Seeing that Hinata didn't want to come down, Miya Atsumu, who was originally on the other side, took the initiative to handle the coin toss.
The representatives from both sides, Reo Mizuta and Masaru Haseda, also stood by his side, prepared to witness the result of the coin toss.
Heads, Haseda's side will serve first.
As Masaru Haseda breathed a sigh of relief, Reo Mizuta on the opposing side unconsciously pursed his lips.
Fukami rubbed his hands together in anticipation: "Alright!"
Since they were serving first, he wouldn't stand on ceremony.
Miya Atsumu stood beside Ogata and whispered something to him, then Hinata noticed that the flag had passed into Miya Atsumu's hands, while Ogata ran to the other side to act as the second referee.
Miya Osamu stood silent for two seconds on the adjacent court, before finally walking over and giving Miya Atsumu a thumbs-up.
Miya Atsumu swatted his hand away, gave a huff, walked toward the baseline near Reo Mizuta.
The opposing Ogata moved toward the baseline in front of Fukami, responsible for watching whether he stepped on the line or if he hit the ball only after it had passed its highest point.
Hinata, positioned above, Fukami, standing near the backline, exchanged a glance. Once they had confirmed the other was ready, Hinata put the whistle in his mouth and raised his hand to make the serving signal.
The whistle blew immediately after, signaling that Fukami could proceed with the serve.
Fukami bounced the ball on the ground, took a deep breath, silently took the ball in his hands.
As the strongest server in the prefecture, it would be too embarrassing if he failed to score during this service turn.
The players from Junior High on the back half of Mizuta's side had played volleyball, so Mizuta felt confident leaving the task of receiving to him.
But even so, given that Hayashi and Sanyutei had only a basic understanding of volleyball, Mizuta did not have high hopes for their receive success rate.
—As long as he can keep the score within three points, he will be satisfied.
At the sixth second of the serve time limit, Fukami suddenly looked up at the people on the opposite side, a confident smile on his face.
Three points?
No, he wants ten!
The volleyball soared into the air in an instant under Hinata's gaze.
With three large steps, Fukami took a steady leap near the baseline. Although the jump wasn't very high, it was more than enough for a serve.
With a heavy thud, the ball flew out the next second, smashing unerringly toward the baseline near Seto's side.
Miya Atsumu lowered his center of gravity slightly, staring intently at where the ball would land.
Bang!
Atsumu-senpai waved his flag immediately, signaling that the ball was in.
In truth, there was no need to look so closely; based on the angle of this ball's trajectory, he could already be certain it was a line shot, but as a referee, he still needed to be rigorous.
Fukami held his head high and went to add a point to the scoreboard for himself.
In the neighboring court, where the match had not yet begun, Miya Osamu turned his head toward Suna and said, "That's terrifying."
This junior acts so irresponsible and unreliable every single day; he almost made me forget that Coach Kurosu recruited him specifically to be a key server.
—not some Middle Blocker.
Suna put his hands on his hips and asked from the side, "Can you receive it?"
Miya Osamu shrugged. "Of course. Something at this level is no problem for me."
“But.. it's hard to say for the future.”
The reason why most serves from first-year high school players are easy to receive is mainly because they lack sufficient power themselves; therefore, as long as you can predict the ball's trajectory and landing spot, you can basically receive it.
Of course, there were also those eccentric first-year students, such as Karasuno's former first-year Kageyama Tobio, as well as those two from Fukurodani and Shirabu.
With sufficient physical ability and a starting profile approaching that of an All-rounder, they were extremely difficult opponents to deal with from the very beginning.
Fukami himself possessed courage, precision, ball speed in his serves; he was only lacking a little bit of physical ability.
While Hayashi and Sanyutei were scrambling to receive the ball, Seto silently moved his position, shifting from near the sideline to near the center of the court, Sudo in the front row also silently retreated toward the back.
The situation shifted from three people receiving the first receive to four people receiving the first receive.
When Fukami served the fifth ball, Sudo, who had retreated, keenly caught the movement of the ball, took a step back, jumped, intercepted it mid-air.
Miya Atsumu and Ogata spoke up at the same time, "That's too reckless!"
This kind of jump serve is no different from a crazy attempt at a receive; this guy is completely relying on his height and solid physique to just go wild!
What a great First Receive!
Mizuta shouted, stepping forward at the same time to deliver a perfectly executed high ball toward Position 4.
Teramoto Kazuki immediately followed up on that side, spiking the ball into the opponent's court.
Nishizawa was originally prepared to receive the ball instinctively, but remembering what Fukami had told him about a setter trying to avoid touching spikes and serves, he decisively pulled his hands back.
Okada saw Nishizawa about to move, so he also pulled back his steps.
The moment the two of them locked eyes, the ball had already dropped through the middle and slammed onto the floor.
Behind them, Miya Atsumu raised his hand again to signal the ball was in, Hinata followed suit by blowing the whistle, announcing that Teramoto had scored on a spike.
Miya Atsumu's lips twitched, then he walked over to the scoreboard at the side of the court to add a point for Mizuta's side.
That play was.." Miya Atsumu couldn't help but complain, "unbearable to watch.
Hinata, up there, spat out his whistle and said to Miya Atsumu with a serious expression, "It's okay, Atsumu-senpai, we've done things like this before too."
Masaru Haseda and Fukami were encouraging everyone, while Nishizawa Hokuto stole another glance toward the Head Referee's position.
Seeing Hinata's expression was extremely solemn, as he shook his head while saying something to the captain, his heart felt even more bitter.
As expected, their performance was incredibly poor; even Giant-senpai didn't want to look at them anymore.
That club captain didn't really give them much attention either; only the few people specially recruited could actually talk to them..
Looking down at his own shoes, Nishizawa hurriedly shook his head, casting those trivial thoughts out of his mind.
Ultimately, it was because his own strength was insufficient; after all, if Giant-senpai hadn't possessed such incredible strength, he wouldn't have liked him so much.
So even if he isn't capable right now, he will grow stronger bit by bit.
In the end..
Walk to the opponent's side.
A sharp gaze was cast toward him, Nishizawa lowered his eyes slightly, meeting Miya Atsumu's deep, bottomless eyes.
Startled, he quickly withdrew his gaze and squeezed back toward Masaru Haseda and the others, looking somewhat awkward.
So scary, Captain..
Hinata, who was trying his best to become a reliable and serious senior, blinked again, only to see Nishizawa turning his head away, looking a bit frightened.
Hinata felt even more saddened.
He looked down at Miya Atsumu and asked in a small voice, "Atsumu-senpai, do people hate me?"
Miya Atsumu froze for a moment, completely failing to understand what had happened.
But he still replied, "It's only natural that if some people like you, others will dislike you; you see, there are plenty of people who hate me."
At this point, he paused, then looked up with a smile and said, "But even if everyone in the world disliked Shoyo, I would still love you forever."
Atsumu smiled as he looked up at Hinata, who was currently at a higher position, spoke in a slow, sweet Kansai accent, "It's the same for you, Shoyo, right?"
Hinata nodded, giving Miya Atsumu the same response, "Yeah! Even if everyone else hates Atsumu-senpai, I'll always love Atsumu-senpai!"
Just as the corners of Miya Atsumu's mouth were about to curl up toward the sky, a voice suddenly came from behind.
“Ahem, ahem, ahem.”
Miya Atsumu and Hinata turned their heads at the same time and saw the two coaches standing behind them.
Meeting Coach Kurosu's eyes, Miya Atsumu felt a momentary pang of guilt. He quickly averted his gaze and walked toward the sidelines, preparing to watch Reo Mizuta's serve.
Damn, even though it's certainly good that it's been officially cleared by his parents, but..
I always feel like he's going to lose something without even realizing it.
Watching Miya Atsumu leave, Coach Kurosu gave a satisfied huff, having successfully stopped that cunning fox from tricking the Golden Fledgling.
Reo Mizuta's serve was equally powerful, though it lacked a bit of the precision that Fukami possessed; Fukami, positioned quickly in the back row, received the ball.
"Nice play!" Nishizawa shouted, mimicking the others, before stepping forward to pass the ball toward Position 4.
Masaru Haseda, who had already taken his position, spiked the ball down heavily, scoring a point smoothly.
The entire exchange took place right before Hinata's eyes; he could clearly see the location where the ball was sent and the subsequent clash between the spiker and the block.
However, the whole process wasn't complicated, the opponent's block wasn't in place; it was nowhere near as difficult as judging when he was a head referee at Shiratorizawa.
But.. it's actually quite interesting.
After watching a few plays here, Coach Omimi was somewhat surprised: "This Nishizawa Hokuto, his setting precision is unexpectedly good."
Although it was obvious that he had never played setter before, hadn't used a proper setting posture even once from start to finish, his hands were able to control the ball every single time.
At the very least, every Strong Attack that Nishizawa Hokuto was called upon to handle was stabilized, his height was gradually adapting to deliver the ball to the proper position.
Coach Kurosu nodded. "Yeah, but unfortunately his vertical leap isn't very good. Still.. it's enough."
“I remember this kid is a beginner?”
Coach Omimi glanced through the materials they had organized over the last two days and replied with certainty, "Hmm, the application form says he graduated from Togu Middle School, but he isn't on that school's Volleyball Club roster."
Seeing that he wrote that he likes Shoyo, he probably didn't start playing volleyball until after October. If he was learning within his own school's Volleyball Club, it is indeed possible that he only learned how to dig.
Unfortunately, if one lacks sufficient vertical leap when height is already insufficient, it basically means they won't be able to follow the path of the Little Giant that Hinata and Hoshiumi have taken, but..
Coach Kurosu let out a hearty laugh, a joyful expression on his face: "This kid has quite a bit of talent. We should put him in the Second String for some training later."
With the opponents holding a significant lead in the score, Mizuta, who had just secured the ball on the court, fell into a state of confusion.
To whom?
Although the opposing block isn't particularly tall, Fukami is an experienced player, this kind of block isn't something a novice can easily break through.
The spikers on their side clearly lacked the ability to face them head-on.
Should they choose a Second Attack while they are still in the front row..