Even with his own achievements, it wasn't as if he wouldn't have any places to go if he wanted to play.
But with his height of 180 cm, he basically didn't meet the threshold to knock on the door of a V1 Wing Spiker. While playing Libero wouldn't have been impossible, he ultimately wasn't willing to settle for that.
Then it would be completely meaningless.
Shiratori briefly explained, "The coach from Itachiyama came to see me and Shimizu Kanata yesterday at noon. It seems Shimizu Kanata's former beach volleyball coach also has intentions for him to go back.."
We'll see. I haven't decided yet, but it will definitely be volleyball.
Anyway, even if he truly fails to develop his setting skills in the future, he could still achieve great results as a middle blocker or wing spiker given his own height.
But as expected.. being a setter is still the best.
Thinking of this, Shiratori followed up with a question: "By the way, so what do you plan to do?"
Kuroo was very clear that he didn't plan to continue playing volleyball, but his own grades were quite good, so he might choose his preferred major..
Before Shiratori could even finish his guess, Kuroo cleared his throat and said with total seriousness, "I'm planning to play football."
"Huh?" Shiratori felt like he was hallucinating.
A row of large question marks appeared above the heads of everyone at Fukuda General.
Shimizu, who had been listening with a smile on his face the whole time, froze for a moment, feeling as if he still hadn't woken up.
He felt that it was already ridiculous enough that he had to switch from playing volleyball to beach volleyball mid-way through, but why was there also someone who wanted to go play football?
Kuroo shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, just give it a try first."
Shiratori couldn't dig up a suitable idiom from his brain for a moment, in the end, he could only pat his childhood friend on the shoulder.
Good luck, I'm rooting for you.
Chapter 212: The Two Hundred and Twelfth Fox
Atsumu-senpai, serve a good one!
Miya Atsumu twirled the ball in his hands, raising his hand to toss the ball as the countdown reached its final second.
To be honest, although he felt his physical condition was much better than before.
But after three days of high-intensity matches, his condition wasn't actually that good; he could just.. still play.
Fortunately, Ichibayashi's adaptability to the Jump Float Serve was far inferior to Nekoma and Seijo's; compared to a Power Serve, the Jump Float Serve was much less taxing.
The landing point of this ball was short, but fortunately, Ouji Son had anticipated it and had already lunged forward, precisely digging the ball up.
More than a set had been played, Ouji Son had already gained a general idea of Miya Atsumu's Jump Float Serve.
Although he couldn't see Miya Atsumu's general movements clearly because of the serve cover, he could basically guess what Miya Atsumu was thinking when he served.
Especially.. Miya Atsumu has the bad habit of targeting the Libero during his serves.
Nasu is indeed not good at receiving Jump Float Serves, but it's enough that Ouji Son is.
Ouji Son called out the Setter's name loudly, "Hana! Please!"
After a light click of his tongue, Miya Atsumu quickly stepped forward after landing, preparing for the subsequent set.
Spiking was not within his considerations; he only needed to consider how to better organize the subsequent attack.
Unabara Uta stared intently at Hoshinoya's movements.
Ouji Son's recent receive left no room for a follow-up attack, the middle blocker's quick attack and Fujisawa Kafka's cover were being defended by the Kita Team.
The spikes from the others don't pose much of a threat to them, so his only task is to keep a close eye on the opponent's Ace.
Whether or not the block can successfully make a touch, his task is simply.. to receive it.
Without any surprises, Kuroe Kao once again sent the ball into Hoshinoya's hands.
Staring intently at the moment Hoshinoya's spike was about to land, Unabara slightly turned his body, extending a single hand toward the ball's trajectory.
On the sidelines, Coach Kurosu suddenly felt his vision go dark. To try and receive such a power spike with only one hand.. he's got a death wish!
But Kumoita executed the entire receive perfectly, rolling out of bounds to clear the court, ensuring he didn't interfere with Hinata's subsequent approach run.
After landing steadily, Kumoita quickly scrambled up, returning to the court to prepare for a counterattack.
This play was so good that even Miya Atsumu couldn't help but praise it: "Nice receive!"
Although the positioning was still a bit off, the saving grace was that the spin was forcibly neutralized, the reception was high enough.
Coach Kurosu raised his hand to his forehead, blocking his vision.
Forget it, I'll scold him after the match is over.
Anyway, given Unabara's physique, which is the best among the first-years in terms of overall physical ability, there really won't be any major problems.
“Give me the ball!!”
Hinata and Aran rapidly performed a cross-exchange in front of the Setter, under the cover of Suna's Back Quick in the center, Hinata leaped up on one foot beside the marker at Position 4, using his maximum speed to shake off the Block laterally.
Miya Atsumu, who had been leaning slightly backward, sent the ball forward at the moment of his touch, delivering it with pinpoint accuracy in a parabolic arc into Hinata's hands.
Coach Unabara, standing by the sidelines, couldn't help but clap: "Beautiful."
Every single one of Miya Atsumu's sets was at least a three-point attack; if the opponent's defensive awareness was even a fraction lacking, they would be toyed with in the palm of his hand.
Rei took two large strides to catch up, jumping and reaching out to touch the ball the moment Hinata prepared to spike.
Relying on his height advantage, Rei managed to reach the ball through sheer effort.
Hinata's pupils contracted.
It's too late; at this moment, there is no time left to adjust the direction of the spike..
After his brain worked at high speed, he suddenly pulled back his strength the moment his hand was about to make contact with the ball.
The ball was hit with significantly less force than before, causing it to lightly clear the block and drop onto the opponent's side of the floor.
Rei's expression remained calm, without a single trace of panic.
Although he had jumped too late and would have no chance to receive the ball after landing, but..
Still in the middle of his descent, he abruptly twisted his body, even though he threw his entire balance off, he managed to forcefully intercept the ball.
“Kuroe-senpai!”
Kuroe-senpai stepped forward quickly, reaching out with one hand for the ball, which was at a distance from him and not high enough.
Rei fell to the ground, his overly long body blocking the space where Hoshinoya would have jumped after his approach.
And Hoshinoya jumped without a moment's hesitation from the spot where he had just taken a single step.
Even though there was still a distance from the setter's toss, he could definitely catch up with that kind of initial momentum.
Suna and Kita rushed over at the same time, the two of them blocking the way in front of Hoshinoya.
The conditions for this ball were poor, so Hoshinoya was absolutely unable to spike with the same intensity as before.
Under the constraint of the block limiting the ball's trajectory, the best option would be..
Hinata and Unabara both involuntarily took a half-step forward.
In this situation, most normal people would choose a dump; they would only need to receive it for a counterattack.
But in the next second, a loud thud echoed in everyone's ears.
—Are you going to spike a ball like that directly?!
Because the contact point wasn't in the center, the volleyball had a heavy spin, smashing into the space between Kumoita and Hinata almost instantly.
In their desperation, both of them dove toward the center at the same time; not only did they fail to receive the ball, but they also nearly collided with each other.
The whistle blew, Ichibayashi scored.
The serve passed to setter Kuroe Kao, the ace Hoshinoya also rotated back to the front row at this time.
“What a shame.” Miya Atsumu clicked his tongue.
Ichibayashi's mindset as an Ace is simply not like a normal person's; although he will also use a dump depending on the timing, as expected..
His obsession with smashing the ball down is truly staggering.
Hinata and Unabara pulled each other up, scrambling to their feet under Shinsuke's watchful gaze.
Seeing that Unabara's forearms were as thick as his own two arms, Hinata felt a sense of envy.
If he had that level of muscle, he would perform much better in blocking and attacking.
Unabara rubbed his hands together. "Actually, I feel like my touch is incredibly hot right now."
He had already received three or four of Hoshinoya-senpai's spikes, they hadn't even flown very far; in fact, that last one was a very good receive.
Miya Atsumu, who was just about to say something to Hinata regarding the opposing Ace, walked up behind Unabara and looked down at him with a slight tilt of his head.
Noticing that Hinata didn't say a word, Unabara was a bit dazed.
At Hinata's silent suggestion, he turned his head, meeting Miya Atsumu's eyes, which were looking down at him from above.
His whole body trembled for a moment, Unabara stood at attention, then he quickly took two large strides to the side, making space for Hinata.
He also didn't forget to bow slightly in a "please, after you" gesture.
Miya Atsumu tilted his head up slightly, but he did not move.
Without the shadow of hair obscuring the view, Unabara finally realized that Miya Atsumu's expression was actually very calm; he was simply looking at the two of them.
“Unabara, you..” Miya Atsumu seemed like he wanted to say something, but then he suddenly seemed to remember something and pulled his words back.
In the end, he simply said, "Give me some good tosses."
Having said that, Miya Atsumu looked down at Hinata.
Hinata, sensing the gaze, understood and proactively walked to Miya Atsumu's side.
Miya Atsumu leaned down slightly, resting his hands on Hinata's shoulders as he whispered something into his ear.
Hinata slightly tilted his head, dodging the hot breath against his ear.
—It tickles a bit.
Kumoita looked at the two of them, rubbed his chin, then turned his gaze specifically toward Miya Atsumu.