Aaron remembered how determined Inube's eyes had been when he said those words. Aaron felt both relieved and heartbroken. They were all his kids, after all. How could he not feel hurt?
Inube's words had truly moved Aaron, especially the word "selfish." After thinking it over carefully, Aaron felt that Inube was right. He could not gamble with Kamomedai's future, or everyone else's. He did not have that right. Respecting everyone's wishes was the best course of action.
So he agreed to Inube's request. He decided that if everyone failed to hold on in the second set, he would let Inube take the court.
Aaron kept staring at Inube, making it so uncomfortable that Inube could not even keep eating the snack in his mouth. He turned back to look at Aaron stiffly, then held out the last energy jelly in his hand.
"Coach, want one?"
Seeing the jelly in Inube's hand, Aaron was so angry his eyebrows started twitching. All that emotion and guilt vanished completely.
Through gritted teeth, he said,
"You little brat, where did you get snacks from?!"
Inube trembled all over, guiltily looked away, and quickly stuffed the remaining jelly into his mouth.
Aaron was so angry he did not even want to look at him. One more glance would only make him madder. What a disaster.
Inube gave an awkward little laugh. The coach had explicitly forbidden everyone from eating snacks, especially him, and now he had been caught red-handed.
...So embarrassing.
The whole matter of not letting him eat snacks was rather complicated. It could not be explained in just one or two sentences. Because of certain special circumstances, Inube had a lot of dietary restrictions, so Aaron watched him closely every day. Now that he had been caught sneaking snacks right under Aaron's nose, he was definitely going to be punished badly when they got back. Well, that was a matter for later.
...
Let's turn our attention back to the court.
During that brief bit of talking, several rallies had already passed on the court.
Both sides were locked in a back-and-forth struggle.
After being praised by Keiji Akaashi, Bokuto's spikes grew fiercer each time. He was absolutely on fire.
Hirugami watched Bokuto jump, then used both hands to precisely seal off the path of Bokuto's spike without the slightest hesitation.
These two were far too familiar with each other. Every time they played, one blocked and the other spiked. They knew each other's ball paths and styles so well they were almost sick of it. As soon as Bokuto raised his arm, Hirugami knew what kind of ball he was going to hit. In a way, that was another kind of perfect understanding.
Bokuto was not surprised at all when he saw Hirugami block his ball. It was normal for him to block it. It would have been strange if he could not.
Bokuto and Hirugami had always been sharpening each other and growing together.
Hirugami felt a tremendous force come through his arms, then curled his lips into a smile. Impressive, Bokuto. At this rate, I'll almost stop being a match for you. But right now, Hirugami still felt he could hold Bokuto off.
Then the hand covering the volleyball suddenly exerted force, pressing down hard and driving the ball down. Keiichiro, who was running behind him, had such sharp eyes that he could even see the veins bulging along Hirugami's forearm.
"Bang!"
Hirugami blocked Bokuto's ball again.
"Beep!"
"Kamomedai, that was awesome!"
"Hirugami is seriously so cool!"
"Hiss... I feel like that ball could kill someone, so why did that block look so easy for him?"
Before the team even had time to cheer, the audience had already started shouting and discussing.
Hirugami landed. Then, under Bokuto's excited gaze, he shook out his arm, adjusted his arm guard, and said to Bokuto,
"That's still nowhere near enough to take me down, Bokuto."
There were rarely emotional fluctuations in Hirugami's eyes, but this match against Bokuto today made Hirugami feel a rare surge of excitement.
Standing on the other side of the net, Bokuto grinned and said,
"Then just wait. I'm definitely going to beat you completely."
The two of them stood in front of the net, facing each other head-on.
Hakuba looked at Hirugami's serious expression and could not help spacing out for a moment. It really had been a long time since he had seen Hirugami like this. The usual Hirugami always seemed mature beyond his years. It was rare to see him this spirited.
But when Hakuba saw Hirugami's arm, he felt a chill run through him. Hirugami's arm was already covered in large patches of bruises, especially the inner side of his right arm. A huge patch of bruising spread across it, and beneath the bruises, blood was still pooling. His entire arm looked battered.
Hakuba's scalp went numb just looking at it. He did not dare imagine what it would feel like if all those hits had landed on his own arm. That would really hurt like hell.
Hirugami really did not have it easy. The way Hakuba looked at Hirugami grew more and more tender.
For some reason, Hirugami suddenly felt a chill down his back. He turned around in confusion, only to see Hakuba with watery eyes.
When Hakuba saw Hirugami looking at him, he instantly came back to himself and turned his head away, pretending nothing had happened.
Although Hirugami felt Hakuba was acting strangely, he did not think too much of it. Then the group returned to their positions.
Over on Fukurōdani's side, everyone was taking turns comforting Bokuto, but Bokuto accepted it well. He really was already used to being blocked by Hirugami. This was nothing.
"Sorry, everyone! I'll definitely get the next ball back!"
Bokuto looked very seriously at the teammates gathered in front of him. He felt a little regretful that he had not scored on that last ball. After all, his teammates had passed it along one after another. The next ball had to score.
A spark of determination lit in Bokuto's eyes.
Fukurōdani had not taken that point, so now it was Kamomedai's service rotation.
When Haruki Komi saw that the server was not Suwa, he breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness it was not Suwa serving. His jump float was seriously troublesome. They were already in the second set, and Haruki Komi still had not figured out just how many kinds of jump float serves Suwa could use. He could receive them, but the receives were not perfect.
And every time he received, the moment Komi saw Suwa's ball, he could not stop himself from overthinking. What kind of ball was this one?
Now the player serving from position one had changed to Hirugami, and Haruki Komi still had a headache.
Hirugami could shut Bokuto down with his Blocks, so it was easy to imagine how strong his hands were. On top of that, Hirugami served spinning balls. Haruki Komi had never felt a match was this hard to endure.
"Hirugami, give us a good serve and finish them off!"
"Go, Hirugami!"
Hearing everyone's calls, Hirugami curled his lips into a smile at them, then made an OK sign.
He slapped the volleyball hard against the floor a few times. Hirugami was far less calm right now than everyone thought.
His arms had already started to ache and go numb. Bokuto's high-intensity spikes had pushed Hirugami's arms beyond their limits. Now he had to serve too, and Hirugami could feel his hands trembling. But he did not show it.
It's just sore arms. It's not a big deal.
Thinking that, Hirugami tossed the volleyball into the air.
Hirugami lowered his center of gravity and began his run-up. Haruki Komi had already started moving the moment Hirugami began his approach.
He moved to a spot he felt was perfect for receiving, then quietly waited for Hirugami's serve.
Hirugami jumped, and his palm struck the lower left side of the volleyball.
The ball flew out in a wide arc. Before it crossed the net, it curved toward the right. After it cleared the net, it suddenly spun sharply, flying toward the left at high speed. Within that broad arc, there was also a tight spin.
Haruki Komi instinctively stepped forward by another body length.
Then he crouched down and stretched both arms forward.
Haruki Komi's read on the landing point was extremely accurate, without the slightest error. The problem was the spin on that ball. The volleyball was rotating incredibly fast.
Even when it was about to hit the floor, it still carried powerful spin.
Then it dropped into the bend of Haruki Komi's arms.
"Bang!"
Haruki Komi did not even need to look at the volleyball to feel his arms being forced downward by the impact. His face flushed bright red as he braced his arms with sheer force, refusing to let the ball drop. The strength in his core kept his body steady and stopped him from falling.
Maybe only a few hundredths of a second later, the volleyball, still spinning, flew off Haruki Komi's arms and shot straight backward.
He had clearly received it, but it still smashed off his arms and flew away. Compared with Bokuto's serve, the power behind this ball was no weaker. If anything, it was even stronger.
The volleyball bounced away. Komi did not even need to turn his head to know the ball had already flown out of bounds, the kind no one could possibly chase down.
"Beep!"
Sure enough, after the volleyball flew out, Haruki Komi heard the referee's whistle declaring the point for Kamomedai.
"Point for Kamomedai! What an eye-opening serve. Kamomedai's second-year player Hirugami scores directly with a spinning serve. Let's watch that serve again on the big screen. That elegant arc, that high-speed spin, the speed and the angle.
"Every single detail was precise to the extreme. It was like he brought a textbook serve straight onto the court!"
As the commentator spoke, the big screen replayed Hirugami's serve in slow motion.
Everyone looked up at the big screen. Only then did they realize that from the moment the ball was served until it landed, it had been spinning the entire time without stopping.
"That guy... he's gotten even better."
Suwa looked at Hirugami with a complicated expression. Hirugami's progress was simply too fast, especially when it came to Blocking and serving. He understood almost everything as soon as it was pointed out to him, and there was basically no need for anyone to teach him much more. Hirugami could learn things like this just by watching videos and reading textbooks on his own. That kind of learning ability was honestly intimidating.
Everyone was watching Hirugami's serve on the big screen, but by the time they finished watching and were just about to celebrate, time had already passed. The referee began urging everyone to hurry back to their positions. The next rally was about to begin.
"Who do you think will win this set?"
Tsutomu Goshiki asked Ryosuke quietly. Ryosuke was lying on the pillow, and his eyelids were so heavy they could barely lift. It was obvious he was desperately sleepy.
Hearing the question, he mumbled softly,
"Probably Kamomedai."
Tsutomu Goshiki wanted to ask why, but seeing Ryosuke look like he might fall asleep in the very next second, he wisely shut his mouth and said nothing.
Actually, if one looked at the question from Ryosuke's half-asleep way of thinking, it was very easy to explain.
These two teams were evenly matched. Fukurōdani had Bokuto, but Kamomedai had Hoshiumi and Hirugami. There was absolutely no way one team would crush the other so completely that they scored nothing. Something like that would never happen between Kamomedai and Fukurōdani.
This was not a question of probability. It was just a simple estimate of the two teams' strength.
The match on the court continued, and Hirugami stood at the service line again.
Then he took a deep breath and tossed the volleyball.
As always, he started his run-up and jumped.
"Bang!"
The volleyball shot out from Hirugami's palm.
Haruki Komi shifted his feet, moving into position to receive.
"Bang!"
Haruki Komi received the volleyball again. His accuracy was still very good.
The troublesome part was what came after.
Haruki Komi gritted his teeth, doing his best not to let the volleyball blast his arms open.
Then he lifted his arms and sent them upward and back.
The volleyball flew high into the air. It was truly high. Keiji Akaashi looked up at it, his head tilted back so far it felt like his neck might snap.
Then he ran after the ball with his head raised. Everyone very consciously cleared a path for Keiji Akaashi, while the others had already started moving to organize the attack.
Washio and Onaga had already circled to the front of the net, while Bokuto followed Keiji Akaashi the whole way, making it easier for Keiji Akaashi to set to him at any time.
Keiji Akaashi chased the volleyball with his head tilted up. The lights on the ceiling made his eyes uncomfortable. After finding where the volleyball would fall, Keiji Akaashi waited underneath it for the ball to descend.
This ball had flown a little far and had almost gone out of bounds. But that was fine. Keiji Akaashi would make sure every ball was accurate.
A high ball like this gave Keiji Akaashi a rare moment to empty his mind. Since the start of this match, Keiji Akaashi's brain had been running at high speed. He had to think about how to set, remember everyone's positions on the court, and any one of those tasks alone was exhausting.
The volleyball was about to fall. Keiji Akaashi jumped up, ready to set, then saw Bokuto had been staying within his field of vision the entire time. Without the slightest hesitation, Keiji Akaashi sent the ball to Bokuto. Bokuto was just about to reach the net.
At this speed, by the time Keiji Akaashi's ball arrived, Bokuto would also be in position. Keiji Akaashi sent the ball out without another thought.
The volleyball quickly reached the net, and Bokuto jumped to spike.
But what surprised him was that Hirugami did not jump out to block. Based on the pattern of the previous few balls, as long as Bokuto spiked, Hirugami would come to block. But right now, there was actually only Hakuba blocking him.
The arrow was already on the string, and it had to be released. Bokuto did not have time to think too much about it. He raised his arm and struck his best small diagonal shot.
"Bang!"
Bokuto's spike was not aimed at Hakuba's arm. It was aimed at the open space beside Hakuba. But Bokuto's ball did not hit the floor.
Instead, it was cut off by Hoshiumi, who had suddenly appeared.
Hoshiumi's eyes were fixed tightly on Bokuto. There was none of the smugness from earlier, when he had gone against Bokuto and won.
Those beautiful eyes were filled with nothing but focus.
Just now, when Bokuto spiked, he had only been focused on watching Keiji Akaashi and the block in front of him. When he realized Hirugami was not there, Bokuto had even glanced around, but since he had to spike, he did not pay it too much attention.
In truth, Hirugami had not turned invisible. He had been on the court the whole time. But he had run over from the sideline, and at that moment, Bokuto was already preparing to jump from position two, so naturally, he had not noticed Hirugami.
As for why he had not noticed Hoshiumi, it was because Hoshiumi moved too quickly. Bokuto had glanced over before spiking, and at that time, Hoshiumi had still been in position six. Even if he ran over, he might not necessarily make it in time to block.
But the fact was that the block just now had been completely unexpected. Compared with the first set, the speed Hoshiumi showed was even faster.
It was like Flash from the most popular game right now. Look away for even a second, and Hoshiumi was already there.
...
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