Gulp~
"The Great King's serve!"
Hinata Shoyo couldn't help but swallow nervously as he watched Oikawa Tooru walk to the end line at position one, volleyball in hand.
The rest of the Karasuno team wore equally serious expressions.
After all, in their last practice match against Aoba Johsai, Oikawa only played briefly during the final set, but even then, his serves had left a deep impression on everyone.
Standing just outside the back line, Oikawa gently patted the ball, that ever-constant "friendly prince" smile still on his face.
"Little Tobio, let your senpai show you how it's done."
The ball rose lightly into the air.
Oikawa's serving motion was nearly identical to Kageyama Tobio, or rather, it was Kageyama who had modeled his serve after Oikawa's.
A faint background track seemed to rise,
Boom!
In the next instant, the volleyball shot out like a comet, cutting through the air over the net and streaking straight toward Karasuno's libero, Nishinoya Yuuu.
"Did he miss? He served straight at Nishinoya?"
Several players on Karasuno's bench raised their eyebrows at the sight.
Nishinoya's sharp eyes locked onto the flying ball, the spinning trajectory reflected in his pupils.
"A straight shot...? No, it's going to curve."
Thump!
With a quick step and a solid thud, Nishinoya shifted and received the serve with ease.
"Nice receive, Nishinoya-senpai!"
Kageyama called out as he swiftly moved into position. At the same time, Hinata had already leapt high into the air at the net.
Whoosh, Smack!
The ball flew out of Kageyama's hands, soaring across half the court in an instant, and Hinata slammed it home, with his eyes closed.
6–3.
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"Whoa, they actually received it?"
Oikawa scratched his head as he returned from beyond the baseline, clearly surprised.
"'Let me show you how it's done,' huh? Looked more like a tutorial on how to get received–" Hajime Iwaizumi quipped as he gave Oikawa a solid kick on the rear.
"Seriously, out of all the places you would have served to, why aim at the libero?"
"Well–" Oikawa shrugged with a grin, "I figured, take down the king, and the rest will follow. If we could shake their libero early on, the rest of the match would've gone much smoother. But wow... didn't expect their new libero to be that good."
Though he played it off with a chuckle, Oikawa was genuinely surprised.
He had targeted Nishinoya deliberately. With the speed and spin of his serve, most opponents, even if they saw it coming, struggled to receive it cleanly.
But for Nishinoya to handle it so perfectly on his first try? That was no ordinary libero
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"Nice receive, Nishinoya!"
Coach Ukai let out a small sigh of relief as the rally turned into a successful counterattack.
"Coach Ukai, was that a serve error by Oikawa?" Takeda Ittetsu, Karasuno's volleyball club advisor, asked curiously.
"No–" Ukai shook his head. "He was deliberately targeting Nishinoya. In a situation where Aoba Johsai is behind, if that serve had landed as an ace, it might've mentally shaken Nishinoya."
"If their libero had crumbled, the already mounting pressure from trailing in score would've intensified even further. And that kind of pressure, if not handled properly, could shatter the team's morale."
"That setter on the other side… really knows how to play mind games."
"Thankfully, Nishinoya held firm. Otherwise, this game might've started slipping out of our hands."
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"Things are looking a bit dicey..."
Back on the Karasuno bench, Oda Miki sighed as she eyed the formation on court.
"Huh? What do you mean 'dicey'? We just scored a point, didn't we?" First-year Yamaguchi Tadashi tilted his head, puzzled by her comment.
Miki glanced at him, then replied, "I mean our current rotation. After the recent rotation, the back row is now made up of Hinata, Kageyama, and Tanaka-senpai. None of them are particularly strong receivers. And the next server on Aoba Johsai's side is..."
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On the court,
After scoring the last point, Hinata rotated to the back row. Libero Nishinoya moved to the front and was subbed out for Tsukishima Kei.
Hinata served next, but the ball was weak and easily received by Aoba Johsai's back row.
Oikawa quickly set up the attack. After a simple screen, the ball soared to Akashi Asuka, who executed a perfect "time difference" spike, easily slipping past Karasuno's single blocker and scoring a clean point.
7–3.
After that point, Aoba Johsai rotated.
Akashi Asuka stepped up to position one.
"Akashi, give us a good one!"
"Don't you dare serve like that trash Oikawa did earlier, or I'll lose all respect for you!"
" Hey!!"
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"Oooohhh~~ It's finally happening! Miki was talking about this earlier, the crazy powerful serve!"
Seeing Akashi walk to the baseline, Hinata's eyes sparkled with excitement. He could hardly contain himself.
He'd been waiting for this moment for a long time.
Ever since Miki had warned him about Akashi Asuka's terrifying serves, Hinata had been itching to witness them firsthand, no, even better, to receive one himself.
And now, that chance has arrived.
Akashi held the ball at the baseline, calmly spinning it in his palm a few times before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. When he opened them again, his gaze was calm and serene.
In that instant,
All of Karasuno tensed.
Even though Akashi hadn't shown any overt intimidation, a sudden chill swept up their spines, freezing them in place.
"Watch out, here it comes–" Kageyama warned sharply.
On the opposite side of the net, Akashi tossed the ball into the air, his run-up gradually accelerating, then he jumped and swung his arm down in one fluid motion,
BOOM!
The thunderous sound of the strike echoed through the entire gym.
The volleyball paused midair for a split second, one side dented under the force of Akashi's palm. A shockwave burst around the ball like a ripple of white light. The yellow-and-blue sphere then rocketed forward like a bullet.
In a flash,
The ball disappeared from view.
Before the Karasuno players could even track its path, a loud THUMP rang out behind them.
The volleyball slammed into the court so hard it compressed into a half-sphere, then bounced high into the air.
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