"They're coming!"
"Let's see… who's this ball going to?"
Hajime Iwaizumi, Matsukawa Issei, and Kyotani Kentarou stared intently at the ball Aikichi Suwa had just set, their legs tensed like springs, ready to leap the moment the direction of the pass became clear.
But after watching it for a moment, the three suddenly noticed something odd.
The ball wasn't shifting to the left or right like a normal set, it didn't even look like it had been passed at all. Instead, it hovered motionlessly in the air, almost as if frozen in place.
Iwaizumi blinked, stunned for half a second.
Then, realization dawned, his pupils contracted sharply.
"Don't tell me…"
Fwshhh!
A shadow abruptly blocked the overhead lights. Just as Aikichi Suwa descended from his jump, another figure soared upward, meeting the ball at its apex like a miniature giant silhouetted in their eyes.
"That damn move again, block him!!"
A vein pulsed angrily on Iwaizumi's forehead. Even someone as composed as him couldn't help but lose his cool after getting tricked by the same play over and over.
But Iwaizumi was no Saiyan, getting angry didn't make him stronger.
In terms of raw height and vertical leap, neither he nor Kyotani could match Korai Hoshiumi. Even their height advantage was minimal at best.
So when Hoshiumi jumped earlier than them, they had no time to form a proper block.
Matsukawa, however, thanks to his superior reach, managed to jump late but still get his hands up in time to form a last-second block.
But before he could feel proud of it,
He noticed something terrifying.
He had jumped after Hoshiumi, but landed before him.
An incredible hang time.
Superb technique.
That's how Hoshiumi, despite standing at just 169 cm, could go toe-to-toe with opponents over 190 cm.
BOOM!
With a deafening crack, the ball grazed Matsukawa's fingertips by mere millimeters and shot like a bullet toward Aoba Johsai's backcourt.
But,
Even after Matsukawa landed, there was no sound of the ball hitting the floor.
Instead, what he heard was the sharp thump of a clean dig.
Startled, Matsukawa turned around, just in time to see Oikawa Tooru smoothly receive the ball and flash a smug grin.
"As expected… You really did go with the most annoying attack you could've picked!"
Predicting Kamomedai's attack pattern wasn't impossible.
All Oikawa had to do was put himself in Aikichi Suwa's shoes and ask: What kind of play would Aoba Johsai hate the most?
And there was only one answer.
Use Korai Hoshiumi's identity as a setter as a decoy, and then unleash him as an outside hitter.
Same move, used again and again, scoring repeatedly on Aoba Johsai's heads.
It wasn't just effective, it was downright humiliating.
Aikichi Suwa blinked, then smirked coldly at Oikawa.
"Hmph… So you figured it out, huh? Looks like we're more alike than I thought."
Since Oikawa had taken the first touch, he couldn't act as setter this round.
Someone else had to fill in.
Aoba Johsai had several players capable of setting, but capable didn't mean proficient.
Normally, their libero, Watari Shinji, their former setter, would step up in this situation.
But as luck would have it, Watari had just rotated off the court in this cycle.
In the past, this might've been a critical weakness for Aoba Johsai.
But now?
Things were different.
Because now… they had a true ace.
A high ball sailed to Akashi Asuka's zone.
From the back row, he launched himself upward, his powerful leap making him look like a falcon soaring through the sky.
"You're not getting through!"
On Kamomedai's side, Gao Hakuba had rotated to the back row, but they still had two elite blockers at the net, Korai Hoshiumi and Shinro Hirugami.
Hirugami stood at 190 cm.
Hoshiumi could touch 342 cm at peak jump height.
Together, they formed a wall so high it might as well have been called a fortress.
But,
Before Akashi even attacked, that "fortress" was already crumbling.
While suspended mid-air, Hirugami reached his peak and started to descend, only to realize Akashi wasn't spiking.
And as he fell, he saw something that stunned him,
Akashi and Hoshiumi were both still hanging in the air.
Defying gravity.
"I hate hang time," Hirugami thought bitterly as he fell back to the ground, watching helplessly as his side of the "wall" crumbled.
In mid-air, Hoshiumi's heart trembled as well.
He had built his entire strategy around outlasting taller opponents with hang time and precision.
But now,
That very advantage had been neutralized.
And against someone with Akashi's superior height and power...
There was no way to win in a straight-up contest.
KABOOM!!!
Like a meteor crashing down, Akashi Asuka's spike exploded through Hoshiumi's block, slamming violently onto the court.
5–3.
Hoshiumi staggered backward a few steps before losing his balance and falling hard on his backside.
And at that moment,
Akashi Asuka landed.
His towering frame, even while standing, blocked out most of the overhead lighting. To Hoshiumi, he looked less like a player and more like a mountain.
"Sorry. Got a bit carried away there. You okay?" Akashi asked calmly, looking down at him.
"You bastard…"
Hoshiumi's expression twisted.
To him, those words weren't concern, they were psychological warfare.
────────── ✦ ──────────
"Yikes… that's brutal."
In the stands, Sakusa Kiyoomi and the others watching from the eliminated teams couldn't help but shake their heads.
"Going up against someone like Akashi Asuka… for Hoshiumi, that's just plain cruel."
Sakusa and the others who had once played against Akashi knew the truth, yes, he had excellent technique, but what really set him apart… was that monster of a body.
And that was exactly what Hoshiumi lacked most.