Bang! Perhaps it was because his teammates' "reverse encouragement" actually worked like magic. Oikawa's first serve was not only flawless
Bang! Perhaps it was because his teammates' "reverse encouragement" actually worked like magic. Oikawa's first serve was not only flawless
Bang!
Perhaps it was because his teammates' "reverse encouragement" actually worked like magic. Oikawa's first serve was not only flawless but also showed his full strength. His lightning-fast serve slammed Shiratorizawa's Taichi Kawanishi to the ground, securing the first point smoothly.
"Nice!"
Oikawa pumped his fist excitedly, celebrating his brilliant opening serve.
"Great serve!"
"Bring on the next one!"
The atmosphere in Aoba Johsai was instantly energized by Oikawa's serve, and the players' faces lit up with smiles.
"Little Wakatoshi! This match will definitely be Aoba Johsai's victory! Get ready to taste defeat! Wahahaha—!"
Oikawa felt in top form today. Maybe he could finally redeem himself. With his hands on his hips, he began his usual routine of trash talk.
Faced with Oikawa's taunts, Wakatoshi Ushijima showed no sign of wavering, maintaining his usual cold and serious expression. His blunt reply was infuriating: "Noted. But Shiratorizawa will not lose."
Oikawa: (╬•̀皿•́)
As Aoba Johsai's longtime rival, Shiratorizawa was already familiar with Oikawa's terrifying serves. They were unfazed by conceding the first point. After a brief pep talk, they prepared to receive the second serve.
"It's so maddening how they're all so used to this!"
Oikawa stomped his foot, but didn't continue his verbal assault.
Shiratorizawa had gotten used to his serves, but they surely hadn't expected that Aoba Johsai had recruited two new freshmen who were serve monsters this year. Just thinking about the terrified expressions Shiratorizawa's players might show when facing the younger teammates' serves made Oikawa feel relaxed and he couldn't help but smirk wickedly.
"Damn Shiratorizawa. Hope this little surprise pleases you."
Oikawa served the second ball. Because he tossed it lower this time, the serve didn't blast straight to the sideline like the first. Instead, it barely grazed the net and slowly dropped in Shiratorizawa's front court.
Even Oikawa himself hadn't expected it to touch the net. The Shiratorizawa players, who were waiting for a powerful jump serve, didn't react in time. Their front row was a step late in rescuing the ball, and unfortunately, they lost the second point of the match.
"Phew~ Lucky~"
Oikawa wiped the cold sweat off his face and flashed a peace sign.
"Damn it, Oikawa! You were spacing out just now, weren't you!"
Iwaizumi, familiar with Oikawa's tendencies, judged that his serve just now was not serious. He almost rushed behind position one to give Oikawa a hard hit, but Matsukawa held him back just in time. Otherwise, Aoba Johsai would've received a yellow card right at the start of the match.
"Calm down, Iwaizumi. We can beat him up after the game!"
After the commotion, Oikawa continued serving. His third serve had a tricky angle, landing between Tsutomu Goshiki and Taichi Kawanishi. As a first-year freshman, Goshiki was still adjusting to Oikawa's serves. When he tried to receive the ball, he inadvertently blocked his teammate's movement.
"Very sorry!"
Goshiki bowed and apologized loudly for his mistake.
Seeing their player perform like this in the first set against Aoba Johsai, Shiratorizawa's coach Tanji Washijo suddenly stood up, furrowed his brows, and shouted angrily, "You idiots! Can't even receive a simple serve? Especially you, Goshiki! After the match, extra receive drills for you!"
Coach Washijo grumbled as he sat back down on the bench.
Compared to his anger, Aoba Johsai's coach Shinjo Irihata smiled with his eyes nearly closed and encouraged, "Keep up the offense! Keep scoring!"
It turned out that Oikawa couldn't handle too much praise. After receiving continuous compliments from the coach and teammates, his fourth serve flew directly out of bounds and almost smashed into the wall behind.
"Wow! Amazing! Home run!"
"Oikawa, you should switch to baseball. You'd probably do better than volleyball."
Oikawa, under Iwaizumi's cold glare, slunk back to position one.
Score: Aoba Johsai 3 : Shiratorizawa 1
Serve rotation. Kenjirō Shirabu served.
Shiratorizawa's setter was a boy with a gentle appearance and distinctive side bangs. His aura was weak and he wasn't outstanding even in a strong team like Shiratorizawa.
When it came to unremarkable setters, Yuma Kikuzawa first thought of Nekoma's Kozume Kenma, but the two had completely different styles.
[Kenjirō Shirabu, 16 years old, 174.8 cm, 64.4 kg, spike reach 305 cm, power 55, speed 73, stamina 73, intelligence 85, spiking 71, setting 78, serving 73, blocking 80, receiving 75] Overall 74
As a setter, Shirabu's intelligence and setting skills were lower than Kozume Kenma's. Unlike most setters who act as the "central hub," Shirabu was more of a "tool" dedicated to passing for Wakatoshi Ushijima. He neither needed nor showed personal skills.
Shirabu's serve flew to Aoba Johsai's backcourt and was received by Matsukawa. Iwaizumi and Kikuzawa simultaneously started their approach runs. Oikawa came to the net with both hands raised, ready to meet the incoming ball.
At the net's edge, Satori Tendo widened his eyes, observing Oikawa's movements. Would the first ball be passed to the ace… No, the ace was a trap!
In less than a second's thought, Tendo didn't follow Kazuyoshi Taira and Ushijima to intercept the fiercely charging Iwaizumi. Instead, he stayed put and jumped along with Kikuzawa.
Just as he expected, the volleyball passed over Iwaizumi's swung arm and flew toward Kikuzawa's side.
This ball… it's secured…!
Tendo stretched out his arm, preparing to meet the opposing silver-haired rookie's spike, but through the net, he suddenly saw the boy's face wear an inscrutable smile.
Under Tendo's incredulous gaze, Kikuzawa's figure rose higher and higher until his chin was above Tendo's head, and his striking point was far beyond Tendo's fully extended fingertips.
Bang!
An ultra-hand vertical spike.
When the ball hit the ground, it was still far from the diving arms of Taichi Kawanishi in the back row.
Beep—!
Aoba Johsai scored again.
Kikuzawa landed slowly and smiled as he locked eyes with the stunned Tendo on the opposite side of the net.
"Sorry, senpai, to block my spike you need at least a 330 cm spike reach."
Tendo's spike reach was 327 cm. In regular matches facing attackers with spike points around 330 cm, even if he couldn't block them outright, he could at least touch the ball and slow it down. Combined with his terrifying intuition, this often made him successful at the net.
But even a blocking prodigy like Tendo was helpless against a certain type of player: monsters like Wakatoshi Ushijima and Yuma Kikuzawa, who had spike reaches above 340 cm. If they couldn't touch the ball, no amount of anticipation would help.
Hearing Kikuzawa's words, Tendo paused, squinted his eyes, and smiled back, elongating his tone: "Eh~ Looks like Aoba Johsai got themselves one hell of a freshman this year~"
P.S.: Currently, Shiratorizawa has only Wakatoshi Ushijima and Kazuyoshi Taira with spike reaches over 330 cm, while Aoba Johsai has five: Oikawa, Matsukawa, Kindaichi, Kikuzawa, and Yuuki.
Pursuing absolute height and power, Shiratorizawa will lose in today's height battle.
Seeing Aoba Johsai's terrifying ultra-hand spike, Shiratorizawa's manager Saito accidentally dropped his scorebook in panic and exclaimed, "Coach Washijo, Aoba Johsai's player jumped so high! His jumping ability alone can rival Ushijima, right?!"
Coach Tanji Washijo glanced at the immature Akira Saito and snapped angrily, "Didn't I tell you to carefully watch talented domestic players?! This guy was the ace of last year's national middle school champion team! I wrote it clearly in the files I gave you!"
Manager Saito shrank his neck, recalling the huge pile of DVDs and folders Washijo had handed him two months ago. He shuddered again. Too much… He gave up after only watching half…
He gathered his thoughts and cautiously asked, "Coach Washijo, if this freshman is so talented, why didn't we recruit him into Shiratorizawa in the first place?"
Normally, Washijo, a believer in "Simple is Best," would never pass up such a talented player. In fact, Shiratorizawa had sent an invitation to the Kikuzawa brothers.
"Because they rejected it!" Washijo sneered unhappily. "Both invitations to the Kikuzawa brothers were declined! I really don't understand why they gave up Shiratorizawa and chose Aoba Johsai instead!"
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