The volleyball was sent up toward the net. Shirabu was already crouched beneath it, ready to set at any moment.
The instant he saw the ball approaching, he jumped without hesitation. Ushijima came running in from behind and lined up with Shirabu. All Shirabu had to do was raise his hands, and the ball would be sent straight to him.
The first set would undoubtedly go to Ushijima. That had always been Shiratorizawa's habit. Even though the team had changed, this particular tradition remained. As long as Ushijima was still their ace, he would always be the one to spike the first ball.
The Inarizaki players naturally saw through their intentions. Aran and Suna moved together to the spot where Ushijima was preparing to attack.
Ryosuke ran behind Reon, but when he spotted Suna, he froze for a moment.
Why did everyone on Inarizaki look alike? They all had fox-like eyes. How fascinating. No wonder people called Inarizaki the Fox Team.
During the national youth training camp, Ryosuke had heard Atsumu Miya talk about Suna. Atsumu often praised his blocking and said that a match between Ryosuke and Suna would definitely be worth watching.
With that thought in mind, Ryosuke continued moving while secretly observing Suna from the corner of his eye. He wanted to see exactly how skilled this blocker was to earn such high praise from Atsumu-senpai.
Ryosuke was not trying to compare himself to someone else. He was simply curious.
Ushijima jumped in front of the net, raising his left hand high. In the next instant, the volleyball arrived perfectly beneath his outstretched palm.
Aran and Suna jumped together, extending their arms over the net. Aran guarded against Ushijima's cross-court shot, while Suna kept his eyes fixed on Ushijima, determined to stop his powerful straight spike.
The wall of arms in front of him did not faze Ushijima. He aimed between them and slammed the ball down with all his strength.
"Bang!"
At that moment, Ryosuke noticed Suna's eyes shift ever so slightly. His left hand moved directly into the path of Ushijima's spike with astonishing precision.
Ushijima was slightly surprised.
He was actually willing to challenge the spike head-on. Impressive.
The volleyball crashed directly into Suna's palm.
"Bang!"
The impact was so loud that everyone wondered whether Suna's wrist might break.
Suna's expression did not change, but his left hand was straining against the ball. Even from where Ryosuke stood, he could see the veins bulging along Suna's arm.
The ball did not immediately break through his block. It remained pressed against his palm for a brief moment. Finally, as though Suna could no longer hold it back, his arm and hand tilted to the side.
The volleyball deflected off Suna's palm and struck the floor about a meter behind him. Michinari Akagi rushed over but failed to reach it in time. Atsumu Miya and Osamu Miya had been standing directly behind Suna, one on either side, but neither of them attempted to save the ball. Instead, they had simply watched the block unfold.
"BEEEEEP!"
"You two!"
Michinari Akagi stared at the ball on the floor and nearly choked with anger. Nothing irritated him more than players who could save a ball but chose not to.
The twins were a perfect example.
Seeing that Akagi was about to explode, Atsumu Miya quickly exchanged a glance with Osamu Miya. The two of them surrounded Michinari Akagi and hauled him away while speaking over one another.
"Come on, even if you'd made it there, you couldn't have saved that one."
"Exactly."
"And from where we were standing, if we'd dived for it, Aran would've stepped on us and killed us."
"Exactly."
Aran: ...
The twins continued talking as they dragged Akagi away. Even after they had moved some distance from the net, Ryosuke could still hear Akagi grumbling and cursing.
Suna stumbled when he landed. Aran reached out from behind to steady him, otherwise he would have fallen.
Aran turned toward him, and Suna raised his left hand for him to see. His palm was bright red and already looked painful. The area between his palm and wrist was beginning to bruise.
That spike had been brutal.
Aran clicked his tongue.
"It feels like Ushijima has improved again. That spike looked different from before."
Hoshiumi rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Hirugami heard him and reached out to vigorously ruffle Hoshiumi's hair, making his head sway back and forth.
"You and Bokuto have both improved. Why would Ushijima remain exactly the same?"
Hoshiumi had to admit that made sense. Everyone was improving, especially Ushijima. Every time they saw him, he seemed different from before.
"Get your hand off me!"
Hoshiumi shook his head and reached above himself, trying to swat Hirugami's hand away.
Hirugami chuckled and finally released him. No wonder Suwa enjoyed teasing Hoshiumi. His hair really did feel good.
"Ushijima-senpai, winning the serve after a single rally was so cool!"
Tsutomu Goshiki hovered around Ushijima with admiration written all over his face. In his eyes, the previous play had been incredibly impressive.
Ushijima-senpai had broken through the opposing block with a single spike and immediately ended their serving turn. It was exactly what he expected from him.
"That was a pretty good first point," Reon said as he approached.
Scoring immediately was certainly a positive sign. At the very least, it gave the team momentum.
"It's still too early to say that. We need to take this one step at a time," Ushijima added.
The group continued talking as they returned to their positions.
After scoring with his spike, Ushijima now walked toward the service line.
The moment Michinari Akagi saw Ushijima preparing to serve, his entire body tensed. Ushijima's serves were widely known to be difficult to receive. Akagi hoped he could adapt within three attempts, though even three was the most optimistic estimate he could make.
As Ushijima took his position and prepared to serve, a unified chant rose from behind Shiratorizawa.
"Shiratorizawa! Go!
Shiratorizawa! Go!"
Shiratorizawa's cheering was not as flashy as Inarizaki's. It was nothing more than a simple chant of the team's name, but it still sounded powerful and stirring.
Ushijima bounced the volleyball against the floor several times. Each heavy thud seemed to make Michinari Akagi's heart rise and fall with it.
Finally, Ushijima raised his arm and prepared to toss the ball.
The instant Shiratorizawa's supporters saw him begin his serve, they all fell silent, afraid that the slightest sound might distract him.
The contrast with Inarizaki was striking. Every time Atsumu Miya served, their cheering section was deafening, loud enough to shake the entire arena. Compared to them, Shiratorizawa seemed almost impossibly restrained.
Ushijima tossed the volleyball into the air with his right hand. He lowered his center of gravity slightly and began his approach, swinging his arm back.
In the blink of an eye, he was directly beneath the ball. He bent his knees and jumped.
Once he was airborne, the volleyball hung directly before him. Without hesitation, Ushijima extended his left hand and struck it with tremendous force.
"Bang!"
The resulting sound was deafening, as though it might burst everyone's eardrums.
Just hearing the impact made Michinari Akagi panic. The feeling lasted only for an instant before he immediately regained his focus.
His eyes remained fixed on the volleyball. As soon as he confirmed that it was headed toward the right side of the court, he sprinted after it without hesitation.
As he ran, he thought about how to receive it.
It was not that he had never handled a powerful jump serve before. Most players' serves, however, were completely different from Ushijima's. They could not even be compared. The power, spin, and trajectory were entirely different.
Ushijima's serve belonged in a category of its own.
That was how Akagi saw it. No two serves he produced were ever exactly alike.
That was also why so many players imitated the strongest competitors, yet no one attempted to imitate Ushijima.
Akagi raced after the ball while everyone else moved aside to clear his path.
The volleyball was about to land near the three-meter line. No one was there except Akagi, who was chasing it from behind.
Seeing the empty space ahead, Akagi lowered his center of gravity and dove forward.
"Bang!"
Akagi crashed onto the floor.
His palm slapped down directly over the ball's landing point.
The volleyball struck the back of his hand and bounced upward.
Atsumu Miya immediately rushed over to save it, but he could not catch up. The ball flew out of bounds just before he reached it.
"BEEEEEP!"
"Shiratorizawa opens the match with two consecutive points! Ushijima truly lives up to Shiratorizawa's reputation as the Champion. He has single-handedly set a fierce pace from the very beginning. Shiratorizawa now leads by two points. Let's see how Inarizaki responds!"
Coach Kurosu calmly took a sip of tea from below the court.
There was no need to rush. The match had only just begun. Even if they lost the first set, it would not necessarily be a bad thing. At the very least, the players could use it to understand Shiratorizawa's complete offensive and defensive systems.
Besides, Coach Kurosu had tremendous confidence in Michinari Akagi.
The boy's ability to learn was extraordinary. After watching only a handful of rallies involving Ushijima's serves and other liberos receiving them, he could already predict the ball's landing point accurately and react accordingly.
It probably would not take him long to receive one cleanly.
"Michinari Akagi is pretty impressive," Keiichiro Kanbayashi said, leaning back in his chair.
Michinari Akagi probably had little experience receiving Ushijima's serves. He had only encountered them during official matches, since Inarizaki rarely participated in the same training camps.
There had been nothing obviously wrong with his last attempt. For someone who had rarely faced powerful left-handed jump serves, either he had practiced them privately or he was genuinely gifted.
"He is impressive. He read the spin of that powerful left-handed jump serve immediately and reacted fast enough to reach it. The pass didn't look good, but with one more adjustment, he should be able to receive the next one cleanly," Yaku said seriously.
It appeared they had underestimated Inarizaki's libero.
"Ah, sorry! I'll definitely receive the next one!"
When he heard the whistle awarding the point, Michinari Akagi climbed to his feet in frustration.
Atsumu Miya waved a hand at him.
"You just need to be a little more precise. When you make the first pass, try to send it closer to the net."
Michinari Akagi nodded to show that he understood.
"Sometimes Akagi's ability to act immediately is honestly frightening," Aran whispered as he leaned closer to Ōmimi.
Ōmimi nodded in agreement.
Akagi's ability to take action was extraordinary. The moment he thought of something, he immediately tried it. More importantly, he usually succeeded after only a few attempts.
That was the most frightening part.
"Did he manage to catch up to your serve?" Reon asked in surprise as he returned to position with Ushijima.
Ushijima nodded without much reaction.
He had long known that there were many talented players in the world. Someone had merely managed to reach his serve. It was nothing remarkable.
During Shiratorizawa's practices, Ryosuke regularly received his serves, so Ushijima was already accustomed to it.
"The next serve may be returned," Ushijima said, holding the volleyball.
Reon nodded.
Ushijima was warning him that they needed to prepare for both offense and defense during the next rally.
Everyone returned to their positions. Ushijima stepped back to the service line and raised the ball again.
Once both teams were ready, the referee blew the whistle.
"BEEEEEP!"
The moment Michinari Akagi heard it, his body tensed once more. His eyes swept across Ushijima's movements like lasers.
The true difficulty of Ushijima's serve came from its unusual spin and power. If Akagi could account for those two elements perfectly, he would be able to control the ball.
Ushijima looked toward Michinari Akagi in the opposite backcourt, tossed the volleyball into the air, and began his approach once again.
He jumped sharply and raised his left hand.
Ushijima used roughly eighty percent of his strength on this serve, the same amount as before. The match had only just begun, so there was no need to use his full power yet.
"Bang!"
His left hand struck the volleyball, sending it spinning across the net.
"Whoa, can Ushijima jump that high now?"
Haruki Komi's eyes widened.
Something was different. Ushijima had not jumped like that the last time he saw him.
Fukurōdani and Shiratorizawa rarely met in official matches, so it was only after seeing Ushijima jump from the stands that they realized how high he could reach now.
It was astonishing that someone with such a powerful build could jump so high.
"I think Ryosuke mentioned that Ushijima changed his takeoff technique," Bokuto said, turning toward Haruki Komi.
Bokuto was not speaking quietly, so everyone nearby heard him.
They began thinking back to Ushijima's takeoff.
Now that they considered it, Ushijima seemed to have jumped from both feet. His landing had also been different from his usual one-footed landing.
They exchanged curious glances.
Michinari Akagi's gaze remained fixed on the volleyball. The instant Ushijima struck it, Akagi's feet were already moving.
Ushijima had swung his arm toward the left. As soon as Akagi saw that, he began running to the right.
The spin of a left-handed serve was different from that of a right-handed one.
The volleyball flew toward the right side of the court, near Position 3.
Atsumu Miya was standing there. When he saw the ball hurtling toward him, he quickly stepped aside and cleared its path.
...
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