Watching Fukami prepare for the second serve, Hinata shouted his support, "One more point!"
Fukami Subaru, feeling that his touch was on fire, gave a small chuckle.
But his mind remained relatively calm, as he still timed the toss to the very last second of the service limit.
He knew the opposing side would definitely target the intersection of his defensive positioning, so he didn't plan to play it that way this time.
Compared to the Libero Uehara Tsuyoshi, Iori Miwa's receiving ability was actually a bit worse, so he prepared to send a chest-aimed spike to Iori Miwa.
Of course, as a mature Server, he wouldn't go out of bounds just to hit a chest-aimed spike like Suna-senpai; he naturally had one hundred percent confidence in his control over this ball's trajectory.
Facing the direct impact of this spike, Iori Miwa actually didn't react with any technical movement.
But fortunately, at the critical moment, he still remembered the last resort for receiving this kind of ball—lifting his arms to use the flat of his forearms to bump the ball.
With a loud thud, Iori Miwa's sturdy body provided the foundation he needed to successfully absorb the ball's momentum, the ball bounced off his arm, landing precisely near the front row.
"Beautiful!" Yumi Matsuo shouted in praise, before stepping forward to set the ball.
Aoba Haruka called out for the ball: "Give the ball to me!"
Hinata, in the back row, stared at his movements.
Now that the Libero is not on the court, Rishia has no obligation to protect him. Considering that Fukami's own receiving level is only mediocre, he must protect himself.
But.. he had no intention of stopping there.
Matsuo's original plan was to give the ball to Miyazaki Sho, but with Miya Osamu and Suna watching over there, Aoba Haruka's position was relatively better.
After a brief moment of thought, Yumi Matsuo pushed the ball to Aoba Haruka instead.
Seeing that the ball hadn't come over, Miyazaki Sho was also stunned, but he managed to successfully deceive Miya Osamu with a genuine jump, though Suna, who was closer, kept up with it.
Aoba Haruka's eyes shifted, decisively locking onto Miya Atsumu, who had a lower block height. Relying on his own higher contact point, he spiked the ball directly over Miya Atsumu's head.
Having anticipated this, Hinata adjusted his positioning to be much further forward. After taking another step forward and lowering his center of gravity, he successfully reached out and received the ball.
Atsumu-ge!
Miya Atsumu, whose block had just faltered, turned his head and met Hinata's slightly excited face, feeling an inexplicable ache in his spine.
He quickly retreated to find the ball and prepare to reorganize the offense, while Miya Osamu and Suna also completed their rotation; Miya Osamu rushed toward Position 2 to execute a Quick Attack, leaving space for Hinata to hit from the back row.
Miya Atsumu's mind worked at lightning speed; seeing Hinata hold up his injured right hand, he guessed almost instantly how Hinata intended to play.
He licked his lips and lightly touched the volleyball without even jumping, sending a long, low ball toward Position 4 as if he were just taking a casual stroll.
Miyazaki and Harukawa were puzzled for a second as they chased after him, but they quickly cast those thoughts aside.
—It was probably because the ball itself wasn't high enough.
Watching the ball's trajectory, Hinata took three quick steps forward, lowered his center of gravity, then leaped explosively, drawing his arm back to prepare for the spike.
Miyazaki Sho and Harukawa jumped a little later, attempting to time their jump to meet Hinata at the highest point of his spike.
But in the split second that Miyazaki Sho and Hinata locked eyes, a sense of danger surged within them, as if.. something was wrong?
Thud.
A light sound rang in Miyazaki Sho's ears as the ball flashed in his peripheral vision, grazing past his arm and falling to the ground behind him.
Miyazaki quickly turned his head, trying to save the ball, but it was already too late.
Hinata landed, slowly pulling back the arm he had just used for the touch.
The whistle blew the moment Hinata landed, the Head Referee signaled that Hinata had scored with a spike.
Bathed in the cheers from the entire crowd, Hinata stood with his chest out and head held high as he looked toward Miya Atsumu, who was walking over, his slightly lifted chin full of pride.
—See, Atsumu-ge, I just got back the point you almost lost!
"Nice play," Atsumu said softly.
Hinata's expression froze as he keenly sensed that something was wrong, his hands dropped slightly lower.
Miya Atsumu also lowered his hands, looking at Hinata with a completely expressionless and very serious face.
Hinata's momentum deflated, he raised his hand to wave it at Miya Atsumu, his face clearly asking, "Are you really not going to praise me anymore?"
Seeing that Miya Atsumu really had no intention of giving him a high five, Hinata's mood plummeted completely.
Miya Atsumu reached out his hand toward Hinata.
Hinata blinked, not understanding what Miya Atsumu was trying to do.
After thinking for a brief moment, he went over and gave Miya Atsumu a hug: "Everyone makes mistakes, Atsumu-ge, don't be sad. I'll pretend I didn't see it!"
Atsumu's whole body slumped, he let out a very helpless sigh.
He grabbed Hinata's hand, lifting his right arm's sleeve and asking, "Is your hand hurting?"
Hinata shook his head. "No."
Realizing that Miya Atsumu was worried, Hinata quickly used four fingers of his right hand to make a fox head with big ears for Miya Atsumu. "I don't feel bad, I just think it looks really cool!"
He tried to make excuses for himself. "It's been a long time since I used my left hand for a spike, so my hands are a bit restless."
Coach and Suna-senpai can testify, I'm really fine!
Miya Atsumu praised him sincerely, "That was indeed very cool."
Hinata raised his hand toward Miya Atsumu again.
Miya Atsumu also gave him a light high-five.
“Nice shot!!”
Across the net, Aoba Haruka, who had witnessed the entire thing, had a distorted expression.
He felt like he wouldn't need to eat dinner when he went home tonight, because he was already full.
Watching from the sidelines, Kito couldn't help but remark with emotion, "They really get along well, Miya Atsumu and Hinata."
“I thought Miya Atsumu wouldn't get along particularly well with his teammates, but given his own skill and his attitude toward volleyball, even if he didn't get along with them, it wouldn't be too much of an issue..”
Beside him, Oikawa Tooru hesitated, wanting to say something but holding back.
Chapter 437: The 437th Fox
“Subaru! One more point!”
The camera swept across Hinata's face, broadcasting the words through the live stream.
Meanwhile, Hayami Subaru, who had already returned to school after losing the match, stared at the person preparing to serve on the television and narrowed his eyes. "So it's this guy.."
Seeing the expression on his Libero's face, Arashiyama tossed a pile of knee pads to him. "What's wrong?"
Staring at his knee pads for a moment, Hayami pushed off the stool to stand up. "It's nothing, just someone with the same name as me."
Watching his movements, Arashiyama frowned slightly. "You.. shouldn't you really work on correcting that movement where you use your hand to push off for leverage?"
Hayami's movements paused for a moment. He looked at his arm with some surprise, then picked up his knee pads and prepared to head out.
“I understand, I'll be careful.”
Before closing the door, he leaned back slightly and said loudly to Arashiyama, "Remember to record it for me, Captain Arashiyama! I'll be sure to review it carefully later!"
Arashiyama waved him off. "I got it. Hurry up, don't keep Coach waiting."
Sasaki silently pulled out the hard drive used by the Volleyball Club to store video footage and plugged it in, turning on the recording function. "You spoil him too much."
Arashiyama's mouth twitched. "If you've got the guts, stop what you're doing and say that."
Sasaki clicked his tongue, but did not respond to him.
As the most famous volleyball powerhouse in the prefecture, they actually had plenty of funds to last them until the Finals were over, so there was no rush to return so early in the morning.
But the top-tier physical trainer who had been in contact with Hayami, who is still in rehabilitation, will arrive at their school today and will only stay for two weeks; it is said that he will also be leading a team abroad for competitions later.
Anyway, it's not like we absolutely have to watch the Finals in person; watching the live broadcast is just as good.
Relatively speaking, Hayami's rehabilitation is certainly more important.
His condition is currently like this; the doctor's advice is to take it step by step..
Seeing Hayami enter, Coach Mikumo of Star First finally lowered his neck, which was aching from looking up for so long.
Hearing the voice, the tall and well-built coach also turned his head and looked Hayami up and down as he walked in.
Coach Mikumo reached out his hand. "Hayami, let me introduce you."
This is Coach Kosano Kana, the physical trainer for the National Team. She will be in charge of your physical rehabilitation program for the next two weeks.
Coach Kosano stood with one hand on her hip and raised the other to greet Hayami: "Yo, hello."
Hayami gave a slight bow to Kosano. "Hello, Coach."
Coach Kosano's teeth glinted in the light streaming through the gymnasium windows: "For the next two weeks, prepare to experience hellish training."
—First, let me test your skills.
Watching the volleyball falling from above, Uehara felt as if he had truly arrived in hell.
These Inarizaki guys..
As for researching so many new tricks for the serve!
He aimed at the ball's position and quickly retreated, attempting to move up to receive it.
Unlike Hinata's previous light tap, Hayami's hit was very high; it wasn't intended to clip the net, but was instead a light tap similar to a jump float serve that drops suddenly near the baseline.
Oh no, the placement of this ball..
Uehara Tsuyoshi's vision was momentarily blinded by the lights overhead, in the moment he instinctively squinted, the ball dropped, brushing past his hand.
With a soft thud, the ball landed directly on the top of his foot.
Beside him, Iori Miwa reacted quickly, lunging forward to kick the ball back up.
Miya Atsumu's expression at the net was distorted. While cursing inwardly, he hurriedly moved toward the other side, ready to block at any moment.
Since Hinata was not in the front row, they might actually fail to beat Miyazaki to this tip-over ball..
The moment Miya Atsumu's peripheral vision swept over, Suna had already touched the ball at the exact instant Miyazaki reached out to spike it.