Haikyuu - Chapter 350 (Patreon)

Nishio hadn't expected to hold onto the serve for two rallies, especially against Shiratorizawa. That alone was a new personal record.

He sniffed.

Mom, did you see that? Your son finally made something of himself!

Nishio quickly pulled himself together and fixed his eyes on Shiratorizawa's court.

They had to eliminate Shiratorizawa with this rally.

Nobody was saying it out loud, but Nishio could tell everyone's stamina was almost completely drained. Unfortunately, he wasn't Sakusa. If he could score directly from serve, he could at least take some pressure off his teammates.

Decision made.

Once they got back to school, he was going to seriously work on his serve.

Nishio took a deep breath, tossed the volleyball, began his approach, and jumped just as he did in practice.

His palm struck the ball with a dull impact.

"Bang!"

The serve flew toward Yamagata on the other side of the court.

To Yamagata, this was already a reasonably decent serve.

To Nishio, however, it was completely ordinary.

Yamagata shifted his weight forward, bent down, and received it cleanly.

"Get ready!"

He called for everyone to prepare for the attack.

Every player on Itachiyama instantly locked their eyes onto the ball.

They needed to end the match with this rally.

They couldn't afford to drag it out any longer.

The longer it continued, the worse things would become for them.

Yamagata's first pass rose cleanly and flew straight toward Shirabu. Shirabu didn't even have to move a single step.

Anyone watching would have to admit that Shiratorizawa really spoiled their setter.

They didn't even make him waste extra stamina chasing the ball.

Shirabu looked up as the volleyball approached.

At that moment, he was a little afraid.

He knew exactly how important this rally was.

If the point was lost because of his decision, Shirabu felt like he'd be having nightmares about it for a long time.

But hesitation wasn't Shirabu's style.

Do what had to be done first.

Whatever came afterward, bitter or sweet, he would accept it.

Shirabu jumped to set, eyes fixed on the ball while his peripheral vision tracked everyone else.

Ushijima and Goshiki had already pressed toward the net.

Reon was covering the attack.

For this ball, Shirabu would entrust it to the true ace in his heart.

His wrist moved lightly, sending the ball steadily toward Ushijima.

Just like in countless matches before, only when Shirabu set to Ushijima could he truly feel at ease.

Ushijima jumped from position three.

Goshiki jumped beside him.

Goshiki didn't know who the set was actually for, though he knew it probably wasn't him.

Still, if he could draw even a little attention away from Ushijima, then he'd done his job.

Ushijima rose and swung.

The volleyball arrived perfectly at his hitting point.

Ryosuke watched Shirabu's set from the sideline and narrowed his eyes in appreciation.

Shirabu was like a precision machine.

Every set landed exactly where the hitter needed it.

This time, Nishio didn't join the block.

At this stage, Sakusa and Doichiro were about to step up.

The moment Yamagata's first pass rose, Doichiro and Kishimoto had already locked onto Ushijima.

They jumped to block.

Watching the ball arrive perfectly at Ushijima's hand, Doichiro couldn't help thinking that Sakusa really had Shiratorizawa completely figured out.

Before the rally had even started, Sakusa had told them, "When you block, don't look at anyone else. Go straight for Ushijima."

Doichiro had been confused.

How could Sakusa be so certain the set would go to Ushijima?

Komori had kindly explained after seeing his puzzled expression.

"At a crucial moment, people always choose the person they trust most. Who do you think Shirabu trusts the most?"

Doichiro had immediately understood.

And now, seeing Ushijima attack, he finally realized that Sakusa, who usually seemed uninterested in everything, actually understood Shiratorizawa this well.

Was this what people meant when they said the person who understood you best wasn't your friend, but your enemy?

Not that Ushijima cared.

He had always been known as a left-handed cannon capable of smashing through blocks.

So what if they knew where the ball was going?

They still needed the strength to stop him.

Ushijima's large hand came down over the volleyball and hammered it directly into the raised block.

"Bang!"

Even though Kishimoto had mentally prepared himself, the instant the ball smashed into his arms, sharp pain shot through them before they went numb.

His arms were forced backward uncontrollably.

"Hold it, Kishimoto!"

Doichiro's arms hurt too, but they couldn't let the ball through.

The volleyball spun against their arms.

In the end, it ricocheted upward.

Doichiro landed, quickly muttered an apology, and cleared the space.

When he looked back, Sakusa was already approaching from behind.

Doichiro froze for a moment.

Then he looked up.

The deflected ball had risen to exactly the right height to attack.

What kind of brain did Sakusa have?

Had he even calculated the possibility that they wouldn't block it cleanly?

Sakusa: There was nothing to calculate. You weren't going to stop it anyway.

Doichiro didn't have time to think about it.

He moved sideways to clear Sakusa's approach.

From Goshiki's perspective, it looked like a magic trick.

The moment the blockers landed, Sakusa suddenly appeared behind them.

A human materializing out of nowhere.

Sakusa approached and jumped at the net.

He had a feeling.

This ball could end the match.

Ushijima and Goshiki timed their jumps to Sakusa's attack and went up to block.

Reon came in from behind and joined them.

Goshiki and Reon closed the two sides, with Ushijima blocking in the middle.

Tendo's view, however, had been screened by Nishio.

By the time he realized what was happening, Sakusa was already in the air preparing to attack.

Coach Washijō's face darkened immediately.

In this formation, Goshiki was obviously going to be targeted.

His position in the block was the clearest opening.

Goshiki realized it too.

This was definitely coming at him.

He braced himself for Sakusa to blast the ball straight through him.

Yamagata had already recognized the danger as well and quickly shifted closer to the net.

If Goshiki couldn't stop the attack, Yamagata would have to handle whatever came through.

Goshiki's entire body tensed.

The Sword of Damocles seemed poised above his head, ready to fall at any moment.

But Sakusa didn't attack with power.

His wrist folded into an almost unbelievable angle, sharper than ninety degrees.

The volleyball skimmed the net and dropped down right beside Goshiki's body.

Goshiki's eyes widened.

It wasn't the hard attack he'd prepared for.

The ball was coming over like this instead.

In that instant, Goshiki remembered how Ryosuke sometimes used his foot to save the ball.

So he tried to lift his leg.

That kind of save was something Ryosuke had figured out because he was occasionally too lazy to bend down.

Goshiki had never tried it himself.

The moment he lifted his leg, his center of gravity collapsed.

Yamagata couldn't come any farther forward because of how close the ball was to the net.

Every route to the ball was cut off.

"Tap!"

The volleyball dropped softly at Goshiki's feet.

To Goshiki, the instant seemed to stretch forever.

"Beep!!"

Only after Sakusa and the others landed did the referee's sharp whistle sound.

That was when Goshiki finally realized the match was over.

The arena exploded with cheers.

"Itachiyama! Itachiyama! Itachiyama!"

"That was incredible!"

"They won! They won! They won! Aaaaaah!"

This celebration belonged to Itachiyama and the spectators.

"What an incredible match! Itachiyama takes the third set 25 to 23 and brings the match to a close! The score remained deadlocked from fifteen points onward, and by the end both teams were clearly exhausted."

"Absolutely. I never expected the final point to end with a tip like that. It caught everyone by surprise. Both Shiratorizawa and Itachiyama entered the IH as seeded teams, and yet they ended up meeting before the final."

"This year has actually gone relatively smoothly. In the previous two years, several powerhouse schools and seeded teams ended up facing each other as early as the round of sixteen, leaving only a handful of major teams by the time the final arrived. Shiratorizawa has definitely shown a higher level of performance this year than in previous tournaments."

"Now, let's give a round of applause to Itachiyama, who advances to the final! And let's also thank every Shiratorizawa player for giving this match everything they had!"

Only when the commentary ended did Goshiki truly understand that it was over.

The final point had ended with him.

"Nice one, Omi-Omi!"

Komori ran toward Sakusa in delight, clearly intending to celebrate with a bear hug.

Sakusa immediately dodged him with an expression of disgust.

Komori laughed awkwardly, then forcibly grabbed Sakusa's hand and gave him a high-five instead.

"What are you all standing around for? Come on! Opportunities like this don't happen often!"

Komori held Sakusa's hand up and called everyone over.

Iizuna laughed when he saw it and, ignoring Sakusa's murderous stare, high-fived him too.

The others hesitated.

Then they decided this opportunity really was too rare to waste.

Kishimoto rubbed the palm he'd just used to high-five Sakusa and asked nervously, "Do you think Sakusa-senpai is going to kill us when we get back to school?"

Nishio nodded and silently withdrew from the future crime scene.

Sakusa stood there stiffly with his hand still raised.

Sticky.

Sweaty.

And worst of all, it wasn't even his own sweat.

This hand was ruined.

Maybe he should just cut it off.

Sure, he wouldn't be able to play volleyball anymore, but at least he wouldn't have to suffer this kind of sanity-destroying experience again.

Iizuna glanced at Sakusa, who now seemed surrounded by a dark aura.

From beneath the shadow of his hair, Sakusa's eyes quietly tracked everyone around him as though calculating how to murder them all without getting caught.

The atmosphere on Itachiyama's side was peaceful.

Shiratorizawa wasn't actually doing that badly either.

The only ones who seemed especially upset were Goshiki and Shirabu.

Losing this match had always been within everyone's expectations.

Over the previous two years, Shiratorizawa's overall lineup simply hadn't matched Itachiyama's.

There had been changes this year.

They had adjusted their strategy as well.

But neither of those things could be completely transformed with only a month or two of training before the tournament.

Shiratorizawa's old style and way of playing had become deeply ingrained.

Several new players had joined this year, but the team still hadn't had enough time to fully integrate them.

"I'm sorry..."

Goshiki's eyes were red as he forced the words out under everyone's gaze.

The prodigy who had once been praised and protected within the team had now become the point where their defeat broke through.

Goshiki genuinely couldn't bear it.

Silence surrounded him.

He waited for everyone to blame him.

He waited for the extra training that would come once they returned.

The feeling was suffocating.

After a long moment, Yamagata broke the silence with a laugh.

"Come on. We just lost a match. Little Goshiki, with the way you're acting, anyone would think somebody died."

Tendo hooked Goshiki's head under one arm, making him stumble.

"I know you're upset right now, but losing this match was something we'd already considered possible."

"Itachiyama was our whetstone. We're trying to add new pieces and a new engine to the team, so we needed a real match to test how everything worked."

Shirabu cut in indignantly.

"That's true, but I'm still pissed off! Damn it! Itachiyama really is full of underhanded bastards!"

The tears in Goshiki's eyes kept threatening to fall, but he stubbornly held them back.

Then Ushijima stopped in front of him.

One sentence finally settled Goshiki's heart.

"Goshiki, you did well."

What Goshiki had really feared wasn't extra practice or getting yelled at.

He was afraid that because of this mistake, the others would stop accepting him.

That he would become the odd one out.

He wanted their acknowledgment.

For someone who had once been treated as a prodigy everywhere he went, that kind of fear was something Goshiki had never experienced before.

"Both teams, assemble!"

Goshiki opened his mouth to say something else, but the referee's voice interrupted him.

Reon nodded toward Ushijima.

Ushijima quickly led Shiratorizawa into formation.

Coach Washijō stood off court with an expression of utter irritation.

Then he lightly kicked Ryosuke, who was still sitting on his little stool.

"What are you sitting there for? Hurry up and get over there!"

Ryosuke blinked.

"Ah!"

Then he scrambled to his feet and looked at Coach Washijō.

"Quick, check whether my hair's messed up!"

"What are you looking at me for? Get over there already!"

Coach Washijō barked impatiently.

Ryosuke grinned, then turned and walked firmly toward the others.

Over there were his closest friends and teammates.

They were all waiting for him.