Score: 11 - 11.
The game had evolved from a frantic exchange of blows into a high-speed chess match. Every serve was a weapon. Every receive was a calculation.
Itachiyama Serve.
Iizuna served. It was a tactical float serve aimed at Ryuu, forcing him to take a step back before his approach.
Ryuu bumped it high. "Kenma!"
Ryuu was slightly out of position for the approach. Kenma saw this.
Instead of forcing it to the Ace, Kenma set a back-quick to Kuroo.
Kuroo was already in the air.
BOOM.
Kuroo smashed the ball down the center before the Itachiyama middle could close the gap.
Nekoma 12 - 11.
"ALRIGHT!" Kuroo roared, fist-pumping toward his bench. "NICE TOSS, KENMA!"
There was no taunting. Just the raw release of tension. The crowd responded, their cheers echoing off the high ceiling.
______________
Score: 15 - 15.
Sakusa rotated to the front row. The threat level spiked instantly.
Iizuna set to Sakusa on the left.
Ryuu and Kuroo formed the block.
'Here it comes,' Kuroo thought. 'The spin.'
Sakusa jumped. He hit a wipe off Kuroo's outer hand.
Usually, this ball would fly into the stands. But Kuroo didn't keep his hand stiff. At the moment of impact, he relaxed his wrist, allowing his hand to bend backward slightly with the ball.
Soft Block.
The ball didn't ricochet violently. It hit Kuroo's hand, lost its horizontal momentum, and looped high into the air behind the block.
"ONE TOUCH!" Kuroo screamed, turning around.
Yaku was already moving. "Chance ball!"
Nekoma countered. Kenma set to Kai on the right. Kai hit a clean straight shot.
Nekoma 16 - 15.
Kuroo landed and grabbed Ryuu's shoulder.
"Did you see that?" Kuroo breathed, eyes wide with focus. "Don't fight the rotation. If you push against it, it flies out. You have to let it ride your hand."
Ryuu nodded, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Absorb it. Like catching a raw egg."
"Exactly. We can stop him."
_______________
Score: 18 - 18.
Itachiyama refused to break. Komori was digging everything.
But Kuroo Tetsurou was stepping up.
Nekoma served. Komori received.
"Center!"
Iizuna set a quick to his middle blocker. It was fast. A tempo that usually beat the block.
But Kuroo wasn't guessing. He was reading.
Kuroo watched the setter's hands until the ball left them. He took one explosive step to the right and jumped.
His arms extended over the net, penetrating Itachiyama's airspace.
DOOM.
He stuffed the quick attack completely. The ball slammed straight down onto the Itachiyama court.
Nekoma 19 - 18.
"YEAHHHHH!" Kuroo yelled, flexing his arms. The sound was guttural, primal.
Yamamoto ran up and chest-bumped him. "CAPTAIN!"
Ryuu slapped Kuroo's back. "Nice kill! The wall is active!"
On the other side, Iizuna narrowed his eyes.
"Their middle is getting used to our tempo," Iizuna noted calmly to Sakusa. "We need to widen the court."
_____________
Score: 21 - 21.
The climax of the first set.
Iizuna set to Sakusa again.
Ryuu and Kuroo jumped.
Sakusa saw them. 'They are persistent.'
He snapped his wrist, hitting that nasty inner curve shot aimed between the blockers.
Ryuu saw the wrist snap.
'Let it ride.'
Ryuu didn't shove his hands forward. He angled his palms inward, creating a funnel.
THUD.
The ball hit Ryuu's hands. The spin tried to rip it away, but the angle forced the ball back toward the Nekoma court.
"Block cover!"
Yaku dove and saved it.
"Counter!"
Ryuu landed and immediately transitioned. He ran his approach.
"KENMA!"
Kenma set high to the left.
Three Itachiyama blockers jumped.
Ryuu didn't try to be clever. He swung with pure, unadulterated power, aiming for the fingertips of the middle blocker.
CRACK.
The ball blew through the fingertips and flew deep. Komori tried to chase it, but it was too fast.
Nekoma 22 - 21.
"COME ON!!" Ryuu roared, clenching both fists.
The Nekoma stands erupted. They had the lead in the endgame.
_______________
Score: 23 - 23.
Itachiyama responded instantly. Sakusa scored a back-row attack. Then Komori dug a feint from Kenma.
Deuce. Or close enough to it.
Score: 24 - 23 Itachiyama. Set Point.
The pressure was suffocating. One point and Nekoma loses the set.
Iizuna stood at the service line. He served a jump floater to the corner.
Kai received. "Nice pass!"
"Kenma!"
Kenma set to Ryuu.
Ryuu smashed a cross shot. Komori dug it, but the ball went over the net.
"Chance ball!" Iizuna called.
Komori bumped the ball high to Iizuna.
It was the perfect setup.
Sakusa Kiyoomi was in the front-left. He began his approach. His aura was terrifying. He was the Ace. He was the one who had scored 8 points this set.
Ryuu saw him. Kuroo saw him.
'It's going to Sakusa,' Kuroo thought. 'We have to stop him here. If we kill-block him, we tie the game.'
'He's the only option,' Ryuu thought.
Sakusa stomped the floor. He jumped.
Ryuu and Kuroo jumped with him. They committed 100%. They built a massive, impenetrable wall in front of the Ace.
"DEAD END!" Ryuu shouted, pressing his hands over.
Iizuna watched them.
He saw the Red Giant and the Scheming Captain sell their souls to stop the Ace.
Iizuna's face remained blank.
He didn't set Sakusa.
At the last possible micro-second, his hands shifted. He pushed a back-set to the right wing.
To the Opposite hitter, who had been quiet all game.
The net in front of the Opposite was empty. Zero blockers.
Kuroo was still rising, locked into the decoy.
But Ryuu's golden eyes snapped to the side.
'Back set.'
While Kuroo was still floating, Ryuu did something unnatural. He engaged his core and violently yanked his body downward, forcing himself to land early.
THUD.
He hit the floor heavily, his knees buckling under the g-force.
Most players would need a second to recover. Ryuu didn't take a second.
He exploded sideways.
His shoes screamed against the hardwood—SCREEEECH—as he launched himself toward the right antenna.
Iizuna's eyes widened for a fraction of a second. 'He reacted?!'
The Opposite hitter jumped. He saw an empty net. He cocked his arm to smash it.
But in his peripheral vision, a red blur was closing in fast. Too fast.
'He's coming!'
The Opposite panicked slightly, swinging his arm faster than he intended.
Ryuu threw his left hand up, desperate, his body flying horizontally through the air like a goalkeeper.
BOOM.
The Opposite spiked.
The ball flashed past Ryuu's outstretched fingertips—missing them by less than an inch.
It slammed into the floor.
THUMP.
Ryuu crashed into the pole a split-second later, sliding down to the floor.
Game Set.Itachiyama Wins Set 1: 25 - 23.
The whistle blew.
The gym erupted in cheers for the brilliant decoy play, but on the court, there was a stunned silence near the net.
The Itachiyama Opposite hitter was staring at Ryuu. He wasn't celebrating. He looked pale.
"I... I had an open net," the Opposite whispered to Iizuna. "But he was right there. How did he get there so fast?"
Iizuna looked at Ryuu, who was picking himself up off the floor, dusting off his knees.
"Reaction speed," Iizuna noted quietly. "He realized the fake before the ball even left my hands. If that set was slightly lower... he would have touched it."
Sakusa walked past. He looked at Ryuu, then at the mark on the floor.
"Sloppy," Sakusa said to his own teammate. "You hurried your swing because you got scared."
Ryuu stood up. He was breathing hard, not from fatigue, but from the adrenaline of the sprint.
He looked at Iizuna.
"You're sneaky," Ryuu said, cracking his neck. "I almost had him."
Iizuna's expression didn't change, but his respect level just went up a notch.
"Almost," Iizuna replied. "But 'almost' is still a point for us."
Ryuu grinned, a feral, dangerous look returning to his eyes.
"For now."
Ryuu walked back to the bench.
'He used Sakusa as bait,' Ryuu thought, grabbing his water. 'But I saw it. Next time... I'll be faster.'
Chapter 47: The Best Setter