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"Hmm... Fukurodani, Karasuno, and... are you from Nekoma?"
"Wow, are you the ace of Kamomedai?"
"I watched your game yesterday—it was amazing!"
Before anyone could respond, Bokuto waved his hands and strode forward with a loud shout.
"I hope we get the chance to play against you tomorrow!"
"The ace from Fukurōdani..."
Korai Hoshiumi was slightly surprised by Bokuto's bold and grinning personality.
But a thrilled smile soon spread across his face.
"I've watched your matches too!"
"You're strong as well!"
"If we do face off, I'll give it everything I've got!"
"Hey!"
"I've been looking all over for you!"
"I didn't expect you to be here!"
Just as he finished speaking, a voice called out from a distance.
Everyone turned to look and saw someone tall with slightly curly hair approaching in a Kamomedai uniform.
"Oh? Are these your friends?"
The newcomer was none other than Kamomedai's middle blocker, Sachirō Hirugami.
"So it's Hirugami!"
"These are some new friends I made!"
"Ah!"
Sachirō Hirugami looked slightly surprised, but quickly regained his composure.
"Fukurōdani, Bokuto-senpai!!"
"And... are you guys from Karasuno?"
After a brief exchange, Sachirō Hirugami spoke to Hoshiumi.
"Coach has been looking for you ever since you slipped away!"
"You'd better come back quickly—he's probably going to blow up again!"
"I just came out to buy a T-shirt."
Hoshiumi pouted a bit, slightly helpless.
"I was afraid someone else would snatch it first!"
"Besides, it's not even a limited edition..."
———
After saying goodbye to everyone, the two of them turned and left.
"Wow, were those Kamomedai players? And you too, Bokuto-senpai?"
Hinata asked excitedly.
"Yeah!"
Bokuto looked at the backs of the two as they walked away and nodded, eyes gleaming.
"If we both win our matches tomorrow morning..."
"Then we'll meet in the quarterfinals in the afternoon!"
"That's so lucky—I really want to play against them too!!"
"Hahaha, then just wait until Spring High!"
Bokuto laughed heartily and patted Hinata on the shoulder.
"Because this time, I'm going to beat them!"
———
"It's getting late!"
"Everyone, buy what you need and let's head back!"
"Or we'll miss the first match of Itachiyama!"
Just like earlier, the group returned to the venue amidst the lively buzz of surrounding conversations.
"Is that Itachiyama? Even their cheer squad is massive!"
As soon as they reached the spectator seats, Sawamura couldn't help but exclaim.
Their seats were close to Itachiyama's cheering section, making their numbers impossible to miss.
"Yeah."
Akaashi nodded in agreement.
"After all, they're practically champions every year!"
"So more and more students at their school voluntarily support the volleyball team!"
"They're here! They're coming!"
Hinata, who had been keeping his eyes on the court, suddenly shouted.
Everyone turned to look in the same direction and saw a team dressed in yellow and green uniforms slowly walking through the corridor.
A thunderous wave of cheers immediately erupted from the stands.
"This is the power of a championship contender!"
And once the match started, Itachiyama lived up to every bit of their reputation.
On both offense and defense, they showed overwhelming dominance.
The smashes from their ace, Kiyoomi Sakusa, broke straight through the tight defense of their opponents.
When facing blockers, he didn't even need to think—he just smashed right into the wall, and the ball would bounce clean out of bounds!
Leaving the opponents shouting helplessly, unable to stop him!
His offense had spectators on the sidelines gasping in awe.
"Is this the ace ?"
Sawamura leaned forward with his hands on his knees, muttering in amazement.
"He's insanely strong!"
"Just the strange spin on his smashes alone makes it fair to place Sakusa among the top three aces in the country!"
Akaashi shook his head beside him.
"His strength lies in more than just offense—his defensive skills are also top-tier!"
"No matter how tricky the serve, if it lands near the area he's covering, odds are high he'll dig it up!"
"Some people even say that his reception is on par with their libero, Motoya Komori."
"That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it still says a lot!"
"So..."
Sugawara said solemnly,
"When he and Komori are both in the back row, it's nearly impossible to score off them!"
"Exactly!"
"So, to beat Itachiyama, you have to hit them hard while Sakusa is still in the front row!"
"That reminds me... the Mujinazaka match should be starting soon, right?"
After a short lunch break, the afternoon matches were about to begin.
As for the morning match—of course Itachiyama won without a doubt.
"At the same time as Mujinazaka's match, there's also one in Group C."
"It's Ichibayashi High versus Otani Tech!"
Hearing that, Sawamura exclaimed,
"Ichibayashi is the seeded team from our group!"
"I've seen footage of their matches—they're a really strong team!"
"I wonder if they'll win their first game?"
———
"They're coming! Look!"
"It's that Kiryu guy!"
Bokuto's excited shout drew everyone's eyes to the court.
Under the watchful gaze of the crowd, the players from Mujinazaka High walked onto the court.
Leading them was a player with closely cropped hair and two distinct lines intersecting at his temples.
Just from looking at him, you could feel the heavy, serious aura he carried.
"Is that Kiryu from Kyushu?"
"One of the top three aces in the country!"
"I haven't heard many rumors about him, though..."
Sugawara furrowed his brows—Volleyball Monthly didn't have much detail about Wakatsu Kiryu either.
Kuroo rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Maybe it's because Ushijima, another top-three ace, is from your prefecture?"
"And Kiryu is also a heavy-hitter known for his raw power."
"But Sakusa, being on a championship team, naturally gets a lot of media attention."
"That's probably why we don't hear as much about Kiryu."
"But in reality, his attack power isn't any less than the other two!"
———