Konoha didn't do anything else. He simply took his approach, and by the time he reached the net, he happened to be near Bokuto.
At that moment, Keiji Akaashi sent the ball over. Its direction was toward Bokuto. Konoha was one body length ahead of Bokuto, and the two of them happened to be lined up. Whether the ball was meant for him or not, Konoha jumped.
Across from him was Suwa. If this ball was for Konoha to spike, he would be ready to hit it. If it wasn't, then helping the ace split the block and draw some attention wasn't a bad thing either.
Seeing the volleyball fly toward Konoha, Suwa immediately jumped the moment Konoha moved.
Hakuba froze in place for a second, looking toward Bokuto, then toward Konoha. He was still hesitating over whether to focus on Bokuto or join Suwa in blocking Konoha.
Konoha's spike probably couldn't be stopped by one person. But then he thought about it another way. If one person couldn't block Konoha's spike, did that mean one person could block Bokuto's spike?
Once he thought of it like that, Hakuba's mind became much clearer. He stayed rooted in place, staring straight at Bokuto.
After Konoha jumped and swung his arm, he landed without touching the ball. At that moment, Suwa knew who the real spiker was.
He took one quick step and lined up beside Hakuba, blocking Bokuto's path.
When Konoha turned and saw that, his heart dropped.
Oh no. This is bad. If I'd known, I wouldn't have gotten so close to Bokuto. Now Suwa went straight over. A double block. Who knows if Bokuto can handle it?
Before Bokuto jumped, he had seen only Hakuba blocking him. After he jumped, Suwa suddenly appeared too.
Luckily, Bokuto hadn't been planning to spike toward Suwa. Otherwise, this ball would have been blocked outright.
Looking at the four arms in front of him, Bokuto thought about how to score this ball. A cross shot probably wouldn't work. Keiichiro Kanbayashi was already behind Hakuba with his arms open, waiting to receive.
Bokuto thought briefly, but couldn't find any useful solution. So he simply went with a powerful straight shot. When there were no tricks to use, pure power became the strongest finishing move.
His target was the space between Suwa's and Hakuba's arms.
He raised his right hand, gathering all his strength into his wrist. Then the force traveled through his wrist and into his palm as he struck the volleyball hard.
Hakuba and Suwa realized at the same time that Bokuto might be aiming straight between them. Without any prior signal, both of them moved their hands toward the middle, closing off the gap.
But Bokuto acted as if he didn't see it. So what if they blocked the path? He would spike it anyway.
"Bang!"
The volleyball slammed into their palms, spinning as if it were trying to drill through their hands and tear open a hole.
Their joined hands were forced apart by the impact.
After breaking through their hands, the volleyball shot toward the back of Kamomedai's court.
Keiichiro Kanbayashi had originally intended to receive a cross shot, because Bokuto hit cross shots most of the time. He hadn't expected this one to be a straight shot. Under normal circumstances, Bokuto usually hit cross shots. Why had he gone straight this time?
Keiichiro Kanbayashi's attempt to guess Bokuto's thoughts and predict his course was clearly impossible, because ordinary people really couldn't figure out how Bokuto's mind worked.
Keiichiro Kanbayashi ran toward the backcourt to receive, only to realize he couldn't catch up to this ball at all. It was too fast. It was different from Bokuto's previous spikes, much faster than a cross shot.
Seeing that the volleyball was about to hit the floor and that Keiichiro Kanbayashi still couldn't reach it, Inube appeared.
Everyone knew how fast Inube was. Inube rushed out from the right sideline to receive.
The moment everyone on Fukurōdani saw Inube move, a bad feeling rose in their hearts. If this ball was received and Kamomedai scored off it, then the match would be over.
Keiji Akaashi ran while keeping his eyes locked tightly on the volleyball. He was afraid that if he looked away for even a second, the ball would be received. If he looked away one more time, it might already be flying from Kamomedai's court back onto Fukurōdani's side. Keiji Akaashi was practically holding his breath.
Everyone off the court was also holding their breath as they watched this ball. Goshiki's face had turned dark red, and he almost suffocated himself. When he saw Ryosuke looking completely calm beside him, Goshiki immediately failed to understand.
He frantically shook Ryosuke by the shoulders.
"Why aren't you nervous? This is terrifying!"
Ryosuke was shaken dizzy, and in the end, Ushijima had to rescue him from Goshiki's hands.
Ryosuke held his spinning head. Goshiki had almost shaken his brain into paste.
"What's there to worry about? This match won't end like this. Captain Inube won't catch up to that ball either."
"Why?"
Goshiki asked curiously. Why was Ryosuke so sure that ball wouldn't be caught?
"Captain Inube only started moving after Bokuto-senpai spiked the ball. That ball was already faster than Bokuto-senpai's previous spikes. I calculated it. He can't catch up. Even if he does, he might not be able to receive it."
"But..."
Goshiki still wanted to ask something, but then he heard the volleyball hit the floor.
The bang pulled Goshiki's attention back again.
Goshiki's gaze returned to the court.
The situation on the court was exactly as Ryosuke had said.
Inube hadn't received the ball. He had dove and fallen onto the floor, and the volleyball had landed not far from him, bouncing loudly against the boards.
"Beep------------!"
The whistle sounded at that moment. The ball had scored. Everything had happened just as Ryosuke predicted.
Goshiki turned back to look at Ryosuke in amazement, admiration practically spilling from his eyes.
Ryosuke smiled at Goshiki, looking smug, like a proud, fussy cat.
"Fukurōdani's score was overtaken by Kamomedai, but in this rally, Fukurōdani's ace, Bokuto, worked together with Akaashi to produce a brilliant straight shot.
"Even Kamomedai's double block couldn't stop this ball. The libero and Kamomedai's captain both tried to receive, but neither of them could catch up. The point goes to Fukurōdani! Fukurōdani successfully ties the score. The current score is 24:24."
"Ah, I knew it."
Hoshiumi stomped his foot angrily.
"Knew what?"
Hakuba asked from the side.
"I knew they would definitely catch up."
Hakuba found that a little funny. If they didn't catch up, what else were they supposed to do, just wait for Kamomedai to end the match? Hoshiumi really did still have the temperament of a child.
"That last ball from Bokuto was seriously cool."
Seeing Bokuto successfully score, Konoha also relaxed. A mistake like the one just now absolutely wouldn't happen again.
Bokuto opened his mouth, about to shout "Hey, hey, hey!"
But Konoha covered his mouth. Meeting Bokuto's confused gaze, Konoha said,
"Let's celebrate after we win the match. That'll be way cooler."
Bokuto seriously thought over Konoha's words and realized he was right, so he settled down.
But that wasn't actually why Konoha stopped Bokuto from cheering. The main reason was that, out of the corner of his eye, he had noticed Coach Takuro's expression didn't look very good, so he covered Bokuto's mouth in time.
Whatever had put Coach Takuro in a bad mood, he was clearly in one, so Bokuto should say less for now. Better not to get on the coach's bad side.
The reason Coach Takuro's expression looked bad was that Aaron had just made a few sarcastic comments, so his face looked a little unpleasant.
Only after seeing Bokuto's nice spike did his expression soften a bit.
It had nothing to do with what Konoha had imagined.
No one knew what the coach was thinking. Bokuto, however, was already thinking about how to celebrate once the match ended. A backflip would definitely look cool. Bokuto had wanted to do one for ages, and he had decided he would celebrate that way after the match.
Fortunately, Bokuto hadn't told anyone about this idea. Otherwise, everyone would definitely work together to talk him out of it.
The serve went back to Fukurōdani again, and Coach Takuro unconsciously sat up straighter. Everything before this had been buildup. The real focus of the match was coming now.
This time, Fukurōdani's server was Washio.
Keiichiro Kanbayashi watched Washio walk to the service line, not daring to let his guard down for even a moment. Washio's strength couldn't be underestimated either. Both teams were now in match-point territory. From here on, it would come down to which side could endure longer.
Washio walked up to the service line, politely accepted the volleyball, and even thanked the ball boy.
He kept spinning the volleyball in his hands, then suddenly stopped at a certain moment, setting himself into a serving stance.
Seeing that, the referee blew the whistle.
"Beep------------!"
After hearing the whistle, Washio held the volleyball in front of his forehead and stayed silent for a moment.
Then he raised his head again and looked at Keiichiro Kanbayashi on Kamomedai's side.
Once he was ready, Washio tossed the volleyball up and began his approach. His gaze followed the ball as he bent his knees and jumped.
His arm was pulled tight, and he put all his strength into this serve.
Maybe it was because they had been on the same team for so long, but as Coach Takuro watched Washio jump, he actually thought he looked a little like Bokuto.
"Bang!"
His palm struck the volleyball hard, producing a thunderous sound.
Keiichiro Kanbayashi's expression turned serious. He ran toward the landing point he had predicted. Washio's serve had a very clear purpose.
It flew straight toward the backcourt. Even as the volleyball passed Keiichiro Kanbayashi, its speed didn't slow at all. It charged toward the line, and no one could tell whether it would land on the line or go out.
Keiichiro Kanbayashi didn't dare gamble on this ball. At a time like this, he couldn't let a single ball go.
Besides, it didn't look like it was going out. Keiichiro Kanbayashi trusted his judgment.
Washio's serve looked exactly like it was going to catch the line, so Keiichiro Kanbayashi retreated and ran.
Just as the volleyball was about to land, he dove onto the floor. One hand pressed against the ground to help adjust his distance, while the other reached out low to receive.
"Bang!"
The volleyball dropped, then bounced back up, beautifully returning to Kamomedai's court.
But Keiichiro Kanbayashi didn't feel good at all. That ball had slammed into his wrist bone. Now he felt like his wrist might break. It hurt like hell. That guy really hit hard. He must have put every bit of strength he had into it.
Keiichiro Kanbayashi struggled up from the floor, shook out his arm, and joined the movement again.
The volleyball flew toward Kazuyoshi Bessho. Kazuyoshi Bessho was still marveling at how good that first pass was, completely unaware of what Keiichiro Kanbayashi had paid to receive it.
As the volleyball flew toward Kazuyoshi Bessho, the others had already begun their approaches.
Hoshiumi and Suwa approached one after the other. When Inube saw them starting their approaches, he followed behind them as well. The three of them were planning a staggered attack.
In this situation, Fukurōdani's blockers were gathered together. The three people in front of them were all jumping from the same spot. One jumped up, then another appeared from behind.
Washio and Onaga kept their eyes firmly on everyone jumping, while Konoha watched both the jumpers and the direction Kazuyoshi Bessho was setting.
Kazuyoshi Bessho watched the staggered attack and was still considering who to send this ball to. In truth, he wanted to wait until Inube jumped before setting, not to Inube, but to the other side of the net.
If Inube understood Kazuyoshi Bessho's intention the instant he landed and quickly ran over to spike, this ball would be incredibly beautiful. But if Inube failed to understand what Kazuyoshi Bessho meant, the play might turn out rather ugly.
Kazuyoshi Bessho was still hesitating, his mind spinning nonstop. Then his gaze fell on Hakuba off to the side, and his thoughts started moving again.
Because everyone was involved in the attack, Hakuba had nowhere to block, so he had run over there to watch the opposing setter. His current position wasn't far from where Kazuyoshi Bessho wanted to set the ball for Inube.
That said, setting the ball over there for Hakuba to spike wouldn't be ideal either. Hakuba was watching Keiji Akaashi, and Keiji Akaashi was definitely watching Hakuba too. At that moment, as long as Inube glanced that way after landing, he would understand what was going on.
And if Inube didn't understand what Kazuyoshi Bessho meant, letting Hakuba spike this ball wouldn't be impossible either.
Kazuyoshi Bessho watched and waited for the right timing. The moment he saw Inube jump,
he set the ball over there in the instant just before Inube landed.
After Inube landed, he glanced that way and immediately realized the ball wasn't for Hakuba. A set for Hakuba wouldn't be made that obviously. If it had been for Hakuba, Kazuyoshi Bessho would have sent it over when Suwa jumped. This ball was for him.
Inube spent 0.01 seconds figuring that out, then another 0.01 seconds starting his approach.
When Hakuba heard the sound of the volleyball flying toward him, he froze for a moment, thinking the ball was meant for him. He instantly panicked a little. What was this? So sudden? They thought way too highly of him...
Then Hakuba's eyes suddenly widened as he saw a shadow following behind the volleyball.
Yes. A shadow.
Inube was running so fast that only an afterimage remained, passing by Hakuba like a gust of wind.
Hakuba's reaction was a beat too slow. Before he could even turn his head, he heard a bang. When he finally looked back, he saw Inube landing on the floor.
The volleyball had fallen on the opposite court. Haruki Komi was still diving and sliding across the floor, but the ball had already landed.
For a moment, Hakuba didn't know whether to be more amazed by Haruki Komi's reaction speed or Inube's speed.
"Beep--------------!"
Kamomedai scored again.