[7] Grade 11: Kyoto Preliminaries
What are you thinking about every time you serve?
I vaguely heard the clear, crisp voice of the little chubby bird.
Imadegawa Yuzuru used to practice passing with SSR, SR, and R in a bustling volleyball hall, and also practiced serving alone in an empty volleyball hall.
When practicing alone, Imadegawa Yuzuru is always taciturn. Even when the little chubby bird chatters around him, he ignores it completely, focusing all his attention on the circular three-colored anchor point in his hand that sustains his life in another world.
One ball, one ball, and another—the volleyball slipped from his hands and crashed onto the other side of the court.
But the anchor point detached itself from the volleyball the same moment it left Imadegawa Yuzuru's hand, transforming from a heavy mass into the wind brought by the volleyball as it broke through the air. This wind followed the arc the volleyball traced in the air, quietly returning to his hand and gently binding his fingers—and the tape he had wrapped around them to protect them.
So every time Imadegawa Yuzuru served, he could feel that strange, peculiar sensation through his palm, a sensation that shook his very soul.
It's as if he's installed taste buds on his fingertips; each serve he tries has its own unique flavor.
After a powerful jump serve that completely smashes the volleyball, it feels like the first sip of ice-cold soda after a ten-kilometer walk on a hot summer day.
When the volleyball is served with topspin, it drops rapidly over the net, brushing against the sideline. It feels like walking home from the school library on a cold winter night and having a steaming hot sukiyaki.
When you jump and float, the volleyball floats lightly away from your hand, like cherry blossoms falling on sake during a spring picnic, bringing a pleasant buzz after you drink it down in one gulp.
The unpredictable trajectory and landing point of the volleyball caused by each wrist movement during a sidespin serve are like picking various kinds of fruit at random in an autumn orchard—some unripe, some sweet, some dry and tasteless, and some melting in your mouth...
Besides these, there's the lingering sweetness of long-range shots, the instantaneous spiciness of short-range shots, and so on.
Imadegawa Yuzuru was captivated by the wonderful feeling of savoring volleyball.
So, Imadegawa, who focused intently on serving practice and ignored everything around him, was often asked this question by the chubby little bird after practice:
What are you thinking about every time you serve?
"Imaedawa Yuzuru replied softly in my heart."
...I wasn't thinking about anything.
Imadegawa Yuzuru tossed the volleyball up in the air, looking up at the round, three-colored anchor point.
...I wasn't thinking about anything.
After the volleyball falls, he extends his wrist outward and lifts it, quickly rubbing the inside of his palm against the surface of the ball.
...You don't need to think about anything!
The volleyball, with a strange spin from the lower right to the upper left, left his palm.
The golden-eyed setter gripped that hand tightly.
He has already grasped his anchor point.
"Beep—"
Tsurumeikan: Tachibana Yamazaki
6:0
......
Yamazaki Tachibana's targeted timeout did not affect Imadegawa Yuzuru's serve.
After scoring with a topspin serve without touching the ball, he served two more reverse topspin serves that were returned by Tachibana Yamazaki, bringing the match to a technical timeout.
——
Tsurumeikan: Tachibana Yamazaki
8:0
——
After coming onto the field, Coach Yamazaki Tachibana urgently gave the players pointers on their performance: "Ono, your receiving point for that ball was too far back; it would have been better if you had moved a little further forward..."
After pointing out everyone's problems with receiving the ball, the technical timeout was about to end. He didn't say anything more, as he had already said what needed to be said during the regular timeout, so he simply reminded everyone again: "Be prepared for defense by everyone, and if you miss the first pass, do your best to make up for it."
"We haven't lost as long as the ball hasn't touched the ground."
The game continues.
Back in his position, Yamazaki Tachibana rubbed his head helplessly: "I should have known better than to jinx it. Captain No. 1 really is Tsurumeikan's trump card."
He muttered to himself, "Terrible—shouldn't it be some kind of trump card, a mysterious weapon that only activates after the opponent's health is reduced to 10%? How come it unlocked when the score was 1-1—"
"Shut up,"
The setter in the front row suddenly spoke up forcefully.
"Watch their moves."
"We must break the opponent's serve on this ball."
The setter's voice was deep: "We can't give them the chance to take the third set in one fell swoop."
"Yes!" Ace replied readily, quickly wiping away his feigned bitterness and resentment.
He was once the ace of the drama club and is now the ace of the volleyball club. Even though he is often joking around, he is extremely focused and serious when facing every ball on the court.
Imadegawa Yuzuru once again stepped onto the service line.
...This is bad.
The opposing team has completely gotten into the game.
However, for Imadegawa and Tsurumeikan, it has no impact whatsoever on the other side's situation.
Captain Golden Eyes deftly tossed the ball, raised his hand, and deftly served another powerful reverse sidespin serve.
Yamazaki Tachibana, who was substituted into position five, once again shouldered the heavy responsibility of receiving the first pass.
This is the fourth reverse sidespin serve from Heming Hall. The reverse spin brings an unconventional change in the volleyball's flight trajectory, and coupled with the uncertainty of the landing point, it makes it difficult for them to receive the first few balls, either because they can't receive them or because they miss the ball.
...Another premature prediction!!
The volleyball veered off course again in the air.
Without hesitation, the libero, who had positioned himself to receive the ball, quickly ducked and rolled to the side, saving the volleyball that was moving laterally.
"Save the ball!!!" The libero shouted quickly after feeling the volleyball hit his upper arm.
The last-minute change in his save position meant he didn't have time to exert any force, and the volleyball flew away in a random direction again.
This time, the volleyball, whose trajectory was altered, did not bounce very high, but instead flew low to the other side in Yamazaki Tachibana's half of the court.
The ball's trajectory was too low! It was only at the player's knee level; there was no way to catch it while crouching down.
Before the volleyball hit the ground, Yamazaki Tachibana, a third-year outside hitter in the back row, made a diving save to keep the ball afloat.
But this save seemed to have applied a strange force to the volleyball, which flew out at a 45-degree angle.
The erroneous first and second passes prevented Yamazaki Tachibana from spiked the ball. To prevent the ball from hitting the ground, the ace attacker in the back row had to urgently intercept the volleyball, which had an equally unpredictable spin, in the air and send it over the net.
The volleyball team moved back to the half of the court at Heming Hall.
It seems that Tachibana Yamazaki has given Tsurumeikan a chance to score.
The entire Heming Pavilion team showed no intention of defending.
The middle blocker and outside hitter at the net didn't jump, and the three players in the back row didn't even move their feet.
He appeared completely calm and composed.
The pink-haired libero at Tsurumeikan even wagged his finger and spoke clearly to the tense-looking Yamazaki Tachibana players on the other side of the net:
"Out!!"
As his voice faded, the volleyball fell behind him—
It landed just outside the sideline of the Heming Hall half of the field, less than ten centimeters from the sideline.
It was very close to the sideline, but it was clearly visible to the naked eye that the ball had landed out of bounds.
"Beep—"
Hemingguan's score increased by another point.
"Hello!!!"
Ace Yamazaki Tachibana asked loudly, somewhat unwillingly, "Why was no one defending that ball just now?"
None of the players at Heming Hall turned around. Could they really judge whether the ball went out of bounds just by the trajectory of his shot?
Moreover, that ball was less than 10cm from the boundary line. If it had landed any closer, it might have hit the sideline of the Crane Sound Pavilion.
The pink-haired free agent from Hemingguan, who had always looked agitated in the first two games, now had a rare peaceful and relaxed expression on his face.
He pointed behind him, smilingly answering his opponent's question: "Because our command tower didn't give any instructions~"
The starting players followed his hand and looked toward the brain of Tsurumeikan.
After Heming Hall scored another point, the team's captain and setter once again moved from position one to the service line.
Noticing the gaze from the other side, setter Chan-jin's eyes curved subtly, revealing a polite and courteous smile.
Despite being in a position where he could clearly hear their conversation, he made no attempt to answer their questions.
Ace player Tachibana Yamazaki and the starting lineup: ...
Is this a provocation? It must be a provocation!?
"hateful!!!"
The ace cracked his knuckles.
"That expression that completely disregards us—"
"This is infuriating!!!"
A single expression from the captain of the Tsurumeikan setter team ignited the fighting spirit of the entire Yamazaki Tachibana team.
Fueled by Yamazaki Tachibana's high morale, the starting players fought hard to save and spike the ball, finally breaking the opponent's serve on Tsurumeikan's third serve after the technical timeout.
The current score is Tsurumeikan: Yamazaki Tachibana 10:1.
"Yamazaki Tachibana! Well done!"
"We'll get back every single one of them!!!"
Yamazaki Tachibana's support group rallied and cheered during the second half of the match.
"Faced with a series of points from Tsurumeikan's serves, the Yamazaki Tachibana players maintained a good mindset and steadily regained control of the serve!"
"Although there's a 9-point gap between the two sides, anything is possible as long as the volleyball doesn't hit the ground! How will Tachibana Yamazaki fight back? Let's wait and see!!"
The voices of the commentators from the Kyoto local television station rang out simultaneously with the cheers.
"Nice!!!"
"Great shot, senior!"
Yamazaki Tachibana excitedly patted the setter and middle blocker on the shoulder.
The unexpected return of serve was achieved when setter Tachibana Yamazaki deceived the opposing blocker's vision, and the middle blocker combined with a spike that went out of bounds.
Setter Tachibana Yamazaki quickly clapped his hands in celebration with the middle attacker.
Even after winning the point, the setter's face showed no sign of relief or excitement.
His eyes were dark and brooding, like a hungry wolf trying to tear its prey apart, his gaze fixed on the setter in the same position as him at Heming Hall.
Tachibana Yamazaki's mind launched a challenge against the other side—
"Just you wait and see!!"
"Next, Tachibana Yamazaki will regain the rhythm of the game!"
As if in response, the golden-eyed setter on the opposite side met his gaze.
Setter Tachibana Yamazaki seemed to decipher his reply from his nonchalant and indifferent expression—
Victory will belong only to Tsurumeikan.
————————
The anchor of the Heming Hall volleyball team is Xiao He, and Xiao He's anchor is the volleyball he plays—so our junior volleyball team is the most authoritative! (Yay!)
Today is the seventh day since I started writing this article. I would like to thank all the readers who left comments and sent me nutrient solutions, especially those who sent nutrient solutions to this article.
My typing speed is actually quite slow, and before writing about Xiaohe, my knowledge of volleyball was limited to the Haikyuu!! anime and some occasional volleyball highlights I'd come across (the last time I watched Haikyuu!! was in 2024). Currently, my understanding of volleyball matches is limited to the cramming I've done since starting this article; many rules were learned from commentary videos and online resources, which makes typing even more difficult.
But every time I see new comments and donations in the comments section, I instantly get motivated, so I really love you guys! [Let me see][Let me see]
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