JSWGAS Chapter 108

Chapter 108

108.

After the second technical timeout, Oikawa Tōru stood at the number one position.

Judging from the opponent’s formation, Ushijima still wasn’t participating in receiving the serve; he needed to conserve his strength for his next powerful attack…targeting him.

The sun acupuncture point was faintly aching, his nerves were taut, but his body was extremely light. The clumsy ball toss when he wasn’t skilled enough, the uncomfortable feeling of sweat streaking across his eyelashes, the heaviness of his limbs being driven to move…they watched Oikawa from the sidelines, gradually turning into scalding blood, flowing through his internal organs.

The rain intensified, from slow to fast; Oikawa Tōru charged into the storm, as if transforming into the storm itself—powering up, jumping, and unleashing a powerful jump serve. It was like a brief, forceful clang, launching another assault on the battlefield.

Ushijima slightly curled the fingers of his hands hanging at his sides, but before he could do anything, “I’ll take it!” Shiratorizawa’s libero cut into the gap, raising his arms to receive the ball from the side. Ushijima silently yielded his position, and the first pass was semi-perfect.

The setter adjusted his position to set the ball, the opposing blockers staring intently at Ushijima. Ushijima was slightly obstructed by the libero, making it difficult to regain his posture…he ultimately chose to pass to Sonomura, who was ready at the four position. The latter ran up and spiked the ball, forcefully snapping his wrist: Saijo’s position corresponded to Ushijima’s, but he was rotated off the court by the libero…with that guy gone, he was confident in breaking through the block!

This thought hadn’t even vanished when a shadow suddenly appeared before him. The gray eyes of number 12 shone with an astonishing light, like a predator roaming in the shadows of a dark forest. Sonomura didn’t even lift his eyelids, but his movements subtly changed—an instinct deeply buried in his bones made Kokonoe Taka’s brow twitch, and the palm of his hand, pressing down to form a solid defense, suddenly retracted.

—But amidst the ever-changing battlefield, what remained constant was the aggressive and fast rhythm. Saijo, standing in the reserve area, felt an intense roar explode in his ears, his fingertips going numb, followed by a searing pain that tormented his skull. That spiking motion appeared in his hazy dreams almost every midnight, along with the pained groans of his teammates. There was no doubt, it was—

“—A touch out! Sonomura’s signature move! In last year’s Shiratorizawa versus Aoba Johsai match, Sonomura secured victory with a touch out…”

He stiffened abruptly, almost before the commentator finished speaking, his foot taking a subconscious step forward, only to stop abruptly within the lines of the reserve area. He couldn’t describe the myriad of feelings in his heart at that moment—so his gaze subconsciously fell on the setter’s position. Oikawa Tōru was frowning, watching where the ball landed, and turned to say something to Kokonoe, who had steadied himself.

Saijo frowned.

Then came the referee’s hand gesture for a timeout.

“Huh?—” The commentator was a bit surprised. “The referee has changed the scoring…Sonomura touched the net during the spike, invalid score!”

Sonomura was apologizing to his teammates: “My bad, sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, next ball, change the serve!”

Sonomura took a deep breath, but he was still thinking about that last ball…that number 12, without a doubt, had noticed his intentions and retracted his hand. And he relentlessly pursued, swinging his arm with even greater force, and ultimately, while successfully causing number 12 to touch the ball out, he also couldn’t control his momentum and touched the net…what’s with that, Saijo? Your junior isn’t exactly a pushover, either.

Oikawa’s second serve.

He aimed at Ushijima again, his intention clear: disrupt the first pass while simultaneously restraining Ushijima’s offensive momentum.

Therefore, this ball sacrificed some power for a more cunning angle, almost aiming for the sideline. The libero steeled himself and stepped forward, managing to receive the ball, but also slowing Ushijima’s braking by another step.

The first pass was perfect, the setter had no choice but to opt for a quick set, trying to break the rhythm that Aoba Johsai had seized. The volleyball landed at the number position, the middle blocker jumped, but once again a high wall rose before him—Kokonoe looked down at him from above, the middle blocker feeling his heart clench in that seemingly tangible gaze. He realized that the other was filled with anticipation, even more so than he himself, eager for him to spike a perfect quick set!

“Bang!”

—The ball rebounded into Shiratorizawa’s court.

“Nice ball!” Aoba Johsai’s very handsome setter embraced the middle blocker who had just blocked their quick attack, looking smugly at the Shiratorizawa players. “Sorry, underestimating our middle blocker will get you devoured, you know?”

Shiratorizawa: “…” Infuriating! It wasn’t even you who blocked the spike!

Kokonoe Taka gave Oikawa an elbow jab, expressionless. “Go serve.”

“…Such an assertive personality isn’t very likable!” Oikawa Tōru released his grip. Kokonoe paused, looking at the complaining setter. He felt Oikawa writing something behind his back—in his vision, Oikawa Tōru slowly revealed a flippant smile, then walked towards the serving area outside the court.

He took the ball handed over by a staff member, gently turning it. Shiratorizawa’s first pass formation, blocking, the fastest position for the attacker to launch an attack…after the opponent’s two failed attacks, they must be very wary now.

Currently, their own formation was a power rotation, how to score as many points as possible during the power period—this was the thought constantly echoing in his mind.

“Go, go, go, Aoba Johsai!”

Amid the cheering from the stands, Oikawa moved. But to the surprise of the Shiratorizawa players, this serve slightly dropped as it crossed the net—a net touch serve! The back row hitter hurriedly stepped forward to save the ball.

The setter filled the position, choosing a back row attack or a quick set…

“—”

No one spoke, but the setter abruptly stopped his conflicted thoughts. There were no other options; the hitter jumping in front of the net was the best choice. That gaze possessed a chilling determination, the desire to spike the ball burning with unprecedented intensity, fanning out a sea of fire. So the setter immediately understood that the fuse had been completely lit, and the rest…

Ushijima Wakatoshi’s eyes only saw the clear and sharp net line.

Run-up, jump, swing, Kokonoe Taka smelled the rusty iron scent mixed with gunpowder from the swirling wind, coercing himself into a frantically rotating vortex. With a dull, heavy thud, his hand flew backwards uncontrollably. But the stinging pain transmitted from his fingertips to his nerves didn’t prevent him from carefully tracing the calm facial contours of Ushijima Wakatoshi—

“Ushijima Wakatoshi! A heavy spike breaks through the block! An unstoppable absolute ace!”

—This was like a signal.

Shiratorizawa’s counterattack was officially launched, from middle school he was crowned with names such as “absolute king”, “super ace” and so on, and every spike from the left-handed ace was full of dazzling power, and the tough front spikes made people helpless – this does not mean that he is playing ball with only strength without using his brain. Changing the spike to a dump shot, Arasawa was unable to save the ball, and Shiratorizawa scored another point. And the powerful jump serve from Sonomura disrupted Aoba Johsai’s first pass route, Iwaizumi ran up to assist, and cooperated to hit a half-high ball, but it was saved by the libero in the back row.

——”Ushijima!”

Shiratorizawa’s ace rose up in response.

Kokonoe Taka could detect that the opponent had changed his posture in the air, from a straight shot that he had blocked to a large diagonal—his eyebrows twitched, and it was too late to block it again. The volleyball grazed his little finger hard, weakening some of its power. And Iwaizumi hurriedly intercepted, and hit a high ball by mistake, “Redeem it!”

—But the high ball also meant time for the opponent to set up their defense. Shiratorizawa can be called the strongest in the prefecture, absolutely not because of Ushijima alone, and its coach’s creed is not a secret among many high schools. Right now the front row defense is in place, Ushijima and the senior hitter and middle blocker are staring closely at the ball that is gradually falling, and behind them are the libero and the first-year ace Ohira Reon who are ready to supplement the loopholes.

Which attack route will Oikawa choose?

——But contrary to everyone’s expectations, Oikawa Toru gave up his position, jumping up ostentatiously under the public eye, not like a setter, but like a hitter, making a gesture of accumulating strength in the air. No one would doubt even if you pointed at him and said that he was a hitter. Standard posture, skilled skills, and the same belief as any hitter that he must spike the ball.

His nerves twitched, and the players in front of the net quickly reacted, realizing that Aoba Johsai now possessed more than one setter—that guy had been biting on Ushijima’s movements, almost making them forget that he could also quietly and silently act as the team’s hub.

“Block him!”

At that moment, what took the lead in occupying the memory was undoubtedly the divine position exchange between the setter and the middle blocker more than half a month ago, and Oikawa Toru’s powerful blow that was no less inferior to that of a hitter. Although Iwaizumi and Arasawa, who rushed up from the back row to cover, also needed to be vigilant. But the people in the front row blocked in front of Oikawa in unison. At the same time, Tendō in the Shiratorizawa reserve area let out a long sigh, which attracted Semi Eita, who was staring intently at the court, to give him a little attention, “What’s wrong?”

Semi Eita still hasn’t figured out this classmate who relies entirely on ethereal intuition to play, but at this time he just asked casually without much thought. The red-haired middle blocker seemed to glance at him, but seemed to still be paying attention to the center of the court, “——Wrong.”

Along with this certain word, the volleyball that fell into Shiratorizawa’s court also landed, and the scissors silently cut off the timing of the setter’s touch, skipping the process and going straight to the ending of the volleyball landing. Semi Eita’s breathing stagnated, and he saw incredulously that the referee pointed to Aoba Johsai’s side—

The players on the court who had been completely deceived were also puzzled. Ushijima Wakatoshi heard a faint sound of footsteps landing, and the middle blocker who had just blocked his spiking route—Kokonoe was tilting his head, half of his body was hidden in the shadows, and only a pair of eyes were shining with a thin light like a knife blade.

He smiled slowly, just like he had just gently knocked the ball into the gap next to Ushijima—clearly there were many options for that secondary attack.

But when he looked closely again, that faint smile disappeared without a trace. Oikawa Toru, who had repeatedly rejected his invitation, complained affectionately to Kokonoe. But Ushijima knew that the shock on Oikawa’s face when he failed to spike just now didn’t seem fake.

“He deceived everyone—of course, except me.” Tendō said from the sidelines, “Eita-kun, is your chin dislocated?”

Semi Eita silently retracted his mouth that had grown wide because of shock, “…Did you guess it? That secondary attack?”

“After all, he’s also that type of person.” After Tendō finished saying this, he didn’t look at Semi Eita, who had a question mark on his face. In fact, Tendō had always remembered the last practice match——Kokonoe passed the ball to Oikawa after taking over as setter. That choice was not wrong, whether from the situation at the time or from the result. But Tendō felt that the ball shouldn’t have been passed to Oikawa——of course, he had no opinion on this Oikawa-kun, who was good at provoking and who Wakatoshi-kun was always thinking about.

——It’s just that Kokonoe-kun is obviously the same type of person as Wakatoshi-kun.

It should be said that they are all members of the monsters.

Oikawa Tōru was also thinking about this issue. The code he lightly wrote on Kokonoe Taka’s back during the break in the game meant that the right to set would be exchanged appropriately. And that secondary attack, which even surprised him, also represented some kind of signal he had been looking forward to.

The scoreboard on the sidelines had reached 23:20——Shiratorizawa was leading, and Kokonoe Taka once again stood on the serving position.

He patted the ball, his eyelashes drooping deeply, indifferent to the opponent’s vigilance. His right little finger was bleeding slightly, and the pain constantly reminded him to stay awake. The person who caused this wound was standing opposite them at this moment.

‘You saw that kind of pure power,’ he said to himself, ‘So. What about you? What are you going to do?’

Blood left bloodstains, sticking to the bandage Kokonoe Taka wrapped around his finger. Coach Gōguchi on the sidelines had sharp eyes, saw that obvious red spot, and his heart tightened, “Coach Irihata…”

He didn’t finish his words.

No need to think, no need to restrain, abandon the ridiculous weakness and the stagnation because of the past. All along, all that needs to be done is this one thing in front of you.

He felt the earth receding behind him, and the desire to catch up with the ball grew wildly at this moment. Until the dull pain in his palm when he touched the ball reawakened his rationality.

Oikawa Tōru smiled, watching the volleyball whizzing from behind and smashing onto Shiratorizawa’s court—smashing near Ushijima Wakatoshi’s feet.

He knew that this was what he wanted.

“After all,” he sighed, “I believe in you so much!”