Haikyuu - Chapter 309 (Patreon)

“Exactly! And every time Shirabu-senpai sets the ball to me, he looks so serious about it. I really think the ball is coming to me, and then it turns out it isn't! That's amazing too!”

Ryosuke, standing in front, genuinely thought Shirabu was incredible, and Tsutomu Goshiki behind him felt the same way. After all, Tsutomu Goshiki fell for Shirabu's sets every single time.

Everyone assumed that after being fooled so many times, Tsutomu Goshiki would eventually learn his lesson.

But he never did.

Shirabu's sets were simply too convincing.

Tsutomu Goshiki also focused on something completely different from everyone else. As far as he was concerned, the fact that Shirabu could fool him so thoroughly was impressive in itself.

“Shirabu, could you give me a heads-up before you do something like that next time?”

Reon clutched his chest and tried to negotiate with Shirabu, looking thoroughly exhausted.

Shirabu was a good kid in almost every respect, but he had a habit of doing things without saying a word. If Reon hadn't noticed what was happening just now, that play would've been dead in the water.

None of these kids ever gave him a moment's peace.

Shirabu looked at Reon's expression and inexplicably felt a little guilty. He wiped the sweat from his hands onto his shorts and nodded.

“Got it, Reon-senpai.”

He'd definitely do it again next time.

Shirabu was gradually discovering just how thrilling it could be to play aggressively as a setter.

He'd been far too conservative before.

Watching the volleyball fly through the air while his heart clenched with tension was unbelievably exhilarating.

Seeing Shirabu nod so obediently, Reon couldn't help thinking that although Shirabu didn't talk much and had a bit of a temper, he was still a very well-behaved kid overall.

Unfortunately, Reon had completely misjudged him this time.

Shirabu was anything but obedient and conventional.

After these past few matches, the setter instincts buried inside him had been completely awakened.

Every setter had a taste for excitement hidden somewhere inside.

Up in the stands, Oikawa pursed his lips.

Something about Shirabu seemed different, but he couldn't quite say what.

If he had to sum it up, Shirabu had probably become even more troublesome to deal with.

Shiratorizawa had won the rally, successfully holding onto the serve.

Tsutomu Goshiki picked up the volleyball and headed back to the service line.

Everyone else returned to position as well, ready for the next rally.

Komori stood in the backcourt, his eyes practically glued to Tsutomu Goshiki.

For some reason, Tsutomu Goshiki suddenly felt pressured.

He hadn't felt anything like this before.

Was Komori-senpai finally about to get serious?

Tsutomu Goshiki felt slightly uneasy, but the referee's whistle quickly snapped his attention back to the serve.

To be honest, he thought his previous serve had been pretty mediocre.

If Shirabu-senpai and Reon-senpai hadn't stepped up and kept the rally alive, he definitely wouldn't have gotten another chance to serve.

The thought immediately lit a fire inside him.

He absolutely couldn't let Shirabu-senpai and Reon-senpai's efforts go to waste.

If he couldn't score a service ace, then at the very least, he had to make Komori struggle with one of his serves.

Having made up his mind, Tsutomu Goshiki held the volleyball in front of his chest and focused.

Then, under everyone's tense gaze, he tossed it into the air.

As the ball rose, Tsutomu Goshiki tilted his head back and chased after it with his approach.

Komori tensed as well.

This kid might only be a first-year, but he was already much stronger than Doichiro had been as a first-year.

Once the volleyball dropped to the right height, Tsutomu Goshiki jumped sharply into the air and drew back his arm.

His right hand locked onto the ball.

Then he struck it with lightning speed.

“Bang!”

The volleyball shot from Tsutomu Goshiki's hand like a cannonball.

Straight at Komori's face.

Coach Washijō, watching the match through the video feed, saw Tsutomu Goshiki's serve and gave an ambiguous snort.

That brat certainly knew how to take shortcuts.

Unable to find a serving style that suited him, Tsutomu Goshiki had simply adapted Ushijima's serving technique for himself.

Still, most people couldn't imitate the particular feel of Ushijima's serve even if they tried.

Tsutomu Goshiki had only managed it because he'd spent so much time practicing alongside Ushijima day after day. Otherwise, he never would've picked it up.

The volleyball tore across the court with unstoppable momentum.

Komori's brow twitched.

Even Coach Washijō could sense the pressure through a screen, so Komori, who was facing the ball head-on, naturally felt it even more clearly.

This was intense.

The volleyball whistled through the air.

Komori instantly focused, and just before the ball reached him, he dropped sharply into a crouch.

His lower body was planted firmly, and his expression was completely serious.

He looked nothing like the Komori who usually joked around with everyone off the court.

Within moments, the volleyball was right in front of him.

Komori positioned his forearms, and the ball landed squarely against the center of his platform.

“Bang!”

The instant the ball made contact, Komori put strength into his arms and drove it upward.

Only after he'd already sent the volleyball flying did he realize something was wrong.

“!!”

The impact against his arms had been far too light.

He'd used too much force on the receive.

Realizing his mistake, Komori hurriedly looked up.

Sure enough, the volleyball had already sailed into a high arc toward the net.

Iizuna sensed that something was off, looked up, and went,

“Huh?”

Then he understood immediately.

“Komori, you're dead!”

Seeing the ball about to fly toward the other side of the court, Iizuna cursed inwardly and sprinted after it.

A bead of cold sweat ran down Komori's forehead when he realized Iizuna was angry.

They were still in the middle of the match, so there was no way to explain everything in a few words.

He'd just have to let Iizuna stay angry for now and explain during the next timeout or after the set ended.

Even though Iizuna was angry, he still had enough sense to think things through.

He trusted that Komori wouldn't make such an obvious mistake for no reason.

That meant the real problem had to be the kid on the other side.

Of course, that didn't make Iizuna any less angry.

Fueled by irritation, Iizuna ran even faster, nearly leaving an afterimage behind him.

Shiratorizawa wasn't about to stand around and watch either.

The moment Iizuna and the Itachiyama players moved, Shiratorizawa's players sprang into action as well.

Tsutomu Goshiki proudly lifted his chin when he realized his serve had forced Komori into a mistake.

Then he joined the others in the attack.

Players from both teams rushed toward the net all at once, making the court look almost chaotic.

Ryosuke immediately focused on Itachiyama's spikers.

Naturally, Sakusa was still the one he watched most closely.

Sakusa followed behind Doichiro toward the net, with a crowd of players in front of him providing cover.

He successfully disappeared among them.

But none of that escaped Ryosuke's eyes.

Ryosuke had been watching Sakusa the entire time.

By now, he could practically guess what Sakusa was thinking.

While both sides were fighting over the ball at the net, if it fell toward Itachiyama's side, Sakusa could take advantage of the opening and go for an overpass kill.

And if it fell toward Shiratorizawa instead, Itachiyama still wouldn't lose anything.

That was what Ryosuke thought Sakusa was planning.

And that was exactly what Sakusa was planning.

The two of them had always shared a strangely similar way of thinking about volleyball.

Iizuna reached the net and positioned himself beneath the ball.

Tsutomu Goshiki was directly across from him.

The two looked at each other through the net, then jumped at the same time.

Their hands met the volleyball above the center of the net, each trying to force it onto the other's side.

Tsutomu Goshiki's eyes shone with confidence.

Sure, the person across from him was an upperclassman.

But there was still a clear difference in raw strength between a setter and a spiker.

Poor, naive Tsutomu Goshiki felt very pleased with himself.

Iizuna looked at the grin in Tsutomu Goshiki's eyes, confused.

What was this kid so happy about?

He quickly pushed the thought aside.

With a deft movement of his right hand, Iizuna spun the volleyball against Tsutomu Goshiki's palm.

The ball brushed past his hand and dropped toward Shiratorizawa's side.

Tsutomu Goshiki's eyes widened when he felt the volleyball slip away.

Wait.

Wasn't this supposed to end with him forcing the ball down and Itachiyama failing to receive it?

Why was the volleyball falling onto Shiratorizawa's court instead?

While Tsutomu Goshiki stood there stunned, Reon suddenly darted out from behind him.

He threw himself forward in a dive and saved the ball.

The volleyball rose into the air again.

Tsutomu Goshiki quickly recovered, backed up two steps, and began his approach for a spike.

But Ushijima had seen Tsutomu Goshiki's mistake just now.

There was no way he was going to leave this attack to him.

Ushijima appeared beside Tsutomu Goshiki, stepped forward with his right foot, and moved directly in front of him, taking over the spot where Tsutomu Goshiki had been about to jump.

Tsutomu Goshiki stared blankly for a moment.

Then, displaying remarkable good sense, he immediately yielded the ball to Ushijima.

At crucial moments, Tsutomu Goshiki could be surprisingly perceptive.

Ushijima jumped at the net.

The moment Iizuna saw him, he moved aside.

Behind him, Itachiyama's three-man block was already waiting.

Nishio and Kishimoto joined Doichiro, forming three towering walls directly in front of Ushijima.

Ushijima didn't seem bothered in the slightest.

He raised his left hand high, ready to swing.

“Bang!”

Ushijima struck the volleyball so hard that the ball visibly deformed against his palm.

The muscles bulging along his arm made it look, at first glance, as though he could knock Tendo dead with a single slap.

Tendo: Thanks a lot. (smiles)

Ushijima hammered the volleyball straight toward Doichiro in the middle of the block.

Doichiro's arms instantly went rigid.

A numbing pain shot through them, twisting his face in agony.

That hit was brutal.

Doichiro put even more strength into his arms, absolutely determined not to let the ball through.

But there was only so much he could do.

Ushijima's strength simply overwhelmed him.

The volleyball blasted Doichiro's raised arms apart and dropped toward Itachiyama's court.

Iizuna came racing in from behind and rolled across the floor to save the ball.

Sakusa followed immediately, hoping to capitalize on the opening and attack.

The two of them were unbelievably fast.

They slipped away right under Ryosuke's nose.

Watching Sakusa move as though he'd teleported, Ryosuke couldn't help wondering whether Sakusa was secretly a sprinter.

How could someone run that fast?

Ryosuke had originally intended to block Sakusa.

But when he tried to move in the same direction, he found his path blocked by Tsutomu Goshiki, who had just been preparing to spike.

Going around him would take too long.

So Ryosuke shouted from behind him,

“Tsutomu Goshiki, block!”

The instant he heard the command, Tsutomu Goshiki reflexively searched for the next attacker.

When he spotted Sakusa, he immediately sprinted toward him.

Ryosuke followed closely behind, also heading toward the block.

By the time Tsutomu Goshiki arrived, Sakusa had already jumped behind Iizuna and drawn back his right arm.

He went for a deep cross-court shot from the back row.

By the time Tsutomu Goshiki got into position and jumped, Sakusa had already struck the ball.

Ryosuke was still some distance away.

Tsutomu Goshiki jumped to block, but he couldn't quite read the trajectory.

He'd blocked cross-court shots before.

He'd blocked deep cross-court shots.

He'd blocked back-row attacks.

He'd even blocked back-row cross-court attacks.

But now there was a problem.

A deep cross-court shot from the back row?

He'd never blocked one of those before.

The volleyball flew toward Tsutomu Goshiki's arms.

His eyes tracked it, and his hands moved along with its path.

The ball eventually headed toward his right side.

Tsutomu Goshiki shifted both hands to the right.

His fingers were just about to make contact.

The volleyball grazed his hands for an instant, then suddenly deflected toward the lower left.

“!!”

Tsutomu Goshiki's eyes went perfectly round.

He clearly hadn't expected the ball to change direction like that.

Ryosuke tried to save it the same way he had before, but one look at the distance told him he wouldn't make it.

A few seconds had been lost when Tsutomu Goshiki blocked his path, followed by the time Ryosuke had spent identifying the attacker.

Those few seconds were enough to cost them the point.

The volleyball dropped almost lazily to the floor.

It landed right beside Tsutomu Goshiki's feet.

Then the referee's whistle sounded.

“Fweeeeeet!”

The atmosphere on the two sides immediately became completely different.

Some spectators hadn't even understood what had happened during the rally.

Everything had moved far too quickly.

Most of the audience only had a basic understanding of volleyball anyway, so their confusion was understandable.

Now it was the commentators' turn to explain.

“What an incredible rally! Both teams fought fiercely at the net, but to understand what happened, we need to start with Tsutomu Goshiki's serve.”

“Exactly. Tsutomu Goshiki's serve was interesting from the very beginning. At first glance, it looked like an extremely powerful jump serve, but judging from the stunned expression Komori showed when he received it, clearly something else was going on.”

After saying that, the commentator even had the cameraman replay Komori's expression on the big screen from the instant he received the ball.

Confusion.

Bewilderment.

Then shock.

Put together, it looked unexpectedly ridiculous.

Seeing his own face enlarged across the big screen, Komori experienced a level of embarrassment unlike anything he'd ever felt before.

He'd played in countless matches, but never once had he suffered this kind of public humiliation.

It was practically a public execution.

His entire face turned bright red.

Then, with an anguished,

“Aaagh!”

Komori abruptly lowered his head and covered his face with both hands.

From Iizuna's angle, even Komori's ears had turned completely red.

Iizuna had originally been planning to give him an earful.

But after the commentator pulled a stunt like that, even Iizuna couldn't bring himself to scold Komori anymore.

He actually started feeling sorry for him.

“Hahaha! Komori-senpai! That face you made! Hahahaha!”

“Gahahahahaha!”

Nishio and Kishimoto stood on either side of Komori, patting him on the shoulders as they mercilessly laughed at him.