The serve returo Team Irihata, and Kaedehara Taichi stepped up to the service line.
Sihe sed day of the training camp, Team Irihata had lost seven secutive sets.
No one seemed particurly surprised—that recisely the biggest issue.
Perhaps the coaly wao witheir growth, indifferent to the outes of wins and losses.
Or maybe, he was hoping that something would finally shift in the final set.
But Kaedehara Taichi uood this much: every pyer on his team, in every sich, was determined not to lose.
He tossed the ball with one hand and began his approach.
That form?
Oikawa Tōru's brow furrowed.
On the bae for Team Washijō were libero Yamagata Hayato, Oikawa Tōru, and Ushijima Wakatoshi—a receiving formation without any oints.
Bang!
The moment the ball was struck, Oikawa realized what had been strange.
A jump float…hit with the left hand?!
From Oikaerspective, the ball's trajectory and movement looked even more uable than usual.
The serve rocketed along a nearly straight path toward the gap between Yamagata and Oikawa, but as it dropped, it suddenly veered toward Oikawa's side.
"What the…?"
Startled, Oikawa reacted instinctively, lunging at the ball.
Smack!
He barely made tact—just enough to send the ball flying behind him and out of bounds.
"Save it!" Oikawa shouted.
Ushijima sprinted after it and mao knock the ball back toward the .
"Impressive!" Futakuchi Kenji's eyes widened. "He mao disrupt both Oikawa and Ushijima with one serve!"
Kunimi Akira prepared to spike, and Futakuchi jumped to block, with Tendō Satori eyeing him closely from the side.
A power spike was too risky.
Kunimi made his decision instantly and tipped the ball to the back of Team Irihata's court instead.
"ce ball!"
Iwaizumi Hajime calmly received it.
The ball soared above Shirabu Kenjirō, and in perfect synization, the other four pyers unched into a multi-yered attack.
Bang!
The rapid-fire sequehrew Team Washijō's blockers into disarray.
In the end, Shirabu chose a quick set to Tendō, exeg a perfean time differential py.
[Team Irihata 4 – 2 Team Washijō]
"Damn it, what kind of morick has Taichi pulled off now?" Oikawa muttered with a bemused expression.
Ba the prefectural tour, Oikawa, Kaedehara Taichi, and Kyōtaarō had each possessed serves that posed varying degrees of threat to their oppos.
But oional stage, powerful serves were a dime a dozen. Among them, only Oikawa's serves had maintaiheir impact.
It was during that time that Taichi's mind had begun ing with new ideas—ideas now ing to life before Oikawa's eyes.
Taichi's sed serve flew into py.
A powerful jump serve—again, with his left hand!
Taichi had tried this serve once during the match against Inarizaki, though it had go of bounds.
But now…
There was a fsh of something almost remi of Ushijima's fearsome power behind the strike.
Boom!
This time, the target was her than Ushijima himself.
"Ushiwaka's reception is always reliable," Oikawa thought, letting his guard down.
The ball smacked into Ushijima's arms—and ricocheted out of bounds.
[Team Irihata 5 – 2 Team Washijō]
Oikawa Tōru: "???"
"Sorry," Ushijima Wakatoshi said, his tone calm but his expression thoughtful.
Only then did Oikawa realize—of everyo Shiratorizawa, the o familiar with Ushijima's left-handed serves was…Ushijima himself.
This…was getting iing.
"No wonder you chose him as Aoba Johsai's ace." Washijō Tanji's sharp eyes locked onto Irihata Nobuteru.
The growth rate of this first-year was terrifying. Meeting him just once a month had been enough to notice the leaps in his development.
But now, under his direct gaze, that evolution was visibly unfolding iime.
Kaedehara Taichi stood at the service line, fully aware of how his body felt—perfectly in sync.
But a nagging thought surfaced: a powerful left-handed serve would only catch Ushijima off guard once.
So, for the serve—
Bang!
A standard right-handed jump float.
The ball skimmed over the , plunging sharply at the three-meter lihin Washijō's court.
"What a pain!"
Positioned in the tre of the back row, Oikawa had the rgest defensive rao cover. He had no choice but to dive forward for the ball.
Smack!
He barely mao bump it up. Kunimi Akira leapt for the spike.
Futakuchi Kenji's block was already closing in.
"Tch, still 't fool them?" Kunimi faked a spike ahe ball toward the far-left er instead.
Terushima Yuji jumped, ready to finish the py.
Suddenly, from across the , a figure darted in like a panther—swift, silent, and deadly.
Before Terushima could react, a pair e hands smothered the path of his attack.
Smack!
Tendō Satori's block sent the ball crashing back down at Terushima's feet.
[Team Irihata 6 – 2 Team Washijō]
"What a monster…" Kunimi muttered. He had already known that a direct spike would've led to the same result. Still, Terushima had been far too careless.
A stifling atmosphere hung over Team Washijō. Nothing about the current game hihat the opposing team had lost seven straight sets.
"Don't worry, ball!" Oikaed his hands. "Terushima, your body's a little stiff, you know~?"
"Yes, senpai…" Terushima took a deep breath, his tension easing at the sound of Oikawa's voice.
Yamagata Hayato observed the iion, finding it unfamiliar.
Shiratorizawa rarely faced true adversity, and Ushijima typically led through a rather than words.
Oikawa returo his position and gnced around with a grin.
"This point—we 't let them scain!"
"Got it." Ushijima actually responded, his expression calm as ever.
Three secutive points in his service turn! Taichi could feel the adrenaline surging.
If pyers like Oikawa Tōru and Miya Atsumu, masters of both jump serves and float serves, were called dual-wielders, then with his additional ambidextrous capability, he had to be—
A Quad-Wielder.
Bang!
A right-handed jump serve.
"Out!"
The referee's signal wasn't even necessary—
"Pfft—HAHAHA!" Oikawa burst out ughing, wiping tears from his eyes.
He couldn't believe it. Kaedehara Taichi's trusty right-handed jump serve had sailed out of bounds. Even the coaches on both sides struggled to hold back their smiles.
[Team Irihata 6 – 3 Team Washijō]
"Stay calm, stay calm…" Taichi muttered to himself, f a posed expression as he returo his position.
"Don't worry about it," Iwaizumi Hajime reassured him.
"We're in a good spot. Their two toughest servers are doh their rotations—it'll be much harder for them to close the gap now." Shirabu Kenjirō offered praise as well.
"eamwork, Taichi!" Tendō Satrinned mischievously.
Taichi kly what he meant—each of his serves had disrupted either Oikawa or Ushijima.
And as long as it wasn't Ushijima spiking the ball, Tendō was fident in his blocks.
At least…when luck was on his side.
_________
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