"Again!"

  The exhiratio like nding a perfebo in a video game for the first time. Taichi's heart was s as if a butterfly had emerged from its co. Every cell in his body seemed to cheer in unison.

  "Alright!" Oikawa Tōru shared in the sense of breakthrough, an irrepressible smile tugging at the ers of his lips.

  With each approach, jump, swing, and spike, Taichi gradually adapted to the rhythm in mid-air. He began sciously adjusting his palm, striking the ball at different angles.

  Although it wasn't yet the same as spinning his body or wrist for precise straight-line or diagonal shots, he had successfully ied his previous aerial teiques. In fact, this attack seemed more polished than the earlier iterations of their 'freak bo.'

  Shoyo Hinata had been watg ily from the sidelines, his eager expression growing by the sed. Finally, he couldn't tain himself any longer and called out to Oikawa:

  "Grand King, I try one of your sets too?"

  The saying goes, "Siy is the ultimate on." Not even Oikawa could resist the pure, radiant energy of the little sun.

  "Fine, I'll let you try a few," Oikawa said, feigniance as he gave a slight smirk.

  "Thank you!" Hinata spread his arms wide and jumped into the air, brimming with excitement.

  Watg Hinata's light hop that nearly cleared his ow, Taichi felt a familiar pang in his chest.

  "First, let's go with your usual 'freak quick attack,'" Oikawa said, firming Hinata's hitting point.

  "Got it!"

  Hinata positioned himself at the baseline, loosening up his body.

  In the blink of an eye, Hinata had sprio the and seemingly flown into the air. His eyes were shut tight, and his arms swung without hesitation.

  Bam!

  Perfect synization on the first attempt!

  From his close vantage point, Taichi was struck by the raw speed of Hinata's movements. The trast between his pact frame and his incredible vertical leap was nothing short of breathtaking.

  Tobio Kageyama ched his teeth, the realization sinking in deeper: surpassing Oikawa might be an insurmountable challe was as if Oikaossessed a magical ability t out the full potential of his teammates.

  It felt exactly like the sets he'd received from Kageyama, but even so, Hinata was overwhelmed.

  What he didn't realize was that Oikawa was equally stunned.

  Hinata's immediate and unwavering trust in a new setter was like an intoxig drug to someone in Oikaosition.

  Meanwhile, Taichi cked that same openness. Even when receiving Kageyama's precise sets, Taichi couldn't fully let go and instead pced his trust in Oikawa as his senior.

  Refleg on this, Oikawa felt a pang of emotion. Perhaps he should treat Taichi a little better moving forward. Oikawa turo him with a warm smile.

  "Why are you looking at me like that, Oikawa-senpai? It's creepy." Taichi, oblivious to Oikawa's se, recoiled.

  Oikawa froze. This guy!

  He made a mental note: Favorite juniors ranking: Hinata Shoyo first, Kageyama Tobio sed, Kaedehara Taichi dead st!

  "Alright, chibi-, let's try somethihis time, keep your eyes open when you spike," Oikawa said, deg to focus on coag Hinata.

  "Okay!" Hinata's enthusiasm reignited as he prepared to jump again.

  Whoosh!

  The ball soared, but Hinata's swing was a beat too te.

  Whoosh!

  This time, his jump height had decreased.

  Whoosh!

  Another swing, and still, it gged behind.

  After ten attempts, Hinata hadn't mao nd a single hit. At best, he'd only grazed the ball.

  Hinata lowered his head, arms hanging by his sides, uo figure out where he was going wrong. Kageyama stood nearby, his expression equally tense.

  "It's not about trust," Oikawa muttered, pag bad forth. "It's a matter of teique and timing. Chibi-, you and Taichi are different. Taichi has been spiking with his eyes open from the start. That's why he adjust his movements mid-air. Once he added speed, his priority shifted to whether I could deliver the ball exactly where he wanted."

  "But your attack with Kageyama relies entirely on his precision. Now that you're trying to take trol of the ball mid-air, the process of thinking and adjusting is iably slowing you down."

  Oikawa turo face Hinata and Kageyama, a glint of determination in his eyes.

  "I've got it. I know what to do!"

  Tobio Kageyama listened ily to Oikawa Tōru's expnation and as soon as Oikawa turned around, he fell silent.

  Here we go again.

  Watg Oikaroud, smug expression, Taichi knew all too well what was ing. The guy was clearly gearing up to funt his superiority as a senior.

  Taichi g Shoyo Hinata and winked, giving a subtle signal.

  Hinata instantly uood. Grabbing Kageyama, he led the taller boy in bowing deeply to Oikawa.

  "Grand King, please teach us!"

  Only then did Oikawa nod slowly, turning his head just enough to whisper, "Iwa-, take a picture of this moment for me?"

  Iwaizumi Hajime didn't budge.

  "Iwa-! One bowl of ramen."

  Still ion.

  "Three bowls of ramen!"

  "Tonight's bowl ts as one of them," Iwaizumi finally said as he relutly pulled out his phoo snap a photo of the freak duo bowing before Oikawa.

  "Ahem." Oikawa cleared his throat dramatically. "Since you've so early begged for my guidance, I'll be magnanimous enough to enlighten you…"

  "Get to the point already," Iwaizumi cut him off with a sharp gre.

  Oikawa sighed theatrically before turning to Hinata. "Shorty, what you o do now is spike more balls—not just the ones Kageyama sets, but also from various other setters. Yoal is to train your body to build muscle memory, so you reduce the time spent thinking and adjusting mid-air."

  He then looked at Kageyama. "As for you, Tobio, you o slow your sets down a bit—not so much that it disrupts your attack rhythm, but just enough to give Shorty time in the air to think and adjust."

  "Slow down?" Kageyama frowned. "How exactly do I do that, Oikawa-senpai?"

  "How should I know? That's for you to figure out." Oikawa's tone was as dismissive as ever.

  In truth, eveing their inal freak quick attack, the kind of precision Kageyama could achieve with his sets was already exceptional. Oikawa himself hadn't been fident he could replicate it when he first observed their teique.

  And now, pushing for further evolution of this attack was airely different challenge—ohat was, at best, theoretical.

  Oikawa knew full well that he couldn't achieve it himself. But if it were Kageyama, there was a real ce it could be done. And Oikawa couldn't help but feel excited at the possibility.

  This wasn't about winning or losing. It ure curiosity—he simply wao see just how muonstrous their already absurd freak attack could bee.

  Both Kageyama and Hinata fell into deep ption, their brows furrowed in tration. Taichi watched them with i. The 'Crows' were evolving at a pace he hadn't anticipated, and it was all happening right in front of him.

  "Thank you, Oikawa-senpai!" Kageyama and Hinata snapped out of their thoughts and sincerely bowed in gratitude to Oikawa.

  "No problem. It's not like we didn't gain something from this, too," Oikawa said, unusually gracious as he aowledged Kageyama.

  Standing off to the side, Taichi had a nagging feeling he'd fotten something. ht—he had meant to show Hinata one of the "Little Giant's" moves.

  Eh, it wait. For now, the freak quick attacks with varying rhythms would give him plenty to work on.

  _________

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