"Damn it, sorry, I overestimated myself," Kunimi Akira said, frustration evident on his face.

  "It's fine; I couldn't ha either," Taichi replied.

  Deep down, he knew once again that the toughest obstacle in taking on Shiratorizawa would always be Wakatoshi Ushijima's spikes.

  Shiratorizawa's rotation had shifted, and this was currently their weakest offensive lineup.

  Their ace, Ushijima, along with ōhira Reon, was still in the back row.

  Tendō Satori had rotated to the bad would soon be substituted by libero Yamagata Hayato.

  The front-row blockers were Shirabu Kenjirou, Goshiki Tsutomu, and Kawanishi Taichi, so there was no immediate worry about getting blocked for a direct point.

  This rotation was Aoba Johsai's best ce to score some extra points before Ushijima rotated to the front row again.

  Tweet!

  "Substitution for Shiratorizawa: Semi Eita in, Tendō Satori out."

  The sudden ge surprised Aoba Johsai. Shiratorizawa chose this critical moment for a substitution.

  "Eita, let's go with a power serve," Tendō said with a sly grin as he walked off the court.

  "Got it!" Semi Eita took the volleyball from him.

  "They're subbing in their decisive server at this moment?" Coach Sadyuki Mizoguchi said, visibly surprised. "Coach Washijo really knows how to take bold risks."

  "Indeed. It's also a testament to their depth on the bench," Coach Irihata muttered through gritted teeth. Shiratorizaroving to be a tough nut to crack.

  Semi Eita stepped onto the service line for Shiratorizawa.

  "Wait, isn't that Semi-senpai? I was just w earlier why he wasn't the setter."

  "Yeah, ba middle school, Semi-senpai was famous for his impeccable teique!"

  "Maybe he's Coach Washijo's secret on now."

  "Hmm, that could be it…"

  Standing silently at the service line, Semi Eita calmed his nerves, occasionally catg ss of the surrounding chatter.

  Coach Washijo had once asked him if he'd sider ging his setting style, which was seen as too distind not fully supportive of their ace's offensive needs.

  His answer had been firm: No. He wao py volleyball in his own style, even if it meant losing his starting position to Shirabu Kenjiro.

  Fortunately, when it came t, he could still be himself!

  Semi tossed the ball into the air, took a short approach, and unleashed a powerful swing. The ball travelled over the an incredibly low angle and smmed directly into the gap between Kunimi Akira and Kaedehara Taichi.

  her of them had time to react.

  Semi Eita had scored an ace!

  [Aoba Johsai 6 – 6 Shiratorizawa]

  ing back from the timeout, Shiratorizawa regained momentum and scored secutive points!

  "This isn't good," Oikawa Toru frowned. He hadn't anticipated that Semi Eita, after losing his startier position, had honed such a lethal serve.

  This was supposed to be Aoba Johsai's ce to widen the gap, but now Shiratorizawa was catg up.

  Semi Eita stepped up to serve again.

  "One more!"

  "Nice serve!"

  Semi loved hearing those cheers. Swinging his arm again, he delivered another fierce serve!

  Taichi dove forward, managing to receive the ball. Iwaizumi Hajime set it up, sending it to the far right. Hanamaki Takahiro spiked it hard, determio disrupt Ushijima's offensive rhythm.

  But Ushijima calmly received the ball. "ce ball."

  Shirabu set it up to the right for Kawanishi Taichi.

  "Double block!" Matsukawa Issei and Hanamaki jumped to block Kawanishi's spike.

  The ball was deflected by the block but stayed in py. Shirabu scrambled to set it high to the left for Semi, who was already airborne.

  "Double block!" Matsukawa quickly shifted to the left, teaming up with Iwaizumi to block again.

  However, Semi ged his spiking motion mid-air into a set, redireg the ball to the tre.

  "Goshiki, it's yours!"

  Boom!

  Goshiki Tsutomu broke through Aoba Johsai's defeh a spike and scored!

  [Aoba Johsai 6 – 7 Shiratorizawa]

  "Nice spike, Goshiki!"

  "Yeah!!" Goshiki shouted excitedly, his enthusiasm eg across the court.

  Damn it, Matsukawa Issei cursed internally, his expression sour. I 't believe I fot he's a setter too!

  Coach Mizoguchi felt a wave of ay. The game had taken a sudden turn for the worse, and even if they called a timeout, it wasn't clear what could be ged.

  "It's fi's fine," Oikawa Toru said from the back, trying to calm his teammates. "Just focus on defending the py."

  Semi Eita served for the third time.

  Kunimi Akira received the ball, and Oikawa set it from the back row to Iwaizumi Hajime on the left.

  "Double block!" Shirabu Kenjiro and Goshiki Tsutomu jumped to block Iwaizumi.

  Bang!

  Iwaizumi smashed the ball with all his strength, sending it past Shirabu's fiips and straight into Shiratorizawa's court!

  [Aoba Johsai 7 – 7 Shiratorizawa]

  "Yes! Yes! Yes!" The crowd roared as Iwaizumi delivered yet another clutch spike.

  "Nie, Iwaizumi-senpai!"

  "Tch." If Eita Semi had to he setter he disliked the most in the prefecture, it would undoubtedly be Oikawa Toru. Little did Semi know, a certain junior of Oikawa's would give him even more headaches iure.

  Tweet!

  "Substitution for Shiratorizawa: Tendō Satori (Yamagata Hayato) in, Semi Eita out."

  "Be sure to get us more points ime," Tendō teased as he returo the court.

  "ime, I'll score ten," Semi replied firmly.

  Iwaizumi's spike hadn't shifted the game's momentum. With libero Yamagata Hayato anch Shiratorizawa's back row, their defence became even more imperable.

  After a long rally, Kawanishi Taichi found an opening and smashed through the defeo score another point.

  [Aoba Johsai 7 – 8 Shiratorizawa]

  Ushijima Wakatoshi rotated to the front row and wasted no time spiking a powerful ball to score.

  [Aoba Johsai 7 – 9 Shiratorizawa]

  Oikawa barely mao receive Ushijima's spike. The ball ricocheted off his arms, skimmed the , and fell into Shiratorizawa's court.

  Point for Aoba Johsai!

  [Aoba Johsai 8 – 9 Shiratorizawa]

  Kaedehara Taichi rotated to the front row.

  Now Aoba Johsai's front row sisted of Taichi, Kunimi Akira, and Iwaizumi Hajime; their back row was Oikawa Toru, Hanamaki Takahiro, and Watari Shinji.

  Shiratorizawa's front row featured Goshiki Tsutomu, Kawanishi Taichi, and Ushijima Wakatoshi; their back row included Shirabu Kenjiro, Yamagata Hayato, and ōhira Reon.

  Both teams had now formed their stro offensive lineups.

  Aoba Johsai served.

  Yamagata easily received the ball, and Shirabu set it high at the .

  Ushijima took his familiar approach, leapt into the air, and smashed the ball with all his might.

  "Three-man block!" Taichi, Kunimi, and Iwaizumi jumped to block Ushijima's spike.

  This time, Ushijima didn't bother avoiding the block. Instead, he smmed the ball directly into Kunimi's arm.

  Taichi clearly saw the ball deform slightly uhe sheer force of Ushijima's hit. The impact threw Kunimi's arm bastantly.

  Boom!

  The dull thud echoed across the court, sounding far heavier than usual.

  The ball nded out of bounds, and Kunimi's arm dropped to his side, a rge red mark already f.

  Ushijima scored again.

  [Aoba Johsai 8 – 10 Shiratorizawa]

  "What the hell was that…?" Taichi muttered, swallowing hard.

  "Kunimi, are you okay?" Oikawa g Kunimi's arm with .

  "I think...so?" Kunimi replied, still surprised he'd even dared to try blog that spike. For a moment, he'd thought his arm might break.

  "It just feels a bit numb," Kunimi added.

  Oikawa's brows furrowed deeply. At this rate, they wouldn't be able to stop Ushijima's spike either.

  Tweet!

  "Aoba Johsai substitution: Kindaichi Yutaro in, Kunimi Akira out."

  _________

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