Haikyuu - Chapter 331 (Patreon)

Ryosuke sensed something was off with Tendo and glanced back at him. Tendo had his head lowered, apparently lost in thought, so Ryosuke didn't pay much attention to it. He was exhausted. The second set had drained far more of his energy and concentration than he'd expected.

Goshiki wasn't any better. He'd been full of life on the court just moments ago, but the instant he came off, he looked half-dead.

Reon sighed as he watched the younger players droop in their seats. Having them carry an entire set largely on their own was still too much. Iizuna had run them ragged, and this match was proving difficult. Reon had a faint feeling that their IH run might end here.

With Reon looking worried, no one else said much. Some rested while others wiped away their sweat. For a while, the atmosphere around Shiratorizawa was unnaturally quiet and subdued.

Ushijima looked around at the silent group and found himself at a loss for words. If only Coach Washijō were here. Coach Washijō might spend every day finding faults with them, but whenever he was around, the team's mood had never sunk this low.

For the first time, Ushijima regretted not being someone good with words. At least then he might have been able to lighten the atmosphere.

"Why is everyone so quiet?"

Hibarida had gone to the locker room to prepare water for everyone. When he returned, he found the entire group sitting there in silence, with an equally strange mood hanging over them.

As a coach, Hibarida had seen this kind of atmosphere plenty of times. It wasn't anything serious. They simply thought they were going to lose and were feeling discouraged.

So Hibarida set the water bottles down, planted his hands on his hips, and bellowed, "What's with all those long faces?! The match isn't over yet! Coach Washijō misses one match and this is what you turn into? Just wait until he watches the replay. You'll all be doing extra practice when you get back!"

Hibarida's roar dragged everyone out of their own thoughts. Once the noise died down, the stagnant atmosphere finally began to loosen.

Reon was the first to back him up.

"Coach Hibarida is right. We lost one set, not the entire match. Put those disappointed faces away. You can feel miserable after the match if you still want to."

"Besides, Coach Washijō will be back soon. Don't you want to win this match and go out for a victory dinner with him tonight?"

Between Reon and Hibarida, Goshiki instantly came back to life.

He grabbed Ryosuke by the shoulders and shook him back and forth.

"Exactly! What are we feeling down for? The match isn't over yet! Once it's over, let's go eat yakiniku, okay?"

Ryosuke's head spun from being shaken so violently.

He'd just finished drinking water. The last thing he needed was for Goshiki to shake it right back out of him.

Tendo finally stepped in and rescued Ryosuke from Goshiki's hands.

Ryosuke held his head for a moment until the dizziness passed, then nodded at Goshiki.

"You're right."

But that wasn't really how Ryosuke felt.

He was still discouraged.

Ryosuke had never been an arrogant child, but he'd grown up hearing people call him a "genius."

The fact that he'd never become conceited was already something.

But after that last set, Ryosuke felt as if the word "genius" no longer suited him.

There was always someone better.

Nishio, who had repeatedly managed to get his hands on their attacks.

Iizuna, whose setter attacks were so difficult to defend.

And Sakusa, with those bizarre, unpredictable spikes.

So this was how brutal the competition at the IH really was.

On a court like this, Ryosuke felt like a single drop of water disappearing into the ocean.

Nothing special at all.

After all, he'd been restricted over and over throughout the previous set.

Hibarida waited until the atmosphere had improved a little before speaking again.

"Since your coach isn't here, you'll have to rely on yourselves. I'm not your regular coach, so I don't know your style well enough to dictate your strategy."

"You'll have to work that out yourselves. When I come back, I don't want to see everyone sitting here in silence again."

With that, Hibarida picked up seven or eight water bottles and started walking away.

Yamagata felt bad letting the coach carry everything alone, so he stood up and followed.

"Coach, let me help."

Hibarida immediately brightened and cheerfully dumped all the bottles into Yamagata's arms.

Once the coach had left, Ushijima stood and addressed everyone.

"For the first half of the third set, Goshiki and Ryosuke will switch with Reon and Tendo."

Reon nodded.

"Right. Goshiki and Ryosuke used too much energy in the second set. Rest for the first half, then come back in later."

Ryosuke and Goshiki both nodded.

That would also give them a chance to watch how their senpai dealt with all of Itachiyama's tricks.

Seeing that no one objected, Ushijima nodded and returned to his seat.

He had always been a man of few words.

Itachiyama's atmosphere wasn't much better.

They'd won the second set by the narrowest of margins, almost brushing against defeat.

Iizuna had even resorted to setter attacks.

Other teams might not understand what it meant when Iizuna started attacking himself, but the Itachiyama players did.

Normally, Iizuna only used setter attacks when he was backed into a corner and running out of other options.

Even when Itachiyama had managed to open a gap, Ryosuke erased it within minutes.

Even Sakusa had started thinking about ways to deceive Shiratorizawa.

They had truly been running out of options.

Under normal circumstances, Sakusa rarely coordinated complicated plays with others.

He usually focused on one thing.

Attacking.

That was how close the second set had been.

And worse, they'd already shown all those tactics.

Shiratorizawa would definitely be prepared for them in the third set, so the same tricks wouldn't work nearly as well.

From here on, it would come down to stamina.

They'd already played two full sets.

Itachiyama did have substitutes, but the only meaningful backup was another setter.

And in a match this important, there was no reason to put him in unless absolutely necessary.

A backup setter couldn't control the entire court the way Iizuna could.

He would only come in if Iizuna ran out of stamina or something unexpected happened.

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have used my setter attacks."

Just thinking about how much less useful they'd be in the third set made Iizuna frustrated.

Komori shook his head.

"Don't say something stupid like that. If you hadn't attacked when you did, we might not even have won that set."

Kishimoto and Nishio nodded furiously beside him.

Seriously.

If Iizuna-senpai hadn't stepped in when he did, Nishio felt like Ushijima's spikes would've killed him long ago.

"It's fine. Stop thinking about it so much. Shiratorizawa can't keep this up forever either."

But Iizuna still looked uneasy.

He raised his head and looked at Komori and Sakusa.

"The main players carrying Shiratorizawa in the last set were Goshiki and Ryosuke. Tendo and Reon are still waiting on the bench."

"Just watch. Tendo and Reon are definitely coming in for the third set."

Komori frowned too and took a long drink of water.

Iizuna had a point.

For the first time, Komori found himself wishing Itachiyama had a deeper bench.

If they'd developed a few first-years like Goshiki and Ryosuke, they wouldn't be stretched so thin right now.

At that moment, Itachiyama's coach walked over.

"There's no point thinking about all that now. You can't change anything in the middle of the tournament."

"From here on, things will only get harder."

"And just like Iizuna said, the main players in that last set were Goshiki and Ryosuke. Ushijima and the others barely had to exert themselves."

"In other words, Shiratorizawa still hasn't shown everything they have."

The more the coach analyzed the situation, the more discouraged Iizuna looked.

The others weren't feeling much better either.

Their coach, however, seemed perfectly satisfied.

Sometimes it was good for young players to experience frustration.

They would remember it the next time they played.

There were lessons words simply couldn't teach.

Some things had to be learned on the court.

After saying his piece, the coach paid no attention to their expressions and calmly walked away.

The group was left staring at one another.

Then Sakusa spoke.

"In the third set, Iizuna, use fewer setter attacks."

"Set everything to me."

"Doichiro and Kishimoto, cover for me."

"We'll switch from defense to offense."

Iizuna looked worried.

Sakusa had already played two full sets and couldn't possibly have much energy left.

Still, Iizuna nodded.

He knew Sakusa never committed to something he didn't believe he could do.

Komori expected Sakusa to give him instructions too.

But after waiting for a while and hearing nothing, he huffed.

"Then leave the backcourt to me. I'll put in more work so none of you have to worry about what's behind you."

The moment he said it, Sakusa gave him an approving look.

Apparently Sakusa hadn't expected Komori to understand his role so well without being told.

The tiny bit of irritation Komori had been feeling vanished instantly.

"What about me?"

Nishio, sitting beside Kishimoto, asked timidly.

Sakusa hesitated.

Before he could answer, Komori cut in.

Komori figured Sakusa probably wasn't going to say anything nice anyway.

That string of instructions just now had already been unusually talkative for him.

"Focus on blocking. When necessary, Kishimoto will join you."

"I know how good your blocking is."

"From now on, the frontcourt is yours."

"You handle the front. I'll handle the back."

"We won't let Shiratorizawa score a single point."

"Okay!"

Nishio nodded enthusiastically, his eyes shining.

The sight made Komori's heart soften.

That expression really did remind him of Sakusa when he was little.

As the third set drew closer, everyone gradually fell silent again.

It felt like the stillness before a storm.

Shiratorizawa was the same.

When it was almost time to return to the court, no one spoke anymore.

"Beep————!"

A loud, prolonged whistle rang through the arena.

The third set was about to begin.

Players from both teams stood and began filing onto the court.

...

At that same moment, outside the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, a flock of crows in black school uniforms climbed noisily off a bus.

"Whoa, this place is huge!"

"Look! Tokyo Skytree!"

"Idiot, that's a power line."

"..."

"All right, enough noise!"

Daichi shouted at the rowdy group.

Hinata pulled out his phone and checked it several times.

"Ryosuke said Shiratorizawa and Itachiyama are playing in the main arena right now, while Fukurōdani and Ichibayashi are in the secondary arena."

"Daichi-senpai, which match are we going to watch?"

Daichi answered without hesitation.

"Shiratorizawa."

"We still need to thank Ryosuke for arranging the bus that brought us here."

"Hinata, make sure you cheer properly for Shiratorizawa."

Hinata nodded seriously.

Daichi-senpai was right.

He absolutely had to thank Ryosuke.

When Ryosuke found out that Hinata wanted to watch the IH in person, he'd arranged a chartered bus for the entire Karasuno team overnight.

He'd even booked them a hotel.

In reality, the hotel belonged to Ryosuke's family.

But Ryosuke was worried Hinata and the others would feel uncomfortable accepting that much help, so he'd told Hinata that the building had previously been used as another school's lodging.

That school had already lost and gone home, leaving the rooms empty.

It was an incredibly flimsy excuse.

But Hinata had always been easygoing.

Whatever Ryosuke told him, he believed.

That very night, an excited Hinata had called everyone on the team one by one to discuss the trip.

The next day happened to be Saturday.

Daichi thought about it and realized there was no problem at all.

They could simply treat it as a Karasuno team outing.

So the entire team came to Tokyo.

Even Coach Ukai came along, despite being the kind of person who couldn't wake up in the morning and couldn't fall asleep at night.

They called it "broadening their horizons."

Ukai staggered off the bus.

Huge dark circles sat beneath his eyes, and his hair had been flattened in every direction from sleeping.

He looked utterly exhausted.

Takeda-sensei stayed close behind him, afraid Ukai might somehow trip over flat ground.

After stepping off the bus, Ukai let out a huge yawn.

Tears gathered naturally at the corners of his eyes.

A ray of sunlight hit him directly in the face.

Ukai pressed a hand to his throbbing, hungover head and squinted at the sky.

"Damn, that's bright."

For some reason, he suddenly remembered his younger days.

Back then, he'd arrived in Tokyo with a bag slung over his shoulder, his heart pounding with excitement as he came to participate in a tournament.

What had he felt at the time?

Fear?

Excitement?

Nervousness?

Ukai couldn't remember anymore.

All he remembered was that the sunlight back then had been just as blinding.

"Why are you all standing around here?"

"Didn't you say you wanted to cheer for Shiratorizawa?"

"If we hurry, we might still catch the final set."

The moment Ukai said that, Hinata could barely contain himself.

But then he remembered what Sugawara had specifically warned him before they left.

They were in Tokyo.

He had to be polite.

He wasn't allowed to run off on his own.

He had to stay with the team.

Hinata's eager feet hesitated.

At that moment, Kageyama stepped up beside him with his bag over his shoulder.

His mouth curled into a terrifying grin.

"I'm definitely getting there first."

Then he shot off.

Hinata was practically hit in the face by the wake of Kageyama's sudden sprint.

His fists clenched.

His soft orange hair seemed to stand on end.

"Huh?! Boke! I'm getting there first!"

"Hinata! Wait! Let's go together..."

The moment Tanaka saw what was happening, he knew they were in trouble.

If he failed to keep an eye on Hinata and Kageyama, Sugawara-senpai would hold him responsible too!

Hinata, meanwhile, had completely forgotten everything except beating Kageyama to the arena.

He took off after him with a yell.

The two vanished from sight in seconds.

Tanaka reached out helplessly in the direction they'd disappeared.

Then he quickly pulled his hand back and bit down on it.

I'm dead.

I'm dead.

I'm dead.

If those two get lost, Daichi-senpai and Sugawara-senpai are going to kill me.

"Hm? Where are Hinata and Kageyama?"

What had to happen eventually happened.

Sugawara had just finished reminding Tsukishima and Yamaguchi of a few things when he turned around and discovered that the two single-celled idiots were gone.

The gentleness of Sugawara's voice made Tanaka break out in a cold sweat.

Before Tanaka could figure out how to explain himself, Daichi spoke.

"They went ahead to find seats for the match."

Sugawara immediately understood.

Hinata and Kageyama had run off ahead again.

He rolled his eyes at Daichi.

"You really do spoil them."

"There are important people everywhere at the IH. It'll be a problem if they run into someone they shouldn't."