Haikyuu - Chapter 342 (Patreon)

Doichiro drove the serve hard toward Shiratorizawa's backcourt.

He deliberately avoided Yamagata, choosing the safer option and sending the ball toward the opposite side. As long as it stayed in, that was enough. Any little bit of extra running he could force out of Shiratorizawa was worth it.

The moment Yamagata saw the ball's trajectory after it crossed the net, he knew they'd avoided him again. He immediately took off and reached the ball just before it could hit the floor.

The serve wasn't especially heavy, but it was extremely fast. In a way, that kind of speed was its own talent.

"Bang!"

Yamagata got the ball up, and Shirabu jogged forward to set.

Ushijima and Reon split apart, one moving toward position two and the other toward position four, using the separation to stretch the block.

Nishio had managed to touch several of Ushijima's previous attacks. Ushijima had already realized that he couldn't keep giving Nishio chances to get his hands on the ball. If Nishio touched it, Komori would usually be there to save the deflection, and Shiratorizawa still wouldn't score directly.

That was mildly troublesome, but not a real problem for Ushijima.

He simply needed to finish the attack in one decisive blow, fast enough that Nishio wouldn't have time to react.

Seeing Ushijima and Reon split in opposite directions, Nishio hesitated over which one to follow. After weighing his options, he chose position two and moved in front of Ushijima. Between the two, Ushijima's attack was still the more dangerous one.

If Nishio could slow Ushijima down even once, that would buy the team more time and another chance.

As for Reon, Nishio trusted Doichiro and Kishimoto to handle him with a two-man block.

The moment Doichiro saw Nishio move toward Ushijima, he headed toward Reon. Kishimoto followed immediately.

Shirabu moved between Ushijima and Reon to set. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Sakusa standing alone in the middle and briefly considered a setter dump.

It was possible.

But the odds of scoring weren't especially high. Sakusa would probably get underneath it.

So Shirabu decided to set instead.

He initially shaped the ball toward Ushijima. Nishio immediately prepared to jump, and Sakusa began moving toward him to join the block.

Then, at the very last second, Shirabu back-set to Reon.

His body arched smoothly in midair, head tipping back as the volleyball flowed behind him toward Reon.

Reon was already in the air. The set arrived exactly where his swinging arm would meet it.

Seamless.

Every time Iizuna watched Shirabu set, he couldn't help admiring it.

It was too smooth.

Too precise.

And even with that level of skill, Shirabu still seemed to believe he was nothing special.

With an attacker like Ushijima in front of him, Shirabu probably felt like his own technique barely mattered.

Shiratorizawa had been worrying about Shirabu's lack of confidence for a long time.

How exactly were they supposed to make him realize how good he really was?

The thought drifted away.

Reon jumped to attack.

Doichiro noticed the set immediately and pulled Kishimoto into the block with him.

In terms of pure blocking technique, Doichiro wasn't as good as Nishio.

But his timing was excellent.

He always seemed to jump at exactly the right moment, and he rarely fell for feints.

If only they could combine Nishio and Doichiro's strengths into one person.

Kishimoto and Doichiro jumped together.

Reon swung.

"Bang!"

The volleyball crashed into the space between their arms with an impact that made everyone's teeth ache.

Then it forced its way through the block and flew behind them.

Komori was already there.

He moved smoothly into position and received the ball.

He'd known those two wouldn't be able to stop Reon completely, so he'd come over to clean up behind them.

"Bang!"

The ball rose off Komori's arms.

He immediately moved aside, clearing space for Sakusa, who had circled around from behind to begin his approach.

Komori's first pass was perfect.

Iizuna didn't need to adjust it at all, so he stayed back.

Sakusa came in from behind.

Doichiro followed him.

As they reached the net, Sakusa jumped to attack.

Directly across from him were Ryosuke and Tendo.

Sakusa looked at Ryosuke, who was preparing to block, and smiled.

Then instead of spiking, he lifted his hand and sent the ball away.

Ryosuke's eyes widened.

He clearly hadn't expected Sakusa to do that.

He had never seen Sakusa set the ball during a match before.

The ball left Sakusa's hands.

Behind him, Doichiro instantly changed the direction of his approach and chased after it.

The moment Tendo and Ryosuke landed, they turned and ran toward the new attack in perfect sync.

But Doichiro was simply too fast.

From about two body lengths away from Sakusa, he jumped and hammered the ball down.

His target was obvious.

The open floor in Shiratorizawa's frontcourt.

"Bang!"

Ryosuke couldn't reach it in time.

Tendo threw himself forward in a dive, but he was still short.

Yamagata could have gone for the ball, but Tendo was diving directly across his path. Afraid he might step on him, Yamagata had no choice but to stop.

The volleyball hit the floor.

"Nice one!"

Nishio pumped his fist happily.

Doichiro really was amazing.

Nishio's admiration for him was difficult to put into words.

As an only child, Nishio had always felt that Doichiro was like an older brother to him. Doichiro looked after him in every possible way, so naturally Nishio celebrated every point he scored.

Komori immediately wandered over in a sarcastic tone.

"I'm running myself ragged receiving everything, and little Nishio never praises me."

Nishio glanced at him and responded with obvious perfunctoriness.

"Yeah, yeah. Komori-senpai is amazing too."

Komori immediately noticed how half-hearted it was.

He pursed his lips and said nothing.

"Not bad."

Sakusa seemed to be in an unusually good mood today.

He had already praised people three or four times.

Doichiro scratched the back of his head with a goofy grin.

His reaction on that play really had been excellent, especially because Sakusa hadn't warned him beforehand.

The idea had occurred to Sakusa on the spot.

He hadn't even been certain it would score.

Getting the attack over cleanly would already have been good enough.

Sakusa genuinely didn't want to challenge Ryosuke and Tendo head-on.

Doichiro's ability to react instantly had exceeded even his expectations.

"Itachiyama takes another point! Doichiro serves, and Yamagata receives! Shirabu chooses not to set Ushijima and instead sends a back set to Reon!"

"Reon attacks! Kishimoto and Doichiro form a two-man block! Reon powers through it, but Komori is waiting behind them and keeps the ball alive!"

"Komori's first pass is so accurate that Iizuna doesn't even need to adjust! Sakusa moves in to attack, but unexpectedly, at the last moment he chooses to set instead!"

"He sends the ball to the right, and Doichiro reacts immediately with a perfect finish! Ryosuke and Tendo both rush over, but neither can keep it from hitting the floor!"

"The score is now 16 to 19. Shiratorizawa trails by three!"

The moment the commentator announced the score, everyone in the arena seemed to pay closer attention.

Ryosuke frowned.

It didn't feel like Itachiyama was pushing particularly hard.

So why couldn't Shiratorizawa ever overtake them?

Up in the stands, Hoshiumi was wondering the exact same thing.

Why?

Hirugami reached over and ruffled Hoshiumi's white hair until he was swaying from side to side.

He only stopped when Hoshiumi was just about to explode.

Hirugami quietly savored the sensation afterward.

It really did feel good.

He'd wanted to ruffle Hoshiumi's hair plenty of times before, but Hoshiumi was basically a powder keg.

The moment he realized what was happening, he'd definitely start yelling something like, "Why are you touching my hair?! That's going to stop me from growing taller!"

Hoshiumi only tolerated this when he was in a good mood or when he wanted something.

Now that Hirugami had gotten what he wanted, he slowly explained.

"What makes you think a team is being especially aggressive on court?"

Hoshiumi tilted his head and thought for a moment.

"The frequency and power of their attacks."

Hirugami snapped his fingers in front of him.

"Exactly."

"But what's happening now is different. Itachiyama isn't trying to clash head-on with Shiratorizawa."

"They've pulled back and started playing around them."

"Did you notice? Sakusa isn't attacking nearly as often anymore. He keeps giving balls to that second-year and the first-year kid. They're conserving his stamina."

"Itachiyama's serves and attacks are deliberately avoiding Yamagata and Tendo. They're also not trying to end the rally immediately."

"They make sure Shiratorizawa doesn't score first, then wait until the defense is unsettled before taking the point."

As Hirugami spoke, his eyes narrowed.

Who had come up with this strategy?

The first person he could rule out was Sakusa.

In Hirugami's mind, Sakusa was a lone wolf.

He wasn't the type to suddenly suggest something like this out loud.

And this change hadn't started after a timeout.

It had developed in the middle of the match.

No one had exchanged obvious signals either.

It was almost as though every player on Itachiyama had reached the same conclusion without discussing it.

That was what made it so difficult to understand.

"They're not pushing now because they're waiting for Shiratorizawa's current service rotations to pass."

"Ushijima serves next."

"After him comes Ryosuke."

"All Itachiyama needs to do is make sure Shiratorizawa doesn't overtake them during those two service turns."

"Then when they reach match point, one decisive ball can end everything."

Hoshiumi looked horrified after hearing the full explanation.

He had noticed that Itachiyama was deliberately dragging things out.

He just hadn't thought about it in nearly this much detail.

Experience really did matter.

Back on the court, Doichiro was once again standing at position one, preparing to serve.

Everyone on Shiratorizawa was alert.

With the score behind, the atmosphere had become even tighter.

Even the spectators seemed afraid to breathe too loudly.

Everyone was waiting for Doichiro's serve.

Under all those eyes, Doichiro gave a wry smile.

They really thought highly of him.

Being watched this closely made him inevitably nervous.

He could already feel his breathing tremble.

"Beep————!"

The whistle sounded.

Doichiro took a deep breath, tossed the volleyball, and began his approach.

When it reached the right height, he jumped and struck.

"Bang!"

The sound was like a drop of oil hitting a hot pan.

The instant it rang out, everyone seemed to breathe again.

Yamagata wasn't surprised that the serve was aimed away from him.

By now, he had more or less guessed what Itachiyama was trying to do.

They were slowly wearing down Shiratorizawa's defense.

Once the defense collapsed, leaving only Ushijima and Reon wouldn't be enough.

Yamagata immediately sprinted toward the ball.

Just before it hit the floor, he reached it and got it up.

Once again, he couldn't help thinking how ridiculously fast Doichiro's serve was.

"Bang!"

His thoughts might have been wandering, but his hands didn't hesitate.

The volleyball rose toward Shiratorizawa's side.

Shirabu barely had to move.

A few quick adjustment steps brought him underneath it.

Ushijima and Reon split apart again.

This time Nishio didn't hesitate at all.

He went straight toward Ushijima.

Kishimoto and Doichiro had learned from the previous rally too.

Both of them stayed completely alert.

Sakusa joined Nishio at the block.

If they could stop Ushijima outright, it would be a major blow to Shiratorizawa.

Thanks to Yamagata's first pass, Shirabu was able to jump near the middle of the court.

As he rose, he suddenly realized the distance to the net might actually be manageable for a setter attack.

He measured it quickly.

Possible.

The next instant, Shirabu made his decision without hesitation.

With his left hand, he pushed the ball directly over the net.

Itachiyama hadn't expected it at all.

Shirabu was simply too far from the net.

Nobody thought he'd take that kind of risk at such a critical moment.

For Shirabu, this counted as breaking through his own limits.

The ball crossed the net on his second touch.

Even Komori didn't react immediately.

Only when he saw it descending did realization hit him.

That wasn't an illusion.

The kid was serious.

From that far away, he'd really just sent it over with one smooth motion.

Komori took off after the ball, legs practically smoking.

He still couldn't reach it.

He didn't even have time to dive.

"Bang!"

The volleyball hit the floor.

Then came the whistle.

"Beep————!"

Itachiyama fell silent.

Only Komori's wail broke the quiet.

"No way, Shirabu! Since when did you get that bold?!"

Komori stared at him in despair, as though Shirabu had suddenly been possessed by something.

Itachiyama and Shiratorizawa didn't play each other very often, but most of the players knew one another well enough to exchange a few words.

Hearing Komori, Shirabu felt absolutely fantastic.

It wasn't exactly praise.

But to Shirabu, there was no compliment more satisfying than hearing an opponent cry out in despair.

"You're too kind, Komori... senpai."

Shirabu normally had no habit of calling players outside Shiratorizawa "senpai."

But since Komori had just complimented him, he supposed he could make an exception this once.

Then Shirabu smiled at him.

Komori froze.

That stone-faced Shirabu could actually smile?

Still, looking at him now, Shirabu finally looked like the spirited teenager he really was.