"Right. That change in hand form, you'll know how troublesome it is if you try it yourself. Your arm just won't turn that way."
Tsutomu Goshiki followed up on Yunohama's words, even stretching out his arm to imitate Bokuto's posture from earlier.
"Changing a straight shot into a cross shot isn't that hard, but changing the hand form from a cross shot into a straight shot is pretty tricky."
When everyone heard Tsutomu Goshiki say that, they tried it themselves and realized it really did seem to be true.
Ryosuke looked at his two friends, then spoke again.
"And I think Bokuto-senpai really did mean to hit a cross shot at first, because his cross shots are stronger. It wasn't like a cross shot couldn't get through either. The reason he suddenly changed his hitting method was probably because he saw Keiichiro-senpai at position one preparing to come over and receive.
"Maybe Bokuto-senpai didn't notice, but every time he spikes, everyone's attention gets drawn to him. So to avoid the Libero and to avoid Hirugami-senpai, Bokuto-senpai chose to target Hakuba-senpai in the middle of the block, since Hakuba-senpai wasn't much of a threat to him."
"Mm." Yunohama nodded seriously, then continued analyzing.
"And either way, even if the block touched that ball, the Libero still might not have been able to receive it. With the power behind Bokuto-senpai's spikes, even a block touch wouldn't make it easy to pick up."
The three of them gathered together and analyzed it clearly, point by point.
Coach Aaron and Coach Takurō were now looking at them like they were precious treasures. They were incredible. They had only watched one ball, yet they could analyze so much from it.
Shinsuke Kita's expression was complicated too. He really could not blame the two coaches for reacting so strongly. Back when they were first-years, they had spent every day thinking about how to make the regular lineup and train with their Senpai. Even if they had all matured early back then, they still had not been capable of analyzing every single ball like this.
Aaron's expression twisted, and the little flames of jealousy in his eyes were about to burst into a blaze.
Weren't geniuses supposed to be rare, once-in-a-century finds? So why had that rotten old man Coach Washijō managed to pick up three of them at once? It was not fair!
Perhaps Coach Aaron's gaze was too intense, because Coach Washijō turned back to look at him too, his eyes full of smugness and mockery.
Aaron was so angry he almost lost his breath.
After finally managing to calm himself down, Aaron looked at everyone still talking on court, then thought of the scene where Bokuto's ball had thrown all of Kamomedai into chaos. His anger flared up again.
The referee urged everyone to hurry back to their positions. The match was still going.
The score had reached 25:24. From a tie, it had turned into Fukurōdani's lead. No one knew whether this match would keep dragging back and forth, or whether it would end right here.
Ryosuke felt his stomach growl. He looked down and realized he really was a little hungry.
People in the stands were gradually leaving too, probably to get food. Some had packed food in advance and were eating while watching.
Ryosuke was still hesitating over whether he should go eat breakfast. If they passed lunchtime, the cafeteria might not have food left. During the tournament, they could only leave in the morning and at night, and they were not allowed to go out for lunch. But the match was at its most exciting point, and Ryosuke did not want to leave.
"Ryosuke, are you hungry?"
Tsutomu Goshiki asked Ryosuke while pinching his own stomach. Ryosuke hesitated, then nodded.
Tsutomu Goshiki sighed and slumped into his chair.
"I'm hungry too."
Reon noticed as well. That group of energetic kids looked like toys whose batteries had suddenly run out. One by one, they sat quietly in their chairs and stopped making noise. He immediately felt something was off, so he secretly listened in and found out they were hungry.
Reon looked suspiciously at Tsutomu Goshiki's stomach. If he remembered correctly, Tsutomu Goshiki had finished off an entire bag of bananas by himself half an hour ago. And now he was hungry again? Did all those bananas go straight into a black hole or something?
Thinking back to when he himself had been growing, he had not eaten like this either. Was Tsutomu Goshiki really not going to ruin his stomach?
Maybe Reon's stare was too intense, because Tsutomu Goshiki uneasily covered his stomach and looked around.
Reon sighed helplessly and decided to get everyone something to eat. Otherwise, they might all starve to death together on Kamomedai and Fukurōdani's benches.
Reon stood up and discussed it with Shinsuke Kita. The two of them decided they could go to the cafeteria now and pack some meals to bring back.
Before they could move, a staff member pushed a small cart over. Although the cart was covered with a thick quilt, the smell of food still seeped out. Reon immediately felt that something was not good.
When he turned back, he saw the kids on his own team staring at the cart with their eyes practically glowing green. The Inarizaki players could not resist either. Their eyes were fixed straight on the cart with exactly the same look.
The staff member was so frightened that he stopped in his tracks. Then he forced himself to push the cart over. Under everyone's ravenous stares, he swallowed and began speaking.
"This is lunch provided by the organizers for the athletes. It's all in the cart. If you want to eat, you have to go to the stands. This is the bench area, so eating like this isn't allowed here."
After rattling off that whole string of words, the staff member turned and ran, faster than a rabbit.
Yamagata watched the staff member's retreating back and could not help sighing.
"With that speed, it's a shame he doesn't play volleyball."
Coach Washijō narrowed his eyes. Lunch provided by the organizers? There had never been anything like that in previous years.
Once the staff member left, everyone looked at one another. Then they rushed the cart all at once.
Tsutomu Goshiki especially looked so starved that he was one step away from eating a volleyball raw.
The moment the thick quilt was lifted off the cart, the fragrant steam of hot rice rushed straight at them. Tsutomu Goshiki took an intoxicated deep breath and almost inhaled himself into passing out.
Tsutomu Goshiki's foolish look was unbearable to watch. When Ushijima saw it, he silently turned his face away. Right now, he really did not want to admit that Tsutomu Goshiki was his junior.
Reon, Ushijima, and Shinsuke Kita stood at the front and directly suppressed the still chaotic situation. Then the three of them took the lunch boxes and handed them out one by one.
Everyone who received a boxed lunch had naturally heard what the staff member said earlier. They could not eat on the bench. So one by one, they very slyly ran over to the audience seats, choosing the very first row, and ate while watching the live match.
There was nothing happier than that.
Only Ryosuke fell silent as he looked at the logo on the bottom of his boxed lunch. Why did this logo look so familiar? It looked a little... a little like his family's logo.
The colorful little feather on the logo was something Ryosuke had doodled on it when he was young. There was absolutely no way he would mistake it.
After figuring everything out, Ryosuke gave a huff, then obediently sat in the stands and started eating from his lunch box.
It had to be said that Keigo Atobe had secretly gone to great lengths just so Ryosuke could enjoy his meal during the match. Everyone else's boxed lunches were ordinary rice bowls or noodles, but when it came to Ryosuke's box, there was everything inside: sushi, little bread rolls, abalone, steamed corn. And if he did not like any of it, that was fine too. Keigo Atobe would absolutely find another way to get Ryosuke something delicious.
As for why Keigo Atobe could be sure that boxed lunch would end up in Ryosuke's hands, they had the great Shiratorizawa captain, Ushijima, to thank. Ushijima and Keigo Atobe had reached an agreement: the kid had to eat something good. So when the food was being handed out earlier, Ushijima had deliberately stepped forward.
And at this very moment, Keigo Atobe was sitting in the stands across the court, holding binoculars, a small handkerchief clenched between his teeth as he pitifully watched Ryosuke banter so familiarly with that bunch of stinky men. He was about to grind his teeth to pieces.
Matsukawa stood off to the side, sighing as he watched Keigo Atobe act like a complete pervert. One moment he was grinning foolishly, the next he was gritting his teeth, and he was even secretly taking photos of Ryosuke across the court with a camera.
Matsukawa touched his poor little heart. Would he be silenced for knowing too much? He was seriously thinking about that question.
The match on the court was still going. After that last ball, it was Bokuto's serve again. Kamomedai had now brought out every bit of focus they had. They absolutely could not let Fukurōdani score on this ball.
Otherwise, the first set would be over.
Thinking that, Keiichiro felt the weight on his shoulders grow even heavier.
His expression gradually turned serious. Staring at the volleyball in Bokuto's hands, Keiichiro unconsciously slowed his breathing.
His expression was perfectly in sync with everyone eating in the stands. One by one, they had their chopsticks in their mouths and then froze, hands suspended in midair as they stared blankly at the court.
They did not dare move, as if the volleyball would not be received if they moved even a little. Honestly, they were only watching the match. There was no need to get that absorbed.
Everyone in the stands looked like a frozen TV screen right now. That was not an exaggeration at all.
Bang!
Under everyone's gaze, Bokuto raised the volleyball, tossed it up, and served.
His setup was extremely quick, so fast that the serve almost lined up with the whistle. Keiichiro's reactions were not bad either. The instant Bokuto served, Keiichiro moved too. Had Keiichiro clearly seen Bokuto's serving motion? Yes, but he had definitely not seen the volleyball's trajectory clearly.
Too fast!
Keiichiro felt a little panicked, but he still did his best to calm himself down and analyze the ball.
Everyone had already seen Bokuto's serve. No matter how strong it was, at most it was that super-powerful serve from earlier. At its core, this ball was not much different from a powerful jump serve. It was a little fast, but not a huge problem.
As long as he could barely see where the ball was going to land, that was enough. Keiichiro felt this ball probably did not have much spin. If the spin were too strong, he would be able to tell at a glance.
Once he calmed down, Keiichiro returned to being the reliable Libero he always was.
After confirming the landing point, Keiichiro rushed over without stopping and saw the volleyball dropping. It was falling extremely fast too, but there was no time to handle this ball carefully.
The moment Keiichiro moved, everyone in the stands moved too. Keiichiro was like their pause button. Once Keiichiro moved, everyone followed.
Keiichiro dove across the floor and got the ball up with his hands. Then the volleyball flew high into the air. Just like with so many of Bokuto's serves, most of the time, Keiichiro had no way to turn Bokuto's serve into a perfect first pass.
"Cover!"
Keiichiro fell onto the floor, then immediately got back up like a carp flipping upright. With one smooth little sequence, he was back on his feet.
Kazuyoshi Bessho had already lost count of how many times he had chased down balls in this set. He was clearly the setter, so why was he doing first-pass work too? He had plenty of resentment built up by now.
But once he remembered that this ball had been served by Bokuto, Kazuyoshi Bessho felt it was understandable.
As Kazuyoshi Bessho went to chase the ball, he brushed past Hoshiumi. Hoshiumi glanced at Kazuyoshi Bessho, and Kazuyoshi Bessho immediately knew who this ball should go to. The little sparks of battle in Hoshiumi's eyes were about to take shape and burn.
Kazuyoshi Bessho chased the volleyball all the way into the backcourt, then jumped, twisted his body in the air, and set the ball toward Hoshiumi.
Hoshiumi had not reached the net yet, but according to Kazuyoshi Bessho's calculations, by the time Hoshiumi arrived at the net, the volleyball would be right above his head.
The moment Keiichiro received the ball, everyone on Fukurōdani's side had already started moving.
Washio and Onaga went up to block. Without the slightest hesitation, they chose to block Hoshiumi. At this final moment, everyone would give the ball to their team's ace. Kamomedai's aces were Suwa and Hoshiumi.
Suwa showed no intention of spiking at all, so it could only be Hoshiumi.
Hirugami and Nozawa followed behind Hoshiumi to cover the attack. Seeing that formation, another person from Fukurōdani came over too. Konoha joined Washio and the others in the block. For a moment, in terms of numbers, the two teams were evenly matched.
"It feels like this ball is going to be the last one of the set."
Tendo stopped eating and propped up his chin, watching the court with great interest.
Hearing that, the others also stopped what they were doing and fixed their eyes on the match.
They saw Hoshiumi jump straight toward the three-man block. Hoshiumi jumped, and the three blockers across from him jumped too.
At first glance, the 160-centimeter Hoshiumi had jumped to almost the same height as Washio and the others.
Hoshiumi aimed his spike between Onaga's arms in the middle. Hoshiumi planned to do the same thing as Bokuto, a violent spike that would blast the block apart directly.
Onaga's hands seemed to have eyes. He sharply found the spot Hoshiumi wanted to hit and moved his palms over at once. Then, in the next second, Hoshiumi blinked.
He looked at Onaga in the air, then bent his wrist to ninety degrees and slammed the ball down hard against the net.
Bang!
Onaga's eyelid twitched. He had been fooled.
He had almost forgotten. Hoshiumi's aerial battle was not inferior to Bokuto's at all. A net-hugging spike was one of the most basic moves in an aerial battle. He had been careless. Too careless.
Bang!
The sound from behind him was not the volleyball hitting the floor, but the volleyball smashing into an arm.
Hoshiumi, who had not yet landed, naturally heard it too. He lowered his head to look.
He found that Keiji Akaashi had somehow run behind the three-man block.
At that moment, Keiji Akaashi had both hands stretched out, receiving the ball.
"I've got it!"
Before Hoshiumi could react to what was going on with Keiji Akaashi, Bokuto's voice came flying over again.
Washio, Onaga, Konoha, and the others scattered instantly. From behind them, Bokuto appeared.
Then Hirugami and Nozawa seemed to have planned it in advance. The two of them came out from behind Hoshiumi and brought Hoshiumi with them to stand in front of the block.
...
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