章節 10: The Spiders 4

Genji

That last side out was wicked and it really brought the team's morale higher. Maki served next and the play seemed a little smoother.

Toshiro scored another point for the Stags. But Maki's next serve went out. The delinquent-looking guy served next but it hit the net. That was lucky. 13 – 12, Shiroshikata.

This time, Hiro rotated in and it's now his turn to serve. His jumper was received by the other team and a quick attack was attempted by the one called Yama. However, it was blocked by Kouen, who's been in a roll now.

Hiro served again but Kurokumogi scored in the next rally from their captain's spike. 14 – 13, Shiroshikata. The lead changed like alternating currents.

14 – 15, Kurokumogi.

17 – 16, Shiroshikata.

This is seriously amazing. The rotations shifted and now Hiro is back in the front row.

The serve by Kakuzo was returned to our side and Kouen made the first touch. Kouha followed and tossed the ball towards Hiro. Two blockers jumped to the direction of the toss.

"Ooof, he's gonna get stuffed." I softly said as I saw the wall before him.

However, something unusual happened next. Hiro adjusted his torso to the left at an extreme angle to manipulate the block and spiked the ball with his left hand from that already left-inclined position.

"Whaa – what just happened? Hiro-senpai can do that?!" I turned to our manager for answers.

"That's his quirk. He can adjust his torso to widen his spike range just like now. He would've been blocked by Kurokumogi's double wall if he wasn't able to move his upper body like that. Then you add his southpaw special, and you get that terrible headache of trying to understand what just happened." She said. The coach beside her just chuckled at her direful compliment.

"But he never did that during practice." I continued.

"That's because he's lazy." Her lip formed a tight line, indicating that she's so-done with it.

Kakuzo served again but the ball was returned directly after the receive made by Sumeragi. Kouha attempted a direct but the redhead captain got a hand on it.

"One touch!" He said as the block was followed by their libero. From the arc it made, delinquent-looking dude launched a spike. However, he was blocked by Hiro. The ball landed with a thud.

"Hiro, nice block!" Maki complimented him. Kakuzo served for the third time but it went out.

Hiragi, Kurokumogi's setter, served and it was aimed at Kakuzo, who raised it shakily and passed the ball to Kouen, who tossed it to Toshiro. He was blocked by Kurokumogi's captain. The setter's next serve was cleanly received by Kouha, who bumped it to Maki from the left for a kill.

"Nice one, Maki-san!"

Later, the score reads, 20 – 18, Shiroshikata leading.

Kakuzo switched out for Gaito and Kouha's serving. He aimed the powerful jump serve at the setter who got it up with extreme difficulty.

"Get it – ahhh... " I can see from the guy's face that he's getting gassed. The delinquent-looking guy tossed the ball in the middle, where their captain was waiting for it.

Or so I thought. He wasn't the one who spiked it. It was the guy from his back, the foreign-looking one. Point for the Spiders.

"Nice kill, Spencer!" Their captain said.

"What's that called?" I turned to Kayo.

"That's a pipe. Ugh. Didn't know they can do that now too. And the one who tossed isn't even the setter. They didn't have that in their arsenal of attacks last time." She massaged her head as if getting a headache from that last play. The Ginozas looked annoyed at that too.

Sumeragi is back at the service line and I braced myself for another underhand serve. But he did not do it this time. Instead, he served a ball with no rotation. Gaito got it up with an overhand. "Cover!"

"Alright, Toshiro!" Kouen called out as he tossed the ball to the spiker. The ball was received by their captain, and a follow-up from Sumeragi came.

"Shishio-san!" The little guy shouted and the delinquent-looking dude jumped from the back row.

"One touch!" Hiro managed to get a hold of that one but no one was there to follow up. Tied, 20-20.

Coach Soma called for a time-out. "You are rushing. Your tempo is too fast and your attacks are rather very aggressive. Relax and take things slowly. Try to do long passes to give yourselves a breather." The coach said.

"Hai!" Everyone responded and after a while, the whistle sounded.

Sumeragi served again and he aced the jump floater this time. "That spiker is really getting into my nerves."

"Maybe that's just because you're benched." Takumi said.

"Shut up. As if you're playing out there, no?" I retorted back at him, to which he only replied in a cheerful tone, "Sorry 'bout that." I wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not. I heard the chuckle of Sai, the rookie libero from behind me.

He made his third serve and Gaito got it up to Kouen, who tossed it to Maki for the attack.

"One touch!" the redhead captain from Kurokumogi yelled. Kouen looked pissed at that one. The ball was tossed to the left and the Yama guy hit it but Kouha got it back up. Kouen followed and the set was made for Hiro. He spiked it straight to where Sumeragi was positioned. I noticed him getting a lot of hits lately.

"Argh! Chance ball!" Sumeragi wailed.

"Sumeragi, nice receive... " The setter said as he tossed towards the delinquent-looking dude. Hiro and Kouen jumped to the block and the straight was received by Gaito with extreme difficulty.

"Nice save, Gai!" Maki said as he passed to Kouen. Three spikers – Kouha, Toshiro and Hiro jumped for the attack. Everyone was confused as to whom the toss would go.

But everyone was more astonished when Kouen did a setter dump. Tied again, 21 – 21.

"Nice kill, Kouen!!" Everyone cheered.

Captain Maki served the ball right after the whistle was blown, driving the timing crazy and scoring an ace. He made his second serve and the opponent's captain got it up. "Follow!"

"Yama-san…" the setter said as the Yama guy leaped from the left. Kouen and Toshiro jumped for the block, but the guy dinked the ball lightly and no one was there to cover it.

Nishiki, their libero, switched in replacing the foreign-looking dude. The redhead captain served, and it was received by Hiro but it just went back directly to the opponent's court.

"Chance ball!" The libero said as he got the ball to the setter, who tossed to Shishio.The ace radiated monster energy. The triple block consisting of Hiro, Kouen and Toshiro closed in for the cross. Maki and Hiyorin got ready for the straight. But surprisingly, Shishio forced to hit a cross. It hit Kouen's fingertips. The ball was about to go out when Gaito dived to save it.

"GAI, NICE RECEIVE!" The coach shrieked from the bench. Gaito got it to Kouen who returned it directly to the opponent's court.

"Follow, Hiragi!" Yama said after he got the receive. Hiragi tossed to Sumeragi who leaped from the center. He launched a sharp straight but Gaito got it covered. Kouen got the pass and he set the ball higher than usual to Hiro, who looked surprised by the higher-than-usual toss.

"He's not gonna reach it." I heard our manager softly murmur. She's right.

Hiro wasn't able to reach the ball for a clean spike. But he did manage to push it forward a little to an unguarded area. He gave us the lead at 23 – 22.

"Ugh, that was crazy." Kayo said with her palm in her heart. I overheard what she whispered to the new manager. "Look at those two."

So I did the same, and Kouen and Hiro were glaring daggers at each other. I don't understand why since our team got the point. Perhaps the middle blocker wasn't pleased by the toss and the setter only wanted to test if he could hit it.

It was also Hiro's turn to serve next. He took several steps before he threw the ball overhead and executed his left-handed jump serve.

"I got this! Hiragi!" The libero managed to cleanly pass the ball to their setter, who tossed to Sumeragi for another midget special. Two blockers were there, but the little guy got the better of them. He scored a blockout just as the ball flew away from Toshiro's hand.

"NICE KILL SUMERAGI!!!" Their coach yelled. Honestly, these coaches are really into this. 23 – all.

24 – 23, Shiroshikata.

24 – 24.

25 – 24, Shiroshikata.

25 – 25.

These deuces are making me anxious even if I'm not playing. It seems that we can't get a clean break here. Foreign-looking dude made the next serve. It was raised by the Kouen, who uttered, "Kouha!" His brother managed to set the ball but at a very bad angle near the back.

Luckily, Toshiro was there. He jumped near the back line and managed to hit the ball from all the way there. That was quite an unorthodox back attack.

"Out!" Sumeragi yelled. But it's ending trajectory painted the line in the back. 26 – 25, Shiroshikata.

Kakuzo switched with Gaito and he served the ball next. The setter's shaky receive arced the ball over the net. Hiro, who just got back in the front row, jumped for a direct. But Kurokumogi's captain was there to block.

An intense battle above the net happened between the two blockers as they both held the ball at the top, pushing it forwards for a dump. It was a joust between the cornerstone of each team's blocking game and everyone's attention is on them.

That moment only lasted a second, but it seemed so long. Yet after that, it was Hiro who emerged victorious. He successfully overpowered the redhead captain and dumped the ball in the opponent side.

All of us were stunned to witness it. Shiroshikata won the second set at 27 – 25.