Bang!
Akashi Asuka leapt into the air and slammed the ball down before the blockers from Fukurodani could even arrive. The spike landed hard, earning another point for Aoba Johsai.
12:13.
Landing steadily, Asuka turned and jogged back to position without sparing even a glance at Kentarou Kyotani.
Serves you right.
I knew you'd try something. You've got a history in the original story, I'd be a fool not to prepare for it.
Kentarou Kyotani stood frozen, completely stunned. It wasn't until a firm slap landed on his back that he finally snapped out of it.
"Hey~ it's your serve. Get it together. This is the Nationals, not some backyard scrimmage. If you try to steal another play like that again, I won't care if the coach yells at you, I'll deal with you myself. Got it?" Issei Matsukawa's voice was laced with warning.
For once, Kyotani didn't talk back. After snapping out of it, even he realized how reckless he had just been.
In the last match against Mori High, Kyotani hadn't gotten a single minute on the court. Stuck in the bench zone for the entire game, it had driven him crazy.
"Sorry. I'll be more careful from now on."
The unexpected apology startled Matsukawa so much he nearly jumped.
What?!
Did that bastard just apologize? Is the sun rising in the west now?!
But Kyotani ignored Matsukawa's dumbfounded face and headed straight to the serving zone with the ball in hand.
As he passed by Asuka, he couldn't help but glance at him.
"This guy… he's gotten even stronger!"
One of the reasons Kyotani had rejoined the volleyball club was because Aoba Johsai made it to Nationals, but the bigger reason? He'd heard that Akashi Asuka had joined the team.
Back at the Sendai City Gymnasium, Kyotani had been thoroughly crushed by Asuka.
His current serving style? Born from his humiliating loss to Asuka's serve. Kyotani had trained hard, dedicating extra effort to master it.
All for one goal: to get his revenge someday.
Yet he never imagined that even before his payback could begin, he'd already been crushed by Asuka's sheer presence. It was maddening.
Frustrated and burning with determination, Kyotani threw the ball high and launched himself upward. His body arched midair like a drawn bow, pulling back with maximum power, then unleashed it all in a single explosive strike.
Boom!
The ball shot off his hand like an arrow released from a bowstring, slicing through the air and landing deep near Fukurodani's baseline.
The defenders didn't even have time to react.
Fukurodani's players froze.
[Ohhh~~~ What a serve!]
[Player #16 from Aoba Johsai, Kentarou Kyotani, making his Nationals debut, has just delivered an absolute bullet of a serve! Even Fukurodani's defenders couldn't react to this surprise cannonball! Aoba Johsai scores again, ]
BEEP!
Before the commentator could finish, a whistle cut through the court. Everyone turned to see the line judge at the baseline raise their flag.
[Ah, an unexpected development!]
[The line judge signals a fault. After review, the serve from Aoba Johsai's #16 has been ruled out of bounds.]
[The point is awarded to Fukurodani instead.]
[12:14.]
[Fukurodani extends their lead to two points again.]
────────── ✦ ──────────
"Ohhh, so close! Out of bounds? That's such a shame!"
"Whew, what a lucky break!"
The Aoba Johsai fans groaned in disappointment, while the Fukurodani supporters burst into cheers.
On the bench, Aoba Johsai's substitute players and their coach, Sadayuki Mizoguchi, also showed regret.
"What a pity... it missed by just a little bit!"
Mizoguchi was visibly in pain, but coach Nobuteru Irihata smiled.
"No, it's not a pity at all. We've already achieved our goal."
Sure, Fukurodani was awarded the point, but their defenders had broken into a cold sweat.
Was Kyotani's serve powerful?
Absolutely.
But not quite at the level of Oikawa Tooru or Akashi Asuka. In terms of pure speed and power, he was still a step behind them.
What threw Fukurodani off was simple carelessness.
Had they been prepared, they might not have returned it cleanly, but they could've at least touched the ball.
The real problem wasn't the strength of Kyotani's serve. It was the fact that Aoba Johsai now had a third powerful server, in addition to Oikawa and Asuka.
That's what truly shook them.
Just dealing with Oikawa and Asuka's serves had their libero at his limit. No team in the entire country would dare claim they could consistently receive serves from both of them. For Fukurodani's libero, every attempt was practically a coin toss.
Now there was a third cannon?
The mere thought made Fukurodani's libero sweat bullets.
────────── ✦ ──────────
Rotation.
Next up: Bokuto Kotaro's serve.
Ranked among the top five aces in the nation, Bokuto's serve was no joke.
Speed. Power. He had both.
Two serves in a row:
First serve: scored.
Second serve: error.
The score now stood at 13:15.
Against a regular team, Bokuto would've secured the upper hand for his side. After all, once rotation passed, Fukurodani had regained the offense.
But Aoba Johsai wasn't a regular team.
Because up next was Oikawa Tooru.
Oikawa's form today was... average. Not bad, but not perfect either.
Still, he served two in a row:
First serve: scored.
Second serve: error.
Score: 14:16.
But he'd reclaimed the offense.
With that serve-receive converted into an attack, Aoba Johsai scored again, narrowing the gap to 15:16.
And then...
Akashi Asuka stepped up to serve.
Seeing yet another powerhouse enter the serving zone, Fukurodani's libero couldn't take it anymore. His face twisted into a mask of pure agony.
All the thoughts in his head compressed into a single word: "Fuck."
Asuka stepped into the service zone, holding the ball. He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly. When he opened his eyes again, calm filled his gaze.
The Aoba Johsai players in the front court wisely covered the backs of their heads and stepped aside to make way.
With practiced ease, Asuka tossed the ball up, smooth and soft. The feel of it sparked something in his chest.
Then: approach, jump, swing, strike,
"Thud~"
This time, the sound of contact was different. Not the thunderous boom of before, but more like a muffled explosion.
At least, that's how it sounded to Asuka.
To everyone else, it was business as usual.
Well, almost everyone.
Fukurodani's libero felt something off the moment the ball left Asuka's hand.
This time, it wasn't just a jump serve with brute power.
This one, curved.
"What the hell kind of monster serve is this?!"
The sudden deviation threw him into panic.
Asuka's regular serves were already hellish, ridiculously fast and insanely powerful. Every reception felt like taking a cannonball, not a volleyball.
He thought he'd already endured the worst.
He was wrong.
Dead wrong.
Now, that insane bastard on the other team was pulling new tricks out of his bag.
The libero wanted to scream.
He had just started getting used to Asuka's powerful jump serves. And now there was spin or curve? Even the slightest change was enough to throw off his timing.
And when it came to the sheer speed of Asuka's serves, even a split-second hesitation was fatal.
The ball screamed past his ear, the wind brushing his hair as it curved midair.
Libero Haruki Kojima failed to read the drop point in time. He could only watch, helpless, as the ball slammed into the center of Fukurodani's court.
Thud!
Beeeeep~~~
The sound of the ball hitting the floor was quickly followed by the referee's whistle.
The scoreboard flipped again.
16:16.
Aoba Johsai had tied the score.
==========
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