Inside Aoba Johsai's third gym, the players' loud shouts echoed constantly. The recent string of victories acted like a catalyst, injecting the team with full confidence and morale.
The air in the gym was filled with the spirit of hard work. Every player ran and jumped tirelessly, pushing their limits through rigorous practice to improve their skills and team coordination.
The sound of balls being struck, the harsh squeaking of soles on the floor, and the thuds of volleyballs hitting the ground blended together.
"Last thirty balls!"
"Yes!"
The players, squeezing out responses, pushed themselves even harder to run and jump.
Beep! As the whistle blew to signal the end of practice, the sweaty players let out a collective breath of relief and immediately collapsed to the floor as if they were melting.
"It'd be great if we had a pretty team manager right now, she'd probably have towels and sports drinks ready," Yahaba Shū sighed.
"Yeah, Karasuno's manager is really cute—a real beauty."
"Wait a second—why don't we have a female manager?" the straightforward Kindaichi blurted out the question.
The second and third years all turned their eyes toward Oikawa Tōru.
"Why are you all looking at me? I didn't do anything!" Oikawa said innocently.
Just then, after a brief rest, Taichi walked over to Oikawa with a volleyball in hand.
"Oikawa-senpai, let's practice the 'weird quick attack.'"
Although Oikawa had been planning to practice the 'weird quick,' being asked first by Taichi left him slightly annoyed.
"No way."
"Oh, Kunimi, help me practice spiking," Taichi said without hesitation as he turned to Kunimi Akira, who was curled up off to the side.
Kunimi acted like he hadn't heard anything, trying even harder to shrink his presence.
"Hey! You're seriously lacking sincerity!" Oikawa stood up. "Shouldn't you beg your senpai a bit more?"
Taichi thought for a moment. "But I thought you were too exhausted to keep going, so I didn't want to push it."
"Taichi! Who are you calling exhausted?!" Oikawa roared. "Fine, let's practice! Whoever says they're tired first has to treat the other to ramen!"
"Alright, Oikawa-senpai," Taichi replied with a grin.
Matsukawa Issei looked at Iwaizumi Hajime. "Didn't expect Taichi to handle Oikawa so easily."
Hanamaki Takahiro chimed in, "Having someone cling to him isn't a bad thing."
Iwaizumi tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Let's just hope we don't end up with two problem children."
"Why do all the senpai say that? Don't Oikawa-senpai and Taichi get along just fine?" Kindaichi quietly asked Kunimi.
Kunimi remained curled up, seemingly already asleep.
…
Oikawa and Taichi began practicing the weird quick on the court.
After a few plays, Oikawa asked, "Taichi, has your contact point gotten higher?"
As expected of the ace setter—he noticed so quickly.
Taichi nodded. He had measured it last night—his contact point had increased by about 5 cm compared to before.
"That's more like it. I always suspected you were just a late bloomer. Otherwise, your jumping ability would be way too bad. You usually cover it with speed, and your spiking style doesn't rely on height, so I never brought it up."
"Both Nakashima from Wakunan and the little guy from Karasuno have higher contact points than you," Oikawa added matter-of-factly.
Taichi felt like he'd been shot in the heart. It was facts like these that always hit him hard.
He had been steadily improving. He was completing the system tasks diligently, and his technical skills had advanced rapidly—but when it came to physical ability, he still didn't know how to improve further.
He was already looking forward to the next match.
Oikawa, meanwhile, had fallen into deep thought. Honestly, the concept of the weird quick wasn't difficult to understand. The speed of the attack was determined by when the attacker began their run-up.
The weird quick executed by Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shōyō worked because of Hinata's almost unnatural speed, combined with Kageyama's precise sets.
In terms of speed, Taichi was 180 cm tall and still fast enough to achieve the same effect—attacking before the defense could react. The practice match had already proven that.
So, in the end, the key to making this attack work was whether he could make the quick adjustment to set the kind of ball Taichi needed for the attack!
Determination burned in Oikawa's eyes. No way was he going to lose at this!
"Sorry to interrupt!" Three figures suddenly appeared at the gym door.
"These two kids were sneaking around the campus. Especially Kageyama Tobio—he looked so menacing, he scared a bunch of students."
Gōguchi Sadayuki stood behind Hinata Shōyō and Kageyama. "Luckily, they looked familiar, so I asked what was up. Turns out they were here to find you, so I brought them over."
"We're terribly sorry!" Hinata and Kageyama bowed in unison.
"But I'm actually here to see Taichi," Hinata added quickly.
"Oh, Shōyō!" Taichi waved at him. The two huddled together, whispering.
"Tch. Since when did he get so close with that little guy?" Oikawa looked annoyed and turned to Kageyama. "And what do you want?"
Kageyama was visibly excited. "Um, Oikawa-senpai…"
"Nope! Not happening, idiot," Oikawa interrupted before he could finish.
"Please! Just let me finish!" Kageyama bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle, his head held low.
"Whoa, first time I've seen Kageyama like this," Kunimi said with interest, now sitting up and speaking to Kindaichi.
"Ugh, Oikawa is bullying his juniors again."
"He's probably just holding a grudge because the kid's a genius setter~" Hanamaki and Matsukawa teased nearby.
"Hey, I can hear you!" Oikawa complained as he looked over—and saw Iwaizumi walking up.
"Aoba Johsai and Karasuno are opponents now—you do understand that, right, Kageyama?" Iwaizumi asked, voice serious.
Kageyama didn't lift his head. "Yes, Iwaizumi-senpai. But no matter what, I have a question I must ask Oikawa-senpai!"
Iwaizumi and Oikawa exchanged a look and fell silent for a moment.
Then Oikawa suddenly agreed, "Alright, go ahead. But afterward, you've got to toss a few balls for our Taichi."
Toss balls for Taichi? Kageyama looked confused but quickly moved on to ask his question.
"Uh… well… I have a friend, who's a setter, and his teammate suddenly said he wanted to practice a very unreliable attack right before a major tournament…"
"Pfft, Kageyama, since when do you have a setter friend?" Oikawa interrupted mercilessly. "If you're coming for advice, don't beat around the bush. Just get to the point."
Kageyama blushed. "Up until now, Hinata's always done quicks with his eyes closed. But now he says he wants to hit the ball based on his own will."
"Huh, then give it a try. If it works, that'd be amazing," Oikawa said breezily.
"Please don't make it sound so easy—Hinata doesn't have the technique for that!" Kageyama shouted.
Not far away, Hinata, who had been talking with Taichi, suddenly heard that and silently lowered his head.
"Oh? So you want the little guy to follow your orders to the letter? Sounds like a dictator to me," Oikawa said bluntly.
Kageyama froze. He hadn't considered that. He'd only been thinking about how to win the game.
"Don't get it twisted. The one who controls the offense isn't you—it's the little guy," Oikawa said, glancing at Hinata and Taichi. "The battle in the air is decided by the attacker."
"If you think sticking to the current way is the best, then keep hiding behind it—coward."