"Hey, little bro, you're okay playing middle blocker, right?"
"No problem."
"Good, then let's start the match!"
After agreeing on their positions and confirming with the opposing side, the game officially began.
Chiba and Akashi Asuka's team was the Red Team.
Kentarō Kyōtani was on the Blue Team.
Six-on-six format.
At the coin toss, the Blue Team won and chose to receive the serve first, so the Red Team, where Akashi was, had the first serve.
The skill level of Chiba's teams was on a completely different level compared to the amateur players Akashi had met at the "open courts." Although they were technically amateurs, they had formed an actual team, and just the coordination among players was a whole different matter.
Besides, these were all university students. Even if they weren't quite at the university league level yet, their years of training and adult physiques made them much stronger than typical high school players.
Bam!
The Red Team's setter started with a jump serve.
It wasn't a particularly powerful serve, but the tricky placement still threw off the Blue Team's formation. Unlike what happened with the Junior Higher, the serve wasn't an easy gift for the opponent's attack.
"Sorry, the ball was off!"
"No worries, no worries. Let me handle it. Little guy, this first attack is yours!"
The Blue Team's setter passed the first attack to Kentarō Kyōtani, a habit similar to what Akashi had seen in the other gym.
In public gyms like this, it's a sort of unspoken rule to give newcomers the first ball.
First, it's a way to greet the newcomer.
Second, it lets veteran players gauge their skill level and get a feel for teamwork.
"Watch the block!"
The Red Team's setter reminded the players. Akashi was positioned at the front right (position 2), while Kyōtani attacked from the left side. So this time, Akashi obviously couldn't get to the block in time and had to watch as the two middle attackers moved sideways to block.
Kyōtani, about 178 cm tall, wasn't short, but among university players averaging over 183 cm, it wasn't much of an advantage.
When the Red Team's middle blocker and outside hitter formed a double block, their four arms created a towering wall that completely shadowed Kyōtani's body.
Not only the Blue Team but even the two blockers on the Red Team thought to themselves, "This might be trouble." feeling they might have taken the block too seriously.
Then, in the next moment,
Kyōtani, already midair, twisted his body into an almost unnatural shape, stretching his right arm and both legs backward, transforming from a taut bow into something like a nearly circular "C" shape.
Bang!
A sharp sound echoed through the air.
The volleyball traced a swift arc over the block, bypassing the defenders, and slammed down with a thunderous thud on the floor behind the Red Team's setter.
Kyōtani landed, still wearing that arrogant smirk.
The Red Team's setter hadn't even reacted, hands bent in front of him, as if petrified in place, only the sharp diagonal flash of the ball's path lingering in his eyes.
"Huh?"
The Red Team's middle and outside hitters blinked, turning to where the ball fell, stunned on the spot.
"What the hell was that?"
"No way!"
"What kind of weird spike form was that? Can a human body really bend like that?"
The Red Team was in disbelief, especially the two blockers who clearly saw Kyōtani initially preparing for a straight spike, but after the block formed, he somehow adjusted midair and instantly switched to a diagonal spike.
It was utterly absurd.
Even Akashi was a bit stunned.
He had known from the start that Kyōtani possessed the talent of "freely controlling his body midair." but it's one thing to see it in anime, and a whole different story in real life.
Many things portrayed in anime are just rough approximations; the reality involves a lot more detail that original works don't show.
Like the first match with Kitagawa .
Akashi had known Tobio Kageyama had psychological issues but it was actually Oda Miki who successfully devised strategies exploiting that flaw, not Akashi himself.
Partly because Akashi wasn't great at volleyball tactics, but mostly because exploiting Kageyama's weakness required a perspective that could see the entire court situation during gameplay.
That kind of vision Akashi didn't have, not even shown on his system panel.
But Oda Miki, who frequently watched pro league matches, naturally developed a similar ability over time.
Kyōtani was the same.
If Akashi hadn't seen it with his own eyes, it would have been impossible to imagine how outrageous and bizarre this talent to instantly adjust body posture midair truly was.
…
"Don't mind it, don't mind it. Let's focus on defense for the next ball."
Kyōtani's first attack had shocked everyone, being such an unusual technique.
But the surprise lasted only a moment. Having played volleyball for years, they quickly shook it off and prepared for the next ball.
After Kyōtani scored, the serve went back to the Blue Team. After one rotation, Kyōtani served.
This time, it was an unremarkable overhand serve.
The original story describes the opposing team's serving skill as quite good, but that period was about a year away, so Kyōtani hadn't yet learned the jump serve.
The Red Team's libero received, and the setter organized the attack.
Like the Blue Team, the Red Team's first attack was also led by Akashi. When the ball flew toward him, the Blue Team's blockers immediately moved up.
"Since you're giving no mercy to our rookie, we won't hold back either!"
The Blue Team's double block, two players over 185 cm tall, smiled fiercely, instantly sealing off Akashi's spike path.
The Red Team's faces darkened.
Though both sides showed no mercy to newcomers, the Blue Team's blocking was on a different level from the Red Team's. Earlier, the Red Team's middle and outside hitters were shorter and could only block straight spikes.
But now, the Blue Team's two blockers were sealing not just the straight line, but even the diagonal spikes Kyōtani had just used.
Akashi sprinted from the back row to the net, glanced at the block, and launched himself upward with full power.
Thud.
The gym floor seemed to hum as Akashi soared high, as if he had grown wings.
"So high!"
The Blue Team blockers flinched at first but quickly jumped up in response.
"But height alone won't get past our defense!"
Though the blockers didn't jump as high as Akashi, their height advantage and timing controlled the block perfectly, their four arms still sealing the attack lanes.
Akashi, suspended in midair, felt the effect of his improved "hang time" attribute, he could stay in the air just a moment longer than before, and that tiny fraction of a second let him see the court more clearly.
A pause of just a few hundredths of a second.
Finally, Akashi spotted a weak point.
He swung his arm fiercely at the narrow opening.
Bang.
The ball skimmed just past the wrist of the right-side blocker, flying in a perfectly straight line and slammed down right on the boundary line.
Silence.
The Blue Team.
The Red Team.
------------
Note: If you guys want to read up to 30+ chapters in advance of the current story, you can support me on Patreon. You can read up to chapter 61 there! Patreon.com/Veltoria