noveldrama
Chapter 370: Didn’t Your Senpai Ever Teach You That? (Double-Length)
Chapter 370: Didn’t Your Senpai Ever Teach You That? (Double-Length)
[Aoba Johsai 14 - 12 Date Tech]
Date Tech to serve. Koganegawa Kanji stepped up to the endline.
"Give it a good one!"
Koganegawa tossed the ball and charged forward with powerful strides.
"Keep it low—like you're spiking it…"
Boom!!!
The ball grazed the top of the net and zipped over at a blistering speed!
"Not bad at all!" Kaedehara Taichi's eyes lit up—he hadn't expected even Koganegawa to develop such a solid serve.
Smack!
Nakamori Daiki received it square on.
"Cover!"
"I got it!"
The ball hovered close to the net. With his back turned toward it, Kunimi Akira jumped and gently lifted it high.
"Crap, here it comes…" Futakuchi Kenji braced himself. He knew it would happen eventually—no matter the position, he would launch an attack.
Thud!
Kaedehara Taichi rushed forward from the back row and leapt up.
"Triple block!" Obara Yutaka, Fukiage Jingo, and Onagawa Tar? jumped in unison.
BOOM!!!
A powerful wipe-off attack!
The ball sailed just above Onagawa's block, crashing toward the back of Date Tech's court.
Smack!
It ricocheted off Futakuchi Kenji's hand and flew out of bounds.
Point—Kaedehara Taichi.
[Aoba Johsai 15 - 12 Date Tech]
"Still not ready yet?" Taichi grinned as he glanced toward Date Tech's bench. "If you don't get in now, you might lose your chance."
The moment Kimura Ry?ta met the gaze of Taichi's dark eyes, his breath hitched—and memories he had hoped to bury came rushing back.
Until just now, Ry?ta had been fully immersed in the match. He'd thought he'd moved past that feeling.
But he couldn't keep running anymore.
Fire blazed in Kimura Ry?ta's eyes. The reason he stood on Date Tech's court—was so that one day, he could stand across from Kaedehara Taichi like this…and face him head-on.
Coach Oiwake caught the spark in Ry?ta's eyes and knew he couldn't hold him back anymore. Right now, the team did need a stronger front-line—both in blocking and attacking. And there was no better teacher than the pressure of real battle.
"Tweet!—"
"Substitution for Date Tech—Kimura Ry?ta IN, Onagawa Tar? OUT."
"Oh? You're really coming in, huh?" Taichi looked at the stiff-faced Ry?ta walking onto the court, a subtle, amused smile curling at his lips.
Rotation. Ky?tani Kentar? walked up to serve, while Taichi returned to the front row.
"Alright, alright—do whatever you want," Kunimi muttered as he met Taichi's gaze, unable to suppress a sigh.
Ky?tani tossed the ball high and launched into a jump serve.
BOOM!
Smack!
Sakunami K?suke barely managed to dig it out—the ball veered hard to the right.
"I got it!" Kimura Ry?ta swiftly covered and set the ball steadily toward the left side.
Obara Yutaka jumped for the spike.
"His form is good. Definitely a promising first-year," Taichi thought. "But…he's too obvious."
"Triple block!" Kaedehara Taichi, Kunimi Akira, and Kindaichi Y?tar? jumped together.
—!
Obara couldn't squeeze past the triple block to aim a cross shot, and with Taichi looming right in front of him, there was no angle left to attack.
Smack!
Obara twisted midair and gently tapped the ball over the block—it floated toward the back row of Seijoh.
"Chance ball!"
Nakamori Daiki's first touch was spot on. Kunimi jumped and set the ball.
Kimura Ry?ta watched helplessly as Taichi darted across the front, despite Ry?ta having stayed in the right-wing the whole time. He still couldn't catch up.
Too fast!
BAM!
Taichi leapt in a horizontal sprint, and the ball met him in perfect rhythm.
BOOM!!
Ry?ta had barely jumped when the ball soared over his head and pounded into Date Tech's court.
Kaedehara Taichi—point.
[Aoba Johsai 16 - 12 Date Tech]
"Hmm? Didn't they sub you in to boost the block?" Taichi tilted his head, looking innocently confused. "Funny, 'cause I could've sworn I just hit into an empty net."
"Don't sweat it, Kimura—next ball!" Futakuchi Kenji called from the back.
"Yes, sir!" Ry?ta shouted back, as if trying to shake off his fear with sheer volume.
"Tweet!—" Whistle.
Ky?tani served his second ball.
BOOM!—
The ball flew toward Date Tech's baseline with heavy sidespin.
Smack!
"Save it!" Futakuchi shouted. He barely touched the ball—it almost slipped right past him.
Smack!
Sakunami dove and pushed the ball back into play—but they had no attack left. Futakuchi simply bumped it over.
"Chance ball!"
Yahaba Shigeru's pass was clean. Kunimi rose to set—and once again, Taichi appeared on the left.
"Double block!" Obara and Fukiage leapt together.
This time, Date Tech's front line was laser-focused on Taichi.
Bang!
The ball hit the floor.
But it wasn't from Taichi.
Kunimi Akira had scored with a setter dump.
[Aoba Johsai 17 - 12 Date Tech]
"???"
"That guy?!!"
"We didn't even see it…"
In truth, the entirety of Date Tech's defence had focused solely on Kaedehara Taichi.
Three straight points for Aoba Johsai. Date Tech's hard-fought balance with Seijoh had suddenly crumbled.
"Tweet!—"
"Time out—Date Tech."
"Ughh, this sucks! Date Tech keeps ruining the flow of the game…" someone in the audience groaned.
Moniwa Kaname bit down on his lip. That's how you could tell—just to stay even with Seijoh, Date Tech had already been expending everything they had.
The players trudged off the court with heavy steps, surrounding Coach Oiwake. The tightly contested set had slipped from their fingers, and the widening point gap left them visibly shaken.
"I'm sorry…" Kimura Ry?ta said softly. The team had burned two substitutions just to get him in, and he hadn't contributed anything.
"Don't be dumb. This mess has nothing to do with you," Futakuchi said, half-mocking but with an encouraging tone.
Coach Oiwake exchanged a glance with Fukiage, then grabbed the strategy board and spoke quickly:
"Listen—you don't need to get too hung up on those quicks. Right now, Seijoh's just barely managing to mimic that Taichi–Oikawa combo from back in the day. But they can't actually recreate it."
"Huh? Coach, what do you mean?" Futakuchi asked.
It made sense—the suffocating atmosphere on the court had come from those unstoppable quicks. The little spark of hope they'd kindled had been doused by a bucket of cold water. With that kind of offensive pressure looming, it was getting harder and harder to breathe.
"From what I saw in the Seijoh–Karasuno match, Kunimi only recently picked up that kind of setting. More importantly—he's nowhere near Oikawa T?ru's level."
"The key is the first touch! Without a perfect receive, Kunimi can't pull that set off at all."
"Now that you mention it…" Futakuchi thought back to Taichi's last two spikes—both had come after Date Tech had sent over free balls.
To be honest, even Taichi's regular spikes were nearly impossible to block. If you thought of it like that, those ultra-quick attacks were just psychological intimidation—at the end of the day, it was still just one point.
"So the way to deal with Taichi—is to start with everyone else!" Futakuchi declared. "We rebuild our offence from the ground up, and claw our way back in—step by step!"
"Yeah!!"
"Ry?ta, show them what you're made of," Futakuchi said suddenly, slapping Ry?ta hard on the back.
Ry?ta froze. That might've been the first time Futakuchi-senpai had ever called him by name.
"Don't worry, Ry?ta! I'll give you some nice tosses too!" Koganegawa said boisterously.
"Just don't hit Coach again, Koganegawa," Futakuchi teased.
"Senpai! We said we wouldn't talk about that anymore!"
Watching his seniors bounce back so quickly in the face of a powerhouse opponent, Ry?ta suddenly found himself looking at them in a new light—so strong, so bright.
"I'll give it everything I've got!"
-----
Timeout's Over, Match Resumes.
Ky?tani Kentar? was feeling pretty good with his form today, so he went for another sidespin serve.
Boom!!!—
Crash!
The volleyball clipped the antenna on top of the net, sending it flying out of bounds.
Ky?tani Kentar?: "…."
Referee: "…."
After confirming that it wasn't intentional, the line judge jogged over and restored the antenna.
Ky?tani's serve was ruled out.
Point to Date Tech.
[Aoba Johsai 17 – 13 Date Tech]
"Pfft—hahaha! Mad Dog-senpai, your aim is something else!" Taichi laughed out loud without restraint.
"Shut it, Taichi!"
Serve rotation. Date Tech to serve.
Obara Yutaka launched a powerful jump serve, which Ky?tani Kentar? managed to receive.
Yahaba Shigeru filled in, setting the ball high to the left wing. Kaedehara Taichi leapt for the spike.
"Triple block!!"
Fukiage Jingo, Kimura Ry?ta, and Futakuchi Kenji all jumped together.
"Coach Oiwake was right—as long as the first touch isn't perfect, Kunimi Akira won't try running the super quick with Kaedehara Taichi!"
Futakuchi Kenji's confidence surged.
Date Tech's overall blocking ability was no joke. Kaedehara realised there was barely any room left—whether down the line or cross-court.
BOOM!!!
Without hesitation, Tachi slammed the ball against Kimura Ry?ta's arm.
SMACK!
"Whoa—that had the same impact as one of Aone-senpai's full-power spikes!" Kimura Ry?ta clenched his teeth as the ball ricocheted off his forearms.
"No worries! I've got it!" Obara Yutaka scrambled into position, taking a step past the baseline and managing to pass the ball back toward the net.
"Ry?ta!"
Koganegawa Kanji jumped for the set.
Even Aoba Johsai's players heard his call—and judging by the tone, even if that muscle-brained half-brother of Kindaichi wasn't usually deceptive, Kunimi still leapt to block him—just in case.
Whoosh—!
The set went to the left wing.
Bam!
Kimura Ry?ta ran in from the side and jumped at the net.
"That approach—and that spiking form—"
"He's just like Kaedehara Taichi!"
Gasps rose from the crowd. Now that both players were on opposite sides of the net, the resemblance was even more striking!
"Double block!"
Kaedehara Taichi and Kindaichi Y?tar? went up together.
Boom!—
The ball pounded into Aoba Johsai's right side, landing just inside the 3-meter line.
A super sharp angle shot!
Point scored by Kimura Ry?ta!
[Aoba Johsai 17 – 14 Date Tech]
"YEAH!!"
After holding back for so long, Kimura Ry?ta let out a roar—finally scoring his first point of the match!
"Nice hit, Ry?ta!"
"Do it again!"
[Kimura Ry?ta—Outside Hitter: Overall Rating: 88; Height: 185 cm, Strength: 88, Jump: 90, Stamina: 88, Speed: 88; Key Attributes: Block: 88, Serve: 85, Set: 85, Spike: 90.]
"Heh, aside from that brat from Fukur?dani, this guy's the strongest first-year I've seen this year," Taichi admitted, sounding surprised. In terms of versatility, Kimura might even be better-rounded.
"Not bad, not bad. No wonder he chose to model himself after me. Good taste, and a solid player too." Taichi nodded with satisfaction.
"Hah! You got blocked by that kid, and he scored on you—and you're still running your mouth?" Ky?tani sneered.
"Ahem, that's only 'cause he didn't spike it in my direction," Taichi replied instantly. "But speaking of which, Mad Dog-senpai…wasn't his spike aimed right at you?"
Ky?tani fell silent, lips tightening. He stopped responding to Taichi.
Date Tech continued serving.
Obara Yutaka launched his second serve.
Boom!
Yahaba received it, and Kunimi Akira once again moved to set the ball to the left wing.
It was high!
At Taichi's signal, the set was a full palm taller than the previous one.
BAM!
Kaedehara Taichi soared.
"Triple block!"
The Date Tech front row jumped confidently. Having blocked him once before, they believed they could do it again—
BOOOMM!!!
A gust of wind seemed to follow the spike. The ball brushed past Kimura Ry?ta's fingertips and crashed hard onto Date Tech's backline.
A wipe-off spike!
Kaedehara Taichi scores again!
[Aoba Johsai 18 – 14 Date Tech]
"Taichi! Taichi! Nice spike!!"
"Taichi! Taichi! What a jump!!"
"Insane! His contact point was at least 20 centimetres higher than his last one!"
"And the guy across from him is about the same height!"
"They managed to block him earlier, but he just powered straight through this time!"
"How about it, first-year Kimura—wanna give that a try?" Taichi grinned brightly.
"Don't talk to that monster," Futakuchi Kenji said firmly, cutting off his own teammate before he could respond to Kaedehara.
Serve rotation. Aoba Johsai to serve.
Kindaichi Y?tar? went for a powerful jump serve, and Sakunami K?suke received it.
Koganegawa Kanji moved quickly into place and jumped to set—Date Tech's front line launched a synchronised attack from all three positions!
"Don't rush it!" Taichi shouted.
The Aoba Johsai front row subtly converged near the centre of the net—they didn't get distracted by Date Tech's decoys.
Whoosh—!"
Koganegawa's set flew.
"Left side!"
The three blockers locked eyes on the trajectory and shifted toward the left wing in unison, moving in a crossover step.
"Triple block!" Y?ki Y?ji, Kunimi Akira, and Kaedehara Taichi all jumped together.
Boom!—
—Smack!
Kimura Ry?ta's sharp cross shot was smothered under Kaedehara's hand.
Thud!
The ball slammed into Date Tech's court and bounced up.
Aoba Johsai scores with a stuff block.
[Aoba Johsai 19 – 14 Date Tech]
"No way?!!"
Kimura Ry?ta's eyes widened—he was sure he had avoided the blockers.
"Didn't your Aone-senpai ever teach you?" Taichi narrowed his eyes, smiling, "That path you saw? I let you see it."
_________
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