The ball hit the floor, BOOM, and the mighty Iron Wall came crashing down with it.
For a brief moment, silence swept through the nearby spectators.
Then, an explosion of noise, far louder than before.
The media section, the stands, even players from other courts who caught a glimpse of the moment mid-match, all of them were in uproar.
Some spectators were shouting at the top of their lungs.
Some grabbed their friends by the collar, yelling at them to look at the replay on the big screen.
"What, what was that!? What just happened!?"
"That height, was that even humanly possible? Isn't that a bit too ridiculous!?"
"Your voice cracked at the end! You're the one not okay!"
"The Iron Wall just got broken head-on! Did you see it!? Date Tech's Iron Wall couldn't even touch the ball!"
In the media zone, the reporters who did capture the spike were beaming with joy.
Hahaha! Even if nothing else happens today, this footage alone was worth the trip!
Those who didn't catch it immediately began hunting down acquaintances, offering dinner, drinks, favors, anything, to get a copy.
"Sasuke-san! Please send me a copy too!"
"No problem, we've known each other for years! I was just at your place last weekend, that tea of yours, I still remember the taste!"
"You actually remember that!? Fine, come grab more tonight!"
"Deal. I'll give you the video after the match."
Meanwhile, print reporters had already whipped out their phones, their thumbs tapping furiously as inspiration flooded in.
Tatatatatata,
[Junior High MVP Shatters the Iron Wall!]
[Last Year's Strongest? This Year's Strongest!]
[The Supreme Ace Returns, A Strike to Shake the Heavens!]
[The Iron Wall Reduced to Ruins by a 3.5m Attack Point!]
In a corner, two sports magazine writers who knew each other well typed as they talked.
"No surprise, he is the MVP. Just that one spike alone? That's already a national top-five ace caliber."
"Right? And that height? I swear it was higher than Ushijima's."
"Hey, cut the nonsense, hurry up and type! And don't copy my headline!"
"Who'd copy yours? With a highlight like this, I could write a hundred headlines."
===========
While the arena roared outside, the other half of the court, Date Tech's side, was terrifyingly silent.
Their three blockers were struck speechless.
Ichinose Guren's spike didn't just tear through the wall that many believed to be the strongest in Miyagi aside from Ushijima Wakatoshi.
It tore apart their confidence, the belief they built last year by blocking wave after wave of attackers of all styles.
As Tendo Satori would say:
Crunch crunch, something broke.
It was the heart.
But unlike Tendo's intuitive blocks, this was worse.
This wasn't trickery.
This wasn't a strategy.
This was someone leaping over them and striking down from above, a realm they could not reach no matter how perfectly they executed their technique.
Even if the opponent hit off their hands, they could adjust their blocking angle next time.
Even if the opponent broke through, they could strengthen and refine their form.
But this, an attack point so high they could not reach it at all, was the one thing they had never mentally prepared for.
Because they knew their jump height was already at the limit of what effort could achieve.
The rest required time, physical growth, and patience.
But the opponent…was younger.
And already higher.
===========
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Sharp, steady claps snapped them back.
Moniwa Kaname, the normally timid upperclassman who always felt helpless dealing with these problem juniors, now stood firm.
Though shorter than the blockers, in this moment, his presence was harder than steel.
"Just one spike and you're done?"
The cheering, the noise, the celebration around them, he shut it all out completely.
He looked around at their lowered heads and slumped shoulders, and suddenly grinned, wide enough to show his gums.
A grin that said, You seriously call yourselves strong?
"You guys sure get loud when things are easy, but look at you now, needing your senior to fix your mess."
"Last year, how many spikers crushed you?"
"You only started blocking properly in the second half, remember?"
"You block a few spikes and suddenly think you're complete?"
"That you've already mastered the Iron Wall?"
"One spike knocks you over and now you're done?"
"Futakuchi, weren't you the one who said you'd do anything to win? Match just started and you're folding?"
"Aone! Where's that calm judgment? That 'we will block everything'? Bring it back out!"
The younger players flushed with shame.
Moniwa planted his hands on his hips and laughed.
"Hahahaha! Listen up, you greenhorns!"
"The Iron Wall"
"Date Tech's Iron Wall"
"No matter how many times it collapses, IT CAN BE REBUILT A THOUSAND TIMES. No, TEN THOUSAND!"
"Now, lift your heads!"
He paused.
Then spoke the line that hit them harder than any spike.
"A wall that cannot be rebuilt, was never an Iron Wall."
"Get up. And build it again."
The first- and second-years lifted their heads.
The confidence from before was gone,
But what replaced it was stronger.
Unbreakable.
"HAI!!!"
Their united roar shook the entire arena.
It even interrupted some reporters mid-sentence.
Futakuchi and Aone shouted the loudest.
But that didn't matter.
None of them cared how it sounded.
On Karasuno's side,
"That was so cool!"
Two volleyball idiots.
Two volleyball himbos.
Four absolute fools, moved to their core by the phrase:
No matter how many times we fall, we rebuild.
The rest of Karasuno also felt the weight of those words.
But only one man smiled.
Looking at the restored Iron Wall, he smiled.
Because the Crimson Beak was ready to take flight again.
=============
Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria