"Three geniuses, huh… looks like this match is going to be rough."
Coach Nekomata spoke to his team calmly.
"But geniuses play like geniuses. And we play like us."
He paused, glanced at Kozume Kenma, and gave him a silent signal:
"Take it from here."
Kenma, who had been trying very hard to erase his presence, froze when the coach's gaze hit him. He looked off to the side awkwardly, then spoke in his usual half-dead tone:
"Food gets eaten one bite at a time… and problems get solved one step at a time."
His teammates stared at him, waiting.
Kenma's voice stuttered slightly from being watched:
"The priority is cutting the connection between their setter and Hinata's quick attack."
"Shut down Hinata, and Karasuno's offense drops by more than half."
"We can defend the tall guy's spikes."
"As for the glasses middle blocker, we just watch out for his tips. His power spikes aren't that dangerous."
"And #15's blocks, I'll handle them."
"I'll give signals. Just follow the attack formations we've trained for."
"So first, "
Kenma laid out the plan. The team nodded in full understanding, and Coach Nekomata stood to summarize their strategy.
"Numbers 9 and 10 together are like a tiger with wings, or a demon with an iron club." (This refers to the saying: "Armed power becomes overwhelming when paired with even more advantage.")
"So we break the wings, take the club."
"From there, our setter will do what he does best: the hero slaying the dragon."
Tetsuro Kuroo stepped forward after that conclusion.
"Alright, let's go."
"Yeah!"
Meanwhile, Karasuno's bench was buzzing with excitement from the earlier plays. Everyone was laughing, talking through tactics, riding high on momentum.
When timeout ended, towels were dropped, water bottles capped, they returned to court full of energy.
But Ukai Keishin's mind was far quieter.
Facing a team whose identity was defense, whose offense derived from their setter…was Hyakuzawa really better suited here than Asahi?
Hyakuzawa's strength came from height and reach.
Against Nekoma's soft blocks, he hadn't made meaningful breakthroughs.
Yes, Nekoma's receives looked frantic, but Ukai knew:
Those spikes weren't killing points.
Asahi's spikes, on the other hand, heavy and explosive,
were far more suited to hitting off-block and forcing out-of-system plays.
But,
'Should I substitute him now?'
Ukai thought for a moment, then:
'This is a practice match. Winning is not the goal. Exposing problems is.'
'Let Hyakuzawa play. Even if we lose, so what?'
'We learn. We fix. That is the point.'
The match restarted.
Just as expected, Nekoma immediately switched to a concentrated block, three blockers stacked to one side, completely abandoning the other.
Kageyama instinctively went for the quick attack, but Nekoma's #7 was already reading Hinata's movement.
The spike still scored, but the defensive pattern was clear.
Kageyama felt it.
Ukai recognized it instantly.
They're baiting Hinata's run.
And the next attempt proved it, the block touched the ball, and Nekoma's defensive specialists cleanly picked it up.
Even a slower quick? Inuoka simply adjusted and matched tempo, tightening the angle and letting his back row secure the ball.
Ball switched sides,
Kenma noticed Hinata was distracted chatting with Inuoka.
And with a calm flick of the wrist,
Second-touch attack. Point for Nekoma.
Then came Kenma's first full demonstration of playing Karasuno like a game.
Karasuno received the serve well. Kageyama, changing things up now that the quick was being watched, sent the ball to Hyakuzawa on the wing.
But Hyakuzawa's inability to change spike direction mid-air,
Kenma had already diagnosed it.
Straight shots were lightly touched at the net and picked up effortlessly.
Cross shots were smothered by one blocker in front and two defenders behind.
The two-meter giant was once again facing a fully constructed trap, just like in his second practice match of high school.
No monstrous serves like Oikawa's this time.
But a complete defensive web.
Hyakuzawa hesitated.
'If I spike here, won't they just dig it again? What do I do?'
That single pause,
Kuroo, Tokyo's top middle blocker, pounced and executed a clean block kill.
The ball bounced high behind Hyakuzawa.
For a moment, he just stared.
'I… got blocked? I got shut down?'
'I got shut down by someone ten centimeters shorter than me?!'
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria