Beep!
Coach Nekomata called out to Nekoma's substitute libero, Shibayama Yuuki, asking for Karasuno's scoring breakdown. After double-checking his chart, Shibayama handed over the accurate record.
Stroking his chin, Coach Nekomata called for the first timeout of the match. With his players gathered around, the old coach spoke with that relaxed, amused smile of his:
"One-sided, huh?"
"Karasuno has three geniuses, after all."
"First, that libero with incredible receiving. That reaction speed and ball control…"
"Yaku!"
He turned to the one defender in his team known as Nekoma's strongest back-row anchor, Yaku Morisuke.
"You can do the same, right?"
Yaku felt the weight settle on his shoulders, but he still smiled and answered:
"Yeah."
Coach Nekomata nodded, satisfied. No need to worry about that one.
Then he looked to the rest of the lineup:
"Now, about Karasuno's #15 attacker and #9 setter. Those two are monsters you can see just by watching."
"If the setter controls the court with ball sense and refined fundamentals, then that attacker is just bulldozing through with pure physical attributes."
"Honestly, from my perspective, that attacker has no sense of team coordination. Every block is just him going for block points."
"But you should already know this, on a team, a middle blocker who can maintain the defense structure is far more valuable than one who gets three or four block points per set."
"Flying everywhere just to force a few block points and tearing holes in your own team's defensive formation is nothing but personal self-indulgence. Don't imitate that."
"Understand?"
He even glanced deliberately toward Karasuno's bench.
Coach Ukai heard the speech clearly and scratched his cheek in mild irritation. Watching his players cheerfully discussing tactics, he thought:
'This old fox… he's being intentionally loud.'
'Trying to disrupt Ichinose Guren's blocking rhythm… to break our defense from the inside.'
'I can already see him lecturing us later with,
"Don't let the opponent's words sway your spirit."
something like that.`
Ukai looked over to Ichinose, who was wiping sweat with a towel, only to find that he hadn't listened to any of it.
He completely ignored Nekoma's bench.
However, the rest of Karasuno had clearly heard every word.
Hinata jogged up to Ichinose with a big grin:
"Guren! You got called out by Nekoma's coach."
"He said your blocking isn't worth learning."
Hinata blinked, waiting for a reaction.
Ichinose lifted his eyes slightly, gave Hinata a flat look,
and proceeded to completely ignore him.
Hinata opened his mouth again, but Hoshino Katsuri stopped him:
"Hinata, don't be dumb. Guren hasn't even been trying. You didn't notice he never once asked Kageyama for a set?"
Hinata froze.
Right, Ichinose was famous nationwide for his attacking.
Yes, his blocking and defense were strong, but it was his spikes that carried Yukigaoka into the national top four when half the roster were beginners.
Yet in the past 12 points, aside from sets Kageyama forced onto him, Ichinose never asked for the ball.
He'd been pretending to attack, until Nekoma started to forget about him entirely.
'On purpose? No…'
'He's waiting.'
'Guren hasn't had a real fight in almost two months, there's no way he's satisfied with just blocking.'
'He's using blocks as a warm-up. He's holding back.'
Hyakuzawa wandered over and patted Hinata's head.
(Using shoulders would take more effort.)
"Hinata, stop messing around. Guren isn't the type to get shaken just because their coach said something."
Hinata puffed his cheeks:
"I know, I just wanted to see his reaction.
So boring…"
Ichinose finally opened his eyes, looking straight at him.
"Warm-up should be just about done."
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria