The first thing to start was the warm-up.
The players from both sides came off the field. On shiratorizawa's side, Ohira Reon handed a volleyball to Kobayashi Aotori, with a gentle and reliable voice:
"Want to test the feel of serving?"
After all, in his eyes, when Kobayashi Aotori fired that line-breaking service, he had to at least take a look at the boundary line of the court and measure the distance.
Kobayashi Aotori raised his eyebrows, but he didn't expect that Ohira Reon was willing to invite him to practice even though he was weaker than them.
Ohira Reon... is such a good person. Kobayashi Aotori sighed.
Not knowing that he had been giving the good guy card unintentionally, Kobayashi Aotori looked at Ohira Reon with a 'sincere' smile on his lips and pushed the ball away,
"Reon you need to practice more than me."
After all, you are much more useful than me.
After saying this, Kobayashi Aotori smiled mysteriously, then brushed off his clothes and left.
Ohira Reon was silent, looking at Kobayashi Aotori who was stretching on the other side. He lowered his head and looked at the volleyball in his hand. When Kobayashi Aotori had gone far and could not hear his words, he said slowly:
"...Tendou."
His serious voice made Tendou on the side come over instantly:
"What's wrong?" His big eyes stared at Ohira Reon, with curiosity on his face.
Reon lowered his head in silence, turned the ball in his hand, and took a deep breath:
"You're right."
"?"
"Sometimes, Aotori, he is indeed an out-and-out bastard."
He spoke in a deep voice, raised his head, and threw the volleyball high in the air. When Tendou Rabbit's mouth opened in surprise, he jumped high
—
At that moment, what he saw was no longer volleyball, but——
Kobayashi Aotori's head.
"Bang——!!"
The sound was so loud that Tendou jumped away like a rabbit.
Shirabu not far away was stunned for a moment, and then said with a clear face: "It must have something to do with Aotori."
Semi Eita, who was holding the ball on the side, affirmed: "It was definitely because of Aotori."
Tendo nodded heavily.
"Heh." Shirabu chuckled.
————
When the time came, Ushijima shook hands with the captain on the opposite side. One was calm and the other was forced to be calm.
Kobayashi Aotori was thinking wildly as he stood in a row with the players and completed the routine bow before the match.
With a crisp whistle, the game begins.
The first person in Shiratorizawa to make a move was not the players, but the Shiratorizawa cheerleading support group behind the Ohgiminami players.
Along with the thundering sound of several drums, the students' rhythmic percussion attracted everyone's attention.
"Shiratorizawa! Shiratorizawa! Shiratorizawa!"
Just like their slogan, everyone looked serious and completed every beat meticulously, with great momentum and full of energy.
Aotoris matches in his previous life were more shocking than this. I think it was also because of the boys' school. If a group of big men were shouting their throats, the momentum would be sufficient, but the rhythm and the sound...
It's no better than doing nothing.
Therefore, Kobayashi Aotori was also excited for a while, and he wanted to be as serious.
Then, Shiratorizawa's team members discovered that Kobayashi Aotori, who had just calmed down a little, was starting to exert powerful pressure again which frightened the opposing team members to stop breathing.
After receiving the volleyball, Aotori's face was expressionless, and the majestic voice of the support group seemed to be echoing in his ears.
Feeling the atmosphere of the stadium that he had been away from for a long time, and smelling the smell of Salonpas in the air, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes again. In those brown eyes, the playful smile had disappeared without knowing when, but instead sharp as a knife.
Faced with this pressure, the front-row players on the opposite side couldn't help but swallow, and their Adam's apple rolled up and down.
Kobayashi Aotori, who was standing behind the service line, stretched his neck, took two steps back, and stared at the volleyball in front of him calmly as if what he was holding was not a dead object.
But a living life.
At this time, this life responded to his call and seemed to be gradually waking up.
He took a few steps forward, his eyes focused on the opposite court instead of the volleyball in front of him
coming!
When the teacher advisor in the rest area saw Kobayashi Aotori's familiar movements, he immediately guessed what the mystery of his next ball would be, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
At the moment when the countdown to serve was about to end, the volleyball suddenly whizzed up and jumped into the air. However, the server on the ground did not give it another look. His sharp eyes were fixed on the libero opposite him in the back row
The next moment, he jumped——
"Whoosh——"
At the moment when he was watched, the libero of Ohgiminami felt that he suddenly appeared in the forest——
In the dark forest, countless poisonous creatures were quietly peeping at him, and he had to tighten his body and not relax at all, otherwise he something bad will happen-
being shattered into pieces.
He stared at the movement of the volleyball in front of him and felt the powerful ball. At that moment, all his attention was instantly sucked away by the volleyball in front of him.
This volleyball seemed to have some magical power that made him unable to take his eyes away from it, but he was completely unaware of it——
The venomous snake on the ground took advantage of his unpreparedness and took a severe bite——
"Out of bounds!" He shouted, and everyone subconsciously dodged, but the next moment they were dumbfounded.
He saw that the path of the ball was extremely clear, and it was unimpeded along the way. When it finally landed gently on the line, it made a light 'pop' sound.
The sound was like a tap on their faces.
But it was burning and painful.
Witnessing this miraculous service, the audience was silent, whether it was luck or strength... this way of scoring...
It's their favourite!
"Oh——! Aotori! Aotori!"
Roaring shouts immediately came from the Shiratorizawa supporter.
What a beautiful start! The eyes of Ito in the team were shining. She suddenly raised the prop in her hand, her grey-purple eyes shining, "One more!"
It seemed that she was infected, and other people around her echoed and shouted:
"One more! One more! One more!"
The atmosphere on the court was easily controlled by Kobayashi Aotori.
He stood back on the serving line, holding the volleyball in one hand, and inadvertently glanced at the libero on the opposite side who was not yet recovered, raised his eyebrows slightly, and suddenly smiled.
"Seeing how intently you looked at it, I thought you find a way to overcome it."
His words were light and airy, but all the players on the field heard them.
---here we go. Shirabu said faintly in his heart.
This guy always likes to target the opponent's Libero... Sure enough, you have to collapse the opponent's defence first before you can implement your evil schemes.
This devil.
Shirabu couldn't help but close his eyes. In comparison, the original Shiratorizawa play was normal. As soon as this person joined, it instantly became a double torture both mentally and physically.
However, the reason why Kobayashi Aotori said such words was completely different from other people's thoughts.
On the one hand, it scared him when the opponent was staring at the volleyball. If he hadn't known about the ball he was serving, he would have mistakenly thought that there was something wrong with the volleyball, causing the opponent not to even consider the distance. Directly jump to the conclusion that it is out of bounds.
On the one hand... Kobayashi Aotori originally wanted to take this opportunity to throw a softball at the opponent's libero, allowing him to easily catch it, and let the world see that he Kobayashi Aotori -!
——Is weak.
But it failed.
What's going on with this guy?!
He complained in his head and unknowingly expressed his inner thoughts out loud.
The captain on the opposite side gritted his teeth suddenly and subconsciously turned around to calm down his libero. However, when he turned around, what he saw was a staggering figure.
"Don't be influenced by him! He is plotting against you!" the captain said loudly, looking at the libero with worried eyes.
"I, I know..." He twitched the corners of his mouth and showed a smile that was uglier than crying. Everyone who looked at him felt ashamed, and Ohgiminami's mood became even more solemn.
The second whistle sounded, and it was still Kobayashi Aotori who served. He took a deep breath.
He can't intentionally make an out-of-bond service. Not only will not be able to clearly show his weak ability, but he may also be played by Lady Luck.
The embarrassing moment in Seijoh last time is still vivid in my mind.
He took a deep breath, and suddenly a light flashed in his mind.
Finally making a decision, Kobayashi Aotori looked at the ball with an expressionless face. He threw the ball high in silence, and the reflection of the volleyball flashed in his brown eyes -
"Bang——!"
The ball hit the ground.
But everyone in Ohgiminami remained motionless.
Everyone looked at the volleyball that bounced high in shock. It seemed that just one jump was not enough to satisfy it.
Everyone saw Kobayashi Aotori's movements clearly, but no one could keep up with him.
Because it is the simplest movement, it can be seen clearly. But it's because of the gap in strength that they can't keep up.
That's a huge gap.
They looked at the man whose presence was overwhelming at the moment. Just now, he fired an unprecedented serve.
Everything happened in just an instant, and his neat and clean movements left people completely unable to react.
When they came to their senses, the ball had already hit the ground.
There was nothing cumbersome in that movement, it was just a simple leap and service, as if it was a world-class problem, and just like that, Kobayashi Aotori easily figured out the answer in one second using the formula he learned on the first day of school.
Crisp and neat, yet overbearing and unreasonable.
Just like - an adult versus a primary school student, even the most ordinary moves are unstoppable.
That's right, the decision Kobayashi Aotori just made was not to come up with a serve that would make the opponent turn their brain upside down.
The decision he made was-
A regular, serious shot.
Just like every game in the previous life.
Perhaps it was because the opponent was not the protagonist that Kobayashi Aotori made such a decision, or maybe... it was just because the opponent's libero move just now gave him some confidence.
Yes, it wasn't the volleyball game that he was afraid of from the beginning.
He almost forgot.
He likes volleyball. He enjoys playing the game.
Now that the game with the 'protagonists' has become a 'foregone conclusion', let's enjoy these few games between normal people for a short time.
He held the ball high with a calm gaze. He was now the focus of the audience.
Just like in his previous life, no one can take their eyes off him, who treats every game as his last——
——with only volleyball in his eyes.
As a result, the crowded stadium quietly changed, and at some point, it turned into the training room he was most familiar with.
In that place, where volleyball takes flight——
"Bang——!!"
Feel the explosive spark of youth.
"...Oh——!! Aotori! Aotori! Shiratorizawa! Shiratorizawa!"
Deafening cheers resounded throughout the venue, but the person who should be cheering the most calmly went to get a volleyball again, and then - —
-Repeat the previous action.
And, the simplest action that was done in the past life and this life, alone under the net, day after day.
Leonardo da Vinci's drawing boards were filled with all kinds of eggs, and eventually, they became an integral part of the perfect painting.
The shining volleyball rides on the wind, carrying countless memories and sweat, and flies to where it should go.
——turned into a thundering noise that shook the earth.