Keiji Akaashi quietly let out a sigh of relief. The fact that Bokuto was still willing to listen to him meant things were not too bad. Then he began his grand plan to coax the owl back into shape.
"Bokuto-senpai, look. The court here may be small, but if you look up, everyone's watching you. Everyone is watching you."
Those words made Bokuto instantly perk up. He lifted his head with a sharp whoosh and looked around.
And once he looked, well, he really was.
In the stands surrounding the court, the spectators were all sneaking glances at Bokuto to some extent.
The girls were looking because Bokuto was handsome, probably the most handsome guy in the entire venue. A cheerful, fair-skinned, 180-centimeter owl. Who would not love that?
As for most of the boys, they were curious. They had long heard of Kōtarō Bokuto's reputation as one of the nation's top three outside hitters, but they still had not seen what made him so impressive.
Put that way, close enough. These people really were all staring at Bokuto.
Bokuto's mood improved a little. Keiji Akaashi nodded to himself. Good. Keep going.
Then he pointed toward the person sitting perfectly upright at the very top and dropped the real bombshell.
"Look. Most importantly, Ushijima-senpai came all the way here to watch your match."
Bokuto looked up in disbelief, then swept his gaze around like an owl radar searching for Ushijima.
At last, Bokuto spotted someone in the back row of the stands holding up a phone to record. His mood visibly brightened, and he jumped up, raising both hands toward Ushijima.
"Hey hey hey!"
Ushijima was caught completely off guard by Bokuto's sudden move. He could tell Bokuto was greeting him, of course, but he did not understand why a simple greeting could make Bokuto so excited. Still, he nodded back at him.
With that acknowledgment, Bokuto grew even more excited and instantly revived at full strength.
The coaches and players watching all of this were practically in awe. Keiji Akaashi really was the number one owl-handler. Just like that, he had coaxed Bokuto back to normal. Keiji Akaashi was practically Fukurōdani's savior!
Seeing Bokuto recover, Coach Takurō finally felt his heart settle back into place. Originally, Coach Takurō had been thinking that if Bokuto was still like that after the timeout, he would temporarily swap him out and let him cool off. After all, this match was not particularly important for Fukurōdani. But if this match ended up damaging Bokuto's self-esteem, that would truly be a loss not worth taking.
When Bokuto returned to the court, Shōhei Academy was shocked to discover something.
Was this Bokuto really the same Bokuto from the last set? Had he been swapped out with someone else?
In the second set, Shōhei Academy was still clinging to a bit of luck. They thought that even if Bokuto got serious, he could not be that amazing. Who knew where they got that confidence from?
To keep Bokuto performing steadily and maintain his emotions at a high point, Keiji Akaashi was currently letting Bokuto simmer, giving him a chance to build up momentum.
"Bang!"
Haruki Komi received a quick attack from the opposing number four middle blocker and setter.
He adjusted his position and passed the ball to Keiji Akaashi. Keiji Akaashi caught it at position two. Bokuto was circling around him now, eager to try spiking one. The opposing setter and two middle blockers came up together for a three-man block.
Noticing the three-man block, Keiji Akaashi almost could not hold back a laugh. They really think highly of us. Since they have gone to all this trouble to form a three-man block, it would be rude not to give them something exciting.
Washio saw that smile on Keiji Akaashi's face and knew the ball would not be coming to him. Sensibly, he stayed back to cover for Bokuto.
In midair, Keiji Akaashi leaned back, drawing out a beautiful arc that looked stunning under the lights. Bokuto, who was running on the left, almost stared himself into a daze. If they had not been in the middle of a match, he definitely would have started acting silly over Keiji Akaashi.
The moment Bokuto saw the ball flying toward him, his eyes lit up.
The three players from Shōhei Academy realized the ball had gone that way and hurriedly moved to chase it.
Bokuto and Keiji Akaashi were only two body lengths apart, and the blockers arrived in one step.
Bokuto leaped into the air, his golden eyes bright with the thrill of a hunter catching its prey. His developed back muscles rose beneath his jersey in small bulges, combining explosive power with a striking sort of sensuality.
Bokuto puffed out his cheeks and slammed his right hand down hard on the volleyball, showing no intention of avoiding the block at all.
"Bang!"
The volleyball smashed hard into the setter's arm. That sharp, heavy sound felt like a punch landing directly on flesh, and the three blockers widened their eyes in perfect sync.
What was that?
Could a human really hit a ball like that?
He was not like this in the last set. Was there really anyone in the world whose condition could swing up and down to this extent?
A precise small diagonal shot cut through, forcefully smashing past the arms of the setter and middle blocker.
"What a brilliant small diagonal! 130 kilometers per hour! This is Kōtarō Bokuto, the ace of Fukurōdani Academy! One of the nation's top three outside hitters! When Bokuto first came onto the court, he showed no strong desire to attack, successfully lowering Shōhei Academy's guard before breaking through in one strike! As expected of Fukurōdani Academy!"
The commentator's words made everyone from Shōhei Academy react at once. Pairs of eyes locked warily onto the Fukurōdani players.
So that had been their plan? They deliberately let Bokuto act like that in the first set?
Then everyone would feel like they could definitely win the second set. And right at that moment, Bokuto would jump out and deal them a heavy blow, completely crushing them both mentally and physically.
Vicious. What a vicious scheme!
In an instant, the way Shōhei Academy looked at Bokuto changed completely. Their gazes were filled with wariness and alarm.
Konoha's mouth twitched. They really were bold enough to say it, and even bolder to believe it. Fukurōdani had not sunk so low that they needed schemes to deal with Shōhei Academy.
"Hey hey hey!"
Bokuto waved his arms, looking unbearably smug. Anyone could tell from that high-spirited look that he had recovered his form.
"Keiji Akaashi, Keiji Akaashi, did you see that?! Wasn't my Super-Invincible Thunder Whirlwind Small Diagonal Ball super cool?!"
Keiji Akaashi looked at the delighted owl bobbing his head, a smile on his face, and praised him softly.
"Bokuto-senpai, that was amazing."
Onaga quietly whispered to Konoha.
"Have you noticed? Whenever Bokuto wants praise, the first person he looks for is always Keiji Akaashi. And every time he's in a bad mood, he can't hear us no matter what we say, but the second Keiji Akaashi speaks, he hears him."
Konoha rolled his eyes.
"Bokuto's attitude toward Keiji Akaashi has always been different from how he treats us."
Haruki Komi silently walked past. He really wanted to ask them, wasn't anyone going to pay attention to the name of Bokuto's shot? That name was so ridiculously long.
The whispering between those two did not disturb the atmosphere on the court.
After being praised by Keiji Akaashi, Bokuto looked even more fired up, yelling that he was going to score another ten points.
The match continued.
Because of Bokuto's shot, the atmosphere on the court had completely come alive.
Just as Keiji Akaashi had said earlier, the venue was only so big. Sitting in the last row felt no different from sitting in the first row, with a clear, unobstructed view from every angle. Quite a few people had been stunned by Bokuto's shot just now, and one by one, they looked at him with admiration in their eyes.
With so many people praising him, Bokuto was practically floating. His attacks grew fiercer and fiercer, and in just twenty minutes, he had sent Shōhei Academy's two middle blockers reeling.
Bokuto was the MVP of this set.
He shut Shōhei Academy out completely and secured the win.
When they lined up to bow at the end of the match, Keiji Akaashi even went out of his way to find Shōhei Academy's captain and apologize. After all, Bokuto had been a little too ruthless in the second set and had not given them any chance to fight back. Keiji Akaashi saw that those kids were still first-years, so he was afraid Bokuto might leave them with some kind of psychological trauma. If that happened, it would really be a sin.
Who would have thought that the Shōhei Academy players did not take it to heart at all? They were still laughing and praising him, saying, "Bokuto really is Bokuto."
Only their captain still looked serious as he asked Keiji Akaashi whether the commentator's conspiracy theory about targeting them was true.
Keiji Akaashi fell silent. This was the first time he had ever seen a school with this kind of vibe. It was truly eye-opening.
Faced with the other captain's question, Keiji Akaashi still shook his head honestly.
"No. That was all nonsense he made up. At the time, Bokuto-senpai was simply in a bad mood."
Once he finished saying that, Keiji Akaashi realized the other captain had actually lowered his head in disappointment, muttering under his breath.
"I thought you did it on purpose. I thought you really valued our school…"
Keiji Akaashi: …
Keiji Akaashi had been unusually silent today.
Seeing that the match on this side had ended, Ushijima walked down and greeted everyone from Fukurōdani.
"Bokuto, you played very well."
It was an extremely brief compliment.
But Bokuto was absolutely delighted to hear it. Someone as serious and slightly stiff as Ushijima had actually praised him. That was the greatest recognition of his strength.
Ushijima really had only come to praise Bokuto. He still had to hurry over to Nekoma's match.
Ryosuke had messaged him saying that Nekoma's match was unbelievably exciting. If a match could make even Ryosuke praise it nonstop, then he really did have to go see it.
...
When he arrived at Nekoma's match venue, Ushijima froze for a moment at the sight of the neatly packed stands. Were Nekoma's matches really this popular?
It took Ushijima quite a bit of effort to find Ryosuke among all those people in the stands. Ryosuke usually looked a little thin, but he was still fairly solid. Now, sitting in the audience, he had been completely swallowed up by the tall, broad boys around him. All Ushijima could see was the top of his head.
Luckily, Ryosuke had worn a yellow hat when they left that morning. Otherwise, Ushijima really would not have been able to find him.
While watching the match, Ryosuke did not forget to protect the seat beside him. Ushijima-senpai had just said he would be there soon, so Ryosuke had to hold onto the seat no matter what.
When Ushijima came over, he saw Ryosuke with his little face flushed, holding a Nekoma cat cheering sign in one hand, the chibi calico cat kind. His other hand was still guarding the seat next to him. The pose made Ushijima laugh.
Ushijima stepped forward, lifted the hat off Ryosuke's head, then gestured for him to pull his hand back.
Once Ryosuke saw that Ushijima had arrived, he finally had someone to talk to, and the words came spilling out all at once.
"Ushijima-senpai! This match is amazing! Sarukawa Tech's coach used to be a Nekoma student, and the team he trained also leans toward a defensive style. They're playing evenly against Nekoma. This is already the third set. Nekoma took the first set, and in the second set, Coach Nekomata sent in the vice-captain, but they still lost…"
Ryosuke said a long string of words in one breath. Ushijima understood the current situation, and then the two of them began watching the match seriously. The rhythm of the third set was still extremely tight.
The ball went back and forth between the two sides. One careless moment, and it would hit the floor. Both teams' nerves were stretched taut.
"All right, as we can see, the current score on the court is 19-19. The two teams are locked in a tie. Who will break this stalemate? For now, we still don't know."
That was exactly how it had been since the start of the third set. Sarukawa Tech would take one point, then Nekoma would take one point, neither side giving the other an inch.
Most importantly, Kenma was not in great shape right now. This was already the third set.
The other side had already shifted from hidden schemes to an open strategy, and Nekoma had no way to deal with it. If they were targeting anyone else, anyone at all, Nekoma could have switched that person out. But Kenma was different. He was one of a kind.
"Bang!"
Another ball slammed hard into Nekoma's court, and the scoreboard jumped from 19 to 20. Sarukawa Tech was ahead by one point.
Nekomata looked at Shishio, who was sitting steadily on the coaching bench. Nekomata's face showed no expression, but his hand had already tightened around the fabric of his pants over his knee.
After signaling to the referee for a timeout, Nekomata immediately stood up.
He saw Kuroo and Yaku supporting Kenma, helping him save a little energy. Kenma needed support not because anything had happened to him. He simply did not want to move. They had called a timeout, and he did not want to waste even a single second of it.
Kuroo and Yaku were also more than happy to support Kenma.
They were both thinking that Kenma really had worked hard today.
Seeing Kenma drenched in sweat, Nekomata felt his heart ache too. After all, this was a boy he had watched grow up. It was the first time he had seen Kenma like this. Even Yamamoto, who usually loved arguing with Kenma the most, stayed quiet this time.
Everyone shared the same silent understanding and avoided provoking Kenma.
Kenma wiped his face with a towel, then sat there staring blankly into space.
He felt like he was about to die of exhaustion. Why did he have to come play volleyball? Why did he have to run back and forth? Why did he have to cooperate with his teammates? Was any of this really worth it?
Wouldn't it be much better to lie at home and play games? Watching the live broadcast of the match on TV from home would not be bad either. Why did he have to personally step onto the court…
"Kenma-senpai… I'm sorry! I'm the one dragging you down!"
Lev hesitantly came up to Kenma and bowed in apology.
He truly felt that he had been holding Kenma back. Countless balls had slipped past him, and every time, Yaku had covered for him and Kenma had patched things up afterward. If not for him…
Kenma's thoughts were suddenly interrupted. He lowered the towel and looked at Lev, who was bowing in front of him. For a moment, he felt a little dazed.
Why was he trying so hard again…
He glanced around. Everyone was secretly looking at him, all of them being so careful, as if they were afraid he would get angry.
Kenma smiled faintly at Lev, and his hoarse voice came out.
"Then work hard and block one ball for me."
Lev froze. Tears glimmered in his eyes. Waaah, he was so touched. Kenma-senpai was such a good person. Even after all that, he was not holding it against him.
"If you can't block even one ball, then clean the gym bathrooms for a week."
Lev stiffened.
Generally speaking, Kenma was the one who held the team's power of life and death in his hands. Even the coach tacitly accepted it.
The few people nearby who had been eavesdropping burst out laughing without the slightest restraint.
...
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