Ushijima Wakatoshi landed steadily on the ground and looked across the net at Kaedehara Taichi.
Although he didn't say a word, Kaedehara Taichi could read the question in his eyes: Why can you only jump this high? Why are you so weak and still call yourself Aoba Johsai's ace?
"Ushiwaka, don't bully our first-year," Oikawa Tooru said at just the right moment, then turned to Kaedehara Taichi. "Hey, Taichi, if you want to be the ace, don't get scared now."
"Oh, of course not," Kaedehara Taichi replied calmly. After all, he had already anticipated Ushijima Wakatoshi's strength.
But now… it's my turn.
Shiratorizawa served. Kawanishi Taichi stood at the service line, aiming directly at Kaedehara Taichi and quickly sent the ball over.
No jump — a float serve!
Kaedehara immediately identified the type of serve, but he had no experience receiving float serves. He could only raise his arms and prepare to receive it with his hands.
Fortunately, it wasn't a jump float — the ball didn't wobble too much.
"Taichi! Step forward!" came the sudden shout from Wataru Seiji in the back row.
Kaedehara reflexively took a small step forward — just in time to see the ball suddenly lose momentum and drop sharply!
Too late! Kaedehara had no choice but to switch to an underhand pass to lift the ball.
"Sorry!" Kaedehara shouted as the ball flew toward Shiratorizawa's side.
Ohira Reon was waiting under the net. Seeing the ball coming, he leapt up to spike it.
"No way I'm letting you score!" Oikawa Tooru jumped just in time, turning his back to the net and smacking the ball to the right side with one hand.
"Kuninimi! Spike it!"
Kuninimi Eikichi jumped up and spiked the ball down.
Point for Aoba Johsai.
[Aoba Johsai 1 - 1 Shiratorizawa]
That was close. Thanks to Oikawa Tooru, the ball didn't go over to Shiratorizawa's side — he even turned the broken play into an attack, converting what should've been a reception error by Kaedehara into a point.
Kaedehara exhaled. "Thank you, Oikawa-senpai."
Aoba Johsai served next. Kuninimi sent the ball gently over.
Kawanishi received it steadily. Shirabu moved to set it high once again.
Ushijima took a steady approach, jumped, and spiked!
"Triple block!" This time, the front row consisted of Hanamaki Takahiro, Oikawa Tooru, and Kaedehara Taichi.
Ushijima's spike wasn't high enough to go over Hanamaki and Oikawa's block. But he didn't go for a direct attack or a cross toward Kaedehara either.
Instead, he spiked down a straight line along the open path to Hanamaki's right — where Aoba Johsai's libero, Wataru Seiji, was waiting.
Bang!
Kaedehara, who had just landed, turned to look — the ball had been received!
That same spike that even Nishinoya Yu had needed three balls to adapt to — Wataru received it!
"Taichi! Why are you spacing out?" Oikawa shouted when he saw Kaedehara freeze for a moment. With no other choice, he sent the ball to Iwaizumi Hajime in the back row for the attack.
Goshiki Tsutomu received it. This time, Shirabu set it to the other side — to Tendou Satori.
Kaedehara snapped back to his senses and rushed to block.
"One touch!"
The ball deflected off the block. As Kaedehara landed, he sprinted toward the far right side of the net.
Behind him, Kuninimi Eikichi lifted the ball toward Oikawa Tooru, and by then, Kaedehara had already jumped on the far right!
"What is he doing?" The Shiratorizawa players were still tracking the ball's path.
Oikawa jumped to set — the ball flew in a straight line right in front of Kaedehara.
Bang!
Shiratorizawa's front row hadn't even had time to jump — the ball hit the floor.
"Freak Quick Attack – Aoba Johsai Version" was successful!
Kaedehara Taichi scored.
[Aoba Johsai 2 - 1 Shiratorizawa]
"Oho? So this is Aoba Johsai's new weapon?" Tendou Satori said with interest, staring at Kaedehara.
Goshiki also looked at Kaedehara with growing intensity.
Ushijima, however, showed no surprise — his expression remained unchanged.
So your claim to becoming an ace is… just your speed? Kaedehara read this in Ushijima's eyes.
"Nice spike, Taichi. But that's how you should've spiked right after that block earlier," Oikawa said.
Kaedehara replied apologetically, "I didn't expect Wataru-senpai to receive that ball… That first spike looked too absurd."
"What are you thinking? We've played Shiratorizawa for two years. Wataru may be quiet, but when it comes to receiving Ushijima's spikes, there's no one better in the prefecture."
That may be true, but not every spike can be received.
Including Kaedehara himself, over the past two years, only two players on the team could barely manage to receive Ushijima's spikes.
Oikawa looked at Kaedehara — It's fine if we can't receive it. No matter how many points they score, we'll just score more.
Aoba Johsai continued serving.
Kuninimi Eikichi realized that if the serve wasn't sharp enough, then every ball set to Ushijima would be a crisis for Aoba Johsai.
He aimed for the back line behind Goshiki and Shirabu, trying at least to put pressure on their setter.
The ball flew sharply between Goshiki and Shirabu. Goshiki stepped to his right to receive, accidentally blocking Shirabu's path.
"Out!" Shirabu shouted, pulling lightly on Goshiki's jersey from behind.
Goshiki hesitated, then decided to trust his senpai and moved slightly aside.
The ball landed out of bounds behind Shiratorizawa's back line — Kuninimi's serve went out.
[Aoba Johsai 2 - 2 Shiratorizawa]
"Damn it." Kuninimi gritted his teeth. "Sorry."
"It's fine, that was a good serve. Stay aggressive on the next one!" Iwaizumi encouraged him.
"Yes!"
Shiratorizawa's turn to serve — the crowd began to buzz. Ushijima Wakatoshi slowly walked to the service line.
"Don't be so tense. Little Ushiwaka's serve isn't as good as mine," Oikawa joked to boost morale.
Kaedehara glanced at Oikawa — and was startled to see that Oikawa's serve stat had risen to 97. Indeed, while Ushijima's serves were more powerful, he didn't have Oikawa's freakish control.
The pre-match data had also shown that Ushijima's serve point rate wasn't actually higher than Oikawa's.
Moreover, today's Shiratorizawa lineup was exactly what Aoba Johsai had predicted. Their back row — Wataru, Iwaizumi, and Kuninimi — was the best receiving lineup they could field.
Kaedehara relaxed.
BOOM!!
The ball slammed into the floor diagonally behind Kaedehara in an instant — the deafening crash sounded like thunder, startling him.
Relax, my ass!
Ushijima Wakatoshi scored with his serve!
[Aoba Johsai 2 - 3 Shiratorizawa]
-----------
Support me at patréon com/DaoOfPeeking