The Date Tech gym was quiet at first — the kind of quiet that comes before a storm.Then, the sound of squeaky sneakers stopped, and the giant projector screen at the front lit up with a frozen image: Akira mid-air, hair silver in the light, eyes locked on the ball. The caption on the paused video read: "Chaos Derby — Set 2".
"Play it from the top," Futakuchi said, leaning forward in his chair. His eyes were sharp, but his mouth already curved into the faintest smirk.
On screen, Karasuno's players seemed to be everywhere at once — Hinata darting like a hyperactive comet, Akira floating in slow motion before hammering a spike, Noya diving in impossible arcs, Asahi sending spikes that made the Johzenji blockers flinch, and Tsukishima calmly shutting down key shots as if chaos was just another Tuesday.
A block of Johzenji's attack froze in frame again. A finger tapped the pause button."That," Aone rumbled in his deep, unhurried voice, "shouldn't work. But it did."The rest of the team stared. Aone rarely commented unless it was important.
Their coach crossed his arms, eyes narrowing. "They're not just playing random. Every so-called 'chaotic' move is built off an actual rotation pattern… but they bend it right before the critical point. Their unpredictability is planned.""Like a trap?" asked one of the first-years."Exactly," the coach said. "A trap that makes you think they're making mistakes, so you relax — and then they kill the rally."
Futakuchi leaned back, lacing his fingers behind his head. "So to beat them, we have to make their chaos predictable to us.""That," the coach said, "or shut it down at the source — their serve and first tempo."
The video played again, this time slowing as Akira took his serve. The ball whipped through the air, spinning like a blade. Johzenji's receive stumbled, and before they knew it Hinata and Akira had already finished a tandem quick attack. The replay zoomed in on Akira's grin as he landed."That guy's dangerous," Futakuchi muttered."His brother's Oikawa," someone whispered."Doesn't matter," Aone said simply. "He's Karasuno's ace now."
Meanwhile, over in Karasuno's own gym, the team was reliving the chaos — but in a much less tactical way.
"Look at Noya's dive here!" Hinata yelled, holding up his phone. "It's like he flew!""I always fly," Noya said proudly."You also slid into the water cooler," Tsukishima noted without looking up from his stretching band."Details," Noya waved off.
Akira lounged against the wall, sipping sports drink. "So, next up — Date Tech."Yamaguchi shuddered. "The Iron Wall."Ukai smirked from the doorway. "The Iron Wall… that's probably already watching our every move right now.""Let them watch," Akira said with a slow smile. "You can't build a wall tall enough to stop chaos from climbing it."
Later that night, the forums were buzzing again. A leaked clip from Date Tech's practice — showing them blocking against simulated Karasuno plays — was circulating. Comment sections exploded:— "We're getting CHAOS vs IRON WALL???"— "Miyagi high school volleyball is on another level this year."— "Aone vs Akira, I'm buying front row tickets."
Izumi was sprawled on the couch at home, scrolling through her phone while her brothers bickered in the kitchen over who got the last slice of pizza.She glanced at the trending page and grinned. "Hey, Akira, guess what's trending now?""What?" he called back."#WallvsChaos."Oikawa, on speakerphone, groaned from the other end. "Can't you all just play normal volleyball for once?""Normal is boring," Akira replied.Izumi's grin widened. "Besides… boring doesn't trend."
The prefecture's volleyball world had been shaken once by the Chaos Derby.Now, the hype was building again — but this time, everyone knew that the next match wouldn't just be unpredictable.It would be unstoppable force versus immovable object.