After a well-nourished lunch and a comfortable nap, the seven members of Yukigaoka arrived at the prefectural gymnasium, full of energy.
Thanks to their restful break, their stamina was at a level that could rival other top teams in the prefecture, who had been training rigorously for three years straight. After all, no other team enjoyed such a luxurious mid-day rest.
"Everyone rested well?" Ichinose Guren looked at his teammates forming a circle, beginning their usual warm-up.
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
"Ah, it's our captain again. Now our stamina bars will definitely be higher than the other afternoon teams. This should at least make up for our base-level stamina deficit."
Hoshino Katsuri sipped his sports nutrition drink, glancing at the other teams just waking from their seats, silently appreciating the advantage.
"Really! Guren, your hotel bed was too comfortable! And the bath was amazing!"
Hinata Shoyo, always frank and unfiltered, immediately unleashed a rainbow of praise, his excitement unmistakable.
"I feel more energetic than this morning!" He puffed out his chest, showing off his toned muscles.
Thus began Yukigaoka's usual pre-match comedic routine.
Meanwhile, at Shiratorizawa Junior High, second-year setter Kenjiro Shirabu noticed that ace spiker Tsutomu Goshiki was reacting with clear astonishment at the opposing blockers.
Goshiki's expression: "Wow… that guy's huge."
This surprised Yori, he thought everyone had already watched the previous match's footage. How could Goshiki still look so unaccustomed?
"Something wrong?" Yori asked.
"The team across from us… familiar?"
"No. I've never even heard of them."
"What? Goshiki-senpai, didn't you watch Yukigaoka's matches or the recordings?"
"Nope."
Goshiki didn't hesitate, directly admitting he hadn't watched the footage.
Yori was stunned. Why not? Yukigaoka has always been our rival.
Goshiki explained, with a trace of rhetorical flair:
"Why waste time watching a team that's been eliminated in the first round this year, a team we haven't beaten in years?"
Yori was momentarily speechless, Goshiki had a point. Over several years, Yukigaoka had been utterly dominated by the junior division of Shiratorizawa, led by volleyball prodigy Wakatoshi Ushijima.
Even after both Ushijima and his teammate went to high school, Yukigaoka still couldn't overcome them.
Even as a top setter earning prefectural best honors, capable of maximizing his teammates' potential, a player like Kenjiro Shirabu still couldn't overcome a single prodigy from Shiratorizawa.
Even years later, when opponents like Kageyama moved to high school, Ushijima and Shiratorizawa's dominance remained unbroken.
Returning to the present, after learning that Goshiki hadn't watched the previous match footage, Yori was taken aback, he hadn't realized how his spiker thought.
For years, their defeats were largely due to facing Ushijima-level prodigies. Even now, as a strong spiker, Goshiki's level was still below that of top national high school aces like Ushijima.
Yori's assessment was correct: Goshiki's success relied on his spike technique, but without reaching the mastery of national-level aces like Bokuto, his skill was only the baseline for top teams.
Even former aces possessed abilities at least equal to Goshiki's.
Yet, having been raised as a star from a young age, Goshiki's mental fortitude in clutch, drawn-out matches remained somewhat lacking.
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