As the whistle sounded, the score was tied once again.
Sakusa wiped the sweat from his forehead in disgust. The sticky feeling made him feel awful all over.
Seeing the situation from the stands, the Shiratorizawa group immediately started chattering.
"Where did this Inubushi Higashi come from? I've never heard of them before."
Yamagata rested his chin in his hand, clearly very interested in Inubushi Higashi.
Ryosuke looked at Koya Hayakawa, then turned back to look at Ushijima. Although both of them used their left hands, the two were not actually that similar.
Koya Hayakawa's style looked more like Kento from the national team. He was indeed more used to using his left hand, but sometimes he also used his right. He was the type who could attack with either hand.
But it was obvious that Koya Hayakawa's skills were still immature in every aspect. Right now, he could only rely on that alternating left-right style to win his team a sliver of opportunity. If he did not have that distinctive trait, then against Itachiyama, this match would already have ended in the second set.
The biggest difference between Ushijima and Hayakawa was that Ushijima never used those little tricks. His spikes were not something just anyone could block. In terms of power alone, Ushijima had already left Hayakawa several streets behind. And because Ushijima was left-handed, he did not spike with his right hand. If he had learned to spike with his right hand earlier, then all of this would have been old news to him.
Ryosuke looked worriedly at Sakusa on the court. Only after seeing that Sakusa's condition was not that bad did he relax. Omi-Omi always knew what he was doing. He still had to play a match against Shiratorizawa, so how could Inubushi Higashi possibly block his path?
Thinking that, Ryosuke looked left and right, then finally asked Tendo to help him borrow a cheering stick.
Tendo agreed with a cheerful smile on the surface, but the moment he turned around, he rolled his eyes wildly. His heart felt sour, and he was practically grinding his teeth.
Sakusa, you lucky bastard.
After borrowing the cheering stick, Ryosuke looked extremely excited. Several times, he wanted to stand up and shout encouragement like the other students, but he did not dare. Shouting himself hoarse for someone from the stands was something this little young master Ryosuke had never done before.
"Bang!"
On the court, Sakusa jumped, twisted his wrist, and spiked a cross-court shot. The opposing blockers tried to block it, but the volleyball's high-speed spin avoided them, leaving them to block empty air.
"Beep------------"
Itachiyama took the lead again.
Sakusa wiped the sweat from his forehead, then walked over to Komori with a dark expression to discuss things with him. More accurately, it was not a discussion. It was a notice.
"Komori, turn all their attacks into duds."
Komori looked surprised. Was Sakusa in a terrible mood today? The last time he had heard something like this was during their match against Fukurōdani last year.
After saying that, Sakusa did not even notice Komori's expression. He simply continued wiping his sweat with the hem of his shirt.
Only then did Komori suddenly understand. Kiyoomi's cleanliness issues were probably acting up again. And today's weather was hot and stuffy. He had been sweating nonstop since he stepped onto the court. The more his clothes were soaked with sweat, the more irritable Sakusa became. On top of that, Inubushi Higashi had been dragging the match out.
With Sakusa's temper, the fact that he had not already slammed the ball straight into the other side was impressive enough.
Sakusa walked back to the front of the net, then turned around and looked at his teammates. His eyes looked like they were about to kill someone.
"Finish this set quickly. Don't drag it out anymore."
Everyone caught by Sakusa's gaze felt their scalp go numb. For an instant, Araki even felt those words turn cold enough to make him instinctively clamp his legs together, then he nodded like a pecking chicken.
"Don't worry, don't worry. We'll finish them within five points."
Sakusa threw him a cutting glare, and Araki hurriedly changed his words.
"Three points. We'll finish it in three."
Only then was Sakusa satisfied.
The Inubushi Higashi players on the other side of the net also heard Itachiyama's conversation, and they were so angry their faces nearly twisted.
Were they really discussing strategy this arrogantly now? Talking it over right in front of their opponents without hiding it at all? Or did they simply not take them seriously?
When Sakusa turned back, one of the opposing Middle Blockers stared at him and snorted coldly.
"Finish it in three points? I'll make sure you can't finish it even in thirty. Just you wait."
The Setter covered his face and dragged him away. Their opponent was one of the top five Wing Spikers in the country. Provoking him to his face was probably not a great idea.
Sakusa did not care about any of that. He simply adjusted his condition and returned his focus to the match.
They had indeed lost the previous set. Itachiyama had made a common mistake for seeded teams. They had underestimated their opponent. Most importantly, that first-year Wing Spiker was genuinely annoying.
Attacking with both hands was one thing, but paired with the Setter, he used tips, fake spikes into real sets, spatial gaps, timing gaps, and every trick he could think of.
It had been a long time since Nishio had encountered a school with this kind of style. He had been run ragged. If he still had not held onto a little reason, Nishio would have lifted the net and gone straight over to fight him. With Nishio's temper, once he started acting recklessly, no one could stop him.
The match continued. It was now position one's serve, and the player standing in position one was Fujino. Fujino's specialty was a powerful jump serve. His jump serve was a little ordinary, but it carried a lot of force. If they wanted to take three straight points with serves, they would have to use some strategy.
Sakusa was still thinking about what kind of spike he should use to end this set when he heard a familiar voice by his ear. The voice was a little faint, as if it had come from far away, but Sakusa was far too familiar with it. He could pick it out accurately from a crowd of a hundred people.
He suddenly raised his head and looked toward the stands.
Ryosuke's breath caught, and his face instantly turned red.
Sakusa's gaze locked onto Ryosuke in the stands like a hook. Ryosuke met Sakusa's eyes, then stammered as he spoke again.
"Sakusa, go for it!"
In an instant, Sakusa broke into a smile, and his expression softened at once. He had not expected Ryosuke to come cheer him on. Shiratorizawa and Itachiyama's matches had overlapped today, so he had thought Ryosuke would not come.
Thinking that, Sakusa mouthed something from afar to Ryosuke in the stands. The corners of his lips curved up as he silently said,
"Wait for me."
Ryosuke clearly read Sakusa's lips, and his face flushed red all at once.
Tendo watched the two of them interact with a stiff expression, his face so dark it looked ready to drip water. What the hell was this? He was actually seducing Ryosuke! That male fox spirit!
The moment Sakusa turned back, his expression changed instantly. His gaze locked straight onto the Inubushi Higashi players, looking ready to move.
Everyone who witnessed Sakusa's entire change in expression looked blank. Sakusa could actually make a face like that? Was this some kind of ghost story?
While everyone's thoughts were running wild, the whistle for the serve sounded, and everyone's eyes returned to Fujino.
Fujino, holding the volleyball, felt uncomfortable all over from being stared at. His hand trembled, and he sent the ball out.
"Bang!"
The volleyball flew crookedly toward the other side.
Fujino's heart sank. It was over. It was over.
The opposing Libero looked at the ball suspiciously, his steps hesitant. Were Itachiyama's serves really at this level? A trick. It had to be a trick.
Thinking that, the Libero became even more convinced and slowly shuffled toward the front court.
His eyes stayed locked tightly on the volleyball. He still felt there had to be something strange about this ball.
In the end, the volleyball drifted slowly toward the net.
Both Fujino's and the Libero's hearts jumped into their throats.
Fujino was afraid the ball would not cross the net. If this serve really failed to get over, Sakusa would actually kill him.
The Libero's heart was also in his throat. At first, he had been worried this ball had some kind of trick to it, but now that he looked at it, this was purely a simple mistake. He quickly broke into a run toward the front court to receive it.
The Setter's eyebrow twitched hard. He had a bad feeling.
"Move, move!"
The Libero's voice came from behind him, and it was getting closer. The Setter's usually calm expression cracked for a moment. He turned sideways to give him space, all while cursing inwardly.
How could he make such a basic mistake? Was he trying to get himself killed? Just wait until the coach tore him apart after this.
The ball crossed the net and slowly dropped. The Libero and the Middle Blocker were both startled, and they dove for it at the same time.
"Bang!"
That was not the sound of the ball being received. It was the sound of the two of them crashing into each other.
The Middle Blocker had been preparing to receive the ball, only to turn and see the Libero. He had originally wanted to brake, but he had rushed in too hard. He could not stop. He simply could not stop.
After the two of them collided, the volleyball seemed to mock them, slowly dropping right beside the Libero's hand in front of their faces.
"Beep--------"
The expressions of the Inubushi Higashi players looked awful.
When Fujino saw it, he was completely stunned at first. Then he stared at the two people sprawled on the floor for a long time, unable to recover.
Then he suddenly turned around, his shoulders shaking as he secretly laughed.
The Shiratorizawa group in the stands also fell silent. They had just been praising Inubushi Higashi, only for them to make such a basic mistake right after. This school was pretty interesting too.
This point had basically been given to him by the opposing Libero. After laughing for a while, Fujino let out a long breath, moved his facial muscles, then held the volleyball and continued preparing to serve. But when he saw the opposing Libero's face, still marked red from the collision and staring at him with a serious expression, he still could not help the corner of his mouth from lifting slightly.
When the opposing Libero saw Fujino smile, his own expression twisted. This was a dark stain on his life! Why had he made that kind of mistake? From now on, he was going to be nailed to the pillar of shame. Ah, he hated this so much!
Fujino truly had no idea what the opposing Libero was thinking. If he knew, he would definitely burst out laughing again.
"Bang!" Fujino served the ball.
The opposing Libero clenched his teeth and adjusted his position with quick little steps. He was going to wash away his shame with this ball!
He bent at the waist, arms stretched forward. The volleyball was rushing straight toward his face, and he suddenly raised his arms.
"Bang!" The ball was received.
It flew high into the air, and Fujino also joined the attack. He swore he had just seen smugness and provocation in the opposing Libero's eyes.
Fujino: .......
The ball had been received. The Setter still remembered the mistake from the previous ball, and while adjusting the set, he even found time to glare at the Libero.
The Setter tried to use the fake spike into a real set again. This move had always worked before, but he suddenly realized, to his surprise, that the other side was no longer falling for it.
It was only when he caught sight of the cold gaze from the blocker across the net that he realized something was wrong.
But this situation did not allow him to think too much. If the fake spike into a real set would not work, then he would set it directly to Hayakawa.
The Setter jumped at the edge of the net and sent out a very steady long, flat, quick set.
Hayakawa knew as soon as he saw the ball that it was meant for him. The height of this ball matched his contact point.
He moved his slightly sore arm, took a few steps back for his approach, and jumped again to spike.
Nishio and Kishimoto moved to block once more.
Hayakawa gritted his teeth, swung his left hand, and slammed a hard line shot.
Nishio looked at him with a half-smile, then suddenly straightened his arm. The volleyball shot back into Inubushi Higashi's court as if it had smashed into a wall.
The Libero's reaction this time was unexpectedly quick. He rushed straight from the three-meter line toward the front court to receive it, sliding on his knees in an attempt to get the ball up. But the ball was falling too fast. Before the Libero could fly over, it had already hit the floor.
The Libero was a little dazed. It had not been like this just now. Throughout that entire previous set, whenever Hayakawa spiked, it would definitely...
At that moment, the Libero realized something was wrong and held his head as he tried to remember.
Definitely what? Score? No, that was not right. With Hayakawa's spiking frequency, more than sixty balls in one set, it was impossible for him to have scored only that many points.
"Beep----------"
The Setter's face instantly turned pale when he saw the ball hit the floor. He knew what was wrong now. Hayakawa had spiked so many balls, so where had all the rest gone? Had Itachiyama swallowed them?
His gaze landed on the panting Hayakawa, and the Setter's pupils shrank. Hayakawa was not usually like this. At the very least, he should not run out of strength until the second half of the third set. What was going on? They had fallen into a trap!
The Setter figured it out. So it had been a trap? Had they been playing them this whole time?
The Inubushi Higashi players on the court realized it, and so did everyone in the stands.
Yamagata scratched his hair.
"I knew it. I've received Sakusa's spikes before, and there are times when even I can't pick them up. Even Tendo might not be able to block him. How could those blockers from Inubushi Higashi possibly stop him?"
Hearing that, Ryosuke nodded with a serious face. He knew Omi-Omi definitely would not lose.
"Inubushi Higashi's Hayakawa spikes! It's blocked! Itachiyama's two Middle Blockers score another point. Just one more point, and the second set will be over!"
The Inubushi Higashi players instantly grew tense. If they lost the second set, the third set would not be so easy to play.
Fujino looked surprised. He had not expected to stand at the service line for this long. What an unexpected delight.
With that little secret joy in his heart, Fujino served again.
"Bang!" Just like before, the Libero received it.
The Libero bumped the ball up, then saw the Setter in front of the net and sent it directly to him.
At this moment, the Setter still chose Hayakawa. No matter how this set turned out, he had to test whether what he had just discovered was only his imagination.
Hayakawa saw the ball being sent to him and spiked it with unwavering determination. Although he was already a little tired, the moment he saw the volleyball flying toward him and the opposing block, he felt like he could do it again.
"Bang!" This time, only Araki was blocking. Nishio had just been marking the Setter.
Kishimoto's arm strength was still a little weaker than Nishio's. That ball smashed into Kishimoto's palm and forced his hand backward, sending the ball flying out. But since it also hit Araki's palm, some of the force was reduced.
"One touch!"
The volleyball flew into the backcourt, and Komori quickly bumped a first pass out.
Araki immediately moved into position to set. He had already seen the look in Sakusa's eyes. It meant he wanted Araki to set the ball to him.
So Araki made no attempt to hide it and sent a back set.
Seeing this, Sakusa swung his arms, took a few steps back, then began his approach and jumped.
...
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