Two sets to none.
DH was on the verge of defeating EJP and advancing to the finals.
But the fans didn't seem surprised—people had grown used to DH, or rather, to Kaedehara Taichi and his dazzling performance.
Only now, that dazzling performance had co to signify sothing else entirely—a fact so absurd it felt surreal, yet impossible to deny.
Kaedehara Taichi's title was no longer "The Strongest High School Player in Japanese History."
It was now "Japan's Number One Active Volleyball Player."
-----
"Akutsu, are you okay?" Evan Krauss asked.
Ever since entering the V-League as a foreign player, Evan Krauss had seen many incredible Japanese pros. And Akutsu Ao—hailed as the V-League's strongest ace—was a player who could confidently rank in the world's top twenty outside hitters.
But here, on this court, the one standing above them all…was undoubtedly Kaedehara Taichi.
"You understand, don't you, Evan?" Akutsu clenched his fists, veins bulging on his arms. "I never thought…I'd see those monsters again in this guy."
The ones who stood at the peak of the world.
They possessed a level of height, power, speed, and vertical that ordinary people couldn't dream of. But beyond that, they had the technique, the ga sense, and the court IQ to match. Their plays shattered imagination. Their actions broke the limits of what people thought possible. They didn't just rewrite the rules of volleyball—they redefined reality.
"I ca back to this court to prove myself," Akutsu gritted out. "I won't let it end like this!"
"You guys—"
"We know." From the other side, Komori Motoya walked over.
Usually, Komori played the role of the team's mood maker. With his ever-present springti smile and his expressive, almost comical eyebrows, he resembled a warm and friendly Shiba Inu, the kind of teammate who made everyone feel at ease.
But now, his posture was straight, his eyes sharp with resolve. The aura radiating from him was so intense, it didn't lose out in the slightest to Akutsu Ao—even though Akutsu was a head taller.
"We're done losing."
-----
EJP Raijin's lineup:
Front row—Setter Sengoku Chisato, Middle Blocker Washio Tatsuki, Outside Hitter Akutsu Ao.
Back row—Outside Hitter Evan Krauss, Middle Blocker Suna Rintarō (Libero: Komori Motoya) and Opposite Hitter Kitō Yūkan.
DESEO Hornets' lineup:
Front row—Outside Hitter Kujō Reiji, Setter Iizuna Tsukasa, Middle Blocker Tom Wilde.
Back row—Middle Blocker Nitta Asahiro (Libero: Kubo Wataru), Opposite Hitter Yoshii Hiyu and Outside Hitter Kaedehara Taichi.
Third set began, with DH serving first.
Kaedehara Taichi stepped up to the service line, expressionless. Only the icy glint in his eyes revealed his focus.
BOOM!!!
Taichi fired off the first serve!
Komori Motoya lightly tapped his front foot, body springing up just enough as his arms ford a clean platform. The mont the ball made contact, his arms compressed backwards, then instantly snapped forward with force.
Smack!!!
He rolled backwards as he absorbed the impact and landed flat on the court.
"Cover!"
The serve was received—a pass slightly off the mark.
Sengoku Chisato moved to stabilise the play, setting the ball to the right wing.
"No more running."
Akutsu Ao ran along the sideline and leapt sky-high!
"Double block!" Kujō Reiji and Tom Wilde jumped together.
BOOOM!!!
The ball slamd off Tom Wilde's arm and crashed hard into DH's court.
A break on the first play.
Akutsu Ao scored with a thunderous spike!
[DH 0 – 1 EJP]
—"Ah, too bad! Taichi's serve still packed a punch, but Komori handled it perfectly and passed it to the front row."
—"Akutsu didn't miss his chance and nailed the first point!"
—"Looks like EJP is going all out, now that they're down two sets. It's do-or-die!"
Serve rotation—EJP to serve.
Sengoku Chisato sent a floating jump serve targeting DH's front row, Kujō Reiji!
"They're clearly marking him—even using a relatively harmless jump float to tie him down," Kubo Wataru moved up quickly. "I got it!"
Kubo covered for Kujō, who bumped the ball toward the middle. Iizuna jumped for the set.
Swoosh!—
He sent the ball to the right. Tom Wilde leapt for the spike.
"Double block!" Washio Tatsuki and Akutsu Ao rose in unison.
BOOM!—
Smack!—
The ball struck Akutsu's arm and deflected back.
Tom Wilde had hoped to redeem himself after the earlier spike, but at the last second, he resisted the urge to go full-power.
The ball bounced out of bounds—a block-out point.
Tom Wilde scored.
[DH 1 – 1 EJP]
DH reclaid the serve.
Tom Wilde's jump serve.
BOOM!!
The ball clipped the top of the net and fell toward EJP's court.
A net-crawler!
"Damn it, too tense?" Komori's footwork froze—he couldn't step in fast enough.
Smack!
Kitō Yūkan scooped it up one-handed.
—BOOM!!!
Akutsu Ao launched into a lightning-quick pipe attack from the wing.
Tom Wilde had just retreated into the court when the ball struck down in front of him.
Akutsu Ao scored!
[DH 1 – 2 EJP]
—"Great chemistry between Kitō and Akutsu—scoring with a second-touch attack!"
—"Even though it was a lucky net serve from DH, EJP turned it into a point. Their court awareness is incredible!"
Serve rotates again—EJP to serve.
Washio Tatsuki's jump serve again targeted Kujō Reiji.
But this ti, the ball veered right—Iizuna stepped in to receive it himself, and imdiately sent the set high to the left wing.
Nitta Asahiro jumped for the hit—DH's counterattack was ready!
BOOM!!—
—Smack!!
The ball struck the double block of Akutsu and Suna Rintarō and fell back into DH's court.
They saw through it!
EJP scored with a block!
[DH 1 – 3 EJP]
Because Kujō had stayed back for the receive, he couldn't join the attack in ti—EJP easily locked their block onto Nitta.
"Sorry!" Kujō acknowledged his mistake imdiately.
"I rushed that spike—it's on ," Nitta said. Honestly, he could have set it to the middle instead. That would've drawn the block away and added pressure on the defence.
"No need to argue. You're both at fault," Yoshii Hiyu said bluntly. "Let's focus on getting the next point. We can't let them widen the gap."
"Right!"
Washio served again. Target unchanged.
"His serve isn't dangerous—we can try a proactive receive."
Smack!
Kujō made a clean overhead pass.
"Nice receive!" Iizuna leapt for the set at the front.
Swooosh!—
Thump!
Kaedehara Taichi launched from the back row!
"Double block!" Akutsu and Suna leapt together.
—BOOM!!
The ball sailed over their hands, drawing a faint golden arc—
Smack!!
—and deflected off Sengoku's arm and out of bounds.
Kaedehara Taichi scored.
[DH 2 – 3 EJP]
"If Motoya had been there, maybe he would've gotten it," Washio thought.
Serve receive was also sothing middle blockers had to improve.
-----
The score remained tight in the third set.
EJP clung firmly to their narrow early lead—this was, by far, their most promising set yet.
DH to serve.
Iizuna Tsukasa leapt up and launched a powerful jump serve.
Smack!
Komori Motoya made the reception—perfect pass.
Sengoku Chisato set the ball to the middle.
Akutsu Ao jumped—but didn't swing!
It was a feint!
Evan Krauss ca flying in from the back row for a pipe attack!
BOOM!!
The ball tore through the space above the net and slamd into DH's court.
Evan Krauss scored!
[DH 12 – 14 EJP]
—"Akutsu's feint drew out DH's double block!"
—"When you use such a dangerous attacker as a decoy, it's tough for any block to respond properly…"
Rotation—EJP to serve.
Akutsu Ao tossed the ball, took his approach, jumped, and struck!
BOOM!!
Smack!!
The ball smashed off Iizuna's arms and flew out of bounds.
Akutsu Ao's serve scored directly!
[DH 12 – 15 EJP]
EJP now led by three points!
When Kujō Reiji was on court, DH's receive rotation was always a little awkward against heavy serves.
From left to right, DH's back row consisted of Kaedehara Taichi, Kubo Wataru, and Iizuna Tsukasa. Naturally, Iizuna—both the team's setter and the weakest receiver—was the one targeted.
Normally, Kitajima Kippei in position 2 would rotate back and cover for position 1, helping protect Iizuna.
But right now, position 2 was occupied by Kujō Reiji, whose receiving was far too unstable. The only front-row player capable of covering was Yoshii Hiyu, stationed at position 4—too far to help.
So DH had no choice but to shift Hiyu back to position 5, while Taichi and Kubo both slid right to reinforce Iizuna's zone.
"Tweet!—" The whistle blew.
Akutsu Ao served again!
BOOM!!!—
Smack!!!
Kaedehara Taichi received it.
A shaky first touch, but the ball stayed in play.
Iizuna sprinted to the front row and set it high to the right wing.
Kujō Reiji leapt and swung!
"Double block!" Suna Rintarō and Evan Krauss went up together.
BOOM!!
Smack!
Evan got a hand on it—first contact!
The ball bounced toward the back row. Komori passed it cleanly to the setter. Kitō Yūkan was already moving—
BOOM!!
"—!?"
The ball soared over Yoshii Hiyu's head!
Kitō faked a set—then hit a surprise second-touch attack!
Smack!
Kaedehara Taichi dove and dug the ball!
Yoshii Hiyu reacted quickly, jumped to set the second ball to the right wing.
Kujō leapt again—another spike!
"Double block!"
BOOM!!!—
The ball sailed over Suna's outstretched hands and smashed down just inside the deep corner behind Akutsu.
Ball speed: 105 km/h.
A perfect cross-court diagonal shot!
Kujō Reiji scored!
[DH 13 – 15 EJP]
Though they scored, Kaedehara Taichi's brows were furrowed.
He gestured subtly toward the bench. Coach Nick didn't understand the intent, but he cooperated anyway and called a tiout.
The players headed toward their benches. EJP didn't understand why DH had called a tiout at all.
"Taichi, what's wrong?" Nitta Asahiro asked with a smile.
Everyone turned to look at Taichi.
"…Don't tell you guys think EJP is so pushover?" Taichi asked, brows still knit. "Why are you all acting so relaxed even though we're behind?"
It wasn't "relaxed" so much as—complacent.
Taichi still refrained from directly criticising Nitta Asahiro, who'd been joking around just now—he was, after all, the team's captain.
Normally, reminders like these were left to Yoshii Hiyu. He'd been with DH the longest and was the most appropriate in both age and temperant. But even he seed slightly off in this third set.
Their offence was mostly fine, but defensively, they'd let multiple easy points slip.
Everyone froze. Even Nitta stood stunned.
"I'll say this now—I never planned on losing even a single set," Taichi said calmly.
With that, he walked off by himself.
"Taichi…" Nitta opened his mouth, trying to explain—but he had no words.
"Asahiro," Coach Nick said, "as captain, this should've co from you."
"…Sorry. I understand." Nitta took a deep breath.
Only now did he realise how badly things had gone.
EJP had held control of the third set from the very beginning, and DH hadn't shown even a hint of urgency.
Perhaps everyone had subconsciously assud that Kaedehara Taichi would just pull off another miracle at the end.
But now that he thought about it carefully, the reason DH had failed to catch up in score was because of flaws in their defence. Taichi had been forced to constantly cover for others, which in turn affected his offence.
The scoreboard might have looked close—but without Taichi's clutch saves, the gap might already be irrecoverable.
-----
Tiout over. The match resud.
DH to serve. Kaedehara Taichi rotated back to the front row.
Kujō Reiji launched a powerful jump serve.
Komori Motoya with a solid first touch.
Suna Rintarō imdiately surged toward the middle for a quick set.
"Double block!" Kaedehara Taichi and Nitta Asahiro jumped together.
—BANG!!
But Suna twisted his body midair, avoiding the block with an odd-angle spike!
The ball sliced past Nitta's right side and clipped Kujō Reiji's arm before flying out of bounds.
Suna Rintarō scored!
[DH 13 – 16 EJP]
"Damn it!" Nitta growled in frustration.
Just now, he had genuinely focused on the play—so how had he still been so easily outdone?
How had he ever thought they could win this set casually…?
"Beep! Substitution for DH."
"Kitajima Kippei IN, Kujō Reiji OUT."
Kitajima entered to strengthen the defence.
He'd heard Taichi's words from the bench and was surprised.
Taichi had never seed like the kind of guy to want the captain's role…
But in the middle of a match, his awareness of the team's condition was sharper than anyone else's.
"…What a sha. It's like he was born to lead."
EJP to serve.
Kitō Yūkan blasted a powerful jump serve.
Smack!
Kubo Wataru received it cleanly.
Iizuna jumped to the front and sent the ball high toward centre court.
Kaedehara Taichi jumped for the spike!
"Double block!" Suna and Evan Krauss went up together.
BOOM!!!—
A wipe-off spike!
The ball smashed into the block and flew high toward EJP's back row.
SMACK!
Akutsu Ao managed to dig it up!
Taichi's heavy spike was defended! But the ball shot upward and back toward DH!
"I got it!"
Nitta jumped—preparing to spike the overpass!
Smack!
But Sengoku Chisato jumped at the net, barely flicking the ball left with one hand!
Evan Krauss flew in for a spike from the left wing!
BOOM!!—
—SMACK!!
The ball was stuffed at the net!
Kaedehara Taichi blocked it straight down!
The ball bounced violently off the floor.
Taichi scored on a block!
[DH 14 – 16 EJP]
"Too many gaps," Taichi said lazily as he waved his hand.
"Maybe take a look at who's blocking you before you swing~"
_________
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