Chapter 87: An Unfinished Match
Everyone watched as the volleyball crashed thunderously to the ground, and for a moment they all couldn't help but pause their movements, slowly letting out a breath. The sound of Kageyama Tobio hitting the floor then suddenly jolted everyone awake, no longer immersed in this godlike back-and-forth tug-of-war.
They hurriedly rushed toward Sugawara Koshi, who had just gotten back up, beginning to check on Suga-san's condition.
Leading the charge was their coach, Ukai Keishin.
"Are you an idiot?!!"
"Was there any need to push yourself that hard for a ball like that?!"
"This is just an intrasquad practice match!"
"What if you had gotten injured?!"
"That was a dangerous move that could have caused serious harm!!!"
"Are you trying to make me deal with a major accident on my first day as acting coach?!!"
Ukai Keishin, who had just been preventing Takeda-sensei from stopping the match, had now transformed into a demon coach, angrily berating Sugawara Koshi, who had been checked and found to be fine.
Sugawara Koshi, feeling guilty, responded with an apologetic smile.
Sawamura Daichi and Azumane Asahi, along with other close friends, also came forward to express their displeasure—there better not be a next time for plays like that.
Second-year Tanaka Ryunosuke was moved to tears.
"Now that's a hot-blooded man! Sugawara-senpai!"
"So cool! Suga-san!"
Nishinoya Yuu also gave his heartfelt acknowledgment of how awesome it was.
"Too cool! Sugawara-senpai!"
"I want to have a moment like that happen to me too!!!!"
"Hinata, don't you dare try to copy me!!"
...
After confirming that Sugawara Koshi-senpai was alright, everyone began expressing their amazement at each other's incredible plays from that previous exchange.
Hinata Shoyo turned to Hoshino Masaru, who had been in the bench area and had seen everything most clearly, and asked:
"Hey, Masaru. If it were a ball that would crash into the wall like that, what would you do?"
Hoshino Masaru sighed.
"I knew you'd ask that."
After pausing, he still answered:
"I couldn't make a sacrificial pass like Sugawara-senpai did. My personality isn't the type that can throw myself 100% into volleyball."
"I also couldn't pull off moves like Kageyama's, which require exceptional ball sense and technique combined with superior physical ability." "If it were me, I'd probably just use one hand and try to hit it back as well as possible."
After hearing this, Hinata Shoyo looked completely disgusted.
"Hoshino!"
"What?!"
"You're such a weakling."
"Thousand Years of Death!"
Sugawara Koshi looked at the volleyball club members who had fallen back into their playful scuffling and smiled helplessly.
He turned to look at Kageyama Tobio.
"Kageyama, I have to admit, your physical ability and ball sense are truly overwhelming compared to mine."
Sugawara Koshi laughed self-deprecatingly.
"It really takes a genius to pull off moves like that."
"That's not true."
Kageyama Tobio shook his head upon hearing this and said seriously:
"Sugawara-senpai's pass was no worse than mine."
"The kind of pass that makes teammates want to give their all to score—I can't deliver passes like that."
Without getting caught up in who had the better pass, Sugawara Koshi had completely let go of the pressure from Kageyama Tobio after delivering that pass from Sawamura Daichi and getting Azumane Asahi's response.
"No matter what, I'll fight for the team in my own way."
...
Seeing that Sugawara Koshi hadn't sustained any injuries and that he had already scolded him, Ukai Keishin indicated they should continue the match—at least finish this set.
Shimada Makoto, seeing his team trailing by five points, brought out his specialty technique: the jump float serve.
But after taking three points, he was successfully defended against by Hoshino Masaru, who had adapted to the rhythm. If there was anything where the current Hoshino Masaru was stronger than Nishinoya Yuu in terms of libero duties, it was that Hoshino Masaru, who had made it to nationals, had experience facing many different styles of strong opponents.
Although middle school and high school were completely different levels in terms of ability, if he had encountered similar styles before, Hoshino Masaru could successfully defend against them once his steadily improving skills had properly adapted.
The match also came to a satisfying conclusion after everyone brought out their full strength.
The first-year team defeated the upperclassmen's team in the first set with their overwhelming offensive power.
But the upperclassmen's team, having figured out the first-years' situation, relied on teamwork and experience in the second set, focusing their attacks on the first-years' weak point, Yamaguchi Tadashi.
They successfully dragged the more talented first-year team into a purely technical battle where they could only rely on skill, and fought hard to claim victory in the second set.
After the second set finished, Ukai Keishin had basically understood each player's skill level and technical characteristics. So he directly called off the match without proceeding to a third set, announcing that club activities were over for the day and they could go home.
The Karasuno members also had their heart-to-heart session after the match, just like in the original story.
In truth, every single person at Karasuno was carefully feeling out how to get along with the others, doing their best to make the team atmosphere better.
***
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