Well, it actually wasn't as dramatic as Reon imagined. Atsumu Miya was simply a little better than most people at staying in the air.
Part of that came from Atsumu Miya being naturally more gifted than others. The rest came from the years he had spent going further and further down the path of a setter, until, without even realizing it, he had developed into the player he was today.
That extended hang time had also given Atsumu Miya plenty of room to develop some impressive tricks when it came to spiking.
Osamu Miya watched Atsumu Miya from behind and froze for a moment. Sometimes, Osamu Miya really felt like there wasn't a single thing he could do better than Atsumu Miya. Back when the two of them both played setter, Osamu Miya had thought Atsumu Miya was better suited to the position.
Now that Osamu Miya was playing as a middle blocker, he found himself thinking Atsumu Miya would be better suited to that position too.
Thinking about it that way, it seemed like no matter what stage they were at, he could never measure up to Atsumu Miya.
"Thud!"
While Osamu Miya was lost in thought, he heard the volleyball hit the floor.
He looked up blankly and saw Atsumu Miya, who had just scored with a spike, clenching his fist and cheering in front of the net. Everyone else seemed to get swept up in Atsumu Miya's excitement too, laughing and cheering along with him.
Happiness and excitement really were contagious.
"Hey! Samu, that was a great set!"
Atsumu Miya turned around and grinned brightly at Osamu Miya.
Osamu Miya pursed his lips in exasperation. Atsumu Miya was already this old, so how was he still acting like a little kid?
"Your spike was pretty good, too!"
Compared to the excitement on Inarizaki's side after scoring, the atmosphere over at Shiratorizawa was a little subdued.
Reon scratched his head awkwardly. Even though he knew Atsumu Miya could spike, he had still failed to stop the ball. That was honestly a little embarrassing.
Atsumu Miya should just quit volleyball and become an actor. He had one feint after another ready to go, and Reon couldn't react in time at all. He would avoid one trap only to fall straight into the next.
It was infuriating.
"Sorry, everyone. That last play was my mistake."
It was rare to see Reon looking even slightly guilty, and the sight startled Tsutomu Goshiki.
"Of course it's fine, Reon-senpai. If anyone's to blame, it's the other side for being way too sneaky."
Tendo walked over as well, nodding with a grin as he slung an arm around Reon's shoulders.
"Don't worry. Just watch. I'll get revenge for you and block the hell out of them."
Reon sighed.
"Then I'll be looking forward to it."
With that, everyone returned to their positions and prepared for the next rally.
Atsumu Miya also went back to his spot with the volleyball in hand. It was still his turn to serve.
They really had Osamu Miya's save on the previous play to thank for keeping this service run alive. Otherwise, Shiratorizawa would definitely have seized the momentum.
Atsumu Miya turned back toward everyone, raised a hand, and smiled.
"Just watch. I'll definitely pull the score back."
Then he strode confidently toward the service line.
Facing the Shiratorizawa players, with Yamagata waiting in the backcourt, Atsumu Miya showed no hesitation at all. He looked completely fired up.
"Beep-----------!"
The moment the service whistle sounded, music began playing as well. It was Atsumu Miya's personal theme song.
As usual, Atsumu Miya raised a hand and clenched his fist in the air.
The music in the stands obligingly stopped.
The instant it fell silent, Atsumu Miya tossed the volleyball up and prepared to serve toward Shiratorizawa's backcourt.
As the ball rose, Atsumu Miya began his approach and jumped.
This time, his steps were extremely steady. They didn't look like the footwork for a jump float serve at all. A jump float required lighter, more agile steps, and this was clearly different.
Yamagata quickly made his judgment.
This was probably a Jump Serve.
Even so, he didn't relax in the slightest. Atsumu Miya had already surprised, or outright scared, them more than once.
Atsumu Miya followed the ball through his approach, then leaped and swung.
The moment Yamagata saw the motion of his arm, his guard went up.
Atsumu Miya brought his hand down hard on the volleyball.
"Thud!"
The sound rang sharply across the court.
It looked like a powerful Jump Serve.
That was Yamagata's first thought, but he still didn't settle on that conclusion. He simply ran toward the spot where he predicted the ball would land and watched it carefully.
There was never any harm in being cautious.
"Do you guys really think that was a Jump Serve?"
Hirugami looked left, then right.
Everyone else wore calm expressions, as though they were thinking, Ah, so it really was a Jump Serve.
Hirugami thought they were relaxing far too soon.
Bokuto tilted his head at him, his golden eyes practically glowing with confusion.
"Isn't it?"
Konoha asked on Bokuto's behalf.
Hirugami looked at Konoha in confusion.
It was one thing for Bokuto not to notice, but how did even Konoha miss it?
Then Hirugami suddenly remembered.
From where Konoha and Bokuto were sitting, they couldn't see the subtle movement of Atsumu Miya's wrist.
So Hirugami explained.
"That probably wasn't a Jump Serve. From where I'm sitting, I can see Atsumu Miya's hand clearly. You don't need to twist your wrist like that for a Jump Serve."
As he spoke, Hirugami rotated his right wrist to demonstrate.
The moment he said that, everyone's attention shifted toward him.
"Now that you mention it, it really doesn't look like a Jump Serve."
Kuroo stared thoughtfully at Hirugami's wrist.
"A spin serve."
Kenma, who had been quiet this whole time, had opened his eyes at some point and spoken to Kuroo.
Kuroo paused, then smacked his right fist into his left palm as realization dawned on him.
Hirugami and the others understood immediately too.
It had to be a spin serve.
And a fairly subtle one at that.
As for why Atsumu Miya hadn't made the motion more obvious, it was probably because he didn't want Yamagata to notice and start preparing for it in advance.
Their guesses were actually pretty accurate.
Atsumu Miya really could use a spin serve, but he was nowhere near as practiced with it as he was with jump floats and Jump Serves. He had originally planned to work on it some more before bringing it out in a match.
But the score wasn't looking great right now, so Atsumu Miya figured it was worth taking the risk.
After the ball left Atsumu Miya's hand, Yamagata's first reaction was that it was just an ordinary Jump Serve with a little spin on it.
Nothing too troublesome.
But once the volleyball crossed the net, the amount of spin became much more pronounced.
At first, Yamagata thought it was perfectly normal for a volleyball to rotate in the air. But when the spin became increasingly violent, he immediately realized something was wrong.
A normal Jump Serve wouldn't spin like this.
Unless this was a spin serve.
Yamagata understood in an instant.
Once he realized what kind of serve it was, he became even more cautious.
The volleyball crossed the net and quickly arrived in front of him.
Yamagata lowered his body and extended both arms, ready to receive.
The ball came spinning toward him.
Yamagata watched its rotation carefully, preparing to make contact during the next slight turn.
Just before dropping, the volleyball rotated again.
Yamagata seized that brief opening and brought his arms forward to receive it.
The ball slammed into his forearms.
Though calling it his forearms was being generous.
It had actually struck closer to his wrists.
Yamagata frowned as he sent the ball upward. The awkward point of contact on his arms felt uncomfortable.
The sensation was strange.
Good thing he had been wary of Atsumu Miya from the start.
Otherwise, there was no way he would have received that ball.
That Atsumu Miya guy really knew how to put on an act, Yamagata thought as he passed the ball up.
Shirabu saw Yamagata get the receive and immediately moved toward a position near the net that was ideal for setting. He kept his eyes on Yamagata the whole time, signaling for him to send the ball over.
Yamagata glanced at Shirabu's position.
That was a perfect spot for the first pass.
Since when had Shirabu become so considerate?
Yamagata put strength into his arms and wrists and sent the volleyball upward.
The ball flew straight toward Shirabu.
Shirabu immediately adjusted his position to set.
At the same time, Tsutomu Goshiki began his approach.
He was moving so fast that even Reon nearly failed to keep up.
Reon stared at Tsutomu Goshiki in surprise.
Why was this kid running so fast?
Was he trying to steal the ball from Ushijima?
Honest to God, Tsutomu Goshiki really wasn't thinking that.
He had simply gotten caught up in the heat of the moment.
He would be fine once he calmed down.
When Ushijima saw Tsutomu Goshiki charge forward, he quietly moved out from the other side.
At a moment like this, Ushijima wasn't going to compete with Tsutomu Goshiki for the ball.
After all, Coach Washijō had recently been encouraging Tsutomu Goshiki to take more spikes by himself so he could build experience.
Ushijima was more than happy to let that happen.
However, in truly important situations, if Tsutomu Goshiki failed to read the situation and tried to take a ball that should belong to him, Ushijima would not allow anyone to challenge his position as the ace.
The day Tsutomu Goshiki could truly go head-to-head with Ushijima would be the day he was ready to shoulder the responsibility of leading a team.
Tsutomu Goshiki charged ahead of everyone else.
When Shirabu jumped, he glanced toward Tsutomu Goshiki, seemingly hesitating over whether to set the ball to him.
After all, Tsutomu Goshiki's scoring rate hadn't been particularly high earlier.
Then Shirabu looked at the others.
Ushijima had no intention of getting involved in this play.
Reon was quietly following behind to cover the attack.
With one glance, Shirabu understood what everyone meant.
They had all silently agreed to let Tsutomu Goshiki take this spike.
Once he realized that, Shirabu stopped hesitating and sent the set straight toward Tsutomu Goshiki.
Suna quickly figured out who was going to attack as well.
After all, Ushijima still hadn't moved into an approach.
Who else could the spiker be?
Suna immediately sprinted toward Tsutomu Goshiki's position.
But after only a few steps, Tendo got in his way.
Suna's brow twitched.
He really found Tendo incredibly annoying.
The guy just would not leave him alone.
Tendo: "No, thank you. Same goes for you."
The two stared at each other across the net, sparks practically flying between them.
If the net hadn't been separating them, Suna probably would have charged over and punched Tendo.
Tendo had better remember that the net had just saved his life.
Otherwise, Suna might have ended up throwing a burlap sack over his head later.
Suna had seen Tsutomu Goshiki a moment ago, but only while he was moving.
He hadn't clearly seen exactly where Tsutomu Goshiki was heading to attack.
Now he could only judge from everyone else's lines of sight and the direction of Shirabu's set.
Aran and Osamu Miya both ran toward Tsutomu Goshiki's side and almost instantly determined who was taking the spike.
Shirabu had already set the ball, yet Ushijima still hadn't moved.
At that point, the attacker was obvious.
Out of the corner of his eye, Suna saw Osamu Miya and Aran sprinting toward the area on his right.
He understood immediately.
Tsutomu Goshiki had to be there.
If Tsutomu Goshiki wasn't in that position, then he wasn't the one taking the spike.
Once Suna confirmed his conclusion, he sprinted toward the others at full speed.
For Suna, this was practically the limit of human capability.
He genuinely couldn't understand how some people could move even faster than this.
Anyone faster than that simply had to be classified as a monster.
Akagi, for example.
Atsumu Miya.
And Tsutomu Goshiki on the other side...
Thinking about it that way, Suna suddenly realized he was surrounded by these so-called monsters.
That realization gave him a bad feeling.
If he didn't work a little harder, everyone around him would leave him behind without even trying.
With that thought, Suna forced himself to move even faster.
"Whoa, Suna can actually run that fast?!"
Omimi's voice rose sharply in surprise.
You couldn't blame him for overreacting.
Suna usually looked lazy and listless, like he could barely summon the energy to move.
And he had never run this fast before.
Strictly speaking, this was the first time anyone, including the Inarizaki players, had ever seen him like this.
His usual lazy air was completely gone.
Coach Kurosu's eyes widened too.
Good grief, was that really Suna?
Had something strange possessed him?
The entire scene instantly shifted from a passionate youth sports story into some kind of suspense horror movie.
Coach Kurosu shuddered at his own imagination, then immediately put on a serious expression and focused on the match again.
Tsutomu Goshiki was still running.
When he heard the volleyball, he quietly turned his head and saw it coming toward him.
He immediately picked up his pace.
He could already see several people moving toward his position.
Aran.
Osamu Miya.
And Suna.
He wondered if Tendo-senpai could slow Suna down.
If not, he might be facing a three-man block.
And behind them were Shinsuke Kita and the libero, both waiting for whatever got through.
This was going to be difficult.
The thought made Tsutomu Goshiki's scalp prickle.
This was practically hell-level difficulty.
Still, leave it to him.
No problem.
Tsutomu Goshiki's gaze sharpened instantly.
Osamu Miya and Aran rushed toward the net to meet Tsutomu Goshiki.
Suna still hadn't reached his position.
The best options were either a time-differential shot or a cross-court shot, but Tsutomu Goshiki had to act fast.
If he slowed down even slightly, Suna would catch up.
The volleyball rose to the right height.
Tsutomu Goshiki jumped with it.
He didn't choose the time-differential shot.
That would require time to adjust, and there was clearly no time for that now.
Suna was barely a second away from arriving.
Tsutomu Goshiki made his decision immediately.
He would spike.
He couldn't hit it too deep.
Shinsuke Kita and Akagi were both waiting in the backcourt.
But if he hit it too close, what if he drove it straight into the net?
After considering it for an instant, Tsutomu Goshiki decided to simply go for it.
There was no point thinking about tactics now.
He just had to smash the ball down.
His strength might not match Ushijima-senpai's, but the difference wasn't that enormous either.
Tsutomu Goshiki concentrated all his strength into his right hand and slammed it down at the volleyball.
That single hit carried every bit of explosive power he could produce in that instant.
"Bang!"
With a thunderous impact, Tsutomu Goshiki drove the volleyball forward, aiming directly between Osamu Miya and Aran's hands.
Aran and Osamu Miya braced their arms, trying to stop it.
But the tremendous force of the spike smashed into them and forcibly tore open a gap in their block.
The volleyball dropped straight through that opening and hit the floor.
...
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