Sakusa frowned, but ultimately reached out his hand and pulled the slightly sulking Captain up from the floor.
He said softly, "You might be being targeted; if the spike is hard to receive, just go for a diving save."
Letting go of Sakusa's hand, Inamura nodded, "Okay."
Rishia's second serve failed to score, Inamura, choosing the minimum effort required to ensure the ball could be received, sent the ball back toward Inamoto. After Inamoto's positioning, Sakusa scored by tooling the block.
Miya Atsumu shook his hands. "That was brutal.."
He just jumped a tiny bit too early, he was targeted by Sakusa.
Miya Osamu clicked his tongue lightly, his gaze toward Miya Atsumu full of disdain. "Tsk."
No one has scored from a serve since Rishia, but that consecutive scoring run has allowed Inarizaki to take the lead.
Resettling himself in the front row, Ogihara glanced at Hinata, who had reached the net a step ahead of him, his eyes filled with an unreadable emotion.
He knew that Hinata might not have much of an impression of his jersey number anymore, but he was fine with remembering it himself.
After all, he came here to overcome those once unreachable peaks.
In last year's National Sports Festival Semifinals, Inarizaki.. especially that orange-haired Little One, once performed the feat of breaking down Itachiyama's defense.
And the player who stepped in to fill the position of Middle Blocker in place of Agatsuma Soushi at that time was his mentor, a player who actually didn't have any particular specialties.
Agatsuma and Koldorf both have excellent physical conditioning, so they have no problems even when playing through an entire season; in most cases, there is no possibility of the two of them being subbed out to rest due to lack of stamina.
So.. his instructor had no experience playing in a match before that game.
The overly cautious and conservative playstyle allowed Inarizaki's momentum to grow even stronger, causing Itachiyama, who had already lost a key player, to retreat step by step, completely losing any chance to contend with Inarizaki.
Even though no one blamed or reprimanded that person after the match, it became a permanent thorn in his heart that could never be removed.
Perhaps it was because he realized he lacked the ability to truly "become an athlete," or perhaps it was simply because he wanted to take responsibility for that match he shouldn't have lost.
After handing him the number 3 jersey, his mentor left the First String after the National Sports Festival ended and before Haruko began, transferring to the Second String to serve as a manager.
And he himself swore at that moment that he would never play a single match in his life that would leave him with lifelong regrets.
—Never.
Ogihara jumped along with Hinata, but it was Suna on the other side who ultimately scored the spike; Sakusa and Inamura failed to block him, Suna's spike successfully scored a point.
A high-pitched voice suddenly rang out at this moment: "Continue?"
Ogihara raised his head and looked directly into Hinata's dark eyes; those eyes, which were originally warm-toned, appeared strangely purplish against the backdrop of the lake-blue floor.
The moment their eyes met, Ogihara couldn't help but feel a slight sense of nervousness.
Adjusting his own state, Ogihara nodded: "Continue."
He couldn't relentlessly bite into an opponent like Agatsuma-senpai, but at least while he was in the front row.. he would definitely not make Shoyo's life easy.
Hinata placed both hands behind his head and said to Miya Osamu, who was preparing to serve, "Give me a good one!"
"I'll get it!" Komori stepped forward, steadily positioning himself under the ball.
Sakusa's concise but powerful voice rang out: "Left Wing!"
Inamoto didn't even have to think; when Sakusa called for the ball, he would definitely, definitely give it to him.
Facing Inarizaki's block, Sakusa twisted his wrist, using his own excellent flexibility to spike the ball directly toward the side of the Inarizaki court.
Unabara Uta lowered his center of gravity, almost crouching as he followed the ball's trajectory, raised his hands to receive it.
“Nice play!" Miya Atsumu followed suit, leaping up behind the three-meter line.
The back row setter must consider the possibility of a Second Attack as soon as he leaps behind the three-meter line, so Sakusa and Ogihara couldn't move recklessly; they could only wait to confirm that it wasn't Miya Atsumu's spike.
Atsumu indeed did not play a second ball, but instead sent the ball toward Hinata, who was near the edge of the net.
Inamura and Ogihara Ayato both rushed toward the center, Sakusa also arrived two big steps later to jump and attempt a Block.
This block didn't leave Hinata any openings, as everyone's hands were pressed very low, making it impossible to use tooling the block.
But the front row was relatively open, making it a great opportunity for a dump.
A quick mental review of the current situation flashed through his mind, at the moment Shoyo's hand was about to spike the volleyball, he pulled back his strength and gently pushed up against the bottom of the ball.
A dump.
With his nerves stretched to the limit, Ogihara reacted almost instantaneously. He decisively raised his hand, which had been pressed down, positioned it perfectly against the lower part of the ball, popping it back into Inarizaki's court.
But before that, the ball had already left Hinata's hands, so it wasn't considered a net violation.
Rishia dove from the back row, performing a diving receive to pop the ball up.
But in order to get the ball moving despite its lack of initial momentum, his set was slightly off.
Miya Atsumu, who was already in the back row, took large strides to chase after it, moving across the court even before the ball, then decisively leaped into the air, arching his back beautifully as he reached out to touch the ball.
Thud.
A light sound rang in everyone's ears, Hinata, having landed, jumped again from his spot almost without any hesitation, his movements so fast that Ogihara Ayato couldn't react in time.
By the time he looked up, Hinata had already spiked the ball straight down, sending a gust of wind whistling over his head.
Sakusa turned to save it, but unfortunately, he ultimately couldn't reach it.
The ball slammed heavily onto the floor, the whistle blew immediately after, declaring Shoyo's score valid.
Inarizaki scored consecutively once again, widening the gap.
Watching Hinata turn his head and raise his hands as he rushed toward Miya Atsumu after landing on the floor, Ogihara was momentarily dazed.
Shoyo's movements were very standard, showing that his fundamentals were solid, but his playstyle nonetheless carried a certain reckless whimsy.
No.. should I call it being free?
From those balls, he could feel Hinata—no, it was their love for volleyball; it was because of that unwavering love that they bravely attempted every play they could imagine.
The volleyball he wants.. is perhaps just like this.
—Firm, fearless, moving forward without hesitation, never leaving any regrets.
"That's how Shoyo is." In the stands, Aoba Haruka rested her chin in her hand, quietly watching the match that had just concluded on the court.
That style of play makes one become even more certain about the 'volleyball they love'.
“It makes one yearn for it without even realizing it..”
“And to be fascinated by it.”
Shiratori Natsume turned her head to look at Shimizu, who was holding a coconut. "Shoyo and the others have that kind of ability."
When he was a Second Year High School student preparing to switch to Setter, the first match he watched was Miya Atsumu's debut after entering high school.
Atsu-kun was drawn to that passion and devotion toward volleyball, he resolutely embarked on the path to becoming a setter.
And the person who made him even more certain of his love for volleyball, helped him reclaim the courage he had once lost and buried in the dirt.. was Shoyo.
Bokuto, who had just pushed open the door, quickly caught the main point. His words caused Shiratori, who had been praising Inarizaki just a second ago, to shut his mouth: "What ability? Does Shoyo have some kind of superpower?"
Shiratori said expressionlessly, "He doesn't, but you do."
Skipping the previous topic, Bokuto bounced a few times before sitting on the bed. "Akaashi just called me and said they're coming back the day after tomorrow, Nagito wants to come find me to learn some secret techniques!"
“I've decided to pass all my secret techniques down to him!”
At this, Bokuto's mood slumped a little. "I wanted to teach Shoyo too, but it seems like he's already learned most of it from others."
Shiratori nodded. "Of course, Shoyo is amazing."
Watching Miya Atsumu hold the ball and prepare to serve, Shiratori suddenly spoke, "It's decided, I'm going to be the president of the Atsu-kun and Shoyo support club."
Shimizu, who was drinking coconut water, froze for a moment, the smile on her face faltering as a giant question mark appeared over her head: "Huh?"
Shiratori pressed his index finger against his nose and said seriously, "While they haven't gone professional yet, I'll start preparing; I can't let someone else snatch my position as Captain."
Bokuto raised his hand abruptly. "Me too, me too! Natsume, you have to make me your captain too!"
Shiratori's response was cold and ruthless: "I refuse."
His interest in Bokuto had completely vanished after months of mutual friction; in the future, he would make sure to stay as far away from the professional team Bokuto joined as possible, refusing to be associated with anything even remotely related to Bokuto!
Shimizu gave a light laugh, holding little hope that Shiratori would manage to shake off Bokuto.
Author's Note:
Inarizaki High School Miya Atsumu (August 2013)
Position: S Number: 1
Height: 185.2cm Weight: 75.1kg
Recent troubles: Often told that he doesn't act like a Captain
Ability Parameters [Inarizaki High School Third Year Natsume]
Strength: 4 Serve: 9
Vertical Jump: 4 Receiving: 7
Explosive Power: 4 Dig: 6
Intelligence: 5 Setting: 10
Technique: 5 Spike: 6
Speed: 4 Block: 7
Chapter 341: The Three Hundred and Forty-First Fox
Inarizaki took the lead with 16 points, as the buzzer sounded on the sidelines, the first set entered a time-out.
The scoreboard on the sidelines was temporarily frozen at Inarizaki 16:14 Itachiyama.
Watching everyone return one after another, Coach Himegomiya muttered softly, "It's going to be difficult if we let Inarizaki get even a tiny lead."
Komori, hearing her voice, gave a forced smile, but he also knew the Coach was right.
The Inarizaki side was clearly trying to avoid direct confrontations with him, frequently targeting hitters like Sakusa and Ishikawa Inamura.
Even if Komori himself covers two-thirds of the court most of the time, given the extremely high ball control levels of Hinata, Miya Osamu, Suna, they almost never target him, many times the subsequent offensive flow might be disrupted because a back-row Wing Spiker steps forward to make a save.