[56] Grade 11: Inarizaki Practice Match
When Imaidegawa returned from outside the stadium after being called out by a phone call, he was met with a scene of both teams going all out.
"What happened?"
Imaichi glanced at the little chubby bird that had remained in the venue.
The little chubby bird, who had long anticipated that Imaichikawa would come to ask it, first flapped its wings triumphantly.
Then the glutinous rice ball pinched its throat again and let out a long, deep sigh.
Finally, it drew out its words with a deliberately mysterious tone: "A super-chaotic, major event has occurred!"
"This is something you would never expect—"
Imadegawa walked to a spot next to Coach Fukui and stood there. Looking at the field with an air of certainty, he said, "It was Koizumi who did something, wasn't it?"
The little chubby bird fell silent instantly.
"..."
How did you know???
The little chubby bird was amazed.
The practice match against Inarizaki took place in late autumn.
The captain of the Heming Hall volleyball team, who is sensitive to the cold, put on a thicker uniform long before the other members of the volleyball team, who were still wearing thin uniforms.
Before going out to answer the phone, Imadegawa zipped up his thick sportswear to the top for wind protection and warmth.
The collar of the thicker sportswear was more upright than that of the thinner sportswear. At this moment, Imaichi buried his chin in the upright collar, and the gaze emanating from his bright golden eyes calmly enveloped the entire venue.
"It's obvious, isn't it—"
"His condition has changed."
Imadegawa witnessed Koizumi's extremely intense and excited emotions—
Although Koizumi still had that soft and listless expression, every step he took when spiking the ball was heavy and powerful, and when he spiked the volleyball, his other free hand swung naturally and seemingly casually with the movement of his body.
—But the free hand was slightly bent, with the thumb pressing on the second joint of the index finger, leaving a deep red mark.
At that moment, the blue irises in Koizumi's round almond-shaped eyes were so clear that they resembled the sky Imadegawa had seen when he left the Inarisaki Stadium to answer a phone call.
That was the unique sky of Inarizaki, located near rice paddies and untouched by urban pollution, so bright and clear that it was almost completely pure.
On the day they arrived in Inari-zaki, the sky was perfectly clear, without a single cloud. The golden sunlight streamed down unhindered, making the vast blue expanse even clearer.
So it's not hard to imagine how obsessed Koizumi was with this match.
Considering Koizumi's increasingly disappointed and listless expression before Imadegawa left, it was easy for Imadegawa to deduce what Koizumi had done behind his back again.
"Should I ask if I can guess what he's up to?"
Now, as I leave Sichuan, I suddenly ask the little fat bird a question.
The chubby little bird asked hesitantly, "Then...then guess?"
Imadegawa's expression remained unchanged, but the voice in his mind hesitated: "Hmm...it's a bit hard to guess..."
"Should I tell you—"
The little chubby bird couldn't wait and excitedly flapped its thin wings.
A voice in Imadegawa's mind, tinged with laughter, said: "No—"
"Let me guess first—"
So the little chubby bird obediently and eagerly awaited Imadegawa's "deep contemplation".
He looked at the chubby little bird and said with a smile, "I bet—did Minato take the initiative to provoke the Inarisaki members?"
"..."
Principal Bird was once again amazed by its host.
"This is a bit scary..."
It couldn't help but ask, "Do you know Koizumi's true colors?"
"Huh?" Imadegawa said, "I thought you already knew what kind of person Minato was—"
"After all, he was able to get full access to the student council from Toyama—you know Toyama's personality, no one in Tsurumeikan has been able to get that kind of access from her yet, right?"
—Yuyama is the current vice president of the student council of Tsurumeikan. Imadegawa obtained the SSR-level character card of Tsurumeikan through an unexpected event in the early stages of the Tsurumeikan event.
The little chubby bird's flapping of its wings this time was filled with intense dissatisfaction: "How could I possibly do that?!"
"I'm just a bird, why would I care about so much?!"
"—Even I don't pay much attention to him?" Imadegawa seemed a little hurt. "I thought you knew I could see through Minato's personality."
The disgruntled little chubby bird froze instantly.
Principal Bird hurriedly explained, "...I only had some basic information beforehand. If our connection isn't deep enough, I can't unlock your deeper information—and my superiors are very strict about human rights. Not only the host's memories, but also the memories of the character cards are not to be touched..."
At the same time, it frantically searched for information about Imadegawa's past life.
"I see..." Imadegawa's voice regained its hurt tone. "Alright then, it's not that you have to ignore me."
Little Fatty breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, after reviewing its beloved host's information again, Principal Bird couldn't help but ask, "And why do you, a physics student, secretly take psychology courses in private?"
"—These two things don't go together at all!!!"
Instead of answering its questions and expressing its confusion, Imaizumi smiled and said, "Guess?"
Before the little chubby bird could reply, Imaichi suddenly broke away from its mental communication.
His bright golden pupils shifted slightly to the left.
His gaze passed over the intense net play and landed near the sideline on the Inarizaki side of the court.
There, an Inarizaki volleyball team member with a calm expression and almost no presence stood quietly, almost upright, out of place with the bustling surroundings.
The calm gaze projected from the brown iris of that member gently and unbiasedly fell into the golden eyes of the captain of the Tsurumeikan volleyball team.
——————
Coach Kurosu shifted his attention away from Imadegawa, who was standing next to Coach Fukui, and continued analyzing the game.
Among the new faces at the Crane Cry Hall, the player with the most consistent first pass was the outside hitter with dark blue hair and sky blue eyes who had once challenged them.
This main attacker is not only the most reliable in terms of first pass, but also has a very good level in blocking. His blocking prediction, jumping timing and hand shape show a maturity beyond his age, and he has effectively supported Inarizaki's heavy spikes on several occasions.
Coach Kurosu's thoughts involuntarily extended backward—with the all-around skills and calm mind that this attacker has shown, he would be very suitable to play the all-around opposite hitter position if he continues on the path of volleyball in the future.
What made Coach Kurosu even more uneasy was that the Blue-Eyed main attacker's command authority within the Tsurumeikan team was second only to Imadegawa.
In the previous set, when Imadegawa was the starter, he filled in the gaps for Imadegawa in the backcourt when Imadegawa couldn't cover certain areas in the frontcourt.
After Imadegawa was substituted off the court, he naturally took over the baton of command for the team from the newly substituted setter, and the other players followed his instructions without any hesitation, as if this was a routine routine.
Even the substitute setter had no objection to his instructions.
Director Blackbeard held the lower half of his face with one hand, using the base of his thumb to cover his mouth, concealing the downward-turned corners of his lips.
...What kind of strange place is Crane Cry Pavilion?
I just witnessed a genius setter evolving at an astonishing speed, and now another monster newcomer with comprehensive skills and a mature mind has emerged.
Such precious and promising talents are sprouting up one after another in the Crane Cry Pavilion, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.
Even though I kept reminding myself that this was just a practice match and that winning or losing was not everything.
But watching Inarizaki's teammates repeatedly falter in the face of that dark blue-haired outside hitter's orchestration and efficient performance, it became clear that their offensive was repeatedly thwarted.
A complex emotion, a mixture of admiration and immense pressure, continued to quietly spread through the heart of Kurosu Hōshū.
——————
However, when he turned his gaze back to Imadegawa on the field, his thoughts were completely different from those of the pressure-ridden coach, Kurosu.
Even to outsiders—even seasoned rival coaches like Kurosu—it seems that Tsurumeikan has a constant stream of outstanding new talents, as if they possess an inexhaustible wellspring of talent.
But in Imadegawa's eyes, this team is still far from the "complete form" he envisioned.
The existing system still has obvious gaps, and the operation of tactics is far from being smooth and flawless.
While the arrival of Koizumi and these main attackers made up for the lack of absolute explosiveness in Tsurumeikan's back row attack, it only temporarily plugged the most obvious loophole.
These attackers are still not strong enough; they can only barely supplement and improve the blocking and defense system of Heming Hall, but they cannot give Heming Hall a powerful offensive point.
Imadegawa was more aware than anyone else that the reason why Tsurumeikan was able to win the IH National Tournament was largely due to the blocking and defense system composed of Aoyagi, other middle blockers, and Saotome, plus the defensive counterattacks they managed to pull off, which caught the high school volleyball world, which at the time generally favored violent attacks, off guard.
Crane Pavilion's defensive style is like a lake, integrating all attacks into the water, making it difficult for opponents who are used to smashing through high walls to adapt, which is why they barely managed to seize the opportunity.
But now that he's leaving Sichuan, he knows full well that the advantage brought by this "sense of unfamiliarity" cannot last.
If they are content with the IH stage and no longer seek evolution and adjustment, then when they reach the Spring High School, once these opponents have thoroughly studied them, their system, which relies on extreme defense, will easily be broken through by stronger schools that are more targeted and penetrating.
After all, Tsurumeikan is by no means the only school in the Japanese high school volleyball world that has a well-developed defensive system.
Tsurumikan's success this time is largely due to Imadegawa's on-the-spot tactical adjustments and pinpoint attacks at key points, coupled with the fact that other top teams are unfamiliar with the players from this suddenly emerging school.
According to information gathered by Xiaofeijiu through financial means after leaving Sichuan—
After the IH National Championship, Inarizaki not only invited Tsurumeikan to a practice match, but also arranged two or three practice matches with strong defensive schools in the prefecture.
Like Inarizaki, Furutani and Itayama, located far away in Tokyo, also held training camps with schools such as Tomionko in Tokyo and many strong defensive schools near Tokyo.
Miyagi's Shiratorizawa team recruited all the strong defensive schools in and outside the prefecture, even those schools that relied on technical skills and had strong setters—such as Aoba Johsai.
The setter from Aoba Josai expressed his indignation at this.
—Because some members of the Shiratorizawa volleyball team who had been to the national youth training camp once again relentlessly wielded their hoes against the outstanding setter from the same prefecture.
The outstanding setter from another county has a team that he is particularly suited to, and he is also given a heavy responsibility—specifically, a player from a championship team who became captain in his first year.
Although I really want his skills, it's not easy to poach them, and there's no guarantee I can get them.
So the straightforward player remembered another technical setter he had been longing for for a long time.
If we can't dig in other counties, can't we at least dig in the same county?
Moreover, the western part of Aoba Castle is not suitable for Oikawa Toru.
Ushijima Wakatoshi thought so.
—However, these are not information that Little Chubby Bird can find out.
Besides the schools mentioned above, there's no need to mention the other top volleyball teams that can make it to the national level.
They sought out schools in the same county and neighboring counties known for their defensive prowess for targeted joint training sessions, simulating the suffocating blocking rhythm and counter-attack speed of the Heming Hall.
Jin Chuchuan also learned through Xiaofeijiu about the trend of "breaking the defense of Heming Hall" that has quietly emerged among strong schools across the country.
Therefore, it's not hard to imagine how experienced coaches would meticulously analyze every single match videotape at Heming Hall, frame by frame.
But when the mystery of Heming Pavilion is unveiled in their hands, and all its weaknesses are magnified, the real test for Heming Pavilion has only just begun.
————————
(Tiredly patting paws—) I've been so busy, really so busy. I usually write a little bit for tomorrow's chapter every night, but last night I had writer's block and only wrote yesterday's chapter. Plus, I've been so busy lately and haven't had much time to relax during the day, so I can only postpone the update time for the next two days by a few hours. I'll be able to readjust to 9 pm updates on Sunday when I'm free during the day (heart emoji). I'll reply to the comments all at once on Sunday too.
That concludes my daily life in Hyogo Prefecture tomorrow—guess who I'll meet outside Inari-zaki—(you'll never guess—) (swearing confidently)
And the day after tomorrow is the Spring College Entrance Examination!!!
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