The whistle tore through the air.Piiiii!
Johzenji's captain tossed the ball so high it nearly vanished into the gym lights. FWOOOSH — the serve cut down like a falling guillotine, grazing the tape.
"Mine!" Nishinoya skidded forward — THUMP! — his forearms scooped the ball clean.Kageyama was already there, hands rising. Whip! The set was a perfect arc to Asahi.Asahi's spike BOOMED across the net, but Johzenji's blockers… didn't block. They jumped at random.The ball scraped a knee, popped up, and somehow, THWAP! came sailing back over.0–1.
"What was THAT?" Asahi muttered.Akira's eyes narrowed. "They're not blocking the ball. They're blocking logic."
Next serve — another missile. Karasuno absorbed it. Kageyama's toss became a laser to Hinata.Hinata exploded up — FWAP! The ball kissed the sideline so perfectly the line judge's flag wavered.1–1.
The next rally was a storm. Johzenji's setter didn't even look at his hitter, just chucked the ball backward. Their spiker leapt sideways midair like he was in a breakdance routine, CRACK! The ball slammed into Karasuno's court before anyone could process it.1–2.
Ukai's voice roared from the bench. "Quit staring! MOVE!"
Akira took the next receive himself — arms like stone, the ball floating perfectly to Kageyama. The set zipped to Hinata again — WHOOOSH! — Johzenji's blockers mistimed, and BANG! The ball punched the floor.2–2.
Johzenji countered with a back-row smash. Asahi's block was just a hair late.2–3.
Akira's grin sharpened. The next ball came his way, and he rose — so high the crowd seemed to inhale as one. THWACK! The spike thundered straight down at their libero's feet. No save.3–3.
"YES, Onii-chan! Show them the Holy Wall is also a Holy Cannon!" Izumi's voice cracked across the gym, making Oikawa glare sideways from the stands. "You cheer louder for him than for me…""Because he's winning," Izumi shot back without missing a beat.
Rally after rally, the score crept.WHAM! — Asahi through a double block. 4–3.BOOM! — Johzenji's setter tips with his elbow (??) and it lands. 4–4.FWOOOM! — Hinata's eyes-closed quick kills again. 5–4.Their libero returns with a soccer kick save that ricochets over. 5–5.
The tempo was pure whiplash. Every point felt like a brawl in midair.Tsukishima timed one perfectly — POK! right into the open corner. 6–5.Johzenji's ace followed with a spike so fast it whistled. 6–6.
Kageyama and Akira worked a fake — Kageyama's set went high, Akira leapt, and at the last split-second, he tapped it just past the fingers of the blockers.7–6.
The rallies spiraled into outright nonsense.Nishinoya dug while sliding backward. 8–6.Johzenji responded with a running jump float serve that thumped the back line. 8–7.
Akira and Hinata pulled a back-to-back quick and block combo — BANG! THUMP! — the crowd howled.9–7.
Their captain faked a set, spiked instead. 9–8.Asahi answered with a cross so heavy the net shuddered. 10–8.
Johzenji saved one with a diving pancake, then their middle spiker body-spun the ball in. 10–9.
Akira went up for the next block — BAM! straight down, and the gym vibrated with the impact.11–9.
Hinata screamed "YOSHHHAAAAA!" loud enough that Tanaka almost toppled over.
The scoreboard flashed — halfway into the set: Karasuno 12–9 Johzenji.
But the chaos wasn't slowing. If anything… the real madness was just beginning.