Although he had turned his focus toward Ichibayashi, Miya Osamu did not stop his tight defense against Miya Atsumu.
The two men continued to glare at each other until the Head Referee signaled for both Captains to conduct the coin toss.
The Head Referee of this match took the coin in his hands and tossed it high into the air under the watchful eyes of the two captains, before it fell.
With a light clink, the coin landed on the ground, spinning several times before rolling to a stop beside a nearby pillar..
It stood up.
Even the Head Referee was momentarily stunned by this result.
Although he had encountered this situation in his own career, it was still the first time it had happened recently.
The Head Referee was just about to announce that a re-draw would be conducted, but the coin that had been standing upright seemed to be caught by the draft from the other referees walking past behind him.
The coin landed with a snap, its face-up side announcing the result of the toss.
—Inarizaki will serve first.
The Head Referee looked toward Ichibayashi's Captain, Hoshinoya, as well as Kuroe Kao, who had just approached: "Any objections?"
If the players do not agree to this situation, the draw can be redone.
Standing a step behind and to the side of Hoshinoya, Kuroe Kao tilted her head slightly and looked across at Kita Shinsuke with a smile.
After staring at each other for several seconds, he raised his hand and took off the glasses from his face.
Glancing sideways at Kuroe Kao beside him, Hoshinoya replied, "No objections."
After confirming the serving order, Kita Shinsuke, as always, chose the side that was as close as possible to Inarizaki's own cheering section.
Because many people on the team have specific requirements regarding the environment during a serve, they aim to eliminate any possible interference from the opponents as much as possible.
Hinata cheered, "As expected of the Kita Team!"
The drawing of lots just now had scared him to death; he thought they were going to serve second.
After all, they had just finished adjusting their tactics to deal with Ichibayashi, a crucial step was the serve itself.
Kita Shinsuke gave a slight smile. "Let's play steadily and win the victory, one step at a time."
"YES!!" everyone responded in unison.
And the situation unfolded exactly as Ichibayashi had expected; as usual, Inarizaki chose a strategy where Miya Atsumu served first.
For Inarizaki, ensuring Miya Atsumu's powerful opening serve was the most important thing.
With his back to the Inarizaki banner, Miya Atsumu slapped the ball against the ground.
He was feeling a bit irritable right now.
From the moment he woke up until now, he and Hinata had exchanged fewer than ten sentences, as someone would inexplicably interrupt every single time.
Miya Atsumu took the ball with a sour expression. "It's all that Ichibayashi bunch's fault."
The whistle blew in his ears, at the same time, the Head Referee signaled for Miya Atsumu to serve.
Watching Miya Atsumu perform his incredibly perfunctory cheering motions, Oikawa Tooru's mouth twitched.
Even at a time like this, you still can't forget to show off, can you?
Spinning the volleyball in his hands, Miya Atsumu shot a glare at Hoshinoya in Position 4 before raising his hand and tossing the ball into the air.
With a heavy sound, Atsumu jumped from two steps away from the baseline, using a Power Serve motion to strike the very center of the volleyball.
The volleyball flew over the net in the blink of an eye. Although it had no spin, the ball was incredibly fast, slamming down right in front of the Libero, Nasu, at the first possible moment.
Nasu raised his arm to block, successfully popping the ball up.
While eating in the stands, Komi Haruki said, "His reaction is really fast."
Akaashi saw it clearly: "No, rather than saying his reaction is fast, it's more like.. he didn't intend to receive it from the start."
He had watched Ichibayashi's matches, aside from the Ace and the Setter, this Libero had left him with the deepest impression.
He was the kind of person who was extremely clear about his own capabilities, he could always manage to pull off a mediocre play using the most pathetic methods.
Mokoba nodded. "It's also a way to ensure a baseline."
Moreover, this level was actually enough for Ichibayashi; after all, Ichibayashi's overall configuration was very high, he wouldn't suffer from the kind of severe imbalance seen in Shirabu.
As Hinata stepped back one step to prepare for the spike, a judgment flashed through his mind.
—The first receive was too close to the net, so there was no quick attack.
Kuroe Kao, diving from the back row, moved quickly to the space just ten-plus centimeters below the ball, as he jumped, he reached out with one hand to scoop it up.
His movements were not hidden in the slightest; he was clearly passing to Position 4.
But through his own instantaneous adjustment during the touch, the distance between the ball and the net had been opened up, providing an excellent height and line of sight.
The Ace, standing over 1.9m tall, leaped up at the net with a thud, his arms extending in mid-air as he prepared to spike.
The moment Hinata caught a glimpse of Hoshinoya's silhouette through the gap, his eyes widened uncontrollably.
That perfect arm extension and muscular condition would bring an extremely long hang time, as well as.. terrifying spiking power.
Suna and Miya Osamu had also kept up, positioning themselves in front of Hoshinoya to restrict the path of his line spike.
But Hoshinoya didn't dodge or evade, not showing even the slightest intention or movement to change the ball's trajectory.
The sound exploded in his ears like a clap of thunder. Suna felt as if a hurricane had slammed into him, sending him reeling sideways, a sharp pain shot through his hands.
The volleyball, carrying a Heavy Spin, slammed down between Suna and Miya Osamu with absolute dominance, tearing a hole through Inarizaki's Iron Wall.
Even though they had braced their bodies, the two of them still couldn't stop that sudden burst of power.
Hoshinoya looked down at the two of them from above, his golden hair appearing slightly translucent under the glare of the overhead lights, while the banner behind him, featuring red characters on a black background, stood out with exceptional clarity.
[No regrets, no fear, invincible.]
Six incredibly wild words, almost the same color as Hoshinoya's eyes.
It revealed a.. bellicose and bloodthirsty ferocity.
Hinata dropped into a low lunge, bending his knee to prepare for the receive, but the ball's speed far exceeded his expectations, to the point that he couldn't touch it at all.
But he was lucky; the ball grazed his arm and struck the top of his shoe.
The volleyball bounced off at an angle.
Atsumu, who had already lunged forward, suddenly spun around, while his back was falling toward the floor, his fingers made contact with the volleyball.
The momentary touch changed the ball's rotation and speed, sending it directly to the front of the net.
Hoshinoya, who had just landed on the ground, was a bit stunned: "Huh?"
What happened? How was that ball received?
And what's going on with that setter? He can actually set the ball even in that posture?
Although Miya Osamu was knocked back by Hoshinoya's spike, he still managed to adjust his state in time.
After pulling back from the block, he jumped up early at Position 4.
The moment the volleyball passed through his contact point, he raised his hand and spiked it down.
With a loud bang, the ball slammed into the ground near the corner of Ichibayashi's court.
And even until the ball hit the ground, the people on Ichibayashi's side hadn't even reacted.
Oikawa Tooru bared his teeth. "That was a first-sight kill."
Although everyone had seen it in the recordings, the third-person perspective and the first-person perspective were ultimately different.
There are simply too many things that can cause interference during a match; when facing a ball like this in the real world, one truly doesn't have much time to react.
Hoshinoya was even more confused: "What is it?"
Wait, he felt as if he still hadn't woken up.
Of course he had done his homework on this kind of Quick Attack, but the key issue was.. how on earth could Miya Atsumu deliver such an outrageous ball in that state?!
Shiratori clapped from the stands: "A peerless talent."
He probably won't be able to learn this kind of setting in his entire life; just watching it, one can feel the terrifying level of technique involved.
“Here we go again..” Kuroo expressed that he had no desire to deal with this guy.
Miya Osamu looked at his own hands before turning his head to look at Miya Atsumu, who had been pulled up by Suna: "Didn't you say you weren't going to give me the ball?"
Meanwhile, on the other side, Hinata, who had originally intended to reach out, blinked.
Suna-senpai seemed especially enthusiastic toward Atsumu-senpai today; when Atsumu-senpai tripped, he actually reached out to steady him.
Did I even set the ball to you just now?" Miya Atsumu denied, "The ball just flew over there on its own.
Miya Osamu rolled his eyes. "You're really something."
The members of Ichibayashi across the net were looking at each other in confusion.
Indeed, the tension on Inarizaki's side was quite obvious, but.. it didn't seem to affect their game at all.
It's no big deal, they just got lucky just now," Ouji Son said, raising a hand to touch the stud in his ear. "You aren't going to receive a ball like that a second time.
To be able to smash it onto someone's foot is just ridiculous.
If it hadn't been for that, how would Miya Atsumu have had any chance to save the ball?
Kuroe Kao nodded: "Son is right, it's just one point. We'll get it back in a moment."
After speaking, he turned his head to look at Hoshinoya, appearing to urge the Captain to say a few words as well.
Hoshinoya raised a hand to scratch the back of his head, his eyes wandering upward as he struggled to squeeze out a sentence: "Who cares about all that! I'm going to spike them into oblivion in a moment!"
The only first-year selected, Nare Yoshio, frowned and looked at the Captain beside him. "Captain, please don't go around talking about 'death' all the time; it's not right."
“Friendship first, competition second..”
Before he could finish, Hoshinoya reached out and pressed a hand against his head. "You're like an old chanting monk, shut up already. Stay out of my business, Senpai."
And besides, the match comes first.
Nare Yoshio did not give up, instead continuing to use his conscience to reproach Hoshinoya.
“Captain, the vice-captain said you got into a fight with the people from Inarizaki yesterday, that you even bullied their number 17.”
What does that have to do with me!