He didn't know if he would have another chance to step onto the court.. but that recent individual time difference had nearly exhausted all his energy, leaving him with no choice but to use this brief rest to adjust..
He put his hands to his mouth and screamed with all his heart, "Heisuke, give us a good serve!!"
Rishia Heisuke quickly adjusted his state, his sharp gaze piercing through the net to lock onto the libero, Takahashi.
Through his observations during this set, he discovered that Karasuno's libero could no longer keep up with the pace of the match.
Compared to targeting the setter with Hoshiumi's cover, scoring directly against the libero would be much faster.
Having made up his mind, Rishia decisively tossed the ball, took a four-step approach, then leaped steadily from the baseline, spiking the ball straight down.
Two heavy thuds rang out across the entire court in succession, the ball flew straight out of bounds, smashing into the second-floor stands.
The whistle blew, Rishia scored with a serve.
14:14, Inarizaki ties it up.
Nice play!!
That was so cool!!
The stands of Inarizaki erupted into a frenzy.
Rishia let out a long breath, secretly clenching his fist before calming his mind once more.
Next ball.
The whistle blew, Rishia tossed the ball up, but this time, a prepared Takahashi threw himself into a nearly hopeless diving position to act as a human cushion, using his shoulder to bump the ball up.
Asahina, having secured the ball, performed a fake pass toward Hakuma, but instead sent the ball to Hoshiumi for a back-row attack.
Seizing the opportunity, Hoshiumi spiked and used the block to score, giving Karasuno another match point.
Give us a good serve! Kill the match!!
The Karasuno members cheered loudly for Hakuma as he stepped up to the service position.
Hakuma lowered his body and slowly exhaled the breath held in his chest.
—Hinata has already replaced Rishia and returned to the court, making him a target.
He raised his hand to toss the ball, struggling to control its flight toward Hinata.
But his ball control was still a bit lacking, the ball flew right between Hinata and Unabara Uta.
Unabara Uta dove decisively, using a diving save to catch the ball.
Nice!
"Give me the ball!" Ginjima shouted, calling for it.
Under Miya Osamu's cover, Miya Atsumu quickly passed the ball to Hinata in the back row.
After catching the ball, Hinata spiked it toward Norikura Isao's hands in his field of vision, after a heavy thud, the ball flew out of bounds.
Hakuma sprinted after it, relying on his long legs to forcefully reach across the sideline and intercept the ball.
The ball flew toward the low point in front of the net, Asahina quickly moved to follow it, preparing to set.
But just at the moment of contact, he withdrew his hand.
Thud.
The ball hit the top edge of the net.
Miya Atsumu's expression became contorted as he pushed off the ground, reaching out with all his might in an attempt to touch the ball.
Sakusa's voice rang out softly at that moment.
“Karasuno won.”
Chapter 375: The Three Hundred and Seventy-Fifth Fox
The time from when the ball is spiked until it hits the ground is very short.
Even the lightest, softest dump, from the moment it clears the net, has less than a second before it finally hits the ground.
The volleyball fell toward the ground with a slight spin, the resulting airflow becoming incredibly clear at this very moment.
—It's out of reach.
Under the effect of the spin, the ball traced an arc less than three centimeters from his fingertips.
It fell toward the ground with a firm, unstoppable force.
Hinata and Unabara Uta dove from the back row almost at the same time, but their positions were even further away than Miya Atsumu's.
From the moment they dove.. they knew it was a futile effort.
Thud.
Hinata heard the familiar sound.
Through one match after another in the past, such sounds had accompanied him as he claimed every victory.
But at this very moment, this was the sound of his judgment.
The guillotine that had been hanging over his head all this time finally fell at this moment, so fast that.. he didn't even feel anything.
Compared to his body temperature, which had risen after intense exercise, the temperature of the floor was very low; pressing his face against it, the icy coldness became his only source of remaining conscious.
He didn't catch it, just missed it by a hair.
Perhaps if he had started a little earlier, he could have caught up, perhaps..
His fists clenched unconsciously, the increasing force causing his entire arm to tremble.
Sweat dripped onto the floor, Hinata saw his face reflected in it.
Stupefied and calm.
There seemed to be cheering in his ears, but he couldn't hear it clearly.
Piercing through those noisy sounds was a sharp, ear-splitting, even suffocatingly long beep.
Beep—
Hirugami, at the Coach's bench, raised his hand and tossed a towel toward Hakuma Mebuki, who was stepping back over the railing.
As Asahina landed on the ground, he let out a long sigh of relief, his shoulders held by Norikura Isao as he was led back toward the rest of the team.
Standing not far from the net, Hoshiumi Hikari looked down at Hinata, who was struggling to crawl up from the floor.
Hinata didn't look at him, keeping his head lowered as if he were thinking about something.
Hoshiumi opened his mouth to speak, but he swallowed the words as he saw Miya Atsumu walking toward him.
He turned and walked away, spreading his arms as he rushed toward Karasuno.
Nice one, Asahina!
Great job, Kongming! Great job, Meisei! Great save!
We won!!
Hikari-kun! We're the champions!
Yeah! Champions!!
In the stands, Inunari clapped his hands; although there was a hint of sadness in his eyes, it was overshadowed by his appreciation for the match itself: "That was brilliant."
Beside him, Unai Aman put down his pen, the sketch on the paper capturing the boy's lifelike silhouette.
The number on the jersey was 10, looking like Hinata's, also like another person who had once shed tears of farewell on this very court.
It was a well-matched game, everyone gave it their all," Unai Aman said with a soft laugh, "but.. having no regrets, that's enough.
Miya Atsumu crouched down beside Hinata and reached out a hand to him.
Hinata dazed for a moment, seemingly unable to react, before slowly reaching out to grab his hand.
Seeing his response, Miya Atsumu pulled him up with force, but his own base was unstable, he was nearly knocked over by Hinata.
But fortunately, Hinata had already stood up, he gave Miya Atsumu a quick push back.
Atsumu steadied himself, but Hinata, who was in his arms, did not look at him; instead, he took a step forward toward the net, drastically closing the distance between himself and the opposite side of the net.
Noticing his movement, Hoshiumi, who was surrounded by the crowd, turned his head and looked toward Hinata over the crowd.
Upon receiving Hoshiumi's response, Hinata raised his hand and grabbed the net.
He stared intently at Hoshiumi, his voice hoarse and trembling.
“I..”
The Karasuno members turned around and looked toward the boy, whose figure looked disheveled on the other side of the net.
Hinata gripped the net tightly, the net digging into his palms.
The forcefully twisted net was knotted together just like his expression, fierce and unwilling: "I'm going to win, I will definitely win."
Hoshiumi pushed Hakuma aside, circled around Hirugami, stepped forward to stand directly opposite Hinata.
The distance between the two was very close; Hoshiumi could even feel Hinata's trembling and ragged breaths.
Then let's give it a try, I'll be waiting for you.
He locked eyes with Hinata, his gaze unwavering, offering Hinata encouragement.
Just as Hinata slightly raised his head and straightened his back, Hoshiumi's next words followed immediately.
—But the winner will definitely be me.
Breath hitched at that moment.
Miya Atsumu reached out from behind and placed his hand over Hinata's, pulling down his hand that was nearly tearing through the net.
“Sorry, next time will be our victory.” Miya Atsumu's hand rested on Hinata's shoulder, faintly enveloping him in his own presence, as he gently rubbed his shoulder, providing a signal of reassurance.
“After all.. we have a bright future ahead of us, don't we?”
Hoshiumi gave a scoffing laugh, turning to leave to join the line-up: "Just you wait."
After seeing Hoshiumi off, Miya Atsumu looked down at Hinata and led him away from the net: "Alright, time to line up."