Kakugawa came out swinging at the start of the second set, and Karasuno showed the strength it deserved. Half of Momozawa's powerful spikes were dug up, but the other half scored outright.
The strategy of abandoning Hinata to block the others was effective, but Hayato and the rest were no pushovers either. They broke through Kakugawa's blocks and scored.
"All right!"
With a crushing hit, Momozawa's serve knocked Nishinoya, who had received it, flat onto the floor. Having successfully taken a point, he clenched his fist and shouted.
"Damn it."
Nishinoya, who had just rushed in to save the ball, was annoyed at being knocked down because he had lost his footing.
"Don't worry about it. If they take one point from us, we'll pay them back double. Our new weapon was made for exactly this. The Tokyo training camp wasn't for nothing. Let's show them what we've got."
Daichi comforted Nishinoya, and Nishinoya got back up and shouted his agreement.
In the second-floor stands, an elementary school student brought by the old man watched Karasuno on the court.
"Teacher, if I ever face opponents like that, but I don't have a weapon like Shoyo's, does that mean I'm guaranteed to lose?"
The old man folded his arms and laughed, then reached out to ruffle the child's hair.
"Of course not. If you can't win alone, then increase your numbers. Volleyball has six players, after all."
As soon as he finished speaking, Karasuno launched a multi-pronged attack. The number of attackers confused the blockers, and Karasuno scored. Kakugawa's glasses-wearing captain watched another point slip away, growing increasingly anxious.
"Number 10 alone is troublesome enough, and then there's number 13, who's practically an ace. Add their simultaneous multi-pronged attacks, and how could Karasuno improve this much in such a short time? Damn it."
"If they score, then we'll take it back. That's all I can do right now."
Momozawa, standing in the front row, stared at Karasuno across the net as he spoke without looking back. Sweat ran down his cheeks, but there was no retreat in his eyes. He had only just started playing volleyball and this was his first match, but his desire to win was no weaker than anyone else's.
Encouraged by his words, Kakugawa's other players exchanged looks and pulled themselves together again.
Neither side gave an inch. Hayato scored three straight points with his serves, but his fourth went out of bounds, handing over the serve. Momozawa refused to be outdone, leaping with all his strength to hammer a powerful cross-court shot and close the gap.
"Kakugawa's number 9 has clearly used up a lot of stamina, but his momentum is only getting stronger."
Watching Momozawa on the court, Coach Ukai felt a surge of admiration. He was still only a beginner, but with that passion for volleyball, it was easy to imagine how far he would grow after another year of training.
"Momozawa Yudai, Kakugawa's first-year is incredible. Hayato's year will have their hands full next year."
Tanaka dug the spike, but the ball flew too high and went straight back into Kakugawa's court. Momozawa, who had just spiked, jumped again and slammed it down. This time, no one could save it.
"I'm still an outsider when it comes to volleyball, but I can score. It has nothing to do with technique. I'll force it through with brute strength!"
Hinata, who had failed to block the ball, looked at Momozawa unwillingly. Momozawa looked back at Hinata, and neither of them wanted to concede defeat across the net.
With Hinata in the front row and Hayato now in the back row, Daichi organized the front-row players into a defensive formation. If they could not block it, then they would receive it. They were not aiming for a direct Stalling Block; the key was to cup their palms and touch the spike.
The spike struck Hinata's palms and bounced away. Hayato rushed forward from the back row with a diving save, and Tanaka, who had just landed after joining the block, hurried to cover it. The ball flew directly above Hinata's head.
"Shoyo, it's yours!"
Before Hayato could even get back up, he saw the ball fly over and shouted at Hinata.
Hinata said nothing. He stared fixedly at the volleyball, while Momozawa across from him watched as well.
"As long as it isn't a quick attack, I have the advantage."
Both sides jumped at the same time. Momozawa blocked Hinata's path, but he had forgotten that Hinata had more than one way to attack. The volleyball brushed his fingers and flew out of bounds again—a block-out point.
Along with the Kakugawa player who had chased after the ball and thrown himself to the floor, the volleyball they could not reach also hit the ground.
After hitting that ball, Hinata failed to land properly and fell to the floor as well.
The whistle blew. 25:18. Karasuno won, cleared the first preliminary round, and advanced to October's prefectural Representative Selection Tournament.
On Kakugawa's side, everyone lowered their heads in silence after their defeat. In contrast, Hayato lifted Hinata, the scorer of the final point, high into the air as the others gathered around.
"Amazing! We made it through the first preliminary round!"
"Nice one, Hinata."
Aside from Hinata, who looked completely bewildered while being held up, Hitoka and the others in the stands were equally excited.
The two girls jumped up and down together, with Hitoka holding Kouha, who was nearly as tall as she was.
"Yes! We won even without Whale Shark!"
"Eh? Whale Shark? What's that?"
The old man laughed along with them.
"This year's Karasuno is strong."
After celebrating, everyone got ready to line up. On Kakugawa's side, Momozawa called out to his captain.
"Senpai, please train me more after we get back. I want to beat them next year."
Hearing that, Kakugawa's captain smiled and pushed up his glasses.
"Okay. We'll come back next year."
The captain was only a second-year himself. They would still have the chance to take the court together and fight side by side next year.
After both sides lined up and shouted, "Thank you for the match," Karasuno's games were finally over.
The sun was about to set, and the horizon was filled with fiery orange clouds.
With all the matches over, everyone started changing clothes and packing up to head home.
Keeping his promise, Hayato introduced Tanaka to Kouha and her friend when they came over with Hitoka to say hello. Tanaka, who was usually so bold, became shy around girls. After introducing himself, he rubbed the back of his head and grinned foolishly. The other second-years could not bring themselves to go over, so they merely watched from afar.
Hayato secretly rolled his eyes at the hopeless guy, then stopped paying attention to him. After chatting with Kouha for a bit, Daichi reminded everyone that it was time to leave. After saying goodbye and agreeing to see each other when school started, Hayato headed for the exit with the others.
"Hey, where's Kiyoko-senpai?"
Not seeing Kiyoko, Hayato asked Hitoka and learned that Kiyoko had gone to check whether anyone had left anything behind. At that moment, Hinata, who had been talking to Kageyama nearby, suddenly shouted that he had left his lunchbox behind.
Watching Hinata run back, Hayato suddenly remembered that someone was supposed to hit on Kiyoko around this time. Damn it, how did I forget about that? He immediately ran back after Hinata.
"I'm going to check on Kiyoko-senpai."
Leaving only those words behind, the two of them vanished in a sprint.
In terms of speed alone, Hayato really could not outrun Hinata. He had only just reached the second floor when he saw Hinata had already rushed over. Kiyoko was holding a lunchbox, which appeared to be the one Hinata had left behind.
Hinata was clearly frightened by the delinquent-looking boys, but he still stood protectively in front of Kiyoko. Without even waiting for them to speak, he pushed Kiyoko toward Hayato. Naturally, the people hitting on her were not about to give up so easily.
Just as one yellow-haired boy reached for Hinata's collar to drag him back, Hayato arrived in time and grabbed his wrist.
"Hayato?"
"Hayato-senpai!"
Seeing Hayato arrive, both Kiyoko and Hinata breathed a sigh of relief.
"May I ask what business you have with our adorable manager and adorable underclassman?"
Hayato stepped in front of them, blocking the delinquent-looking boys. At the same time, he looked down at the two of them with a smile. Unlike his usual gentle expression, though he was smiling this time, there was nothing gentle about the pressure he gave off.
The delinquent-looking boy in front of him was around 180 centimeters tall, but Hayato, at 190 centimeters, was still extremely imposing standing before him.
"Ah, a Karasuno jacket. You're number 13, the one who played against Kakugawa's two-meter player this afternoon, right? Heh, you're over 190 too, aren't you? You're pretty tall yourself."
The yellow-haired delinquent-looking boy stared at Hayato with apparent interest.
Up close, he even had an earring. He looked even more like a delinquent.
"Ahh, ahh, I wanted to play with a two-meter guy too. But you beat him, so that means you're stronger, right?"
"Play? Are you a team that made it through the first preliminary round too?"
Hearing that, Hinata poked his head out from behind Hayato and asked curiously.
"We don't need to participate in the first preliminary round, little guy."
"Little... Then are you an IH preliminary top-eight team?"
Though he cared a lot about being called little guy, Hinata was even more curious about the delinquent-looking boy's team.
"No, top four."
That startled Hinata. He had not expected someone who casually came over to hit on Kiyoko to be a player from a top-four team.
"I'm Terushima Yuji, from Josenji High."
The yellow-haired boy introduced himself, then looked at Hayato.
"Kuroba Hayato."
"Oh, Kuroba. And little guy, you two are both pretty good. If we meet in a match, let's have a good time."
After saying that, he reached out and rubbed Hinata's head. Just as he was about to leave, Hayato raised an arm to stop him.
"Apologize. You offended our manager just now, and you haven't apologized."
Terushima froze for a moment after being stopped. Then he looked at Hayato's clearly serious expression and at Kiyoko behind him.
Realization dawned on him, and he punched one palm with his other hand.
"Ohhh, I see. Cute Karasuno manager, I'm really sorry for suddenly talking to you just now."
After offering a very sincere apology, Terushima looked at Hayato again. Only then did Hayato lower his arm and let the two of them pass.
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