After scoring two points in a row, Oikawa Tooru felt completely refreshed.
Miya Atsumu was only capable of that much, but he would continue to take the third point, becoming the player with the highest number of points scored from serves in this match.
Aran, on the other side of the net, clapped his hands: "Don't worry about it. Stay grounded on the next ball, don't give the opponent a chance to counterattack."
In a great mood, Oikawa Tooru tilted his head to observe Miya Atsumu at the net.
As Miya Atsumu looked over, Oikawa Tooru placed his hand to his ear while simultaneously moving closer to the net.
"Just who is it that can't handle any distractions during their serve and commits a fault the moment they are interrupted?" Oikawa Tooru scrutinized Miya Atsumu imperceptibly.
It must be exhausting to have to call off your own cheering every single time, but there's no other way; Miya Atsumu can't stand even the slightest sound when he's serving.
He had long been annoyed by Miya Atsumu's clingy attitude, this time, he finally had the chance to deal with him.
Oikawa Tooru, who was usually very tolerant of his juniors, decided to give Miya Atsumu double the harshness.
After catching the slight twitch of distortion in Miya Atsumu's expression, Oikawa Tooru lowered his head and stifled a laugh. "How pathetic."
Oikawa stood tall and proud. "So, my serve really is much cooler after all."
Unable to get a compliment from his teammate after waiting so long, before the atmosphere could stiffen further or Miya Atsumu could open his mouth to mock him, Oikawa Tooru turned his head to look at Hinata.
Right, Little One?
Hinata, who had been called out by Oikawa, tilted his head, a faint look of confusion in his eyes.
He thought about it for a moment before slowly speaking, "Oikawa-senpai's serve is indeed very cool.."
Before Oikawa Tooru could even fully tilt his chin toward the sky, he heard Hinata's next sentence: "But if we're talking about being cool, Atsumu-senpai is definitely cooler."
"Huh?" Oikawa Tooru was a bit stunned.
Wait, shouldn't he be praised for this!
Miya Atsumu also froze for a moment, but in the next second, the corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily.
The referee Hinata was very fair: "Because Atsumu-senpai's scoring frequency on serves is higher, Atsumu-senpai is cooler."
In a place Hinata couldn't see, Atsumu had already turned his head, thumping his chest repeatedly toward Miya Osamu and Aran, his face full of pride and boasting.
Miya Osamu said expressionlessly, "I want to kick him."
Aran stood with his hands on his hips, looking at Miya Atsumu with equal disdain. "Hold it in. I'll help you after the match is over."
Suna, who was waiting in the waiting area, had his hands shoved into his somewhat tight pants, pursing his lips as he stared at the gloating Miya Atsumu on the court.
It was a pity my phone wasn't by my side, so I couldn't get a close-up shot of Miya Atsumu.
However, all matches have official recordings, the resolution won't be particularly low, so it will be fine to capture a screenshot once I get back.
Glancing at Suna, Ginjima mourned for Miya Atsumu in his heart.
He originally felt that his personality was quite hot-headed, Coach Kurosu had often criticized him for being unstable.
But.. compared to his classmates, he was actually one of the more normal ones.
As a result, Suna doesn't even have many unflattering photos of him; at most, there are just some candid shots of him being lectured by Coach Kurosu.
It felt like Miya Atsumu was exceptionally "lively" today; I wondered what kind of earth-shattering facial expressions Suna would clip from him after this match.
You have to know that Suna's You Tube account contains many edited videos, but most of them are set to private; they are essentially collections of the Miya Twins' "brilliant performances."
If one day Miya Atsumu ever got on Suna's bad side and Suna's finger slipped while making it public..
Then Miya Atsumu's lifelong reputation would be completely ruined.
Chapter 188: The 188th Fox
Standing at the service position with the ball in his hands once again, Oikawa Tooru's lips curled into a slight smirk.
To be honest, scoring a point from a serve against Inarizaki was slightly easier than he had imagined; as long as he targeted Hinata, whose receiving skills were somewhat weaker, there shouldn't be much of a problem.
Thinking of this, Oikawa turned his gaze toward Hinata and gave him a smile.
Hinata looked visibly more nervous.
The whistle blew again, amidst the cheers of Aobajohsai, Oikawa Tooru tossed the ball and performed a jump serve once more.
But this time.. Hinata won.
Watching the ball fly out of bounds, Hinata quickly stepped aside and raised his hand to signal, "Out!"
Great! Not only did he not have to receive it, but it went out of bounds!
Such incredible luck!
The members of Seijo on the opposite side also started shouting in succession, "Tan Men—"
Oikawa Tooru gave a light click of his tongue and turned his head to protest, "You guys should at least show some sorrow for my lost service turn!"
That damn Little One, standing in such a tricky position.
He couldn't sacrifice the most important aspect of his serve, ball speed, so it's understandable that he hit it out.
Taking the volleyball from Hinata, Aran prepared to serve.
The obvious melancholy on his face left even the coach standing by the court feeling a bit dazed.
As for why..
Aran sighed.
When he was in the front row, Miya Atsumu used him as a decoy, even when he was in the back row, Miya Atsumu still didn't like using him, his eyes and mind were entirely focused on the Quick Attack.
Every time the opposing team's block rushed toward him with such ferocity.. he felt sorry for the opposing blockers.
He is an Ace after all, give him a chance to show what he can do!
Full of frustration, Aran slammed the ball against the ground before catching it again as it bounced back.
The Ace's sharp gaze instantly locked onto Oikawa Tooru, who was being covered by the Libero.
If I can't stop his spike from scoring, then I'll just have to score with a serve.
Watari Chikaharu felt a sense of impending dread.
He was actually quite decent at saving balls and supporting the set, but his First Receive was a major problem.
And right now, Inarizaki's serves were terrifyingly powerful, to the point where even Suna, whose serve was mediocre, was subbed out..
Rubbing his reddened arms, Watari Chikaharu quickly adjusted his state.
Come on, he won't be afraid.
The whistle blew, Aran bent his knees into a lunge, patting the ball against the ground to adjust his touch.
After confirming his touch was correct, he caught the volleyball and held it in front of him with one hand.
Without any special timing for his serve, Aran tossed the ball straight up once he felt his condition was ready.
After a quick approach, he leaped up with a heavy thud in front of the baseline, unleashing a powerful and heavy Power Serve toward the Seijo court.
He didn't even need to target a specific spot; after all, as long as the power of the serve reached a certain level, it would be impossible for anyone to receive it.
Seeing Aran's serve was about to land between him and Watari Chikaharu, Kawarai shouted out, "I'll take it!"
This kind of serve would still be very difficult for Watari Chikaharu to receive, but instead, he could rely on his more solid build to at least ensure he could get the ball up.
After the heavy impact, the volleyball bounced upward, nearly turning into a black dot in everyone's sight.
Kawarai shouted to Oikawa Tooru, "Oikawa!"
“What a first receive!” Oikawa Tooru went after the ball with the mindset of a Ceiling Serve.
Near the edge of the court, he jumped and raised his hand to make contact with the volleyball.
The setter's standard offensive pattern from the back row is basically to rush forward to attack, but when the first receive is off, there isn't as much emphasis on that.
Iwaizumi, in the front row, called out for the ball immediately: "Give me the ball!!"
Kindaichi used a Quick Attack from the center again to provide cover, but neither Miya Atsumu nor Oori Ren gave him so much as a glance, instead lunging straight toward Iwaizumi.
Iwaizumi's spike was equally heavy, so Inarizaki could only manage a basic touch.
Touch!
"Good touch!" Akagi followed up to send the ball up, providing plenty of height while waiting for Miya Atsumu to descend from the block to set the ball.
Hinata had already sprinted from outside the court to the front of the net, jumping in preparation for a spike, while Oori Ren performed a decoy attack in the center.
Miya Atsumu ultimately chose to set the ball to Miya Osamu, who was in the back row performing a quick attack.
Miya Osamu, who naturally possesses more physical strength than Hinata, performs better in the back row's off-beat quick attack.
Even if the location of the spike was further away, its greater penetration allowed it to be unreceivable.
Kindaichi's height and arm span allowed him to reach this ball: "First Receive!"
But his own condition wasn't particularly good either; because he had jumped in a hurry, he couldn't fully extend his body, the impact caused him to be hit slightly off-center.
Fortunately, he hadn't jumped very high to begin with, so he didn't fall when he landed.
Kawarai lowered his center of gravity and steadily received the volleyball after it had touched the block: "Oikawa!"
At the same time, Oikawa Tooru and Watari Chikaharu also completed their positioning calls behind the three-meter line.
Watari Chikaharu leaped up behind the volleyball, turning his body to prepare for a set.
Komori, in the stands, rubbed his chin. "A signature move of Aobajohsai."
He had wanted to learn the technique of a Libero making a save from the back row for a long time, of course, he had practiced it on his own, but the results were mediocre.
Moreover, Itachiyama has quite a few players capable of handling setting, such as Sakusa, Wamura, Amatori-senpai, all of whom can act as setters.
If you had to say what the use is.. I suppose it would be like Seijo right now, including the setter in the offensive lineup.
However, this style of play would directly result in a situation where there are no players in the back row capable of performing a counterattack.
Once they encounter a team with exceptionally strong blocking capabilities, they are basically shut down and rendered unable to use it.
However.. In their current positioning, Inarizaki is more than capable of handling it.
After all, Hinata's blocking height is limited, he hasn't even had the chance to take a running start to block yet.