"Beeeeep"
The long whistle echoed through half the arena, accompanied by the roaring cheers of Kamomedai High and the heavy silence from Fukurodani Academy.
The players of Fukurodani stood frozen at the center of the court like statues, sweat dripping from their chins. Their tournament had come to an end.
22:25.
25:23.
26:28.
After three grueling sets, Fukurodani Academy lost by a narrow margin to Kamomedai High and fell short of the finals.
Clap clap clap...
A round of warm applause rose from the stands.
Akashi Asuka used to dislike receiving applause after a loss. It never felt like comfort, it felt like pity.
But now, standing in the audience, he understood. In moments like this, applause was all one could offer.
"Let's go. Now that our final opponent is confirmed, it's time for us to hold our strategy meeting."
Oikawa Tooru and the rest of Aoba Johsai stood up and exited the stands.
Before leaving, the Seijoh players exchanged brief glances with the Kamomedai team. It was only for a moment, but that was all it took to know: tomorrow would be a battle to the death.
It wasn't about the opponent. It wasn't about strength.
It was because tomorrow would be the final match. The winner takes the crown. Loser fades into the dust.
And to claim that title of Nation's Champion, both Aoba Johsai and Kamomedai would stake everything they had.
And they truly did.
After defeating Fukurodani, the players of Kamomedai High didn't even have time to savor the victory. As soon as they returned to the inn and washed up, the entire team gathered in the conference room.
At the center of the room, the projector screen was showing footage from the match between Aoba Johsai and Itachiyama High.
Compared to the intense battle between Kamomedai and Fukurodani, the Seijoh vs Itachiyama match was surprisingly short, it lasted just over an hour in total.
After watching the recording, the room fell into a tense silence.
Before seeing the footage, everyone at Kamomedai had assumed Seijoh must have endured a fierce fight to win.
Sure, it was a straight-set match, but that didn't mean much. Even close matches could end in two sets if the difference was just slightly in favor of one side.
But now that they'd seen the tape, everyone realized just how wrong they were. Despite some resistance from Itachiyama, Aoba Johsai had practically dominated the match from start to finish.
Itachiyama had launched several counterattacks, but none had truly shaken Seijoh's control.
"This monster... Thank god he's only a first-year. If he makes it to second year, he might actually become Japan's number one."
Kamomedai's veteran coach Aaron Murphy couldn't help but suck in a breath through his teeth as he watched Akashi Asuka's performance.
Strangely, the media hadn't hyped up Akashi's play after the win over Itachiyama. His performance was described as "ordinary."
Yes, ordinary.
To the media, at least.
Akashi scored over 20 points solo. Not a single one of his spikes was blocked. The only time he was defended properly, it was by the nation's top libero.
But because his performance looked the same as in previous matches, the media, and most spectators, had grown used to it.
That was just the surface.
Sports magazines cared more about flashy headlines. Straightforward victories rarely made for exciting articles.
But to insiders like Coach Murphy, Akashi Asuka's performance was nothing short of terrifying.
Was Itachiyama weak on defense?
No way.
They had the number one libero in the country, Motoya Komori. His presence alone elevated the team's defense by one or two levels.
And yet, Akashi had made their defense look no different from any average high school's.
That could only mean one thing:
Akashi Asuka's offense had surpassed the limits of a high school player.
Only someone that good could make an elite defense look so trivial.
"How the hell do you stop a monster like this? We sure don't have the number one libero on our team."
Coach Murphy rubbed his temples. Even with Motoya Komori, Itachiyama had only barely kept Akashi in check, only managing to receive one of his cannon-like spikes head-on.
And that was the best libero in Japan.
If they had to rely on their own libero to handle Akashi, they'd be flattened in a single rally.
After racking his brain for a while, Coach Murphy finally realized their only hope of stopping Akashi Asuka was with Gao Hakuba.
Sure, Akashi could jump high and hit hard, but Kamomedai had height. Gao's towering 203 cm might be the only way to stop Akashi's brute-force style.
"Gao, tomorrow you're in charge of Akashi Asuka."
Coach Murphy placed his hopes on the tall blocker.
Upon hearing this, Gao, only a second-year, was visibly excited. He thumped his chest with confidence.
"Leave it to me, Coach! Just you watch, I'll shut that first-year down completely!"
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The next day arrived.
Because it was the grand finals, the crowd was especially large.
Most of the audience gathered on the East Court, where the finals would be held. Over at the West Court, where Itachiyama and Fukurodani were fighting for third place, the stands were noticeably sparse.
Good thing the match times were staggered, otherwise the third-place game might've had zero spectators.
Up in the commentary booth, the announcers followed tradition by introducing both teams' starting lineups.
Kamomedai High's starting lineup:
#5 Outside Hitter: Korai Hoshiumi
#10 Opposite: Gao Hakuba
#8 Middle Blocker: Kazuyoshi Bessho
#1 Setter: Aikichi Suwa
#4 Outside Hitter: Izuru Nozawa
#13 Libero: Keiichiro Kanbayashi
(#6 Middle Blocker: Shinro Hirugami)
Aoba Johsai's starting lineup:
#1 Setter: Oikawa Tooru
#8 Outside Hitter: Akashi Asuka
#12 Middle Blocker: Yutaro Kindaichi
#3 Outside Hitter: Kyotani Kentarou
#7 Libero: Shinji Watari
(#2 Middle Blocker: Issei Matsukawa)
(#14 Setter: Ryuhei Sanashita)
That's right,
For the first time in this tournament, Aoba Johsai was opening with a double-setter formation right from the first set.
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria