Haikyuu: Zero To Almighty

Chapter 80: The King’s Smile

"Who was that No. 10 on Aoba Johsai?!"

"How many points did he score?!"

"I don't know....I don't remember ever seeing him in the junior high tournaments."

"Is he a first-year?!"

All eyes on the court fixated on Aoba Johsai's No. 10.

Oikawa Tōru let out a bitter laugh. "Taichi....Back then, I thought he'd make a good decoy. But now, it seems like he's been aiming to become the ace all along." He recalled how Taichi had just called for the ball, using a tone Oikawa had never heard from him before.

BEEP! Karasuno made a substitution—#9, Tobio Kageyama IN; #2, Koushi Sugawara OUT.

Koushi Sugawara glanced at Taichi Kaedehara's back and the glaring point difference on the scoreboard. With unwilling steps, he walked off the court.

"Please!" he muttered, his voice trembling slightly.

"We won't lose!" Tobio Kageyama declared without the slightest hesitation.

"It's my fault," Ukai Keishin said, his face heavy with guilt. "At the start, I put Sugawara in to help the team stabilize—to calm their nerves or bring them some emotional momentum."

"And he did. His unpredictability, and how his setting style was completely different from Kageyama's, threw Aoba Johsai off for a while," Ukai continued.

"But I didn't expect Aoba Johsai to adjust so quickly. Once their No. 10 moved to the front row, their offence didn't falter. If anything, we failed to switch Sugawara out in time, and that left gaps in both our defence and attack."

Ukai sighed, his indecision gnawing at him. The rapid shifts on the court left him feeling powerless as problems continued piling up.

They're amazing... so amazing!

Aoba Johsai is incredible!

I want to play!

I want to play!

I want to play!

Let me play, let me play, let me play, let me play!

Ukai could feel the restless energy radiating from Karasuno's bench. Among the substitutes sat a small, ferocious beast brimming with an unrelenting hunger for attack—Shōyō Hinata.

Taichi Kaedehara glanced over at Karasuno's bench as well and smiled faintly at the eager Hinata.@@@@

"Don't worry. I'll beat you soon enough."

Tobio Kageyama walked back onto the court, forcing what could barely pass as a smile—a smile so strained it looked closer to a grimace.

Karasuno players: "..."

Aoba Johsai players: "..." What's with him? That's terrifying...

Tsukishima Kei instinctively took a step back. "Please stop that expression, King."

"Don't back off, Tsukki!" Ryūnosuke Tanaka scolded. "Kageyama might actually mean it!"

Nishinoya Yū hesitated before adding, "I think... I think that's supposed to be a smile. Probably..."

"Don't add 'probably,' Nishinoya!" Asahi Azumane snapped.

Daichi Sawamura felt a mix of emotions as he watched Kageyama. This was the same Kageyama who had once said, "If I could receive, set, and spike all by myself, I'd be fine." And now, here he was—smiling(?) at his teammates.

"All right, all right, quit teasing Kageyama. Let's pull that score back!" Daichi ordered.

"Yeah!!"

It got dug again?! Ukai Keishin frowned in disbelief.

Hinata's attack shouldn't have been so easily received. His eyes sharpened as he tracked the players' movements on the court.

The ball Watari received arced back toward Oikawa Tōru. Kaedehara landed and immediately transitioned into the offence.

He had no time to rest—if the ball didn't hit the floor, he couldn't stop moving. Watching Hinata's relentless pace made him realize that fact all too clearly.

Boom!

Oikawa Tōru, with a sudden second touch, spiked the ball straight down. All eyes had been focused on the moving attackers, and the unexpected dump caught both teams completely off guard.

Oikawa scored.

[Aoba Johsai 17 – 7 Karasuno]

Both Taichi Kaedehara and Shōyō Hinata stood on the court, panting heavily from exhaustion, yet their eyes were locked firmly on Oikawa Tōru.

"Sorry," Oikawa said with a teasing smirk. "I stole the spotlight, didn't I?"

Aoba Johsai served again. The two players, who had barely rested for thirty seconds, immediately started marking each other once more.

"That little guy is jumping everywhere....He's amazing, but he looks exhausted..."

From the stands, the spectators couldn't help but agree—it was tiring just to watch.

On opposite sides of the net, the two No. 10s seemed to mirror each other as they sprinted and leapt madly.

Volleyball was a sport of constant jumping. That also meant it was a sport of perpetual battle against gravity.

They jumped to bait their opponents. They jumped to block. They jumped to spike.

If the rally dragged on, those same actions would repeat again and again within short intervals, leaving no time to catch their breath.

As their stamina waned, their minds began to blur. It was at these moments that dangerous thoughts crept in—

"Just finish the ball already. I don't care who..."

"Let the ball hit the floor..."

"Please let it land on the opponent's side..."

But even after the exhausting rally dragged on, a resolute voice rang through the court.

"Give me the ball!!"

From the far-right side, Shōyō Hinata jumped once more.

"Not happening!"

On the other side of the net, the block was right there to meet him!

Boom!

The ball didn't make its way to Hinata. Ryūnosuke Tanaka, almost unguarded on the left, smashed the ball down decisively.

Karasuno scored!

[Aoba Johsai 17 – 8 Karasuno]

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