Haikyuu - Chapter 327 (Patreon)

The ball carried far less power than Komori had expected.

He'd put too much force into his receive and couldn't adjust in time, sending the volleyball flying wildly off course.

Komori immediately turned to chase it.

But someone was even faster.

Iizuna burst forward and sprinted after the ball as it flew toward the stands.

He had a feeling this point was probably lost.

Still, he pushed himself harder and kept chasing.

In the end, all Iizuna could do was watch helplessly as the volleyball sailed into the stands and landed in the arms of a young boy wearing a junior high uniform.

The boy was clearly startled.

He stared blankly at the volleyball in his hands until his parent reminded him what to do.

Only then did he snap out of it and shyly toss the ball back toward the court.

Good-natured laughter spread through the stands.

Iizuna reached out and caught it, then gestured his thanks to the boy before walking away.

In the end, the point still went to Shiratorizawa.

The moment Ryosuke heard the whistle, he let out a huge breath of relief.

That was close.

Itachiyama had almost managed to save that one.

"All right! One more!"

"That was awesome!"

"Shiratorizawa! Shiratorizawa!"

Ryosuke's string of serves had completely fired up the crowd.

Spectators always had a soft spot for players who seemed almost larger than life.

Watching them was like watching their own dreams play out before their eyes.

A genius like Ryosuke, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and started from a position most people could only dream of, was exactly the kind of player countless spectators fantasized about becoming.

His consecutive points from the service line only made him even more popular.

In the front rows, reporters armed with enormous telephoto lenses seized the brief pause between rallies.

Camera flashes went off one after another.

Shutters clicked nonstop.

Ryosuke had already become a player worth talking about.

A lot of those reporters were thinking the same thing.

This issue was definitely going to sell well.

Every lens seemed to be pointed at Ryosuke.

"That scared me. I really thought they were going to keep that one alive."

Ryosuke patted his chest as he complained to Goshiki.

Goshiki looked incredibly proud.

"No way! You're amazing, Ryosuke. Even if they had received it, I would've spiked it right back! As long as I'm behind you, you've got nothing to worry about!"

What Goshiki was proud of wasn't the fact that he could help Ryosuke send the ball back.

He was proud that someone as talented as Ryosuke was actually his good friend.

Just thinking about it was enough to make him grin in his sleep.

Ushijima watched everyone enjoying themselves and abruptly poured cold water over the mood.

"Stay alert. Ryosuke can only maintain this level of touch for about five serves."

The statement seemed to come out of nowhere, but everyone understood what he meant.

Once Ryosuke lost his feel for the serve, Itachiyama would start receiving properly again.

When that happened, Shiratorizawa would need to organize its defense and offense.

They couldn't stay as relaxed as they were now.

"Don't worry. I'm staying alert."

Yamagata raised an arm and flexed his biceps, smacking the muscle with his other hand hard enough to make a dull thumping sound.

Shirabu nodded as well.

They couldn't just keep relying on Ryosuke alone.

That would be no different from their old habit of sending every ball to Ushijima.

Ryosuke wouldn't be able to endure it forever.

Seeing that everyone understood, Ushijima relaxed and returned to his position.

On Itachiyama's side, Komori looked utterly dejected.

If this had been a normal practice match, he would've been thrilled to face a serve like Ryosuke's.

He might even have pestered Ryosuke into giving him a few more.

But right now?

Komori would thank the heavens if Ryosuke simply made one mistake.

This was already the second set.

If Shiratorizawa tied the score now, there was a good chance they would take the lead later.

And if Itachiyama lost this set, then things would truly become dangerous.

Sakusa seemed to notice Komori's conflicted expression.

He walked over.

"Don't worry about it. Ryosuke probably only has another two serves like that in him."

Sakusa's understanding of Ryosuke had reached an almost obsessive level.

Whenever Ryosuke entered Sakusa's field of vision, Sakusa's eyes would inevitably drift toward him.

He watched Ryosuke constantly.

At this point, Sakusa knew practically every obscure little habit Ryosuke had.

So when it came to Ryosuke's serve, Sakusa wasn't worried at all.

Komori froze after hearing him.

To make sure Sakusa wasn't merely trying to comfort him, he even turned and looked at him several times.

But Sakusa looked completely calm.

His expression hadn't changed at all since Ryosuke started serving.

Only then did Komori understand.

No wonder Sakusa had looked the same from beginning to end.

He'd known this all along.

Komori immediately felt a little exasperated.

If Sakusa already knew, why hadn't he said anything?

What a jerk.

Nishio, who had overheard them, scratched his head.

"But then the lead you senpai built earlier will be gone."

Iizuna walked over and draped an arm around Nishio's shoulders.

"That's fine. So what if the lead disappears?"

"At least Ryosuke is burning through his stamina."

"Remember, he's the only proper blocker Shiratorizawa has on the court right now. He has to block, serve, and attack."

"Our goal is to wear him out as much as possible before Tendo comes back in."

By then, Komori had calmed down too.

He thought carefully about what Sakusa and Iizuna had said, then nodded.

"I was getting too caught up in it."

"At this rate, once Ryosuke's serving rotation ends, he probably won't get another turn before this match is over."

Between the two of them, Sakusa and Iizuna successfully eased Komori's worries.

Nishio secretly breathed a sigh of relief too.

As long as Komori-senpai had recovered, everything was fine.

Komori-senpai was great in almost every way, but he had a tendency to obsess over things once they got into his head.

Everyone knew that.

What Nishio hadn't expected was how ruthlessly everyone else was calculating things.

At the same time, he silently mourned for Ryosuke.

Poor Ryosuke.

If heaven wanted to destroy someone, it first drove them mad.

Ryosuke was about to learn exactly what that "madness" felt like.

By the time everyone returned to their positions, Ryosuke was already waiting at the service line for the referee's whistle.

He was deliberately keeping quiet now.

No unnecessary talking.

No distractions.

No letting the outside world interfere.

He wanted to preserve his current condition and squeeze out as many points as he could.

Ryosuke tossed the volleyball into the air and tracked it overhead.

His waist drove the shift in his center of gravity.

He raised his right arm, jumped, and hammered the ball.

"Bang!"

With another thunderous impact, the volleyball tore toward Itachiyama's court.

The speed had once again surpassed Ryosuke's previous limit.

By eye, it looked to be around 120 kilometers per hour.

Even the top volleyball players in the country currently reached only around 134 kilometers per hour with their spikes.

For someone Ryosuke's age to produce that kind of speed was already absurd.

This serve was even faster than the previous one.

Komori wasn't surprised anymore.

He was getting used to this.

He rapidly adjusted his position in the backcourt.

He had no idea how much force the serve actually carried.

Judging by the sound, it seemed powerful.

But Ryosuke's serves couldn't be judged that way.

The previous one had sounded incredibly heavy too, only to arrive with far less force than Komori expected.

That misjudgment was exactly what had ruined his receive.

Komori bent his knees and tried to take the ball.

He still couldn't control it.

The volleyball ricocheted off his arms and shot toward the back of the court, continuing until it flew out of bounds.

Komori stared after it thoughtfully.

If he hadn't touched that ball at all, would it have gone straight out?

"Beep————!"

Ryosuke scored again.

Now Shiratorizawa was only one point away from tying the score.

Everyone reset and returned to position.

No one dared relax.

The tension on the court was growing heavier by the second.

Hoshiumi tugged at his collar.

"This feels awful. Did I put my shirt on backward or something? I can barely breathe."

That one sentence made both Hirugami and Kuroo laugh.

Hoshiumi really was still a kid.

Most spectators couldn't actually sense every change in the atmosphere on the court.

They were simply keeping quiet out of courtesy.

Ryosuke stood in position one.

The referee's whistle sounded again.

He slowly exhaled, trying to loosen the stiffness in his arm.

He could feel everyone's eyes fixed on him now.

So many people were watching that Ryosuke was beginning to feel like he'd forgotten how to breathe.

He tossed the volleyball into the air.

His shifting center of gravity pulled his body into the rotation, and his arm whipped forward into the ball.

"Bang!"

The volleyball flew away unsteadily.

The moment it left his hand, Ryosuke knew something had gone wrong.

He had clearly felt his palm slip.

Why had that happened?

After landing, Ryosuke silently panicked.

That shouldn't have happened.

Then he wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand.

In that instant, he understood.

He hadn't wiped the sweat from his palm.

That was why his hand had slipped during the serve.

Ryosuke immediately regretted it.

If he'd noticed sooner, maybe he could have taken another point.

Everyone else could tell that something was wrong with the serve too, and they immediately became alert.

Komori's eyes lit up when he saw the unstable trajectory.

Here was his chance.

He sprinted toward the frontcourt, extended his arms, and received the ball.

"Bang!"

The volleyball bounced cleanly off Komori's forearms and rose smoothly into the air.

Several people immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Komori most of all.

He'd genuinely been afraid that if Ryosuke kept serving like that, this set might end right there.

Iizuna relaxed too.

Finally.

A normal first pass.

He ran underneath the ball to set.

Players on both sides moved at once.

As usual, Sakusa and Doichiro led the approaches.

One moved toward position two.

The other moved toward position three.

Kishimoto was at position four.

It looked like Itachiyama was setting up a three-option attack.

This time, Iizuna didn't actually attempt another setter attack.

A trick like that could be used once.

Maybe twice.

But not three times.

If he kept repeating it, Shiratorizawa would eventually figure out the pattern.

Still, knowing he shouldn't attack again didn't mean Iizuna couldn't fake one.

Iizuna raised his left hand as though preparing to spike.

The moment Ryosuke and Goshiki saw that motion, alarm bells went off in both their heads.

Again!

Iizuna's setter attack again!

The volleyball in Iizuna's hand might as well have been a cat toy.

Ryosuke and Goshiki's eyes were glued to it.

A fraction of a second later, both bent their knees to jump.

Then Iizuna abruptly changed his motion.

The attempted setter attack became a set.

With one hand, he sent a long ball all the way toward Doichiro at position three.

Iizuna's hang time really was ridiculous.

He had enough time in the air to fake Ryosuke once and still complete the set afterward.

Ryosuke reacted instantly.

He lowered his body and sprinted after the ball, with Goshiki following right behind him.

But Doichiro was fast.

It was only a few steps.

By the time Ryosuke arrived, the volleyball was already dropping.

His only option was to dive.

Ryosuke smoothly threw himself onto the floor and swung an arm back to keep the ball alive.

Goshiki, right behind him, immediately attacked it back over.

The attack came too quickly for him to put much technique into it.

Doichiro had remained alert the entire time.

He jumped and immediately sent the ball back with an overpass kill.

Ryosuke hadn't even managed to get off the floor yet.

He'd only just raised his head when the volleyball came straight at his face.

To keep from getting hit, Ryosuke instinctively threw up one hand.

The ball struck it, deflected away, and finally dropped to the floor.

"Beep————!"

"After scoring four consecutive points, Shiratorizawa's Ryosuke finally falters on his fifth serve!"

"Komori receives it cleanly, and Iizuna follows by disguising a spike before sending the ball to Doichiro at position three!"

"Doichiro jumps and attacks! Ryosuke dives to keep it alive! Ryosuke and Goshiki are working together beautifully!"

"The moment Ryosuke gets the ball up, Goshiki is already in the air and attacks it back!"

"But Doichiro, who has been watching Ryosuke closely, jumps and puts away the overpass! The ball comes straight back!"

"Shiratorizawa can't save the final touch, but Ryosuke's four-point serving streak was still incredible!"

"Let's hear it for this talented first-year!"

As the commentator finished, the stands erupted in cheers.

Some people were cheering for Ryosuke.

Others were celebrating Itachiyama's point.

All the voices blended together until it was impossible to distinguish one from another.

Ryosuke sighed.

If he'd known, he should've just let the ball hit him in the face and bounce back.

Blocking it with his hand had killed all its momentum.

While Ryosuke was still thinking about it, a face suddenly appeared in front of him.

Doichiro bent slightly at the waist and looked down at him.

Then he smiled.

"You're really good. Keep it up."

Softhearted as he was, Doichiro had seen Ryosuke sitting on the floor and assumed he was feeling discouraged.

So he'd come over to comfort him.

Ryosuke looked up, completely confused by the unexpected encouragement.

"Uh... thanks."

Then Goshiki's hand appeared beside him and helped him up.

"Ryosuke, are you okay? That ball didn't hit you, did it?"

There was clear concern in his voice.

Ryosuke let Goshiki pull him to his feet and shook his head.

"I'm fine. It's just a shame about that last ball."

Seeing that Ryosuke was still worried about the play instead of himself, Goshiki knew he was fine.