Right now, the match was being broadcast all over Tokyo, from major avenues to smaller streets. Even the taxi driver had the game playing inside the car.
Hearing the sound coming from Coach Washijō's phone, the driver glanced back and asked,
"You're watching the match too, sir? This year's tournament has been really exciting."
Coach Washijō hadn't intended to respond, but for some reason, he found himself answering anyway.
"Oh? Is that so? I don't really follow it."
That immediately got the driver going. With his foot on the accelerator, he launched enthusiastically into the subject.
"Oh, then you have no idea how amazing these kids are! Those serves, those spikes, they're a joy to watch. Especially that curly-haired kid from Shiratorizawa. He looks so skinny, but he's incredibly good!
"If you ask me, these kids are the future of the country. Someday they'll be out there competing on the world stage!"
The driver grew more excited as he spoke, his face flushing red. It was obvious that he genuinely liked watching these kids play.
Hearing him, Coach Washijō's lips curved into a smile in the back seat.
He rarely praised Ryosuke himself, but whenever he heard someone praising Shiratorizawa or Ryosuke right in front of him, the pride he felt was impossible to put into just a few words.
Coach Washijō looked carefully at the screen of his phone and smiled.
"They really are excellent."
Coach Washijō thought Ryosuke was excellent too.
He simply wasn't going to say it.
If that little brat ever found out, his head would swell beyond belief.
...
Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Twenty minutes until the match.
A low net divided the court into two halves. Shiratorizawa occupied one side, while Itachiyama stood on the other.
At that moment, both teams were completely focused on warming up.
Ryosuke crouched on the floor and stretched his legs, listening to his joints make faint creaking sounds as he stretched.
Oddly enough, he found it relaxing.
Tsutomu Goshiki was crouched beside him, and the two younger players warmed up with complete seriousness.
Not a single person on Shiratorizawa was talking.
Ryosuke was quiet because Coach Washijō's absence was still affecting him somewhat. Whenever his emotions were unsettled, he tended to become unusually silent.
Tsutomu Goshiki, meanwhile, saw that no one else was talking and didn't dare say anything either. Breaking the silence somehow felt far too conspicuous.
Reon and Ushijima weren't particularly talkative to begin with.
For Shiratorizawa's match against Itachiyama today, the starting players included Ushijima, Reon, Tsutomu Goshiki, Ryosuke, and Shirabu.
There was nothing wrong with that lineup.
Reon's plan was to first have Ushijima and Tsutomu Goshiki test the waters and see how strong Itachiyama currently was.
That was their standard approach.
If their usual style didn't work, they could bring in Eita Semi and Kawanishi.
Those two were the team's wild cards.
Sometimes, conventional play simply wasn't enough.
They needed something different on the court.
Tendo, Eita Semi, and Kawanishi were sitting cheerfully on the bench, waiting for the first set to begin.
Tendo's eyes were narrowed in an easy smile. He didn't look worried at all about Ryosuke being the only blocker from their usual pair currently on the court.
His relaxed attitude made Coach Hibarida glance at him several times.
Itachiyama's warm-up was equally silent.
Even the referee found himself breathing quietly.
After so many years officiating matches, this was the first time he had encountered such a tense, silent atmosphere.
It was honestly a little intimidating.
...
Ten minutes until the match.
The spectators seemed to appear all at once.
One moment, the stands were still sparsely occupied. The next, a huge crowd seemed to materialize from nowhere, filling nearly every seat.
Oikawa dragged Hajime Iwaizumi along at a full sprint while keeping one hand pressed firmly over his cap.
To keep that stupid Ushiwaka from recognizing him, Oikawa had come fully disguised.
Cap, mask, sunglasses.
He hadn't missed a single thing.
If Oikawa weren't still a teenage boy, someone might have mistaken him for a suspicious pervert or stalker and thrown him out.
As for why they were running so desperately, that was naturally because Oikawa had spent the morning putting on his hat while muttering,
"Lord Oikawa was simply born too beautiful for this world..."
He had spent more than half an hour admiring himself.
In the end, Hajime Iwaizumi had to remind him of the time.
Otherwise, Oikawa would definitely have been watching the match standing up.
Like a rabbit, Oikawa raced ahead with Iwaizumi behind him and locked onto one of the very few remaining pairs of adjacent seats.
He dropped into one of them in one smooth motion.
"Phew... We almost didn't get seats."
Oikawa patted his chest in relief.
Iwaizumi's mouth twitched speechlessly.
According to his original plan, they would have gotten up at that time and still had plenty of time to eat breakfast.
Thanks to Oikawa's endless dawdling, neither of them had eaten anything.
By coincidence, Hirugami and Hoshiumi were sitting directly behind Oikawa again today.
The two listened to their conversation with great interest.
Hirugami had already asked Ryosuke about them yesterday, so he knew the two were Aobajosai's aces.
What he couldn't understand was why two aces praised so highly by both Ryosuke and Ushijima had never appeared at Nationals.
"I told you to go to bed earlier last night, but you wouldn't listen. Now neither of us even got breakfast. You can starve for all I care."
"Waaah, Iwa-chan, how can you be so mean to me~?"
"...Don't make me beat you up in this sacred place."
"Okay, Iwa-chan."
Behind them, Hoshiumi struggled not to laugh.
These two were hilarious.
They reminded him a little of Fukurōdani.
An unreliable captain paired with an extremely reliable vice-captain.
Thinking of Fukurōdani reminded Hoshiumi of something.
He turned to Hirugami.
"Fukurōdani's match is happening at the same time as Shiratorizawa's, right?"
Hirugami pulled his attention away from the court and nodded.
"Fukurōdani is playing in Hall 2. They're facing Ichibayashi this morning. Atsumu Miya and Kiryū already went over to watch. I wonder how things are going."
Hakuba sat beside them finishing his breakfast.
He quickly took a sip of yogurt, narrowly saving himself from choking.
After catching his breath, he burped.
"Either way, I think Fukurōdani will make it to the final. They've been one of the top teams for several years straight."
Hoshiumi moved farther away from Hakuba in disgust.
Then his gaze shifted toward the court, and he hurriedly shook Hirugami's arm.
"Look, look! The match is about to start!"
Everyone's attention immediately turned toward the court.
...
Two minutes until the match.
Over at Shiratorizawa's warm-up area, everyone was nearly ready.
The team gathered in a circle and stacked their hands together, leaning in close as they looked at one another.
As captain, Ushijima spoke first.
"Do your best. We can only win."
Tsutomu Goshiki nodded solemnly, his expression unusually serious.
Reon looked around at everyone.
"We have to win this match. We're aiming for the championship. When Coach Washijō comes back, I want him to see that we've secured our place in the final. Itachiyama is a difficult opponent, but we're no weaker than they are. Shiratorizawa! Let's go!"
Everyone exchanged smiles and pushed their stacked hands downward.
"Shiratorizawa! Let's go!"
On Itachiyama's side, the players taking the court were Sakusa, Iizuna, Komori, Kaoru Kishimoto, Nishio, and Doichiro Fujino.
Like Shiratorizawa, Itachiyama was fielding two first-years.
Quite a few first-years had been given court time during this year's IH, mostly so the younger players could gain experience and become capable of carrying their teams the following year.
"Beep!"
The referee's whistle rang out.
The first set of the semifinal officially began.
Sakusa and Komori exchanged a glance, but there were no words of encouragement.
Iizuna looked behind him, then said calmly,
"Let's go."
Nishio shrugged.
He was already used to their utterly unenthusiastic pre-match speeches.
If Iizuna-senpai ever started encouraging everyone with the same boundless energy as Bokuto-senpai from Fukurōdani, Nishio would probably suspect someone had replaced him with an impostor.
Both teams walked up to the net and bowed.
Across the net, Ryosuke's eyes drifted uncontrollably toward Sakusa.
Then he realized that Sakusa was already looking at him.
Ryosuke froze for a moment before giving Sakusa a small smile.
When Sakusa met that smile, warmth appeared in his eyes as well.
After bowing, everyone returned to their respective sides and prepared for the match.
The right to serve had already been determined by a coin toss beforehand.
Predictably, Ushijima had once again failed to guess the correct side of the coin.
Itachiyama would serve first.
And standing in position one for Itachiyama was their ace, Sakusa.
"Now at the service line is Itachiyama's ace, Kiyoomi Sakusa. Sakusa is only a second-year, yet he's already ranked among the top five wing spikers in the country. His remarkably flexible wrist is one of his greatest weapons on the court. With Sakusa serving first, can Shiratorizawa's rock-solid defense side out immediately? Let's find out!"
The commentator was looking forward to the match as much as anyone.
This year's IH had been incredibly exciting. Ever since the quarterfinals, it had been almost impossible to look away.
He wasn't commentating on the other semifinal today, but if he hadn't been working, he probably would have been running back and forth between the two venues trying to watch both matches.
The referee checked both sides.
Everyone was ready.
He blew his whistle.
"Beep!"
Yamagata immediately settled into position in the backcourt, ready to receive.
In the past, the relationship between Shiratorizawa and Itachiyama had barely extended beyond Ushijima and Sakusa occasionally exchanging a few words.
The two schools rarely played volleyball together.
It was only this year, because Ryosuke and Sakusa were childhood friends, that the teams had started interacting more often.
Before that, there had been practically no communication between them. Even at training camps, they had been little more than acquaintances who nodded in greeting.
Yamagata had received Sakusa's serves before, but he could count the number of times on one hand.
He didn't dare relax for even a second.
Sakusa tossed the volleyball into the air.
His arm swung back, and he began his approach beneath the rising ball.
When the ball reached the right height, Sakusa sprang off the floor like a snake striking at its prey.
His arm swung forward, meeting the volleyball at precisely the right point.
In that tiny fraction of a second, Sakusa's gaze swept across Shiratorizawa's court.
He was deciding whom to target.
If his only goal was to score, the safest choice would be to avoid both the libero and Ryosuke.
Sakusa was extremely confident in his serve.
Even serving directly at the libero, he believed he had around a seventy percent chance of scoring.
But Sakusa had no intention of leaving that remaining thirty percent to chance.
The first serve should score.
A point like that would immediately raise morale.
Then his gaze happened to pass over Ryosuke.
Sakusa changed his mind instantly.
Without hesitation, he snapped his wrist and sent the serve straight toward Ryosuke.
He and Ryosuke had never truly faced each other in an official match before.
This time, Sakusa wanted to see exactly how much Ryosuke had learned since coming to Miyagi.
The instant his palm contacted the volleyball, the angle of his wrist changed.
It bent at an unusual angle before his hand struck the ball with tremendous force.
"Bang!"
The volleyball tore across the court like a hurricane, hurtling toward Shiratorizawa.
Komori's eyes widened.
Was Sakusa trying to kill somebody with that serve?
He had never seen Sakusa hit one that hard in previous matches or even during practice.
The deafening impact made Yamagata tense instinctively.
But he quickly realized something was wrong.
The serve wasn't aimed at him.
The trajectory was off.
Before it crossed the net, it really did look as though the ball was heading straight for Yamagata.
Once it cleared the net, however, it gradually began to curve.
Toward the left.
Yamagata froze.
Who was standing to his left again?
Suddenly, a small figure with black curls darted forward.
Yamagata immediately remembered.
Ryosuke was to his left.
Ryosuke stared fiercely at the approaching volleyball like a leopard tracking its prey.
The moment Sakusa struck the ball, Ryosuke had already sensed that the serve was coming for him.
Sure enough.
It seemed he and Sakusa really did understand each other.
Ryosuke rapidly judged where the ball was likely to land.
It was moving far too quickly for him to calculate the exact spot, so he could only estimate.
He moved to a point slightly behind position four and planted his feet.
Then he made several small adjustments to his receiving posture.
The volleyball screamed through the air toward him.
Ryosuke straightened and extended his arms, preparing to receive.
The ball was almost on top of him.
Ryosuke pressed his lips together and lowered his body, facing it without the slightest hint of fear.
"Bang!"
The volleyball slammed into his forearms.
It felt as though someone had smashed a rock against them.
Ryosuke grinned.
Good.
Sakusa hadn't held back just because they were childhood friends.
That attitude was exactly what made Ryosuke feel that Sakusa was taking him seriously.
The volleyball spun violently against Ryosuke's arms.
The subtle wrist action Sakusa used when serving gave the ball an unusual rotation during flight.
That spinning serve was uniquely his.
Other players couldn't simply copy it.
Not everyone had Sakusa's wrist flexibility or natural talent.
From the ball's rotation, Ryosuke suddenly sensed another force within the serve.
A force that wanted to send the ball backward.
A bad feeling immediately struck him.
He had misjudged it.
He had underestimated the force of the serve.
The volleyball continued spinning against Ryosuke's arms.
Although it had clearly been rotating toward the left, in the next instant it suddenly twisted away toward the right.
It climbed from Ryosuke's forearms toward his shoulder, slipped past him, and slammed straight into the floor.
"Bang!"
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
p-@-treon/GhostParser (40 Chapters Ahead)
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.