JSWGAS Chapter 106

“Go go Aoba Johsai! Go go Kokonoe! One more point!”

Kokonoe took a spare ball from the staff next to him and slowly retreated to the boundary line. The volleyball in his hand was lighter than a basketball, so he had to be careful in choosing the right amount of force.

Serving wasn’t about using as much power as possible, he thought. How to get infinitely close to the critical point it could withstand, while still being powerful and without serving out of bounds—that was the really interesting challenge.

The cheerleaders on both sides had politely quieted down when the referee’s whistle blew for the serve. Kokonoe’s eyes jumped from position six to position five, and finally, he looked up to meet Ushijima Wakatoshi’s eyes in front of the net.

He tossed the ball upwards.

All his thoughts were concentrated in this one serve. Although the server’s expression was indifferent, this serve was clearly arrogant and urgent when it came. Gravity pushed the volleyball forward, stirring up the air and colliding with the libero’s outstretched arms.

“His arms are definitely going to break, right? Shouldn’t we call an ambulance…?”

Worried whispers rose from the audience, from several girls who had never been exposed to volleyball. Beside them, a person wearing a baseball cap and mask nodded silently in empathy.

At this moment, the libero, gritting his teeth, felt the potential energy gradually subside. He staggered, this time his arms angled even more violently, and the ball was deflected to a position next to position five. Coach Washijo on the sidelines clicked his tongue loudly, full of the meaning of ‘I’ll make you practice until you die when you get back.’ Fortunately, Ōhira Reon lunged to the side in time and dug up the ball. The first pass and the set were disrupted, but Shiratorizawa still had possession.

“Sorry, I’ll make up for it!”

Ushijima started his approach and jumped.

The position of the ball wasn’t very good, but Ushijima’s jumping posture was still perfect. In the half-second he was in the air, he had enough time to see the defensive line on the other side: the front-row block blocked the line shot, and the libero was already in position on the cross-court shot…

Ushijima didn’t hesitate and decisively swung his arm to intercept. The ball aimed at Miyano’s arm gap and crashed through, his expression fierce. Gue’s subsequent dive to the side only barely cushioned the force, and the volleyball bounced up again after being deflected. He was also grimacing from the impact.

“A powerful spike from Ushijima…” The commentator’s voice was cut off as if the microphone had been muted.

A figure flashed from the back row on the other side, appearing at the spot where the volleyball was about to land as if he had foreseen it. Fast and silent, the large stride made his leg muscles tense as if they were hard steel. His center of gravity sank to the extreme, and his line of sight was almost level with the ground—after unloading the gravity, the remaining rotation wasn’t too difficult to handle.

“Amazing core strength and balance! He saved it!” The commentator praised in a rapid voice.

The falling volleyball rose high again.

“Nice ball!”

“Good save, Kokonoe!”

The sudden cheers from the sidelines didn’t drown out Kokonoe’s forceful command, which was like a bucket of cold water poured on the head of the hitter he was calling out to.

“Arao!”

“Damn it!”

Arao was indeed the only one on the court who could attack immediately, but he hadn’t practiced quick attacks with Kokonoe! He wasn’t even that proficient in power spikes! And this wasn’t his usual hitting point!

It was only when he jumped that Arao more deeply understood how difficult this ball was. It was high and fast, not giving him any time to choose an attacking route. If he hesitated for even a moment, he would miss the best opportunity to hit the ball. He cursed and swung his arm with all his might in a self-destructive manner.

“Bang!”

Shiratorizawa’s defense was a little late and didn’t block the sharp cross-court shot. There was no one in the landing point, and the libero couldn’t save the ball in time.

“A beautiful counterattack! Aoba Johsai turns the danger into safety!”

“You bastard!”

After scoring, Arao walked over angrily. Seeing this, Oikawa blocked him unobtrusively, standing in front of Kokonoe Taka: Taka’s choice just now was the best option at the time, but he didn’t pay any attention to Arao-senpai’s hitting point or reaction ability… It should be said that he only took action after confirming the other side’s weakness, squeezing out the hitter’s thoughts and not considering the hitter’s right to attack at all.

Arao-senpai is angry, but there’s nothing I can do…

Thinking of this, he felt a headache again, “Where did he pick up this stubborn, rotten habit? It’s too troublesome!” He didn’t realize that he was also the same kind of person with amazing control issues.

However, the most important thing now is to calm down the angry Arao.

Oikawa just wanted to appease him, “Arao-senpai…”

Arao frowned and asked instead, “Why are you blocking in front of Kokonoe?”

Oikawa held his breath, temporarily speechless: “…” Of course, it’s because I’m afraid you guys will start arguing!

Arao didn’t want to pay attention to the hesitant Oikawa in front of him and aimed his spearhead at Kokonoe behind him, “—Kokonoe!” he questioned, “You didn’t call me ‘senpai’ just now!”

Everyone, “…”

Is that what he’s concerned about?!

Arao’s condemning gaze was too sincere. Oikawa silently stepped back, leaving space for them, and groaned while supporting his forehead, “I’m worried about the team’s harmony like an idiot…”

Iwaizumi, “Oh really? Haven’t you always been responsible for adding fuel to the fire?”

Oikawa, “…Iwa-chan is always so sharp in unnecessary places.”

Kokonoe was silent. He sized Arao up and down strangely, making him feel prickly all over. But to maintain the face of a senior, Arao still stubbornly insisted, “Why aren’t you talking? I heard you call me by my name just now without using honorifics. It’s too rude—everyone heard it, you’re not allowed to deny it!”

After saying that, he looked at the onlookers, wanting to seek outside help.

“…The referee is going to give a warning soon, I’ll go back to my position first.”

“…Me too.”

Everyone pretended not to see and scattered like birds and beasts.

Arao, “…”

Kokonoe, “…”

They stared at each other.

“Arao-senpai is indeed a completely different type from smart people like Saijo-senpai.”

“?”

After saying this, Kokonoe Taka returned to the service area, leaving Arao confused as he returned to his position and couldn’t help but ask Miyano for advice.

After listening, Miyano’s gaze became indescribable.

He tried to tell him the answer euphemistically, “Generally speaking, when someone mentions being completely different from smart people…it’s just another way of calling them an idiot, right?”

Arao, “…” He froze.

Kokonoe’s third serve roared over the net as usual. But this time, the prepared libero received it. The first pass was half-perfect, and the setter tossed it to Ushijima, with Sounura covering him. The setter’s intention was obvious. Sounura didn’t fool the blockers—but even knowing that Ushijima would spike, it was difficult to defend.

“Overhand! A powerful spike breaking through the block! Shiratorizawa’s Ushijima Wakatoshi…”

The commentator and Coach Washijo on the sidelines spoke at the same time, “This one was decent.”

The supervising teacher sighed, “Actually, their response wasn’t wrong. It’s just that the feeling of number 12’s serve seems even stronger than in the video, which is why it’s been dragged on until now.”

Coach Washijo stared at the court with dissatisfaction, “Hmph, they still haven’t practiced enough.”

Shiratorizawa’s libero: “…The coach is glaring at me. I’m done for, I’ll definitely have to do at least two hundred extra serves when I get back.”

He and Tendō rotated, and the latter comforted him with a grin when he came on the court, “It’s okay, at least Kaji didn’t slap you for the first two serves—”

The libero’s scalp tingled, and he wailed softly, “Tendō, keep your voice down! The coach is starting to glare at you!”

Shiratorizawa’s serve came back, the main hitter serving a jump serve with average power, but aiming for the gap when Oikawa was switching to the front row.

Gue carefully judged the landing point and intentionally cushioned the first pass a little higher to give himself time to adjust.

“Nice receive!” Oikawa shouted loudly, “Arao-senpai!” Arao in the front row took a three-step approach, with Iwaizumi coordinating the cover. But this ball was ultimately tossed to Miyano, who was poised to attack at position four. The block was scattered, and in the end, only one and a half people were in position. The volleyball grazed the middle blocker’s palm and fell into Shiratorizawa’s court.

“A very comfortable quick set and score!” the commentator shouted, “You can see that Aoba Johsai’s tactics are very comprehensive and their coordination is excellent.”

4:2, Aoba Johsai was leading by two points.

With their team in the lead, the cheerleaders cheered even harder, temporarily overpowering Shiratorizawa’s cheers. The school arranged for students to attend the finals together, including some who had been dragged along to make up the numbers—Ibuki Ryosuke was one of them. He was a member of the basketball club and had given up playing streetball to be here for his girlfriend, who insisted on coming to cheer for the volleyball club.

“Aoba Johsai seems to have a chance this time?” The spectators behind them were discussing, “They’re actually leading Shiratorizawa, and the quality of these first few points is very high…”

“Number 12’s serve is very important, but this guy seems to have suddenly appeared…I watched the qualifiers a few days ago, and after going back, I looked through Miyagi’s games in recent years, and I’ve never seen him before. Could he have come from somewhere else?”

Ibuki Ryosuke’s girlfriend turned her head proudly when she heard the audience’s conversation, “That’s Kokonoe-kun, he’s in our same grade! He’s super amazing! And he’s also a very nice person! It’s said that he only started playing volleyball this year and he’s already this good!”

When the spectators saw that she was a cute and straightforward girl, they smiled supportively, although they were a little surprised, “Oh? Really?”

“Of course!” The girl praised endlessly, “Kokonoe-kun is very good at sports, his grades are also top of the class, and he’s also a very nice person. Although he seems unapproachable, we all think it’s because he’s not good at dealing with girls…”

Ibuki, who had been dozing off next to her, perked up and looked shocked, “Junko, why do you know so much about that guy?! You don’t even care what games I play!”

“But that’s Kokonoe-kun! Everyone’s Kokonoe-kun!” Junko said righteously, “Or would you rather me pay attention to Oikawa-kun than Kokonoe-kun?”

Oikawa and Kokonoe, Aoba Johsai’s two most popular students, the former being frivolous and popular with girls, while the latter was more low-key…

Ibuki made a choice with humiliation, “…Then it’s Kokonoe, I guess.”

——He was a second-year student and hadn’t met Kokonoe, but he had witnessed the exaggerated scenes of Oikawa being mobbed.

But no one cared about his choice… Junko continued to promote Kokonoe to the audience, “Oikawa-kun—that’s the equally handsome setter—mentioned that Kokonoe-kun used to play basketball and has amazing athletic abilities! He seems to be quite famous…”

Ibuki held back for a long time, and finally seized the opportunity to interject, “Then why haven’t I heard of him?”

Junko glared at him, “You only play games within the prefecture, right? That was the case recently, you only participated in the Prefectural Citizen’s Tournament. You say you’re going to nationals every year, but you can’t break through—”

The audience couldn’t bear to see Ibuki’s devastated expression and tried to save face for him in a low voice, “The Miyagi area has quite deadly arrangements for both volleyball and basketball. This young man also…”

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Ibuki’s devastated expression switch to (gǎndòng, touched) as if by magic, “You actually know that I’ve been playing games within the prefecture? Then were you lying when you said you didn’t understand basketball at all?”

The girl’s cheeks flushed quickly, “Annoying!”

Audience, “…” I feel like a dog who suddenly got kicked while walking down the street.

He decided to forcefully break the pink bubble atmosphere, “Then why did this Kokonoe-kun suddenly start playing volleyball? Did something happen when he was playing basketball?”

“Probably not? I don’t know about that either. Although Kokonoe-kun doesn’t really avoid the topic, we haven’t really asked about it.” Junko hesitated, “Could it be related to him returning to Miyagi from Tokyo? Kokonoe-kun said that he went to school in Tokyo during middle school…”

The smiling Ibuki suddenly froze, “Tokyo?”

“Yeah.”

Tokyo, Kokonoe, basketball… These three words were unrelated when separated, but put together, Ibuki felt a strange sense of familiarity.

…Where have I seen it before?

Ibuki fell into deep thought.