The two teams involved in the match had no idea what everyone else was saying about them.
When Wakatsu Kiryū heard the whistle signaling the end of the match, a wave of disappointment rose in his chest, along with a feeling of, of course it turned out this way. Losing to Shiratorizawa today did not feel unfamiliar. When had the gap started to open between the two teams that had once moved forward side by side?
Kiryū turned back to look at the spectators. Mujinazaka's banner was still hanging beneath the stands, and a hollow feeling settled in his heart. So this was where they had to say goodbye.
After the match ended and both teams briefly gathered themselves, Shiratorizawa and Mujinazaka walked together beneath the stands, bowed to the spectators, and shouted in unison,
"Thank you for the match!"
From above, the spectators could only see the jersey numbers revealed as the boys bent forward. Every number was one they knew well.
"That was an amazing match!"
On Mujinazaka's side, a student-looking fan could not hold back anymore. He stood up, his eyes fixed brightly on Haruma Bishin among the team.
His words stirred the others up as well.
"Yeah, it really was amazing. You're all great kids."
"Hahahahaha, I'll come watch your matches again next year! See you then!"
"You have to win next time!"
........
Countless words came from above, most of them from the spectators supporting Mujinazaka. Everyone could tell that this match had not been easy.
The Mujinazaka players froze. Then they looked at one another, and finally smiled at each other with reddened eyes.
Michiko stood at a distance near the coaches' bench and quietly let out a breath of relief. Sometimes she did worry that she had taught these kids to be too tough. After all, steel that was too rigid broke easily. No matter how tough these kids were, in the end, they were still just a group of teenage boys.
After the bow, Ushijima led everyone off the court.
The moment they stepped off, Tsutomu Goshiki came swarming over, fussing over everyone, bringing tea and water, acting like a complete suck-up.
Ryosuke covered his eyes, unable to look. It was just too much.
Tsutomu Goshiki did not think he was doing anything wrong at all. He was simply too happy. Just watching the match from the bench had already made his blood boil. He could not even imagine how happy he would be once he got to play himself.
And he had seen how hard everyone worked. Since he was sitting on the bench, he should do whatever he could to help. He did not find that embarrassing. On the contrary, Tsutomu Goshiki felt happy that he could be useful to everyone.
Right now, he was like a little honeybee, buzzing around so busily he could barely stop.
Ryosuke was starting to feel dizzy from Tsutomu Goshiki circling around him. Seeing this, Ushijima reached out and pressed down on Tsutomu Goshiki, who was still running around, signaling for him to quiet down.
Coach Washijō slowly paced over to everyone, looking as if he had something to say. Everyone immediately stopped messing around and obediently lined up together.
"How do you think you played this match?"
Coach Washijō's sharp gaze swept over every person there, and everyone's heart gave a little jolt. This was the kind of question they feared most from Coach Washijō. They had no idea how to answer.
Kawanishi rubbed his hair and fell silent. Ryosuke also hid behind Ushijima without making a sound. The rest were all seasoned enough to know better, so naturally, no one spoke at a time like this. The atmosphere instantly went quiet, as if even the air had stopped moving. It felt a little eerie.
Only Tsutomu Goshiki did not understand why everyone was silent. He looked at Coach Washijō very seriously, then prepared to answer.
"I think we played really well in the second set."
Coach Washijō raised an eyebrow at Tsutomu Goshiki, signaling for him to continue.
After receiving silent permission, Tsutomu Goshiki went on.
"The first set was all effort with little reward. There was no need to go head-to-head with Mujinazaka. When the other side has a similar lineup and about the same technical level as us, there's no reason to keep the starting formation from the opening set.
"Tendo-senpai and Reon-senpai could block while covering Ryosuke as a scoring option. Shirabu-senpai would have a choice between Ryosuke and Ushijima-senpai. Reon-senpai could fully support the team's floor defense through a rally, and Yamagata-senpai only needs to make sure no ball drops. That way, the awkward situation where both teams have the same formation and the same setup would improve a little."
His words were firm and clear, and everyone could not help looking at him, especially Reon, who had watched Tsutomu Goshiki grow. The pride in his eyes was almost spilling over.
Coach Washijō had originally only asked casually, planning to give a routine comment and then dismiss them. He had not expected Tsutomu Goshiki to bring him such a pleasant surprise. This kid was much calmer when sitting off the court. He even had the spare attention to analyze the match. Whether he could keep that level of reason once he actually went on court was another matter.
Not bad. First-rate game awareness.
That was Coach Washijō's evaluation of Tsutomu Goshiki in his heart. Of course, that did not mean the players who had been on court had not thought of it. They had simply wanted to clash head-on with Mujinazaka, and Mujinazaka had happened to think the same way.
In the end, Coach Washijō was the one who could not stand watching anymore. The constant back-and-forth annoyed him, so he sent Kawanishi in.
"Well said. I hope when you go on court tomorrow, you can stay as rational as you are now."
Hearing Coach Washijō say that, Tsutomu Goshiki's eyes lit up. He had heard Coach Washijō say "go on court tomorrow," and Coach Washijō always kept his word.
At that thought, Tsutomu Goshiki's eyes burst with astonishing brightness.
After saying that, Coach Washijō was clearly in a better mood, so he simply said nothing more and let them off.
"Not bad, Tsutomu Goshiki. Have you been secretly studying behind our backs?"
Kawanishi smiled as he held Tsutomu Goshiki's face and turned it from side to side, full of amazement.
"Senpai... don't pinch my face..."
Tsutomu Goshiki's cheeks puffed out from Kawanishi's pinching, and he slapped Kawanishi's arm in protest.
At that moment, the Mujinazaka players had also packed their bags and were leaving. When they passed by Shiratorizawa's area, Kiryū told everyone to wait for him, then walked over to Ushijima to say goodbye.
"Ushijima, goodbye. Even though we lost to you this time, we at Mujinazaka won't give up. One day, we'll beat you."
Hearing Kiryū's words, Ushijima looked at him very seriously.
"Kiryū, I'll be waiting for you on the court ahead. Make sure you catch up."
The two looked at each other like that, then smiled.
Only then did Kiryū wave goodbye to Ushijima. Ushijima watched Kiryū's back without saying anything. He knew that no matter how difficult the road ahead was, Kiryū would still catch up.
Once everything at the end of the match was mostly settled, Ushijima led the group out in a grand procession.
When they walked out of the venue, everyone saw Shiratorizawa come out and turned their eyes toward them.
Many of them had just come out of the venue too and had watched that match, so naturally, their gazes followed the Shiratorizawa players.
Ryosuke was mixed in with the Shiratorizawa crowd, still holding his phone. Being watched by strangers made him uncomfortable all over. It felt like X-rays were piercing straight through him.
From behind, Ryosuke could only see Ushijima's broad back at the very front, so he jogged forward a few steps.
"Ushijima-senpai, the match at Itachiyama isn't over yet. Do you want to go watch it together?"
Just as Ushijima opened his mouth to speak, Tendo had already leaned in and wrapped an arm around Ryosuke's neck.
Half joking and half serious, he spoke with his warm breath brushing against Ryosuke's neck and ear, making Ryosuke shrink back slightly at the sensitivity.
Then, leaning against Tendo's arm, Ryosuke tilted his head and looked at him.
"Tendo-senpai is coming too? But the team doctor just said you should go see him after the match. Your arm still hasn't been treated."
Tendo choked. He had known he was forgetting something. So that was it.
"It's fine. Let's go watch the match together. You think a tiny injury like this is going to kill me?"
Tendo raised an eyebrow at Ryosuke, and Ryosuke simply shrugged.
"Fine, but if Coach Saito comes looking for you later, don't run away at the last second."
Tendo choked again, then silently clutched his poor little heart. How had this kid started talking like this? Every sentence went straight for the weak spot.
Even Ushijima could not help smiling faintly. Tendo really did seem afraid of the team doctor. Even when Coach ordered extra practice, Ushijima had never seen Tendo act this timid.
That said, in the end, the whole group went to Itachiyama's side together.
Originally, Ushijima and the others had planned to go with just the three of them, but unexpectedly, the rest of the group also came along to watch the match today.
In past years, after matches ended, everyone would go off and do their own thing. It was rare for the whole group to move together like this.
The group chatted and laughed as they headed to the auxiliary venue where Itachiyama was playing. Before they even entered, they could already hear the cheers inside.
The moment Tsutomu Goshiki heard the cheering, he got so excited that he wanted to rush straight to the door, but Reon grabbed him by the collar.
Tsutomu Goshiki did not understand and turned back to look at Reon in confusion.
"What's wrong?"
Reon held onto Tsutomu Goshiki's collar, then turned back to the others and said,
"Let's use the back door. It's not very appropriate to go in wearing our training uniforms."
Hearing that, everyone looked down at their clothes and immediately understood.
With Shiratorizawa's current reputation, if all of them showed up at Itachiyama's side in team uniforms to watch the match, there was no telling what the reporters or magazines might turn it into.
Tsutomu Goshiki realized it too. He scratched his head and followed behind Reon.
The group went around and slipped in through the back door, not even daring to raise their heads, afraid someone might notice them.
A group of heaven's favorites now looked so guilty they might as well have been thieves.
Ryosuke tugged at Tendo's sleeve, then whispered,
"Tendo-senpai, bend down. Don't let anyone see you."
Tendo stumbled slightly from Ryosuke's pull, then obediently bent down.
The group entered through the back door and secretly made their way to the very top of the stands to watch the match.
"What set is this?"
Kawanishi casually asked the boy beside him, who was holding an Itachiyama cheering stick.
The boy turned back when he heard the question, then suddenly realized the person asking was wearing Shiratorizawa's uniform. His face filled with shock, and he opened his mouth, about to shout.
Kawanishi reacted quickly, covering the boy's mouth with his hand and shaking his head at him.
The boy nodded repeatedly, his eyes sparkling as he looked at all of them.
Noticing that everyone was looking at him, the boy finally lowered his voice and explained the match to them.
"It's the second set right now. Itachiyama lost the first set, but they're leading for now in the second."
The boy did not know which team the Shiratorizawa players had come to support, but he personally liked Itachiyama, so he only talked about Itachiyama.
Inubushi Higashi was indeed a very strong floor-defense team, but he still liked Itachiyama more.
After listening, Kawanishi nodded in understanding, thanked him, then turned back to exchange information with everyone.
Ryosuke looked stunned after hearing it.
"Itachiyama didn't take the first set?"
That should not be possible. He knew how strong Itachiyama's overall ability was. They usually only ran into troublesome teams around the semifinals. What was going on?
After hearing what Kawanishi said, everyone fell silent and turned to watch the match seriously.
The current score on court was 25-24.
It was already set point, but the two teams were still locked in a back-and-forth struggle. From the look of things, there was a good chance this set might be dragged into the thirties.
Just then, the commentator's voice rang out over the broadcast.
"Inubushi Higashi's Setter combines with the Wing Spiker for a back set! The Wing Spiker attacks with his left hand! Itachiyama's two blocking middle blockers can't shut it down. One touch!"
When the Shiratorizawa players heard that, they all looked at Ushijima in perfect unison.
The words "left-handed Wing Spiker" struck deep into Shiratorizawa's instincts.
Ushijima also looked back at everyone, then turned to watch the match again with a very serious expression.
Inubushi Higashi's Setter was a third-year. The Wing Spiker on their team could be said to have been personally brought up by him. Back when this Wing Spiker was still in junior high, that Setter had already set his sights on him, thinking he was a promising seedling, then found a way to lure him to Inubushi Higashi.
As it turned out, the kid really was a genius. In just one semester, he had led everyone all the way to the national tournament.
Koya Hayakawa saw his senpai's set, and he also saw Nishio and Kishimoto blocking on the other side of the net. The two 1.8-meter middle blockers stood at the net like a wall.
After seeing that, Koya Hayakawa quietly switched his spiking hand from his left to his right in midair, then sharply hit a block-out.
"Bang!"
Kishimoto and Nishio jumped, their hands sweeping out like windshield wipers as they tried to block the ball.
But how could Koya Hayakawa let this ball be blocked so easily? As he spiked, his palm wrapped around the volleyball, then he turned his wrist and used a clever touch to send it through.
If that motion had been just a little slower, the Itachiyama players would have realized how familiar his wrist movement was. It was practically identical to Sakusa's wrist.
Nishio raised his palm, and the volleyball flew past his fingertips. Beside him, Kishimoto looked as if his teeth hurt.
Clearly, this was not the first time they had seen this move. This first-year from Inubushi Higashi using his left hand was bad enough, but he also had no sense of fair play and could attack with either hand. Although his technique was still a little immature, it was already troublesome enough.
The ball flew over, and Sakusa ran to the front court, ready at any moment to set for a spike.
Komori took a few steps back from the three-meter line, then crouched down.
With a bang, he received the ball.
Fortunately, Komori was there. He had been scrambling around in the back for the entire match. The two middle blockers really could not stop the other side's spikes.
Komori bumped the first pass up and sent it to Araki in position two, while Sakusa was currently in position three.
Araki saw the opposing blockers all rushing over. Besides the two middle blockers, one Wing Spiker had also come over, forming a three-man block.
Seeing this, Araki did not insist on making Sakusa spike. With all three blockers here, were they just abandoning the left side of their court?
Immediately, Araki pretended to combine with Sakusa for a quick attack, but in reality, he jumped a little slower, creating a timing difference. Then he back-set the ball to Fujino in position one.
Seeing this, Fujino took a few steps back for his approach, then smashed the ball over with a bang.
The three blockers on the other side realized they had been tricked as soon as they landed and hurriedly ran toward position one, but it was already too late. Fujino had already spiked the ball over. The opposing Libero had dove in too early, and Fujino could clearly see his receiving route, so he decisively avoided that path and scored directly.
"Beep----------"
...
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