Chapter 26: Another Powerful Serve
The coin toss was held, and as usual, Ichise Guren maintained his perfect record—a hundred percent wins at this crucial moment. Given the roster and their strategy, it was natural that Yukigaoka relied on Ichise's powerful serve to seize control right from the start.
Without hesitation, Yukigaoka claimed the initial serve, while Senkoku Middle School opted to choose their preferred court side.
In most cases, even if Senkoku had won the coin toss, they would have prioritized choosing the court side over serving first. At the middle school level, the success rate of scoring directly off spikes far exceeded that of earning points from serving.
Teams tended to select receiving first in order to set up their attacks immediately. After all, points scored by a spike carry more reliability than those scored directly from a serve, which is more prone to errors.
Thus, securing the side was usually considered advantageous, especially in a game where positioning and reading the opponent's court could influence momentum.
Ichise Guren moved calmly to the serving zone, his fingers lightly brushing over the smooth synthetic surface of the ball as if studying it with tactile precision. His signature subtle topspin technique gave the ball just enough forward rotation to keep it in control—fast enough to pressure the opponents but not so fast as to risk a costly fault.
This technique made his serves immensely consistent. Calling it flawless wouldn't be far off.
For the opposing team, this meant the daunting task: either receive cleanly or suffer the sting of consecutive direct-point serves.
Yet, Ichise was known to occasionally mix up his rhythm—interspersing his devastating jump serves with softer, easier serves on purpose.
The intention was clear: to prevent the other side from getting too comfortable or adapting quickly to his serve's speed and trajectory.
He tossed the ball into the air, took measured accelerating steps forward, then jumped with explosive power.
For the players on Senkoku—accustomed to casual visits to the zoo with Coach Shimokawa—this moment felt surreal, as if they'd been plunged into an unfamiliar wilderness.
A deadly tiger had been lying in wait, muscles coiled, ready to strike the instant any weakness showed.
Akashi Asuka shouted breathlessly.
"Here it comes!!"
The entire team's muscles tensed sharply as their eyes locked on Ichise's airborne form and the rapidly spinning ball.
Every sensory fiber engaged—poised to receive, to defend, to survive the onslaught of Ichise Guren's serve.
At this middle school level, the initial strike of a powerful jump serve like Ichise's was known as the "first kill"—a nearly invincible tactic in regional preliminary rounds.
And sure enough, the ball slammed in.
Bam! Bam!
Senkoku's players looked shell-shocked.
Beside them, Hinata Shoyo could distinctly hear the twin "bang bang" of Ichise's metaphorical hunting shotgun in the volley of the serve's impact.
He knew instantly what had happened: Ichise Guren had once again served an ace.
Even though his hands remained positioned as the coach instructed before the match—crossed defensively behind his head—the subtle flare of his nostrils and the slight upward tug at the corners of his mouth gave away his admiration for Ichise's mastery.
Hinata's mind flipped into overdrive, impressed by the sheer sleekness and raw power of the serve.
Though he couldn't actually see the exact movement of Ichise's serve on the other side of the net, his imagination ran wild:
Ichise Guren as a hunter.
Dressed in a green hunting vest and rugged outdoor clothing, lugging thick rubber boots designed for hiking, his foot firmly pinned down on the back of a black bear.
Wearing fingerless leather gloves, he raised a double-barreled shotgun, engraved with a badge bearing Ichise's profile.
He then exhaled sharply, blowing the smoke from the barrels with deliberate calm.
"So cool!"
Breathing out fiercely through his nose, excitement lit up Hinata's face in a vivid flush.
Hyakuzawa Yudai immediately noticed Hinata's strangely animated expression and worriedly asked.
"What's going on? You alright, Hinata? Stomach ache or something? Gotta hit the bathroom?"
Hinata shook his head emphatically, assuring Hyakuzawa he was fine.
This eased Hyakuzawa's concern somewhat but he still threw anxious glances at Hinata from time to time.
Meanwhile, Hinata's mind kept spinning on the thought of mastering Ichise's jump serve himself—scoring points with it in an official match—and how spectacular that would look.
In his mental recreation, he replaced the hunter with himself—coolly blowing the smoke away from the gun barrel as the dominant figure in the scene.
Meanwhile, back on the court, while Hinata indulged in his daydream, Senkoku's atmosphere had become noticeably heavy with tense silence.
They hadn't thrown themselves into hard physical work and only a few seconds had passed, yet beads of sweat dotted their foreheads.
Their breathing, which had started steady and controlled, grew increasingly rapid.
"Damn it!"
"What kind of wild beast serve was that? Hey! Did you guys actually see that tiger just now?"
Akashi's expression looked like he had stared a ghost down, and he sought confirmation from his teammates on whether they too had caught fleeting glimpses of the fiercely familiar tiger he imagined.
Much to his surprise, most nodded in agreement—they'd faintly seen what felt like a shadowy but familiar tiger stalking through the chaos.
But as they began debating details—the forest's foliage, the tiger's size and markings, even where they'd "seen" it—their memories diverged wildly.
Some felt as though they'd stumbled into a tiger enclosure at the zoo.
Others vividly pictured a dense woodland.
A few even envisioned the beast striding down an urban street.
What this showed was that Ichise Guren's attacks were not supernatural magic like in the fantasy sports mangas such as Kuroko's Basketball.
Rather, the force and aura behind his spikes simply left an impression so ferocious and intense that even experienced tiger-watchers felt a shared sense of primal ferocity.
"Then there's nothing to be afraid of—it's just about how it feels. They're middle school kids just like us. What's there to fear?"
"Come on! This one, let's receive it!"
Bam! Bam!
"Alright! Got it! No worries! Next serve, I'll make it count for sure!"
Bam! Bam!
"Don't lose heart—the match is just getting started!"
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