"Thud!"
Ryosuke shut the ball down hard, sending it straight back toward Inarizaki's court. It looked like a clean block point.
But Osamu Miya did not panic at all. After landing, he immediately took a few steps to the side.
Then Shinsuke Kita appeared again.
Ryosuke had lost count of how many times this had happened. Inarizaki's captain really was impossible to get rid of. No matter what angle the ball came from or how difficult it was, he somehow managed to dig every spike and blocked ball that crossed the net.
Unless the ball was genuinely too far away for him to reach, Shinsuke Kita seemed to take care of everything himself.
Shinsuke Kita dove to the floor and got the ball up. He tilted his palm slightly to adjust the angle, sending the volleyball toward Osamu Miya.
Osamu Miya backed up a few steps, took his approach, and jumped to attack again.
The moment Shinsuke Kita made the save, Ryosuke knew the next ball would probably be an overpass.
So he stayed crouched in front of the net, waiting for Osamu Miya to hit it over.
Unlike Osamu Miya, Ryosuke did not need an approach to jump. He could take off directly from where he stood.
Osamu Miya jumped to spike.
Just as his hand was about to touch the ball, Ryosuke jumped too.
Perfect timing.
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
Two sounds rang out almost back to back.
The first was Osamu Miya's spike.
The second was the volleyball smashing into Ryosuke's palm as he suddenly appeared in front of him.
Then came one final sound.
"Thud!"
The ball hit the floor.
"Beep----------!"
Point to Shiratorizawa.
Osamu Miya's expression immediately darkened.
Anyone who got blocked twice in a row would be in a bad mood. It would have been strange if he were not.
"Whoa, Ryosuke, how are you that good? If that had been me, I wouldn't have reacted in time at all."
Tsutomu Goshiki was still staring at Ryosuke with open admiration.
Ryosuke turned and smiled at him.
He did not show much on his face, but inwardly he was quite pleased.
After all, nobody disliked being praised.
"Nice job, Ryosuke. It's our turn to serve now."
Reon walked over with a smile and patted Ryosuke on the shoulder.
So who was serving this time?
Ryosuke tilted his head and thought for a moment before realizing it was Reon.
No wonder Reon-senpai had come over specifically to tell him he had done well.
Reon looked to be in a very good mood, clearly satisfied with that play.
The spikers sitting in the stands all felt a headache coming on after watching what had just happened.
There really was nothing you could do against a blocker like Ryosuke.
Getting blocked once was bad enough.
Then came a second block.
And if the second one failed, there would probably be a third.
No matter how you hit, the ball just would not get through.
It was a nightmare.
"That looks miserable."
Konoha hugged himself and shuddered.
Hakuba looked equally pale and nodded in complete agreement.
A block like that was awful to deal with.
Hirugami gave a helpless smile.
The younger generation really was catching up fast.
The blockers these days were getting stronger one after another.
The match continued.
The score was now 23:19.
Shiratorizawa was down by four points, but Reon was not especially anxious.
As long as they could pull the gap back to one point, that would be enough. Ushijima would be serving later as well, so there was no need to rush.
Even if they lost this set, there would still be another one.
The third set would just become a little harder.
Reon walked to the service line.
Tsutomu Goshiki immediately started waving both arms wildly to cheer him on.
"Go, Reon-senpai!"
"Finish this set in one go!"
Yamagata joined in too, clearly enjoying himself.
Reon smiled at the two of them.
"Leave it to me."
Seeing Reon step up to serve, Akagi immediately grew alert.
Reon's serve was troublesome too.
Then again, it felt like every Shiratorizawa player had a troublesome serve.
Akagi glanced at the scoreboard.
He had to receive this one.
Ideally, Inarizaki would close out the set within the next few rallies.
Reon stood at the service line and looked over the court before tossing the volleyball high into the air.
He started his approach with the ball.
Once it reached the right height, he jumped and brought his right hand down hard.
"Thud!"
A loud impact rang from his palm.
The volleyball shot toward Inarizaki.
Akagi watched it come flying at him and instantly tensed.
He crouched in the backcourt, lowered his center of gravity, tightened both arms, and reached forward to receive.
As the ball rushed toward him, his whole body stiffened.
"Thud!"
The volleyball slammed into Akagi's arms.
He felt a heavy force press down on them.
Before he could even lift his arms, the ball ricocheted crookedly away and bounced onto the floor behind him.
Akagi had not even had time to struggle against the impact before the point was already over.
"Beep------------!"
"It's fine, Akagi. It's fine. There's still the next ball."
Aran patted him repeatedly on the shoulder, doing his best to cheer him up.
Akagi felt awful.
He had just told himself he would receive that serve, and then he failed.
How embarrassing.
The next one.
He would definitely get the next one.
With that thought, Akagi pulled himself together again.
He crouched in the backcourt, eyes locked on Reon.
He swore that he would receive the next serve.
Whether that sort of vow actually worked was another matter.
"Reon-senpai, one more!"
"One more!"
Tsutomu Goshiki and Yamagata, Shiratorizawa's resident cheer squad, were shouting loudly from the side.
Reon found it funny.
Yamagata really was acting more and more like a little kid.
"Beep--------!"
The whistle sounded.
Yamagata and Tsutomu Goshiki immediately quieted down and hurried back into position.
They watched Reon prepare to serve while bracing themselves for the next rally.
Reon tossed the volleyball up again.
He had a feeling that either this serve or the next one would definitely be received.
After the toss, he took his approach and jumped.
When the ball reached the proper height, he swung hard.
"Thud!"
The ball flew straight toward Akagi.
Akagi took the same stance as before, but just before receiving, he made a small adjustment to his footwork and shifted his weight onto his heels.
He extended both arms forward.
The volleyball slammed down onto them.
"Thud!"
Once again, Akagi felt an enormous force crash into his arms.
But this time, he controlled the impact and stopped the ball from immediately flying away.
He planted his heels firmly into the floor, braced his body, and forced his arms upward.
The volleyball rose toward Atsumu Miya.
The moment Atsumu Miya saw Akagi get it up, he knew this rally was still alive.
He even ran a few steps toward Akagi, almost as though the two of them were meeting halfway.
By adjusting his center of gravity after the impact, Akagi successfully lifted the ball and directed it toward Atsumu Miya.
Reon watched his serve get received and felt a little disappointed.
He had expected it to happen sooner or later, but it was still a shame.
On Inarizaki's side, Atsumu Miya hurried over to the ball.
Osamu Miya and Aran charged forward as usual, while Shinsuke Kita followed behind Osamu Miya.
Atsumu Miya instinctively wanted to set to Osamu Miya.
But if he did, Ryosuke or Reon would probably block him.
Osamu Miya was simply too obvious a target.
The bigger problem was that Inarizaki did not have many attackers available.
Omimi had been substituted out, leaving their offense somewhat limited.
Sure enough, the moment Osamu Miya reached the net, Reon locked onto him.
Suna was being watched by Ryosuke.
Aran, meanwhile, was matched up with Tsutomu Goshiki near position 3.
Shiratorizawa's defense left almost nowhere to attack.
If the timing had been better, Atsumu Miya would have been tempted to attack on the second touch himself.
But the current situation clearly was not right for that.
So Atsumu Miya chose to set to Osamu Miya.
Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki had already been watching Atsumu Miya out of the corners of their eyes.
The instant they saw him move, both of them headed toward Reon to join the block, one after the other.
Whenever Osamu Miya attacked, Shinsuke Kita stayed behind him to cover.
Osamu Miya was normally a very capable spiker, but against Shiratorizawa's three-man block, even he was starting to struggle.
So Shinsuke Kita had to stay alert at all times, ready to clean up anything that came back.
Osamu Miya jumped.
Feeling the ball arrive beside his hand, he swung.
Reon had already jumped on the other side.
He did not wait for Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki to arrive.
Osamu Miya attacked too quickly for that.
Even with Ryosuke's speed, he could not always get there in time.
"Thud!"
Osamu Miya swung his right hand and struck the ball.
Reon straightened his arms to block.
Osamu Miya had originally intended to hit down the line, but at the very last instant, just before contact was complete, he changed it to a cross-court shot.
Reon had been blocking the line.
Osamu Miya's sudden switch to the cross was too abrupt.
There was no time for Reon to adjust his hands.
All he could do was hope Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki made it in time.
Ryosuke ran so fast his legs almost seemed to blur.
He was certain he could catch up.
Tsutomu Goshiki was right behind him.
A split second later, both of them arrived.
But Reon was already airborne directly in Ryosuke's path.
Ryosuke rushed over and bumped Reon aside with his hip.
Caught completely off guard, Reon took the hit near his waist and stumbled as he landed.
Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki jumped side by side.
Ryosuke's right hand and Tsutomu Goshiki's left hand closed over the ball together.
Both of them pressed down at the same time.
Osamu Miya landed as well.
The instant Shinsuke Kita saw his spike get blocked again, he appeared from the side, rushed under the net, and got his hands under the falling ball.
The volleyball landed perfectly against him and bounced back into the air.
Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki had expected this.
Neither moved.
They simply waited for the ball to rise again and watched for the next attacker.
As the volleyball popped up, footsteps sounded from behind Osamu Miya.
After Shinsuke Kita sent the ball up, both he and Osamu Miya backed away.
The moment they cleared the space, Aran burst out from behind them.
He had already begun his approach from farther back.
By the time he entered their line of sight, he was already airborne.
Tsutomu Goshiki saw Aran suddenly appear and instinctively tried to jump.
Ryosuke immediately grabbed him and held him back.
That setup was far too obvious.
Ryosuke did not believe Inarizaki would make it that easy.
The moment Aran saw Shinsuke Kita's save, he had realized they could use the timing to launch a delayed attack.
The ball had been sent a little too high for a comfortable spike.
For a timing attack, though, it was perfect.
He had not expected Ryosuke to refuse the bait completely.
Ryosuke had even stopped the overeager Tsutomu Goshiki from jumping.
Now Aran had no other option.
He could only hit.
"Thud!"
As Aran reached for the volleyball, the two blockers across from him jumped almost instantly.
Both extended their hands toward him.
Their presence was overwhelming.
The instant Aran met Ryosuke's eyes, he hesitated.
Then he snapped out of it.
He had almost been intimidated by a first-year's stare.
That was humiliating.
Aran hit the ball.
Once again, it slammed into Ryosuke's palm.
Aran's spike carried plenty of power, but it was still some distance behind Ushijima's.
Ryosuke put force through his hand and pressed the volleyball straight back down.
Blocked again.
Osamu Miya stepped forward and managed to save the ball.
It hit his arms and bounced backward.
For a moment, Osamu Miya thought the point was lost.
Then Atsumu Miya appeared from behind him.
He drove the volleyball straight at the block.
"Thud!"
Ryosuke had just seen Osamu Miya get the ball up.
He had not even had time to jump before Atsumu Miya smashed the ball down beside him.
It passed so close that it almost grazed Ryosuke's ear.
The impact was deafening.
Ryosuke felt like the sound had gone off directly inside his head.
"Beep-----------!"
Point to Inarizaki.
Atsumu Miya was delighted at first.
But the moment he met Ryosuke's blank, stunned gaze, guilt immediately crept in.
Had that been too loud?
If he had known, he would not have hit the ball right beside little Ryosuke.
One look at Ryosuke's face made it obvious that he had been startled.
Ryosuke straightened up and rubbed his ear.
Only then did Reon realize just how close the spike had passed to him.
He had no idea whether Ryosuke's ear was all right.
Reon shot Atsumu Miya a look, then hurried over to Ryosuke.
"Is your ear okay?"
Ryosuke patted his ear twice, then shook his head.
"I'm fine. It was just ringing for a moment."
Atsumu Miya was standing right across the net, so naturally he heard that.
Feeling guilty, he rubbed his nose and was about to apologize.
But before he could say anything, Reon had already turned away and led Ryosuke off.
Atsumu Miya was left standing there awkwardly.
Osamu Miya immediately burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! Got ignored, huh?"
The schadenfreude in his voice was impossible to miss.
Atsumu Miya rolled his eyes and stormed off in irritation.
He was not angry at anyone else.
He was annoyed with himself.
Why had he been stupid enough to aim that spike right beside Ryosuke?
Seriously.
Atsumu Miya almost wanted to slap his past self.
Ryosuke followed Reon back with his head lowered.
"Reon-senpai, I'm sorry. I couldn't protect your service run."
His voice was muffled, and he sounded genuinely embarrassed.
...
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