Atsumu Miya spotted Osamu Miya behind him and instinctively sent the ball his way.
The moment he heard the set, Osamu Miya emerged from behind Aran, backed up a few steps, and began his approach. He did not even need to look back to know exactly where the ball would go.
Part of that was thanks to Osamu Miya's keen awareness, but it might also have been because they were twins. They understood each other without a word.
The ball was set slightly behind position two near the net.
Ryosuke's view was currently blocked by Omimi. He could sense that someone might take advantage of the opening. Perhaps that was a genius's intuition. Even so, he could not tell who was about to spike because Omimi had completely obstructed his line of sight.
Omimi truly lived up to his status as a third year. With his wealth of experience, he used his positioning to block Ryosuke's view with ease.
Shiratorizawa's most important blocker had been neutralized. Attacking now gave Inarizaki a much better chance of scoring.
Osamu Miya jumped from behind position two. Ryosuke only noticed the movement behind Omimi after Osamu Miya was already in the air.
Osamu Miya had taken off, while Ryosuke had yet to adjust his position. It was already too late to block.
Ryosuke could not help panicking a little. He was worried Inarizaki would score, but even more than that, he was afraid he might make a mistake on this play.
As those thoughts raced through his mind, Ryosuke shifted sideways and took a huge step. He was still just short of Osamu Miya's hitting position, and Osamu Miya's right hand was already raised.
He was not going to make it in time.
Then he heard footsteps rushing up behind him. The sound immediately eased some of the tension in his chest.
Tsutomu Goshiki was charging in from the back.
Tsutomu Goshiki had begun his approach earlier, but because he had been farther back at the time, it had taken him a little longer to reach the net.
Tsutomu Goshiki arrived just in time, and the two jumped together.
Four arms now stood in front of Osamu Miya. He had heard how formidable Ryosuke's blocking was, so forcing the ball through with raw power was unlikely to work. Instead, Osamu Miya turned his attention to Tsutomu Goshiki.
Once he made his decision, Osamu Miya raised his right hand and aimed for Tsutomu Goshiki's arm.
Tsutomu Goshiki met Osamu Miya's gaze. Realizing the ball was coming at him, his heart tightened.
The instant their eyes met, Osamu Miya swung diagonally and drove a cross court spike toward the outside edge of Tsutomu Goshiki's arm.
"Thud!"
Ryosuke heard the ball slam into Tsutomu Goshiki's arm and winced on his behalf.
The impact jolted Tsutomu Goshiki's arm, knocking it uncontrollably to the side.
The ball was about to fall after his arm was forced aside when Ryosuke suddenly shouted.
"Keep your arm straight!"
His voice cracked through the air like thunder. Tsutomu Goshiki reflexively straightened his arm, then abruptly came back to his senses.
His arm had been knocked aside, but Ryosuke's shout made him straighten it again. The movement brought the ball back to a proper angle, sending it rebounding toward Ryosuke. Ryosuke, however, had no free hand with which to receive it.
The moment Ryosuke landed, he stepped forward to chase the ball.
"I've got it!"
Reon called out from beside him.
Ryosuke immediately stopped and refocused on the net. He planned to stay right where he was and prepare for the next block.
Reon managed to save the ball not far from Ryosuke.
"Unbelievable! On just the second ball he faced from Ushijima, Inarizaki's Suna managed to get a touch!
"The deflection forced Inarizaki to adjust, but Shiratorizawa still couldn't capitalize. Inarizaki's libero, Akagi, kept the ball alive, and Atsumu Miya combined with Osamu Miya for a back row attack from position two!
"Shiratorizawa's Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki put up a double block. Excellent! They get another touch!"
Not a single second of the match between Shiratorizawa and Inarizaki could be missed. Every moment had the potential to become a highlight, and looking away for even an instant might mean missing something spectacular.
"The players you've trained really do take after you in your younger days, Coach Washijō."
Coach Kurosu turned toward Washijō as he spoke from the sideline.
He was referring to what Ryosuke had just shouted. Kurosu knew that phrase all too well.
Back when Coach Washijō's temper had been worse, he would sit at the side of the court during every match and watch his players like a hawk. Whenever someone failed to maintain proper form while blocking or spiking, he would immediately shout:
"Keep your arms straight!"
Coach Washijō had also found Ryosuke's words strangely familiar. Once Coach Kurosu mentioned it, he finally remembered that he used to say the exact same thing all the time.
Thinking back to the way Ryosuke had shouted it, Washijō had to admit that the boy had looked surprisingly convincing.
That thought unexpectedly led him to imagine what Ryosuke might be like as a coach someday.
No. He could not think about that.
Absolutely not.
Coach Washijō could not picture Ryosuke as a coach at all.
The boy needed someone watching him every day just to make sure he ate properly. Imagining him becoming a coach, putting on a stern expression, and lecturing other people was enough to make Washijō want to laugh.
"It looks like everyone from Inarizaki is avoiding Ryosuke's blocks."
Bokuto watched the court with wide eyed fascination, as though he had discovered something entertaining.
Yaku rubbed his chin.
"Atsumu Miya probably told them something. Didn't he attend the National Youth Team camp with him? He must know that sending the ball Ryosuke's way is practically asking to be blocked for a point."
"Would they really believe everything Atsumu Miya says?"
Hirugami was curious. Did Atsumu Miya truly have that much credibility within the team?
In reality, they did know how strong Ryosuke's blocking was, but they had not heard it from Atsumu Miya. They had watched Shiratorizawa's match the previous day.
When Aran saw Ryosuke shut down Kiryū one on one, his face looked like he had just eaten shit.
It had been terrifying. Ryosuke had managed to block even a spike like that for a point. Facing such a blocker in an actual match would be a nightmare.
After watching Shiratorizawa's match, the Inarizaki players had silently reached the same conclusion. None of them would spike toward Ryosuke.
As a result, more than ten minutes had passed since the start of the match, and Ryosuke had yet to record a single kill block.
Ryosuke found the situation deeply unsatisfying. If they refused to spike toward him, how was he supposed to block anything?
No. He had to find some way to make them attack in his direction.
Most blockers thought, "Don't hit it toward me!"
Ryosuke stood at the opposite extreme.
His thoughts were closer to, "Why won't you hit it toward me?"
The Inarizaki players had no idea what was going through Ryosuke's head. Had they known, every one of them would probably have called him a freak.
Reon had kept the ball alive, but Osamu Miya's spike had rebounded at a difficult angle, making it hard for him to control the receive.
The ball flew up awkwardly and drifted off target.
When Shirabu saw Reon make the save, he rushed forward to adjust to the poor first touch.
Tsutomu Goshiki had followed Reon for several steps before suddenly realizing that Ryosuke's shout had completely startled him.
For an instant, he had honestly thought Coach Washijō was speaking directly beside his ear. His body had reacted before his mind could catch up, straightening his arm on pure instinct.
Even now, thinking back on it made Tsutomu Goshiki shudder.
Without Ryosuke's warning, they would have lost a ball that should have been blockable. Tsutomu Goshiki was genuinely grateful. Had Ryosuke not spoken up, Coach Washijō would have torn him apart after the match.
Shirabu reached the ball, jumped, and prepared to set.
Only Ryosuke and Ushijima were currently at the net.
Reon stared ahead, sensing that something was wrong.
Then it struck him.
They were missing someone.
Where was Tsutomu Goshiki?
Reon turned around and discovered that Tsutomu Goshiki had somehow followed right behind him like a little tail.
Tsutomu Goshiki noticed Reon looking at him and finally realized his mistake. He should not have followed Reon toward the back. He needed to move up front and join the attack.
With that thought, Tsutomu Goshiki began his approach toward the net. Once Shirabu saw him moving into position, he turned his attention back to the play.
Ushijima-senpai had been completely surrounded by Inarizaki's defense.
Suna, Aran, and Osamu Miya had formed a triple block. Judging by their positioning, they had no intention of giving Ushijima-senpai the slightest chance to score.
Shirabu had no choice but to consider someone else. However, aside from Ryosuke, no one else had been at the net. Tsutomu Goshiki had seemingly vanished.
Coach Washijō had given them clear instructions.
They were to leave the offense to Tsutomu Goshiki and Ushijima while avoiding sets to Ryosuke whenever possible. They needed their future opponents to believe Ryosuke was not much of a spiker. That deception would improve their chances in the matches ahead.
Shirabu had no intention of revealing Ryosuke's true ability yet.
This was only the quarterfinal. The farther they advanced, the harder their matches would become. They needed to keep Ryosuke's offense hidden in case it became necessary later.
In truth, almost every Shiratorizawa player had some kind of hidden weapon. Those were their trump cards. Revealing them now would allow the other schools to start devising counters as soon as this match ended.
Sometimes, volleyball was not merely a contest of skill. It was more like a battle.
Strategy, psychology, tactics, and player selection all had to be calculated carefully.
Besides, very few people knew that Ryosuke was an excellent spiker. Only his teammates and Mujinazaka, whom they had eliminated earlier, were aware of it.
The Shiratorizawa players were not worried that Wakatsu Kiryū and the others would spread that information. Doing so would be both disrespectful and unsporting, and they would never stoop to that.
When Shirabu had jumped to set the ball, he had not seen Tsutomu Goshiki. He had nearly sent it to Ushijima, but Ushijima was clearly not the best option at that moment.
Inarizaki's blockers were formidable. Suna had already managed to touch Ushijima's second attack. After a few more attempts, they might even manage to shut down one of his spikes completely.
Anything could happen, and there was certainly no shortage of geniuses at the IH tournament.
Tsutomu Goshiki circled out from behind Ryosuke, found an opening with no blocker in front of it, and jumped.
He was briefly surprised to see that the space across from him was completely empty.
The next moment, Shirabu's set flew toward Ryosuke's side of the net.
Coach Washijō's heart skipped a beat when he saw the ball heading in Ryosuke's direction.
His eyebrows twitched, but he quickly restrained himself. Shirabu was not foolish enough to expose a trump card like this in the first set.
Anyone who dared to reveal such a move this early would be rewarded with a one day trip to the punishment room.
Fortunately, everyone still had their wits about them.
The three players marking Ushijima realized they had been deceived when he jumped without attacking.
They immediately turned and rushed toward Ryosuke. All three moved together, looking almost like a wall sliding across the court.
Suna had seen the ball flying toward Ryosuke. He had never heard that Ryosuke could spike, but at that moment, he trusted what his own eyes were telling him.
When Suna reached Ryosuke with Aran and Osamu Miya, he froze again.
Ryosuke stood near the net and watched Suna rush toward him. Their eyes met, and Ryosuke stared back in complete bewilderment.
Unless Ryosuke was mistaken, Suna had just been preparing to block him.
Ryosuke was not mistaken.
Tsutomu Goshiki had started his approach slightly later than Shirabu released the set. As a result, Suna had not noticed him when he began moving toward Ryosuke.
"Huh?"
Seeing Ryosuke standing there empty handed, Suna fell silent.
"Over there!"
Aran shouted from behind Suna and continued running past him.
He had finally spotted Tsutomu Goshiki, but Tsutomu Goshiki was already in the air.
"Thud!"
Akagi dived in from the backcourt, but he remained one step behind the ball. Before he could reach the right position, Tsutomu Goshiki had already swung.
To keep Akagi from receiving it, Tsutomu Goshiki deliberately struck a short Cross Shot into the front court. He had gone to considerable trouble to place it perfectly.
"Fweeeeeet!"
Point!
Tsutomu Goshiki's Cross Shot secured the point.
"Nice work, Tsutomu Goshiki."
Reon looked at him with satisfaction.
Suna, on the other side, was in a far worse mood.
He had truly had enough.
Was Shiratorizawa's setter not supposed to be rigid and painfully straightforward? Why did Shirabu suddenly have scheme after scheme, like an old sow putting on one bra after another?
It was unbelievably irritating.
What an extravagant play. They had used Ushijima as bait, followed it with a feint toward Ryosuke, and only at the very end revealed that neither of them was the actual attacker.
With a single set, Shirabu had fooled all three Inarizaki blockers.
"Hahahahahaha!"
Tendo had been laughing so hard in the stands that he could no longer sit upright.
Coach Kurosu kept sending murderous looks in his direction.
Coach Washijō shot Tendo a warning glare.
He knew Tendo wanted to laugh, but could he at least show a little restraint? If someone threw a sack over his head and beat him up later, Washijō would be put in a very awkward position.
"Hmph. Shirabu never played like this before. Shiratorizawa didn't play like this either. How did they change so much?"
Oikawa rested his chin on his hand as he spoke.
As one of Shiratorizawa's longtime rivals, he was naturally among the first to notice how drastically the team had changed.
Shirabu's transformation was especially difficult for him to understand.
In previous matches, Shirabu had been so rigid and straightforward that nothing unexpected ever came from him. No wonder Oikawa found the change so surprising.
"Yeah. Now that Shirabu has changed, Shiratorizawa is even harder to deal with."
Iwaizumi nodded in agreement.
"Shirabu's decisions used to be extremely easy to read. You can still predict him now, but he has far more options. That makes shutting down the setter much less effective."
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
p-@-treon/GhostParser (40 Chapters Ahead)
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.