No, actually, it should be a one-on-one between him and Coach Kosano; Hinata probably wouldn't either.. right?
Miya Atsumu's mouth twitched. "Oikawa-senpai, you're underestimating me too much."
Something you could learn just by watching for a few seconds.. probably.
Hinata stood in the front court, lowering his center of gravity in preparation for defense.
And the result of Miya Atsumu's toss was that they would serve first, Oikawa Tooru also stepped forward to take the ball to prepare his serve.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Oikawa Tooru, who actually hadn't played badminton many times, tossed the shuttlecock straight up.
Pfft.
The onlookers above couldn't help but laugh, the members of the Seijo Badminton Club on the sidelines were also laughing quite happily.
Coach Kosano also felt somewhat helpless, but he did not speak up to interrupt.
In a formal badminton match, the racket cannot be raised higher than 1.15 meters during a serve, so this method of tossing the shuttlecock before hitting it is a blatant foul.
However, this was no different from playing casual ball in a park, so there was no need to worry about such details.
Although Oikawa Tooru was a bit dazed, he still found the ball and hit it back.
Hinata on the other side didn't notice anything was wrong and simply took two steps back, raised his hands, jumped to hit the ball.
But the moment he jumped, he felt as if something had gone wrong.
—Why does it feel like my arm has grown a foot longer?
With a light thud, the shuttlecock grazed Hinata's body and landed on the ground, clearly landing inside the court near the front line.
Ah," Hinata blinked, "I jumped too high.
He was chasing the height of the ball using volleyball techniques, completely forgetting that he was holding a racket in his hands.
The Badminton Club President, who had volunteered to check the scoreboard, was completely stunned.
Huh?
No, how did that guy just jump so high?
Setting aside Hinata's perfect miss on that last play, just look at that jump height.. How did it feel like the opponent could jump and spike a high clear that lands near the baseline directly from the back row?!
No, no, no, there wouldn't be any problem with diving for the ball right at the front of the court either!
Not to mention that Oikawa Tooru's illegal serve just now was actually quite fast, no different from a spike from the back row.
He couldn't even see the ball clearly; had that Little One already spiked it in the front court?
It's terrifying, simply terrifying.
Is this what a national-level player is like? Just based on physical fitness alone, they completely crush amateur enthusiasts like them.
The Vice Captain poked him: "Score it, score it."
The Captain snapped out of his daze and quickly awarded a point to Oikawa's side.
Oikawa Tooru and Miya Atsumu swapped sides, Oikawa Tooru would continue with the next serve.
And Oikawa Tooru did not disappoint, committing another service fault.
Kosano, in the back row, raised his hand with an air of nonchalance, feigning a powerful strike, but instead lightly tapped the ball into the opponent's front court.
Miya Atsumu, who had been watching the play from the sidelines, took a step forward but nearly tripped over his own feet, nearly falling face-first and prostrating himself before Kosano and Hinata.
Kosano took back a point at light speed.
She patted her racket in high spirits, appearing to take great pleasure in the Libero's blunder: "Lucky—"
Oikawa Tooru fell silent. "You could at least be a bit more reliable."
Can't you even handle something as simple as a front-court save?
And.. he always felt like Miya Atsumu was about to lose all his dignity.
Miya Atsumu scrambled up from the ground, his face full of defiance: "Again!"
It was just a minor mistake; he would be able to make up for it immediately!
He adjusted to the feeling of holding a racket for a moment, the next ball would definitely be no problem.
Across the net, Coach Kosano quickly demonstrated to everyone what a standard serve looks like.
A forehand serve flew directly toward the edge of the net.
In doubles, the coverage area for receiving the ball is wider than in singles, which means the distance required to move is even greater.
Miya Atsumu was experienced this time, since the speed of the ball itself wasn't particularly fast, he executed a precise lateral step to receive the shot and send it back over the net.
“I'll do it, I'll do it!”
After Hinata finished speaking, he took a step diagonally backward from his shuffling stance, then..
Tripping over his own feet, he fell to the ground in almost the exact same posture as Miya Atsumu had before.
The Badminton Club captain standing by the court was stunned: "What's going on? Has he still not tamed his limbs?"
That shouldn't be happening. They are all volleyball experts; they shouldn't be experiencing such lack of coordination in their limbs.
Hinata scrambled up from the ground, his face full of defiance: "That doesn't count!"
He will handle the next ball perfectly!
Oikawa Tooru grimaced.
These two.. how are they exactly the same!
Chapter 245: The Two Hundred and Forty-Fifth Fox
“What is going on with these two?”
The second-year girl from the Women's Volleyball team was shocked by this; were those two from Inarizaki possessed by something?
Asagami, the former Women's Volleyball Captain who had come to watch the excitement, turned her head and said to the junior beside her, "Hmm.. It's probably because the volleyball court is much larger; many times, after a split step, you have to move diagonally to receive the ball."
But because a badminton court is relatively smaller, if you realize you've taken too large a step and are about to step out of bounds, your sudden adjustment ends up looking like this.
This is simply a matter of reflex.
However, one of Hinata's good rules was not to make the same mistake twice, in the subsequent several rounds of offense and defense, Hinata did not make the same mistake again.
Moreover, Oikawa-senpai was basically the one pulling the ball from the back row, leaving Hinata with very few opportunities to strike.
Although Coach Kosano is a professional, she is the same age as Coach Kurosu, her physical condition and stamina could not support her performing frequent spikes from the back row.
Therefore, Coach Kosano chose the high clear, which was gentler but more effective at draining the opponent's condition and stamina.
Oikawa Tooru was being made to run all over the court from the back row, while Miya Atsumu was dazing off at the net.
Yeah, Hinata is also dazing off at the net.
The two looked at each other, catching the confusion in each other's eyes.
The Badminton Club president watching from the sidelines was feeling a bit sleepy and even began to lose focus.
—Why does this feel like watching two middle-aged people playing?
Well, with zero technique and zero foundation, there was really nothing worth watching.
However, most of the people watching the spectacle in the stands couldn't understand what was happening; they were basically there just to see those two faces.
But Hinata couldn't just stand there doing nothing. Seeing Oikawa send another ball flying, Hinata shouted out directly, "I'll take it!"
Coach Kosano stopped in his tracks, watching Hinata take a step back to create space before sprinting forward.
Coach Kosano had taught Hinata the jumping motion for a badminton net spike more than once, Hinata remembered it very clearly, having used it many times on the volleyball court.
Taking two steps forward, Hinata jumped at the net with a racket in his right hand.
In an instant, he rose to a terrifying height, then found his position and swung his racket directly.
Smack!
The ball slammed almost vertically into the opponent's court.
Miya Atsumu extended his arm to save it, nearly catching it with his hands directly.
Unfortunately, Hinata's spike was extremely fast, hitting the ground in an instant and leaving him no chance to return it.
It was completely different from volleyball, where there are three chances to touch the ball; this was about success or failure decided in the instant of confrontation.
Having scored the point, Hinata turned his head and gave Coach Kosano a big thumbs-up, his face full of pride.
Although he felt that throwing the racket away would make him look even cooler.
The Badminton Club Captain was about to lose his mind: "That arm extension.. was just too cool."
Setting aside the messy play for a moment, that spike just now was so cool it was out of this world.
Is this the advantage of having superior physical abilities?
Although he was completely clueless, he performed brilliantly in many inexplicable ways.
After dazing off for half a second, Miya Atsumu spontaneously figured out how to play a drop shot, repeatedly causing trouble for Hinata, who only knew how to spike.
Having regained his confidence, Miya Atsumu stood tall with his chest out, accepting the cheers from the entire crowd.
Oikawa Tooru raised an eyebrow. "You only tricked one point, what are you so proud of?"
After spacing out for half the court, he thought this guy was no good.
Miya Atsumu was not discouraged at all; instead, he felt even more proud: "The Second Attack is also a deception; psychological warfare is a part of one's strength."
This was his specialty; it wouldn't be good to turn into a violent gorilla like Oikawa-senpai.
Their eyes met, then they both turned their heads away with a cold snort.
Across the net, Hinata blinked, but since his attention was focused entirely on the match, he quickly adjusted his strategy, playing the badminton shuttlecock as if it were a volleyball.
He feigned a spike, but in reality, he lightly tapped the shuttlecock into a drop shot toward the back.
The Badminton Club Captain raised his hand to cover his eyes. "What kind of mess is this.."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kosano adjusting his position, preparing for a spike down the line to the right, Hinata's eyes lit up.