On the weekend, the volleyball team of Wakunan Minami High School boarded a bus bound for Aoba Johsai High School. Though Wakunan had initiated the practice matvitation, their gymnasium was unavaible due to the basketball team's usual weekend usage. As such, the match was scheduled to take pce at Aoba Johsai.
Upon arrival, the Wakunan team disembarked in an orderly manner uhe coach's supervision. Dressed in their matg team uniforms embzoned with the name "Wakunan" across their chests, the pyers radiated a spirited energy.
As they chatted amongst themselves, their curious gazes roamed over Aoba Johsai's gymnasium and facilities, clearly intrigued by the reronghold of one of the prefecture's powerhouses.
"Hey, Takeru, what made you think ing a practice match with Aoba Johsai?" asked Shunki Kawatabi, the team's wing spiker.
The question was directed at Takeru Nakashima, Wakunan's ad pride of the team. At that moment, Nakashima was busy taking pictures of Aoba Johsai's campus with his phone, intending to share his 'excursion' stories with his younger siblings ter.
He grinned. "Because Aoba Johsai is strong!"
His straightforward response left his teammates speechless for a moment, though it erfectly in lih his personality.
The team's setter, Kazumasa Hanayama, suddenly chimed in, "Speaking of which, how did you even have time to e to a practice match today? Don't your siblings need you to watch over them?"
"My big brother's at home helping out today, so I'll just head ba the evening," Nakashima replied casually.
Just then, two pyers in Aoba Johsai uniforms approached them.
"Wele to Aoba Johsai High School!" one of them greeted warmly. "We're members of the volleyball team. I'm Shigeru Yahaba, a sed-year, and this is Taichi Kaedehara, a first-year."
Taichi had volunteered to meet their oppos today. After his previous experiences, he'd decided it was better to gather some preliminary insights on their rivals as early as possible.
What's more, he had a particur i in Wakunan. Among their current roster was Nakashima Takeru—a pyer whose style most closely resembled Tenma Udai's, and arguably the sed-best a Miyagi Prefecture after Shiratorizawa's Wakatoshi Ushijima. Meeting such a pyer portunity Kazehara didn't want to miss.
"System, activate," Kazehara silently murmured to himself. Instantly, glowing data panels appeared around each member of the Wakunan team, dispying their stats.
[Takeru Nakashima]
Overall Ability: 90, Height: 173 cm, Strength: 88, Jumping: 90, Stamina: 95, Speed: 88, Key Attributes: Receive - 88, Spike - 92.
Wow, a 90 overall for a spiker! A spike stat of 92, and even his receiving is at 88. No woaichi recalled vaguely that Nakashima had ter transitioned into pying libero in the V3 League.
[Yūki Shiroish
Overall Ability: 81, Height: 177 cm, Strength: 85, Jumping: 82, Stamina: 94, Speed: 75, Key Attributes: Receive - 80, Spike - 80.
Det stamina, but otherwise pretty average.
[Kazuteru Akiu]
Overall Ability: 80, Height: 173 cm, Strength: 70, Jumping: 82, Stamina: 85, Speed: 84, Key Attributes: Receive - 80.
…No impression whatsoever.
[Shunki Kawatab
Overall Ability: 80, Height: 174 cm, Strength: 72, Jumping: 84, Stamina: 78, Speed: 85, Key Attributes: Receive - 75, Spike - 85.
A pineapple head? Turns out that being memorable is half the battle.
[Teppei Naruko]
Overall Ability: 79, Height: 185 cm, Strength: 80, Jumping: 82, Stamina: 78, Speed: 78, Key Attributes: Receive - 78, Spike - 82.
[Kazumasa Hanayama]
Overall Ability: 79 Height: 177 cm Strength: 85 Jumping: 75 Stamina: 78 Speed: 80 Key Attributes: Receive - 80, Set - 82.
Wow, a setter who looks like someone's uncle. Put him o Asahi Azumane, and no one would guess either of them is a student.
[Tsuyoshi Matsushima]
Overall Ability: 77 Height: 186 cm Strength: 72 Jumping: 78 Stamina: 75 Speed: 88 Key Attributes: Receive - 80, Spike - 82.
After sing through everyone's stats, Kazehara found himself with a burning question: How oh did Wakunan make it to the top four?!
Aside from Nakashima, the other pyers seemed parable to those at a riff-raff Academy.
It wasn't that Taichi uimated Wakunan; rather, he fully uood how challenging it was to perform well in a prefecture like Miyagi, with its 'oan, many giants' dynamic. Relying on just orong pyer wasn't enough to achieve good results.
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Stepping into the spacious, brightly lit gymnasium and fag the vast court, the Wakunan pyers instinctively took a deep breath.
"What a huge gym! It really feels like the home of a powerhouse!"
Coaikobe of Wakunan stepped forward, g his hands to grab everyone's attention. "Alright, warm up immediately. No matter how strong the oppo is, remember this: our only goal is to give it everything we've got and leave s!"
The pyers responded in unison, their loud voices eg throughout the gym. Without dey, they unched into a thh and precise warm-up routine. Every jump, every spike, and every agile move reflected the releraining and seamless teamwork they had cultivated.
Watg them prepare, Taichi felt his lingering uimation of Wakunan dissipate.
After a while, the referee's whistle echoed crisply through the gym, signalling the start of the practice match.
[Ding! Temporary Task: Successor of the Little Giant.]
The system's voice suddenly rang in Kazehara's mind.
[The host has already acquired part of the essence of the Little Giant's teiques. However, Nakashima Takashi is widely reized as the pyer whose style most resembles the Little Giant. In this match, if the host scores more points via touches-out (hitting off blockers) than Nakashima, the task will be deemed successful. Otherwise, the task will be sidered failed.Task Reward: Jump +5; Task Failure Penalty: One random pyer experience card will be deducted.]
What?! This is way too sudden—and there's a penalty for failure?!
Taichi's mind raced. My skills aren't refined enough to score a lot of points just yet. The key must be finding a way to limit Nakashima's touches-out!
Feeling a gaze directed at him, Nakashima turo look across the and spotted the first-year from earlier at the gate. Meeting his eyes, Nakashima smiled faintly at Kazehara.
Taichi felt provoked.
"Let's have a good match!"
There was no time for further ption. After the captains shook hands, both teams took their positions, each pyer brimming with anticipation.
Aoba Johsai's lineup:
Front row: Outside hitter Takahiro Hanamaki, outside hitter Akira Kunimi, middle blocker Taichi Kaedehara Baiddle blocker Issei Matsukawa (libero: Shinji Watari), setter Tooru Oikawa, outside hitter Hajime Iwaizumi.
Wakunan's lineup:
Front row: Middle blocker Yūki Shiroishi, middle blocker Tsuyoshi Matsushima, outside hitter Shunki Kawatabi Back row: Setter Kazumasa Hanayama, middle blocker Teppei Naruko (libero: Kazuteru Akiu), outside hitter Takeru Nakashima.
Wakunan served first.
Hanayama aimed his serve at Iwaizumi, disrupting Aoba Johsai's offensive rhythm right from the start.
"Great serve, Hanayama!"
Iwaizumi received the ball ly, sending it up perfectly for Oikawa. Oikawa's sharp gaze locked onto Taichi as he gestured subtly: Let's test out our neon on the first py.
Taichi had already started his approach, timing it perfectly as Oikawa's set arced precisely into his path.
The set was exquisite—not too fast but perfectly pced. Oher side, Shiroishi and Matsushima leapt to block, their hands f a formidable wall. Yet in mid-air, Taichi's vision sharpened, aargeted Shiraishi's fiips, spiking the ball with precision.
Smack!
The ball rebounded off Shiraishi's hand and nded ba Aoba Johsai's court. Oikawa immediately set the ball again, this time to Iwaizumi in the back row. Iwaizumi leapt and hammered the ball down, sg ly.
[Aoba Johsai 1 – 0 Wakunan]
Damn it! Kazehara ched his fists in frustration. I wao aim for a touch-out on the blockers' fiips, but it didn't go as pnned.
His vision in mid-air had been clear, but his spiking teique wasn't yet polished enough to execute the move perfectly.
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