The moment Ryosuke saw Osamu Miya swing, he burst forward with unprecedented speed, sprinting desperately toward the middle of the court.
"Bang!"
Osamu Miya drove the volleyball toward the center of Shiratorizawa's court.
Ryosuke chased after it at full speed. The ball was moving so fast that no one knew whether he could catch up.
It was now a race against time.
Everyone, blockers and non-blockers alike, realized what was happening. Shiratorizawa rushed toward the middle while Inarizaki prepared their defense.
Although the chances of scoring were high, Inarizaki didn't dare let their guard down.
Ryosuke was already closing in on the ball.
Everyone watched intently, ready to attack or defend at a moment's notice.
Ryosuke ran faster than he ever had before. His lips were pressed tightly together, and the air seemed trapped in his chest, leaving a sharp ache behind.
His gaze remained fixed on the volleyball. He reached out with one hand, trying desperately to catch it. Just as he was about to run out of time, he threw himself forward into a dive, extending his arm and sliding across the floor.
"Thud!"
The volleyball struck the floor right beside Ryosuke's palm. His hand had nearly reached the correct position, but there had been the slightest miscalculation.
The ball landed just beyond his fingertips.
He had been off by only a fraction.
Ryosuke had almost caught up to it.
"Beep-----------!"
The referee blew the whistle and raised an arm toward Inarizaki, awarding them the point.
"Phew..."
Osamu Miya and Atsumu Miya let out simultaneous sighs of relief.
Thank goodness they had scored. Akagi receiving one of Ushijima's serves didn't mean he could handle every one of them. Had they failed to finish the rally here, there was no telling what might have happened afterward.
"Nice work."
"You too."
Atsumu Miya and Osamu Miya exchanged a glance and high-fived in perfect sync.
The two of them might constantly be at odds, but their chemistry on the court was incredible.
Aran came over with a grin and draped an arm around each of their shoulders.
"That's our Inarizaki ace twins for you."
"Aran, that name is unbelievably lame."
"Yeah. Terrible nickname."
The nickname received unanimous disapproval. Aran looked a little disappointed as he asked, "Is it really that bad?"
The slight hurt in his expression immediately softened Atsumu Miya.
"It's... not that bad, I guess."
Aran knew Atsumu Miya was the softest-hearted of the two.
Osamu Miya remained silent and offered no opinion.
Aran studied Atsumu Miya, who had already changed his tune, and Osamu Miya, who refused to speak.
He might have just discovered how to handle them.
Omimi waved at the three of them, signaling for them to stop chatting and prepare for the next rally.
At some point, the pace of the match had become incredibly fast. One rally followed another, leaving them no time to catch their breath.
"Are you okay, Ryosuke?"
Reon jogged over. He and Tsutomu Goshiki had been closest when Ryosuke dove.
Reon had clearly heard a dull thump. It hadn't sounded like Ryosuke's body sliding across the floor, but rather like something striking it directly. He had thought Ryosuke had hit his knee, and the idea nearly scared him to death.
Ryosuke was in the middle of a growth spurt, and his knees had been aching every day lately.
Coach Washijō's concern had quickly made the entire team aware of the problem.
Because of that, everyone had been keeping a close eye on Ryosuke.
Reon helped him up while Tsutomu Goshiki stood nearby, watching anxiously.
Ryosuke rose, rubbed his chin, and shook his head.
"I'm fine. I just hit my chin."
Reon looked more closely and noticed the red patch on Ryosuke's chin. It stood out sharply against his pale skin.
"I'm glad you're okay. How does your chin feel?"
Ryosuke shook his head again. Then he turned and saw that Inarizaki had already returned to their positions, while Shiratorizawa was still moving at an unhurried pace.
He immediately grew anxious.
"I'm fine, really. Reon-senpai, we should hurry back. Inarizaki's already ready."
Reon opened his mouth, then glanced across the net at Inarizaki. In the end, he nodded and returned to his position.
Tsutomu Goshiki followed behind Ryosuke like a little tail, asking question after question.
"Does your chin hurt?"
"Also, Ryosuke, you looked so cool chasing that ball. What did it feel like when you hit your chin? Did it hurt?"
He kept going without pause.
Ryosuke sighed. How had he never noticed how talkative Tsutomu Goshiki was?
"It doesn't hurt. I looked okay. It's fine."
He rattled off three answers in succession.
Tsutomu Goshiki froze for a moment before realizing that Ryosuke had answered all of his questions in order.
He was about to ask something else when Ryosuke shoved him back into position. Seeing that everyone else was ready, Tsutomu Goshiki finally closed his mouth.
Ryosuke moved into position six, right beside Yamagata. From there, he had an excellent view of the serve.
It was Atsumu Miya's turn to serve for Inarizaki.
Atsumu Miya strode confidently toward the service line. As he moved, music once again rose from the stands.
Oikawa frowned as he listened.
His opinion of Atsumu Miya had changed since the beginning. At first, he had thought Miya had excellent taste. Even his pre-serve routine looked incredibly cool.
After seeing it several times, however, Oikawa now found him both strangely familiar and unbearably flashy.
He couldn't explain why Atsumu Miya seemed familiar, but there was no question that the man loved putting on a show.
"There he goes again."
Konoha leaned against the railing and watched with interest. No matter how often he saw it, Atsumu Miya's flair never failed to amaze him.
Aside from volleyball, everything about Atsumu Miya was needlessly theatrical.
Hearing the music, Atsumu Miya slowly raised one hand and clenched his fist.
The music stopped instantly.
For a moment, standing before the cheering section with the ball in hand, Atsumu Miya actually looked rather impressive.
Under everyone's gaze, he tossed the volleyball into the air.
Keeping his eyes on the ball, Atsumu Miya took four steps and jumped.
From Yamagata's perspective, it hardly looked like he had jumped at all. It was more as though he had floated into the air.
It probably had something to do with Atsumu Miya's takeoff technique.
It really did look incredibly cool.
That thought passed through Yamagata's mind as he jogged to adjust his position.
Ryosuke took a few steps back to give him room.
Normally, the libero handled the serve. Only in situations like Osamu Miya's earlier serve between Ryosuke and Yamagata would whichever player was closer take it.
Ryosuke had no intention of taking over Yamagata's job yet.
He wasn't a libero right now.
Yamagata studied the ball.
Before crossing the net, it floated high and deep. Even after crossing, it remained unusually high, but it was also drifting farther back than expected.
Yamagata narrowed his eyes.
There was no mistake. The ball was carrying deep.
Once he was certain, Yamagata retreated several steps, positioning himself so he could follow its trajectory and still receive it in time.
The volleyball drifted toward him.
Yamagata extended his arms and bent his knees, staring upward without blinking.
Just as the ball was about to reach him, he sensed that his position was slightly off from its landing point.
He shuffled two steps to the left.
When Yamagata looked up again, he found himself almost directly beneath the ball's projected path.
He couldn't guarantee a perfect first pass. Jump floaters were too unpredictable for that.
But he was confident he could keep it in play.
Across the net, Atsumu Miya knew the moment he saw Yamagata's positioning that the serve would be received.
He sighed inwardly and immediately joined the defense after serving.
Fine, they could receive it.
But they absolutely could not send it back over the net.
Everyone's eyes remained fixed on Yamagata.
He raised his forearms just as the ball dropped onto them.
"Thud!"
A sharp impact echoed across the court.
Yamagata received the serve, but because it was a jump floater, the ball still wobbled unpredictably as it rose.
His pass traveled toward Shirabu. It wasn't perfectly stable, but the general placement was fine.
Shirabu moved one or two steps, looked up, and found the volleyball above him.
Without hesitation, he jumped to set.
While airborne, Shirabu glanced over everyone's positions and considered where to send the ball.
Ushijima and Tsutomu Goshiki were leading the attack. According to the coach's instructions, the first set would rely on a two-pronged offense through Ushijima and Tsutomu Goshiki. The others weren't intended as attacking options for now.
That left Shirabu with little choice.
Ushijima was at position three, while Tsutomu Goshiki was at position two. Reon and Ryosuke followed behind Tsutomu Goshiki to cover him, likely preparing in case his spike was blocked back.
After receiving the serve, Yamagata remained behind Ushijima.
Looking at the formation, Shirabu realized for the first time just how formidable Shiratorizawa's defense was.
Ryosuke could stop the ball at the net, while Yamagata could receive almost anything in the backcourt.
No wonder their school was so strong.
The realization filled Shirabu with such sudden excitement that his hand trembled, and the set went toward Tsutomu Goshiki.
Shirabu stared wide-eyed as the volleyball traveled in that direction.
Thank goodness.
At least it hadn't become an error.
There was nothing wrong with setting to Tsutomu Goshiki anyway.
A moment earlier, Tsutomu Goshiki had been thinking about how to obstruct the opposing blockers' vision.
Then he saw Inarizaki's blockers and middle blocker all rushing toward him.
He stared at them in confusion.
Why were they all coming his way?
Only after hearing movement behind him did he realize that Shirabu had sent him the ball.
No wonder they were converging on him.
Tsutomu Goshiki retreated several steps, began his approach, and jumped.
Ryosuke watched from behind, ready to cover the attack at any moment.
Suna and Osamu Miya jumped directly in front of Tsutomu Goshiki.
As he rose, Tsutomu Goshiki tried to calm himself and keep his impatience under control.
Even as he raised his hand to spike, he repeated the same words inwardly.
Impulsiveness is the devil. Impulsiveness is the devil. Impulsiveness is the devil...
Still repeating the phrase, Tsutomu Goshiki swung.
Suna watched the volleyball in his hand, while Osamu Miya covered the Line Shot.
Akagi stood behind them, watching the block. If Tsutomu Goshiki's spike made it through, he would receive it immediately.
With blockers in front and Akagi behind them, Tsutomu Goshiki felt briefly overwhelmed.
But he quickly regained his composure.
Why was he worrying so much?
He couldn't hesitate.
A determined gleam flashed through his eyes.
Watching Tsutomu Goshiki's hand, Suna realized the spike might be a Cross Shot. He angled his right hand to seal off the diagonal route.
Tsutomu Goshiki swung downward at a sharp angle, twisting his wrist as his palm wrapped over the ball.
It was an extreme diagonal.
"Bang!"
The volleyball nearly struck Suna's palm, but Tsutomu Goshiki adjusted the angle at the last instant.
The ball skimmed past Suna's hand and hit the floor.
A direct point.
Akagi had been waiting for the ball to clear the block, but he never saw it pass Suna's hands. Naturally, he didn't move to receive it.
The volleyball landed untouched.
"Beep-----------!"
As Tsutomu Goshiki landed, he heard the referee's whistle award the point.
He turned toward his teammates, eager to know what they thought of the spike.
"Tsutomu Goshiki! That was amazing!"
Yamagata was the first to give him a thumbs-up.
Ryosuke ran over as well, nodding while raising one arm in imitation of a spike.
"That extreme diagonal was unbelievably cool."
During their previous training session, Ryosuke had noticed Tsutomu Goshiki repeatedly practicing Cross Shots.
They hadn't looked like ordinary Cross Shots, though.
Now he understood.
Tsutomu Goshiki had been practicing the extreme diagonal.
"Good job."
Shirabu, who normally had nothing but sarcastic remarks for Tsutomu Goshiki, offered him rare praise.
After all, Shirabu had only set the ball to him because he had become distracted.
Had Tsutomu Goshiki failed to score, Shirabu would have borne much of the responsibility.
"Tsutomu Goshiki, well done."
Ushijima walked over and praised him as well.
He genuinely thought it had been an excellent spike, not much inferior to Bokuto's.
Tsutomu Goshiki's Cross Shots were even more flexible. The only weakness was his lack of experience, which still made the attack look slightly unpolished.
Even so, compared with other players his age, Tsutomu Goshiki was already exceptionally skilled.
"Wow! Is that Ryosuke's classmate? He's incredible!"
In the stands, Bokuto stared down at Tsutomu Goshiki with keen interest, his golden eyes shining.
"That's right, Bokuto-senpai," Keiji Akaashi replied from beside him.
Bokuto was clearly fascinated by Tsutomu Goshiki now.
The first-year's personality and spiking style were both remarkably similar to his own.
Bokuto certainly hadn't accomplished anything like that during his first year.
He really was impressive.
Bokuto couldn't stop thinking about the Cross Shot he had just seen.
It had been far too cool.
It was even cooler than his own Thunderbolt Invincible Spin Diagonal.
"Shiratorizawa's first-years are all incredible this year."
Yaku stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Shiratorizawa might not have many first-years, but each one was exceptionally talented. Any of them looked capable of competing internationally someday.
"Yeah. Shiratorizawa has been paying more attention to talented kids these past two years," Kuroo commented calmly.
Then he let out a long sigh.
When would the heavens finally send Nekoma two geniuses?
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
p-@-treon/GhostParser (40 Chapters Ahead)
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.