"We're 6 points behind…we have to close the gap somehow." Kageyama Tobio anxiously surveyed the court.

  "Right side! Right side!"

  "Nie, Daichi-senpai!"

  Sawamura Daichi scored with a spike from the left side.

  [Aoba Johsai 8 vs. 3 Karasuno]

  "Damn it! That was a double block just noere this close to getting blocked again." Even though they'd mao score, Kageyama Tobio couldn't shake his ay.

  "Hanamaki! Nice ball!"

  "Oh!"

  Hanamaki Takahiro smashed through the tre to score, proving his strength as a wing spiker.

  [Aoba Johsai 9 vs. 3 Karasuno]

  "Cover!"

  "Tsukishima! Spike it!"

  "Double block!"

  Smack!

  Tsukishima Kei's spike was blocked by Iwaizumi Hajime and Kyōtaarō.

  [Aoba Johsai 10 vs. 3 Karasuno]

  "The gap has grown to 7 points….This won't work. I have to at least make the blockers split up!" Kageyama gritted his teeth in frustration.

  "Whoosh!"

  Bang!

  "Nice! Asahi-senpai, great spike!"

  Under Kageyama's guidance, Azumane Asahi mao barely pull off a quick attack.

  [Aoba Johsai 10 vs. 4 Karasuno]

  "That was so fast…" Asahi wao point something out to Kageyama but froze when he saw the intense look on his face.

  "Whoa—Kageyama's sets seem sharper than before!" Kunimi Akira's ent immediately caught Oikawa Tōru's attention.

  "Good. We've avoided the block. We'll close the score just like this!" Kageyama muttered, pletely immersed in his own world.

  Thud!

  Kyōtaarō's spike smmed into the floor with a resounding bang.

  He'd broken through two blockers to score.

  [Aoba Johsai 11 vs. 4 Karasuno]

  "We o catch up. Fast!" Kageyama set the ball to the left side.

  "Nice block, Iwa-!" Tsukishima's spike ricocheted off Iwaizumi Hajime's arm.

  "I've got it!" Nishinoya Yū received the ball steadily.

  "One more time!"

  "Coach, Karasuno's attack rhythm seems to be getting faster and faster," Mizoguchi Sadayuki observed from the sidelines. He leaoward Coach Irihata and added, "But overall, they look like they're rushing more and more…"

  "It's that setter, isn't it…" Coach Irihata quickly pinpoihe issue. "In his desperation to avoid the block, he's begun prioritizing speed over easily hittable sets. Little by little, he's pushing the tempo faster, which creates a massive gap iion."

  "Take it slow! Slow down!" Ukai Keishin yelled from the sidelines with all his might.

  But by now, Kageyama Tobio couldn't hear anything around him—

  "Not enough. I o go faster….even faster!" Kageyama's inner voice screamed.

  "Whoosh!"

  Kageyama Tobio set the ball, but the sound of a spike hitting the floor—one he had imagined—never came.

  He turned back, just in time to see the ball nd out of bounds.

  Tap, tap, tap…

  A setting error? The Karasuno pyers couldn't believe something like this had happeo Kageyama Tobio.

  Karasuno ball out, Aoba Johsai scores.

  [Aoba Johsai 12 vs. 4 Karasuno]

  "Tweet!"

  Karasuno made a substitution—#2 Sugawara Koushi in, #9 Kageyama Tobio out.

  Kageyama stood frozen, only snapping out of it after Daichi called his wice. He relutly walked off the court, exging pces with Sugawara.

  "Sorry," Kageyama said, frustration written all over his face.

  "Don't worry. We're just switg up the rhythm a little," Sugawara reassured him, though it didn't seem to help much.

  "Kageyama, calm yourself down. Sit out and observe how your seniors are pying," Coach Ukai's firm voice carried over.

  "Yes." Kageyama lowered his head. The gap had grown from 6 to 8 points, and his misguided strategy had failed to help the team cw bay points.

  "Hey, your face looks terrifying right now," Hinata Shōyō blurted out with his usual bluntness.

  "My face always looks like this! It's—always—like—this!" Kageyama finally snapped, his pent-up frustration bursting out.

  "Well, that expression just makes everyone feel on edge. Then you stop talking pletely, and it's game over…"

  Kageyama calmed down slightly.

  "I get that you're thinking hard about stuff, but if you don't say it, we have no idea what's going on in your head." Hinata's words were direct, as usual.

  "Huh? I didn't say anything?" Kageyama asked in disbelief.

  "Nope. You've talked less in this game than in any other one!"

  "…"

  Kageyama hadn't realized that, of all people, he was the one most tightly wound on the court. The realization hit him hard—he'd been tense enough that even Hinata was giving him adviow.

  "Looks like they've subbed in a cheerful guy," Oikawa Tōru muttered, his eyes locked on Sugawara Koushi. Being Kageyama Tobio's substitute must be exhausting.

  "Don't worry! Let's get those points back!" Sugawara called out fidently as he stepped onto the court. Karasuno's pyers visibly rexed at his presence.

  "Daichi, you're awfully quiet today," Sugawara teased as he pulled Sawamura Daichi aside. "If even the captain looks tense, how are the rest of us supposed to feel?"

  "Ah, sorry," Daichi admitted, realizing his own mi wasn't right.

  "There it is! The only pyer who lecture Captain Daichi," Azumane Asahi and Tanaka Ryūnosuke whispered to each other from the sidelines.

  After a brief exge with his teammates, Sugawara o the referee, who signalled for the game to tinue.

  Aoba Johsai served.

  Kunimi Akira targeted Karasuno's current offensive powerhouse—Azumane Asahi.

  Asahi managed a shaky receive, and Sugawara set up Tanaka Ryūnosuke for the spike.

  "Nothing special?" Oikawa watched carefully but couldn't pinpoint any particur traits in Karasuno's new setter. Judging by the warm-ups earlier, his speed and jump weren't on Kageyama's level, so his blog must be weaker too.

  Hanamaki Takahiro picked up Tanaka's spike, and Oikawa set the ball to the middle for Iwaizumi Hajime.

  Iwaizumi g the blockers—Sugawara Koushi and Tsukishima Kei. Aiming for the lower block, he swung down hard, but a pair of hands suddenly appeared in his path.

  "Iwa-!"

  Smack!

  Iwaizumi's spike was blocked bato Aoba Johsai's court.

  Karasuno scored with a block.

  [Aoba Johsai 12 vs. 5 Karasuno]

  "My bad!"

  "It's fine!" Oikawa called out reassuringly, though his gaze lingered on Sugawara. Did Karasuno's strategy just outthink him?

  Before the block, Sugawara and Tsukishima had subtly switched positions—something they must have pnned in advance.

  "Nice block, Tsukishima!"

  "No…it was Sugawara-senpai…" Tsukishima started to correct him.

  Sugawara waved a hand and whispered, "In matches against strong teams, blockers like me with lower height usually bee targets, so this time was no exception."

  Then, with a grited Tsukishima's shoulder. "It's reassuring to have tall teammates like you around!"

  "Uh…sure…" Tsukishima mumbled, a little embarrassed.

  "Look, look! Sugawara-senpai is so good at plimenting people!" Hinata said, beaming enviously at Tsukishima.

  Kageyama Tobio: "…"

  Maybe…I should also try plimenting them ime?

  _________

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