[21] Grade 11: IH National Tournament
The chief referee blew his whistle, and both sides lined up and bowed.
The first-year captain of Tsurumeikan stood in front of the third-year ace captain of Inarizaki, calmly looking up at him.
The third-year setter from Inarizaki, who was next to the ace, coughed heavily.
Ace snapped out of his daze and shook hands with the captain of the first-year junior team in front of him.
He said with mixed feelings, "...Very impressive."
After leaving the arena, Ace Inarisaki finally grasped the source of his vague and impatient state while on the field.
After the first-year captain of the Tsurumeikan came on, he controlled the rhythm of Inarizaki's last three innings.
When the golden-eyed setter stood on the court, every reception, every block, and every spike by Heming Hall was as exquisite as a pre-calculated chess game.
Those involved are often blinded by their own perspective. The Inarizaki starting lineup, caught in the middle of the game, vaguely realized that the rhythm was out of control, but they couldn't find an opportunity to break through.
The attackers tried to break through the situation with strong attacks, but each time they were blocked by the Tsurumeikan's impenetrable defense.
The starters' mentality was completely broken by the repeated obstacles. The more they couldn't get the ball to the target, the more they wanted to break through with a strong attack.
Ultimately, the out-of-control tank fell into the water.
On the other side, Ooshiro held Aoyagi's hand and said in a deep voice, "Your blocking is very strong."
Aoyagi's pupils trembled violently.
“…Thank…thank you…” the black-haired vice-attacker’s voice was weak.
The black-haired middle blocker, as if she had gone all out, managed to squeeze out another sentence through gritted teeth: "Your spikes... are also very powerful..."
Akagi tilted his head to look at them.
From a slightly lower vantage point, he could clearly see that the 1.8-meter-tall middle blocker from Heming Hall had a timid and hesitant expression.
He tried to make eye contact with the petite free agent opposite him.
Is it normal for your middle blockers to be like this?
Saotome:
Akagi understood.
So it's not arrogance, but simply social anxiety?
Akagi, who had been in a heavy mood, inexplicably smiled.
After the post-match ceremony, both teams returned to the rest area to recuperate.
A somber mood hung over the Inarizaki rest area.
Coach Blackbeard accompanied libero Akagi to the infirmary to treat the wounds he had inadvertently sustained while diving, while the rest of the team stayed in the rest area to rest and wait for them.
Inarizaki Ace covered his face with a towel, his voice coming out softly from under the towel: "I thought of the description of Tsurumeikan that I saw in the newspaper before - 'the nightmare of the outside hitter', 'the ultimate defense that can't be spiked'."
"At the time, I thought it was too exaggerated, but now I see that it is indeed true."
"I'll have nightmares for at least ten days when I get back."
—The first pass accuracy rate of Heming Hall is too high. The ability of the middle blocker who is nearly 1.9 meters tall to receive the first pass after rotating to the backcourt is even higher than that of the liberos of some of the strong schools in their county.
Adding to that the improved blocking ability of the No. 4 middle blocker in the last three sets, Inarizaki's spiking scoring rate in these sets was pitifully low compared to previous matches.
If the captain of the Heming Hall team's bizarre spinning serve was the trigger for their suppressed rhythm, then the inability to spike the ball was the root cause that gradually ignited their inner anxiety.
Big Ears pointed towards the Crane Cry Pavilion rest area: "And that 'miracle serve'—did his serve score in the last game break the IH historical record?"
(qkao) "I guess so?" Inarizaki, a third-year setter, lowered his head and unwrapped the bandages on his hands, responding in a muffled voice.
"The last IH record was XX High School's seven points—five of which were jump floats." Tail White opened his palm, first making a five-finger gesture, then bent his fingers to make a nine.
"The captain of the Heming Hall scored nine consecutive points with his serve—all of which were from the ground."
Big Ears said, "Then he's definitely going to be on the front page of the newspapers."
"Even without consecutive service points, he'd still be on the front page, right? Making it to the top eight in the national tournament, maybe even the top four. And he's so—so—good-looking."
Wei Bai stretched out his arms, dragging out the word "so".
"With his status as a first-year department head and student council president, he'll definitely be the subject of extensive coverage in future interviews. Once the reports come out, not only in Kyoto, but perhaps all the high school girls in Tokyo will form a fan club for him."
"I've already thought of names in advance. The one in Kyoto will be called the Kyoto Tsurumeikan Imadegawa Fan Club General Association, and the one in Tokyo will be called the Kyoto Tsurumeikan Imadegawa Fan Club Tokyo Branch."
Big Ears quipped, "It sounds like a plot from a comic book."
Ooshiro said, "Maybe we really do live in a comic book, and we are just the shrimp soldiers and crab generals on the journey of the Great Demon King Imadegawa."
"Wouldn't our Inarizaki become just a supporting character then?" the setter, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said.
His tone didn't sound like he was joking; rather, it sounded like he was venting his anger.
The air in the Inarizaki rest area seemed to freeze for a moment.
Tail White opened its mouth.
Big Ears' gaze wandered aimlessly.
Inarizaki Ace lifted his head from the towel and quickly wiped his head and face.
Then he patted the setter's shoulder blade on the back.
"That's fine too."
Ace said it casually.
"Our Inarizaki team played at least five full games against them, and they had to come back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2—"
......
After resting for a while, Imadegawa led the Tsurumeikan group towards the exit.
Congratulations on advancing to the quarterfinals.
The corner name, who had been waiting at the exit, strolled over leisurely.
Imadegawa gave him a strange look, then glanced in the direction of Inarizaki's team.
Unbeknownst to the character, Little Chubby was laughing so hard he almost passed out.
The chubby little bird bounced twice on Kakuna's head: "If we face Inarizaki again next year, will he still be able to congratulate me?"
After saying that, it laughed even louder.
Kakunami didn't notice the glance Imadegawa gave in the direction of Inarizaki.
He expertly carried Imadegawa's sports bag.
Previously, Saotome and Aoyagi were always vying to carry Imadegawa's bag. However, during the group stage a couple of days ago, Kakumei revealed his identity as a third-year junior high school student and took the initiative to take over the task from two unfamiliar seniors who were inexplicably hostile to him, acting as a friend and junior.
Although being a third-year junior high student puts him at a disadvantage, Imadegawa is clearly not someone who cares about senior-junior etiquette. It's not bad that he can use his junior status to shut up the two unfamiliar seniors who keep bothering him.
—Especially that short, free agent senior whose eyes always seem to be spitting fire.
Ignoring Saotome, who was staring at his shoulder with fiery eyes, he asked with some amusement, "Where are we going today?"
They made an appointment online last night, and today, a local from Aichi Prefecture, named Jiaoming, will take them out of the prefecture to eat at a classic local restaurant.
Jin Chuchuan didn't care much about the commotion among the others. "Let's go somewhere closer to the hotel. We need to go back and discuss tomorrow's tactics later."
"OK".
Rintaro Kakunana, enduring Saotome's piercing gaze and Aoyagi's dark eyes, abducted their club president.
......
Inarizaki and Tsurumeikan use the same exit.
Coach Blackbeard squinted at the Tsurumeikan team ahead: "Is that black-haired guy walking with the Tsurumeikan captain also from the Tsurumeikan volleyball team? He looks kind of familiar to me."
"Really? He doesn't have a Kyoto accent; he sounds more like a local from Aichi Prefecture." Akagi, who had just returned from the restroom and passed through the Tsurumeikan queue, waved his hands.
"That's him!!! I think I know who he is!" Big Ears said excitedly, pointing at the back of the character.
"Blackbeard, look at his hair!"
Big Ears gestured two corners next to his ears.
"Isn't he that middle school middle blocker from the videotape you watched a while ago?! The one you said you really wanted to recruit!"
Blackbeard supervises beady eyes.
Ooshiro sighed dramatically, "They actually know each other! You probably won't be able to poach the director then. Our Inarizaki is now a defeated foe of Tsurumeikan—"
"How do you know this without even asking?" Blackbeard gritted his teeth.
"I refuse to believe I can't dig it up! So what if it's Tsurumeikan? Inarizaki is the perfect fit for him!!!"
Blackbeard clenched his fists, and flames roared behind him.
......
Tomorrow, Tsurumeikan's opponent will be Shiratorizawa.
After returning from dinner with Kakuna, Imadegawa leaned back on the sofa and quietly watched the TV screen.
The blue light from the large-screen TV, accompanied by the flickering screen changes, fell on his face, and his bright golden eyes shone and dimmed in the light.
Thanks to the wealthy and chubby principal, Imadegawa obtained a number of videotapes of the regional preliminary rounds and last year's national competition from many schools in advance, including Shiratorizawa.
After the knockout stage list was released, the responsible principal even went to collect videotapes of the future opponents' group stage matches in this national competition.
However, we don't have access to the bottom-line perspective video of today's Round of 16 match yet, which is more suitable for analysis. We can only get the overall perspective that is more entertaining for viewers across the country, which is broadcast by TV stations.
On the screen, Shiratorizawa Ace violently spikes the volleyball with his left hand, knocking the opposing libero to the ground.
Saotome, who was sitting cross-legged on the left side of Imadegawa, took a deep breath.
Right next to Imadegawa on the right, Aoyagi stared intently at the screen.
Squeezed between the two, Imadegawa absentmindedly twirled the little chubby bird's head.
...I really don't want to encounter such an opponent at this stage.
It would be great if Crane Cry Hall could have a similar main attacker.
It would be so much simpler to just put them up and have them bombard each other.
Even if there isn't a main attacker of the same type, it would be good to just give him any SSR main attacker.
Thinking of this, Imadegawa pinched the little chubby bird's belly and said in a sinister, drawn-out voice, "So jealous—"
Hikaru Shiratorizawa is a first-year student. Besides the heavy-hitting Ushijima Wakatoshi, there are two other main attackers who have appeared in the story – Shion Ohira and Jin Soegawa.
These two first-year main attackers will also be Shiratorizawa's future vice-captains.
If you add in the current second and third year students, Shiratorizawa's main attackers are practically overflowing.
Now, looking around, I see the following middle blockers: 1, 2, 3, 4...
The situation outside Sichuan has become bleak.
————————
After typing two thousand words, my head started hurting again. My stomach ache couldn't stop the headache... (Menstruation is so terrifying, so terrifying. Why does menstruation exist? It's something that torments people for several days every month.) (Random thoughts)
I was supposed to be happily writing and advancing the plot over the weekend, but I almost didn't finish... (I'm so exhausted).
Just a heads-up: the next chapter will officially feature the battle against Shiratorizawa!!! (rubbing hands together)
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