"Hey, junior, bullying the shorty again!?"
"This is our second match against you. Don't lose again."
Oikawa looked at Kageyama with obvious hostility in his tone. If they defeated Karasuno here, they would advance straight into the final. For them, that was something they absolutely had to fight for.
As long as they completely beat the people in front of them, they would get to clash with Shiratorizawa.
While Oikawa was speaking, his eyes suddenly caught Asahi, who had been standing toward the back of the team with a pale face the whole time. He didn't overlook him just because he seemed to be in bad shape.
Instead, he silently memorized what he looked like. Once the match started, he would have to carefully observe that guy's tendencies.
"Grand King!"
The moment Hinata saw Oikawa, he blurted out the nickname he had for him. As soon as the words came out, both Kageyama and Oikawa's expressions changed, and the two of them instantly felt awkward inside. What exactly was Hinata saying!?
"Don't underestimate us too much."
"We really did fight our way here."
"And we got Karasuno's ace back."
Tanaka couldn't help saying it out loud. Then he shoved Asahi right in front of Hank, and the two big guys ended up in an awkward hug right in front of everyone, making the atmosphere even more embarrassing for a moment.
"S-sorry, sorry!"
Asahi was like a startled cat, practically bristling all over as he quickly ran back into the middle of the team, his face full of embarrassment. He really was terrible at handling social situations.
Hank, on the other hand, stayed completely calm and wasn't affected at all by that little interruption.
"Alright, enough of that. Get ready for the match."
"No matter what the result is, we're giving it everything we've got!"
Daichi spoke up, then pushed the rest of Karasuno toward the court. As the two teams stepped onto the floor, the whole arena instantly came alive, and the fans around them immediately started waving the cheering sticks in their hands.
The atmosphere became lively in an instant. At the same time, the referees, who had been watching both teams the whole time, announced that the players could begin warming up.
The official match would begin in thirty minutes.
"The arena's really lively."
Ukai and Kiyoko were the last to come out. Following the referees' instructions, they took their seats on Karasuno's bench. Almost the moment she sat down, Kiyoko started waving in Hank's direction with a bright smile on her face.
"Damn it, Nishinoya, why is it so hot over here? This is seriously irritating!"
"We've got to go all out!"
"Yeah, this is the semifinal! Tanaka can't hold back at all now!"
The moment Tanaka and Nishinoya saw Kiyoko waving at Hank, the two of them practically turned into balls of fire and exploded with endless energy from head to toe.
Their reaction even made some of the nearby fans laugh.
"We won't lose to you this time."
"They've been working together for so long now. They're fully capable of standing on their own."
Ukai was completely calm inside. Karasuno had already truly begun to rise again. The labels of "Fallen Champions" and "the crows that can't fly" would be torn away by their own hands.
All that was left now was to watch how things unfolded.
"Hss!"
There wasn't much more pre-match conversation between the two sides. After seriously warming up, they quickly entered the official match. As the referees by the court blew their whistles, the starting players from both teams stepped onto the floor one after another.
Each of them took his position.
This was also the final bit of testing between the two teams.
"This time, we're definitely going to beat you!"
Hinata and Kageyama both locked their eyes on Hank, who was standing in front of them. After such a long period of coordinated training, and after working things out through their Round of 16 and quarterfinal matches, they had already developed a style of their own.
And now, with Asahi back, their team no longer lacked anything.
All they had to do was completely defeat Aoba Johsai and prove themselves!
"Send over a good serve, Tanaka!"
Nishinoya, wearing the libero uniform, shouted. The instant his words fell, the ball flew straight over the net and into Kunimi's hands in the back row. As the first pass went up, the entire team sprang into motion, and both teams instinctively focused all their attention on Hank at the same time.
These two teams had faced each other more than once before. Now that they were opponents again, both sides understood each other extremely well.
That was why everyone's attention naturally settled on Hank.
"Hank!"
After Oikawa tossed the ball up, Hank exploded off the ground. He cleanly cleared the block from both Kageyama and Asahi, and the ball slammed straight into Nishinoya's arms in the back row.
"How can this guy jump so high!?"
(End of Chapter)
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