Chapter 95: Collision!
"Come on, Riku!"
"Come on, Yuki! Beat them all!"
"TSUNEMORI!"
The cheers were getting louder by now as all the students inside the building wanted to put more pressure on the Kyoei players. In their mind, even though the opponent managed to score twice in a row, since the score was still a tie, everything was okay. However, anyone who has experience playing a sport knows that sometimes, the momentum of the game is more important than the score itself.
They had already seen the example of that, when a while ago, Tsunemori was behind at the end of the first set. However, they grasped the control of the game, so even though they lost the set, they were able to reverse the result in the next set. Unfortunately, the current situation was the opposite as before. Now, it was Kyoei who got the momentum, snatching it from Kyoei.
\'We need to snatch it again before they can stabilize the game.\' That was the collective thought of all the Tsunemori players.
Unfortunately, to snatch the momentum back wasn\'t as easy as what everyone said. In fact, they had a headache right now, especially when they looked at Ito on the other side of the net. Don\'t think that one additional player couldn\'t change the game, but if it was combined with the right moment, the effect would be destructive.
They knew it pretty well since that was how Yuki affected the game with his presence.
"Damn, only one of them is enough to give us a headache, but now it is two, huh?" Kaede grumbled lowly. Everyone nodded in agreement, somehow feeling depressed.
Their reaction was reasonable, since they were indeed having a massive headache thinking about how to deal with Nitta, even exhausting all the blockers to stop him. But now, with one more player added to the opponent\'s offense, they couldn\'t do the same strategy, as it would leave the other space open for another player to attack.
In their mind, if Ito who was so passive for the entire game could be more active all of sudden, what prevented the other players from doing the same?
Amidst the depression that hit the team though, there was one player whose expression was the exact opposite. Not only did he not feel down like his teammates, but there was a blazing determination flared in his eyes, looking at Kyoei\'s captain intently.
"Come on! Get ready for the next play!" Koji clapped his hands, snapping their teammates from their daydreaming. "Don\'t make the referee wait, it will give them a bad impression about us."
All of the Tsunemori players startled for a second, then moved quickly to get ready as soon as possible. They knew how important it was to give a good impression to the referee. Even if it wouldn\'t affect the referee\'s judgment to favor them, at least they wouldn\'t favor the other team.
A moment later, all the players from both teams were ready. The referee looked around for a while before blowing his whistle. Right after that, Ito from Kyoei\'s side threw the ball in the air, leaping forward before unleashing another serve with a quite nasty spin.
"I GOT THIS!"
*BAM!*
Yuki bent his knee a little, moving his body to the left side to reach the ball. He was able to pick it up, sending it straight to Riku\'s direction. The moment the ball touched Yuki\'s hand, Koji, Asahi, and Ogawa moved in unison, ready to counterattack.
"RIKU! LEFT!"
"GIVE IT TO ME!"
Riku paused for a second, not to weigh his options, but to see the opponent\'s reaction. However, seeing Haruo unfazed at the other\'s movement and kept staring at him, he clicked his tongue, knowing that any normal attack would only meet a wall.
\'Tch. What an annoying opponent.\'
With only a few options to have, Riku finally passed the ball to the player who had the most experience facing Haruo, and that was Koji.
"Nice pass, Riku!"
Just like the setter though, Koji had already seen Haruo\'s movement even before the ball went in his direction. He racked his brain quickly in a millisecond, trying to figure out how to deal with this troublesome blocker. Facing Haruo and another blocker on the left side, Koji decided to send a straight spike, trying his luck to see whether the back line of Kyoei would make a mistake or not.
*BAM!*
"OH! Nice receive, Aki!"
Unfortunately, the other Kyoei players were ready to receive the ball. Just in a split second, their chance was gone, and now, it was Kyoei\'s turn to attack.
"Blockers, get ready!"
"Asa! Rano! Keep your eyes on their ace!"
Even though the last two attacks from Kyoei came from their captain, all the Tsunemori players still didn\'t dare to lower their guard against Nitta. They all knew that the ace was their biggest threat in this game, so sticking two blockers onto him was a logical decision.
However, Kyoei\'s setter made the most logical play this time. Instead of passing it to Nitta, he sent the ball to the player who was still in hot form, and that was the captain himself.
"Nice pass, Yamada!"
"Shit! Blocker! Get ready!"
Seeing the opponent\'s blockers in shamble trying to stop his attack, a small grin formed on Ito\'s face. However, the moment he recoiled his arms back, two pairs of hands suddenly appeared in front of him, startling Kyoei\'s captain for a second. Fortunately for Ito, it wasn\'t just him who was surprised.
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It seemed the two blockers with green jerseys who jumped at the same time to stop the attack were also surprised, didn\'t expect that their teammate would be able to react to it.
*Brugh!*
"Ouch!"
All of the players on the court winced at the same time when the sound of the collision echoed in the building. Some of the students even closed their eyes unconsciously, knowing whatever happened must have hurt the players involved. Taking advantage of the chaotic situation in front of him, it wasn\'t difficult for Ito to dunk the ball over the net, resulting in another point for Kyoei.
However, not a single player put their focus on him. They all turned their head to the two Tsunemori players who just had a collision in the air, worrying about whether they suffered from any injury or not.
"Damn! Rano, you okay?!"
"Yuki! Say something here! Tell us what do you feel?!"
"Sensei, ask for a timeout!"
Yeah, it was Yuki and Hirano, the two players with the best game-reading ability and the quickest reaction who just had an accident.
The moment they both realized Ito was going to attack from the middle again, they knew it would be easier to stop the attack directly rather than waiting on the backline, so Yuki rushed forward immediately and Hirano turned around from keeping his eyes on Nitta to jumping to stop Ito\'s attack in a split of second.
The only mistake they made was the lack of communication between each other, resulting in a clash that just happened in the court.
All the Tsunemori players gathered around them in panic, especially when they didn\'t react to the call from the others. They were still in a dumbfounded state, still recalling what just happened. Then, when their brain finally processed the situation around them, a small grin suddenly formed on both their faces, confusing their teammates more.
"Good reaction, Rano-senpai."
"You too." A rare genuine small could be seen on Hirano\'s face. "But can you leave him to me after this?"
"Sure!"