Currently, Koji couldn't help but feel excited. He tried his best to hide his trembling hand, didn't want to show any weakness or ss up in such a crucial situation. He couldn't help it though. Just like any other sophomore who experienced the disaster last year, he didn't have a high hope for this team.
The thought that they were a weak team had already been planted inside his mind, and no matter what the coach and the optimistic freshn like Yuki and Riku said, it wouldn't change his mind that they were a weak team.
That was why when the weak team managed to beat a far stronger team and match the intensity of another strong team, he finally started to feel optimistic. He began to imagine how it would feel to win this ga, what would happen next and how amazing they would be treated by their peers. All of those images flew around his head one by one, and it sohow made him excited all of a sudden.
Unfortunately, what ca together with the imagination was the pressure.
Koji couldn't help but shiver when he imagined the worst-case scenario that could happen. He failed to do the serve perfectly, giving away the montum to the opponent. Then, they would have no chance to snatch it back, and until the end of the ga, they couldn't chase the score.
In the end, they lost the ga, and not only they were eliminated from the tournant, but the team was also disbanded for good.
And he beca the biggest sinner that caused all of that.
Koji's hands were shaking quite violently, afraid of his own thoughts.
'No, no, no. Nothing bad would happen. Everything is going to be alright. Co on, don't overthink. Everything would be alright.'
Now that the team managed to survive until the final set and even one point could be crucial for how the ga went, the imagination of the worst-case scenario kept flashing inside his mind, giving Koji a nightmare. The 9-ter distance between him and the net seed too far away suddenly, and the 2,5 ters net height was like a tall building towering under his eyes.
He couldn't help but gulp nervously while kept chanting prayers inside his head as if his life depended on it.
'Please, don't let ss this up… God… Kami-sama... Jesus… Buddha… Wherever you are, please help this ti… Don't let ss this up… Please…'
The mont the referee blew the whistle, he didn't throw the ball in the air. Instead, he raised the hand that had the ball in it and hit it shakingly, sending a normal serve to the other side of the court.
All of his teammates were taken aback, turning their heads imdiately to him. Even though Koji just learned how to do a jump serve recently and it wasn't as good as Riku's Koji was always confident in doing so, and in this ga, even though he didn't contribute any points from the direct serve, at least it was enough to trouble the opponent.
When they saw his pale face, they realized that sothing was wrong with Koji. Unfortunately, the ga was still on, so it was impossible to co and ask what happened.
*Thud!*
"Nice receive, Aki!"
Seeing Kyoei's player pick up the ball easily, all the Tsunemori players stepped back unconsciously, getting ready to receive the attack. Yuki who was in a hot form before was excited, looking at Hirano imdiately to observe his senpai's movent. However, to everyone's surprise, the ball flew with high speed to the center, catching everyone off guard.
"A quick!"
"Rano, jump!"
*BAM!*
Even though Hirano rushed to block the attack, he was a second too late. The quick was executed perfectly by Kyoei's player as it went through the left back behind Kaede's spot, with the defensive specialist couldn't stop the ball at all. However, what surprised them the most wasn't the quick attack, but the one who executed it, the tall blonde boy who smirked infuriatingly at them.
'What the hell?! He can do a quick this good?!'
Yeah, the one who just spiked the ball was Haruo. His position as the middle blocker on the front makes it easier for him to be the executor of a quick attack. All he needed to do was jump, and with his above-average height, it would be difficult for Hirano or any other Tsunemori blockers to stop it.
But what surprised them the most was the accuracy of Haruo's spike in the last play. Even if Hirano was one step behind, if any spiker saw the opponent's blocker rush in his direction, he would panic and make a ss. However, not only Haruo was able to stay calm, but he even dared to aim at the bottom left, close to the sideline. That was the place where Hirano and Yuki wouldn't be able to cover.
It required calmness and precise technique to aim at the exact spot, sothing that not many middle blockers would have.
This reminded them once again of the status of one of the best blockers of the generation that Haruo carried right now.
'Damn! They still have sothing on their sleeves, huh? This would be more difficult than we thought it would be.'
-0-
"Good job, Haruo-chan!" Nitta praised the middle blocker genuinely. Then, he pouted, confusing his teammates. "If only you were willing to reveal this earlier, we wouldn't get humiliated so badly like in the second set, you know?"
Haruo sweated profusely, especially when all the five pairs of eyes turned at him scrutinizingly. "Don't you forget that after that number 19 destroyed us with his ace serve, we are basically a bunch of useless sticks on the court? No matter how much I want to do this, I think it wouldn't change the ga too much." He said wryly.
"You are right." Ito nodded, inwardly blaming himself for not being able to help the team recover in the second set. "Still, you really surprise us here. We have never seen you join the attack before, so I had a little doubt about it when you told us your idea."
Everyone nodded in agreent, recalling the mory of what happened before.
-A little flashback-
'How about we copy their strategy?' Haruo said. 'Their blockers can stop us easier because we always rely on Nitta-senpai or Ito-senpai to attack. But what if we add more attackers just like they did before? With more variables on the front line, I am sure sothing good will happen for us.'
All of them stared at each other, could see that it was an idea worth trying.
'Still, who will join the attack?' Besides the setter, Ito, and Nitta, all of the players there had their own specialization and weren't that good at attacking.
'Well, why don't you let ?' Haruo grinned, offering himself to be the main character for this experintal strategy.
'You?' One of them asked, doubtful. 'I have never seen you doing a spike before. Can you do it?'
'Hey, I can spike, you know?' Haruo defended himself. 'I have never had a chance to do that before since Nitta-senpai and Ito-senpai would always be there, but this might be a good chance for to show it off!'
All the players there looked at each other for another second before turning their heads to Ito, asking the captain to take the decision. After weighing his options and glancing at Saito on the bench, he finally decided to follow his instinct.
'Okay, since Haruo-kun is confident about it, he can join the attack. Yamada, make sure you will give a good pass, okay?'
'Yes, Sir!'
-End of the flashback-
At first, they did it in a desperate attempt since Saito didn't have any intention to take another tiout. They had to adapt quickly to the situation on the court, and they felt what Haruo proposed was worth a shot. Never did it cross their mind that the strategy would work perfectly, activating their offense once again.
*BAM!*
"ONE TOUCH!"
"Oh! Good block, Nitta!"
"Yamada-senpai!"
*BAM!*
"HELL YEAH!" Haruo clenched his fist excitedly as his next spike was able to contribute to another point for the team. Even though it failed to pierce Tsunemori's defense, he aid the ball well enough to make it bounce to one of the opponent's blockers and gave them a point out of it.
Tsunemori High 21 25 9
Kyoei Gakuen 25 7 9
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