Haikyuu - Chapter 344 (Patreon)

Yamagata watched the volleyball wobble through the air like it was drunk and had no idea where to start.

The ball crossed the net in an instant and was already bearing down on him. Seeing it right in front of him, Yamagata snapped his arms up. There was no point worrying about the spin anymore. At this distance, all that mattered was getting the ball up.

"Bang!"

The volleyball slammed into his forearms. The instant it made contact, Yamagata sensed that something was wrong with its balance. In the next moment, the ball ricocheted crookedly behind him, leaving no chance to recover.

"Bang!"

"Beep————!"

A service ace for Sakusa.

"Sakusa-senpai really is amazing."

Nishio turned around and stared at Sakusa, who stood at the service line with the same calm expression as always.

"Omi-Omi is amazing!"

Komori gave Sakusa a thumbs-up as though praising a child, earning himself an immediate eye roll.

The cheers in the stands were deafening.

"Itachiyama! Itachiyama! You're the best! Sakusa! Sakusa! You're the handsomest!"

That chant came from Sakusa's group of fangirls. In the past, he would at least react, either rolling his eyes or asking Komori to tell them to change the chant. The girls never listened anyway. As long as they were having fun, they didn't care.

By now, Sakusa had learned to pretend he couldn't hear them at all. He was completely immune.

"One more! One more! One more!"

The volleyball fans were shouting until their faces and necks turned red, looking almost ready to climb down from the stands and onto the court.

"That was incredible!"

Nishinoya shot to his feet, cheeks flushed with excitement. That serve had been amazing. He couldn't even imagine how much fun it would be to receive a ball like that himself.

Tanaka stared at the suspicious blush on Nishinoya's face and fell silent.

Yamagata, however, wasn't nearly as delighted.

His thoughts were entirely occupied by how he was supposed to receive Sakusa's serve.

It was fast, the spin was vicious, and the rotation was almost impossible to see. Even when the serve came directly at him, if he couldn't figure out the ball's center of gravity and spin, he still couldn't control the receive.

After struggling with the problem for a while, Yamagata finally decided to stop thinking about it. Overthinking would only interfere with his reactions. Once the ball reached him, his body would naturally figure something out.

With that settled, Yamagata relaxed his muscles and entered a focused state, his entire attention fixed on Sakusa at position one.

If anyone had looked at him then, they might have been startled. Yamagata resembled a wild animal crouched in the forest, ready to hunt, the pressure around him almost palpable.

"Beep————!"

The referee checked both sides and blew the whistle once everyone was ready.

Sakusa took a deep breath but didn't serve immediately.

Instead, he silently counted the seconds.

Every second he waited stretched the tension on court a little tighter.

One second.

Two.

Three.

The feeling was anything but pleasant.

Finally, at the sixth second, Sakusa tossed the volleyball into the air.

Yamagata's eyes locked onto it instantly.

Sakusa began his approach and jumped, repeating the movement he'd practiced day after day. His wrist bent, his contact shifted toward the underside of the volleyball, and his palm drove through it sharply.

"Bang!"

The volleyball shot toward Shiratorizawa, spinning violently as it traced a beautiful banana-shaped curve through the air.

Yamagata crouched in place.

He had a feeling.

He could receive this one.

In an instant, the ball was in front of him.

In Yamagata's vision, its movement seemed to slow, frame by frame.

Then, for one single instant, he saw it.

A moment where the ball wasn't rotating.

That was the opening.

Yamagata's eyes widened.

He stepped forward immediately.

If he intercepted the ball one step earlier, before the spin fully took over again, he could control it.

He raised his forearms.

The volleyball struck them with the familiar sound of impact.

"Bang!"

The ball sprang upward and flew back into Shiratorizawa's court.

Shirabu followed its trajectory, moving into position to set.

Ushijima and Reon began their approaches one behind the other. This time, instead of splitting apart to stretch the blockers, they stayed on the same general route.

Nishio and Kishimoto saw them moving and immediately headed toward Ushijima. The attacker had to be somewhere between those two.

Tendo was occupied with Sakusa.

Meanwhile, Ryosuke silently appeared diagonally behind Reon.

Nishio and Kishimoto's attention was completely fixed on Ushijima.

For the moment, nobody had noticed Ryosuke.

It was a perfect opportunity.

Shirabu rose into the air and met Ryosuke's eyes below.

Ryosuke's expression practically shouted at him.

This is a great chance, Shirabu-senpai! Set it to me!

Somehow, Shirabu understood him.

Then again, Ryosuke was almost impossible to misunderstand. His eyes were practically sparkling with anticipation.

Shirabu pressed his lips together, worried he might laugh while setting.

If Ryosuke had possessed a tail, it would probably have been wagging hard enough to lift him off the floor.

After confirming Ryosuke's position with that brief glance, Shirabu decided to indulge his small request.

He sent the ball toward him.

Ushijima saw the set coming and bent his knees as if preparing to jump.

The moment Nishio and Kishimoto saw him lower his center of gravity, both immediately jumped.

Then, only after they were already airborne, Ushijima actually began preparing to jump.

It was one of the rare occasions where Nishio completely mistimed his block.

The problem was that Ushijima's movements and expression gave away almost nothing. It was impossible to tell whether he was truly going to jump or merely preparing to.

If Ushijima ever developed a playing style as deceptive as Kawanishi's, there was no telling how many blockers he could fool.

Nishio and Kishimoto quickly landed.

Ushijima still hadn't jumped.

He had only remained ready.

Then the volleyball finally began to pass him.

Only now did Ushijima jump.

This time Nishio's judgment returned, and he refused to blindly follow. He waited to see where the ball would actually go.

Reon followed its trajectory and only then realized it wasn't going to Ushijima. He stepped forward, preparing to jump and attack, when Ryosuke's voice came from behind him.

"Reon-senpai, I'll take it."

Reon gave the smallest nod.

Understood.

As Ushijima cleared the route, Reon jumped, with the ball arriving right above him.

This time Nishio and Kishimoto didn't hesitate.

All three went into the air together.

But Reon came back down almost immediately, descending even faster than the blockers across from him.

The instant Reon landed, Ryosuke emerged from behind him and jumped in one seamless motion.

His arm swung.

The volleyball was perfectly positioned beneath his palm.

"Bang!"

At that moment, Ryosuke was genuinely amazed by Shirabu.

Shirabu-senpai was incredible.

Could he see the future or something?

How else did every set arrive at exactly the right place and feel this comfortable?

Having a setter like this was amazing.

Nishio and Kishimoto's two-man block missed the actual attacker again.

Komori dove out from behind Nishio, but even he couldn't reach the ball.

It hit the floor in front of him.

"Beep————!"

"Nice one!"

Reon, unusually fired up, slapped Ryosuke hard on the shoulder.

He was completely caught up in the match now.

Ryosuke didn't even care about how hard the slap was.

He was just as excited about the point.

Maybe now he finally understood why so many players became obsessed with spiking, even spending enormous amounts of time and effort fighting for the ace position.

The instant he jumped, adrenaline flooded through him.

It was thrilling.

Exhilarating.

And actually scoring made it even better.

He had attacked and earned a point for the team himself.

The sense of accomplishment was impossible to put into words.

He felt incredibly satisfied.

Proud, too.

Ryosuke's face was flushed with excitement.

After that spike, his touch felt so good that he thought he could hit another four or five without any problem.

Sakusa frowned slightly.

A shame.

He'd hoped to take a few more points on serve.

Still, Ryosuke really had improved.

That last attack had been excellent.

Sakusa stared at him with a strange mixture of admiration and almost parental approval.

The moment Ryosuke looked up and noticed, a chill ran through him.

That expression was terrifying.

"What a play! Sakusa's first serve was powerful enough to score an ace, but his second was successfully received by Shiratorizawa's Yamagata!"

"Shirabu moves in to set! Ushijima and Reon approach the front, both ready to attack!"

"Itachiyama's two-man block moves across to Ushijima! Ushijima bends his knees, preparing to jump! He doesn't jump! Now he goes again!"

"But Ushijima doesn't have the ball! Reon jumps, but he doesn't attack either!"

"The set ultimately goes to Ryosuke! Ryosuke jumps and puts the ball away for the point!"

"And after this rally comes the moment everyone has been waiting for. Ryosuke's service turn! Let's see whether he can create another miracle!"

"Ryosuke can hit that well too?"

Sugawara sounded genuinely surprised.

He clearly remembered Ryosuke as an exceptional blocker and receiver.

But after watching this match, his attacking looked excellent as well.

Stable, too.

Possibly even more consistent than Tanaka's.

The instant Shoyo Hinata heard Sugawara's question, he puffed up with pride.

"Of course! Ryosuke isn't just good at receiving and blocking. He's good at setting and spiking too! He's a genius!"

Sugawara smiled at the excited little orange head in front of him.

Hinata and Ryosuke really must have become close.

Kageyama also managed to force out a stiff comment.

"He's really good."

A player receiving personal acknowledgment from Kageyama meant something.

"All right, we get it. Watch the match."

Sugawara immediately stopped Shoyo Hinata when he looked ready to keep talking.

The little orange was cute, but he was also extremely loud.

Sometimes that was hard on the ears.

Ryosuke was serving next.

The mood on Itachiyama's side visibly dropped the moment he walked toward position one.

Ryosuke at the service line meant everyone on their court was about to suffer.

Komori glanced at the scoreboard.

19:20.

He would have been better off not looking.

The instant he saw the score, pressure crashed down on him.

If he couldn't stop Ryosuke's serve within three rallies, this match might fall apart because of him.

Just thinking about that made his hands tremble.

Both sides returned to position.

Ryosuke stood at position one, spinning the volleyball in his hands as he prepared.

The referee looked over both teams.

Once everyone was ready, the whistle echoed through the arena.

"Beep————!"

Ryosuke took a deep breath.

He turned one shoulder toward the net and tossed the volleyball.

He didn't need time to build up his touch.

Right now, he could already feel that he was in excellent form.

Every Itachiyama player stood ready.

They had all seen Ryosuke serve before.

Quite a few of them were hoping they could force him off serve after a single rally.

Others were simply hoping he'd make a mistake.

His opponents feared Ryosuke.

They were wary of him.

Ryosuke himself had no idea.

In the blink of an eye, he tossed the ball, rotated through his body, drove his arm forward, and struck hard.

"Bang!"

The volleyball rocketed off his hand at such speed that it almost left an afterimage.

Komori felt a brief flicker of despair.

Then he forced himself back into focus.

His eyes stayed glued to the ball.

He didn't dare look away for even a fraction of a second.

The volleyball spun violently.

Komori couldn't find any consistent pattern in the rotation.

It actually reminded him of Sakusa's earlier serve.

But Ryosuke's version was clearly different.

More power.

Heavier spin.

Harder to predict.

This was bad.

The method he'd used to receive Sakusa's serve wouldn't work against Ryosuke.

Komori struggled to judge it.

Within only a few breaths, the ball was already across the net and almost on top of him.

There was no time left to hesitate.

He sprinted toward the landing point that seemed most likely, settled into position, and prepared to receive.

The moment he looked up, the ball was already directly in front of him.

Too close.

His position was terrible.

He couldn't form a proper platform, and there was no room to adjust his body.

Still, the ball was already there.

Komori gritted his teeth and tried to take it with his upper arm.

Unsurprisingly, it didn't work.

His posture was wrong to begin with, and the ball carried vicious spin on top of that.

If Komori had moved even one more step forward, the serve would have smashed him directly in the face.

Ryosuke could practically guarantee that a hit like that would've given him a nosebleed.

"Bang!"

The volleyball slammed into the outside of Komori's arm with a startling impact.

The sharp pain instantly cleared his head, and he tried to recover the ball.

Too late.

The deflection flew all the way behind him before landing deep in the backcourt.

"Beep————!"

The referee awarded the point.

Shiratorizawa erupted in cheers.

"Ryosuke! That's more like it!"

Tendo eagerly raised a hand for a high-five.

Seeing how enthusiastic he was, Ryosuke twisted sideways and slipped neatly beneath Tendo's arm.

Tendo-senpai loved hugging and rubbing against people.

And he was covered in sweat.

A clean cat absolutely refused to get sweat rubbed all over him.