Haikyuu - Chapter 319 (Patreon)

Kawanishi cleared his throat and placed a hand on Tsutomu Goshiki's shoulder.

"Listen, Tsutomu Goshiki. You can rely on your senpai out there. Just focus on attacking and leave everything else to me!"

The moment Kawanishi finished speaking, he practically seemed to glow in Goshiki's eyes.

That was way too cool.

How could he say something that cool?!

Goshiki turned away, biting his fingernail in frustration.

Damn it!

He'd decided. When he became a third-year, he was definitely going to say something that cool to his own juniors!

Over on Itachiyama's side, Komori had finally stopped sulking.

He sat on the bench with a towel draped over his head, eyes closed as he reviewed every ball he'd missed in the previous set.

It would have been better if he hadn't.

The more Komori went over the set, the more missed balls he found.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

Eventually, he let out an irritated huff and retreated into the corner to sulk all over again.

Nishio, who had watched the entire process, turned to Kishimoto.

"Are you sure we don't need to talk to him?"

Komori had been like this for quite a while since coming off the court.

Doichiro happened to walk past, taking a satisfied drink of water.

"It's fine. Leave him alone. You'll get used to it eventually."

Sure enough, after sitting there dejectedly for a while, Komori stood up again.

He gripped the towel and wiped the sweat from his body.

He'd recovered.

His review was finished too.

Whatever mistakes he'd made in the previous set absolutely could not happen again in this one.

In the stands, Hoshiumi rested his chin on one hand as he watched below.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he slapped Hirugami on the arm.

"Hirugami, look! Is Shiratorizawa making substitutions?"

Hirugami looked down.

Tendo and Reon were sitting cheerfully on the bench, while Hibarida stood in front of Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki, apparently giving them some last-minute instructions.

"Yeah. Looks like Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki are playing in the next set. I wonder how they'll do."

Hirugami sounded almost as if he were talking to himself.

Then the whistle rang out across the court once more.

The second set had begun.

"Welcome back, everyone. We're live at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium for the National High School Boys' Volleyball Championship. Coming up now is the second set between Shiratorizawa and Itachiyama."

"That's right. Shiratorizawa claimed the first set after Ushijima scored the final point with a powerful spike."

"So what will happen next? Will Itachiyama fight their way back, or will Shiratorizawa maintain their momentum? Let's find out."

"Looking at the teams on the court, Shiratorizawa has made a few changes to its lineup, bringing in two first-years. Neither of these young players is inferior to anyone else on Shiratorizawa's roster."

"First, we have Ryosuke Hanyu, a player hailed as a blocking prodigy. He's repeatedly scored with blocks throughout this tournament and has successfully shut down most of the wing spikers from the top-eight teams one-on-one."

"Even Kiryū, one of the nation's top five wing spikers, was no exception."

Kiryū: There was really no need to use me as an example.

"The other player is Tsutomu Goshiki, who's been nicknamed 'Little Bokuto.' Personally, though, I think Goshiki and Bokuto are quite different. Throughout this tournament, Goshiki's super-sharp cross-court shots and line shots have been extremely dangerous, with remarkable accuracy. That's something many third-years, and even some professional players, struggle to achieve."

"All right, enough talk. Let's get the match underway!"

Ushijima led everyone into position.

Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki followed close behind him like two little chicks.

Since Ushijima had been the one to take Reon off the court, he would now have to shoulder the responsibilities Reon usually handled.

Watching Ushijima looking so dependable out on the court, Reon suddenly felt strangely emotional.

"Ah, our Ushijima has grown into such a reliable adult. I'm so proud."

Beside him, Eita Semi rolled his eyes.

"Hey, quit acting like some proud old father! What are you, our dad, Reon?"

"Is that how you talk to your senpai?!"

Reon immediately lunged at Semi, hooked an arm around his neck, and viciously ruffled his hair.

"Aaaah! Stop it! Stop it! Watch the match!"

On the court, Ushijima stood at the service line with the volleyball in his hand.

A burning gaze crossed the entire court and landed on him.

As if sensing it, Ushijima raised his head.

His eyes met Komori's.

Komori stared at him without blinking, almost as though he were speaking through his eyes.

Serve at me.

Come on, serve at me!

Hurry up and serve at me!

The eagerness in his gaze was practically overflowing.

Ushijima looked away.

He decided he might as well grant Komori this small wish.

He tossed the volleyball into the air and raised his head to track it, beginning his approach.

As the ball rose, Ushijima jumped after it.

The volleyball dropped perfectly into position.

Ushijima raised his left arm.

The muscles along it tightened and bulged as explosive power surged through him.

"Bang!"

The sound was so loud it was almost as if someone had fired a gun inside the gymnasium.

The volleyball visibly deformed beneath the impact before shooting toward Itachiyama's backcourt.

It moved at incredible speed, carrying a spin that was almost impossible to make out.

As soon as the ball crossed the net, Komori adjusted his stance and moved into the area where he predicted it would land.

Then he narrowed his eyes and studied the ball carefully.

Only after spotting the faint rotational pattern along its underside was he able to tell that it was spinning toward the right.

Komori shifted slightly to the left, changing his footwork into small adjustment steps so he could alter his receiving position at any moment.

Once he'd made his judgment, the ball almost seemed to accelerate.

Komori immediately stepped forward to meet it head-on.

The volleyball dropped rapidly.

Komori bent his knees, steadied his core, and extended both arms.

The ball seemed to have its own navigation system.

It slammed directly into his forearms.

"Bang!"

The ball felt impossibly heavy.

For a moment, Komori genuinely thought his arms were going to break.

The volleyball struck his arms with enough force that it threatened to ricochet away.

Komori absolutely refused to waste this chance.

Otherwise, all that pain would have been for nothing.

He immediately relaxed the force in his arms, allowing the enormous impact to send him into a clean forward roll.

The motion absorbed a large portion of the serve's power.

Then the volleyball shot upward with a sharp whoosh.

It had gone up, but the pass was still somewhat unstable.

If Komori had to pinpoint the reason, it was because his receiving posture and contact angle hadn't been quite right.

In his own mind, this definitely didn't count as a perfect first pass.

But that was fine.

They still had a setter.

"Cover it!"

Komori shouted as the ball rose.

The next second, a figure sprinted out.

Iizuna raced after the volleyball.

"No problem!"

Even as he ran, Iizuna couldn't help thinking how rare this was.

Komori actually asking him for help?

But since Komori had called for him, Iizuna had no intention of letting him down.

He got beneath the volleyball, waited until it dropped into the right position, then jumped to set.

Sakusa was already fully prepared, ready to begin his approach and attack at any moment.

Doichiro watched closely, ready to cover his ace's attack.

Across the net, Ryosuke had already rushed forward.

His gaze swept across Itachiyama's court before finally locking onto Sakusa.

Ushijima began his approach from the back, ready for Shiratorizawa's next attack, while Kawanishi followed behind to cover him.

Goshiki also began moving diagonally in from the backcourt.

Both sides were ready.

As the one who would trigger Itachiyama's attack, Iizuna could clearly feel it.

The tension was ready to explode.

Iizuna moved beneath the volleyball.

By then, Sakusa had already completed his approach toward the net.

Without hesitation, Iizuna set the ball to Sakusa.

Letting their ace lead the attack was the obvious choice.

Sakusa rushed toward the net.

At the same time, Ryosuke reached the corresponding position on the opposite side.

Iizuna jumped and gently redirected the volleyball with his hands, sending it behind Sakusa.

Doichiro was following slightly behind and to Sakusa's right.

If Ryosuke stuffed the attack outright, Doichiro would be in the best possible position to react and save the ball.

The moment Sakusa heard the volleyball cutting through the air behind him, he bent his knees and jumped.

At almost the exact same moment, Ryosuke jumped on the other side of the net.

Sakusa raised his right arm.

Ryosuke's eyes immediately locked onto it.

Following the movement, he saw Sakusa's wrist bend downward at a strange angle, almost perpendicular to his forearm.

One glance was enough for Ryosuke to understand.

Sakusa was going for a spike tight against the net.

After all, he wasn't exactly hiding his intention.

By the time Sakusa raised his arm, the volleyball had already reached his hand.

He snapped his wrist downward and drove the ball straight toward the net.

"Bang!"

The instant Sakusa struck the ball, Ryosuke reacted.

Instead of reaching for it with his hands, he waited for it to drop.

Then, once it fell low enough, Ryosuke deftly lifted it with his foot.

Why hadn't he used his hands?

Normally, using his hands in a match like this would have been the safer option.

The reason was simple.

Ryosuke wasn't good at handling this kind of ball.

Shots that stayed extremely close to the net were difficult to block and awkward to receive.

He had never learned how to properly handle this particular situation, so he naturally chose the method he personally found safest and easiest.

And Ryosuke controlled the strength in his foot perfectly.

Perhaps because of the experience he'd gained from the previous few attempts, his foot receives were now hardly any different from the ones he made with his arms.

The volleyball bounced high off Ryosuke's foot.

Sakusa certainly hadn't held back any power on that attack.

The moment the ball rose, Goshiki burst in from the side.

He'd been watching this rally ever since Komori received Ushijima's serve, hoping the entire time that Ryosuke would manage to keep Sakusa's attack alive.

Goshiki wanted to make his presence known in this set.

And taking the very first point would be the perfect declaration of intent.

The volleyball climbed high into the air.

After landing, Ryosuke felt a dull ache spreading across the top of his foot.

He couldn't help thinking that Sakusa really hadn't gone easy on that hit.

"Whoa~"

Hoshiumi let out an impressed cry from the stands.

"Ryosuke's getting better and better at receiving with his feet. Did that guy used to play soccer or something? Look at that control. He got both the force and distance exactly right."

Hirugami pulled his gaze away from the court and looked at Hoshiumi with amusement.

"You're right. He really is talented. Hopefully the soccer team doesn't try to steal him."

"But honestly, receiving with your foot isn't that difficult by itself. The hard part is having the guts to try it in an actual match. If you mess that up, you'd probably remember the embarrassment for the rest of your life."

Hoshiumi couldn't help imagining himself in that situation.

He pictured trying to receive the ball with his foot, missing completely, then getting laughed at in front of everyone by his opponents, teammates, and coaches.

Just imagining it made his stomach hurt.

At the same time, he had to admit that Ryosuke had both the skill and the nerve to pull it off.

Back on the court, the moment the volleyball rose, Goshiki rushed forward.

There was no need for a setter this time.

He could simply spike the ball straight back.

Goshiki jumped, eyes fixed on the descending volleyball.

His heart pounded in his chest.

He had a feeling.

He was definitely going to score this one.

The instant Doichiro saw the volleyball rise, he became alert.

His eyes followed its movement.

Then he spotted Goshiki appearing from behind the net.

Doichiro immediately sprinted forward to prepare a block.

One second he reached the net.

The next, the volleyball was already coming at him.

It almost felt as though Goshiki had deliberately waited until the exact moment Doichiro arrived before attacking.

"Bang!"

Doichiro jumped the moment he got into position.

But before he could even properly form his hands for the block, the volleyball was already past him.

The ball came down at an angle almost parallel to the net.

Doichiro didn't even have time to adjust his hands.

He could only watch it drop.

Nishio and Kishimoto came racing over at full speed, but even they couldn't make it in time.

The volleyball struck the floor.

"Beep————!"

The referee's whistle immediately followed, awarding the point.

"What an incredible rally! Sakusa attacked immediately after receiving the set from his setter, but Shiratorizawa's Ryosuke managed to keep the ball alive with his foot. At the same time, Tsutomu Goshiki, positioned in the front row alongside Ryosuke, reacted instantly and followed up with the attack."

"And we have to talk about Goshiki's very first attack of the set. That was outstanding. His control over his hitting angles has improved yet again. His progress has been remarkable."

"That super-sharp cross-court shot just now may very well have been the toughest angle we've seen in the tournament so far."

The two commentators delivered their analysis as soon as the referee's whistle faded.

They weren't simply praising Goshiki for the sake of it.

Throughout this entire tournament, this really was the first time they'd seen such an extreme angle executed so cleanly and decisively.

"Tsutomu Goshiki! That was amazing!"

Ryosuke turned toward him excitedly.

During Sakusa's attack, Ryosuke had already been thinking that if Goshiki reacted quickly enough, Shirabu wouldn't need to come in and adjust the play.

Goshiki could simply attack the ball directly.

And as if he'd heard Ryosuke's thoughts, he appeared beneath the volleyball in the very next instant.

Anyone watching would have called that perfect chemistry.