A loud bang exploded instantly, at the same time, the ball flew over the heads of Suna and Miya Osamu, who had just rushed over, smashing into the corner of the court.
This is..
Ouji Son stepped up to Hoshinoya's left and raised a hand to brush back his hair.
“Our duo—"
After returning from outside the court, Nasu also crowded over to Hoshinoya's right side, putting his hands to his face to strike a pose.
In the end, the two of them shouted in unison, "True strength!!"
Hoshinoya, who had been inexplicably dragged into posing in the middle, looked confused. "Huh?"
Three golden heads shimmered under the overhead lights, instantly becoming the focus of the entire venue.
But the pose was truly..
Ichibayashi, who had originally been cheering for them, couldn't even stand to watch his own support anymore: "Stop fooling around!"
You haven't even graduated from second year of Junior High yet?!
Suna, standing at the net, raised a hand to cover his eyes: "So bright.."
The hair of those three people.. it's practically glowing!
But, as it happened, there was one person who cheered with genuine enthusiasm.
Hinata looked at the few people who were imitating some kind of beautiful warrior: "So cool!"
Rei raised a hand to touch his natural red hair, seriously contemplating whether he should dye it blonde like the seniors.
He wondered if he should ask the seniors where they got their hair done..
He turned his head, caught the ball thrown back by the sideline staff, prepared to serve.
Rei's jump serve level was not much different from Hinata's, so Inarizaki only chose a formation with two middle blockers and one receiver, allowing Miya Atsumu's position to be as far forward as possible.
And the choice of serve from the opposing side was, of course, Shoyo, whose skill level was somewhat lower.
Hinata, who had already shown significant growth in his first receive, did not fear the ball Rei sent his way; after a quick step back, he gained the ability to cover half the court, steadily receiving the ball before it could hit the ground.
Miya Atsumu, feeling a little bit better, praised Hinata loudly, "Great first receive!"
Akagi stayed behind to carry out the subsequent counterattack, while the others moved forward almost simultaneously to launch an attack.
Middle Blocker Hayakawa, who had swapped positions with Libero Nasu to move to the front row, quietly watched Miya Atsumu, who was preparing to set the ball for the opponent.
In this situation, Inarizaki's multi-positional attacks are the blockers' biggest headache, because the quick attacks mixed in there are not even a little bit slower than other teams', making the situation where the block is split even more severe.
In this situation, the best option is to make a prediction.
Hayakawa's gaze locked onto Miya Atsumu; his experience playing volleyball since childhood was his greatest asset.
And since Miya Atsumu himself graduated from the Academic Style, his way of thinking might be more active and whimsical compared to others, which is why he can often produce such unexpected plays.
But if one observes closely, it is possible to catch him..
Just as Hayakawa followed Miya Atsumu's movement with his eyes toward Miya Osamu, he heard a loud thud.
In the next second, the volleyball flew over his head and crashed into the Ichibayashi court.
Knowing all along that Hayakawa would be unreliable, Ouji Son and Fujisawa Kafka rushed toward the ball from both sides, barely managing to save it as the two of them collided.
Ouji Son clutched his face where he had been bumped, while calling out to the Setter, "Kafka!"
Kuroe Kao's reaction was incredibly fast; with a massive stride that was akin to a long jump, he leaped over two people and made contact with the ball in mid-air.
Having failed to block it while dazing off at the net, Hayakawa moved toward Position 3, jumping to provide cover for the Ace on the other side.
But the three Inarizaki front row players didn't look at him at all; instead, they chose to directly close in on Hoshinoya Hikari.
Facing Inarizaki's Iron Wall, Hoshinoya let out a small click of his tongue.
But it still managed to squeeze through in an extreme fashion, getting wedged between the block and the sideline.
Miya Osamu, positioned on the far edge, was knocked off balance by the ball, the ball flew out of bounds.
Akagi ran past Shoyo to chase it: "I'll save it!"
Watching the trajectory of the ball, Akagi's brain worked through calculations at lightning speed.
If he chose to go for a diving save, he would inevitably lose control and crash into the railing, so..
Akagi extended his leg underneath, separating the volleyball from the floor, used a "kicking" motion to send the ball back onto the court.
Great save!
Miya Atsumu also stepped forward, staring at the ball's position.
The height of this ball is insufficient; if he tries to tip it normally, there probably won't be enough space.
Under Hayakawa's watchful eye, Miya Atsumu bent his knees and crouched down, using his fingers to touch the ball as much as possible.
But..
Not enough.
He didn't have enough time to judge the height of the toss himself, so he had no way of providing Hinata and the others with a comfortable attacking space, so..
Miya Atsumu dropped to his knees with a thud, his body leaning slightly backward as he positioned himself directly in the path of the ball's trajectory, while watching Hinata, who had already jumped behind him, Aran, who was preparing to jump.
The entire process of the setting was instantly conceptualized in Miya Atsumu's mind.
This height, this position..
He had already practiced coordinating like this thousands of times.
Therefore, this ball would arrive at its intended destination without a single error, reaching the perfect spot for Hinata's most comfortable spike.
—Not a single millimeter of error.
Like a bullet fired from a gun, the volleyball reached Hinata's hitting point almost instantly, with a total error of no more than two centimeters.
Hinata jumped very high, very far.
Even with a back-row attack, his incredible hang time allowed him to reach the net almost as he was spiking.
The Ichibayashi members, who were completely unable to keep up with the defense against Suna and Aran, watched helplessly as Shoyo smashed the ball down over the net, slamming it firmly inside the Three-meter Line.
Bang!!
Looking down from above, Hinata watched Hoshinoya, who had collapsed onto the ground while turning his head in an attempt to save the ball; the situation between the two had completely reversed from their first meeting yesterday.
This time,
He has become that stronger person.
Shoyo, Shoyo, great job! One more!
Great shot, Shoyo!!
The Inarizaki members cheered, while Hinata had already turned around after landing and rushed toward Miya Atsumu, who had just stood up.
Miya Osamu's hands were ultimately a step too slow, as Hinata had already scrambled on all fours to throw himself onto Miya Atsumu.
Hinata's face was full of smiles: "Atsumu-senpai, that was a great set!"
He rarely gets to experience such an extremely comfortable feeling when performing a back-row attack. The key was that Akagi-senpai's initial pass wasn't good, yet Atsumu-senpai actually managed to adjust it on the fly.
Atsumu-senpai is truly amazing!
You played well too, Shoyo.
Feeling the warmth from Hinata, Miya Atsumu narrowed his eyes slightly.
The warmth of the embrace actually gave him the sensation that his blood was finally flowing.
It was as if something precious.. had been found again after being lost.
Noticing that Miya Atsumu didn't want to let him go, Hinata asked, "Atsumu-senpai's knee isn't injured, is it?"
No one else in Inarizaki wore knee pads except him, throughout the entire Haruko period, this was the first time Miya Atsumu had performed such a high-risk movement.
Miya Atsumu replied quickly, "Don't worry, absolutely not. I still have to set for you guys."
Feeling Hinata trying to leave, he suddenly felt a bit panicked.
He didn't want to let go.
He didn't want to be apart from Shoyo.
He didn't want to go another day without hearing Shoyo's voice.
—He'll die of loneliness.
As if sensing that Miya Atsumu's mood was off, Hinata patted Miya Atsumu's back in his current position, then reached up to stroke the hair at the back of Miya Atsumu's head.
Struggling to break free from Miya Atsumu's grip, Hinata looked up and met Miya Atsumu's somewhat dazed expression.
He raised his hand and patted his chest. "Don't worry, Atsumu-senpai, I'll keep spiking the ball well and try to win this match in one go!"
“Atsumu-senpai, you too, keep setting for me!”
Miya Atsumu looked down at his own hands, suddenly feeling as if something was missing.
He looked up and met Hinata's eyes, which were like the sun.
Atsumu-senpai nodded slightly. "Okay."
Suna watched Miya Atsumu's expression, but ultimately just walked silently past him, moving to the baseline to prepare for the serve.
Hinata's positioning remained in front of Miya Atsumu; although there was no need for cover right now, he maintained a protective stance from beginning to end.
Miya Atsumu stared at the orange swirl of hair in his field of vision, feeling as if he couldn't look away.
To him..
Without even realizing it, Hinata had become an essential part of his life.
But it was different from Osamu.
This feeling isn't the same; so what is it?
Oikawa Tooru, who had watched the entire process, remained expressionless, merely picking up his phone to send Hoshiumi Hikari a smiling emoji.
Hoshiumi's reply was also very quick, consisting of nothing but a string of ellipses.
And Hirugami, seeing Hoshiumi's face turn extremely dark beside him, didn't know what to say for a moment.