35: This is the Battlefield

883 47 4
                                    


Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.


THE ATMOSPHERE INSIDE the arena was intense, but the source of all this excitement—Kobayashi Aotori—remained incredibly calm.

Under his navy-blue short hair is a handsome face that remains expressionless. His hazel eyes, from a higher vantage point, stared down at the volleyball in his hands as the referee's crisp whistle echoed.

On the Inarizaki court, Miya Atsumu, standing at the front, immediately tenses up, his sharp eyes fixed on the volleyball in Kobayashi Aotori's hand.

He inadvertently glanced at Akagi behind him and noticed that his arms, placed by his side, were slightly trembling. Perhaps the abrupt changes in the last two serves have made his hands hurt to the point of numbness, it was challenging for him to gauge the force of the volleyball.

—In short, Kobayashi Aotori's inconsistent attitudes had bewildered him a bit.

He gritted his teeth, casting an unfriendly look at Kobayashi Aotori across the net.

...As expected, the title of libero is well-deserved.

What a nasty guy!

The next serve... I will definitely, definitely receive it!

Amid the crowd's attention, the volleyball was tossed up, once again in Kobayashi's signature jump serve.

"Boom!" The ball left Kobayashi's palm, and everyone's eyes followed the trajectory of the volleyball. Akagi's gaze was focused, his legs instinctively moving toward the direction of the volleyball.

His teammates in the front row took a few steps back, while Miya Osamu stared fixedly at the rapidly spinning volleyball, feeling the faint white steam rising from it—

"Supergravity!" He succinctly shouted. Akagi's eyes narrowed for a moment. Then, with his tongue against his upper teeth, he squatted down with all his might and shouted loudly without hesitation:

"Someone come assist me! Please!!"

"Yoshi!!" Miya Atsumu responds loudly. Right as the words left his mouth, the volleyball hammered fiercely onto Akagi's wrist—

The immense force caused him to squint his right eye involuntarily in pain, his expression slightly pained. "...Atsumu!"

In the instant of the shout, Miya Atsumu quickly assisted, and everyone held their breath. The commentator's exclamation was particularly striking:

(They received it! Inarizaki received that devilish serve... Eh?! Wh-what just happened?!)

Accompanied by the commentator's astonished voice, everyone silently watched the ball that had struck Miya Atsumu's left arm lightly and drifted out of bounds—

Miya Atsumu stood stiffly in place, and Ojiro Aran beside him clearly saw the corner of his mouth twitch. No one expected that the second serve, which should have landed with great force like the first one, turned out to be light and airy.

I am Really Weak at VolleyballWhere stories live. Discover now