From the moment he stepped onto this court, his wish, their wish, was only for..
—The word "victory."
The sudden movement created a gust of wind that ruffled the hair on Hinata's forehead. He lowered his raised hands and watched Miya Atsumu, who had already retreated to prepare for a block, with unblinking eyes.
In the next second, the Inarizaki front row teamed up to block the spike from the Kindaichi Industrial ace, securing the final point.
The cheers suddenly drowned out the entire venue.
Inarizaki is the strongest!
Great block! Atsumu, your set was amazing too!!
After they finished celebrating together, the moment Miya Atsumu turned his head, he saw Hinata standing by the sidelines with his mouth agape, staring at him.
Stunned for a moment, Miya Atsumu stepped toward Hinata Shoyo, but just as he was about to say something, he heard Hinata's voice.
"So cool! That was amazing!" The voice, already infected with the Kansai accent by Miya Atsumu, was full of admiration and excitement.
Atsumu-senpai was so cool just now! His setting and backcourt defense were both incredibly decisive!
To still have the chance to perform a spike under these circumstances, as a Spiker, one must feel incredibly happy—
Miya Atsumu was stunned for less than half a second before puffing out his chest with pride: "Of course, I am the number one setter in high school."
Looking at Hinata Shoyo's expression, he curled his lips into a smirk.
Enjoy my volleyball to your heart's content, Shoyo.
Author's Note:
Good grief, in the blink of an eye, we're almost at forty thousand nutrition solutions. The extra chapter progress is 21/45, [fear].
Damn it, I don't know if I caught something at the hospital earlier, but I seem to have a bit of a fever. I clearly wore my mask! QAQ ([Clown])
Little Jujube, lend me your alcohol so I can disinfect myself.. [Sob][Sob][Sob]
Chapter 64: The Sixty-Fourth Fox
Standing by the sidelines, Bokuto-senpai crossed his arms over his chest and said with a pout, "Miya Atsumu's Dual Wield.. feels even harder to deal with now.."
To be honest, during this high school stage, aside from a few fixed teams, very few teams can be considered "skilled at receiving serves."
The cost of developing an excellent Libero is very high, not to mention the need for coordination with other Wing Spikers.
Among the major powerhouses in Tokyo, Fukurodani is the weakest when it comes to receiving.
However, with Akaashi Keiji there, the gap is generally unnoticeable. But once an opponent can exert enough pressure through serves or overall offense, an inadequate receive could potentially lead to a total collapse.
Akaashi rubbed his chin. "I'm not sure if it's just my imagination, but it seems like Miya Atsumu counts his steps to measure the approach distance before serving?"
Bokuto turned his head to look at him: "What do you mean?"
"Power Jump Serves and Jump Float Serves have differences in their overall approach due to a series of factors, such as the spiking position," Akaashi said, watching Miya Atsumu walk away from the opposing team's player tunnel.
Generally speaking, the approach rhythm for a jump float serve is a bit slower, which means it requires a longer approach distance.
Bokuto's mind worked incredibly fast at this moment: "Ah, I understand."
Before the referee blows the whistle, can we judge the type of serve by watching his approach starting point?
Akaashi nodded in affirmation, "That's right, but we still need to observe more to see what the specific differences are. Until Miya Atsumu has mastered this aspect, there should be opportunities."
As expected, when it comes to volleyball techniques, Bokuto-senpai's brain still works perfectly.
Unfortunately, Inarizaki is not currently on their list of potential opponents, because due to the division issues, even if the two sides were to meet, it would only be in the finals.
We'll.. see when the time comes.
In the player tunnel on the other side, Hinata, carrying his bag, looked at Miya Atsumu with eyes full of anticipation: "Atsumu-senpai, that last spike was so cool! Even the way you flipped over and got back up was so decisive. Is that some kind of technique?"
Miya Atsumu was in an excellent mood. He squinted and replied with a smile, "It's just the same movement I use when diving to save a ball during practice; I just use it to dissipate the impact."
Many fundamental skills are interconnected; as long as they can serve a protective purpose at the right time, they can be used.
Suna looked back slightly, upon seeing Miya Atsumu's expression, said to Ginjima beside him, "I really want to film him."
Ginjima had no objection: "Then just take a picture."
Suna had taken embarrassing photos of the club members more than once or twice, especially the twins; he faithfully recorded almost every fight they had in his phone, even Ginjima had been photographed.
Aran had even suggested before that once they graduated, Suna should make a photo album to give to everyone as a graduation gift.
Suna shook his head instead. "Forget it, I'm not taking any more photos."
It wasn't for any other reason. He collected embarrassing photos of the Miya Twins specifically to "hold a little leverage over them," and if Miya Atsumu saw this scene now.. he might actually be even happier.
Thinking of this, Suna froze for a moment.
No, wait, if he recorded a scene that even Miya Atsumu thought was great, wouldn't it have even more deterrent power and value?
In the end, Suna still pulled out his phone.
As the flash went off, the figures of Miya Atsumu and Hinata Shoyo were frozen on the screen.
The master photographer nodded and put away his phone, looking quite satisfied.
Miya Atsumu, who was always being photographed in unflattering shots, froze for a moment as a series of questions flashed through his mind, finally coming to rest on a single answer.
—Was his expression just now really ugly and scary?
That can't be right; he was still very confident in his own face. From childhood until now, no one had ever said that he and Miya Osamu weren't good-looking.
Could it be.. a problem with his expression?
Miya Atsumu hurriedly asked Hinata, "Was I scary just now?"
Hinata froze for a moment, then thought back seriously: "No, Atsumu-senpai, you were very serious and cool just now."
This was certainly true. Whether it was Miya Atsumu, Hoshiumi, or Bokuto-senpai, whom he had just met.. Hinata loved seeing everyone's state when they were playing volleyball most.
They were incredibly serious and incredibly full of life, making it impossible not to feel a sense of longing for them.
Looking at Miya Atsumu's "I knew it" expression, Hinata blinked.
Before he even knew Miya Atsumu, he had gone to watch an Inarizaki match with Rishia Heisuke.
At that time, he could only see Aran scoring points with frequent spikes, but thinking back now, Miya Atsumu's presence was actually in every single one of those points.
Thinking of this, Hinata's footsteps faltered.
Miya Atsumu looked back in confusion, toward Hinata: "What's wrong? Shoyo?"
Hinata was actually very honest and answered directly, "I can't wait to get on the court; I want to know what it feels like to spike Atsumu-senpai's sets on a stage like this."
It would.. probably be very blissful.
If it were Miya Atsumu speaking, he would probably say he wants to become a "spiker who can be used by him."
Miya Atsumu was stunned by this rotation.
Before he could say anything, Kita Shinsuke's voice rang out from behind him, "You should be rotated in as a key server during the National Sports Festival, so go back and practice your serves properly."
Hinata cheered, "Yes! Long live the Captain!"
Turning to meet Coach Kurosu's eyes, Hinata shouted again, "Long live the coach, too!"
After the match results were officially confirmed and signed off, the Inarizaki members had a brief stretch and then announced their dismissal.
Full of energy, Hinata immediately grabbed Rishia Heisuke, preparing to head to the Itachiyama match, while Miya Atsumu immediately sought out Suna.
"What did you just take a picture of?" Miya Atsumu asked the question he had been curious about.
Suna didn't say anything, but instead found the photo and showed it to Miya Atsumu.
The moment he saw that photo, Miya Atsumu, who had originally prepared to see an unflattering picture of himself, widened his eyes.
The boy in the photo was bowing his head and saying something with a serious expression, his visible joy and happiness radiating from him.
And the little one with the bowl cut returned the look with eyes full of eagerness and admiration, with a hint of.. longing?
The light streaming in from the entrance at the back of the court cast an indescribable halo around them, making Hinata's eyes shine with incredible brightness.
Whether in terms of composition or artistic conception, what Miya Atsumu had created was already a masterpiece worthy of being called a "work of art."
So.. is this how Hinata's gaze toward him looks to others?
Miya Atsumu reached out to grab Suna's phone, but Suna was a step faster, pulling his hand back directly.
Under Suna's expressionless gaze, Miya Atsumu pressed his hands together and raised them high above his head: "Master Suna, please send this photo to me! I want to use it as my wallpaper! This is a once-in-a-lifetime request!"
Suna reached out his hand to Miya Atsumu.
Under Miya Atsumu's puzzled gaze, he added, "Photos are free, but if you want the originals or to delete photos, there's a fee."
Miya Atsumu's expression twisted.
On the other side, Hinata had already found the court where Itachiyama was playing; Seito and Kazegaya Academy were competing nearby.
By the time they arrived, the second set was already at 4:2, with Itachiyama in the lead.
"Hinata." Kiryu Ya, who was also watching the match, called out to him.
"Kiryu-senpai." Hinata jogged over, pulling Rishia along.
This is great! With a senpai here, I can just ask about anything I don't understand.
Komori made a beautiful diving receive to save the ball, then retreated to the side at maximum speed to clear the path for Amatori to move forward and attack.
The pass wasn't particularly accurate, but Iizuna's reaction speed was quite fast as well; under the cover of the two wing spikers, he raised his hands and sent a Second Attack over.
The opposing Libero lunged forward, getting under the ball and barely managing to receive it.
Cover!!
With a loud thud, the setter reached out and used his lower hand to bump the ball over the net.
He had already stopped organizing the attack from that position; even if he had tried to set it, the Spiker would likely have touched the net due to being too close to it.
"Chance ball!" Komori stepped forward again, setting the ball toward Iizuna's head.
Iizuna raised his hand to set the ball: "Amatori!"
After performing a fake back set, he raised his hand and gave the ball to Sakusa on the other side.