BANG!
A thunderous spike echoed through the gym, leaving only a fading afterimage of the volleyball in the air. In the blink of an eye, it soared over the net and slammed down into the backcourt of Sanan High.
Their libero chased it desperately, but his footwork was a second too slow. He could only watch helplessly as the ball once again struck the court with a resounding thud.
3–0.
Less than two minutes into the match, Hajime Iwaizumi had already scored three points for Aoba Johsai, all from his serves.
Seeing Iwaizumi's fiery-hot serving streak today left the Karasuno crew and many spectators stunned.
But down on the court, Akashi Asuka watched coldly and couldn't help but sneer internally at Iwaizumi's behavior.
"Tch. Seriously? Two months without a single service point and now you're going all in on a soft team like this? You pick one unlucky sheep and start ripping off all its wool?"
Just look at those poor guys from Sanan. They were nearly shell-shocked.
Sanan's players were still standing on the court physically, but their vacant eyes said otherwise, their souls had already left the building.
Finally, on the fourth serve, Iwaizumi made a mistake, and Sanan managed to put one point on the board.
3–1.
Now it was Sanan's turn to serve. The server stepped stiffly into the service zone like a robot, every movement rigid and mechanical.
The serve floated gently through the air, just a basic underhand serve.
And the moment it landed on Aoba Johsai's side of the court, their back row players froze in disbelief.
It had been over three months.
Did anyone even remember what they had endured during those three months?
Every single match they played, without fail, it was jump serve, jump serve, jump serve, power jump serve, super high-speed jump serve, jump serve, jump serve, banana curve jump serve...
They were just high schoolers, for crying out loud! And yet for the past three months, not a single opponent had served something this… gentle.
It had been so long since anyone had received a serve like that, the moment it happened, Watari Shinji actually felt a sudden wave of emotion. His eyes nearly teared up.
Faced with this rare, nostalgic underhand serve, Watari first smoothed his hair, then straightened his collar, and finally strolled leisurely into position. He adjusted his stance carefully, preparing to receive the serve with grace and dignity...
Smack!
The ball was cleanly received by Iwaizumi.
Watari: "ヽ(゜Q.)ノ???"
Wait… where's my ball?
Where did my beautiful, precious underhand serve go?!
The first touch went straight to Oikawa Tooru.
He glanced at Sanan's defense and instantly spotted holes everywhere. No matter where he sent the ball, it looked like a guaranteed point.
But in the end, he chose to set it to Akashi Asuka.
Why? Simple.
He wanted to see just how much Akashi's spiking had changed now that the weights were off.
On the other side of the net, Sanan's middle blocker saw the high set and assumed it was a misplay. He braced himself for one last desperate attempt at blocking.
And then,
Suddenly, a towering shadow loomed over him.
He looked up instinctively, expecting maybe a trick play, only to see a massive figure soaring through the air like a superhero.
That giant silhouette raised his arm high in a perfect spiking motion. Sanan's blocker stretched his arms as far as they could go, trying to block the shot. But soon, he realized, at full stretch, his hands only reached as high as the attacker's upper arm.
The moment he noticed this,
His expression went from stunned to terrified.
"You've got to be kidding me, there's no way a high schooler can jump that high!"
BOOM!!!
Before the blocker could even react, the ball was struck with a deafening sound, like a meteor slamming into the earth. The impact was so close, he felt a ringing in his ears.
"Holy crap!"
"What the hell was that?! That's supposed to be a spike?!"
"Akashi actually powered up his spikes again? That's not a cannon anymore, that's a straight-up missile!"
The explosion of sound stunned not just the players from Sanan, but even Akashi's own teammates.
Oikawa, who was closest to Akashi at the moment of the spike, was especially shaken.
He had seen it clearly, the moment Akashi, now free from his weighted bandages, unleashed that spike.
It wasn't just the power that had increased, his arm swing was blazing fast, several times faster than before.
When his palm struck the ball, Oikawa could clearly see it deform from the force. The center caved in visibly.
Then a shockwave burst out, and the volleyball rocketed toward Sanan's side like a falling meteor.
Their libero didn't even flinch.
Even though he could see the ball clearly, his body couldn't keep up with his nerves. All he could do was watch helplessly as the spike slammed straight into his chest.
Thud!
There was a deep, solid whump as the ball struck. Then came the force of impact that knocked the libero off his feet, slamming him to the ground. A burning pain flared instantly across his chest.
"Hhhhsss!"
"Ahhh! That hurts!"
The libero cried out, and the referee immediately blew the whistle for an injury timeout.
Akashi, who had just landed from his jump, froze when he saw what happened.
"…Uh. Whoops."
That… was an accident. Honest.
He hadn't intended to spike toward the libero at all. But when he jumped, the sudden lightness in his arms from removing the weights had thrown off his aim. The explosive arm speed was new, and hard to control.
────────── ✦ ──────────
Shortly after, the results came in.
Sanan's libero was fine. Aside from some redness and swelling where the ball had struck, there were no serious injuries.
According to the medical staff, his dramatic reaction was most likely because he'd been scared out of his wits by that spike.
The match resumed.
But at this point, it wasn't just Sanan's players who were shaken. Even Aoba Johsai's own teammates were starting to look at Akashi Asuka... differently.
How to describe it?
They stared at him with a strange mix of fear, awe, admiration… and maybe just a little hero worship.
Which, honestly, Akashi kind of liked.
The only thing that felt a little off was… they weren't looking at him like he was a person anymore.
4–1.
Serve rotation, Aoba Johsai's turn again.
And this time, the server was none other than Oikawa Tooru.
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria