Why were they trying so hard?
Kenma looked at his teammates. They were all being so careful around him, afraid he might get angry. There was worry in their eyes, but no one dared to say anything, afraid they would disturb his rest. He saw Kuroo talking to the coach, saying they needed to recruit another setter in the future, or Kenma really was going to be worked to death.
The coach nodded with a serious expression. Yaku was getting him a drink. Yamamoto sounded fierce whenever he opened his mouth, but he was honestly running back and forth to help wash Kenma's towel. Fukunaga was sneaking closer, trying to tell him a cold joke...
For some reason, the frustration that had been bottled up in Kenma's chest simply faded away. He did not know why he had managed to keep going for so many years, but volleyball had brought him to everyone here at Nekoma. Thinking of that, Kenma felt that being a little tired did not matter much.
Seeing that Kenma's mood seemed to have improved, Kuroo also let out a breath of relief. Kenma looked casual and easygoing on the surface, but only Kuroo knew what a willful guy he really was. If Kenma got stuck in his own head, things would probably become troublesome.
"Can you keep going a little longer?" Kuroo crouched down and questioned Kenma. What scared him even more than Kenma overthinking things was Kenma forcing himself back onto the court.
Kenma nodded to show that he could. Yamamoto came over with a banana.
He peeled one and stuffed it into Kenma's mouth, still nagging as he did.
"Hurry up and eat. This is what happens when you skip breakfast every day. I even heard your stomach growling. After the match ends, Kenma, you're training and eating with me. You'll only be healthy if you train properly and eat properly. Just look at how skinny you are."
His mouth sounded full of disdain, but every word was for Kenma's sake.
Kenma looked at Yamamoto in amusement, his eyes full of teasing.
The group gathered together and talked for a while longer.
Kenma felt that his stiff legs had eased up a little. His throat still felt like it was smoking, but it was not a major problem. In a situation like this, still pushing himself onto the court and wanting to win this match for everyone, this was probably the "perseverance" Tora was always talking about.
Kenma never thought there would come a day when he would have "perseverance" too. It was honestly unbelievable.
"Beeeeeeep!"
The whistle blew. The timeout passed in an instant. Once they returned to the court this time, the match would be decided. Everything would come down to these last few points.
"Welcome back to the match. This is match twenty-six of the National High School Boys' Volleyball League. The two teams currently on the court are Sarukawa Tech from Osaka and Nekoma Academy, Tokyo's third qualifying team. The set count is currently 1-1, and the third set score is 20-19, with Sarukawa Tech temporarily in the lead. Now, let's turn our attention back to the match."
Sarukawa Tech's setter, Ryo Takeuchi, was serving now. Everyone had already seen his serve in the second set. It was that extremely annoying ceiling serve.
If Yaku had to rank every serve by how much he disliked it, the ceiling serve would absolutely rank among the ones he hated most.
Back when Nekoma trained in the winter, Coach Nekomata had always liked moving practice outside. At the time, another school came over for a practice match.
As it happened, someone from that school knew how to do this serve. It had been winter, but the sun was still out. Yaku had watched helplessly as the volleyball flew up and overlapped with the sun. He had looked up along with it, and the sunlight had nearly blinded him.
Ever since then, Yaku had hated this kind of serve to death. He spent an entire semester trying to figure it out.
Now, as soon as he saw the opposing setter's ceiling serve, Yaku felt the same fear of being controlled by that thing all over again. His whole body felt wrong.
Ryo Takeuchi took a deep breath and loosened his wrist. Then he tossed the volleyball high with his left hand. The ball soared upward, and everyone on Nekoma's side followed it with their eyes.
The volleyball fell again. Ryo Takeuchi supported it from below with his right hand, then suddenly exerted force. With a bang, the volleyball shot high above the court. The players on the court, the spectators in the stands, and even the commentator watching through the big screen all raised their heads at the same time. The commentator's mouth never stopped moving.
"This time, Sarukawa Tech's setter is up to serve. His serve is the ceiling serve, a serve rarely seen in matches these days! The ceiling serve puts a heavy demand on a player's lower body, core strength, and wrist flexibility. At first, the ceiling serve was a deadly weapon in outdoor volleyball.
"In Brazil's sweltering heat, with the sun overhead and soft sand underfoot, the ceiling serve is often what decides the match."
"Later, some outdoor volleyball techniques gradually developed into indoor volleyball as well. Here, on this orange-yellow floor and beneath this two-meter-high ceiling, the ceiling serve's power still cannot be underestimated. Let's see whether Nekoma's libero, Yaku, can receive this difficult ball!"
Yaku tilted his head back and adjusted his position. By his ears were the audience's startled cheers and the commentator's rapid-fire talking. Yaku's thoughts drifted for a moment. At that speed, the commentator had to be saying a hundred words a minute. It was a waste that he was not doing stand-up.
In Yaku's eyes, the ceiling lights were swaying back and forth, and the volleyball was descending like a tiny black dot darting around. He could not tell where the ball would land.
Yaku forced himself not to narrow his eyes. He was afraid that even a fraction of a second of loosened focus would make him miss this ball.
The volleyball dropped sharply. Yaku had already adjusted himself into the best position. He chose to receive it overhand. That damned serve even had spin on it. If he received it underhand and mishandled it, the ball might fly off completely.
He lifted both hands over his head. Almost the moment Yaku formed the receiving shape, the volleyball smashed into his hands.
"Bang!"
Yaku's expression looked a little unnatural. His wrists had taken most of the force from that ball, and it felt uncomfortable.
The volleyball struck Yaku's hands and flew up again. Because he had absorbed the force well, the first pass looked extremely accurate as it went out.
Yaku: In the end, I'm the one who carried everything.
"Nice ball!"
"Great receive! One ball to get the serve back!"
His teammates' praise made Yaku feel as though the tiny bit of discomfort in his wrist was not so uncomfortable after all.
Kenma relaxed slightly when he saw the ball. It was right near him, so he did not need to run much.
Kenma took a quick step with both feet, moving like a nimble, supple cat. His soft soles touched the floor without making a sound.
Kenma received the ball. His overloaded brain could not maintain its usual sharpness, and his thoughts were a little muddled. When Kenma said his mind was muddled, it meant he had become about as sharp as an ordinary person.
Seeing Fukunaga on the right, Kenma did not hesitate at all. With a light flick of his fingers, he sent the ball straight to Fukunaga. His brain might not be working at its usual level, but his setter's muscle memory was still there.
Fukunaga did not waste Kenma's set either. Even against a double block, he still hit an extreme small diagonal at an incredibly tricky angle.
"Bang!"
"Beeeeep!"
"Human potential really is limitless! Kenma passed the ball to Fukunaga on the right, and Fukunaga, even while facing a double block, managed to hit an unprecedented extreme small diagonal! A spectacular point! The score is now 20-20. We are tied once again!"
Oda Shinjurō's voice rose and fell with emotion. When he got excited, he looked like he was about to leap right out of his chair.
Oda Kijirō helplessly tugged at his older brother's sleeve. Don't get that excited! This was live commentary for the National Tournament. If his commentary fell apart, both of their paychecks would be gone.
Oda Kijirō sighed helplessly. He was clearly the younger brother, so why did he have to look after this guy who was two years older than him every single day?
"Nice one, hahahahaha, Fukunaga!"
"Great job, Kenma! That spike from Fukunaga was seriously amazing too!"
"Fukunaga-senpai is incredible!"
With that one play, Fukunaga and Kenma, who had both kept such a low profile until now, successfully entered the public eye. Only then did people begin to notice that the thin setter made every set with almost unbelievable precision, and that the quiet middle blocker had an extremely high success rate on every spike he hit...
The score was tied now. From here, it all depended on everyone's performance. This match was crucial, but they absolutely could not stop here.
There was no lack of determination in anyone's eyes. The players from Sarukawa Tech were even more fired up, all of them desperate to win this match.
Now it was Inuoka's turn to serve. Inuoka's serve was ordinary, but that did not mean he was ordinary as a player. His strengths simply were not in serving.
"Bang!"
Inuoka hit a powerful jump serve, sending the volleyball flying between Ryo Takeuchi and Masakazu Nakata. Whether he had done it on purpose or not, Inuoka's serve happened to land right along the path they would have to take while moving.
Ryo Takeuchi and Masakazu Nakata exchanged a glance, then tacitly stayed still.
Then Akagi dove in from the back and received the ball. Ryo Takeuchi had not moved from his spot, and the incoming ball was right above his head.
From this angle, if he ran a quick attack with Masakazu Nakata, it would be obvious at a glance. Kitamura was currently moving at the right back, and there was also a middle blocker in position one. Although he was a first-year, Ryo Takeuchi felt that his technique was still decent.
He tilted his head back and sent a back set to the No. 3 middle blocker. That middle blocker had spiked so few balls in the first two sets that they could be counted on one hand. In their past practice matches, the senpai would definitely have given him chances to practice.
But this match carried extraordinary significance, so to be safe, they had reduced No. 3's attacking chances.
He had been frustrated over that for a long time. And now, his chance had finally come.
The No. 3 middle blocker reached out and slammed the ball down with all his strength.
"Bang!"
But with Kuroo there, there was no way he would let that ball score.
Kuroo was the only one blocking. He had been attacking throughout the entire match and had barely joined in on blocks. Most of the blocking had been handled by Lev.
That No. 3 middle blocker probably thought Kuroo was terrible at blocking, so he deliberately avoided Lev and spiked toward Kuroo.
Wasn't this just a blind cat stumbling onto a dead mouse? Even Kuroo had not expected someone to come looking for trouble all on his own.
He straightened both arms and jumped sharply, keeping his strength concentrated in his upper body.
Kuroo reacted fast, using one hand to seal off the path the spiker wanted to hit through from the side, while keeping his other hand ready just in case. His eyes stayed fixed on the ball.
The No. 3 middle blocker saw that if he spiked it through, it would be blocked, so he instinctively tried to change his route. But from the corner of his eye, he saw that the libero had already been waiting in the back.
There was nowhere to retreat and no way to hit it through.
Gritting his teeth, he lightly flicked the ball with his fingertips, trying for a tip.
Lev suddenly rushed over and jumped, his palm landing right over the ball.
With a sharp smack, the ball was completely stuffed.
"A block kill! From Nekoma's tall middle blocker, Lev! Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Sarukawa Tech's tip was just high enough for the two-meter-tall Lev to block with ease! The current score is 23-20. Nekoma is temporarily in the lead and needs just one more point to reach match point. Sarukawa Tech is in danger now. If Nekoma scores one more point, this match will be over!"
When the No. 3 middle blocker landed, his face was still full of disbelief. He had originally thought that ball would definitely score, but he had personally handed this crucial point to the opponent. Now he looked utterly depressed, feeling as if he had dragged everyone down.
Lev stared blankly at his own palm.
He had just... blocked a ball! A complete block kill!
Kuroo raised an eyebrow slightly. He had not expected Lev to jump out at that moment either. Originally, he had planned to let Yaku receive it from the back. If it was a tip, then Fukunaga would take it. He had been planning to drag things out for another rally or two. Once they got close to match point, Sarukawa Tech would have no room to bite back. What if they targeted Kenma again?
But this did not seem bad either.
Lev froze for a long moment. Then an astonishing light burst into his eyes, and he whipped his head around to shout at Kenma.
"Kenma-senpai! I blocked it! I blocked that ball!"
Sarukawa Tech: You really did not have to say it that loudly.
The corners of Kenma's mouth lifted slightly. With a faint smile, he said softly to Lev,
"Nice ball."
Lev had never heard praise like that from Kenma before. For a moment, he was so happy that he started flailing around.
A child who had always been failing on the road of volleyball had finally succeeded once today. It was like walking down a road that had always been pitch-black for a very long time, then finally seeing a patch of moonlight at the end.
For Lev, in that moment, blood rushed to his head, and he saw a sight he had never seen before.
It was the view from the other side of the court.
That ball not only boosted Lev's morale, it also gave everyone on Nekoma something to measure the match by.
One point left.
Countless people thought the same thing in their hearts.
The serve was still in Nekoma's hands.
Inuoka stepped up to the service line again. He felt a little at a loss. He had actually managed to stand at the service line for two rallies in a row. That was something he had never experienced before.
I hope this one can decide the match.
Inuoka held the volleyball against his forehead and silently thought that to himself.
Then he lifted his eyes, tossed the volleyball, steadied his balance, and ran forward.
"Bang!"
Maybe Lev had spurred him on, because Inuoka's serve had improved quite a bit too.
Watching from below, Coach Nekomata was absolutely delighted. This match really was unexpected. One after another, they were all breaking through. First Fukunaga, then Lev, and now Inuoka.
And...
Nekomata's gaze rested on Kenma, who had not made a sound. Kenma's performance today had been very good too. It seemed that in this match, he had grown as well and gained the special move he always talked about.
"Perseverance."
The way Nekomata looked at the children was like a kind, gratified elder.
...
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