Chapter 123: Shiratorizawa vs. Aoba Johsai (1) (7k nutrient solution plus more...

"Captains of both teams."

The referee stood on the steps and made a "towards the center" gesture with both hands, indicating that the two main players of Shiratorizawa and Qingcheng should shake hands.

"Please advise me." / "Please advise me."

As usual, while waiting for the referee to flip the coin, Oikawa tilted his head and said, "Be prepared to have your championship taken away from you."

Ushijima remained calm, "No."

Oikawa curled his lips and turned his attention back to the referee. There was no point in exchanging trash talk with Ushijima. The other party's personality was what really left him with nothing to say. The same went for Kenjo. It would be better to just play volleyball on the court.

The referee flipped the coin over and showed them, "The front side is Qingcheng, the back side is Shiratorizawa."

Then, under the gaze of the two, he lifted the coin with his thumb. The coin spun at high speed in the air, then began to fall due to gravity. Finally, it made a crisp buzzing sound, rolled on the floor a few times, and stopped on the back under the gaze of the three.

Ushijima: "We serve first."

Oikawa: "Then we'll just catch the ball."

They looked at each other and turned away.

“Line up—!”

There was a brief whistle and the two teams bowed to each other.

“Please give me some advice—!”

Next up is the Miyagi Prefecture representative finals, the men's finals, between Aoba Johsai High School and Shiratorizawa Gakuen High School. 】

Please give the contestants a warm round of applause and wish them all the best.

The difference between the finals and semi-finals lies not only in the atmosphere, but also in the order in which the players enter. The central court is much larger than the venue for the initial competition, and before the players enter the court for introduction, there is a routine speech by the coach.

"This is already the second match between Shiratorizawa and Qingcheng this year," Coach Jijiang said, his hands behind his back. "You're already very familiar with each other."

Changing the subject, he said, "However, hard work will not abandon you. We haven't let up in the past few days, and the same goes for our opponents, so you must be extremely focused!"

"Fight with all your might and show them with your strength," Coach Jiujiang raised his head, "what it means to be strong."

"yes!!!"

[Next, we will introduce the lineups of both teams]

The female voice announcing the news sounded again.

In the stands, Hinata exclaimed, his eyes sparkling. Although he had seen this scene once before, seeing it again after a few months still made him feel it was very cool. He clutched the piece of fabric close to his heart, "It's really super cool."

Xiao Xia stared closely at the players who came out one after another on the stage and said "Hmm!" seriously.

There were surging cheers and screams in my ears. When the female voice introduced [No. 9 Kenshiro Shinichi], cheers and applause rose one after another. The whole venue almost became his personal performance point. Kenshiro Shinichi's response was to raise one hand, make a "yeah" gesture, and tilt his head towards the Shiratorizawa stands. Then, the corner of his mouth outlined an arc that could be called a smile, and you could vaguely see a little bit of his fangs exposed.

Youthful spirit.

Hinata sighed, "Even Kenjo-nii could show more expression! This is the finals!"

Midorikawa: ...

No, he should just be a crowd-pleaser. Every time there are a lot of people cheering for him, Jiancheng will be particularly excited. It really makes sense that your gazes are his stimulant. But from the perspective of fans, he must be very fond of this.

For example, Shinomiya next to him was already joining the group in shouting "Mr. Shinichi! Mr. Shinichi!" "So handsome! So cool!" "Oh oh oh! Victory!", and the headband that was originally tied on his head before the show started had been taken off and was being swung like a towel.

This might be a two-way race between the contrast of cuteness and fanatical fans, Midorikawa complained.

While they were chatting, all the players finished playing and had already formed up. Midorikawa looked back at the court and saw that player number nine had already picked up the volleyball and was heading towards the serving line. "It's Jiancheng who's serving first."

Hinata was listening to Shinomiya's magical praise of Kenjo, making applauding noises from time to time, and only turned around slightly when she heard Midorikawa's words.

"Eh, is it Shiratorizawa's serve?"

Kaito Yuma (a former third-year member of Qingcheng) stood at the railing and said, "This is not good."

"For two strong-serving setters, it doesn't really matter who serves first or later," Xiaoshan (a Northeastern commercial libero) instinctively replied. "It's just a matter of scoring early or late."

Kaito scratched his head, "Kenjo-kun's ball is hard to catch."

"Of course I know that." Xiaoshan looked at him and realized that he was wearing the Qingcheng school uniform. "...Hello."

Kaito: "...Hello."

The two looked at each other for a moment before returning to their previous topic. Kaito continued, "The atmosphere in the stadium after Kenjo-kun serves becomes..." He thought for a moment, "a bit like a professional team's home and away games."

Mori Yukitaka was unable to accompany Xiaoshan today due to something. Although the volleyball team of Tohoku University of Commerce had played many practice matches with Shiratorizawa, there had never been a real match. Therefore, this aspect that Kaito mentioned was also the first time that Xiaoshan realized it.

The university alliance often travels to other cities. Thinking of that horrible atmosphere, Xiaoshan became more serious: "That's true."

Kaito: "Also, Kenjo-kun doesn't care about noise at all, so making noise is completely useless. But for the server, it's best to be in a quiet environment."

The Qingcheng third-year student continued, "Also, our libero is a first-year. Although Shinji has been very hardworking and talented, the younger generation still needs to hone their skills."

Xiaoshan:……

That's right, the cheerleaders of Shiratorizawa don't care about Oikawa's mood when serving. In addition, because of Kenjo Shinichi, the number of spectators in Shiratorizawa has increased a lot recently. The applause that was originally intended to cheer for the players will also become a weapon of interference.

From this perspective, although Ikawa's jump serve level is comparable to Kenjo's, he will be at a complete disadvantage in this away-field-like environment.

Xiaoshan was silent, thinking to himself, are these the brave group who have gone deep into the Demon King's Castle?

Looking at it this way, the uniform colors all matched. One side was a magical purple, and the other side was a pure cyan. No, no, that's not right. I can't think about it anymore. Xiaoshan reached out and swatted away the strange fantasy in his mind. At this time, the person next to him wearing the Qingcheng uniform stared at the thing in his hand for a while...

Wait, in your hand?

Xiaoshan:……

Was he still holding the Kenjo Shinichi cheering fan that had been stuffed into his hand earlier...? As their eyes shifted to the object in their hands, Xiaoshan and Kaito exchanged glances, and the atmosphere, which had been harmonious at the beginning, suddenly became extremely strange.

Xiaoshan felt that he was being sincere: "...someone forced this on me."

Kaito showed a look that said, "It's okay."

Xiaoshan:……

Forget it, since I'm here, I might as well be misunderstood. If he holds a round fan with "信一命" written on it and shouts "Come on Qingcheng", then he'd be a real two-faced person.

——Although he really hoped that Qingcheng would win.

On the court, Jiancheng Xinyi raised the ball to a position half an arm's length away from him, adjusted the feel, and rotated it twice.

"Invincible—"

The leader shouted.

“Invincible—!”

Continuous, rapid, one drum beating after another.

"Shiratorizawa! Shiratorizawa! Shiratorizawa!"

"Hundred Battles——!"

"Yum--!"

This kind of cheering usually stops when the team serves, but Kenjo Shinichi's serve did not require extra silence, so the audience began to applaud and cheer in rhythm with them.

Just standing in front of the net, even though Jiancheng on the opposite side was not staring at them, just standing there waiting for the referee's whistle gave them a terrible feeling of oppression.

"...pressure?" A drop of cold sweat rolled down Hanamaki's forehead. "It hasn't been like this before."

Matsukawa glanced at Shiratorizawa's support station out of the corner of his eye. "In the past few months, the number of people supporting them has increased again, and it's all spontaneous."

Although I have seen the fan support throughout IH before, I still feel it is a bit exaggerated when I see it myself. They follow the Shiratorizawa cheerleaders in chanting slogans in an orderly manner. In addition to the usual lines, they also insert slogans of "Invincible" in between.

"It's incredible." Huajuan pursed her lips.

Iwaizumi's eyes locked on Number Nine, who was standing at the serving point. "It's coming. Pay attention."

Jiancheng stopped spinning the ball, as if thinking about what type of ball to serve first. Then, as the whistle sounded, he immediately chose to throw the ball and jumped up, leaving Qingcheng no time to react.

Watanabe, who was in position 6, had no time to adjust after getting into position to receive the jump serve. The volleyball flew in front of him in the blink of an eye, and then the sound of a sharp wind came to his ears.

Watari Chikaji hadn't reacted yet, and the pain in his arm was only just beginning to show up. The volleyball hit him and flew out of the court.

"...Score! Jiancheng!" The commentator's voice was also a beat behind the times. "The first ball was a clean jump serve! Qingcheng's reaction was still a step too slow! Although the libero quickly judged the ball's trajectory, he was still one step short, and Shiratorizawa scored smoothly—"

The audience cheered even louder, and Kenjo Shinichi's name seemed to be engraved on their tongues, each cry more passionately than the last.

"Master Xinyi! Good serve!" "Good serve, Jiancheng!" "One more ball--!"

Oikawa stood at the number one position, his face calm. After readjusting himself, he lowered his voice and said, "Don't mind. Just keep going."

Watari Chikaji: “…Yes!”

Kenjo Shinichi's serving rhythm was completely irregular, and his speed seemed to have been adjusted compared to the training session. Just by looking at his preparation posture, it was impossible to tell what kind of ball he was going to serve.

Oikawa sighed, feeling a little annoyed, and once again realized it very clearly.

——On the other side of the net, there stood a monster.

Shinichi Kenjo, who was waiting for the second whistle, was unaware of his thoughts. The ball was spinning slowly and naturally in his hands. His green eyes stared at the volleyball as if he was empty, giving off an inorganic and inhuman feeling.

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The author has something to say: I am slow to update... I still owe a lot, a lot...