After that jump float serve, the look Atsumu Miya gave Suwa was no longer one of intrigued observation. It had become the wary gaze reserved for an opponent.
A jump float serve was notoriously difficult to learn. Given enough time, mastering it was certainly possible, but Shinsuke Kita had just told him that throughout all the matches, training camps, and intensive training sessions over the past two years, he had never once seen Suwa use one.
That meant Suwa had learned the jump float serve in a very short amount of time. At the very least, he had mastered it within a single semester.
The moment Atsumu Miya realized this, he sucked in a sharp breath.
If Suwa had learned the jump float serve a year or two earlier, there was an eighty percent chance Atsumu Miya would not be known as the current "Number One Two-Weapon Player."
Atsumu Miya immediately felt as though his position was under threat. His beautiful, fox-like eyes remained fixed on Suwa as he began thinking about how to deal with him if they faced Kamomedai later in the tournament.
"Well, well. So you were hiding another trick up your sleeve."
Takuro's sarcastic voice pulled Atsumu Miya from his thoughts.
Aaron did not seem bothered by Takuro's tone. He merely smiled good-naturedly and rubbed his stomach.
"You guys from Fukurōdani aren't half bad either."
Atsumu Miya glanced at the two coaches, then slumped back into his chair, his earlier vigilance fading.
There was no point worrying about it now. It was still unclear whether Kamomedai could even win this match. He could study Suwa for the time being. There was no need to rush.
Even if Kamomedai did win, they would most likely face Itachiyama first.
The thought sent a wave of delight through Atsumu Miya.
One side had the wing spiker he least wanted to face in a match. The other had Suwa and his impressive jump float serve.
If those two teams met, it was bound to be exciting. That match alone would be worth the price of admission.
The more Atsumu Miya thought about it, the better his mood became. He completely forgot that they still had a match against Shiratorizawa that afternoon.
Kita watched Atsumu Miya inexplicably bobbing his head in satisfaction and frowned in confusion.
Had watching the match made this kid lose his mind?
Leaving the situation on the sidelines aside, the atmosphere on Fukurōdani's side of the court was not looking good.
They had just glanced at the scoreboard and realized the score had already reached 17 to 20. They were trailing Kamomedai by a full three points, and the gap made it impossible not to feel anxious.
Komi was clearly the most agitated of them all.
Suwa would be serving again in the next rally, and Komi still had not found an effective way to deal with his jump float serve. That meant they could lose at least another two points because of him. If that happened, it would become extremely difficult for Fukurōdani to close the gap.
The feeling of being unable to receive the ball left Komi unusually anxious, yet there was nothing he could do about it. He simply did not have much experience receiving jump float serves. Most of what little experience he had came from facing Atsumu Miya during matches against Inarizaki or at training camps.
But the two could not be compared.
Atsumu Miya and Suwa had completely different serving styles, and even the types of jump float serves they used were different.
Komi's fingers repeatedly dug into his palms, a small habit of his whenever he felt frustrated. Fortunately, he kept his nails trimmed short for receiving. Otherwise, his palms would already have been covered in red and bruised marks.
Everyone could tell that Komi was getting irritable, but none of them knew how to comfort him.
After all, Komi was usually the one comforting them.
Keiji Akaashi also hesitated, unsure what he could say to improve Komi's mood.
At that moment, Bokuto stepped forward and slapped Haruki Komi hard on the back several times. Then, under everyone's horrified stares, he spoke.
"Hey, it's fine, Komi! Coach never planned on us winning the match in only two sets anyway. You've got plenty of time this set to figure out that serve."
Haruki Komi nearly got driven into the floor by those slaps.
Washio clearly saw his face contort in pain and turned away, unable to bear the sight.
Keiji Akaashi walked over, discreetly pushed Bokuto's hand aside, and helped Haruki Komi back up. Komi gave him a grateful look.
After being hit by Bokuto, Haruki Komi no longer felt discouraged in the slightest.
He was simply grateful to still be alive.
Bokuto had learned that method of comforting people from Haruki Komi himself. Komi always patted people on the back when reassuring them.
The difference was that Komi knew how much force to use. He would never hit someone as recklessly as Bokuto had.
That was not comforting someone. It was practically attempted murder.
Komi let out a breath, feeling as though Bokuto's slap had knocked all the frustration out of him.
Then he thought about what Bokuto had said and carefully considered it.
To his surprise, Bokuto actually had a point.
Winning the match in only two sets did not seem very likely.
Komi had been so anxious that he had completely forgotten that. Kamomedai was one of the strongest teams around. Even their previous practice matches against them had been difficult.
Why had he become so fixated on it today?
Holding on to Keiji Akaashi's arm, Komi slowly steadied himself. Bokuto had hit him so hard that it took him a while to recover.
"I understand. Don't worry. Give me three serves, and I'll definitely figure out Suwa's serve."
Komi looked at everyone with complete seriousness as he spoke.
Hearing that, Bokuto slapped Komi hard on the back several more times.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
"That's more like it! Now that's our Fukurōdani super libero!"
Keiji Akaashi watched Komi's complexion gradually turn ashen, his eyelid twitching violently. He hurriedly grabbed Bokuto's hand and led him back to his position.
At this rate, Komi would be beaten to death by Bokuto before he even got the chance to receive another ball. Then a perfectly good match would turn into a murder scene.
Once they saw that Haruki Komi had recovered, everyone relaxed and returned to their positions, ready for the next rally.
Komi stood in position, rubbing his back with lingering fear. He looked toward Bokuto and opened his mouth, but stopped before saying anything.
Forget it. He would talk to Bokuto after the match.
Thank goodness it had been him. If Bokuto had done that to someone as slightly built as Keiji Akaashi, he would have died on the spot.
Who on earth had taught Bokuto to comfort people like that?
Once everyone was in position, the next rally began.
Suwa stood behind the service line, turning the volleyball in his hands. Then the referee blew the whistle.
"BEEEEEP!"
Even after the whistle sounded, Suwa did not rush. He bounced the volleyball a few times and stared directly at Haruki Komi.
Komi refused to back down and met Suwa's gaze head-on.
Suwa's lips curved into a smile.
He had originally planned to wait until the last possible moment before serving to put pressure on Komi. He had not expected Komi to regain his composure so quickly.
It seemed dragging out the serve would no longer have any effect.
When Suwa saw that Komi remained unfazed, he finally moved.
He tossed the volleyball into the air, began his approach, and jumped. Judging by his footwork, it looked like another jump float serve.
No one spoke. Every eye remained fixed on Suwa as he served.
"Thud!"
Suwa took a few steps for his approach, jumped, and struck the volleyball with his palm, producing a sharp crack.
Haruki Komi watched the ball wobble through the air as though it might drop at any moment. He judged it to be the same kind of serve as the previous one.
Komi moved toward the center of the court. He did not dare position himself too far forward, since he might block his teammates' view, but he could not stay too far back either, or he would never reach the ball.
He waited in the middle of the court for it to come.
The volleyball drifted unsteadily through the air. It hardly looked as though it would clear the net, but once it did, it immediately seemed ready to fall.
Komi did not dare lower his guard. He hurried a few steps forward, crouched, and extended both arms to receive it.
"Thud!"
The volleyball struck Komi's forearms. It should have been possible to receive, but the instant it made contact, it bounced off and dropped to the floor.
Before Komi could lift his arms and send it up as a first pass, the ball had already landed.
Komi stared at the volleyball on the floor, completely baffled. The ball had seemed perfectly normal before he touched it, so why had it gone completely dead the moment he received it?
"BEEEEEP!"
Kamomedai scored again.
They had already taken two points from Suwa's serves. If they claimed another two, the set would be over.
Komi remained in a half crouch, wearing a seriousness no one had ever seen from him before.
Suwa... He was truly one of the few major setbacks Haruki Komi had ever encountered.
"Suwa! Suwa! Give us another one!"
"Kamomedai! Go! Kamomedai! Go!"
Suwa's two serves had completely fired up the Kamomedai stands. The spectators waved their cheering sticks and chanted Suwa's name.
How quickly things could change. Just moments ago, Fukurōdani's side had been cheering. Now it was Kamomedai's turn.
"Suwa-senpai's serve..."
"You want to try receiving one too, don't you?"
Ryosuke had been staring at Suwa and muttering to himself when Yamagata suddenly finished the thought for him.
Ryosuke turned and saw Yamagata staring fixedly at Suwa. Anyone unaware of the situation might have thought the two of them had some kind of grudge. Yamagata's gaze was intense enough to send a chill down anyone's spine.
Of course, Ryosuke knew exactly what Yamagata was thinking. He wanted to try receiving one himself.
After all, he was a libero. What libero could resist a serve like that?
Suwa seemed to sense their attention as well. He glanced back toward his team's bench and saw the two Shiratorizawa players sitting there, staring at him like hungry predators. They looked ready to start drooling at any moment.
Their gazes made Suwa shudder, and he stiffly turned his head back around.
Hoshiumi gave him a puzzled look.
Why did Suwa suddenly look so pale? Was he getting tired from serving?
Suwa: I was just scared...
"BEEEEEP!"
The referee's whistle sounded again.
This time, no one cheered. Instead, everyone watched Suwa and the volleyball in his hands with complete focus.
They were all wondering whether he could score from the serve again. If he took another point, Fukurōdani's advantage would disappear entirely.
At the sound of the whistle, Suwa pressed the volleyball lightly against his forehead.
He was making a wish to the God of Volleyball. He hoped he could take five points in one stretch, and he hoped this match would not end.
"Suwa, nice serve!"
Hakuba shouted from the front, then covered the back of his head with both hands. He knew a jump float serve would not hurt much if it struck him there, but he had been hit in the back of the head by other balls so many times that the motion had become a habit.
Hoshiumi also muttered quietly under his breath.
"Nice serve. Nice serve."
Suwa did not hear him.
His eyes remained fixed on the volleyball in his hands. A moment later, he tossed it into the air.
He began his approach, jumped, and launched another serve.
Komi once again moved toward the center of the court.
He thought he had picked up on something from the previous serve, but he was not certain yet. He would have to test it.
Besides, Suwa could not keep serving this kind of ball without end. There had to be an opening somewhere.
Suwa leaped and struck the volleyball with his palm.
"Thud!"
The ball floated lightly through the air once more. Just like the previous serve, it wobbled near the net, then began sinking slowly after crossing it.
It was different from the sudden drop of a sinking float serve. The descent of a low float serve was steadier and easier to see.
But even after noticing the drop and predicting where the ball would land, receiving it was not necessarily easy. The hardest part was controlling the ball well enough to turn the receive into a proper first pass.
As soon as Suwa served, Haruki Komi moved about a meter forward.
A receiver had to move early against this kind of serve because the ball was certain to land in the front court. Waiting until after the serve crossed the net might leave no time to reach it.
Now that Komi had solved the question of where to receive the ball, he had to figure out how to receive it.
At first, he had considered using an overhead pass, but the ball's landing point had made that impossible. He had switched to receiving it with his forearms, only for the ball to slip away the moment it touched them.
That was why the few steps Komi had taken forward were so important.
After moving a short distance, he arrived directly beneath the ball before it dropped too low. From there, handling it with an overhead pass became much easier.
Having made his decision, Komi ran forward and stopped beneath the ball. He raised both hands above his head and arched his back as the volleyball dropped straight into his palms.
Without a moment's hesitation, Komi pushed upward with his cupped hands and sent the ball away.
He did not feel the slightest wobble.
It was something of a trick. The ball did not wobble against his hands because the contact was so brief. It left almost as soon as it touched him, giving it no time to shift around.
The first pass began wobbling again after leaving his hands, but once it reached Keiji Akaashi, that movement should no longer matter.
Komi suddenly realized how simple the solution had been.
He had gotten so caught up in the problem that he had failed to see it. Had he stopped and thought carefully, he would not even have needed two serves to figure it out.
When Suwa saw Komi receive the ball, disappointment flashed across his face.
He had been hoping to take five points from his serves, but his streak had ended already.
What a shame.
Still feeling disappointed, Suwa moved with the rest of his teammates. Some prepared to defend, while others moved into position to attack.
After receiving the ball, Komi sent it forward.
Keiji Akaashi ran beneath it with his eyes raised. Bokuto and Konoha moved alongside him, ready for Akaashi to set to either of them at any moment.