The heavy sound exploded in Miya Atsumu and Oori's ears once again, while the ball whipped through the air at a height neither of them could reach, crashing straight toward the back.
The volleyball carried such a powerful wind that even just brushing past him made Miya Atsumu's face sting as if it had been slapped.
After a very short moment, another heavy thud rang out, what appeared in Miya Atsumu's field of vision was the volleyball, nearly flying toward the ceiling.
Ah, it was received.
Even without a block, it was still received, and..
Yaku stood up in excitement, "A perfect receive!"
Kuroo's voice erupted from the other end of the line: "He actually received it?!"
As if the livestream on the other side had just reached this scene, the other end of the phone suddenly erupted with the shocked shouts of Lev, Yamamoto, the others.
That was incredible!
How did they even receive that?! It looked like their arm was going to break!
A flash of light flickered in his eyes as Miya Atsumu tilted his head back, searching for where the ball would land.
As he leaned back to jump, he performed a forward set, delivering it perfectly into the hands of Aran, who had already leaped in Position 2.
The Ace, carrying the hopes of the entire team, leaped up with a thud, as if pouring every single desire into his hitting arm.
Solid muscles and the skills forged through day and night of training were the capital that allowed Aran to be so active on the court.
Perfect spikes and perfect sets were the very things that fueled his flight, so he had to..
Score!
The volleyball, carrying a heavy spin, smashed right through the block put up by Kuroe Kao and Fujisawa Kafka.
The ball flew out of bounds uncontrollably, giving Ichibayashi no chance to save it.
Inarizaki scores, the score jumps to Inarizaki 8:7 Ichibayashi at this moment, entering a time-out.
After getting up from the receive to prepare for the subsequent counterattack, Hinata finally let out a sigh of relief; his overly tense body lost its strength at that moment, his legs gave way, causing him to sit directly on the court.
Cheers and applause reached his ears from all directions.
The Inarizaki members gathered around, words of concern followed immediately after.
My vision was a bit blurry, something trickled down my cheek.
Ah, he did it.
That feeling of actually touching the volleyball was so solid.
The thing he craved, the thing he yearned for, the thing he could never quite reach..
He finally did it.
As if something had been unlocked at this very moment, Hinata could clearly feel his own thumping heartbeat and rushing blood.
Perhaps..
He must have become completely obsessed with volleyball at that very moment.
A yellow head suddenly appeared in his line of sight, followed immediately by pressing against him, as if testing his temperature with a forehead.
Miya Atsumu's face was full of panic. "You don't have a fever.. Shoyo, what's wrong with you? Are you injured?"
That last play was heart-stoppingly heavy; a dislocated arm or a broken bone was entirely possible, even knee injuries could occur due to improper form.
Feeling Miya Atsumu's slightly higher body temperature, Hinata said instinctively, "It hurts."
His arm stung with a burning pain; even though he had adjusted his position to take the impact, he still couldn't escape the sensation of that heavy spike slamming into his body.
Not to mention that there was no block to interfere this time; the ball, with a speed of nearly 120km/h, slammed down with full force.
Miya Atsumu breathed a sigh of relief.
He reached out to pull Hinata into an embrace, giving him a gentle hug. "Don't cry."
Atsumu patted Shoyo's back: "That receive just now was amazing, as expected of Shoyo."
It was absolutely perfect; even as High School's Best Setter, he couldn't find a single flaw in it.
Hinata nodded. "Yeah, I'll keep working hard."
Coach Kurosu, who had not fully realized what was happening as he watched everyone crowd around Hinata, finally squeezed his way in, only to look up and see the extremely complex expressions on the faces of Miya Osamu and Suna.
Coach Omimi, having no idea what had happened, quickly knelt down to check on Hinata.
Miya Osamu added to Coach Omimi, "He's too excited, his legs are shaking a bit."
"It's not a big deal." Coach Kurosu breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as it's not cramping. After these past few days of high-intensity matches, the thing to fear most is actually sudden cramping.
As long as it's just shaking from the adrenaline, it's not a problem; he just needs to get some good rest.
And besides, there is plenty of time right now.
—Because Ichibayashi requested a time-out due to an injury.
Kuroe Kao had strained her finger after being hit by Aran's ball during the recent block.
After confirming it was just a bruised finger, the Head Referee granted Ichibayashi a moment to regroup, which also gave the Inarizaki members a chance to catch their breath.
Kuroe Kao was busy applying medicine and wrapping bandages, while the Inarizaki members were all staring at the now-calmed Hinata.
However, at this moment, some people were even more excited than Hinata himself.
In the stands, Xiaoxia cheered with both hands raised high, while Coach Himegomiya, standing beside her, looked as if her eyes were about to pop out.
Big brother is the best! Big brother is the coolest! Big brother is amazing!
This Little One's growth rate is just too terrifying!
He actually received that ball?!
Chapter 206: Two Hundred and Six Foxes
Listening to the breathing beside him gradually calm down, Miya Osamu turned his head to look at Hinata, who was holding an ice pack.
Two days and three high-intensity matches, Hinata was the one being targeted for most of them.
The accumulated exhaustion, combined with the suffocating sensation of being suppressed for so long.. that feeling is terrifying.
It is quite normal to experience a brief loss of control when those unspeakable emotions finally find an outlet through a perfect receive and spike.
Miya Osamu tilted his head back to take a gulp of his drink, as he turned his head, he saw Miya Atsumu, sitting on the other side of Hinata, looking at Hinata with a very strange expression.
It was admiration, it was being moved, or perhaps it was an unfamiliar throb of excitement.
But none of that mattered.
Miya Osamu only knew that.. in the eyes of his twin brother, whose IQ dropped to 2.5 the moment he left the court, there was no room for anyone else.
—He was practically drooling.
Hinata lowered his head, quietly staring at the uppers of his shoes, waiting for his blood to cool down.
His mind, momentarily blank, thought of nothing but going back to ask Suna-senpai to help him clip this play.
He lifted the hand that had been holding the ice pack to cool his face, then ran it through his hair, which had become matted from sweat.
Noticing that someone had been staring at him, Hinata turned his head and met Miya Atsumu's direct gaze.
Hinata blinked, looking a bit dazed.
Miya Atsumu closed his mouth, which had been slightly agape, before finally speaking: "Shoyo.."
That was so cool!
Suddenly, at the sound, Hinata turned around and saw the other three First Year High Schoolers clutching their chests.
Unabara Uta patted his chest. "Shoyo's receive on that ball had my style to it!"
Kumagai countered, "Shoyo's reception on that last ball was better than yours."
Rishia Heisuke gave Hinata a thumbs up, saying, "That was incredibly cool."
As someone who had watched Hinata grow from a rookie who couldn't do anything to where he was now, he was more excited and happy than anyone else.
Hinata's eyes widened.
He turned decisively and reached out to hug Rishia.
Rishia Heisuke complied readily, walking over to give him a hug. "Good luck."
Hinata nodded. "Heisuke too, good luck with your serve in a bit!"
Miya Atsumu stared at the two of them, a faint dark aura swirling behind him.
Miya Osamu also gave his brother an unreserved sneer once again: "Pfft."
Atsumu glared over, but he only saw the back of Miya Osamu's head.
What on earth are this guy and Rintaro laughing about? They've been laughing non-stop from this morning until now.
Hinata heard the commotion and looked over as well.
Miya Atsumu instantly pulled back his contorted expression and gave a light cough. "Shoyo, how are you feeling now? Are you still feeling exhausted?"
Forget it, he'll let Miya Osamu and Suna off the hook for now and settle the score once the match is over.
Hinata shook his hand toward Atsumu: "It's completely fine now, I can keep playing the match."
"That's good," Miya Atsumu smiled.
He changed the subject: "You suddenly collapsing nearly scared me to death, Senpai. Aren't you going to comfort me?"
After saying that, he opened his arms toward Hinata, signaling for him to come and give him a hug.
Miya Osamu's expression turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.
As it happened, Hinata himself agreed readily, without giving Miya Osamu a single chance to reach out and stop him.
Osamu raised his hand, giving Miya Atsumu a thumbs-up where Hinata couldn't see, before slowly turning it upside down.
Where on earth did Miya Atsumu learn this habit of being so handsy!