Kumagai looked up at the ball thrown by his senior on the other side, the moment it fell, he lightly popped it up with his back to Hinata.
In the next second, Hinata, who had already jumped a step behind Kumagai, precisely spiked the ball.
The entire process was incredibly fast; from the set to the spike, it took less than a second in total.
Hinata's eyes lit up: "Ohhh—so fast!"
He certainly hadn't understood what Kumagai had said before, but after playing a round like this.. everything became much easier to understand.
Kumagai said with a face full of smiles, "Exactly. This position is the most commonly used quick attack point in actual matches; it guarantees the shortest passing route while ensuring there is enough space for a running start."
In short, there are only a few common front-row quick attack points used in official matches; I'll show them to you.
“Alright!”
While Hinata was excitedly waiting for Kumagai to teach him, several seniors by the sidelines were also smiling benevolently, "As expected of someone from a prestigious school, you really know so much. Even after all this time, I haven't even been able to pull off a proper Quick Attack."
Another senior also teased, "Oh, how cool."
Kumagai, who had heard every word, turned bright red from his face down to his neck. "Senpai! Stop teasing me!"
“Not at all, we are praising you with all our hearts,” the Second String senior said with righteous solemnity.
This was the truth; for those of them who never even had the chance to sit on the bench, the things Kumagai had already experienced were things they could only dream of.
Not to mention that the difficulty of developing a good setter is not much different from raising a good Libero, they have never even experienced a Quick Attack.
So..
"Good luck." The seniors on the sidelines smiled, watching the two people on the court.
When an opportunity is right in front of you, you must seize it.
The dismissal time for the Second String and Third String was much earlier than that of the First String, Hinata also jogged all the way into No. 2 Gymnasium after dismissal.
After changing his shoes, Hinata threw the doors wide open.
“Good evening, seniors!”
No one responded in the gymnasium, Hinata's smile froze for a moment.
Something moved in his field of vision. He looked down and met the eyes of Miya Atsumu, who was being pinned down by Miya Osamu on the floor.
The simple-minded Hinata asked a question: "Is this.. some kind of wrestling activity?"
Aran, standing by the sidelines, covered his face.
Meanwhile, in the Nekoma High School volleyball gym in Tokyo.
Kenma sat on the floor flipping through messages on his phone, while from the other side came the sound of his team's Libero breaking down while lecturing someone.
The large doors behind him were pulled open, Nekoma High School's captain, Kuroo Tetsu, walked in after being off doing God knows what, shouting, "Everyone! I have great news!"
Libero Yaku stopped lecturing his junior and turned back to look at Kuroo. "What's up? Has the coach finally decided to get someone else to deal with this guy?"
The trouble on the floor itself—Nekoma's freshman Haiba Lev flashed an honest and innocent smile, leaving all the seniors in silence.
Kuroo closed his eyes and said directly, "No, it's about the arrangements for Golden Week."
Golden Week?" Yaku frowned slightly. "Didn't we say we had matches scheduled in Miyagi for the last two days?
"It's Shiratorizawa and Karasuno, right?" Kenma also looked up and toward Kuroo.
Kuroo nodded. "Yeah, the schedule for those two days remains unchanged; the extra training match will be on the second day of Golden Week."
Lev's eyes lit up: "Are there extra practice matches! Will I get to play!"
He couldn't wait to get out there and show what he could do.
Kuroo said ruthlessly, "No, you're staying here to watch the house."
If this guy goes out now, he'll just embarrass himself and bring shame to all of Nekoma.
Ignoring Lev, who looked like he was about to cry, Yaku went straight to the most important question: "Which school is it this time?"
Although Kuroo said it was good news, it probably wasn't any particularly strong school.
Nekoma hasn't declined too much over the past few years; besides a few schools they have a fixed connection with, like Fukurodani, they haven't been able to secure matches with many strong schools.
Kuroo let out a small chuckle, slowly uttering a name that left everyone in the gym feeling a bit stunned.
Kansai's.. Inarizaki High School.
The court fell silent for a few seconds, Yaku's face was written with disbelief: "That Inarizaki? The national-level seed? The strongest challenger?"
A team like that would actually reach out to us?
Kuroo nodded. "I'm shocked too."
He even briefly wondered if the Inarizaki coach had drunk too much and lost his mind, dialing their number instead of Fukurodani's.
Kenma looked up at his childhood friend. "The day before yesterday, at Coach's club, Inarizaki and Karasuno were playing a practice match."
Kuroo's expression contorted for a moment: "Kenma.. remember to tell me earlier next time."
If you had told me, I would have gone in and gone into hiding for a bit!
Kenma blinked. "Next time, for sure."
Author's Note:
No. 3 Gymnasium: Peaceful Years
No. 2 Gymnasium: A Storm of Blood and Rain
Yuzu, hang in there just a little longer, you'll be able to touch it in the next chapter..
Chapter 15: The Fifteenth Fox
Following closely behind Hinata, the coaches and captains, who were busy contacting others about training matches and organizing the registration materials for IH, entered one after another.
The two people, who had already been frozen in place because of Hinata's arrival, immediately split apart the moment they saw Kita walk in, kneeling submissively on the floor.
Rishia Heisuke waved to Hinata, signaling him to stand properly by the wall as well.
Meanwhile, Suna, who loved watching the chaos, had already taken ten rapid-fire photos of the twins as they sat obediently in front of Kita Shinsuke.
Before Kita's gaze could sweep over, Suna also made a swift escape, moving to Hinata's side.
"Speak up, what is it this time?" Kita said, looking down at the two of them.
Being so well-behaved after being caught this time showed that it was just a minor skirmish, not the kind of intense arguing they had before.
“He said my setting wasn't good,” Miya Atsumu said, his face full of innocence as he tried to tattle.
After hearing Miya Atsumu's testimony, Kita Shinsuke shifted his gaze toward Miya Osamu.
Indeed, being accused of having issues with his setting was one of Miya Atsumu's absolute limits. Normally, he would have indeed questioned Miya Osamu about it, but right now..
Recalling the way these two were tinkering with something new before he left, he decided to hear what Miya Osamu had to say.
Miya Osamu glared at Miya Atsumu and said directly, "It really was a garbage ball."
Miya Atsumu protested, "What do you mean it was trash! I sent it right to you, it's just that stupid Osamu couldn't spike it!"
Miya Osamu was completely unconvinced and turned his head to protest again, "You told me to spike it directly, but you sent the pass flying!"
Miya Atsumu held out his palm toward Miya Osamu. "Where was it off?! It was only five centimeters off! Just five centimeters!"
“To you, five centimeters is already a bad pass!” Miya Osamu's voice was loud, but as soon as he finished speaking, the entire gymnasium fell silent for a few seconds.
Hinata's face was written with shock: "A five-centimeter error counts as a bad pass? Are Inarizaki's standards really that high?"
Then he would definitely be kicked out for sending serves flying several meters away like that!
Rishia Heisuke shook his head. "No, it's just that the sets Atsumu-senpai usually gives don't have much error in them."
For this person, five centimeters was indeed a very serious error.
Hinata nodded, Miya Atsumu's previously villainous image gained a touch of something grand called "the ultimate powerhouse" in his mind: "Oh, I see, it's just because Atsumu-senpai is too amazing."
In the rather empty and quiet gymnasium, the two people's self-perceived whispers were actually exceptionally clear.
Just as Kita was about to say something, he saw Miya Atsumu's eyes widen, the corners of his mouth curling upward despite his best efforts to suppress them.
Under Kita's meaningful gaze, Miya Atsumu turned his head away and said with forced effort, "I forgive you."
Miya Osamu's answer was equally unhesitating: "No, I haven't forgiven you yet."
Miya Atsumu lunged forward instantly: "Huh? What did you say? You stupid pig, Osamu—"
Finally, the atmosphere around Kita dropped to freezing point: "You two! Thirty laps on the outer track!"
The powerful sense of pressure instantly silenced the two who, whenever they argued, were no better than elementary schoolers, they subsequently went to run laps side by side, behaving properly.
Aran had a look on his face like he was watching a good show: "Serves them right."
He turned his head toward Hinata, who was too afraid to even breathe because Kita Shinsuke was angry. "Don't be afraid, this is just our usual routine."
Hinata blinked. "Huh?"
Suna walked up to his side and handed over his phone. "Add me."
Having received his senior's instruction, Hinata hurriedly pulled out his phone and added Suna's contact information, then received over ten photos of the fight between Miya Atsumu and Miya Osamu.
“Rishia said Hoshiumi is looking for you, so just send it directly to him.” Suna's tone was very calm, but Hinata could inexplicably sense his eager state, as if he were looking forward to watching the excitement unfold.
Hinata hid the phone behind his back. "I understand."
For some reason, his intuition told him that he absolutely could not let Miya Atsumu know, otherwise things might become very troublesome.
Although I feel bad for Miya Atsumu, it's for the sake of Hoshiumi Hikari..
While Hinata and Suna were making a private agreement, Coach Kurosu watched the twins start competing against each other again as they ran, feeling a bit of a headache.
He ignored those two and turned his head to look at Hinata. "While they're running laps, I'll give you a brief explanation."
"Do you know what a Quick Attack is?" Coach Kurosu asked bluntly.
Hinata raised his hand. "Akuma just told me about it!"
It's just that I run first, then coordinate with the setter at a predetermined point, once the ball comes, I spike it!
Aran glanced sideways.