These kids had not let down the training he had poured into them. Faced with victory, they were like starving beasts, filled with desire.
Inuoka's serve was beautiful, but Sarukawa Tech's libero was impressive too. Every movement he made looked as if it had been measured out, precise to the extreme. Even in a situation at the end of the set, he could still control his body that well. That kind of self-discipline and restraint would put plenty of adults to shame.
Akagi received the ball. Doing his best to receive every ball was his responsibility. All he needed to do was guard the backcourt for everyone.
The ball rebounded from Akagi's hands with a bang, then bounced high into the air. Everyone's eyes fixed on it at the same time. This ball might be the final point of the match. Of course, it might also mean the match would not end just yet.
Ryo Takeuchi hurried over to get under the pass, still watching Kenma on the other side of the net as he considered whether to set the ball farther away from him. If Sarukawa Tech did not attack through that setter, this match would be over for them.
Once he thought that through, Ryo Takeuchi no longer felt so guilty. He sent the ball straight to Masakazu Nakata, far away from Kenma.
Facing Masakazu Nakata were Taketora Yamamoto and Fukunaga. Neither of them had expected the opposing setter to be this daring. Fukunaga was a little sharper, though. The moment he saw Kenma on the right side of the net, he understood what was going on.
Kuroo and Yaku were already running over, especially Yaku. He was calculating the angle of this ball in his head. If his receive ended up too messy, Kenma would probably have to suffer again. Yaku still felt some pressure, while also sighing inwardly at how underhanded the opposing setter was.
Masakazu Nakata smiled in a way that was hard to read. They were doing this on purpose. He really wanted to break that precious setter spoiled by everyone on Nekoma. He wanted to see regret and pain appear on his face. He wanted him to admit that it was wrong for a setter to hide behind his teammates and slack off.
"Ryo Takeuchi sends this ball to captain Masakazu Nakata! Facing Masakazu Nakata are Taketora Yamamoto and Fukunaga's double block. Kuroo and Yaku have already run into position behind the double block!"
In the end, Kuroo did not make it in time to join the block. Yamamoto's blocking was only average, while Fukunaga's was passable, thanks to all the drills Kuroo usually put him through. But Masakazu Nakata was Sarukawa Tech's captain.
If he could not break through a block like this, he might as well quit.
"Bang!"
The ball flew right past Yamamoto's fingertips. What a hit over the block!
Yaku rushed with everything he had and finally got into position just as the ball cleared Yamamoto's arm.
He slid across the floor and saved the ball.
Off the court, Ryosuke looked at Yaku with stars in his eyes. Yaku-senpai was way too cool. He was just like Superman!
Yaku felt the burning pain from his knee scraping across the floor, and for a moment, his expression twisted. Then the weight of the volleyball striking his ankle made him let out a breath of relief. As long as he had gotten the ball up, that was enough.
"What a spectacular save! This ball could be called Yaku's greatest highlight of the entire match! A last-second save!"
The heart Yaku had just relaxed immediately lifted again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Inuoka and Lev running toward Kenma, so Yaku quickly climbed up from the floor.
Only then did he realize that the ball he had just saved had flown so high and so far, all the way to midcourt. Leaving aside whether Kenma's stamina could hold out, what if he simply threw in the towel and refused to continue? Yaku shook his head inwardly. He should trust Kenma, just like Kenma trusted him enough to leave his back to him.
Kenma sensed everyone moving. Standing in front of the net, he weakly raised his eyes and looked over. He saw that the ball Yaku had just saved had flown so high and so far, all the way to the middle of the court.
Lev and Inuoka both wanted to go for the ball, but neither of them quite dared to. They had never discussed this kind of situation before, and it had never happened. If the second touch was not taken by the setter, then who was supposed to take it? Right now, there was no one on Nekoma's court who could set.
Just when everyone was at a loss, even thinking they were about to lose, Kenma moved.
Kenma, who looked like he might drop dead on the spot from moving even once, actually moved. Like a ghost, he ran with a speed he had never shown before. The red uniform on him looked especially vivid in that moment, like Kenma's blood had begun to boil.
Coach Nekomata was so shocked that he stood up from his chair. Kai and Shibayama were also badly startled, to the point that they wondered if they had been watching a fake match all along. Even Ryosuke's mouth fell open. Ushijima was a little surprised too. He knew Nekoma's style well.
Their principle was to keep the setter from running even a single step. But now, it seemed... Nekoma had changed without anyone noticing.
Coach Nekomata was so moved that he did not know what to do. The children had all grown up.
The players from Sarukawa Tech did not look good at this moment, especially Ryo Takeuchi and Masakazu Nakata. They had calculated everything. With an attack launched from that position, the libero's receive absolutely should not have flown toward the setter. Based on their observations from the previous two sets, that setter was the type to slack off whenever he could. He would never take an extra step.
But after calculating everything, the one thing they had failed to account for was Kenma, the very person they had targeted.
He actually ran.
Kenma himself did not understand what he had been thinking in that moment. He only wanted to end this match as quickly as possible. If it dragged on any longer, he truly had no strength left. Sarukawa Tech... was strong.
Kenma's brain was not much use against Sarukawa Tech, because Sarukawa Tech also had someone similar to Kenma. These two schools had basically matched up in the same style. But Kenma's weaknesses were far too obvious, so everyone could only target him.
Kenma felt that his legs were incredibly heavy, and his head was heavy too. His mind had already turned to mush. He was moving purely on instinct now.
The volleyball flew to midcourt. As Kenma rushed to reach it, he saw everyone preparing to attack out of the corner of his eye, and he was still thinking about who had the best chance of scoring this ball.
Kuroo could not hit this one. He was being watched by the opposing captain. Yamamoto had just run a few steps, and across from him now were the setter and Kitamura.
Lev's target was too big. The moment he moved, everyone would look over. It was too obvious. That kid Inuoka only knew how to avoid the block...
Fukunaga was good. Although he was a first-year, his mind was flexible, and his hitting routes were varied. Most importantly, Fukunaga's eyes were always secretly observing everyone on the court. He would definitely sense Kenma's intention.
After thinking it through, Kenma decided it would be him.
From far away, he sent the ball to Fukunaga's side.
While everyone else was busy moving into position, Fukunaga, who stood perfectly still, had the least presence of all.
Right now, there was only one No. 3 middle blocker in front of him, watching him.
The ball came so fast that no one even noticed before it was already flying out.
Masakazu Nakata suddenly whipped his head toward the No. 3 middle blocker. He was one of the first players on Sarukawa Tech to realize what was happening, and he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Shibasaki!"
The No. 3 middle blocker, Takahiro Shibasaki, froze at the shout and instinctively tried to turn his head to look back.
The ball had already flown over. When Masakazu Nakata saw that Shibasaki was actually trying to turn around and look at him, he was so furious he nearly choked.
"Jump!"
Masakazu Nakata shouted as he ran over.
Shibasaki heard his captain's order. His brain had not even processed it yet, but his body had already moved, both arms lifting into a blocking posture.
Fukunaga acted as if he had not seen the arms blocking his path at all. He swung his right hand down hard and tooled the block.
"Bang!"
Fukunaga had really put plenty of force into that hit. When the ball flew off Shibasaki's fingertips, the expression on Shibasaki's face was not fake. There was definitely a bit of emotion behind that shot.
Fukunaga's thinking was simple. Since you're targeting our setter, I'll bully your middle blocker a little. That's fair enough, right?
You could say the damage was not severe, but the humiliation was extremely high.
After Shibasaki landed, he clutched his hand and glared fiercely at Fukunaga. He swore that the moment he jumped, he had definitely seen this guy wink at him in provocation.
Then came the whistle for the point, followed by overwhelming cheers.
"Beeeeeeep!"
"As we can see, on the final ball, Kenma sent a long set to Fukunaga, who was in the most concealed position! Fukunaga jumped to spike! Sarukawa Tech's Shibasaki jumped to block. A block-out! A beautiful block-out! Victory in this match belongs to Nekoma Academy! Let's congratulate them!"
Only after hearing the whistle did everyone finally come back to themselves.
This match was finally over.
Seeing that the ball had scored, Kenma also let out a breath of relief. Then he slowly collapsed onto the floor, spreading out like a cat pancake.
He did not move at all. There was nothing he could do. He was just too tired. His arms and legs felt like they did not belong to him anymore.
Everyone from Nekoma was cheering. After cheering for a moment, Kuroo saw Kenma collapsed on the floor and was so frightened his soul nearly left his body. Thinking something had happened to Kenma, he quickly ran over.
At that moment, everyone else from Nekoma also noticed Kenma lying on the floor. One by one, they gathered around him and started talking over each other.
"Kenma, Kenma, are you okay?"
"Kenma-senpai?!"
"Is Kenma-senpai about to die?!"
Even if Kenma really had died, hearing that would have angered him back to life.
Kenma lifted his hand just a little. Seeing that, Kuroo helped him sit up. Kenma sighed, the tips of his ears a little red, and said softly,
"I'm fine... I'm just too tired."
Only then did Kuroo relax. Smiling in amusement, he helped Kenma up.
It was not only Kuroo and everyone from Nekoma who sighed in relief when they saw Kenma was all right. Off the court, Ryosuke and Coach Nekomata also let out relieved breaths.
Ryo Takeuchi also quietly sighed in relief. That had scared him to death. He had thought something had gone wrong. If that setter had really collapsed on the court, Ryo Takeuchi would have felt guilty for the rest of his life, the kind of guilt that would wake him up from nightmares in the middle of the night.
Amid cheers that lasted a full five minutes, the Nekoma players lifted Kenma and carried him around the court.
Ryosuke could see it clearly from the stands. The dead-inside expression on Kenma's face did not look fake. Ryosuke put himself in Kenma's place for a moment. If he were being carried around the court like that, it would be a public execution. As a fellow socially anxious person, Ryosuke could truly understand Kenma's near-death state at that moment.
After the players finished celebrating, both teams bowed to the audience.
This match had been perfect to watch. It had the beauty of raw power, and it had the players' technical skill. In short, both the audience and the coaches were very satisfied.
Although Sarukawa Tech had lost, Shishio was not angry. He knew that the kids on Sarukawa Tech were good. Their mentality and their skills were both excellent. But they still lacked experience and needed more polishing. They also did not yet have the resilience that Nekoma's players possessed. A loss was a loss. Shishio knew very well that they could not beat Nekoma with just one match.
Nekomata stood beside Shishio, watching the kids exchange greetings with each other. Once again, Nekomata could not help sighing with emotion.
"Seeing them like this reminds me of the days when I used to take you all around to play matches. Every time a match ended, you all seemed to talk with your opponents like this too."
Hearing Coach Nekomata's words, Shishio also lifted his head and looked toward the kids from his school, his eyes full of memories.
"Yeah. So many years have passed in the blink of an eye."
Kuroo led everyone to the entrance. They were about to leave. He looked back at Coach Nekomata, as if asking, "Aren't you leaving yet?"
Seeing that, Nekomata smiled and said goodbye to Shishio. Before leaving, Nekomata gave Shishio one more instruction.
"Shishio, keep walking this path properly. Teach these kids to become dazzling and reliable adults, just like you and the Oda brothers."
Shishio looked deeply at Coach Nekomata's back, as if lost in thought.
"Coach, are we leaving?"
Masakazu Nakata came over with his backpack slung over his shoulder and asked.
Only then did Shishio come back to himself. Then he shook his head with a faint, amused smile. Just now, he had actually thought he had gone back to the old days, when he used to play matches with everyone. When he saw Coach Nekomata leave, he had even wondered why Coach was not taking him along.
It turned out that from now on, he would have to walk this road alone.
He was no longer that young boy who could act spoiled around his coach.
...
After watching a match like that, Ryosuke still felt unsatisfied.
Now that the match had ended, Ryosuke first congratulated everyone from Nekoma on advancing. Then he prepared to go look for Bokuto and congratulate him on winning his match.
But Ryosuke and Ushijima circled around the dormitory area and still could not find anyone from Fukurōdani, so they simply stopped looking.
In any case, everyone from Fukurōdani would definitely come watch the afternoon match.
At noon, the Shiratorizawa group ate together.
Tsutomu Goshiki had no idea how many places he had run around that morning. He looked completely dusty and disheveled, nothing like the polished version of himself who had left in the morning.
Ryosuke nudged Yunohama with his elbow, asking with his eyes what was going on.
Yunohama shrugged, showing that he did not know either.
Ever since Tsutomu Goshiki came back, he had been wolfing down his food like a storm sweeping through. Who knew what had happened to leave him this hungry? Ryosuke looked at Eita Semi with a questioning gaze.
Eita Semi understood immediately and said, looking perfectly innocent,
"I didn't do anything. I just taught him how to haggle with clothing vendors. Then he dragged me around every little stall outside the gym and haggled with them one by one."
Ryosuke imagined it for a moment, then no longer found it strange.
That really was something Tsutomu Goshiki would do.
...
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