The members of Nekoma were overe with emotion!

  Kenma! The reserved Kozume Kenma, who usually avoided iing with people, had actually taken the initiative to speak with an oppo on the court!

  Yaku Morisuke dramatically wiped away ent tears as he exged a knowing gh Kuroo Tetsurō.

  Kuroo nodded firmly. I get it.

  Unbeknownst to everyohe scap betweewo teams had quietly narrowed to just one point.

  Nekoma's serve.

  Inuoka Sō's serve hit the back of Yamamoto Taketora's head...

  [Aoba Johsai 23 – 21 Nekoma]

  "Inuoka....!" Yamamoto turned, gring furiously.

  "Yamamoto-senpai! I'm sorry—!" Inuoka bowed repeatedly, looking like a frightened puppy.

  "You'd better work on your serves whe back!" Yamamoto said, exasperated.

  "Yes, sir!"

  Aoba Johsai's turn to serve. Kunimi Akira's sharp and precise serve disrupted Nekoma's reception just enough to throw them off bance.

  Kozume Kenma set the ball to the middle, and Nobuyuki Kai spiked it hard.

  Kunimi dug the ball out, and Oikawa Tooru's gaze shifted to Kaedehara Taichi. But Taichi...was just standing there, staring off into space?

  Oikawa shrugged it off ahe ball to the left side. Hanamaki Takahiro spiked it down hard.

  Fukunaga Shōhei successfully received the ball. Kenma quickly set it to the middle again, but his peripheral vision caught something odd.

  Kaedehara Taichi—he hadn't been moving much throughout the rally—was....smiling?

  Taichi felt something ge within himself. His usual attag strategies were no longer enough to break through Nekoma's solid defence.

  Nekoma's defence wasn't just well-anized; every pyer dispyed extraordinary synergy, as though they could read the oppo's iions in advance, effortlessly ralizing even the fiercest of attacks.

  Fag Kenma, Taichi felt a pressure unlike anything he had experienced before.

  This wasn't the kind of strength he had faced against Ushijima Wakatoshi of Shiratorizawa, whose overwhelming power and regal aura delivered straightforward but crushing dominance.

  Kenma Kozume, in trast, was like a patient hunter lurking in the shadows. Every movement, every gnce seemed calcuted, as if he was meticulously analyzing every weakness. He didn't rush, but the uing precision of his strategy pushed his oppo closer to the edge, step by step.

  Uhis kind of pressure, Taichi found himself strangely exhirated. His trol over his body sharpened; his vision became crystal clear. It was as if everything he had learned up until now was finally clig into pce.

  "Taichi!"

  His teammate's shout snapped him back to reality. Taichi's eyes focused on the ball flying in the air. For a split sed, Nobuyuki Kai's spike from the middle repyed vividly in his mind.

  Without overthinking, he chose to trust his instincts. He stepped forward, leapt high, and stretched his arms diagonally forward like a looming storm cloud blog Nobuyuki's path.

  Smack!

  Thud!

  Nobuyuki's spike collided with Taichi's arms and ricocheted straight into Nekoma's court.

  Kaedehara Taichi scored with a block!

  [Aoba Johsai 24 – 21 Nekoma]

  Coaekomata opened his eyes, his mind repying the se from moments earlier. The Nekoma pyers couldn't shake the sense of familiarity—they had just witnessed a blog stance identical to their captain, Kuroo Tetsurō's signature move!

  Iingly, the Aoba Johsai pyers found it familiar as well.

  To them, it resembled Tendō Satori's blog style from their match against Shiratorizawa just a few days ago.

  Coach Irihata suddenly remembered something. Wasn't Kaedehara Taichi inally trained as a blog middle blocker? he thought. When did he turn into a primary scorer?

  Iy, while Kuroo Tetsurō and Tendō Satori had vastly different blog teiques, they shared one critical simirity: the ability to apply immense pressure on attackers and the capacity to shift the momentum by turning defeo offence.

  Tendō relied heavily on his uny intuition for blog. His teique redicated on his exceptional observational aive skills, but si urely instinctive, there was always the risk of errors.

  Tendō's blog was a gamble—zero points or a perfect score.

  Kuroo, oher hand, bined intuition with careful observation and strategic judgment.

  Whether blog solo or as part of a coordinated defence, he seamlessly ied his blocks into Nekoma's defensive system. While minimizing the risk of g points, Kuroo also excelled at creating opportuo score directly from his blocks.

  Kozume Kenma's eyes widened in fasation. Kaedehara Taichi had genuinely brought somethio the table. How iing!

  Aoba Johsai's serve began, and Kaedehara Taichi stepped up to the service line. Nekoma's pyers tensed, ready to receive.

  Taichi smirked. "o be so serious…"

  He aimed his serve toward Kozume Kenma.

  "Out!"

  Kenma immediately judged the ball as heading out of bounds and stepped aside.

  The ball nded just outside the court. Nekoma scored.

  [Aoba Johsai 24 – 22 Nekoma]

  Kenma straightened up, a puzzled expression on his face as he looked at Taichi—That's all you've got?

  Taichi, keeping a straight face, didn't reply, though he silently resolved, ime, I'll make sure to master a killer serve!

  Nekoma's Yamamoto Taketora followed with a powerful jump serve, but the ball trajectory was too predictable. Iwaizumi Hajime easily received it.

  Oikawa Tōru jumped, positioning himself to set the ball. Notig Nekoma's blockers hadn't jumped with him, he suddenly shifted his position mid-air and spiked the ball himself!

  Smack!

  Kuroo Tetsurō, having anticipated Oikawa's move, dove and mao dig the ball out.

  Kenma swiftly recovered it, setting it to the right side. Fukunaga Shōhei took the shot.

  "First touch!"

  Matsukawa Issei's block slowed the spike's momentum. Kunimi Akira received the ball and passed it to Oikawa, who set up Kaedehara Taichi with a swift back attack.

  Taichi burst out from behind Matsukawa's shadow, s high as the volleyball hurtled toward him.

  Inuoka Sō, stationed in Nekoma's back row, could only watch helplessly as Taichi's back-row attack smashed the ball into their court.

  Aoba Johsai scored.

  [Aoba Johsai 25 – 22 Nekoma]

  The referee's whistle blew twice, signalling the end of the first set.

  "Hah….I thought we could have kept the score tighter in the first set," Kuroo sighed.

  Yaku Morisuke plopped onto the bench beside Coaekomata, rolling his eyes. "I told you already—they're one of Miyagi's top four teams. You guys uimated them too much."

  "We weren't that overfident," Nobuyuki Kai argued, defending his teammates. "Their offence is just harder to deal with than most teams."

  Kenma, seated quietly nearby, g Taichi on the opposite side of the court. In a low voice, he muttered, "Kuroo, I think Taichi saw your blog and used it as inspiration to break through."

  "Really? You're saying that blo Nobuyuki's spike was just improvised?" Kuroo raised an eyebrow, finding it hard to believe. Taichi's blog presence didn't seem like something a rookie could pull off on a whim.

  Coaekomata approached them, smiling as he said, "In matches like this, where pyers push each other to their limits, it's not unon for someoo shine brighter than usual. That's what it means to meet a worthy rival."

  "Kuroo," Nekomata tinued, his tone calm but anding, "show us what you've got set. Let's turn the score around."

  _________

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