"Two kinds of serves?"
Whoosh!
Ukai Keishin shot up from his seat in shock. He stared at the court where Karasuno had just lost another point, and at Akashi Asuka, who remained in the serving zone without moving an inch. His eyes were filled with disbelief.
Mastering the technique of serving isn't hard. Perfecting it is.
Even among professional players, very few can truly master two different types of serves. It's not just a matter of talent, high school players only get so much training time. Developing even one solid serve takes effort; two is practically impossible without extra hours off the court.
Which left only one explanation: Akashi Asuka must be training even during his downtime.
As the saying goes: a talented opponent is scary. A hardworking opponent is scary. But someone who's both more talented and more hardworking than you? That's terrifying.
The score was now 7–3.
The point gap widened once again, and Akashi still held the serve.
"Haha… ha… Is this guy even human?"
Daichi Sawamura tried to force a smile to ease the team's tension, but no matter what he did, his lips wouldn't move. He just couldn't.
This was yet another curveball.
Throughout the Spring Tournament qualifiers, Akashi had never used a second serve. Even against Date Tech, he hadn't needed to show his true strength. Naturally, Karasuno had found no footage or clues in past match videos.
And then,
Akashi launched his third serve.
Even before the ball left his hand, Karasuno was already tense, they had no idea what kind of serve it would be.
BOOM!
With a deafening roar, a powerful jump serve exploded across the court, slamming straight into Karasuno's backline.
Nishinoya Yuu's eyes could just barely track it, but his body couldn't keep up. Before he could react, the ball smashed into the floor.
8–3.
Akashi Asuka had scored three points in a row.
Right then, the match entered its technical timeout under the best-of-five set rules.
Although honestly, if it hadn't, Ukai was already planning to call a timeout himself.
Still, not much changed.
When the timeout ended, Akashi's momentum cooled slightly. He managed one more assist off a serve before committing an error.
But by then, the score had shifted to 9–4.
A five-point lead.
Despite Karasuno's best efforts to fight back, they couldn't close the gap, and Aoba Johsai took the first set, 25–21.
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Karasuno Bench
Everyone drank water and tried to catch their breath. Their physical exhaustion eased, but mentally, the weight remained.
"Damn it… that guy's a monster," said Tanaka Ryunosuke, gripping his water bottle tightly, frustration written all over his face.
"We worked so hard… and it still feels just like last semester, like nothing's changed."
Last year, Karasuno was eliminated by Aoba Johsai. They came back this year burning for revenge, but barely into the match, reality had already smacked them hard.
"We have to find a way to shut down both Akashi and Oikawa. If we let either of them get going, the threat is just too big," Daichi proposed.
In the second half of the first set, Karasuno truly understood the difference between facing Seijoh and facing Shiratorizawa.
Against Shiratorizawa, all they needed was a strategy to stop Ushijima Wakatoshi.
But against Seijoh? They had at least two players they had to neutralize. Even if they shut down one, the other could still rack up points.
The suggestion made sense, but pulling it off? That was another matter entirely.
Ukai Keishin frowned deeply, a crease forming between his brows.
During the first set, he had carefully considered every possible countermeasure, and came up blank.
Why? Simple.
It takes three defenders to handle a national-level ace. But if they assigned three to stop Akashi, that left only three players to face Oikawa, who might as well be untouchable if that's all that stood in his way.
"No… we can't fight Seijoh with a defensive strategy."
Just then, Kageyama Tobio spoke up, cutting into Daichi's suggestion.
"Seijoh is nothing like Shiratorizawa. They're a complete team. Their offense, their defense, it's all been refined to near perfection."
"If we rely on pure fundamentals, we have almost no chance of winning. So to beat them, we have to use our strongest weapon."
Kageyama turned to look at Hinata Shoyo sitting beside him.
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The second set began.
This time, the serve rotation favored Karasuno, they would open the set with the ball.
And the first server?
None other than the best server on the team, Kageyama Tobio.
"Huh? Little Tobio is serving first?" Oikawa mused, rubbing his chin with interest. "What's he up to? Trying to score early and get a lead?"
There's an old saying: "People see others through the lens of their own hearts."
For Oikawa, this couldn't be more accurate.
While most people saw Karasuno's lineup shift and assumed it was just tactical rotation, Oikawa immediately suspected they were setting a trap.
"Watari-chan, Iwaizumi-chan, good luck! Try to receive Little Tobio's serve right off the bat!" he shouted at his teammates.
Hajime Iwaizumi: "..."
Watari Shinji: "..."
You spent all that time thinking and that's all you came up with?
Smack!
Before they could recover from their disappointment, Kageyama launched a blistering jump serve.
His serving had improved dramatically over time. It still didn't match Oikawa in speed, but his control was pinpoint accurate.
The first serve flew directly toward the front row, right at Akashi Asuka.
"Huh?"
Akashi was briefly surprised by the target, but he reacted instantly, managing to receive the ball cleanly.
However, because of his shifted balance, he couldn't quickly follow up. Oikawa was forced to pass the ball to Kindaichi for the attack.
It didn't score.
Karasuno regained control, and in the very next play, Kageyama and Hinata executed their classic "Monster Quick".
The move caught Seijoh off guard.
Karasuno scored the first point.
0–1.
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria