Watari Chikaharu happened to be right under the ball, reaching up to set it: "One more time!"
Oikawa Tooru took his position to set the ball again: "Iwaizumi!!"
There were no feints; it was just a pure set, provided with sufficient vision and height.
Iwaizumi Hajime took a deep breath and prepared to spike, but Miya Atsumu and Suna's block had already closed in, shutting down the path of the ball in front of him.
Since there is no room to adjust to the left or right.. then I'll just spike it straight through.
BANG!!
The sound of the explosive impact filled the entire court. Miya Atsumu, who was hit head-on, was nearly knocked back; as his center of gravity shifted, the ball flew diagonally out of bounds.
This spike had immense power and was extremely dangerous for the blockers, especially for the setter Miya Atsumu.
Fortunately, thanks to his foresight, he had already taped his fingers, doing his utmost to avoid finger dislocations or bruising caused by blocking.
Iwaizumi Hajime's power was great enough, the speed at which the ball was falling was fast enough; it looked as if it was about to crash down right next to one side of the advertising barricades.
The members of Aoba were already showing signs of joy on their faces, seemingly prepared to celebrate this certain, powerful score.
In the field of vision of Watari Chikaharu and Kunimi Akira, an orange figure suddenly dropped low and disappeared.
Hinata, who was originally positioned near Position 2, instantly lowered his entire center of gravity.
As his right foot pushed off the ground and his whole body exploded forward, the friction between his soles and the floor produced a sound that made one's teeth ache.
Knowing it was in vain..
Why even try to save it?
Akagi in the back row also moved almost at the same time, but Hinata was even faster, reaching the ball in almost the blink of an eye.
The sound of the hit was very clear, the sound of the body crashing into the guardrail and falling was also very clear.
But at this moment, no one on the court had the energy to care about Hinata, who had fallen to the ground; everyone's eyes were drawn to the volleyball suspended in mid-air.
My god, he saved it!
That was incredible!
Whether it be an Ace with a powerful spike or a Setter directing the entire court, in an absolute high-tempo match, those moments end in an instant, everyone's attention shifts to the next play in the very next moment.
And often, what truly causes the entire crowd to erupt in excitement is the difficulty of the receive itself.
Struggling to crawl up from a pile of advertising boards, Hinata shouted Atsumu-senpai's name, "Atsumu-senpai!"
He didn't have Yaku's ability to maintain such precise ball control with ease in this situation; all he could do was try his best to keep the ball from going over the net and then give it everything he had for Hinata.
—That was enough.
Watching the trajectory of the ball, Miya Atsumu jumped up extremely close to the Position 2 marker, preparing to set the ball.
Having already leaped from the back row, Miya Osamu shouted for the set, "Give it to me!"
Across the net, Kawarai and Matsukawa quickly shifted their gaze toward Miya Osamu, who had spoken up.
Miya Osamu rarely called for the ball, due to the physical exhaustion from the previous set, he spent most of this set focusing on providing cover.
Asking for the ball suddenly like this.. it's quite unusual.
For that very reason, no one from Aoba didn't dare to make a move.
Matsukawa inconspicuously shifted his gaze toward Aran, who, despite remaining silent, had already rushed to the other side in preparation for a back-row attack.
Miya Atsumu, who had already leaped into the air, suddenly turned with his raised left arm, after a brief pull, he raised his right hand and spiked the ball straight down.
Miya Atsumu's entire movement was seamless, finishing completely in almost the blink of an eye.
The members of Aobajohsai, whose attention had already been drawn by Miya Osamu and Aran, failed to react in time, the volleyball had already slammed down near the three-meter line.
At this moment, the score jumped to Inarizaki 16:12 Aobajohsai, the gap was completely widened.
Great save, Shoyo!!
Shoyo is amazing! He's practically a superman!
Having climbed up from the ground, Hinata wanted to continue returning to the court to provide cover for the subsequent offense and defense,
Hinata looked up, receiving the cheers and applause from the entire stadium.
Countless gazes fell upon him—amazement, vigilance, praise.. all of these emotions were palpably conveyed to him in this very instant.
At this moment, he suddenly felt like a star.
Rishia rushed over from the waiting area, looking incredibly excited, raised both hands toward Hinata: "Great play!"
Hinata couldn't help but grin foolishly. "Hehe, right? I thought it was super awesome too."
After celebrating with everyone, Hinata moved closer to Miya Atsumu, who had just scored with a Second Attack.
He stood on his tiptoes slightly and turned his head toward Miya Atsumu. "Atsumu-senpai, am I super cool?"
Miya Atsumu tilted his head, creating a bit of distance between himself and Hinata.
While Hinata was feeling a bit nervous, he reached out to ruffle Hinata's slightly damp hair: "Super cool. You've got about half of my skill, Atsumu-senpai."
Hinata swayed back and forth as Miya Atsumu rubbed him, replying with great satisfaction, "It really was! Atsumu-senpai, that mid-air twisting feint just now was incredibly cool!"
Aran put his hands on his hips. "Here we go again, the mutual flattery."
Miya Atsumu turned his head quickly in protest: "What are you talking about? I'm being sincere with Hinata!"
Aran leaned forward, staring intently at Miya Atsumu: "What about me?"
Miya Osamu's voice drifted over at the perfect moment: "Hypocrisy."
Miya Atsumu remained silent, effectively taking it as a confirmation.
Aran was hit head-on and collapsed to the ground.
He knew it; that Miya Atsumu guy was nothing but pure favoritism!
Ignoring an Ace who had been so heavily struck that he had begun to space out and contemplate life, Miya Atsumu looked down at Hinata. "That last ball was quite dangerous. Next time.."
“The ball hasn't hit the ground yet.”
A firm and decisive voice interrupted Miya Atsumu's words immediately.
Hinata looked up at Miya Atsumu, his eyes full of certainty: "I will definitely, definitely be able to catch up to that position, so next time, I will definitely go after it too."
Knowing it would be in vain, why still pursue it?
The answer to this question is very simple.
Whether it was for Hinata, Watari Chikaharu, or anyone else, the answer was simple and clear.
—Because the ball hasn't hit the ground yet.
Under Hinata's intense gaze, Miya Atsumu felt somewhat uneasy for some reason and raised his hand to touch his hair, which was slightly dampened by sweat.
His hairstyle didn't require as much hairspray as Oikawa-senpai's, so after such intense activity.. it was slightly out of shape now.
That gaze continued to fixate on him, leaving him with no way to avoid it.
Miya Atsumu's hand, which had been stroking his hair, slid down slightly to partially cover his nose and mouth. "I know, I know.."
He turned his head to look toward Aobajohsai on the other side of the net, saying softly, "I was saying, try to control it next time so your body can roll; crashing into things straight up like that hurts quite a bit."
Hinata nodded vigorously: "Got it!"
Oikawa Tooru and Miya Atsumu locked eyes across the net for a brief moment before they both couldn't help but let out a scoff.
This guy is so pathetic.
What?
Iwaizumi Hajime felt like he hadn't been able to keep up with Oikawa Tooru's erratic train of thought throughout the entire match, especially when it came to Miya Atsumu.
Oikawa Tooru waved it off. "It's nothing, just that some people caught me a bit off guard."
The time-out ended, the referee signaled for everyone to return to the court to continue the match.
Meanwhile, Kumagai set down his towel by the sidelines, watching Hinata and Miya Atsumu with a hint of curiosity as they walked back onto the court side by side.
I don't know if it's just my imagination, but Shoyo seems to be very proactive today about making Atsumu-senpai praise him..
Speaking of which, Rishia Heisuke suddenly fell into an eerie silence for a while.
After a long time, he finally spoke under Unabara Uta's speechless gaze from the other side.
Because Oikawa-senpai said something to him before, so he is confirming whether Atsumu-senpai is actually a 'bad person'.
Kumagai also fell silent: "What exactly are his criteria for judgment?"
"Probably.. a clear distinction between rewards and punishments?" Rishia Heisuke speculated.
Because Hoshiumi-senpai told him that praise given at the wrong time is called excessive flattery, which is bad, that he should stay away from it.
Rishia held up two fingers. "Someone who is constantly fierce and never says anything nice is just plain bad, you should stay even further away from them."
The first-year students all fell silent.
Kita Shinsuke gave a light chuckle. "Don't worry, Atsumu is still very fair."
—Especially when it comes to volleyball.
Unabara Uta rubbed his chin and hesitated to return to the substitution area.
When Rishia looked over in confusion, he only said softly, "Actually, I feel like.. Shoyo just simply likes it when Atsumu-senpai praises him."
Kumagai thought for a moment before nodding. "I can understand that. After all, it's Atsumu-senpai."
Indeed, being praised by High School's Best Setter.. it's a great sense of achievement.
Unabara Uta raised a hand to cover his face, feeling as though his fellow students were beyond saving.
No, I didn't mean it in that sense..
As everyone looked at him, he waved his hand weakly: "No, no, no, it's nothing."
Yeah, it's absolutely nothing.
Author's Note:
The Only Wise One, Unabara Uta: Has seen through everything long ago.