Next Year's Powerful Opponent

The second game started with a strong offensive push from Kakugawa, and Karasuno also showed the strength it was expected to display. Half of Momozawa's powerful spikes were saved by other players, but the other half still resulted in direct points.

While the strategy of abandoning Hinata to intercept others was effective, Hayato and his teammates were not weaklings. They managed to score points by breaking through Kakugawa's blocks.

"All right!"

With a powerful spike, Momozawa's serve sent Nishinoya, who was receiving, to the floor. He clenched his fist and shouted, having successfully scored a point.

"Damn it."

Nishinoya, who had just tried to save the ball, was annoyed at being knocked down because he couldn't get a stable footing.

"Don't worry about it. If we lose a point, we'll take back double. Our new weapon was made for this. The Tokyo training camp wasn't wasted. Let them see."

Daichi comforted Nishinoya, who stood up and shouted in agreement.

On the second-floor stands, an elementary school student brought by the old man watched Karasuno on the court.

"Teacher, if I ever meet an opponent like this, but without Shoyo's weapon, will I be doomed to lose?"

The old man laughed with his arms crossed after hearing this, then reached out and ruffled the little one's hair.

"How could that be? If you can't win alone, why not increase your numbers? Volleyball is played by six people."

As soon as he finished speaking, Karasuno launched a multi-person simultaneous attack. The number of attacking players confused the blockers, and Karasuno successfully scored. Kakugawa High's bespectacled captain, seeing another point lost, was also very anxious.

"Just number 10 is troublesome enough, plus that number 13 who's comparable to an ace, and then the simultaneous multi-person attack. How did Karasuno improve so much in such a short time, damn it."

"If we lose a point, we'll just get it back. That's all I can do right now."

Momozawa, in the front row, looked at Karasuno across the net and said without looking back. Sweat trickled down his cheeks, and there was no trace of fear in his eyes. Although he had only recently started playing volleyball and this was his first match, he was no less competitive than anyone else.

Motivated by his words, the other Kakugawa players exchanged glances and all rallied themselves.

Neither side gave way. Hayato scored three consecutive points with his serves, but the fourth went out of bounds, changing the serve. Momozawa, not to be outdone, jumped and spiked a powerful diagonal shot to catch up with the score.

"Kakugawa's number 9, his stamina is clearly depleted, but his momentum is getting stronger and stronger."

Coach Ukai, watching Momozawa on the court, felt a sense of admiration. Although he was still a novice, he had this passion for volleyball. It was imaginable how much he would grow if he trained for another year.

"Momozawa Yudai, Kakugawa's first-year is incredible. Next year, Hayato's batch will have a tough fight."

The spike was saved by Tanaka, but the ball went too high and flew back to Kakugawa's side. Momozawa, who had just spiked, jumped again and hit a powerful spike. This time, no one saved the ball.

"I'm still a novice when it comes to volleyball, but I can score. This has nothing to do with technique, I'll just force it with brute strength!"

Hinata, who couldn't block the ball, looked at Momozawa with unwillingness. Momozawa also looked at Hinata. Across the net, neither of them wanted to concede.

With Hinata in the front row and Hayato in the back row, Daichi organized the front-row players for defense. Since they couldn't block it, they would receive it. Instead of aiming for a direct block, they would cup their hands to receive the spike. Touching the ball was the most crucial part.

The spike hit Hinata's palms and bounced off. Hayato, in the back row, lunged to save it. Tanaka, who had been blocking, rushed to make a follow-up save after landing. The ball flew directly over Hinata's head.

"Shoyo, it's yours!"

Hayato saw the ball flying towards him before he could get up and shouted directly at Hinata.

Hinata didn't say anything, his eyes fixed on the volleyball. Momozawa, opposite him, was also watching.

"As long as it's not a quick attack, I have the advantage."

Both sides jumped simultaneously. Momozawa blocked in front of Hinata, but he forgot that Hinata had more than one way to attack. The volleyball grazed his fingers and flew out of bounds again, scoring a touch-out point.

Along with the Kakugawa players who fell to the ground while chasing the volleyball, the ball they couldn't touch also lay on the ground.

Hinata also fell to the ground after hitting the ball.

The whistle blew. 25:18, Karasuno won, breaking through the first round of preliminaries and successfully advancing to the prefectural representative selection tournament in October.

On the losing side, Kakugawa's players were all silent, heads bowed. In contrast, Hinata, the scorer of the final point, was lifted high by Hayato, and the others gathered around.

"Awesome! We broke through the first round of preliminaries!"

"Well done, Hinata."

Except for Hinata, who was being held aloft and looked bewildered, Hitoka and the others in the stands were also very excited.

The two girls, hugging Kouha, who was about their height, jumped up and down together.

"Hooray, we won even without Fujikujira."

"Huh? Fujikujira, what's that?"

The old man also laughed along.

"This year's Karasuno is very strong."

After the celebration, everyone prepared to line up. On Kakugawa's side, Momozawa called out to his captain.

"Senpai, please train me more when we get back. I want to win next year."

Hearing his words, the Kakugawa captain smiled and adjusted his glasses.

"Okay, we'll come back next year."

The captain was only in his second year, so they still had a chance to play together and strive for victory next year.

After both sides completed their lineups and shouted "Thank you for the match" in unison, Karasuno's matches were all over.

The sun was about to set, and the sky was filled with fiery orange clouds.

After the entire match ended, everyone started changing clothes, packing their things, and preparing to go home.

Hayato, true to his word, introduced Tanaka to Kouha and her friends when they came over to greet Hitoka. Tanaka, who was usually quite bold, became shy when faced with girls. After introducing himself, he sheepishly scratched the back of his head and grinned. The other second-years didn't bother to put on a show, just glancing from afar and calling it a day.

Giving the useless guy a discreet eye-roll, Hayato stopped paying attention to him. After chatting with Kouha for a couple of sentences, Daichi reminded them that it was time to go. With a quick "See you after the break," Hayato walked towards the exit with everyone else.

"Hey, where's Kiyoko-senpai?"

Not seeing Kiyoko, Hayato asked Hitoka and learned that Kiyoko had gone to check if anyone had left anything behind. Just then, Hinata, who had been chatting with Kageyama, also shouted that he had forgotten his bento box.

Watching Hinata run back, Hayato suddenly remembered that someone was supposed to hit on Kiyoko during this part. He cursed inwardly, wondering how he could have forgotten, and then ran back with Hinata.

"I'm going to check on Kiyoko-senpai."

With that, both of them disappeared.

In terms of pure speed, Hayato wasn't as fast as Hinata. As soon as he reached the second floor, he saw Hinata had already rushed ahead. Kiyoko was holding a bento box, which looked exactly like the one Hinata had forgotten.

Even though Hinata was scared of the delinquents, he still shielded Kiyoko. Without waiting for them to speak, he pushed Kiyoko and the two of them towards Hayato. However, those who had approached them weren't about to give up so easily.

Just as one of the blond guys reached out to grab Hinata's collar to pull him back, Hayato arrived in time and caught his wrist.

"Hayato?"

"Hayato-senpai!"

Seeing Hayato arrive, both Kiyoko and Hinata breathed a sigh of relief.

"Excuse me, is there something you need with our lovely manager and our cute kouhai?"

Hayato stood in front of the two of them, blocking the delinquents, while looking down at the two men with a smile. It was different from his usual kind smile; although Hayato was smiling, his aura was anything but gentle.

The delinquents in front of him were only about 180cm tall. Standing at 190cm, Hayato was incredibly imposing.

"Ah, Karasuno's jacket. You're the number 13 who played against that two-meter player from Kakugawa this afternoon, right? Hey, you're over 190cm, aren't you? You look pretty tall too."

The blond delinquent looked at Hayato with great interest.

Looking closer, the guy even had an earring, making him look even more like a delinquent.

"Ahaha~ I wish I could play with someone who's two meters tall too. But you guys beat him, so you must be stronger."

"Play? Are you guys also a team that broke through the first round of preliminaries?"

Hearing his words, Hinata peeked out from behind Hayato and asked curiously.

"We don't have to participate in the first round of preliminaries, little sprout."

"Little sprout... So, are you guys in the top eight of the IH preliminaries?"

Although he was bothered by being called "little sprout," Hinata was more curious about the delinquent's team.

"No, we're in the top four."

This startled Hinata. He hadn't expected the person who casually approached them to be a player from a top-four team.

"I'm Terushima Yuji, from Josenji High School."

The blond guy introduced himself and then looked at Hayato.

"Kuroba Hayato."

"Oh, Kuroba, and little sprout, you two are quite strong. If we meet in a match, let's have a good game."

After saying that, he reached out to ruffle Hinata's hair. Just as he was about to leave, Hayato stopped him.

"Apologize. You just offended our manager, and you haven't apologized yet."

Terushima was taken aback when he was stopped. Then he glanced at Hayato's serious expression and Kiyoko behind him.

With a sudden realization, he smacked his other palm with his hand.

"Oh~ Is that so? Our lovely Karasuno manager, I'm truly sorry for approaching you so suddenly."

After sincerely apologizing, Terushima looked at Hayato again. Only then did Hayato lower his arm, letting the two of them pass.