Sorry, but Fukurodani has its own storm.
After locking eyes with Miya Atsumu's bright eyes for a few seconds, Akaashi turned and walked away.
Bokuto, who had completely failed to notice what had happened, passed by from behind and asked Miya Atsumu in a daze, "Atsu-kun, is your stomach hurting!"
Why hasn't he stood up straight? This posture is very strange.
Miya Atsumu's composure broke in a second: "I am not, I'm perfectly healthy, don't talk nonsense."
He was just posing!
Hinata also crowded over, his face filled with worry and concern: "What? Is Atsumu-senpai feeling unwell?!"
Miya Atsumu stood up straight and raised his hand to pat Hinata's head to comfort him.
His expression softened, his tone became quite gentle: "Don't worry, Shoyo, don't listen to the nonsense Bokuto-senpai says. I'm fine."
Hearing Miya Atsumu say that, Hinata felt relieved: "I knew it! Atsumu-senpai's set just now was so precise and cool; it didn't look like he was feeling unwell at all."
Miya Atsumu was full of himself, his chin practically pointing toward the sky.
But Hinata suddenly changed the subject: "But I feel like, even if Atsumu-senpai is feeling unwell.. he still gives such beautiful sets."
So, if you're feeling unwell anywhere, Atsumu-senpai, please be sure to say so. With me and Akuma here, you can rest easy and focus entirely on getting some good sleep.
Miya Atsumu's face was filled with emotion. "You're so reliable, Shoyo."
After saying that, he didn't forget to glare at Kumagai, who was in the waiting area, looking eager to jump in and replace him at any moment.
Kumagai was left feeling bewildered by the glare, shrinking his neck and hiding behind Unabara Uta.
Having witnessed the whole thing, Unabara Uta reached out and patted Kumagai's back: "Akuma, you've worked hard."
How pitiful, it feels like Atsumu-senpai's hostility at this moment is being projected onto Kumagai.
Clearly, Heisuke is the more biased one.
Kumagai felt a bit of a stomachache.
He neither went onto the court to steal Atsumu-senpai's spotlight, nor did he sneakily badmouth Atsumu-senpai off the court anymore, so why is he the one being targeted in the end..
At the referee's signal, Miya Atsumu did not continue to glare at Kumagai, but instead returned to the baseline to prepare for his serve.
Watching Miya Atsumu's third target was still Komi Haruki, Komori felt his legs begin to ache faintly.
“He still loves playing Libero so much.”
But Komi, who had already been targeted by several hits, successfully observed the ball's imperceptible spin this time, judging that it would drop sharply immediately after crossing the net.
He shouted loudly, "Get back! I'll take it!!"
Bokuto and Akaashi both had fast reactions, quickly moving aside to the two sides to leave the space for the receive to Komi.
Komi Haruki dove forward, successfully getting under the ball with a diving save, used his upward arms to pop the ball up, creating enough height for the setter to adjust.
"What a great first receive!" Akaashi praised, quickly stepping forward to set the ball.
"Give me the ball!!" A very dissatisfied Bokuto-senpai shouted again, demanding the ball.
Suna's gaze also locked onto Bokuto again, together with Rishia Heisuke, he charged toward Bokuto's position once more.
But this time, Akaashi's setting route was clearly deeper.
—This wasn't a ball for Bokuto.
The moment he realized this, Suna, who had only just jumped, immediately pulled back and landed, only to leap again the instant Mokoba jumped for a back-row attack.
But Rishia failed to keep up with Suna's series of movements; by the time Mokoba spiked, he had already landed along with Bokuto-senpai.
Facing Suna's solo block, Mokoba showed no fear at all.
He stared at the corner of the Inarizaki back row that was left slightly open because Miya Atsumu was positioned too far forward, then raised his hand and slammed the ball down with a heavy spike.
The line spike was extremely fast, combined with the low angle of the back-row attack, the ball nearly slammed into the corner of the court in an instant.
Fortunately, Akagi's reaction was fast enough, he extended his leg to cushion the ball underneath.
Miya Atsumu breathed a sigh of relief: "Nice play!"
Watching Osa Noboru move along with Hinata, he decisively raised his hands to set the ball to the space behind Hinata, almost replicating Fukurodani's recent tiered attack.
Aran delivered a powerful spike down the line, smashing the ball over Osamu's head.
Saru Yamato dove forward, positioning himself underneath the ball to receive it.
“Akaashi!!” he called out to the setter.
And Bokuto-senpai also called out to the setter, "Akaashi!! Give me the ball!"
As Akaashi followed up on the ball, he arched his back, making it look as if he were about to set the ball to Bokuto-senpai.
But at the moment of the set, he sent the ball out in a front pass.
Under Bokuto-senpai's powerful decoy, Osa Noboru spiked the ball to score, completely unmarked.
Chapter 217: The Two Hundred and Seventeenth Fox
“Beautiful!” The Fukurodani side erupted in cheers.
Coach Kusubashi, in the stands, sighed. "This first-year Middle Blocker really does get overlooked frequently, yet he is often the one who breaks the deadlock."
When Shirabu and Fukurodani were playing, Fukurodani's first point was also taken by Osa Noboru.
Especially when Bokuto-senpai's attacks are so powerful, it is truly difficult to notice the middle blocker on the other side.
Iizuna gave a candid evaluation: "Akaashi is also very smart."
They had played against Fukurodani many times, Akaashi had left a very deep impression on them.
Although Fukurodani and Shirabu both essentially rely on an Ace-centric playstyle, Akaashi is actually much calmer than Usui Mitsuru, he is even more skilled at balancing the relationships between the Ace and the other spikers.
Many times, Akaashi is able to decisively bypass the Ace to choose others, a trait that is quite similar to Shirabu.
Miya Atsumu shook his hands. "What a shame."
Two points.. fewer than expected.
Fukurodani's ability to change their playstyle was even faster than he had judged; were they decisively giving up on the Ace as a scoring option right from the opening..
Meeting Bokuto-senpai's somewhat pitiful gaze, Akaashi raised his hand in front of him, signaling for him to stop: "The next ball will be for you, Bokuto-senpai."
Anyway, Bokuto-senpai's ability to self-regulate has been very strong these past few days; he basically doesn't throw tantrums on the court and his condition is very stable.. I'll just offer a little consolation for now.
Hinata raised his hand, indicating he knew the answer: "I understand. Akaashi-senpai definitely won't give the next ball to Bokuto-senpai."
Anyway, every time Atsumu-senpai said that, he would use him as a decoy while he rushed forward with full confidence.
He has already seen through it! He definitely won't fall for it again!
Miya Atsumu's smile froze on his face as he silently averted his gaze from Aran.
Bokuto froze for a moment, then turned his head to look at Akaashi: "Is that how it is?"
Akaashi fell silent.
Actually.. he really had intended to do just that.
Seeing Akaashi's hesitation and guilt, Bokuto-senpai's eyes widened: "Akaashi! You've been corrupted!"
Akaashi spoke seriously, "Bokuto-senpai, don't listen to the slanders of others. Right now, Inarizaki and we are opponents; they are just trying to drive a wedge between us."
Bokuto's expression went blank for a few seconds.
Wait.. Slander? What kind of slander?
And what does that kind of sowing of discord mean?
Behind the Fukurodani players, Osa Noboru was already prepared to serve.
Hinata glanced at Saru Yamato and Mokoba Akitsugu in Fukurodani's back row, calculating in his mind how he would play in a moment.
Fukurodani's Libero is not on the court, which theoretically makes this their easiest opportunity to score.
As long as a sufficiently good First Receive can be provided, scoring through an organized attack is inevitable.
Washio glanced at Hinata's position out of the corner of his eye before shifting his gaze to Rishia Heisuke, who was less than half a step away from him.
Osa Noboru's serve was somewhat lacking on this court; in fact, because he had not practiced serving much and was under immense pressure following Miya Atsumu's service turn, it ended up looking even uglier than Hinata's.
Akagi received the ball steadily and sent it to Miya Atsumu.
Atsumu! I'm counting on you!
Miya Atsumu didn't show even a hint of carelessness.
Fukurodani's Libero, Komi, is indeed absent, but the Middle Blocker currently rotating to the front row is Washio Tatsuo.
This guy's skill level is definitely in the top tier of all high schools; although he still has a distance to cover compared to Agatsuma and Hirugami, he's likely not much different from Fukurodani's Shimizu.
Moreover, although Washio himself is taciturn and has a low presence, he is an unadulterated aggressive player, performing both blocks and spikes quite beautifully.
As long as the block can consistently achieve a touch or shut it down completely, there won't be any problems with the back-row defense.
Watching Miya Atsumu's posture slightly lower his center of gravity, Washio quickly made his judgment.
—Miya Atsumu is preparing to set a high ball.
And among the three spikers currently in Inarizaki's front row, Hinata is the only one capable of consistently hitting high balls.
Combined with the fact that Miya Atsumu's current setting motion shows no sign of arching at all, it is practically certain that the spiker is Hinata.
The moment the judgment was made, Washio, along with Bokuto and Akaashi, rushed straight toward Hinata's side, the three of them jumping and raising their hands to form a block in front of Hinata.
But right at that moment, an anomaly suddenly appeared glaringly before everyone.
—Why hasn't the ball come over yet?
A pleasant curve curled the corners of Miya Atsumu's mouth. After lowering his center of gravity, he had no intention of jumping; instead, he maintained his initial stance and simply raised his hand to touch the ball.
With a light sound, the volleyball flew almost vertically into the air, before falling behind Miya Atsumu.
Mokoba reacted quickly, staring at Suna, who had already moved behind Miya Atsumu, began adjusting his position.
But the ball merely grazed Suna's contact point, flying straight toward Rishia Heisuke as he jumped at Position 2.