Shirabu took a deep breath. Fortunately, it was Aotori's turn to serve.
Standing behind the service line, Kobayashi Aotori slowly closed his eyes, raised the volleyball in front of his eyes, and unknowingly entered his inner court again, and his world became silent again.
He could even hear the sound of the wind clearly, and he heard the familiar 'thump, thump' heartbeat again.
It was not only Kobayashi Aotori's own but also the warm heartbeat of the volleyball he held in his hand.
——It longs to fly.
The moment the whistle sounded, the narrow brown eyes slowly opened, and a sharp edge flashed in them, which seemed to overlap with the plain face and sharp eagle eyes in the previous life.
It's really funny... How can the accumulation of two lives be beaten so easily?!
"Whoosh——"
"boom--!!"
The deafening sound was accompanied by a speeding shadow. The volleyball was like a hunting eagle, running straight towards its prey with unimaginable speed and intensity——
Finally, it turned into a loud noise that shook the stadium and then fell into silence.
"Bang——!!" Continuous serves scored.
"Bang!" The ball flew out of the field grazing Unnan's arm.
"Bang!" The ball hit the service line hard and passed through Bishin's interception. No one touched the ball.
In just a few minutes, Kobayashi Aotori had already pulled back the point difference.
The numbers on the electronic scoreboard reached 22:22, and the scores were even again, approaching the match point again.
This anxious scene seems familiar, and the last game not long ago is still vivid in his mind.
The excited audience shouted Aotori's name. This style of play was too violent! They didn't know until now that scoring with a powerful smash is not the most popular way to score.
But one serve after another scored, and the court was completely controlled by Kobayashi Aotori. At this time, whether they were fans of Shiratorizawa or not, they were cheering for Kobayashi Aotori's performance.
Bishin half-bowed his body, panting heavily, and looked blankly at Kobayashi Aotori behind the net. Kiryu also frowned, and he blamed himself for his incompetence.
There was a "beep——" sound. It turned out that Mujinazaka High had applied for a time-out.
This timeout was not only to interrupt Kobayashi Aotori's hot touch but also to allow Mujinazaka, who was already stunned, to recover.
——And to appease Kiryu’s emotions.
It can be considered unlucky for Mujinazaka High to meet Kobayashi Aotori, who has already encountered difficulties with Inarizaki, and has a stable mentality and rapidly developing strength. Even if he does not admit it himself, he is still a talented and hard-working player with many years of volleyball experience.
Even if his talent is as average as he thought, his mentality after dozens of games has already become extraordinary. Just because he can only hear the wind when he serves, he is unstoppable.
Moreover, every victory and defeat was an experience that left a deep mark.
If I have to say it, Kobayashi Aotori is 'bullying' this group of talented teenagers and 'protagonists' in anime with a professional mind.
To a certain extent, these people have been labelled as 'protagonists' by Kobayashi Aotori. Although it is a compliment, it is also a different kind of estrangement.
Kobayashi Aotori forgot that they are not the cool characters portrayed in the anime, but also energetic and youthful male high school students.
They will also have a bad mentality, stay up late, be in extremely bad shape, lose games, and cry.
Kobayashi Aotori is looking at them with a detached look. He still has a natural feeling of rejection towards this world. As long as he is still on the court, he will look at them with a label.
Starting from the game at Inarizaki, these labels are loosening little by little and gradually disappearing.
——this timeout is indeed very useful for Mujinazaka High.
Kobayashi Aotori's first serve was received - although from a certain perspective, this was already the fifth serve in this round.
Unnan received Kobayashi Aotori's serve, but at the same time, he fell to the ground. It took time to get up again, which meant that he lost the opportunity to attack in the next round.
The ball was raised high and fell into the hands of the setter. He saw the right moment and pushed it with all his strength——
"Here!!"
Kiryu's eyes were determined. Through the crowds in Shiratorizawa, he saw an open space not far away, but he knew that he couldn't shoot there——
——It was like this last time. God knows Aotori will suddenly appear there.
Even if he faces the blocker, it is better than sending the ball to Kobayashi Aotori's arms.
He is a player who is good at attacking, but his blocking and catching positions are quite good. Well, it's quite worth learning. Let's have a talk after the game.
At this time, Kobayashi Aotori relied on his super experience, and just as Kiryu expected, he quickly appeared in the unattended open space the next moment, ready for follow-up actions at any time.
And Kiryu, who was leaping high, seemed to have not seen the block and attacked Tendou and Ohira Shion's block without hesitation——
"Bang!"
"One touch! Aotori-chan~!" Tendou quickly reported. Behind him, Kobayashi Aotori had already seen the position of the ball, but he, who had always been in a state of 'responsive to all requests', the moment his name called, he started to move——
He took a step back and raised his hands high. The volleyball was lifted high in his hands and accurately moved towards the Shiratorizawa net.
"...This guy's accuracy is definitely that of a robot." Subaru Hondo murmured while staring at the ball.
Shirabu held his breath, feeling Ushijima Wakatoshi's intense gaze. When everyone's eyes were focused on Ushijima Wakatoshi, expecting him to spike the ball again and score——
Shirabu hand closest to the volleyball suddenly waved gently, and the volleyball quietly fell to the ground.
But it passed the net and landed on the court of Mujinazaka High.
Kiryu, who was the closest, had his pupils shrunk, but he forcibly stopped his jumping movement and was already helpless to catch the ball.
When the volleyball landed lightly on the ground, Kiryu's face changed drastically as he bent over to save the ball. When he raised his head, what he saw was Kenjiro Shirabu's extremely mocking face.
There was even a hint of dark green under his eyes, which added a bit of decadence to the face that was already full of impatience and made the ball just now even more wonderful.
The audience was in an uproar. This completely unexpected development caused a sudden silence in the venue. The next moment, overwhelming cheers and astonished cries resounded throughout the venue.
Commentator A was also shocked by this sudden scene: (…What?! It’s a setter attack! Shiratorizawa can also use a setter attack!!)
Coach Washijo Takumi also frowned slightly off the court. Although he scored, how could Shirabu do such a rebellious thing? He knows that Shirabu is usually very afraid of trouble and coupled with the huge sense of security brought by Ushijima...
really!! As soon as he joined the team, Kobayashi Aotori, a bad boy who has no discipline, led the obedient members to act recklessly!!
The teacher advisor quietly glanced at coach Washijo, who had begun to think deeply after seeing Shirabu's move and just breathed a sigh of relief at his relatively calm performance.
Unexpectedly, his face quickly darkened the next moment, and he became even more angry as he thought about it. In the end, he was so angry that he hammered the chair.
The teacher advisor sighed inwardly thinking about how to plead for Shirabu after the game. Unexpectedly, the person he was supposed to plead for was the wrong person.
[Kobayashi Aotori:? ? Can this be blamed on me?! I thought I was a good kid who listened to the coach!/Wronged]
While the audience and opponents were surprised, everyone in Shiratorizawa was no exception. After all, it is well known that to be Shiratorizawa's setter does not require brains. He only needs to know how to pass the ball to Ushiwaka.
"Okay - awesome, Kenjiro!!" Tendou's jumping voice broke the silence. He rushed towards Shirabu, who had a cold face at first and pressed on him. The cold aura on Shirabu's body became heavier.
Goshiki in the back row looked in amazement, while Shion Ohira and Aotori Kobayashi, who inadvertently glanced at each other, understood the meaning in each other's eyes at that moment.
Regardless of whether Shirabu's move was awesome or not, what matters is whether or not Ushijima's waist stiffened just now.
It stiffened!
After all, Shirabu didn't call "Aotori" for the ball, and it's not like Ushijima couldn't get there and Goshiki was in an excellent position. Ushijima would be the one to spike the ball by default!
Suddenly feeling the concerned eyes behind him, Ushijima Wakatoshi turned his head in confusion and met the appraising eyes of Shion Ohira and Aotori Kobayashi.
Ushijima read in those two pairs of eyes...admiration and sympathy?
Ushijima Wakatoshi was puzzled, but there was nothing he could do about it.
23:22, just one point away, the Shirabu take the lead in getting the match point.
Although the scoring methods are completely different, the order of scoring is surprisingly similar.
It was a heavy blow to the minds of Mujinazaka High.
Kiryu's breathing was slightly rapid. Even if he could take a slight lead despite continuous heavy artillery blows from Ushijima Wakatoshi, his ten minutes of hard work would be wiped out by Kobayashi Aotori's serve score in just a few minutes.
——It's a pity that because Shirabu scored on the second pass just now, Shiratorizawa's serve was still Kobayashi Aotori.
With this goal, Shiratorizawa got the match point.
After losing points, Mujinazaka High tied the score again, and the game will be even more exciting.
This is an IH national competition. Getting a match point does not mean they have much more possibility, nor does it mean you will win.
——For details, please refer to Inarizaki, who scored more than 30 points in the previous game.
Therefore, Aotori, who had experienced many battles, was not extremely nervous. Under the gaze of everyone, he threw the volleyball high, paused for a moment, and then made a powerful jump serve:
"Bang——!"
Amid the exclamations of the audience, Bishin caught the ball with all his strength! However, it was very difficult to catch the ball. The ball flew up softly and was called the ultimate bad ball.
"...Sorry!" He immediately apologized and stood up, and his teammates in front of him quickly responded.
The volleyball was passed to the net, and Kiryu smashed the ball——
"Bang——!"
Although the ball was temporarily redirected due to Kobayashi Aotori's blocking position, it still broke through Tendō's block unstoppably and landed heavily on the Shiratorizawa court.
23:23, the score was tied again!
Shiratorizawa VS Mujinazaka, compared with the excitement of yesterday's match, today's venue was very quiet, just because everyone was sweating from the anxiety of the match!