The volleyball flew high toward Atsumu Miya.
Atsumu Miya looked up at it. For a moment, it felt as though the ball's descent had slowed, and everything in his vision became crystal clear.
Atsumu Miya broke into a wide grin, the same carefree, delighted smile he always wore before a match.
Being able to play a match like this really was amazing.
The tiny black shape of the volleyball was reflected in his eyes as he shifted his feet, making subtle adjustments to his position.
Inarizaki was about to attack!
The PA system, which had been silent for quite a while, suddenly came back to life. Perhaps the commentator had been so absorbed in the match that he had forgotten to speak, because his voice sounded especially abrupt when it rang out.
"The ball is up! Ushijima's serve has been received! At this absolutely critical moment, they've managed to keep the ball alive! Can Inarizaki mount a counterattack here?!"
The moment the commentator spoke, the crowd grew even more excited.
Even spectators who didn't understand volleyball could tell that the match was approaching the moment that would decide everything. One after another, they craned their necks toward the court.
Whether they understood the game or not, everyone enjoyed watching a match with this kind of decisive atmosphere.
It was thrilling.
Atsumu Miya continued making tiny adjustments beneath the descending volleyball.
Just as the ball was about to come down, the Inarizaki players moved.
Those beginning their approaches started running, while the others prepared to jump.
Atsumu Miya bent his knees slightly.
Then he sprang into the air.
Osamu Miya and Aran charged ahead, serving as Inarizaki's main offensive threats.
Suna, meanwhile, remained constantly wary of the elusive Tendo.
This time, if Tendo wanted to keep him occupied, then so be it.
At the very least, Suna could draw one blocker away from whoever took the next spike.
As long as Tendo's attention stayed on him, he wouldn't be watching the attacker on the other side.
The rest of Shiratorizawa's blocking wasn't nearly as troublesome.
Osamu Miya ran toward position three.
Across from him, Reon stood like a mountain, ready to challenge him at the net.
Tsutomu Goshiki had originally been following behind Reon in his approach, but once he saw Reon move to block Osamu Miya, he stopped following.
Using two blockers on a single attacker wasn't worth it.
Besides, there was no guarantee Osamu Miya would even take the spike.
So Tsutomu Goshiki shifted his attention to Aran.
He moved to the net and marked him instead.
Now both of Inarizaki's primary attacking options were covered.
Even if Tsutomu Goshiki and Reon couldn't stuff the next spike outright, with their ability, they should at least be able to get a touch on it.
Atsumu Miya jumped from the back and prepared to set.
He saw that all of the main and backup attackers ahead of him were being marked.
Getting the set through wouldn't be a problem.
But getting the set through didn't necessarily mean they would score.
And Atsumu Miya wanted this point.
So who should he set?
His mind raced through the possibilities.
Then he saw Shinsuke Kita approaching from the back.
Atsumu Miya's eyes lit up as though he had just spotted a bowl of pork cutlet rice.
While running, Shinsuke Kita glanced back at Atsumu Miya.
He noticed Atsumu Miya watching him from the corner of his eye.
That was enough for Shinsuke Kita to understand.
There was a very good chance this ball was coming to him.
So Shinsuke Kita curved into a wide diagonal approach.
Shinsuke Kita was an extremely cautious person.
His volleyball was cautious too.
He had never been the type to act recklessly or take unnecessary risks.
In that sense, he was the complete opposite of Atsumu Miya.
But in this situation, Shinsuke Kita had to take a chance.
He chose the space between Reon and Tsutomu Goshiki.
He deliberately avoided attacking near Tendo.
In Shinsuke Kita's opinion, dealing with Tendo alone was probably harder than dealing with Reon and Tsutomu Goshiki together.
The moment Atsumu Miya saw Shinsuke Kita's approach, he sent the ball over.
He wasn't afraid of Shiratorizawa noticing.
He trusted Shinsuke Kita's ability.
Still, he couldn't make the play completely obvious.
So Atsumu Miya angled the set slightly toward Osamu Miya.
Osamu Miya couldn't see the ball approaching from behind him, but he still played along perfectly and jumped.
From Reon's position, he could see the volleyball coming from the back.
So when he saw Osamu Miya jump, he naturally assumed the set was meant for him.
The two of them jumped together.
By then, Shinsuke Kita had already reached the space beside Osamu Miya.
The moment Osamu Miya landed, Shinsuke Kita jumped.
The volleyball arrived at exactly the same time.
The placement was perfect.
All Shinsuke Kita had to do was jump, and the ball would be right there for him to hit.
Not even slightly off.
"That control is seriously terrifying."
Kazuyoshi Bessho clicked his tongue in admiration.
Hakuba heard him and teasingly nudged him with an elbow.
"You're saying that like you couldn't do it yourself."
Kazuyoshi Bessho grinned.
That was true enough.
But even so, seeing a set this precise still impressed him.
The volleyball reached Shinsuke Kita.
Without hesitation, he jumped and attacked.
Nobody reacted in time.
Not even Reon or Osamu Miya.
Before either of them fully realized what was happening, Shinsuke Kita swung his arm and smashed the volleyball down.
The ball passed so close to Osamu Miya that it practically grazed his ear.
"Bang!"
Reon and Osamu Miya turned their heads in perfect unison toward Shinsuke Kita.
Osamu Miya looked relieved.
Reon, on the other hand, was completely stunned.
When had this guy gotten there?
The instant the volleyball was driven downward, Reon reacted and reached out, trying to save it.
But Shinsuke Kita's attack had been too fast.
Reon simply didn't have enough time.
The volleyball was about to hit the floor.
Then Ushijima suddenly appeared.
He crouched slightly and reached out to dig the ball.
"Bang!"
The volleyball struck Ushijima's hand and bounced back into the air.
Ryosuke, watching from the sideline, stared with wide eyes.
"Even though this isn't the first time I've seen it, I still think Ushijima-senpai is amazing when he actually goes out of his way to receive a ball."
Ryosuke looked genuinely astonished as he spoke to Coach Washijō.
Coach Washijō lifted his chin, looking quite pleased.
"What's so surprising about that? Ushijima can do plenty of things."
Ryosuke wanted to ask more.
But the match was more important right now, so he turned back and focused on the court.
What Ryosuke found remarkable wasn't simply that Ushijima could receive.
It was that Ushijima had reacted so quickly and gone for the ball himself.
Normally, if a ball like that came down, Ushijima would simply stand where he was.
With everyone else on the court, there was usually no need for him to handle the receive.
But this situation was different.
He obviously couldn't just stand there.
And the attacker had been one of Ushijima's close friends.
Of course Ushijima was going to save it.
After the receive, the volleyball rose almost vertically along the net.
It floated directly above the front court.
In an instant, everyone's attention locked onto it.
As soon as the ball went up, Shinsuke Kita moved aside.
Contesting a ball directly above the net had never been his strength.
That meant Osamu Miya had to handle it.
Osamu Miya and Ushijima both jumped.
The volleyball reached the exact center above the net.
Four hands pressed against it at once.
Both sides pushed with everything they had.
If Shiratorizawa forced the ball down here and Inarizaki couldn't save it, then Inarizaki's run would end right here.
The moment Osamu Miya thought of that, his already exhausted body seemed to find another reserve of strength.
He didn't want to disappoint his seniors.
He still wanted to keep moving forward with everyone.
Osamu Miya suddenly pushed harder.
Veins bulged along his neck and arms.
His teeth clenched tightly, and even the corners of his eyes strained with the effort.
Ushijima looked at him in mild surprise.
Apparently, he hadn't expected Osamu Miya to unleash this much strength at such a critical moment.
It was genuinely unexpected.
And in that brief instant of surprise, Osamu Miya seized the opening.
He drove his arms forward again with another burst of strength.
Somehow, he forced the volleyball to twist free from Ushijima's hands.
The ball spun away and dropped toward Ushijima's feet.
Ushijima raised an eyebrow.
It seemed he really had underestimated Osamu Miya.
He hadn't expected him to still have this much left in him.
As the volleyball dropped from the net, Tsutomu Goshiki bent his knees and crouched down in place.
He dug the ball back up.
The instant Inarizaki saw the volleyball rise again, everyone went on high alert.
Shiratorizawa had kept it alive.
Now they had another chance to attack.
And this was Inarizaki's last chance!
Hearing the movement beside him, Ushijima immediately backed up to begin his approach.
By the time he reached the net, Tsutomu Goshiki's first pass had already gone up.
Alarm bells went off in Osamu Miya and Aran's heads.
They absolutely could not let this ball score.
Suna also realized how critical the situation had become.
He glanced toward Osamu Miya.
Then he turned his head and realized Tendo was no longer watching him.
Without hesitation, Suna sprinted toward Osamu Miya, determined to help stop this attack.
Ushijima had already begun his approach and jumped.
Osamu Miya and Aran quickly formed a double block.
Suna was still racing toward them.
Atsumu Miya was also running in from the backcourt.
Shinsuke Kita waited not far from Osamu Miya, ready to cover whatever came through.
Everything seemed to slow down.
Ushijima rose into the air and drew back his left hand.
At that same moment, Osamu Miya had only one thought.
They couldn't let Ushijima score.
And Ushijima was thinking something just as simple.
Score quickly.
End the match.
No one showed it openly, but Ushijima knew everyone's stamina was close to its limit.
This set needed to end.
"Bang!"
Ushijima put everything into the swing.
The power gathered in his left arm was nearly twice what he had used before.
He hammered the volleyball downward.
The impact rang loudly through the court as the ball crashed toward Osamu Miya and Aran's arms.
Osamu Miya's left hand and Aran's right hand both felt the crushing pressure at the same time.
The volleyball struck directly at the seam between their arms.
A massive force slammed into them.
For a moment, both players nearly lost control of their block.
Osamu Miya had just gone head-to-head with Ushijima by himself.
Surely the two of them together could stop one spike.
At least, that was what Aran thought.
Reality was much harsher.
Ushijima's spike was even more powerful than the last one.
And the force used in a spike was completely different from the force used in a joust at the net.
Even the way the power was generated was different.
The volleyball crashed through Osamu Miya and Aran's arms with overwhelming force.
"Bang!"
Like a cannonball, it blasted past their block and shot toward the backcourt.
Shinsuke Kita and Akagi saw it happen.
Both of them immediately took off running.
They had to catch this ball.
They both knew perfectly well what would happen if they failed.
The match would be over.
Akagi was slightly faster than Shinsuke Kita.
But Shinsuke Kita still followed.
If Akagi managed to dig the ball and something unexpected happened afterward with no one there to cover, they would regret it forever.
Akagi ran, breathing hard.
His legs felt as heavy as lead.
He didn't care.
All he wanted was to keep the ball alive.
He chased it deep into the backcourt.
The volleyball was already about to hit the ground, but Akagi still hadn't caught up.
There was only one option left.
A dive.
Akagi knew he had already reached the limit of his speed.
He stared at the ball in front of him, his gaze growing more determined.
Then he lunged forward.
Akagi dove and slid across the floor.
His positioning and angle were almost perfect.
As long as nothing unexpected happened before the ball landed, he should be able to reach it.
The angle of his dive was right.
The angle of the back of his hand was right.
The volleyball slowly descended.
Akagi watched it fall.
It was heading directly toward the back of his hand.
He cautiously began to relax.
Then, just before the volleyball made contact, its trajectory suddenly shifted.
It was almost as though the ball had eyes and deliberately avoided Akagi's hand.
Akagi's eyes widened.
His heart leaped into his throat.
Oh, shit!
The ball dropped beside his hand.
Akagi desperately tried to change the angle of his wrist.
Too late.
The volleyball fell straight to the floor beside him.
"Bang!"
Akagi froze on the court.
Still lying there, he tilted his head and stared blankly at the volleyball resting beside him.
A split second after the ball touched the floor, Shinsuke Kita dove in as well.
If Shinsuke Kita had been just a little faster, he could have saved it.
"Beep------------------!!"
The piercing whistle rang through the arena.
This time, that whistle meant only one thing.
The match was over.
After hearing it, Ushijima calmly turned toward Reon and the others.
Tsutomu Goshiki stood frozen for several seconds before finally understanding what the whistle meant.
He turned toward his teammates, mouth hanging open.
Then a teenager's excited scream rang through the entire arena.
"Aaaaaah!! We won! Reon-senpai! Ushijima-senpai! We won!"
Shirabu, standing closest to Tsutomu Goshiki, suffered the worst of it.
Tsutomu Goshiki's voice felt like it pierced straight through his eardrums.
For a moment, Shirabu genuinely couldn't hear anything.
He stared blankly at Tsutomu Goshiki, who was still screaming.
For one terrifying second, Shirabu thought he had actually gone deaf.
On Inarizaki's side, it was as though someone had pressed pause.
Everyone remained frozen for a second or two.
Osamu Miya was the first to recover.
He immediately jogged over and helped Shinsuke Kita up.
In that split second earlier, Osamu Miya thought he had seen Shinsuke Kita's knee slam hard against the floor when he dove.
The sight had scared him badly.
At that moment, the commentator's voice rang out, announcing the conclusion of the match.
But Osamu Miya barely heard it.
He anxiously asked,
"Kita-senpai, is your knee okay?"
Shinsuke Kita had been standing there with his head lowered, lost in thought.
When he heard Osamu Miya's voice, he looked up and smiled.
"I'm fine. I just bumped it a little."
After saying that, Shinsuke Kita sighed inwardly.
He felt as though his old bones had held everyone back.
If only he had been a little faster.
Shinsuke Kita wasn't a saint.
Sometimes he blamed himself.
Sometimes he felt sad.
But it seemed Osamu Miya was the only one who noticed.
...
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