Haikyuu - Chapter 345 (Patreon)

Ryosuke's service ace immediately fired up Shiratorizawa.

"Ryosuke, keep it up!"

The moment Hinata saw him score from the serve, he shot to his feet in the stands and started shouting at him.

Hinata really did have an incredible voice. Even with the distance between the stands and the court, his words reached Ryosuke perfectly clearly.

For a moment, Ryosuke thought he'd heard a familiar voice. He looked up and searched the crowd, and in less than three seconds, he spotted that unmistakable orange head. Looking more closely, he realized the rest of Karasuno was sitting beside Hinata too.

Ryosuke's eyes lit up, and he waved excitedly toward them. He hadn't expected Hinata to actually come watch the match.

The players on both sides followed Ryosuke's gaze and saw Hinata as well.

Reon narrowed his eyes, thinking the boy looked familiar. Wasn't that the kid Ryosuke had brought back with him last time?

"That's my friend!"

Seeing everyone looking over, Ryosuke introduced Hinata with obvious pride. Hinata was one of the few close friends Ryosuke had, so he treasured that friendship.

Hinata hadn't expected Ryosuke to respond, and immediately started waving even harder.

By now, quite a few people on the court had noticed them. Kageyama frowned in irritation and reached up to pull Hinata's arm down.

"Sit down and watch the match properly, boke!"

"Hmph!"

Hinata snorted in protest, but obediently sat back down and stopped talking.

Compared with the cheerful atmosphere around Shiratorizawa and in the stands, Itachiyama's side was much quieter.

Sakusa fixed Komori with a murderous stare. He didn't even have to say anything. Komori already knew what was coming, so before Sakusa could open his mouth, he hurriedly said, "Give me a little time. I can receive it."

Sakusa nodded after getting that promise and didn't push any further. Saying anything else now would only pile even more pressure onto Komori.

The referee blew the whistle, urging both teams back into position. Ryosuke jogged to position one and prepared to serve again.

Once everyone was in place, the referee signaled the start of the rally. The cheerful atmosphere from moments ago froze instantly.

"Beep————!"

Everyone tensed at the sound.

Ryosuke tossed the volleyball upward. He turned one shoulder toward the net, eyes following the ball as it rose, and when it dropped into the right position, he gathered his strength and struck it hard.

"Bang!"

This serve carried plenty of force too. The moment it left Ryosuke's hand, its speed kept increasing, and the spin grew more violent.

Komori didn't know whether he could receive it, but this clearly wasn't the time to keep wondering. He would only get an answer by moving.

He judged the likely landing point and sprinted toward it. By the time he reached the spot, the volleyball was already flying straight toward his face.

His read had been correct.

Determined not to repeat the mistake from the previous serve, Komori began retreating. Once he had created enough space, he knew he could finally play the ball.

He quickly raised his forearms toward it.

The spinning volleyball smashed into his arms, and the violent rotation immediately disrupted his balance. Even his platform wobbled under the force.

But now that he'd actually gotten his arms on the ball, there was no way he was letting this opportunity go.

If he couldn't receive this one, the next serve would only be harder.

Komori gritted his teeth and forced his arms upward.

"Bang!"

The ball rose.

It was ugly, crooked, and far too high, but it was still in the air.

Iizuna craned his neck while chasing after it. He certainly wasn't going to blame Komori. If Itachiyama managed to score from this rally, Komori would be the biggest reason why.

The moment Sakusa saw the first pass stay alive, he immediately ran toward the net.

As long as the ball was still in the air, they still had a chance.

Doichiro saw Sakusa moving up and began his own approach from another angle. Kishimoto followed as well. He didn't know who would actually attack, but joining the approach and making things harder for Shiratorizawa sounded useful enough.

Tendo's brows nearly knotted together when he saw Itachiyama sending several attackers forward at once.

Sakusa alone was already difficult enough.

Add the rest of them, and the difficulty immediately jumped several levels.

Ryosuke became alert as well. Instead of joining Tendo at the block, he watched Itachiyama's entire formation and waited to decide where he was needed.

At this stage of the match, Itachiyama should have been extremely cautious.

They definitely wouldn't do anything reckless.

What happened next completely overturned that assumption.

Sakusa was leading the attack.

Without hesitation, he ran straight toward Tendo.

Tendo immediately prepared to block, but he didn't believe Sakusa would actually be the hitter.

Sakusa wouldn't do something that stupid.

At the net, Sakusa bent his knees.

Seeing Tendo's wary but skeptical expression, the corner of Sakusa's mouth lifted.

That was exactly the point.

Catch him off guard.

Iizuna had already begun setting.

The moment Sakusa lowered into his jump, the ball was already on its way to the net.

Sakusa took off.

Tendo's heart dropped.

Bad feeling.

When he saw the set traveling directly toward Sakusa, that feeling became even worse.

Sakusa rose, lifted his right arm, and swung.

The ball arrived perfectly at his hitting point.

Cold sweat broke out across Tendo as he jumped after him.

Too late.

"Bang!"

Sakusa attacked immediately.

Tendo had reacted late and couldn't reach it.

Neither could anyone else.

Sakusa drove the ball down just outside Tendo's arm, straight into the floor.

Over the previous rallies, Sakusa had realized something.

Tendo's greatest weakness wasn't cross-court shots or line shots.

It was attacks that passed close to his body, and attacks hit tight to the net.

For all his long arms and legs, Tendo didn't seem especially good at controlling his body in the air when the ball came right beside him.

The volleyball hit the floor.

A split second later, Ryosuke and Yamagata came sliding in one behind the other, both sprawled across the court.

They looked at each other.

Then the whistle sounded.

"Beep————!"

"What an incredible rally! Komori manages to receive Ryosuke's serve after only two attempts in this match. That's a first in this tournament!"

"Until now, nobody has truly figured out Ryosuke's serve. Every one of his service turns has only ended because of his own mistake!"

"But Komori needed just two serves to successfully receive it! I'm sure the performances Ryosuke and Komori have shown us today will be appearing in magazines after this tournament!"

The entire arena erupted.

Not because Sakusa had scored.

Not because Ryosuke's serve was spectacular.

What they were cheering was the feeling of watching the villain in a story finally get beaten.

To Itachiyama's supporters, players like Ushijima and Ryosuke were naturally the great villains standing in the heroes' path.

That made Sakusa and Komori the heroes cutting through every obstacle to reach them.

"How did he receive it in only two serves?"

Hinata looked genuinely confused.

Ryosuke's serve was that powerful.

Kageyama glanced at Hinata's dejected expression with obvious disdain. He clearly wanted to mock him, but swallowed the words when he realized Hinata was genuinely bothered.

Instead, he unusually chose to explain his own thoughts.

"Ryosuke's serve really is powerful. But as far as I know, it's been basically the same since this tournament started."

Kageyama trailed off, unsure how to continue.

Sugawara picked up the explanation smoothly.

"But against really strong opponents, you can't keep doing exactly the same thing forever. A serve like Ryosuke's is obviously something every major school is going to study closely."

"Maybe that libero has already started figuring it out. Or maybe his timing just happened to be perfect on that one play."

"There are plenty of reasons why a serve gets received. Don't dwell on it too much. Ryosuke might not even be that upset."

Sugawara really did live up to his role as Karasuno's team parent.

A few sentences were enough to lift Hinata's mood, although he still looked quieter than usual.

"I know, Sugawara-senpai."

Hinata wasn't exactly unhappy anymore.

He had simply gone quiet because he was seriously thinking about what Sugawara had said.

He'd always thought of Ryosuke as almost superhuman.

A genius.

Someone who shone brightly and seemed good at everything.

But maybe that wasn't really true.

Ryosuke was a normal person too.

Just like him.

Hinata looked back at the court.

Ryosuke, who had been lying on the floor, brushed off his uniform and stood up.

Even then, disappointment inevitably settled over him.

He had thought he could score four or five points for the team.

Instead, he'd only taken one.

If Coach Washijō saw that, Ryosuke was definitely going to suffer later.

The instant he thought of Coach Washijō, his nose stung.

People always seemed to think of the person who mattered most when they were sad or disappointed.

If Coach Washijō had watched him perform like this, he would probably be disappointed.

A gloomy pressure settled over Ryosuke.

His head hung low, his hair covering his eyes so completely that nobody could see his expression.

At that moment, he desperately missed that sharp-tongued old man.

At least when Coach Washijō was there, Ryosuke felt secure.

Komori noticed something was wrong and exchanged a look with Sakusa.

Had getting his serve received really affected Ryosuke that badly?

That didn't seem like him.

He wasn't usually someone who got trapped in his emotions so easily.

And from Komori's perspective, receiving that serve had been pure luck combined with the feel he'd built from the previous attempts.

He should have been thanking his lucky stars that he'd managed to get it up at all.

Komori hadn't expected Ryosuke to sink into a mood over it.

If that receive had failed, Komori would have been the one shutting down emotionally.

Mostly because Sakusa would've driven him there himself.

Komori glanced at Ryosuke once.

Then again.

Then a third time.

Eventually, he couldn't stand it anymore and started walking over to comfort him.

Before he could say a word, a powerful shout exploded from the sideline.

"Lift your head!"

Ryosuke blinked.

The rest of Shiratorizawa froze too.

The whole team turned in unison like a field of sunflowers.

Coach Washijō stood by the bench, face bright red.

Not from embarrassment.

He had run all the way back, and Ryosuke's last play had also made his blood pressure shoot straight up.

The first thing Coach Washijō did after returning was call a timeout.

As Itachiyama headed off court, their players kept twisting their heads around to stare at Shiratorizawa until they practically looked like giraffes.

Ryosuke, who had been gloomy moments ago, immediately began trembling.

He shuffled toward the sideline at a snail's pace, almost too scared to leave the court.

Surely Coach Washijō wouldn't hit him in front of the entire country, with all these cameras watching?

Just imagining it was suffocating.

Ryosuke wasn't the only one shrinking like a quail.

Tendo had already slipped behind Reon and was using him as a shield.

Reon's expression said everything.

Don't hide behind me. I'm scared too.

Coach Washijō narrowed his eyes at the players inching toward him like turtles.

He understood exactly what they were doing.

There was no chance he was letting them escape.

"Move! Anyone who isn't back here in three seconds is running thirty extra laps when we get home!"

That changed everything.

Everyone took off faster than rabbits.

Tendo shot out from behind Reon and sprinted for the sideline so fast that Ryosuke had never seen him move like that even during a rally.

Thirty extra laps were waiting for anyone who moved too slowly.

Getting yelled at was inevitable anyway.

Might as well get it over with.

Ryosuke silently mocked Tendo for running so fast, then immediately accelerated himself and passed Shirabu without changing expression.

Shirabu stared at him.

Once everyone was off court, they lined up perfectly straight.

Nobody dared sit.

Coach Washijō paced slowly back and forth in front of them, leaving everyone increasingly nervous.

Hibarida watched from the side.

As expected of Coach Washijō.

He really knew how to establish pressure.

Coach Washijō kept pacing, organizing his thoughts.

There were so many things wrong with this match that he genuinely didn't know where to begin.

Goshiki's nose started itching.

He glanced left.

Ushijima stood perfectly straight.

He glanced right.

Reon was standing just as rigidly.

In the end, Goshiki couldn't hold it back.

"Achoo!"

The sneeze sounded deafening in the otherwise silent line.

Goshiki slowly raised his head.

His eyes met Coach Washijō's.

I'm dead.

Heaven wants me gone.

Coach Washijō drew in a deep breath.

Everyone else did the same, preparing for the storm.

"Sneezing?! With the way you've been playing, you still have the nerve to sneeze?! You hit one little sharp cross-court shot and now you're trembling with excitement? Put a volleyball in a zoo and even the animals could flail around and hit a sharp cross-court shot!"

"What are you laughing at?! And you, Tendo! I don't even want to start with you. Think about how many mistakes you've made in this set! If I were you, I'd find a rope and hang myself in this gym! You're still laughing?!"

"And you, Shirabu!"

"Don't think I didn't see what you've been doing all set. Setter attack, setter attack, setter attack! Are you a wing spiker or a setter?! How many times have I told you to play steadily? Steadily..."