Author's Note:
(Faints)[Wails]
Chapter 41: The Forty-First Fox
"Atsumu." Kita called out to Miya Atsumu.
Miya Atsumu stood at attention, involuntarily shrinking his neck, as a hundred different possible crimes flashed through his mind in an instant.
But he wasn't in the wrong; the opponent had provoked him first. His actions were a righteous counterattack, a matter of self-defense!
Kita Shinsuke said seriously, "That's going too far. Restrain yourself."
They came to play a training match and help Hinata build his confidence, not to make enemies.
Inarizaki's relationship with Shiratorizawa was already not very good, yesterday they had a serious fallout with Aobajohsai's captain, today Miya Atsumu is going to offend the people from Karasuno as well..
Even though Inarizaki had the capital to look down on others, Kita Shinsuke still worried that someone might ambush Miya Atsumu in a sack once the match ended.
—Though it's possible it was Miya Osamu and Suna.
"I'm telling the truth." Miya Atsumu tried to be stubborn, but under Kita's gaze, he swallowed the second half of his sentence completely.
Finally, Kita Shinsuke added, "Go apologize to them after you're done playing."
Miya Atsumu's expression twisted: "Yes.."
Over at Karasuno, Ukai Keishin was speaking privately with Kageyama Tobio.
It's fine, our players are all excellent.
Don't overthink it. You know exactly where everyone's limits are, so don't put too much psychological pressure on yourself.
“Go ahead and take risks, no one will blame you for it..”
Sugawara Koushi observed Kageyama in his peripheral vision, but he couldn't help but recall their first meeting.
When Karasuno High School first started the school year, they didn't actually hold club recruitment; the Prefectural Tournament was attended by the second and third-year students.
The match against Date Tech caused their Ace and Libero to leave temporarily, it was during this period that Kageyama, Tsukishima, the others joined the Volleyball Club.
Although they won the practice match against Aobajohsai, Kageyama felt unusually dejected on the way back that day.
As for the reason.. Sugawara Koushi didn't actually know very well.
From the very first day they met, he knew Kageyama was a child who didn't quite know how to express his emotions.
Whether on the court or in daily life, Kageyama has always been very cautious around them.
Sugawara was somewhat surprised by his attitude toward that orange-haired Wing Spiker on the court today..
In a daze, he seemed to see the Kageyama from the first round of the Interhigh Junior High in his memories.
—So vivid.
Wait..
Sugawara Koushi snapped his gaze toward Hinata Shoyo over at the Inarizaki side.
From the moment he saw him today, he had felt that Hinata looked very familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before.
Wasn't that.. the other person from the match they watched back then?
In just thirty short seconds, nothing could be explained at all.
Two timeouts require a dead ball in between, calling consecutive timeouts disrupts the rhythm of the match severely.
Both sides took their positions again, Inarizaki's Hinata Shoyo served.
“What do you think, Shoyo-kun? About that King.” Miya Atsumu asked Hinata.
Hinata, who had picked up a volleyball and was preparing to serve, froze for a moment, his mood inexplicably dropping: "I think.. he is very amazing."
After saying that, he added another sentence, "He must be very amazing."
Hinata didn't quite understand, he just felt a sense of emptiness in his heart.
Miya Atsumu lowered his eyes.
—Is that so?
Kageyama felt that Hinata was like a completely different person from before, the same could be said for Hinata.
They came full of anticipation, but in the end, they reaped only disappointment.
If this is the result, then their expedition this time will have been for nothing.
An Ace should not be a Setter who fades into the crowd.
Coach Kurosu sized up Kageyama and Miya Atsumu, remaining noncommittal regarding Miya Atsumu's attitude, which seemed intended to stir up trouble and poke at people's hearts.
Everyone possesses a desire to nurture talent; otherwise, he would not have offered assistance to Aobajohsai.
"Shoyo, give them a good one!" Rishia shouted from the sidelines.
But Hinata made a mistake during the toss, causing the ball to go straight out of bounds.
For Hinata, who had only been practicing jump serves for about a month, making mistakes was quite normal; after all, even Aran could potentially make a service error.
Miya Atsumu tilted his head and looked at Hinata: "Don't worry about it."
"Yeah!" Hinata nodded vigorously.
He still needs to keep practicing his receives, his service errors over the last two days have been truly embarrassing.
He couldn't care about the King's state of affairs; at this stage.. he just needed to focus on doing what he was supposed to do.
Suna, with sharp intuition, turned his head, having faintly sensed something.
Azumane Asahi of Karasuno serves.
As one of the only two people in Karasuno who could perform a Jump Serve, Azumane Asahi's serve was quite good with the added power.
But his unpracticed jump serve prevented him from controlling the ball's trajectory like Kageyama, it ultimately landed right in front of Akagi.
"Atsumu!" Akagi sent the ball steadily to the attacking line.
Akagi's receive was only unstable when compared to the other top national teams.
Both Komori of Itachiyama and Yaku of Nekoma can quickly reach a stable state even when receiving a serve like Aran's, but Akagi cannot.
However.. given the quality of Karasuno's serves, they were no threat to him.
Owari Aran, who had already rotated to the front row, raised his hand for the ball: "Give it to me!"
He was currently in position four, there was no reason not to score with a spike. Moreover, facing Karasuno's block, he was completely confident.
As his gaze swept over Tsukishima, who had already moved toward Owari Aran, Miya Atsumu casually sent the ball to a spot just a step away from Suna.
With both Tsukishima and Sugawara moving toward Inarizaki's position four, Sawamura Daichi was the only one left near Suna.
It is not about giving the ball to whoever asks for it, but about choosing the optimal solution for scoring in any given situation; that is what a Setter should do.
Kageyama moved half a step to his left, his eyes fixed intently on the ball set by Miya Atsumu.
That position.. is indeed a spot that Karasuno's blockers currently cannot cover at all.
But this ball is also quite a distance from Suna. Will he be able to keep up?
Inarizaki showed Kageyama through their actions.
—Yes.
It wasn't until Suna jumped to spike that Kageyama suddenly realized the height of this ball was exactly Suna's hitting point, because he had already predicted that Karasuno's block wouldn't be able to keep up, the distance between the ball and the net was even closer.
Because he could provide the spiker with the best possible view from that position, there was no need to be any further away.
As a Setter, Miya Atsumu had already done his absolute best.
As for the difference between him and..
When it came to "deciding who to give the ball to," Miya Atsumu followed his own judgment completely.
With Aran's skill level, he could actually score points as well, it just wouldn't be as smooth as it was with Suna.
Kageyama strangely felt as if Miya Atsumu was acting like some kind of answer key..
While his brain was racing, Kageyama bent his left knee and dropped into a squat, steadily receiving the spike from Suna.
His receiving motion was incredibly decisive and beautiful, causing Hinata, who had been secretly observing, to widen his eyes.
Sugawara Koushi quickly took his position: "Nice receive, Kageyama!"
Immediately after receiving the ball, Kageyama got up and took a running start forward, preparing for a back-row attack; the entire process from receive to attack was quite perfect.
With a loud thud, Kageyama's back-row spike hit the fingers of Miya Osamu, who had jumped slightly early, scoring a point off the touch.
Hinata was unable to reach this ball.
Looking at where the volleyball landed, his previously low spirits were completely lifted.
As expected.. the King is still incredibly amazing!
His receiving and spiking are both incredible, much stronger than his.
Kurosu, standing by the sidelines, nodded.
It had to be admitted that, freed from the shackles of his so-called duties as a Setter, Kageyama Tobio was far more at ease than before.
Miya Atsumu narrowed his eyes slightly.
Two setters?
No, Karasuno was playing a bit like Sugawara was the Setter and Kageyama was the Opposite.
Noticing Hinata's eyes lighting up as he tilted his head, Miya Atsumu looked across the net at Kageyama: "Tobio-kun, you should be a Setter, right?"
He was confirming, confirming whether Kageyama Tobio wanted to become a Setter or an Opposite.
If he were an Opposite or a Wing Spiker, Kageyama's condition would indeed be quite good.
Kageyama Tobio looked up, his words exceptionally firm this time: "I am a Setter."
"Then.. do you know what a Setter's mindset should be like?" Miya Atsumu raised a finger.