Hirugami: Are the Miya Twins fighting again?
Hoshiumi (with a look of disgust): Why is it the same every single time? I'm getting sick of watching this..
Chapter 31: The Thirty-First Fox
Watching Miya Atsumu demonstrate the jump serve a few times for him, Hinata was full of confidence.
Great! He has already memorized it!
"Give it a try?" Miya Atsumu tossed a volleyball to Hinata Shoyo.
"Okay!" After catching the volleyball, Hinata stepped back as far as he could to ensure he wouldn't step on the line.
Having watched so many people serve, Hinata had actually committed the steps of a jump serve to memory.
It was impossible not to long for this "most flawless" method of scoring.
The feeling of scoring consecutive points with serves that leave the opponent in awe.. just thinking about it makes me happy.
However, Hinata also knew that the jump serve itself was a very difficult technique, so he had never considered it before.
But now, the coaches have already given him permission to start practicing jump serves..
It is time to turn what had always been an imagination into reality!
Since this was just practice and there were no time limits on serves, Miya Atsumu waited patiently for Hinata to toss the ball.
Finally, Hinata raised his hand and tossed the ball high into the air, then took his first steps forward to prepare for his approach and spike.
Before Hinata could even jump, Miya Atsumu had already raised his hand to cover his face.
Under the watchful gaze of Rishia, who was practicing serves on the other side, Hinata, having already jumped to his highest point, swung at thin air, while the ball fell straight down and landed on his head with a thud.
Hinata landed, letting out a soft sound of confusion: "Eh?"
Miya Atsumu said, "The landing spot of your toss is too far back. Toss it higher and further."
Taking the lesson to heart, Hinata nodded and continued to try.
It wasn't until the ninth throw, when he threw it too far, even landing it directly past the three-meter line.
Miya Atsumu, finally unable to hold it in, went a little crazy: "This is volleyball! Not shot put! You're throwing it wherever you happen to be jumping! Are you trying to throw it to the moon?!"
What on earth is going on!
Miya Osamu, leaning by the sidelines, was not surprised at all: "Look, he can't keep up the act anymore."
But to be honest, teaching rookies.. really isn't quite Atsumu's thing.
Hinata was just one step away from prostrating himself and apologizing to Miya Atsumu.
Miya Atsumu waved his hand, trying his best to show his friendly side: "Forget it, it's better than it was at the beginning. Again, let's do it again."
The twenty-seventh time.
Under Miya Atsumu's watchful gaze, Hinata tossed the ball up once again.
By the sidelines, Miya Atsumu's eyes lit up. The toss this time felt perfect, the height and position landing right in Hinata's comfort zone.
This time, we shouldn't miss it.
Hinata was also very excited: "We can do it!"
Consistent with Miya Atsumu's judgment, Hinata jumped and delivered a steady spike this time.
Great, as long as it doesn't hit the net or go out of bounds, it will..
The next second, the volleyball hit the very top edge of the net.
Under Rishia's shocked gaze from the sidelines, the volleyball bounced lightly, wobbling as it struck Hinata, who had already finished his approach and was moving forward due to inertia.
Seeing that the ball was about to hit him in the face, Hinata, who had incredibly fast reflexes, raised his hands and steadily received the ball.
The volleyball finally landed near the attack line, Hinata, who had almost had it hit him in the face, breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yeah.." Rishia Heisuke tried to say something, but before he could open his mouth, Miya Atsumu's voice rang out.
"A good receive?" Miya Atsumu laughed at his own words.
Rishia's expression nearly crumbled.
There's no need to force the praise, right! The serve hit the net! And what's with the question mark!
Hinata crouched on the ground with his head in his hands, wishing he could find a crack in the floor to crawl into.
He shouted so loudly, but in the end, his serve hit the net. It just needed to go over the net—even if it went out of bounds, it would have been fine!
How embarrassing!
Miya Atsumu reached out and patted Hinata's shoulder. "It's okay, I went through this stage too."
You just need to get some practice. Look, you've gone from having issues with your serves to being able to actually hit the ball.
The one who is truly moved is him! He actually managed to hit the ball!
Hinata Shoyo suddenly jumped up: "Nice! Next ball!"
But the facts proved that his previous set, which seemed fine, was actually just a fluke.
Watching Hinata miss the ball spectacularly once again, even Miya Atsumu, who tried so hard to remain optimistic, positive, patient, gentle, was starting to lose his composure.
No, seriously, they've been practicing for over an hour and haven't had a single success!
It wasn't even a matter of spiking; the toss was wrong from the very beginning!
After watching for a while, Kita Shinsuke spoke up, "Let's practice tossing the ball separately."
“Hinata doesn't have much power, since he can jump so high himself, it's easy for the toss to be off target.”
Hearing Kita offer such a perfect solution, Miya Atsumu and Hinata Shoyo stared at him as if he were a god.
Kita lowered his head again to think for half a second. "Should I go to the next room and grab a basketball for you guys?"
Miya Atsumu nodded. "I'll leave it to the Kita Team!"
Watching Kita leave, Hinata blinked in confusion. "Basketball? Are we playing basketball?"
Didn't you say we were going to practice setting? What does basketball have to do with it?
Miya Atsumu didn't explain directly, but instead shook his hand toward Hinata Shoyo: "Come on, Shoyo-kun, give me your hand."
Hinata held out his hand, Miya Atsumu directly interlaced his fingers between Hinata's, grasping his hand.
He looked down at the bewildered Hinata Shoyo and said, "Okay, now push hard."
"Eh?" Hinata didn't understand.
Miya Atsumu stared at Hinata: "Just hold on to me tightly; use as much strength as you can."
Don't worry about hurting me; it's not like you're a gorilla.
Hearing Miya Atsumu say that, Hinata, who actually knew exactly how much strength he possessed, began to do as Miya Atsumu instructed.
But even though Hinata exerted so much force that his entire arm was shaking, the opposing Miya Atsumu remained completely unfazed.
"That's enough," Miya Atsumu said, stopping Hinata.
“As expected, Shoyo-kun's strength is a bit lacking.” Saying this, Miya Atsumu immediately grabbed his hand in return.
However, he didn't use too much strength; he just let Hinata briefly feel the power in the fingers of a top-tier setter.
Even so, Hinata was still startled.
With Miya Atsumu's tacit permission, he pulled his hand back, feeling as if his bones were being crushed in an instant.
Miya Atsumu explained simply, "Whether it's a toss or a hand-set, it essentially relies on finger strength, which is different from a spike that relies on the whole body."
If it were arm wrestling, he certainly wouldn't be able to beat Aran, because arm wrestling itself also relies on the strength of the entire arm.
However, if it were purely a comparison of grip strength or wrist strength.. the setter is still slightly stronger.
And the spike during a jump serve is the same; you can't just slap it straight on with your palm, but instead you need to do it like this.." Miya Atsumu picked up a volleyball, wrapping his entire hand around the upper half of the ball, "giving it a diagonal force.
“This process also requires the involvement of the fingers.”
Kita Shinsuke walked back in, then tossed the ball in his hands toward Miya Atsumu.
Miya Atsumu looked at Hinata: "As for better ways to train finger strength, besides simple grip training.."
He raised a hand and steadily caught the basketball thrown by Kita.
Miya Atsumu had a dangerous smile on his face as he leaned down close to Hinata: "It'll be fine if you just bring something heavy."
Rishia, who had originally been prepared to serve the next ball, was trembling.
No, you're going to use that thing to practice setting?! How is that any different from throwing a rock!
The moment Kita Shinsuke's gaze swept over, Rishia Heisuke jerked his head back, terrified that Kita Shinsuke would also throw a basketball at him.
Aran gave him a thumbs up: "If you want to master receiving quickly, you can try with a basketball too, but remember to have some third-year seniors around."
Rishia shook his head. "No, I don't want to yet."
My arms are going to break, they're really going to break!
While Hinata's serve training proceeded as scheduled, Inarizaki also entered finals week.
Because passing grades vary by school and are generally based on the academic level of the students, Hinata, who was at the bottom of his class upon enrollment, was directly pinned down by Nagumo and the others to start reviewing.
At this critical juncture, it was clearly evident that studying was more important than volleyball.
If the number of failing subjects increases, there is a high possibility of being forced to attend remedial classes and being unable to go on the expedition.
Fortunately, Kumagai's notes were very useful.
In the end, under the disappointed gaze of his homeroom English teacher, Hinata failed both Japanese and Mathematics.
As Coach Kurosu passed by the faculty office, he heard Hinata's homeroom teacher roaring inside.
Didn't you do quite well in English? Why did you get only 49 on your Japanese class?
You only missed the passing mark by one point! What on earth were you thinking with those typos!
Hinata had no way to complain; if it were Yukinoshita, 30 points would have been a passing grade, but the passing line at Inarizaki was simply too high.