Inube's point let Kamomedai tie the score again. This match really was a battle where neither side would give an inch.
Plenty of people in the stands were yawning as they watched, but not a single person left.
Iizuna rested his hands on the railing and couldn't help sighing in admiration.
"They're seriously amazing. It's already the third set, and they're still this energetic. Tsk, tsk. Their stamina is more ridiculous than the last."
Komori nodded in complete agreement. That really was true.
No one was surprised that the two liberos had enough stamina to last until now. Bokuto and Hoshiumi were both widely recognized stamina monsters, so that wasn't strange either. But the fact that everyone else could keep up with their pace was enough to make someone say, as expected of Kamomedai and Fukurōdani.
Sure enough, people like this really did gather together.
Kamomedai's point threw the situation into a stalemate again. By now, everyone could guess what would happen next. Fukurōdani would definitely score, then Kamomedai would tie it again. Neither side would give way.
And this time, the server was Inube. Inube serving meant this deadlock might finally be broken.
When everyone on Fukurōdani saw Inube walk to the service line, their expressions turned serious. Inube's serve was too fast. They might not be able to receive the first one, but if they failed to receive the second one too, they would be finished.
Now the pressure was on Haruki Komi.
With everyone looking at him, Haruki Komi fully understood the responsibility on his shoulders. He had to receive this ball. He had to receive it. There was no "what if." Haruki Komi would absolutely not allow that kind of accident to happen.
Under everyone's gaze, he nodded with a serious expression.
"Don't worry. Leave it to me. I'll get the side out in one."
With Haruki Komi's promise, everyone's expressions eased a little. Haruki Komi was the libero. If he said it, they believed him unconditionally.
In that atmosphere, it became Inube's serving turn.
"Captain, nice serve!"
"Take this match!"
"One more!"
"You've got this!"
His teammates' encouragement overlapped with the voices from the stands.
Standing beneath the noise and the lights, Inube felt for a moment as though he had returned to his first year on the national stage. A grand scene like that might never happen again.
With regret and excitement mingling in his chest, Inube stepped onto the service line.
His fingers kept rubbing the volleyball. Old friend, if this match ended, then this might be the last time he stood on the court.
Inube still wanted to keep playing volleyball, even if only for the last few matches that remained. So please bless him. He had to win this match. If he couldn't, there would be no more chances after this.
Inube prayed silently in his heart, then raised his head again.
He signaled to the referee that he was ready.
The referee nodded and blew the whistle.
"Beep————!"
Inube tossed the volleyball into the air, bent his knees slightly, and began his approach.
When Haruki Komi saw Inube move, he nervously clenched his palm. He took a few deep breaths before finally calming himself down.
Haruki Komi stared closely at Inube's movements. He refused to miss the slightest flaw, trying to peel apart Inube's motion and study it frame by frame.
The angle of Inube's swing, the direction of his gaze, the tilt of his body...
"Bang!"
Got it!
The instant Inube struck the volleyball, Haruki Komi finally confirmed the ball's general direction.
From the direction Inube's arm swung, Haruki Komi determined the approximate landing point.
This ball looked like it was aimed for the farthest spot, toward the back right corner of the court.
The volleyball was fast, and Haruki Komi was fast too. Inube had realized that after Haruki Komi nearly touched his serves several times. Only by sending the volleyball farther could he cut off the possibility of this ball being received. Inube had really gone to great lengths to score.
Haruki Komi took off running. The moment he started forward, Inube's ball came chasing after him.
At that moment, Haruki Komi was still moving quickly. It looked as if the volleyball were chasing him.
But after that brief stretch, the volleyball sped up rapidly and quickly overtook Haruki Komi.
Haruki Komi's legs were nearly throwing sparks. This ball was seriously hard to chase. Other people raced against players. Haruki Komi was racing against a volleyball. It was practically a life-or-death sprint.
The volleyball flew fast and was already nearing the backcourt. Haruki Komi grew anxious too, but his feet didn't stop for even a second.
Seeing that he was about to be too late, Haruki Komi bent at the waist, lowering his center of gravity further and further. In an instant, he dropped to the floor and slid forward a long distance, his arm stretched out as far as it could go.
The volleyball was right in front of him.
Almost. Just a little more! He could reach it!
Lying on the floor, Haruki Komi saw that his fingertips had already reached the volleyball, and he suddenly felt at ease. As long as his fingertips could touch it, this ball could be kept up.
"Bang!"
The ball struck Haruki Komi's knuckles, but because the contact area was so small, it only barely flew up.
"Cover!"
Haruki Komi lifted his head from the floor and shouted, then quickly scrambled up.
"Komi, nice ball!"
Saving that ball was incredibly inspiring.
Seeing that his serve had still been kept up, Inube felt a little regretful, but also felt as if everything had settled into place.
Even his serve had been received. Now, as long as Haruki Komi was on the other side and still had stamina left, Fukurōdani could drag this out until Kamomedai was worn down.
Inube already had a rough idea of how this match would end.
But since the ending was already decided, Inube could now go all out without holding anything back.
He no longer had to keep worrying over an uncertain result.
Keiji Akaashi heard Haruki Komi's shout and immediately looked up, chasing after the ball to cover it.
This was a ball KOmimi-senpai had worked so hard to keep up. No matter what, he couldn't let it go to waste.
The volleyball was flying a little low. Part of it was because of Inube's serve, and part of it was because Haruki Komi hadn't been able to handle the receive cleanly. The ball had only barely hit Haruki Komi's knuckles, so it couldn't fly very far.
Keiji Akaashi hurried over to get it. This ball wouldn't reach the front court, so he had no choice but to run after it himself.
Once he reached the spot, Keiji Akaashi jumped and prepared to set.
Bokuto and Konoha ran at the front, with Washio following behind. It looked as if they also wanted to run a staggered attack.
Keiji Akaashi watched Washio's takeoff timing carefully, preparing to send the set early.
At first, Keiji Akaashi had wanted to set to Bokuto, but Washio was already in position now. After thinking for a moment, Keiji Akaashi decided it would be better to set to Washio.
Across the net, Hakuba and Suwa had already rushed over to block. Maybe they felt a double block wasn't secure enough, or maybe they thought it might not stop Fukurōdani's attack. Hoshiumi also jumped out from the side.
A three-man block.
Konoha jumped first. He heard the volleyball coming, but he didn't know who this ball would be set to. Still, it didn't matter. As long as they scored, it was fine. Konoha trusted Keiji Akaashi's brain completely.
Konoha landed with empty hands. The three blockers across from him had jumped after him and landed as well, but they hadn't blocked the ball.
Seeing that Bokuto was about to jump out, everyone thought the ball would go to Bokuto, so they jumped again to block him.
Bokuto tensed his arm, the corner of his mouth lifting in a smile. He swung his right hand down hard, and the three players across from him instinctively braced themselves.
But Bokuto landed, and they still hadn't blocked the ball. Then everyone saw Washio appear from behind, and their nerves tightened again as they jumped.
This ball was definitely for him to spike.
The three blockers jumped again with Washio, but once again, they landed after blocking empty air.
At that moment, even Suwa's expression cracked slightly.
"Bang!"
"One touch!"
But then the sound of a volleyball being blocked rang out from the right side of the court, and everyone turned to look at the same time.
They saw Onaga, who had somehow appeared at position one, just landing. Across from him was Inube. The sound they had just heard must have been Inube blocking the ball.
When Suwa saw Keiichiro Kanbayashi sprinting toward the backcourt to receive, he instantly understood what had happened.
Then he turned back to look at Keiji Akaashi. Sure enough, setters really were all black-hearted. Keiji Akaashi had used three people as decoys just so Onaga could successfully spike. If Inube hadn't been fast enough, that ball really would have worked.
At the time, everyone's attention had been on the three players in the staggered attack, Inube included. With that much movement, it was hard not to look over. Keiichiro Kanbayashi had been the same.
In the end, Inube only reacted because his position wasn't far from where Onaga had spiked. If he had been even one step slower, it would have been over.
The moment Keiichiro Kanbayashi heard the sound of the volleyball, he turned and chased after it. But he had been waiting near position three for the ball from the staggered attack, so his start was a little late.
Now he was facing the awkward reality that he might not be able to reach it.
Inube had originally wanted to receive the ball himself, but when he saw Keiichiro Kanbayashi volunteer by running after it, Inube stayed where he was.
"Bang!"
In the end, Keiichiro Kanbayashi still couldn't catch up. The volleyball landed on the floor.
"Beep----------!"
Fukurōdani tied the score again.
It was still a deadlock.
At this point, everyone on both sides was starting to get tired.
They had played three sets in a row without a single break. Only those few people made of iron still weren't tired.
Even Keiichiro Kanbayashi was tired now.
Takuro and Aaron looked at the kids and felt a little distressed for them, but they still didn't call a timeout. This match was about to end. Although everyone was exhausted, overall, they were all still in good condition.
Inube jogged over, wanting to help Keiichiro Kanbayashi up. Keiichiro Kanbayashi waved his hand to show he was fine, then climbed up from the floor himself.
"Sorry. I couldn't get that one."
Inube patted some dust off Keiichiro Kanbayashi's shoulder, though he had no idea where it had come from.
"It's fine, it's fine. It's not your fault."
Seeing that the ball had scored, Keiji Akaashi also let out a breath of relief.
Thank goodness it scored. It was incredibly lucky that such a reckless set from him had actually scored.
When Keiji Akaashi set that ball just now, his thought process had basically been this. This ball definitely has to go to Bokuto-senpai. No, wait, Washio-senpai has come up from behind. Then this ball should go to Washio-senpai.
But the other side had a three-man block. They had missed the first two blocks, so by the last one, they would definitely know who was spiking.
That wouldn't work either.
In the end, Keiji Akaashi spotted Onaga near position one. Out of the corner of his eye, he checked the court and saw that everyone was watching the three-man block. No one would notice Onaga jumping in the far corner.
After Onaga spiked and landed, he let out a heavy breath, then looked at Keiji Akaashi with lingering fear.
"If I hadn't gotten the timing right just now..."
"There are no ifs."
Keiji Akaashi looked at Onaga calmly and said that with absolute certainty.
Washio walked over and patted Onaga on the shoulder.
"Even if you don't believe in yourself, you have to believe in Keiji Akaashi."
Onaga wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Anyway, Keiji Akaashi, nice work."
Onaga said that to Keiji Akaashi, a smile rising on his face.
When Keiji Akaashi heard Onaga's words, he nodded to him, then returned to his ready position with everyone else.
Fukurōdani had won this point, so the serve naturally went to Fukurōdani's side.
This time, the server was Konoha. Amid everyone's cheers, he walked to the service line.
"Konoha, serve a good one and end this match!"
"Go, go! Konoha-ha, you're the best!"
Konoha heard Bokuto's energetic shout and couldn't help laughing. What the hell was "Konoha-ha"? Had this guy already advanced to changing other people's names now?
The referee frowned as he looked at Bokuto on Fukurōdani's side. It was always this kid making the most noise. Warning him didn't help much, but the referee couldn't actually give him a yellow card either. If he didn't warn him, the referee's own ears hurt from the noise. This kid really was a little too loud.
Keiji Akaashi tugged Bokuto. Bokuto turned back in confusion, only to see Keiji Akaashi shake his head at him, signaling for Bokuto not to speak. Clearly, Keiji Akaashi had already noticed that the referee was in a bad mood.
The referee patiently waited for the noise to disappear. Only after Bokuto finally stopped talking did the referee blow the whistle.
"Beep------------!"
The whistle for the serve sounded again.
Keiichiro Kanbayashi crouched down while panting heavily, preparing to receive once more. It really hadn't been easy. This entire match, Keiichiro Kanbayashi hadn't stopped moving for a moment. His teammates were smashing balls up front, while he was desperately covering for them in the back, running so much that his legs were practically leaving afterimages.
Haruki Komi and Keiichiro Kanbayashi were in similar situations. Looking at it that way, the most outstanding players on both teams right now were actually the liberos. Without the liberos, this match would have ended long ago.
Konoha stared seriously at Keiichiro Kanbayashi across from him. He was thinking about what kind of serve he could use to make this guy fail to receive.
Sensing Konoha's gaze, Keiichiro Kanbayashi's nerves stretched even tighter.
Although Konoha always looked like he was smiling, no one would underestimate him just because of that surface impression. If he didn't have real skill, there was no way he could fit in so smoothly on a team like Fukurōdani.
Not to mention, the pressure coming from Konoha didn't match his friendly appearance at all.
When he heard the referee's whistle for the serve, Konoha bounced the volleyball in his hand.
The volleyball moved up and down between the floor and Konoha's hand, and Keiichiro Kanbayashi's gaze stayed glued to it, his eyes following the ball's rise and fall.