No matter what, he did not want to lose.
Despite being a recommended student who carried the hopes of countless people, he was knocked out in the first round of the High School Regional Qualifiers.
With the Coach's early retirement due to illness, the seniors retiring one after another, players in the same grade watching the Volleyball Club decline as they left one by one..
In the end, only he, Hoshinoya, Hayakawa were left.
On the day registration for the Haruko Regional Qualifiers began, they couldn't even scrape together six people to participate.
He begged everyone.
The retired Third Year seniors, the Second Year seniors who had once joined the Volleyball Club but had now moved to the football club or the tennis club, the genius classmate who had lost interest in volleyball and saw no future in it..
But in the end, they could only return in defeat.
Watching the volleyball falling from above, Kuroe Kao grit his teeth.
He jumped for the countlessth time, maintaining his hand shape, sent the ball toward Position 4, a movement he had practiced until it became muscle memory.
The sound of the jump echoed in his ears.
That wasn't the sound of a connecting ball; it was the heavy sound made only when a spiker takes their final step before jumping.
The golden vision cleared Kuroe Kao's somewhat hazy mind.
Yes, it was this color.
While they could only watch the Haruko Regional Qualifiers in full swing, the superhero belonging to Ichibayashi finally appeared.
—A blond-haired Coach speaking non-standard Japanese.
The opponent only took a single look at the Volleyball Club before turning around and heading off to drag Ouji Son, who had once appeared on the court with him during the IH, back.
And that day happened to be the day they had just won a three-on-three training match.
The Coach, who descended from the heavens, brought back his former teammates whom he had once lost, forcefully restarting their volleyball careers.
Nice play!!
Ouji landed and raised his hand, signaling Kuroe Kao to come over and high-five him.
Kuroe Kao was a bit dazed.
Yes, that's exactly the expression Ouji Son had that day.
Waving a hand in front of Kuroe Kao, Kuroe Kao finally snapped out of it and gave him a high five.
Seeing that everyone seemed to be running on fumes, Ouji Son, who had the task of keeping the atmosphere lively, gave the Kuroe Kao group a mysterious smile.
“Flower, I have a secret to tell you all when the match is over.”
A secret.. one he had kept for two years.
Kuroe Kao froze for a moment, but only slightly curled the corners of her lips: "Then I'll look forward to it."
Neither side could score consecutive points, Inarizaki's one-point lead remained constant, leaving everyone from Ichibayashi gasping for breath under Inarizaki's continuous pressure.
In his field of vision, Suna cooperated with Miya Atsumu, jumping from Position 3 to perform a very standard Back Quick spike. Ouji Son took a step back, anticipating the change in Suna's ball trajectory, received the ball.
"Beautiful!" Kuroe Kao stepped in quickly, jumping with the intention to make a connecting ball.
With Inarizaki's block standing by at any moment, Kuroe Kao suddenly turned mid-air.
—A dump during a Second Attack.
In the moment he made the judgment, Miya Atsumu stepped directly to the side, reaching out with one hand in an attempt to save the ball.
His reaction speed was extremely fast, he managed to chase down the ball.
"Great save!" Aran shouted.
Seeing that Kita Shinsuke was preparing to make a connecting ball, he immediately shouted, "Give me the ball!!"
But Kita Shinsuke only brushed past the Attack Line, his whole body moving past that point as he continued his charge toward the net, preparing for a feint.
Hinata, having received the relay, jumped at the Attack Line and sent the ball toward the attacking point at Position 2 as if without any specific purpose.
Rei, who was preparing to block, was momentarily stunned.
This setter isn't anything special, there isn't even anyone over there..
No, there is a setter.
Miya Atsumu leaped up in front of the net with a thud and spiked the ball down with a raised hand.
Rei's reaction was more than just a little slow.
He was already lagging behind, with his reaction speed failing to keep up as his stamina depleted, he had no chance to block at all; he could only watch helplessly as Miya Atsumu spiked the ball.
Akaashi Keiji, in the stands, rubbed his chin.
Is this.. a negative-tempo Quick Attack delivered by Hinata?
No, Hinata's setting skills are far from reaching that level.
This ball was simply a pass sent to Position 2 following the exact pattern used during their usual training; Miya Atsumu had simply anticipated it and moved to meet it.
Truly terrifying.. Inarizaki.
Great set, Shoyo!
Great spike, Atsumu-senpai!
The two shared a light embrace at the net.
Their sweat-soaked clothes clung to them, the body heat they shared was like a bonfire on a freezing night, providing a signal of affirmation and comfort to one another as their physical strength reached its limit.
34:33, Inarizaki reached match point once again.
What was even worse for Ichibayashi was.. it was now Miya Atsumu's Service Turn.
Hoshinoya let out a soft click of his tongue, his entire being filled with extreme irritation: "Damn it, why does it have to be at a time like this.."
Unlike when the extra match first started, with the game having progressed to this stage, they no longer had the extra stamina or condition to defend against Miya Atsumu's kind of ACE serve.
Moreover, Ichibayashi's peak performance is still further ahead, so it remains to be seen whether they can endure Miya Atsumu's serves.
—The situation was simply disastrous.
Nasu felt dizzy, his vision was a bit blurry.
He didn't know if it was because of overexertion or because sweat had run into his eyes.
But right now, he didn't have the luxury to worry about that; his mind was focused on only one thing.
—He must receive this ball.
A long, long match, with no end in sight and no hope of victory in sight.
Even though it was only one point, it always felt like match point for their opponents.
If there is even the slightest moment of negligence, everything will be over.
The muscles in his calves were protesting, the pain in his arms was protesting, his gradually blanking brain made it almost impossible for him to think.
Even the act of connecting the ball itself had become almost instinctive, with his remaining, struggling spirit dragging his body to desperately save every single ball.
Kuroe Kao tilted his head back slightly, looking toward Miya Atsumu, who was preparing to serve on the opposite side.
Miya Atsumu's physical condition isn't particularly good, so the possibility of him being able to deliver an extreme Power Serve at a time like this is almost zero.
If they were lucky, they could wait for Miya Atsumu to make a service error, allowing them to take advantage of the momentum and counter-attack, which would fall right during Ichibayashi's ace's peak performance period in Position 4; it was still far too early to give up.
Miya Atsumu, with his back to the court, walked to his prepared approach position.
Six steps, Power Serve.
But one cannot rule out the possibility that he might jump and perform a Jump Float Serve from Position 4, so one cannot easily adjust his position.
After all.. Miya Atsumu is a typical player who does whatever he wants.
The whistle blew at that moment.
Atsumu slowly raised his hand and clenched it slightly near his ear,
The once noisy court fell silent instantly at his movement.
Even though it wasn't the first time he had seen this process, Nasu still felt that overwhelming sense of pressure rushing toward him.
On the Center Court, this effect was even more pronounced.
It was as if.. the entire gymnasium was already under Miya Atsumu's control.
A loud bang rang out, in the next second, the volleyball came smashing toward them at an incredible speed.
It was just like.. when the match had first begun.
Watching the volleyball falling within his field of vision, Akaashi spoke softly from the stands.
We won.
The light thud of the ball hitting the floor rang in everyone's ears at that moment.
After the short whistle, what followed was a notification sound so long that it caused everyone's heart to skip a beat.
At this moment, the scoreboard jumped to Inarizaki 35:33 Ichibayashi.
With a dominant score of 2-0, Inarizaki wins.
The players in the waiting area, who were still wiping away sweat, immediately tossed their towels into the air, celebrating the end of the long, grueling battle.
Although it was only two sets, the total duration was almost no different from a three-set match, because of the reduced rest time, everyone felt even more exhausted.
The moment the long whistle sounded, Hinata finally let out a sigh of relief and leaned forward with his hands on his knees.
Although he was exhausted to the extreme, his spirit was incredibly high at this moment.
He did it.
He received Hoshinoya-senpai's spike, breaking through Rei's block that had gradually become more adapted.
We won!!
A beautiful serve from Atsumu! Absolutely invincible!!
So cool! Everyone is so cool!
Shoyo's support in those last few rounds was amazing!!