The moment the set flew through the air, Hakuma and Hinata moved simultaneously.
The rhythm of this dig clearly indicated a Quick Attack, but..
Hakuma looked toward Hinata.
This guy has only just started too!
Can he catch up?
Hinata's stride was massive, covering nearly half the net in an instant and reaching the edge where the ball was falling.
He showed Hakuma through his actions—that he could keep up.
On the other side, Miya Atsumu also started a bit late because he was observing Rishia; by the time the two of them jumped to block, Hinata had already reached the highest point first.
A look of involuntary smugness and pride surfaced on Hoshiumi's face.
Hinata's initial effectiveness as a decoy was indeed excellent, but it would also weaken bit by bit over time; fortunately, this relationship could also be reversed.
Not only can Hinata act as a shield for Rishia, but Rishia can also act as a decoy for Hinata.
And as previously mentioned, the more chaotic the situation becomes, the greater the interference to the Block.
Now, he is throwing another stone into this pool where Hinata and Rishia are already covering for each other.
—A Quick Attack that disrupts the rhythm.
The moment of the aerial battle is certainly a clash between the attacker and the blocker, but the deciding factor for the entire outcome is certainly not that brief period of less than a second.
Before that, there are countless ways to set the stage.
It could have been a fake move from the Setter, or perhaps it could have been cover from a teammate.
Hinata's gaze focused, locking onto Hakuma Mebuki's fingers.
Hirugami had just retreated after making a save and was no longer in the blocking formation, which meant no one would be able to cover for Hakuma's mistake.
The wall of people enveloped his head like an umbrella.
But this time was different; his field of vision was not filled with nothing but pitch-black shadows, but instead, a few rays of light spilled through the edges of the umbrella.
Hinata raised his hand, spiking the ball.
The crack was already laid out before him, he had to.. seize it.
And then—a single blow to end it.
BANG!!
A heavy thud rang in everyone's ears as the volleyball hit Hakuma's hands, bouncing high into the air and flying outward.
The wall of people.. has been torn apart.
Watching the volleyball fly far out of the court, Hoshiumi couldn't help but let a smile slip onto his face.
Look, if those two are blocking, there will be far too many openings to exploit.
Miya Osamu, watching from the sidelines, was stunned for a moment. "A Quick Attack?"
Suna narrowed his eyes. "In a way?"
Hinata didn't look like a Wing Spiker at all; Hoshiumi had simply tossed a ball with a rhythm that should have been a Quick Attack, Hinata had merely kept up with it.
Having landed on the ground, Hinata raised his head and met Miya Atsumu's inscrutable gaze.
He slowly lowered his head and glanced at the hand he had just used to spike.
Ah.. we scored.
An excitement that surged like flames swept through his entire body.
This was a completely different feeling from the club entrance exam, even more ferocious than that.
He climbed over that high wall and saw the world beyond.
"Whoa! That was amazing! Hoshiumi-senpai!" Hinata turned his head and rushed toward Hoshiumi Hikari.
The ball just whizzed right past! The opponents couldn't keep up at all!
Across the net, Hakuma's expression froze on his face.
That's right. Even though they started at the same time, Hinata kept up, but he didn't.
"Nice spike." Hoshiumi and Hinata high-fived.
Then he said, "Under normal circumstances, this gesture means a Quick Attack. Next time you see it, just run directly."
"Yes!" Hinata responded instinctively, though he actually hadn't understood a thing.
Hoshiumi's mouth twitched, he ultimately gave up on instilling any knowledge into Hinata.
As for the more advanced techniques, I'll teach those later, but for now, let's just play a bit simply.
His gaze inadvertently swept over Miya Atsumu on the opposite side.
After all, that guy on the other side is a true tactical master; at this stage, no one in the high school circuit is better at strategic positioning and coordination than he is.
Whether it's showing off in front of a master or simply making a fool of myself..
Anyway, Hinata is active on his side now, so he can use him however he wants.
Miya Atsumu was furious!
But before he could take any further action, Coach Kurosu, who was watching from the sidelines, glanced at the time and clapped his hands, calling an end to the three-on-three match on the court: "Alright, alright, that's enough for today."
Miya Atsumu, who was just about to serve, clicked his tongue in annoyance but obediently put the ball back.
Although renting a club gym like this doesn't require cleaning everything thoroughly, you still have to put the ball carts back where they belong and take down the nets.
Both sides cleaned up together, everything was quickly returned to its original state.
Hoshiumi shook his phone toward Hinata. "Can I have your number?"
Hinata's eyes lit up as he added Hoshiumi to his contacts: "Great! Can I ask you anything if there's something I don't understand, Senpai?"
Hoshiumi, having finished adding Hinata's contact info, looked up. "No, if you have questions, ask your Inarizaki."
"Eh?" Hinata was a bit stunned. How was this situation turning out so wrong?
Hoshiumi left with Hinata's phone number, looking extremely satisfied. "If that guy Miya Atsumu does anything embarrassing, remember to forward it to me."
Hinata blinked.
An embarrassing story? Is it the one the Second String seniors were talking about, regarding how Atsumu-senpai gets into fights? I'll have to ask the seniors about it later.
Before leaving, Hinata approached Hoshiumi once again.
Hoshiumi-senpai! I heard from the seniors in my team that we can go with the team to cheer at the Interhigh, so I'll give it my all to cheer for you, Hoshiumi-senpai!
Upon hearing Hinata mention cheering, Hoshiumi instinctively glanced at Miya Atsumu.
After his expression turned incredibly strange, he waved his hand in extreme disgust. "No, don't cheer for me. It's scary."
The bewildered Hinata blinked his eyes. "Don't worry, Senpai! I'll definitely cheer the loudest!"
Hoshiumi's expression twisted even further.
He retreated three steps in succession to create distance from Hinata: "Get out of here, get out of my sight."
Get as far away as possible with that Inarizaki cheering!
Hinata waved goodbye to Hoshiumi Hikari with reluctance: "See you later, Hoshiumi-senpai!"
Miya Atsumu, in an even worse mood, stomped out of the gates, turned around, followed behind Aran and the others, being the first to leave the gym to prepare for the bus.
He only realized just now that he was clearly the setter for Inarizaki, Hoshiumi was simply overstepping his bounds!
Walking at the very back of the team, Rishia Heisuke said in a very low voice to Hinata, "By the way, Shoyo, have you felt like Atsumu-senpai has been especially proactive toward you lately?"
It wasn't just today's match, but also for some time before.
He could always hear Miya Osamu or Aran saying things like "Atsumu has gone to find Hinata again."
"Really?" Hinata scratched his head.
However, he could indeed often see Miya Atsumu in Gym 3, but because he was always with Kumagai, he didn't get to speak to him much.
Was he actually here to find him?
Rishia and Hinata looked at each other, neither of them able to guess for a moment what that temperamental Setter senior actually wanted to do.
After stroking his chin in thought for a while, Hinata finally thought of a possibility.
Could it be that Miya Atsumu thinks he plays well and wants to set for him—
The moment this unrealistic thought appeared, he punctured it himself.
No, no, no, he is the "ball trash" personally handpicked by Atsumu-senpai.
Why is that?
An even more terrifying thought occurred to him, Hinata looked at Rishia in horror: "Miya Atsumu isn't planning to come here just to make fun of me, is he!"
Rishia, who had been practicing with Miya Atsumu and the others for several weeks now, scratched his head. "It feels like something that person would do.."
Hinata's voice was trembling: "Could it be that Atsumu-senpai heard about how my serves went into the net when I was practicing with the Second String, or how I hit Coach when I was receiving, or.. did he hear about that time I set to Akuma and hit him—"
It couldn't be that Coach told everyone about it as a joke, could he!
Rishia felt like Hinata was about to cry.
Indeed, it felt as if he wouldn't be able to hold his head high in front of his seniors in the future.
However, it probably wasn't what the coach said, because Hinata's lack of skill is something everyone at Inarizaki already knows.
Even now, there are still rumors among the Third String that Miya Atsumu can't stand Hinata being so bad and still being in the club, so he's planning to have the coach persuade him to quit..
No way!
According to Kumagai, training every day now is practically a source of joy for the seniors in the Second String and Third String.
If it were just pure incompetence, it wouldn't be interesting, but the fun part about Hinata is that he learns things so quickly that he frequently ends up in situations where his hands and feet are out of sync.
Those seniors also acted like they were just there for the entertainment, teaching Hinata whatever he wanted to learn.
The key was that these seniors, who weren't even particularly experienced veterans themselves, also taught in a stumbling, disjointed manner.
Hmm.. maybe this is the joy of a cultivation game?