JSWGAS Chapter 85

85.

In volleyball, the most extreme and ideal way to score is to get all 25 points from serves.

Date Tech’s serves are not weak. Their main strategy is combining serves and blocks. The third-year students in the team are all good at jump serves. Compared to serving and blocking, their receives are relatively weaker, but still above the average level for high school teams.

…But the serve of the number 12 on the other team is very difficult to receive.

Date Tech’s number 2 has already mishandled two jump serves from him. This is now the opposing team’s fourth serving rotation—this guy has scored three points from serves alone! This level of serve… why haven’t they heard of it before?

Eyes meet and then dart away, the air subtly agitated. Seeing the situation is not good, Date Tech’s coach calls a timeout at the right time.

Date Tech’s number 2 absentmindedly holds his water bottle, taking several gulps before finally hearing the coach’s voice beside him, “That serve, what do you make of it?”

“Number 12’s balls are all coming at me.” He forces himself to calm down, “Ordinary jump serves generally seek power. Our jump serves and Arahata’s are the same type. Oikawa’s jump serves are also difficult to receive; his ball control is terrifying, and the power is also sufficient… but number 12’s serve is different from all of them…”

He looks up and thinks, “…It’s too fast.”

Powerful jump serves pursue force. The more strength poured into the serve, the more potential energy the ball has, making it heavier, and faster.

“But number 12’s serve is unnaturally fast… I don’t know what it looks like from the sidelines, but to me, the speed of that serve is like teleportation. It’s right in front of my eyes in the blink of an eye—”

He can’t keep up with the ball at all. Only he, who is being targeted, knows how much pressure there is. So annoying, so annoying, so annoying. Why is that guy’s serve so hard to receive? It’s more unsettling than any other type he’s received. Why is he targeting me? Because I’m a weak point? Is he doing it on purpose?

Negative emotions accumulate. The others in Date Tech only see their vice-captain’s expression becoming increasingly ugly—”Slap!” Suddenly, a crisp sound rings out. Number 2 lowers his hand, feeling the burning pain on both sides of his cheeks. He didn’t hold back at all in slapping himself, and even the coach is shocked by his sudden action.

Taking a deep breath, he doesn’t care why that number 12 was previously unknown, doesn’t care if he’s deliberately targeting him.

“I can’t receive that serve.”

“Huh?”

—There’s only ever one thing to do.

–

“So this is the result of your special training? Not bad.”

Iwaizumi Hajime slaps Oikawa Tōru’s shoulder, causing the latter to stagger, almost dropping the water bottle in his hand. “Be gentle, Koiwa,” he complains, rubbing his shoulder.

At the side of the court, Matsukawa hands over a towel, thoughtfully saying, “I feel like Kokonoe’s serve is a little different from ordinary jump serves…”

“Heh heh, maybe only Taka can do this kind of serve.” Oikawa Tōru raises one finger and wags it, his tone containing a hint of showing off, “He has a longer run-up distance than a normal jump serve; and the higher toss can perfectly match the long-distance run-up, the ball’s trajectory is straighter. This kind of serve may seem slow during the run-up and jump stages. In fact, the rhythm is much faster than that of an ordinary jump serve—at the moment of impact, inertia and power explode together, and the ball speed becomes unbelievably fast.”

Arahata: “Kokonoe is the one who scored, why are you so proud as if you’re the one who got the points?”

“How rude! These three points are inseparable from my hard-working guidance, you know!”

The person who actually scored the points coolly says, “Indeed, if you hadn’t been standing on the opposite half of the court receiving the ball those few days, maybe I wouldn’t have improved so quickly.”

Oikawa Tōru: “…We agreed not to mention that!”

Hanamaki perks up, “Oh! So Oikawa, you really went to be Taka’s target for him to practice jump serves?”

Oikawa Tōru: “I didn’t—”

Kokonoe Taka: “That’s right. I had a lot of fun hitting. Sure enough, Tōru’s words still make sense.”

Iwaizumi Hajime: “Oh, the ‘imagine the person you hate the most standing on the other side of the net, serve at him, and you’ll overperform’ line that The Trash River said?”

Kokonoe Taka: “Yeah.”

Iwaizumi Hajime says with emotion, “That guy can be useful sometimes.”

Oikawa Tōru: “…”

Hearing the entire conversation, Saijō sympathizes, “Then it was indeed hard on you, Oikawa. I admit that these three points have your contribution.”

Oikawa Tōru gets angry, “I don’t want you to praise me like that! Your tone is too reluctant!”

The noise of his teammates beside him has already turned into a string of garbled characters in Kokonoe Taka’s ears. He slightly closes his eyes, thinking in his mind about every action he took when serving just now, the dust floating in the air, and the rough feel of the ball’s surface.

His heart pounds like a drum, gradually matching the rhythm of his run-up and jump perfectly.

The whistle blows, Kokonoe Taka opens his eyes, just in time to meet Oikawa Tōru’s warm and faintly shining eyes. The latter raises his eyebrows at him flirtatiously, smiling, with an indisputable expression that says, ‘Get me ten more points’.

…

…………

Inhale, exhale.

Kokonoe Taka doesn’t serve immediately after the serving whistle is blown. He stares steadily at the opposing court, his eyes sweeping over every opposing player. At this time, his eyes also contain his teammates behind him.

Perhaps only volleyball allows him to have this experience—no one looks back, everyone’s back is full of certainty and trust.

—Serve however you want.

Their backs seem to be telling him this.

—Leave the rest to us.

In the fifth second, Kokonoe Taka’s gaze finally lands on his prey.

Oikawa Tōru’s serving habits have also influenced Kokonoe Taka. However, he doesn’t aim at the libero with the best receives like the former. In the rotation just now, he has been quietly observing the opposing team, and matching the information Saijō told him one by one.

He chose the number 2 on the other side.

Date Tech’s vice-captain, hitter, less power, his spikes seem to focus more on angles, good at dinks, stands relatively far back, makes a lot of saves, and has good observation… but his reaction speed is the slowest.

He has been practicing the jump serve that Oikawa Tōru (actually don’t know who’s dragging who) worked hard on for a week. Although the results are good, in the end the practice time is too short. All that can be developed is the fast ball speed and power after hitting the ball, while the serve angle and spin are single.

If he serves to number 1, the opponent should be able to receive it with a conditioned reflex. Although others will be temporarily disrupted by his serve, they will be able to adjust after at most two serves—so, the breakthrough point is only number 2, who has the slowest reaction speed.

But now…

He stares at the opposing team’s formation for a long time—

Number 1 and 4 next to number 2 have expanded their defensive range, faintly protecting number 2, who is being targeted. The latter has changed from a position closer to the middle to a position closer to the sideline.

If he continues to serve to number 2, with his current level of ball control, it will be easy to serve out of bounds. But if he slightly adjusts the angle and doesn’t target number 2… this ball will lose the extreme speed he can achieve, and may even be received by the eager number 1 and 4.

Other teammates protect the weak spot, and others make up for number 2’s shortcomings.

…Ah.

This second passes extremely slowly, and Kokonoe Taka easily understands the unspoken words in the eyes of number 2, who is also looking at him.

“I can’t receive your serve.”

“But ‘we’ can.”

Ah.

—Isn’t this…

Very interesting?

Stuck at the seventh second, Kokonoe Taka finally tosses the ball. His movements are extremely decisive, without any stagnation or hesitation. The exposed thigh muscles, in the final large stride of the emergency stop squat, contain a sense of power that almost bursts the fabric!

Push off the ground, jump, leap straight into the air—

The chest cavity is stretched to the extreme, even causing a faint pain because of it. The muscles transmit a tearing pain, but also a hearty and refreshing feeling, and a desire to conquer that is so exciting that it almost rushes out of the throat and occupies reason.

“Bang——!!!”

“Is this guy crazy?!”

Date Tech’s number 2 knows he can’t receive Aoba Johsai’s number 12’s serve. So in the timeout not long ago, he suggested that number 1 and 4 help expand the defensive range.

Number 12’s ball speed is indeed very fast, but after three balls, number 2 also discovered that the angles the opponent chose are basically in slightly lower places. He guesses that although the opponent can serve this kind of amazing jump serve, he probably can’t accurately control the ball’s landing point.

His position is clever. Without excellent ball control, the ball will be served out of bounds—he believes number 12 already knows this, but why is the other party still firmly locked on him?!

His whole body is hair-raising, the shadow of the person in mid-air cast on the floor is black and long, like a distorted monster…

—Faintly smiling.

Number 2 desperately suppresses the inexplicable creepy intuition that gushes from the bottom of his heart. He forces himself to concentrate. Which angle will the ball land on? In front? On the side? Or…

“Out!”

He makes a judgment, gritting his teeth.

The volleyball slams next to his foot the moment he speaks. His heartbeat stops abruptly. He even feels that this ball can break his toes, and he shudders as he watches the volleyball, which faintly rubs against the air and bounces away.

The linesman raises the flag. He judged correctly, it’s out of bounds.

Only then does the breath that has been held in his chest dissipate. Number 2 swallows. Although he didn’t receive the ball or run, the muscles all over his body are sore and tired, and his hands and feet are inexplicably weak.

…So scary.

…

…………

“Sorry.”

“Don’tmind!” Arahata rushes to appease, “You’re always scoring points with your serves, I’m almost getting bored—give me a chance to perform too.”

Saijō heckles Arahata from the sidelines, “Who was the one who was in so much pain from the opposing team’s triple block just now?”

Arahata: “…I declare that your hatred value at this moment is higher than Oikawa’s.”

Oikawa, who is innocently dragged into the battlefield: “?” It turns out that Arahata-senpai actually hates me so much? I’m so sad.” After complaining, he withdraws from the battlefield where the two seniors are arguing with each other, and turns his head with a light laugh, “Your smile is too scary, Taka.”

“…”

“Compared to Mr. Oikawa, your smile isn’t pure at all,” Oikawa Tōru says, tilting his head and smiling, “You’re going to scare the girls away—what will happen if no one cheers for Mr. Oikawa’s serves later?”

Kokonoe Taka turns his head expressionlessly and asks Iwaizumi Hajime, “What places are suitable for disposing of corpses near Aoba Johsai?”

Iwaizumi Hajime frowns, “Don’t do that—”

His tone seems to have a protective intention. But before Oikawa Tōru can get teary-eyed with emotion, he hears Iwaizumi continue, “It’s not worth doing that for this scum. Anyway, you don’t need to worry about him, he’ll probably run into the trash can himself someday.”

Oikawa Tōru: “…Koiwa, why are you so biased!”

Kokonoe Taka nods, “Makes sense.” He twitches the corners of his mouth in a fake smile and looks at Oikawa Tōru again, “If the points you score with your serves later are less than mine, I don’t mind helping you skip the middle garbage sorting process.”

Oikawa Tōru tilts his head, deliberately saying, “Eh? Is that considered encouragement?”

Kokonoe Taka grinds his back teeth, “It is, why wouldn’t it be?”

“Then Mr. Oikawa’s performance will definitely give you a surprise—”

Date Tech serves. It’s a powerful jump serve, aiming at Kokonoe Taka as if to take revenge. His arms go numb, and his body is almost knocked over, but Kokonoe Taka’s arms maintain a textbook-like posture, without the slightest change.

The first pass is perfect. Oikawa Tōru jumps lightly, his movements flawless, making it impossible to tell who he will pass the ball to.

The hitters in front of the net stare intently at Oikawa Tōru’s movements, and out of the corner of their eyes they discover that Kokonoe Taka, who just received their powerful jump serve, has already started his run-up!

And number 4 in front of the net keenly notices that Oikawa Tōru has lightly given a look to Miyamano, the second-year hitter next to him.

Just as they are distracted, Oikawa Tōru’s fingers have already exerted a slight force, holding the ball towards the place it has stopped countless times, sending it in front of Iwaizumi Hajime, who is about to swing his arm to hit the ball!

The quick attack that is pulled open catches Date Tech off guard. The libero in the back court only has time to raise his hand in a hurry. The volleyball hits his arm and is bounced out of bounds.

Iwaizumi turns around and clenches his fist, saying in a low voice, “Nice!”

After this ball, Oikawa Tōru stands at position number 1, emphasizing before serving that the number of points he will definitely score will be more than Kokonoe Taka’s—what greets him are two sneers.

He makes a grumpy face at the cold and ruthless Taka. However, after standing outside the sideline to prepare to serve, his expression becomes serious.

“Bang!”

The ball comes aggressively, but the opposing libero accurately judges the landing point, makes a diving receive, and the first pass is perfect. The number 8 hitter and the number 1 middle blocker jump from both sides, and Iwaizumi and Saijō in front of the net jump to block. But in the end, it is the number 3 back row attacker who spikes and scores.

“Don’tmind! Block them on the next ball!”

“Ahhhhhh, damn it!” Oikawa Tōru messes up his hair, “Sorry, the feel of this ball was clearly very good…”

“Is this the ‘eye-catching performance’ you were talking about?”

“…Woo.”