After a night of rest and sufficient preparation, everyone returned to this lake-blue court following the meeting on the second day.
With one hour left before the match began, Coach Kurosu was at the entrance going over the final reminders on his tablet, while everyone else quickly changed into their home team uniforms.
Watching Hinata tie his knee and ankle pads and pull the arm sleeves—which Coach Omimi had washed, dried, returned to them last night—from his bag, Miya Atsumu walked up to Hinata and took the two arm sleeves from his hands.
He crouched down in front of Hinata and looked up at him. "Let me do it."
Hinata extended his arms and held them out in front of Miya Atsumu.
Miya Atsumu rubbed the slight protrusion of the rust pattern on the inside of his arm sleeve, a playful curve forming at the corner of his mouth, as he carefully helped Hinata put on both arm sleeves. "There, all set."
"Yeah!" Hinata finally reached out to adjust the edge of the arm sleeve on his upper arm himself, the tight sleeve snapped against his muscle with a crisp sound.
Miya Atsumu raised a hand to rub his nose, as he looked up, he met Hinata's gaze, who was watching him cautiously.
Realizing instantly that Hinata was doing it on purpose, Atsumu reached out and rubbed his ear, feeling both exasperated and amused. "You're getting bolder and bolder."
Hinata flashed a harmless smile, after confirming something, it seemed as if flowers were blooming behind him. "It's because Atsumu-ge taught me well."
Thinking of some scenes from last night at the hotel, Miya Atsumu fell silent.
After a long time, he raised his hand to cover his eyes and once again spoke words filled with helplessness: "You really.. shouldn't try to learn everything."
Glancing at the blood scab on Miya Atsumu's mouth, Coach Kurosu's gaze grew even deeper.
But he didn't say much more about it; he had already reported this matter to the organizing committee in advance. After all, the fact that the Miya Twins would fight was no secret, he also needed to clear the Inarizaki players of any suspicion of brawling during the tournament.
Everyone was fully dressed and ready. Coach Kurosu nodded, signaling that they could head downstairs. "If you're all ready, go warm up."
The ultra-high-definition cameras for the live broadcast had long been set up, aimed at the Center Court now in use, so the injury on Miya Atsumu's mouth naturally did not escape their view.
Since Miya Atsumu hadn't been injured in yesterday's match, his appearance just now caught the Itachiyama members a bit by surprise.
Having probably guessed something, Komori raised his hand to scratch his head, letting out an awkward yet polite smile.
Sakusa only gave Hinata a surprised look, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Inamoto was given a glance by Miya Atsumu, he instantly withdrew his curious gaze, pretending to dig for potatoes and not daring to even breathe heavily.
At this moment, the internet live stream commentary, which was still engaged in casual chatter, happened to bring up this very topic.
Is Miya Atsumu injured?
I heard he tripped and bumped himself while showering yesterday. Fortunately, he didn't injure anything else.
That's a relief.
Miya Atsumu had no idea how the coach had arranged things with the organizing committee; he just felt as if something very important had slipped away from him without him even knowing.
For example.. a brilliant and heroic image.
Raising a hand to touch his slightly chilled nape, Miya Atsumu stepped forward to face Inamura Gen.
The Head Referee stood in the center, holding a coin for the toss. Heads meant Inarizaki would serve first, while tails meant Itachiyama.
After confirming with the two of them, the Head Referee raised his hand and tossed the coin high into the air.
The coin flipped, shimmering incessantly under the overhead lights, paused at its peak, then began to fall.
Tails, Itachiyama serves first.
Inamura clenched his fist secretly, on his way back, he looked up toward the first row of the Itachiyama cheering section, giving Iizuna Sho a thumbs-up from afar.
Iizuna, who had bought a plane ticket early in the morning to the nearest airport and then taken a bus back, gave a thumbs-up in return.
As expected of Itachiyama's Captain, his luck is truly incredible.
Miya Atsumu, who returned after his back-row attack, was stared at by everyone, but he only gave a light click of his tongue and said, "The coin is the problem."
Arima raised his hand to suggest to Coach Kurosu, "Let Osamu do the draw next time. I heard this guy was the only one with terrible luck during the New Year's lottery."
Miya Osamu watched the commotion, clearly enjoying the chaos: "Exactly, this guy has used up all his luck on other things."
Miya Atsumu snapped in embarrassment, "What's wrong with a back-row attack? A back-row attack is perfect for catching Itachiyama off guard! Besides, that was a tactical play! Now, it's a total hit!"
Hinata chimed in, "Atsumu-ge is right."
The noise in his ears was too loud, Coach Kurosu felt a headache coming on. "Quiet down. We'll handle it from the back row; it's not like we aren't prepared."
Both sides submitted their rotations for the first set, then the players took the court one after another.
Itachiyama's starting Wing Spiker, Ishikawa, starts first.
Sitting before the computer, Shiratori lifted his chin, watching Hinata on the livestream as he jumped on the court to confirm his condition, a gentle smile spreading across his face.
Just like the first time I saw you.
Chapter 336: The Three Hundred and Thirty-Sixth Fox
Standing in Position 2 of the front row, Miya Atsumu's gaze swept over Ishikawa, who was preparing to serve on the opposite side.
Ishikawa himself came up directly from Itachiyama's Junior High, but with Saru and Chita from his same year above him, he doesn't have a massive reputation. However, much like Iizuna Sho, he is a player who was recruited and trained by Coach Utsunomiya early on.
His skill level is quite balanced; he can handle all kinds of plays, with no particular specialty and no particular weakness.
With a super Ace like Sakusa on the team, choosing to bolster the offense with a supporting player is a very good option.
If he had to evaluate it, he would say it leans more toward the type of strength seen in Miya Osamu—pure and unquestionable.
But for Unabara Uta, Ginjima, the others, whose minds don't process things quite so quickly.. this type is actually relatively easy to deal with; at the very least, he is much easier to handle than Sakusa.
Three seconds after the whistle blew, Ishikawa, having adjusted his state, raised his hand and tossed the ball into the air.
A very standard Power Jump Serve, aimed directly at Hinata on the side.
Rishia Heisuke, positioned nearby, stepped laterally the moment he judged the ball's trajectory, stepping in front of Hinata to receive the ball steadily.
Great first receive!
Miya Atsumu quickly moved forward to prepare for the subsequent offensive coordination, while at that moment, Koldorf and Sakusa on the other side of the net also moved in, ready at any moment to follow Miya Atsumu's movement for a follow-up block.
With a loud bang, Suna's spike was touched by Koldorf, Itachiyama's Komori quickly moved in to cover the receiving movement.
"Sakusa-senpai!" Inamoto sent a perfect set to Sakusa, who was jumping toward Position 4.
Sakusa seized the opportunity, using his wrist to whip the ball into a tricky side spin, causing it to graze the block and crash into the center of Inarizaki's court.
But Suna's reaction speed was a step ahead; he instantly brought down his left hand, barely managing to touch the ball.
As he touched the ball, Suna called out to Rishia, who was responsible for the back-row defense on this side: "Heisuke! Save it!"
Rishia sprinted out, lowering his center of gravity to provide a decent underhand pass: "Atsumu-senpai!"
"Good save!" Miya Atsumu set again, this time using Suna's cover to give the ball to Hinata for a back-row attack.
Hinata jumped very high; he had been running without holding anything back since the very beginning of this match. Regardless of whether they won or lost this one, there was still a match this afternoon, so if possible, it would be best if the morning session ended in two sets.
After all.. the Finals in the afternoon are what matter most.
But Koldorf had also grown in height during this time, his blocking technique had become much more mature than before, having improved several times over compared to the same period last year.
Hinata's spike height was undoubtedly above the block, but Koldorf's reaction speed was extremely fast; the moment he realized he wouldn't be able to reach the ball, he immediately adjusted backward and tried to get a touch on it.
The ball had already been spiked by Hinata, he had no more opportunities to adjust his spike.
With a heavy thud, the ball flew high into the air, landing outside the court behind Itachiyama.
"Great touch!" Komori shouted in praise, quickly moving to follow up.
The ball's position was a bit off; in his urgency, Komori's set barely reached the area near the attack line.
Watching Miya Atsumu, who was watching him hungrily from across the net, ready to follow up with a block at any moment, Sakusa rarely spoke up to call for the ball: "Give it to me!"
Hearing the Ace's voice, Inamoto didn't hesitate for a single second and sent the ball straight to him.
He had reduced the ball's spin as much as possible and adjusted the distance between the ball's trajectory and the net. At this level.. Sakusa-senpai would definitely have no problem with it.
Sakusa glanced at the flying ball; he could definitely spike it.
He took a large step forward, lowering his center of gravity slightly at the net, his eyes fixed on Suna and Miya Atsumu's movements, while using his peripheral vision to keep an eye on Hinata advancing from the other side.
In Inarizaki's usual tactics, when Hinata is in the back row and all three players in the front row are participating in the block, his task is to defend the front-court balls. However, his defensive coverage does not cover the entire area.
Considering that Suna and the Miya Twins' block was indeed difficult to handle, he should have actually gone for a short diagonal to exploit the gap near Hinata.
After having that thought, Sakusa coiled and jumped, his gaze sweeping past Miya Osamu, who was also closing in from the other side, to look at the defensive gap near the edge of the court.
The moment he noticed Sakusa's gaze, Hinata decisively moved half a step back.
At the same time, Miya Osamu, who had followed up, adjusted his blocking posture, cutting off Sakusa's path for a short diagonal.
Because of this, Sakusa's prepared spiking posture faltered for a moment, but he still managed to successfully make a follow-up adjustment thanks to his incredible wrist flexibility, spiking the ball intended for the short diagonal straight toward Miya Atsumu's hand.
Miya Atsumu's expression sharpened. Under the pressure of extreme reaction, his body adjusted the position of his hands for the block almost by instinct, instantly shifting them to prevent the ball from hitting his fingers directly.
No.. it's not enough.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Suna adjusting his arm toward this side, Miya Atsumu decisively followed the movement, controlling his body as he forced himself down.
Two consecutive sounds of a touch rang out as the ball hit Miya Atsumu's palm near his wrist, before falling back into Itachiyama's court.
Miya Atsumu, whose entire center of gravity had shifted slightly due to his adjustment of the blocking angle, landed on the ground in a somewhat clumsy manner, the sound of the ball hitting the floor followed immediately.
Komori from the back row lunged forward to try and save the ball, but he failed. Meanwhile, Sakusa in the front row narrowed his eyes as he watched Miya Atsumu, lightly biting the inside of his lower lip before letting out a breath.
Miya Atsumu.. is unexpectedly spiteful.
The whistle blew at that moment, but under the slightly dazed gazes of the crowd, there was no change on the scoreboard at the side of the court.
The Head Referee immediately made a gesture, signaling a replay of the point.
Huh?
Eh?!
What happened? Why is there a rematch?
Unlike the others who were completely bewildered, the people involved—Miya Atsumu, Suna, Sakusa himself—were not that surprised.
Sakusa was in the middle of an attack when Miya Atsumu landed after his block, crossing the center line and interfering with the save on Itachiyama's side. Since both sides committed fouls during the play, it was only natural that a replay was called.
Miya Atsumu let out a soft click of his tongue, turned to look at everyone, clapped his hands to comfort them, saying, "It's fine, it's fine. We'll just do it again."
Hinata returned to his position and let out a soft sigh. "That was such a shame. Atsumu-ge finally managed to tool the block from Kami-senpai."