"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

  When put uhe same pressure, Mujinazaka's setter, Usuri Michiru, was the first to lose his posure.

  Tweet! Mujinazaka called for a timeout.

  "Michiru!" Mujinazaka High's coach, Kuzuri Michiko, tapped his head. "Are you all right? Are you overthinking things again?"

  "Yeah…" Usuri lowered his head, burdened with guilt.

  "You idiot! On the court, all you o do is foaking the py!" Coach Michiko barked.

  "Michiru just wanted Coach to scold him," Ezota Naoharu ented with an all-knowing look.

  "Exactly~!" Hondo Subaru chimed in with an infuriating smirk on his face.

  Usuri gred at them…These heartless jerks…

  Kiryū Wakatsu stepped in front of Usuri, his expression solemn. "If the first touch isn't perfect, just set the ball to me. That's all you o do."

  "Like always, let's win this match!"

  "Yes!"

  Just standing before this dependable presence, Usuri felt his heart steady.

  ------

  The timeout ended, and the match resumed.

  "Oh? The setter didn't get subbed out," Oikawa Tōru remarked, shaking his hand with moonce. His tone was carefree.

  Kaedehara Taichi g him. That's still not enough, Oikawa.

  "I see it in his eyes—he hasn't given up yet. Let me be the oo send him off the court," Oikawa added with a bright, sunny smile.

  Aoba Johsai's serve. Taichi delivered another jump float serve, once again targeting Usuri Michiru.

  "I've got it!" Hondo Subaru had already positioned himself he bae in anticipation. Seeing the serve head toward Usuri's dire, he stepped in to assist with the reception.

  Off the court, they might joke and tease one another, but on the court, they were a team.

  "Well dohat reception looked effortless, but the serve's trajectory was tricky. Hondo Subaru skillfully alleviated the pressure on his setter," the entator praised.

  The ball assed to Usuri, who quickly assessed his options as Mujinazaka's attackers began their approach.

  —Under normal circumstances, I'd give this ball to Wakatsu-senpai. But Aoba Johsai is undoubtedly prepared for that. So I'll ter their expectations and use their vigince against them!

  Usuri set the ball to the left wing, where Unnan Keisuke unched a quick attack.

  Smack!

  The ball struck Oikawa's arm and rebounded bato Mujinazaka's court.

  Oikawa scored with a block.

  [Aoba Johsai 4 - 0 Mujinazaka]

  "This… This is incredible! Aoba Johsai successfully blocked the attad tiheir sg streak! It's as if the ball was drawn directly to Oikawa Tōru!"

  "Aoba Johsai's #1 read the quick attack early and positioned himself perfectly. Mujinazaka's set was pletely anticipated!"

  "Unbelievable! Mujinazaka still hasn't mao break through Aoba Johsai's serving streak at the start of this sed set!"

  Oikawa stared at Usuri, his expression bnk but his thoughts sharp. "Think. Think as hard as you . The more you think, the easier it is for me to predict you."

  The first set had already proven that trying to crack Kiryū Wakatsu's offence wasn't a viable option for now.

  Targeting Usuri Michiru was ihe best strategy at the moment.

  ------

  As time quietly slipped by, the teams began exging points, and the match seemed to return to a normal rhythm.

  However, Mujinazaka's pyers could sense something was off with their setter, Usuri Michiru.

  After his set had been blocked by Aoba Johsai's setter, his fiden his setting had visibly faltered. Any ball he could send to Kiryū Wakatsu, he would send without hesitation.

  Kiryū, true to his reputation, verted most of these sets into points. But the amount of sweat dripping from his body far exceeded that of his teammates; his jersey g tightly to his torso.

  "What kind of set was that just now?! Don't just dump everything on Wakatsu-senpai like he hit any ball you throw!" Ezota Naoharu suddenly s Usuri.

  Usuri flinched, startled. He looked down at his trembling hands. Am I really this stiff right now?

  "Ezota, you didn't o say it so harshly…" Hondo Subaru began.

  "—We're capable of spiking too!" Ezota interrupted, his eyes fixed on Usuri.

  "I…I uand, Naoharu-senpai." Usuri took a deep breath, the icy air clearing his mind. His thoughts began to flow again.

  Mujinazaka's serve. Ezota Naoharu delivered a powerful jump float serve over the .

  Watari Shinji received the ball with a perfect pass that nded right in Oikawa Tōru's hands.

  Oikawa set it to the right wing, where Kaedehara Taichi unleashed a fierce spike.

  "Oouch!"

  Despite the aggressive attack, Mujinazaka's twin towers blocked the ball, f a rally. Ezota picked up the rebound with a solid first touch.

  Usuri deliberated briefly and thehe ball to the middle. Hondo Subaru jumped for the attack.

  "Double block!"

  "Oouch!" Taichi had started adapting to Mujinazaka's pys.

  Watari quickly sent the ball back to the , and Oikawa rose for a set.

  "Block him!" Usuri yelled.

  Hondo Subaru instinctively leapt, only for Oikawa to deliver a clever setters dump, tipping the ball over the .

  "Oouch!" Hondo Subaru shouted to the back row, signalling for support. Usuri's focus seemed tnite.

  Ezota sent the ball s back to Usuri, and the setter immediately acted.

  Kiryū Wakatsu, quiet for two rotations, began his approach, while Hondo Subaru simultaneously jumped on the right wing.

  Usuri's mind raced. At this moment, he saw tless attag possibilities fsh through his thoughts.

  He suddenly jumped, twisting midair, and spiked the ball himself. Using Wakatsu-senpai as bait…how luxurious is that?

  Smack!

  Twe hands appeared in front of Usuri's face.

  "Double block!" Oikawa Tōru and Kaedehara Taichi had pletely sealed his path, their hands eclipsing every angle of his attack.

  Thud. Thud. Thud.

  Usuri nded hard on the ground, seated as the ball dropped o him.

  "How is this possible…?"

  My form was fwless. There shouldn't have been any tells. I wasn't even nervous—it was just a normal attack.

  Why…did they see through it?

  And why…were there two blockers?!

  Seated on the ground, Usuri stared up at the two pyers on the opposite side of the hough their faces bore friendly smiles, in his eyes, they looked like demons.

  Tweet! Mujinazaka called for a substitution. Fujii Fuku subbed in for Usuri Michiru.

  "Fuku, just keep your cool…" Usuri muttered as he left the court, leaving only these words of advice.

  Meanwhile, Taichi and Oikawa exged a gnd simultaneously said:

  "If he hadn't gone for it, the ball would've slipped past us!"

  ------

  "So, he absolutely had to go for it!"

  ------

  The two said nothing more.

  They were right.

  Usuri had just blocked Oikawa's setters dump. With both wings loaded with attackers, the most satisfying way to respond was to use his owers dump to scht in Oikawa's face.

  "These two are absolutely vile," Iwaizumi Hajime muttered, watg the disheartened Usuri leave the court. "But this means we should the sed set quickly."

  The scoreboard now read: [Aoba Johsai 19 - 14 Mujinazaka]

  On the court, Fujii Fuku stood in position, repying Usuri's words in his mind.

  "Keep your cool? What does that even mean?"

  Tweet! The referee blew the whistle for Aoba Johsai's serve.

  In an instant, Fujii felt the weight of two pairs of eyes loto him.

  "What intense pressure!"

  Fear and urgency began to e him, creeping into every fibre of his being.

  _________

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