Chapter 21 Closing Ceremony Competition 2: Still a Competition
Even though Kujoike dealt a heavy blow to nearly half of our team members, our reliable teammates didn't drag him to Tokyo Bay to pour cement and mud because of it.
He finally snapped out of his "I'm the best" mentality. Akaashi Kyoji sighed silently, wondering how long this composure would last. In any case, he should pass the ball to Ikeya more often during this time.
The opposing team knew they couldn't serve to the libero, probably having learned from the experience of Kyujo Ichi, so they didn't dare try anything new and smashed the ball towards their open space.
Tsuna looked at the ball. The ball wasn't very fast, and its path was clear. Either he or the person standing next to him could catch it.
Suddenly remembering that Hinata was beside him, he quickly said, "I'll do it!"
The ball bounced smoothly, and Akaashi leaped up, deciding to pass the ball to Kujo Ikeya. The tall outside hitter, with tears streaming down his face, jumped up and spiked the ball with deep emotion.
Kyōji is still willing to pass the ball to me; he cares about me!
Tsuna glanced at Aoyama, who was standing on the sidelines, as if to say, "See? I told you so! Kyoji is a very nice guy!"
Aoyama listened to his setter muttering to himself, "Why is he back to his old ways again? I guess we should let Ike take more points from the other side while he's still alive."
Tsuna, your setter is so ruthless! All he thinks about is using Kujo as a tool to score points!
The middle blocker met the bright gaze of his teammate's opposite hitter, unable to utter a single word of rebuttal. He looked away, ultimately bearing the brunt of everything.
The inexplicable surge of adrenaline faded from Kujo Ike's mind, and reason finally prevailed. He remembered that he was a powerful ace who could overcome any skill with sheer force, so he stopped trying any clever tricks and just smashed the ball back no matter who passed it to him.
The opposing team's receiving skills were slightly inferior; they couldn't receive the balls that Kujo Ikeya spiked with force each time. The opposing setter lifted the corner of his shirt and wiped the sweat from his face.
Consecutive points!
The teammates huddled together again, and Matsukawa Saki hooked his arm around Kujo Ikeya's neck and pulled him down hard, then rubbed his head vigorously. "You should have done this earlier. I was starting to suspect you were a spy sent by the other side."
Sawada Tsunayoshi was still shaken. "Judging by his record, he's practically no different from an undercover agent."
Aoyama Kaede paused, thinking that he shouldn't say such things anymore, and then turned around to find that Akaashi Kyoji was pretending not to have heard anything.
The setter was a hypocrite, the middle blocker suddenly realized.
"I want to spike too! Pass me the ball!" Hyuga jumped around near Akaashi, who nodded.
"Xiangyang, don't be impatient, I'll pass the ball to you."
Hinata's happiness materialized upon receiving the promise, and he bounced back to his position. After the rotation, Matsukawa Saki left the field, Aoyama returned, and Tsuna finally got his turn in the front row.
The opponent's reception was indeed poor, and Sawada Tsunayoshi on the court could clearly see this. After the ball was caught, it flew to Tsunayoshi's side of the court—an opportunity ball! Akaashi Kyoji quickly moved to the landing point and made a catching gesture.
"Since Kyoji said that, this ball is definitely for me," Hinata jumped excitedly.
I scored the first few points with spikes. I'm still Kyōji's most trusted attacker, and Kujōike is very confident too.
The opposing blockers wished they could double their strength. Their thoughts were similar to Hyuga and Kujo: should this ball be given to Hyuga, who hadn't spiked the ball earlier, or to Kujo, who had been scoring all along?
The ball is coming, it's Hinata!
They jumped right after Hinata.
Huh? The same bewildered expression appeared on these people's faces. It wasn't you who spiked the ball.
Tsuna jumped up from behind, his heart filled with joy. The block had already been fooled by Sho, and there was no need to worry about the ball being intercepted. He swung his arm and performed a wonderful trick with Akaashi.
The ball landed and scored. Hinata smiled sheepishly at the opposing blocker, "I'm so sorry I fooled you all!"
Aoyama, following his teammate's lead, also gave Sawada Tsunayoshi a little tug on the head. Tsunayoshi and Akaashi-senpai's teamwork is getting better and better; he didn't even have time to react when Tsunayoshi rushed out earlier.
Sawada Tsunayoshi held his head high as he accepted the rubbing from his teammates. He smiled with his lips pursed. Akaashi Kyoji was generous with his praise, although this was not as obvious in front of Kujo Ikeya. He was still very indulgent towards his teammates.
The harmonious atmosphere between the opposite hitter and setter made the other attackers wary, worried about their status as the setter's favorite attacker.
Aoyama Kaede, who had been observing everything, was speechless. "Wake up, you lot! Does Akaashi-senpai seem like the kind of person who would have such a thing in his heart?"
The coach, sitting on the sidelines watching the game, felt a pang of sympathy. "The Akaashi team has no weaknesses. They are strong on offense, have several offensive options, the floor is well-maintained, Akaashi himself has good awareness, and the team works well together."
The young coach said several good things in one breath. Although the opposing team was also very strong, everyone knew that with their weakness in receiving the ball, they were still a bit worse than the team from Akaashi.
Kujou Sa was secretly pleased with herself, but Suzuki next to her said, "The key is good teamwork. There are several unpredictable players in the team, and they are not very stable."
However, inconsistency is a common problem for beginners, and both teams on the field had elementary school students who exhibited this trait, so everyone was tolerant of the kids' minor flaws.
"As long as there's someone to fall back on, that's fine. We've been getting them to practice catching the ball lately, and the most noticeable improvement has been in Hyuga and Tsunayoshi," Coach Nakajima chimed in.
If the ball doesn't touch the ground, there won't be any points lost. As long as there are no points lost, everyone can ignore the balls that were given away in a moment of erratic play. So it's very important to have a few defensive specialists on the team.
"I remember a few weeks ago Hyuga's catching of the ball was completely unwatchable, but now he can even do a diving tackle. Did you teach him?" She looked at Hyuga's movements and had a strange sense of déjà vu.
Suzuki said, "No, I guess Sawada learned from you and then dragged Hinata to practice with him."
Kujou Hayate was puzzled. "Isn't Hyuga supposed to be an attacker? Why is he practicing receiving the ball with Sawada?"
Of course, everyone needs to practice receiving the ball, but very few attackers think about practicing receiving the ball in their extra training. For example, Kujo Ikeya, if he were to train on his own, he would only think about spiking the ball. Of course, whether he would train on his own is also a question.
"That's how they are. Did I mention it before? Sawada was dragged into playing volleyball by Hyuga. The two of them practice together every day. Recently, during their afternoon self-practice sessions, I've noticed that Sawada teaches Hyuga the moves while he still remembers them."
Nakajima was puzzled, "Sawada hasn't seemed to be in much pain while learning lately, and I think he's learning quite quickly."
Suzuki replied, "Who knows? But he always feels like he can't remember."
It's unclear how little self-awareness Tsunayoshi has of himself, but his lack of confidence is obvious to all the coaches. So, they subconsciously praise him more often, at least to prevent him from getting carried away and to boost his confidence.
"Then will Hinata remember?" Kujou Sohei questioned the two's memory abilities.
Thinking about this, Suzuki found it amusing. "That Hinata kid doesn't memorize any of the knowledge from books, but he learns volleyball very quickly and well."
"He's truly a natural at volleyball," Nakajima commented.
Her gaze didn't leave the field. As she watched Hyuga crouch down, lower his center of gravity, and catch the ball, she suddenly realized where that sense of déjà vu came from.
"Look, Hinata's way of catching the ball is exactly like Tsuna's!"
Kujo was puzzled, "Is there some kind of special pose for catching the ball?"
"Oh, I wasn't talking about that. I meant his little tricks. Every time Tsuna catches the ball, he shakes twice. I used to think it was because the ball was too strong and he couldn't catch it properly, but then I found out that the kid is just afraid of getting hurt and just shakes twice."
Every time Tsuna practiced catching the ball, he would grimace. At first, Nakajima thought that the other party hated catching the ball so much that it was like he had some great grudge against him. But after observing him, he realized that Sawada Tsuna was afraid of pain. Once he was hit and hurt, his big eyes were full of grievance, but he didn't complain. He would hug his arm pitifully and wait for the pain to pass.
Seeing this softened the heart of Nakajima, a woman with a heart of stone. Even so, Sawada Tsunayoshi never said he wanted to skip training, and he always practiced diligently and never slacked off.
"Hyuga swayed twice just like Tsuna, but you guys didn't see it." She was a little disappointed that no one else had seen such a fun scene.
The match continued. Akaashi Kyoji wiped the sweat from his forehead. He didn't know if it was his imagination or what, but he felt like the other side was targeting him.
The opposing setter gave him an evil smile, and then the attacker spiked the ball towards Kyoji Akaashi, forcing the opponent to participate in the first pass.
Kujo Sa slapped his thigh, "The other side also knows that it's better to receive the ball here, so they simply spike the ball towards the setter to limit Kyoji's passing."
"Your awareness is really good." Suzuki nodded. Even without coaching from either side, these elementary school kids were able to play a back-and-forth game and even consider tactics.
"This year has produced a lot of promising talents." I've lost count of how many times I've remarked this.
Several coaches who graduated years ago couldn't help but mutter to themselves, feeling like they were about to be swept away by the next generation.
"Oh wow, Kujo, that kid Hyuga has even started practicing as a setter!" Nakajima said, pointing at the court.
Kujou Hayate quickly looked over. It seemed that the other side had forced Akaashi to receive the ball again. He passed it to Hyuga, who made a standard overhead ball-handling posture. Middle blocker Aoyama paused sharply and quickly followed suit to prepare to spike the ball.
Hinata barely thought for a moment, and with a light leap, the ball flew at high speed to the other side of the court, and it was a flat shot!
Aoyama Kaede closed his eyes as he watched the ball. Very well, he definitely won't be able to dunk this ball. Let him be.
Just when Aoyama thought no one could coordinate with this pass, Sawada Tsunayoshi appeared there without anyone noticing. He jumped high and perfectly spiked the ball that Hyuga had passed to him.
The opponent was stunned and had no idea what to do about this quick attack.
In that instant, it was as if the two had switched places, their tacit cooperation raising the other's level of vigilance to an even higher level.
"Great!" Matsukawa Saki jumped up and cheered from the sidelines.
Tsuna and Hyuga often played like this during training, but this was the first time they'd used it in a match. They hugged each other in celebration, then ran towards Akaashi, each wrapping their arms tightly around Kyoji Akaashi on either side.
"Kyoji, don't be afraid, we're here for you!"
Tsuna and Shoyo are always overly sensitive to other people's emotions. Akaashi has one in each hand. He knew he was a little anxious when he was being targeted earlier, and he had already adjusted himself immediately, but these two noticed so quickly.
He smiled and said, "Well done."
Kujo Ike also rushed over and hugged them, wailing, "Shoyo, when did you start practicing setter behind my back! Didn't we agree to be ace players together?"
Just then, the referee blew the technical timeout whistle, and Matsukawa Saki rushed over, grabbing one middle blocker with each hand. The group huddled together, like a game of finding a tree in sports.
He said smugly, "You don't know, do you? You were the fastest runner during afternoon training. Hyuga always practices ball-handling with Tsuna after each session, right, Akaashi?"
Chi Wei was squeezed in the very center of the encirclement and responded with a muffled sound. Moreover, as the best setter among them, he would occasionally correct the movements of his two junior classmates.
"What are you guys standing there for? Come and rest for a bit," Coach Suzuki shouted at them.
Aoyama Kaede and Kojima Shiro were released by Matsukawa Saki and quickly stepped back to avoid being suffocated by their setter.
As we walked down the net, the person on the other side complained loudly in despair, "What were they doing just now! Why are they all playing so unpredictably?"
His teammate next to him was also indignant, "That's right, what kind of attacker can't wipe the floor? He's not a good setter!"
Aoyama Kaede paused, suddenly wanting to loudly explain to them that there were still normal people like him in this group.
Kojima also heard what was being said. Seeing Aoyama stop, he thought for a moment and added, "Actually, I can play libero too. Do you think I should learn how to pass?"
Aoyama's face twitched. Very well, is he the only one in this team who can only play as a middle blocker?
Kojima quickly abandoned his idea of practicing passing, because Akaashi Kyoji warned the eager Kujo Ike, "If you dare to pass the ball that I passed to you on the field again, don't expect me to tip the ball back to you."
With just one sentence, Kujo Ikeya and Kojima Shiro dispelled their thoughts.
Over there, the naive and innocent Hinata, in response to the coach's questioning, carelessly blurted out all her weaknesses.
"I can only work with Xiaogang. I don't know anything about the other people's arrangements, and they won't be able to receive the information if I send it over."
Akaashi nodded, "Don't try things in a match if you haven't practiced them."
As he spoke, he glanced at Kujo Ikeya, who was grinning foolishly.
Matsukawa Saki said with great regret, "Why did Shoyo have to say it now? Look, even the opponent knows."
"But I could only pass the ball to Tsuna, right?" He didn't quite understand what Matsukawa meant.
Matsukawa looked at Hinata as if she were an idiot. "Are you stupid? If you don't tell them, they'll think you can cooperate with everyone, and then they'll definitely start to be wary of everyone."
Hinata Shoyo suddenly realized, "Saki, you're so cunning!" Forgive his poor Mandarin.
Sawada Tsunayoshi pointed out from the side, "Shouldn't 'cunning' be the more appropriate word here?"
"That was tactical!" Matsukawa Saki exclaimed, jumping up and down. "And both of you have hopeless Mandarin!"
A note from the author:
----------------------
Logically speaking, Tsuna should be the one making sarcastic remarks, but he's probably considered a relatively normal person in volleyball, so he doesn't make many sarcastic comments. (Thinking)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
