"Ichinose! I… I need to go to the bathroom!"
Hinata Shoyo clutched his stomach with his left hand and shakily raised his right, signaling his desperate need for a toilet break.
"Okay, go ahead. Don't take too long!"
"Got it!"
"Wait a second, I'll come with you."
Ichinose Guren called out to stop Hinata, then began rummaging through his backpack.
"The bathroom… Guren, don't tell me, you're gonna use that?"
"Yeah. The first match sets the tone for the whole tournament, and our first opponent's a powerhouse. We need to go in at two hundred percent."
Ichinose nodded firmly, expression deadly serious.
"I don't ever want to regret losing a match just because I didn't give it my all."
Fated Encounter in the Bathroom
Outside the restroom, while Hinata nervously hurried inside, Ichinose Guren calmly unzipped his small pouch.
He took out a box of hair gel and a small bottle of setting spray.
He rubbed the gel between his palms, coating it evenly through his hair.
Then, with one decisive motion, he slicked his bangs back, transforming his usual boyish mop into a clean, sharp slicked-back style.
A few sprays of hair fixer later, and the change was complete.
His entire aura shifted.
The sunny, cheerful boy vanished, replaced by a cold, commanding presence that radiated confidence and defiance.
He tucked the products back into the pouch, looked at himself in the mirror, and grinned.
"Kitagawa Daiichi… are you ready?"
With that, he swung the door open and walked out.
===========
When Guren returned to the court, the entire Yukigaoka team froze.
Except for Hinata, who had seen this transformation before, everyone else's jaws dropped.
"Guren! You, " Hoshino Victory rushed up, whispering in a panic.
But before he could finish, Guren cut him off with an impatient wave and a casual ear scratch.
"I know, I know."
"Relax. As long as the ref doesn't warn me, it's fine."
"Anyway, enough about me. Everyone, gather up, I analyzed their data last night."
Once the team formed a circle around him, Guren began his pre-match briefing.
"Their offense isn't as terrifying as their reputation suggests. They rely mainly on height and their setter's exceptional control, speed, and awareness."
"For this match, the front row will be Hinata, Mori, and Hyakuzawa. Back row, Suzuki, me, and Kawashima."
"Back row, make sure at least one of me or Hinata is always paired with Hoshino for ground defense."
"For blocking, we'll use adaptive blocks, not predictive ones. Don't aim for outright kills; focus on slowing down their attacks."
"So, we'll jump slightly farther from the net and use soft blocks to absorb impact."
"As for offense, leave that to me, Yudai, and Hinata."
When he finished, Guren turned toward Mori, their setter, who had just wrapped up a warm-up drill.
"Mori! You don't need pinpoint speed or precision. Even if the opponent knows exactly who you're setting to, it doesn't matter."
"Yudai and I just need high sets within reach. And if you can, toss Hinata a few first- or second-tempo quicks, his cross-step speed will outpace all but their setter."
Mori looked at Guren, still cocky, yet focused and composed, and took a deep breath.
"Understood, Ichinose-senpai! I'll be the best setter I can be!"
Guren flashed a toothy grin.
"Of course you will."
"Line up!!"
The referee's voice echoed across the court.
Both Kitagawa Daiichi and Yukigaoka players halted their warm-ups, lining up in formation.
They bowed deeply.
"Please take care of us!"
Hinata's powerful, almost overly formal bow caught the attention of several spectators, members of the Karasuno volleyball club who had come to watch the reigning kings of the prefecture.
The whistle blew.
The match began.
Kitagawa Daiichi to serve.
Player No. 3 stepped up for a standing serve.
Though it wasn't a jump serve, his long arms and strong frame gave it plenty of power and spin.
"I got it!"
Hoshino darted into position, perfectly judging the ball's drop point.
His hands formed a platform as he absorbed the force, sending a textbook-perfect first pass flying to Mori.
"Whoa! What a clean receive! Is that really a junior high school students?"
From the stands, Sugawara Koushi couldn't help but exclaim.
Ryunosuke Tanaka whistled. "Yeah, that's first-class. Almost like Yuu's style."
Daichi nodded in agreement. "A solid pass. Let's see how they attack."
Across the court, the Kitagawa player who served clicked his tongue in frustration.
"Che."
He immediately dropped into a defensive position.
Mori, standing near the net, scanned the formation in an instant before the ball descended.
As expected of a national contender, their positioning is flawless.
Senpai said the first match sets the tone. The first point… it needs to hit hard.
We need pressure. Threat. The kind of force that makes them feel it.
And the purest embodiment of that power… is him!
Mori made his decision.
"Hyakuzawa-senpai!" he shouted.
"Got it!"
Across the net, Kageyama Tobio barked orders to his teammates.
"Mark the tall one! Don't let him through!"
The Kitagawa blockers quickly adjusted their positions, only to see Mori's toss.
A slow, high arc.
Kageyama frowned.
This kind of set… has no setter's soul.
He's giving up control, letting the spiker dictate the timing.
How primitive.
Still, it was a match. He crouched, counting Hyakuzawa's approach steps.
"Three! Two! One! Jump!"
THUD!
"Wha—?!"
The triple block, Kageyama, Kindaichi, and their captain, was completely overpowered.
Hyakuzawa's spike blasted past their fingertips by nearly ten centimeters, slamming into the court like a meteor.
In that instant, several Kitagawa players, avid manga readers, had the same thought:
The Wall that Protected Humanity… has been breached.
A few even wore expressions of existential despair worthy of Attack on Titan panels.
The ball hit the floor hard.
Kitagawa's libero didn't even react in time.
No one expected Yukigaoka's "giant" to actually shatter Kitagawa Daiichi's famous Iron Wall.
The referee, calm and professional, simply blew the whistle and signaled the point.
The scorekeepers flipped the board.
1–0. Yukigaoka leads.
"Holy crap! That hitting point was insane!" Tanaka blurted out from the stands.
Sugawara gawked. "Terrifying… Are we really going to face opponents like that next year?"
"Feels impossible to block," Tanaka said.
"I wonder if Date Tech's Iron Wall could stop that…"
Daichi, ever the captain, stayed composed.
"Doesn't matter. When the time comes, we'll just face them head-on."
"Even if we can't shut it down completely, we can still soft block it."
"Step back a bit, aim for a touch, control the rebound."
While Karasuno's trio analyzed their future rival from the stands, Kageyama was already adjusting his defense mid-match.
"Next block, pull back slightly. Go soft. We'll slow his shots instead of killing them."
And with that, the next serve began,
Yukigaoka Junior High's first serve.
==========
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