JSWGAS Chapter 92

IH’s preliminary round draw results were released in less than two days. Miyagi Prefecture’s top four teams from last year will be placed in four different districts to avoid strong teams facing each other too early, resulting in a premature death draw. The remaining schools will be ranked according to the draw.

Aoba Johsai entered the top four list last year and has a bye in the first round this year in Sector A.

“This year, the noteworthy team is still Date Tech… Their main players are all third-year students, and this is their last chance. If there are no surprises, we should face them in the semi-finals. And after defeating them, it will be the finals against Shiratorizawa.”

Erasing instincts that have been habitually ingrained deep within the body is not an easy task. Although that’s said, there’s actually no need to completely erase them. Perhaps he will eventually discover that the current path is wrong, perhaps he will turn back. It’s enough to bury them with new things, and maybe there will be a day when they can be used.

What’s more, this path is not necessarily wrong.

Remembering the figure blocking their way, a strong desire for knowledge sprouted in his heart. Will I see an even stronger you in the next game? Can you see me approaching?

Toss, run-up, jump, swing, the ball slammed heavily out of the white line. Oikawa Tōru was sitting on the sidelines stretching, his eyes fixed on the court, and he raised his voice cheerfully, “Taka, your shoulders are a little low. This is the fifth service error. If you serve another fault, you’ll have to buy me ice cream for three days—”

Iwaizumi Hajime walked past him with a low pressure, grabbed Oikawa Tōru’s collar and dragged him away: “What are you doing watching the fun! You haven’t finished your passing practice for today!”

“I’m sorry Koiwa, I just wanted to encourage Taka woo——”

“…Saying the training isn’t finished.” Miyano sat on the sidelines, squeezing the water bottle with a complicated mood, “Actually, this is already considered extra practice…”

“I’m used to seeing the first-years training all the time.” A student of his grade replied, “Alas, it’s inevitable that people will feel ‘Anyway, I can’t compare, so why should I work so hard’ when a genius is working so hard.”

Miyano scoffed and glanced at him dismissively: “It’s already the end of training, according to you, what are you doing here?”

The classmate put down the towel: “What else could it be?” He looked at the court, “Probably because of the pride of being a senior?”

As the IH preliminaries approached, the time for autonomous training was silently extended to one hour later than usual. Most of those who stayed behind were regular members of the volleyball team. Hanamaki and Matsukawa were also among them—in a convenience store near the school, Hanamaki stared at the shelves, almost fading in color: “Why do I have to do extra training?” He couldn’t understand, “Anyway, I won’t be playing in the preliminaries, wouldn’t it be better to finish the daily training like Shimizu and the others…”

Iwaizumi Hajime glanced at him and chose fried chicken to take away: “You weren’t like this during training.”

Matsukawa: “Yeah, Hanamaki, you were very desperate when receiving Kokonoe’s serves, weren’t you?… Oh, excuse me, I want a serving of Kanto cooked.”

Hanamaki said dejectedly: “I must have been bewitched at that time. It’s all Oikawa’s fault for saying—’Is Koiwa willing to watch Taka be so proud? If you work hard, you can still do it, or have you already given up’—it’s all his fault for saying this!”

“Eh? But Oikawa-sensei wasn’t wrong. Koiwa still received Taka’s serve in the end, didn’t he?” Oikawa Tōru walked over around several rows of shelves, holding several ice cream bars in his hand.

Iwaizumi Hajime muttered in a low voice: “Too slow.”

“It’s all because Taka wanted to go back on his word.” Oikawa Tōru complained, “A bet is a bet, you have to buy me ice cream if you serve a fault, we clearly agreed on it!”

Matsukawa turned his head and twitched his lips when he saw the amount Oikawa was holding: “…Oikawa, is your stomach made of iron?” He said sincerely, “I wanted to ask when I learned that you could eat milk bread for a month in a row.”

“This is Taka buying for everyone.” Oikawa Tōru replied, “And what is ‘iron stomach’, it’s too rude to use it to describe me—this word should be given to Koiwa.”

Iwaizumi Hajime couldn’t help but clench his fists: “You even know the word ‘rude’?”

The two did not stage the familiar martial arts scene in the convenience store again. A hand suddenly stretched out from behind the smiling Oikawa Tōru amidst the imminent atmosphere and forcefully pressed down his fluffy brown head: “Sorry for the wait.” Kokonoe Taka walked out from behind him, “Can’t you be honest for a while?”

Iwaizumi Hajime’s anger quickly extinguished when he saw Oikawa Tōru almost fell. He raised the fried chicken in his hand and asked the other parent who was sanctioning his unfilial son with a very refreshed look: “Want some?”

“Yes.”

Oikawa Tōru knew that the two people here added up to more than just one plus one being greater than two. Provoking two people at once might mean he wouldn’t see tomorrow’s sun, so he set his sights on the innocent Hanamaki and Matsukawa as targets to harm along the way.

In the background sound composed of Oikawa’s miserable screams behind him as he tried to stuff ice cream into Hanamaki’s collar but was sanctioned by Hanamaki and Matsukawa together, the two people walking in front were relaxed and comfortable.

“Koiwa, is there anything uncomfortable about my sets?”

“Just a little higher.” Iwaizumi Hajime replied, “But I can hit the current passes too. For attacks, we can also practice B quick attacks.”

“After all, Koiwa was very powerful to begin with.” Kokonoe Taka said vaguely while chewing on ice cream, “I wanted to say that before.”

“Before huh…” Iwaizumi Hajime seemed to have thought of the same thing as him, and suddenly laughed, “I think you were the amazing one instead.”

Oikawa Tōru, who rushed up from behind, interrupted their conversation: “Oikawa-sensei is the most amazing!”

He finally broke free from the sanctions of the two behind him after all the hardships, and couldn’t help but interject during the run. But this moment of distraction made him get caught up by the furious Hanamaki. The latter’s collar was half wet, and he squeezed a half-melted ice cream and desperately stuffed it into Oikawa’s collar: “Take this! You frivolous man!”

“‘Frivolous man’ is too much of a name! I am a weak setter! Be gentle Koiwa! You won’t be liked if you are like this!”

“Compassion for the enemy is compassion for yourself, die!”

Iwaizumi Hajime: “…”

Kokonoe Taka: “…”

Oikawa Tōru noticed the two who had stopped and stretched out his hand with difficulty: “Help—”

Iwaizumi Hajime turned his head: “Let’s go.”

Kokonoe Taka followed: “Yeah.”

Oikawa Tōru: “??!”

Oikawa Tōru: “Didn’t you notice someone is missing! Koiwa—Taka—”

The two in front were peaceful and quiet.

“I asked Miyano-senpai before I left… He said that for blocking, you can go to…”

“…Oh, you’re really not good at this… Are you confident?”

Hanamaki cackled strangely: “You can scream, no one will come even if you scream your throat out!”

…

…………

A few days later, Aoba Johsai High School, in front of the classroom of the third-year second group.

“Saijō, someone is looking for you.” “Sorry, I’ll leave for a moment.”

Saijō got up, and the harsh “creaking” sound of the chair moving was accompanied by the teasing of the surrounding classmates. He begged for mercy and made a ‘let me go’ gesture before turning his head with a smile and walking towards the door, “Kishibe, who is looking for… ah.”

The answer to the question was standing quietly in front of him, seemingly not feeling that it was strange for this stranger to appear here. Although he really wanted to tell him, ‘Please look at the girls around you with sparkling eyes who want to come over and chat him up’. But in the end, Saijō just scratched his hair and called out his name.

“Kokonoe, it’s rare to see you looking for me.” He stretched his neck to look behind him, “Are you alone? Are Oikawa and Iwaizumi not here?”

Kokonoe Taka was a little helpless: “Spare me. Let alone Koiwa, if I’m always tied to Tōru, maybe one day I won’t be able to restrain my killing intent towards him.” Although his tone was disgusted, one could tell from his barely suppressed smile that this was a joke.

Saijō laughed loudly: “If Oikawa were here, there would definitely be a big fight again. –What’s the matter that you came to me for?”

“I’m here to ask for blocking skills.” Talking about business, Kokonoe Taka’s face returned to its usual calmness, “After asking Miyano-senpai, he said that Saijō-senpai’s blocking is very powerful.”

–In fact, what Miyano, a second-year, said after hearing this question was: “Blocking ah… Although the development of each of our Aoba Johsai team members is relatively balanced, Saijō-senpai is an exception. Don’t tell him I said this—poor physical strength, average receiving, average spiking, and average serving. But only blocking this person can definitely be called the best in the team.”

“…Although his personal style is really special. But if Kokonoe wants to ask for advice, finding him is definitely the right choice.”

“Oh… I see.” Saijō was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting this reason. He raised his head and thought for a moment, “Blocking ah… Blocking is the first line of defense for defensive counterattacks, and also a major scoring method.”

“Turning passivity into initiative, weakening the opponent’s offensive power, reducing the pressure on the team’s defense, and seizing counterattack opportunities—of course, the above are all the generally recognized characteristics.”

Speaking of this, he paused slightly, smiled, and the words he uttered didn’t match his gentle smile at all, “For me, specializing in blocking is just because blocking an attack can put a lot of psychological pressure on the opponent, and also allow me to appreciate the unwilling expressions of different players. Other things like spiking, receiving, and serving can’t bring me this feeling of trembling with excitement—”

–At this time, he forgot the pity he had just felt for the Kouhai who didn’t understand the charm when he ignored the gazes around him, and didn’t realize that his facial expression management was out of control, scaring the students next to him.

Kokonoe Taka silently reminded: “Saijō-senpai, you’re scaring the other classmates.”

He now seemed to understand the strangeness in Miyano’s expression when he mentioned ‘special personal style’.

Saijō came back to his senses and smiled kindly at the classmate who had witnessed his expression change: “Ah, sorry, sorry.”

Then he turned back to Kokonoe Taka again: “In short, that’s what my blocking is all about. It can even make the attackers feel uncomfortable… But looking at your expression, you don’t seem to be rejecting this at all.”

“It just so happens that it’s lunch break now, let’s change places.”

They left the teaching building side by side. Saijō was the only one holding the gymnasium keys, so he simply took Kokonoe Taka to the gymnasium to give him a demonstration.

Saijō took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, “Let’s make it clear first, I can’t be a kind teacher… How much the special training can achieve all depends on your own understanding.”

“You must prepare your posture in advance at the net. Bend your knees slightly, and bend your arms naturally. I usually jump after seeing the direction of the setter’s set.”

“Jumping requires lowering the center of gravity, stepping hard on the ground, and jumping vertically—Kokonoe, you’re quite good at jumping, just do it according to your usual habits.”

Saijō demonstrated it once, “Then there’s the movement of the arms when blocking.”

He straightened his arms, “Raise both shoulders upwards, the forearms should be close to the net, pay attention to not leaving gaps in the middle of the arms, otherwise you will leak the ball. When blocking the ball, both hands should actively exert force, open naturally, bend your fingers and wrists, and your eyes must be fixed on the ball. Pay attention to pressing down your wrists when touching the ball—”

Saijō couldn’t help but laugh: “Land with your chest to maintain balance, retract your arms from the net, and cushion with your knees—don’t crash into the net like you did before. I’ve been playing volleyball for so long, and it’s the first time I’ve seen someone get caught on the net—”

Kokonoe Taka’s thoughts were interrupted, and he twitched his lips in forbearance: “…Saijō-senpai.”

Saijō spread his hands: “Oh, I’m sorry, I’ll forget it now.”

“After jumping, blocking is a duel with the opponent’s attacker.” After joking, Saijō’s small class continued, “But before jumping, it’s a duel with the setter. How the setter chooses to tear open a crack to clear the way for the attacker when facing blocking can often reveal the setter’s style of play… Conversely, it’s how the blocker can avoid being deceived and accurately find the blocking target and timing.”

“The setter’s choice of attack is affected by the first pass. After eliminating some possibilities, judge the ball’s landing point from the remaining possibilities and then catch up with it; and at this time, it’s about grasping the ‘timing’: Generally speaking, the jumping time for blocking a strong attack needs to be slightly later than the attacker’s jumping time, while the timing of quick attacks is more variable, which can only be felt in actual combat.”

Saijō smiled slightly, stared at Kokonoe Taka’s thoughtful eyes, and his tone was filled with a strange agitation.

“—And after that, what you need to do is build a wall in front of them!”