"Oh—Hey!!"

  With the resonatirifying cheer eg across the gymnasium, Tōru Oikawa served his sed ball.

  Bang!

  Service ace.

  Third ball.

  Bang!

  Another ace!

  Fourth ball.

  Finally, Oomisaki High's libero, Masaru Iiō, reacted, positioning himself to receive the ining volleyball.

  Pop!

  The ball smacked against his forearm and shot out of bounds.

  Aoba Josai scores!

  Oomisaki's coach sat uneasily on the sideline, hands ched together in silent prayer.

  In a si, each team is allowed two timeouts, each sting 30 seds. Calling a timeout this early could potentially break the server's momentum—but if it didn't work, it would leave them without an option for ter adjustments.

  They he pyers to resolve this serve on their own. If they couldn't—then this match was already over.

  Oomisaki's coach prayed that his pyers could receive the ball—or that Oikawa might make a serving error.

  On the court, Oomisaki's pyers watched as Oikawa stepped onto the service line, casting a looming shadow over their fidence.

  They might not have realized it themselves, but after g three secutive points under heavy pressure, they were speechless.

  Each pyer wore a grim expression, as though awaiting another judgment.

  Oikawa let out a soft chuckle and tossed the volleyball into the air.

  Hmm? This time it's slower. I get this! Masaru Iiō fixed his gaze on the ball s towards him—this was Oomisaki's ce!

  Suddenly, the ball dropped sharply right in front of him.

  A jump float serve!

  Masaru's mi bnk. He couldn't decide whether to receive with his forearms or overhead, and his feet felt o the floor.

  Bang!

  The volleyball hit the court right in front of Masaru's eyes—though it felt as if it had smashed straight into his heart.

  Thud.

  His feet finally responded, stumbling forward a step, but his mind was still reeling. He colpsed onto his knees, disoriented.

  "Tweet!"

  Oomisaki's coach called for a timeout. He could see that his pyers—especially Masaru—were teetering on the brink of colpse.

  This kind of serve….it's too much pressure for a sed-year libero.

  "Wake up! Calm your minds and take this one point back!" The Oomisaki coach shouted passionately at his team. "We just o get one point!"

  But his pyers still looked dazed, like they were still on the court, stuck fag that terrifying and uable serve.

  For a moment, they hesitated, a creeping fear growing within them.

  We're not on the same level.

  That's an oppo we absolutely ot defeat.

  "Masaru! Masaru!"

  Repeated calls finally snapped Masaru Iiō back to reality.

  "Don't give up! We'll receive the serves together!" cried their captain, Yuuto Tatsuya, his voice trembling, on the verge of tears. "Let's give it everything we've got—for victory!"

  The court fell into brief silence.

  "He's right! We won the first match too, didn't we?"

  "Yeah! Even if we're the underdogs, we still have to fight when it matters most!"

  Oomisaki's pyers tried to sole their libero while rallying their own shattered spirits. Masaru could feel his teammates' attempts to rebuild their fidence, and he joined in with a shout of agreement. Yet, the cloud hanging over his heart did not disperse.

  "Tweet."

  The timeout ended, and both teams returo the court.

  Aobajosai's pyers remained ser-focused, refusing to sck off despite their lead or pity the oppos still uo score.

  Because this was a matd giving it your all was the greatest form of respect, both for yourself and your oppo.

  Aoba Josai serves.

  Perhaps the timeout had worked—Oikawa Tōru's jump float serve showed slightly less movement this time.

  "Pop!"

  Oomisaki's captain, Yuuto Tatsuya, stepped forward to receive the ball, successfully sending it upward.

  "Cover!"

  Their setter, Risho Touma, sprinted into position ahe ball to the front of the .

  "I got this!"

  As the team's ace, Yuuto Tatsuya knew he had to seize this hard-earned opportunity. He rushed to the , leapt into the air, and prepared for the spike.

  "Double block!" Hanamaki Takahiro and Kaedehara Taichi jumped up, ereg a solid wall in front of him.

  "Breakthrough them!"

  His teammates screamed from the sideliatsuya adjusted his angle and smashed the ball downward.

  Pop!

  A pair of hands smothered the ball in front of him, blog out the st sliver of light in his line of sight.

  Tap, tap, tap…

  The volleyball fell bato Oomisaki's court.

  Block point—Kaedehara Taichi.

  "Sorry, but our serving rotation isn't over yet…" Taichi said calmly across the .

  But Yuuto Tatsuya didn't hear him. He stood there, frozen, unresponsive.

  "This… this is just cruel…" murmured voices from the audience as an uled murmur rippled through the crowd. Even the ral spectators couldn't help but begin to root for Oomisaki.

  "e on, Oomisaki!"

  "Just one point!"

  "Don't give up! Keep fighting!"

  Enced by the spectators' cheers, the match resumed. But everyone already khe oute.

  Skill gaps like this couldn't be bridged by determination alone. And in terms of sheer willpower, Aoba Josai wouldn't lose to anyone.

  [Aobajosai 25 – 6 Oomisak

  [Aobajosai 25 – 8 Oomisak

  Everyone had expected Aobajosai to win, but no ohought it would be this decisive. This year's Aobajosai exuded a dominance remi of another powerhouse team from the past two years—Shiratorizawa.

  Oomisaki's pyers sat quietly on the ben the rest area.

  "We didn't sck off during practice…"

  "We tried our best in our own way…"

  "We watched hours of training videos, trying to mimic the teiques of top pyers…"

  So why did we lose?

  It happened so fast….it's only the first day of the tour…

  Yuuto Tatsuya's vision began to blur as he stubbornly lifted his head.

  "Was it because our passion faded during the gruelling, monotonous training sessions?"

  "Was it because we didn't give our all during ditioning and running drills?"

  "If only we'd tried harder to save every single ball…"

  "If only I'd taken one more step forward…"

  "If only I'd given just a little more effort…"

  Maybe….just maybe….we could have pyed volleyball a little longer.

  Tatsuya bowed his head, tears spilling onto the polished gym floor as his body trembled untrolbly.

  'Our summer is over.'

  Wiping his tears, Tatsuya looked up just in time to see Aoba Josai's pyers gathering their belongings, their footsteps light with the pride of victory.

  "Of course….their story is still ongoing…"

  "Taichi, if you hadn't messed up that jump float serve, we could've had an even bigger margin. I almost thought we'd win by 20 points," Oikawa Tōru teased, a mischievous grin pstered on his face.

  "I'm a kind person. Unlike you, I'm not that cruel," Kaedehara Taichi shot back, rolling his eyes. He hadn't fotte py—Taichi had blocked the ad added a verbal jab food measure.

  "Let's go scout our oppo," Iwaizumi Hajime decred firmly, radiatiermination.

  "The match—we're taking that win too!"

  _________

  [T/N] - If you guys want to read 50 Chapters in advance of the current story, you support me on my Patreon. Trust me, it's awesome!

  Link - (P)atreon./Iseebbsp;[Remove the brackets]