NOVPUB[June 2nd, Sendai City Gymnasium]
The place bustled with noise. High school students in a wide variety of school uniforms crowded the venue, and the air was thick with the smell of pain relief spray.
"...Kaedehara Taichi—why isn't he in the starting lineup?!"
"If Taichi's not playing, what's even the point of coming to cover the match…?"
"Did he get injured during practice?"
"No, they probably just think the opponent's too weak. Are they using an official match to train their first-years? Man, Seijoh really has it easy this year."
"Tweet—!"
"Please take care of us!"
With the referee's whistle, Aoba Johsai's first-round match officially began. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
———
One hour later, the match was over.
[Aoba Johsai 25 - 12 Ōtani]
[Aoba Johsai 25 - 9 Ōtani]
Even without Kaedehara Taichi on the court, Aoba Johsai maintained an overwhelming lead throughout.
The two teams weren't even on the same level.
———
The next morning, in the H Block final, Taichi still didn't make an appearance.
[Aoba Johsai 25 - 14 Shiranami Commercial]
[Aoba Johsai 25 - 12 Shiranami Commercial]
The result didn't change—Seijoh bulldozed their way to another win.
After the morning matches concluded, the top eight schools in the prefecture had been determined. Surprisingly, there were no dark horses this year. All the teams that received byes in the first round advanced without issue.
Which only meant one thing—they'd already pulled ahead by a considerable margin compared to the rest of the prefecture.
The quarterfinal matchups were as follows:
[Date Tech vs Ohgiminami]
[Shiratorizawa vs Johzenji]
[Karasuno vs Sengoku Tech]
[Kakugawa vs Aoba Johsai]
"Ah, Kakugawa, huh?" Taichi said lazily. "Their luck's still as rotten as ever."
"Are you gonna be a bench player again next match?" Kunimi Akira asked with thinly veiled annoyance.
"What's it got to do with me? It's Coach Irihata's decision," Taichi replied, thinking Kunimi was accusing him of slacking off—until he noticed the look of envy in Kunimi's eyes.
"So as long as you're this good, you can openly slack off…" Kunimi murmured, deep in thought.
"You…don't seriously think you could pull that off, right?" Taichi asked suspiciously.
"Of course not," Kunimi said bluntly. "I'd probably drop dead before I ever got that good."
"…"
"Coach Irihata, if Taichi's not going to play, how are we supposed to deal with Hyakuzawa Yūdai?" Mizoguchi Sadayuki asked seriously. "The only ones who can handle the two-meter attacker right now are Taichi and Kyōtani, right?"
"Well yeah, but isn't Kyōtani enough?" Coach Irihata replied with a smile.
"And when Kyōtani rotates to the back row?" Mizoguchi pressed.
"Well, their two-meter guy will rotate to the back too, won't he?" the coach answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Hmm?" Mizoguchi paused, confused. Now that he thought about it…that did kind of make sense.
"But still—why make the match harder on purpose?" Mizoguchi couldn't understand. If it was just about giving the first-years some real match experience, weren't the games against Ōtani and Shiranami Commercial already enough?
An absolute ace made a massive difference to any high school team. Kakugawa Academy was probably close to being a top-four prefectural team. Mizoguchi didn't get why they were taking such a risk just to develop the first-years, especially when they still had plenty of time ahead...
Wait a second—
Gōguchi suddenly remembered something…a piece in Volleyball Monthly…
"Is Taichi not planning to wait until graduation before going pro?"
Coach Irihata smiled and nodded. After the battles during Golden Week, it had become perfectly clear to him—
Kaedehara Taichi didn't have much time left in high school.
Having no rivals could be terrifying.
Taichi's growth within the high school environment was nearing its limit.
If he stayed any longer, he'd simply plateau—or worse, his level might even decline.
The reason Taichi had recently been trying to revive the ultra-fast quick attack might be because, subconsciously, he sensed that very fact.
Unfortunately, there was no setter in the team anymore who could keep up with his level.
Coach Irihata Nobuteru had known for a while that Taichi would inevitably go pro.
They had talked seriously about it once after winning Spring Nationals.
Since then, Irihata had been laying the groundwork for Taichi's transition into the professional world.
What he hadn't expected, however, was how quickly the boy would progress.
There was no way he'd make it to graduation.
Irihata firmly believed that once the Nationals began, plenty of people would come to the same conclusion he had.
Mizoguchi Sadayuki finally understood.
"So that's why the first-years need to grow as fast as possible!"
"Taichi going pro early is just one reason," Coach Irihata replied, glancing toward the players horsing around nearby.
"Mizoguchi, how do you think this year's Seijoh compares to last year's championship team?"
"Well, obviously the team was better when Oikawa was—" Mizoguchi stopped mid-sentence.
It wasn't that simple...
Kaedehara Taichi, Kyōtani Kentarō, Kunimi Akira, and Kindaichi Yūtarō had all improved drastically since last year.
Not to mention this year's addition of Nakamori Daiki—a genius, without a doubt.
Even their blocking height had increased, thanks to the arrival of Yūki Yōji.
But then again, Oikawa Tōru had elevated the team in ways that were hard to measure.
Iwaizumi Hajime and the other third-years had also been a rock-solid foundation.
Judging by their early loss at the Prefectural Citizens' Tournament, Seijoh's strength had dropped at first—but now...
"I honestly can't tell," Mizoguchi admitted.
"Haha... Mizoguchi, you're going to make a fine coach one day," Irihata said with a laugh. "In terms of sheer power, it's really hard to say. But if we're talking about completeness, last year's team had the edge."
"Completeness?"
"Do you remember how we had two full lineups last year?"
"Ohhh, right!" Gōguchi nodded.
"Our offence, blocking, defence—we could tailor everything based on the opponent!"
"Even our formations were flexible," Irihata added. "Since Oikawa was such an all-rounder—blocker, receiver, and a powerful server on top of being a setter—our rotations could shift freely."
"That's the one thing this year's team lacks. Our formation changes are all reactive now."
Irihata nodded in agreement.
"And if one of our starters gets injured, the next lineup becomes really hard to manage."
"That's why we must help the first-years grow quickly. If we don't give them real experience now—against strong opponents—how can we count on them when it matters most?"
"I get it now. Thank you for the guidance, Coach Irihata!" Gōguchi said earnestly.
"Haha..."
Irihata found Mizoguchi's serious gaze deeply satisfying.
This was exactly why he was the coach, after all.
"Besides," Irihata added with a slight smirk, looking toward Taichi, who was seated calmly on the bench not far away, "We're not exactly taking a huge risk here, are we? Taichi's still on standby. The ones on the court trust him even more than you do."
Just as Coach Irihata said—
Even knowing they were about to face a two-meter 'giant', the first-years didn't show the slightest hint of panic.
Because no matter what happened…
As long as Taichi-senpai stepped onto the court—
He could turn the game around in an instant.
