The simplest way is.. to perform a temporary follow-up after the opponent's spike.
The good news was that his reaction speed was fast enough; most of the time, he was able to react.
But at the same time, there was also bad news. Because it wasn't based on pre-emptive anticipation, many times he could only rely on diving to make the receive.
Luckily, Hayami's own diving receiving ability was strong enough to provide a sufficiently accurate set even in such a situation, but.. this didn't mean Star First could score.
Instead, because he performed a diving receive, it left the counterattack vulnerable, allowing Tokura and Suna to lead multiple successful blocks for points.
Hayami's resentment grew more and more. After failing to direct his dark aura toward his own teammates, he finally turned his gaze toward Nishizawa Hokuto, who seemed to be playing quite happily compared to him.
Nishizawa, who had been stared at by Hayami for half a set for no apparent reason, raised his hand and scratched his head.
Wait, he remembered that this senior should have a very good relationship with Shoyo-senpai? The things Shoyo-senpai taught him and the things he taught Fukami were all taught by this senior; why is he looking at him so unfriendlily now?
With other seniors backing him up, Nishizawa Hokuto glared back without being at a disadvantage in the slightest, even going as far as to pull Hinata over to stand by his side.
When she locked eyes with Hinata, Hayami felt even more wronged.
Sasaki just laughed from below the court; the act of aiding the enemy was something Hayami did herself, so now Hayami would have to face the bitter consequences herself.
As for why they failed to score.. that was due to a lack of skill, he admitted it himself.
Hayami felt the pain and reflected deeply, deciding to drag Nishizawa Hokuto down with him: "Sasaki-senpai, could you please give the opposing Libero a little run for his money?"
He promised to help him get his revenge, but in this match, he was still the one being bullied!
Sasaki perfunctorily replied, "I'll try my best, I'll try my best."
Crawling and tumbling on the ground, Hayami felt like his teammate was truly finished.
The desire to transfer reached its peak at this very moment.
Coach Kurosu rested his chin in both hands, watching the court with a smile.
He actually quite liked the coach from Star First.
Because it was determined that there was no way to turn the match around, their goal clearly shifted from struggling to survive to helping their own Libero adapt to a high-pressure environment.
In the previous practical training sessions, Hayami probably had no opportunity to experience such a high-pressure environment.
Even the coordination of players in Youth Training wouldn't be as seamless as the tight coordination that Inarizaki has honed through years of practice. Furthermore, when it comes to the Libero position, it would certainly be better to experience the original version.
Hopefully, Star First will be satisfied with the response Inarizaki has given them.
A long whistle sounded in everyone's ears, the score for the Second Set froze at Inarizaki 25:18 Star First, a larger point gap than the First Set.
Hayami lay on his back on the floor, feeling a bit lightheaded.
Meanwhile, Hinata had already secretly circled around from outside the court to his side, asking with a beaming smile, "How was it? Did it feel unforgettable?"
Hearing this, Hayami no longer knew how to respond.
Yeah, it was truly unforgettable.
Without waiting for Hayami's answer, Hinata was already dragged back by Miya Atsumu to prepare for the lineup.
Sasaki poked Hayami's corpse: "Everyone in Inarizaki is a bad person, stay away from them in the future."
Hayami refuted, "You're clearly the bad guy, Senpai, so you should have at least scored two points."
Sasaki glared at Miya Atsumu's back: "Tsk, I've really been fed a load of crap."
Alright, stand up and line up to bow.
After shaking hands with Unabara Uta, she had been eagerly waiting for Hinata's turn, hoping that Unabara would be dragged away by Arashiyama and Sasaki working together.
Looking at Hinata, Hayami reached out forcefully, but he could not resist the strength of the two.
Hinata—
Hinata also reached out his hand: "Hayami—"
Hayami hadn't even told him if he was satisfied with this match yet!
Miya Atsumu grabbed Hinata's collar: "Let's go, stretching. There's still a match this afternoon."
He leaned down to meet Hinata's eyes, gesturing with his gaze toward two people outside the court: "You're looking forward to this afternoon's match, aren't you?"
Catching sight of a certain figure, Hinata stopped struggling.
Yeah, I've been looking forward to this for a long time.
Chapter 499: The 499th Fox
Kageyama, keenly perceiving this gaze, looked up, but saw only a group of backs in black clothing.
He tilted his head in confusion, but ultimately withdrew his gaze and followed Yamaguchi out of the court.
In this round of matches, some are about to play the Third Set, while others are halfway through the Second Set.
Coach Ukai only just received the notice to have them prepare for warm-ups, they were just about to head out.
Their opponents for this round were not in good form, considering the intense match coming up this afternoon, they naturally had to find a way to win the morning match as easily as possible.
Just thinking about how he would soon be standing on opposite sides of the net from that opponent he once found himself powerless to resist, competing in this top-tier national venue..
His heart simply could not be at peace.
Of course, the top priority was to win the morning's matches.
Miya Atsumu followed Coach Kurosu to sign and confirm the match results, while Miya Osamu led the team to the Sub-gymnasium for simple stretching.
While Hinata was stretching, he keenly heard what sounded like a lot of noise outside the door.
But soon, it grew quiet outside the door again, as if that group of people had walked away.
Immediately after, the doors to the Inarizaki No. 2 Gymnasium were pushed open, Arashiyama, who had just been on the opposing side of the court, walked in carrying something.
He used the elbow of the arm holding the bag to prop the door open, while his other hand beckoned to Hinata. "Hinata, come here."
Hinata looked up, glanced at Arashiyama, then turned his head back to look at Miya Osamu.
Miya Osamu, who had been saying something to Coach Omimi, glanced at Arashiyama by the door and nodded toward Hinata.
As Hinata stood up and walked toward the door, Rishia also stood up and followed him.
“Um.. Arashiyama-senpai?” Recalling this senior's surname, he felt a bit uncertain whether he remembered it correctly.
Arashiyama smiled and handed over the canvas bag in his hands: "This is for you from Hayami, a specialty from our place, also a bamboo ornament he brought back when he went abroad for competitions; he said it's a wish for your continuous progress."
Taking the canvas bag, Hinata felt it was heavy in his hands.
After deciding to accept it, Hinata said decisively, "Can you wait a moment, Senpai?"
Arashiyama was a bit confused: "Hmm?"
Hinata rushed out, rummaged through his backpack, pulled out a box before rushing back. "I didn't bring much either, but this was one of our prizes from the National Sports Festival. However, Atsumu-ge bought me another color later, so I've never used this one."
Please wish Hayami good health and that he gets better and better! I'll work hard for both of us and will definitely win the championship.
Arashiyama smiled as he accepted the brown knee pads, which were a collaboration with local Oita tourism: "Alright, I wish you all great success in your endeavors."
He had never seen knee pads of this color before, there was a small red sticker on the packaging, which was a congratulatory message for winning the championship.
After completing the purpose of his trip, Arashiyama originally wanted to leave directly, but he noticed that Hinata was still staring at him.
He tilted his head in confusion. "What's wrong?"
Hinata felt a bit worried about Hayami, who hadn't come over personally: "Is Hayami not coming?"
They had indeed played a bit too roughly during the match; although Hayami seemed to be perfectly fine after the game, it might be a different story once she took off her knee pads.
The restriction of knee pads can, to a certain extent, cause a person to lose their perception of pain, but with the protection of fixed gear, it is true that serious injury is unlikely; however, it is still possible for minor pain to affect movement.
Arashiyama laughed after sensing what Hinata was thinking: "It's fine, Sasaki wouldn't let him come over and just dragged him away."
He was clinging to the doorknob over there, refusing to leave, but he isn't as strong as Sasaki.
Hinata breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, I'll find him to play with when I have the chance later."
Arashiyama's expression was quite gentle: "That's wonderful then."
Standing at the door watching Arashiyama leave, Rishia fell into silence as he watched Miya Atsumu walking down the hallway.
Although he felt that Miya Atsumu was quite competent as Captain, why did he suddenly seem so inadequate compared to others..
This Arashiyama Captain had a gentle personality and spoke quite pleasantly; he even gave gifts to his juniors. In his impression, the other seemed to never put too much pressure on his teammates, a point where he was vastly different from Miya Atsumu.
After nodding to Rishia, Miya Atsumu put an arm around Hinata's shoulder and looked at the canvas bag in his hands. "What's this?"
Hinata replied, "Hayami gave them to me; they're supposedly ornaments and local specialties."
Miya Atsumu rolled his eyes. "What's the point of local specialties? Just throw them away."
Rishia tried hard to suppress the corners of his mouth. Look at that, the contrast was just too tragic..
Meanwhile, on the other side, Hayami, who had been forcibly dragged back by Sasaki, had a face full of unwillingness.
Arashiyama, having returned, delivered Hinata's gift and words, proactively asked Hayami, who was being held down by Sasaki, "There's no rush this time, I still have to discuss my university recommendation. Coach said I can stay here until Haruko ends."
Do you want to go watch the remaining matches? There are still powerhouse schools like Itachiyama and Karasuno in the upcoming matches.
Hayami replied without hesitation, "Watch!"
He decided to go directly to the Inarizaki cheering area; although there might not be any seats, he could always sit on the steps.
He had just seen that there were former Inarizaki seniors over in the Inarizaki cheering area, so he might even run into Hinata.
However, Hayami's wish ultimately went unfulfilled, because Miya Atsumu received a message from a Haruko shop assistant saying that the style they wanted was back in stock.
Seeing the message, Hinata quickly put on his jacket and grabbed Miya Atsumu, who was still pulling up his pants, rushed outside. "Quick, quick, quick! They might be gone again in a bit!"
Miya Atsumu tried to save his image: "My pants! I haven't even finished putting my pants on!"
Suna took out his phone and snapped a photo of Miya Atsumu's back, in which the most striking feature was the corner of Miya Atsumu's forest-green long johns peeking out.
Looking at the image on Suna's phone screen, Miya Osamu couldn't help but burst out laughing, "Pfft."
Suna turned his head to look at him: "Yours won't be this color too, will it?"
Miya Osamu fell silent.
Everyone could actually see when they were changing clothes, so he didn't bother to hide it and silently pulled out his long johns to start putting them on.