After Tsutomu Goshiki and Ryosuke returned to their positions, the next rally was ready to begin.
Nishio stood at the service line, trying to get a feel for his next serve. Just then, the referee's whistle sounded.
Nishio raised the volleyball in front of him and looked past it toward Yamagata on Shiratorizawa's side. Then he tossed the ball into the air.
The moment Nishio moved, Yamagata immediately went on alert and began shifting into position.
After tossing the volleyball, Nishio started his approach and jumped. His movements were exactly the same as in the previous rally. Once he was in the air, he thrust his palm firmly against the ball and sent it flying.
Its trajectory drifted unpredictably. Before the ball crossed the net, Yamagata couldn't accurately judge where it would land. All he could determine was its general direction.
The volleyball quickly cleared the net.
Now Yamagata could get a better read on its path, but he still couldn't afford to let his guard down.
The ball wobbled toward the right.
Watching its trajectory, Yamagata took a few steps backward and stopped where he expected it to fall.
The volleyball floated unsteadily toward him. At first glance, it almost looked as though Nishio had deliberately aimed the serve straight at Yamagata.
When the ball reached him, however, Yamagata didn't use his usual underhand receive. Instead, he raised both hands above his head and prepared for an overhead receive.
It was a fairly risky decision.
A jump float serve was already difficult to handle because of its unpredictable movement. For a libero to receive it overhead, he had to be certain the ball would come directly into his hands. Even the slightest deviation could ruin the receive. An overhead receive also gave him far less time to adjust than an underhand one, which made Yamagata's choice even riskier.
But Yamagata was Shiratorizawa's libero.
If he was willing to make that choice, then he was confident he could receive the ball. He wouldn't put his team in a difficult position.
The volleyball floated toward Yamagata.
Just as its trajectory was about to shift again, Yamagata caught the timing perfectly and raised his hands toward the spot.
The ball struck his palms at that exact moment.
Yamagata used the strength in his forearms and hands to send the volleyball cleanly toward Shirabu.
"Great pass!"
Standing in place, Shirabu watched the ball come straight toward him and couldn't help calling out.
That really was an excellent first pass. He barely needed to adjust at all.
When Nishio saw his second serve get received, he immediately looked a little disappointed. He'd thought he might be able to score two points in a row.
Still, it wasn't over yet. Until the whistle sounded to award a point, anything could happen.
Of course, scoring a service ace and having the team win the rally were two different things. They didn't feel quite the same.
As soon as the ball was received, both Shiratorizawa and Itachiyama sprang into motion and rushed toward the net.
This time, Sakusa wasn't the first one forward.
Doichiro, who had scored with his spike earlier, led the charge. He sprinted straight to the front while Sakusa lingered slowly behind him.
Like a snake lying hidden in the forest, Sakusa waited patiently for the right moment to strike back at Shiratorizawa.
The volleyball continued through the air as the rest of Shiratorizawa began moving as well.
Shirabu shuffled his feet, making small adjustments to his positioning.
When the ball reached him, Shirabu jumped and prepared to set.
He had already taken a quick look around the court and had a general idea of everyone's positions.
Ushijima, as usual, charged straight ahead and drew part of Itachiyama's defense toward himself.
When Nishio and Kishimoto saw Ushijima move, they rushed in his direction, ready to block at any moment.
Tsutomu Goshiki followed directly behind Ushijima, with Reon behind Tsutomu Goshiki.
Ryosuke remained near the net, keeping his attention fixed on Sakusa and Doichiro.
If Shiratorizawa failed to score here, the next opportunity would belong to Itachiyama.
Ryosuke had to keep watching them so they couldn't catch Shiratorizawa off guard.
The moment Shirabu saw Ushijima and the other two moving in sequence, he understood what they were doing.
This was most likely a staggered attack, a formation Shiratorizawa didn't use very often.
Without hesitation, Shirabu sent the ball toward Ushijima's position.
As for who would ultimately spike it, that depended on what the spikers themselves decided. Shirabu could only determine the location of the attack.
The volleyball flew toward Ushijima.
Nishio and Kishimoto immediately tensed at the net, both pairs of eyes fixed intently on Ushijima while occasionally flicking upward toward the ball.
Ushijima quickly reached the net, with a whole trail of teammates behind him.
Once he got there, he gathered himself and jumped straight up.
Nishio and Kishimoto had no idea whether Ushijima was actually going to spike.
When they couldn't tell who the real attacker was, they couldn't afford to ignore any possibility.
The two jumped and stretched their arms high above the net, already bracing themselves for the pain of the volleyball slamming into them.
But the expected impact never came.
Ushijima jumped, then quickly landed again.
Nishio and Kishimoto came down with him.
As soon as Ushijima touched the floor, he moved aside, allowing Tsutomu Goshiki to burst out from behind him.
The volleyball still hadn't reached the ideal point for a spike.
The instant Nishio and Kishimoto landed, they caught sight of Tsutomu Goshiki flying out from behind Ushijima from the corners of their eyes.
They immediately jumped again.
Tsutomu Goshiki raised his arm and swung hard through the air.
He didn't even know whether this ball was actually meant for him, but in a situation like this, conviction was everything.
As long as he believed the ball was his, he had to swing like he was going to spike it.
The sheer intensity coming off Tsutomu Goshiki even fooled Nishio and Kishimoto. For a moment, they genuinely believed he was the real attacker.
The two focused completely and jumped to block.
But Tsutomu Goshiki's swinging hand never touched the volleyball.
He hit nothing but air.
Naturally, Nishio and Kishimoto didn't block anything either.
They landed awkwardly, immediately regretting their misread.
Unfortunately, the situation on the court gave them no time to dwell on it.
As soon as Tsutomu Goshiki landed, he quickly moved out of the way.
If he wasn't the one attacking, then it had to be the next player.
Kishimoto hit the floor and immediately jumped yet again, with Nishio following alongside him.
The two rose together.
Once Tsutomu Goshiki cleared the way, Reon emerged from behind him.
This time, Reon appeared to be the real attacker.
But when Reon reached the net, he didn't jump immediately.
Instead, he paused for just a fraction of a second.
He could already see that the two blockers across from him had left the floor.
So Reon deliberately delayed his takeoff, then jumped a beat later than they did, creating a timing gap.
The instant Nishio and Kishimoto jumped, they realized something was wrong.
They were already in the air.
Why hadn't the opposing spiker jumped yet?
Only after they had committed to the block did they see Reon take off behind the others.
That was when they realized he'd used a timing gap.
Alarm bells immediately went off in Nishio's head.
Reon jumped at the net just as the volleyball arrived directly above him.
Without hesitation, he swung his arm and hammered the ball straight between the two blockers' arms.
By the time Reon made contact, Nishio and Kishimoto had already begun descending.
They had jumped too early.
Nishio realized it too and desperately stretched his arm as far as he could toward the volleyball.
Kishimoto also panicked slightly, extending his hands and maintaining his blocking position.
The volleyball shot straight between their arms with a loud impact.
"Bang!"
It clipped Nishio's fingertips.
Nishio frowned and tried to stretch his arm even farther, but it was useless.
Extending any farther from that position was incredibly difficult, and with the ball only touching his fingertips, he couldn't press it downward either. There was no way to generate enough force through just his fingertips.
The volleyball struck Nishio's fingers and ricocheted backward.
The moment Iizuna saw the ball fly off Nishio's fingertips, he sprinted in from the right and rushed behind Nishio, trying to save it.
But Iizuna had only reacted after seeing the deflection.
By then, it was already too late.
Iizuna dove forward and slid across the floor after the ball, but he still couldn't reach it.
The volleyball landed barely a hand's width from him.
"Bang!"
The ball struck the floor.
The referee's whistle followed immediately.
"Fweeeeeet!"
"Shiratorizawa scores while Itachiyama is serving! After their libero successfully received the serve, Shiratorizawa launched a staggered attack! The sequence left the audience struggling to keep up and completely disrupted the timing of Itachiyama's two blockers. In the end, Reon, the final attacker to emerge, slammed the ball down! Itachiyama's blockers mistimed their jumps and failed to stop it!
"And Itachiyama's setter, Iizuna, reacted immediately and rushed into position to receive the ball, but he was still one step too late! The volleyball hit the floor!"
"That's right! Shiratorizawa's players worked together beautifully to win the point and successfully reclaim the serve!"
Iizuna listened to the commentary coming over the speakers as he pushed himself up from the floor.
Nishio didn't even have time to feel guilty before he saw Iizuna down on the ground.
He hurried over and helped him up.
"Iizuna-senpai, I'm sorry. I couldn't score with my serve..."
Iizuna hadn't even said anything yet, but Nishio had already started reflecting on his mistake.
Iizuna smiled when he heard him.
"It's fine. It was only one point. Just win it back next time."
Komori pursed his lips when he heard that.
What a half-hearted attempt at comfort. There was no way Nishio would take something like that seriously.
Then, in the very next second, Nishio straightened his back and declared with complete seriousness,
"Don't worry, Iizuna-senpai! Next time, I absolutely won't let them score!"
Komori didn't understand.
Komori was deeply shocked.
What exactly did Iizuna have that attracted Nishio so much?
The guy acted like he'd been put under some kind of spell.
Iizuna nodded in satisfaction, clearly pleased with Nishio's current attitude.
Over on Shiratorizawa's side, Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki had practically developed stars in their eyes as they crowded around Reon and showered him with praise.
"Reon-senpai, that was amazing! What you just did was seriously so cool!"
Tsutomu Goshiki couldn't stop thinking about Reon's attack.
That final spike had been like a king making his grand entrance for the finale. It had a completely different kind of impact from Ushijima's spikes.
As Tsutomu Goshiki spoke, Ryosuke stood beside him nodding repeatedly in agreement.
Reon-senpai rarely spiked during matches, but whenever he did, there was a very good chance the ball would score.
Reon smiled at the two first-years and patted Tsutomu Goshiki on the shoulder.
"What was so amazing about it? Practice enough and you'll be able to make a spike like that too. That fake swing you did just now was pretty cool too, Tsutomu Goshiki."
Tsutomu Goshiki's eyes narrowed into delighted crescents when he heard Reon's encouragement.
He immediately decided that he absolutely had to learn how to pull off a finishing attack like Reon-senpai's before the semester ended.
After talking with Tsutomu Goshiki and Ryosuke, Reon walked over to Ushijima.
The two looked at each other and raised their hands for a high five.
"Nice teamwork, Ace."
"...You too."
Ushijima replied calmly.
Once everyone finished talking, they returned to their positions and prepared for the next rally.
Since Shiratorizawa had won the point, they had regained the serve.
This time, Tsutomu Goshiki was the server.
Under everyone's gaze, Tsutomu Goshiki walked toward the service line.
Reon had just praised him, so Tsutomu Goshiki was practically overflowing with energy. He strutted toward the service line like a proud rooster with its chest puffed out, radiating fighting spirit.
The next few moments belonged entirely to Tsutomu Goshiki.
It was his showtime.
The referee glanced toward both sides.
After confirming that everyone was ready, he blew the whistle.
"Fweeeeeet!"
The sharp sound echoed throughout the arena.
At the whistle, Tsutomu Goshiki began to move.
The camera immediately shifted its focus onto him as he prepared to serve.
Tsutomu Goshiki's hand was actually trembling with excitement.
Watching from the other side of the screen, Coach Washijō frowned slightly when the camera close-up showed Tsutomu Goshiki's shaking wrist.
That brat still couldn't keep his emotions under control.
It was only a serve. What was he getting so worked up about?
Hopefully he wouldn't choke when it mattered.
If that brat messed up at a crucial moment, Coach Washijō would make sure he regretted it.
In an instant, he'd already started thinking about exactly how he would punish Tsutomu Goshiki if he made a service error.
At that exact moment, Tsutomu Goshiki suddenly felt a chill run through his entire body.
Coach Washijō's stern face flashed through his mind.
He shuddered involuntarily.
The excitement that had been surging through him only moments earlier abruptly cooled.
If he messed up this serve and Coach Washijō found out...
He was finished.
Tsutomu Goshiki at least had enough self-awareness to know that much.
Somehow, at that moment, Coach Washijō and Tsutomu Goshiki achieved an invisible kind of understanding.
For a brief instant, the two of them were actually on exactly the same wavelength.
Tsutomu Goshiki quickly calmed himself and brought his emotions under control.
Then he prepared to serve.
He bounced the volleyball lightly in his hands a couple of times to get a feel for it.
Then he began.
Tsutomu Goshiki tossed the volleyball into the air and immediately chased after it with his approach.
The moment Tsutomu Goshiki moved, Komori reacted on Itachiyama's side as well.
His eyes remained fixed on Tsutomu Goshiki's movements as he instantly fine-tuned his footwork.
Now all he had to do was wait for the serve.
Tsutomu Goshiki chased the ball for five or six steps.
Once the volleyball reached the perfect height for his serve, he suddenly bent both knees and exploded off the floor.
His lean yet powerful figure rose beneath the arena lights.
Then he swung his palm hard into the volleyball.
"Bang!"
...
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