then smashed a straight.
Nekoma 11 - 12.
Ryuu decided to block. He stuffed Sarukui (Fukurodani's other spiker) with a one-handed kill block.
The crowd was loving it. It was fast, loud, and violent.
"They're feeding off each other," Kuroo noted during a brief rotation break. He looked at Ryuu. "You okay? You look like you're about to pass out."
"I'm fine," Ryuu lied. His legs felt like jelly. "Bokuto has infinite energy. It's annoying. Does he run on batteries?"
"He runs on praise," Kenma said quietly. "As long as the crowd cheers, he doesn't get tired."
Ryuu looked at the other side. Bokuto was high-fiving the air.
"Then we need to shut him up," Ryuu said.
____________________
Score: 14 - 13 Fukurodani.
Ryuu rotated to the front row. He was matched up against Bokuto again.
Akaashi set the ball to the left.
"BOKUTO-SAN!"
Bokuto took his approach. It was fast. He looked invincible.
Ryuu jumped to block.
'He's been hitting everything,' Ryuu analyzed with his Emperor's Eyes. 'Straight. Cross. Rebound. Cut shot.'
Bokuto cocked his arm.
Ryuu saw the twist in the torso.
'The Super Inner Cross.'
It was the shot Ryuu couldn't copy. The shot that defied physics.
Bokuto snapped his body, aiming to cut the ball sharply inside Ryuu's block, almost parallel to the net.
Most blockers would try to reach for it and fail.
But Ryuu remembered his failure.
'I couldn't hit that shot because my body doesn't bend that way. But I know exactly where the ball has to go.'
Ryuu didn't reach out. He moved his inside hand in.
He practically hugged the net post, sealing the impossibly sharp angle.
Bokuto swung with full confidence.
BAM.
The ball didn't fly into the court. It slammed directly into the center of Ryuu's palms.
Because Ryuu had anticipated the extreme angle, he was there waiting for it.
ROOF.
The ball bounced straight down onto Bokuto's side.
Nekoma 14 - 14.
Bokuto landed, staring at the ball. He looked up at Ryuu.
"You..." Bokuto gasped. "You blocked my super special inner cut shot?!"
"I can't hit it," Ryuu admitted, leaning on the net. "But I know where it goes. It goes right here." He tapped his palm.
Bokuto's face fell. His "Great" aura flickered.
"Akaashi..." Bokuto whispered, his voice trembling. "My special move... it didn't work."
Akaashi sighed. 'Here it comes. Emo Mode.'
"It's fine, Bokuto-san," Akaashi said. "It was just one point."
"BUT HE STOPPED IT!" Bokuto pointed at Ryuu. "He read me! Am I predictable? Am I boring? Is my hair weird today?"
Ryuu blinked. 'Is he... sulking?'
"Don't worry, Owl," Ryuu called out, feeling a strange need to comfort his rival. "Your hair is very pointy. Very aerodynamic."
Bokuto perked up slightly. "Really?"
"Yes. Like a weapon."
"OOH!" Bokuto beamed again. "Did you hear that, Akaashi? My hair is a weapon!"
Akaashi glared at Ryuu. 'Don't encourage him.'
____________
Score: Nekoma 18 - 16 Fukurodani.
Nekoma took the lead. With Bokuto slightly rattled (and then confusingly cheered up by Ryuu), Fukurodani's rhythm hiccuped.
Ryuu was using every ounce of technique he learned.
He served. He targeted the seam between the libero and the back-row spiker. Ace.
He received. It was ugly, but it went up.
He spiked. He used the wrist snap to hit over the block.
"He's evolving," Coach Yamiji of Fukurodani muttered. "In the first set against Itachiyama, he was a brute. Now... he's a volleyball player."
Set Point Nekoma: 24 - 20.
Ryuu was in the back row. Kuroo served.
Fukurodani received. Akaashi set to Konoha. Konoha spiked.
Yaku dug it. "Chance!"
Kenma set to the middle. Kuroo hit a quick.
Point Nekoma.
25 - 20.
Set 1: Nekoma.
The whistle blew.
Ryuu walked to the bench and collapsed. He didn't sit; he slid down the wall until he was a puddle on the floor.
"Water," Ryuu croaked. "Feed me."
Lev ran over with a bottle. "Here, Ryuu-senpai! You were awesome! You blocked Bokuto!"
Ryuu drank greedily.
"One set," Ryuu panted. "One more set and we win Tokyo."
Coach Nekomata stood over him.
"Rest your legs," Nekomata said. "Because in the second set... Bokuto will not stay quiet. The Owl is nocturnal. He wakes up when it gets dark."
Ryuu closed his eyes.
"Let him wake up," Ryuu whispered. "I'll put him back to bed."