Haikyuu: Zero To Almighty-Chapter 390: It’s an Honour to Face You

"Kyōtani makes a ridiculously exaggerated feint!" Commentator Aoi exclaimed dramatically.

"Even I thought it was going to be a cannon shot!" his partner, Ōtomo, laughed.

"That superb ball control is yet another gift of Kyōtani's—besides his vertical and flexibility!"

"That shot just widened the deadlocked score gap again!"

Service change. Aoba Johsai's serve. Kaedehara Taichi rotated to the front row.

He placed both hands on his knees, leaning forward slightly, his centre of gravity lowered—a stance that made it clear he was ready to attack at any moment.

The cheering squad from Ichibayashi swallowed nervously at the sight. Their nerves weren't nearly as steady as the players on the court. With Aoba Johsai entering a power phase, they weren't sure if Ichibayashi's players would be able to withstand the pressure.

"Tweet!—"

The whistle for serve blew.

Kyōtani Kentarō launched a powerful jump serve.

BOOM!!

Like a spike, the serve rocketed straight toward Ichibayashi's back row.

Smack!

Araki Kōsei received the ball.

"Cover him!"

"The first touch is unstable!"

Both setters called out simultaneously.

Matsuo Satoshi stepped in and sent the ball toward the right wing. Yasui Junichi leapt for the spike.

"Triple block!" Kaedehara Taichi, Kunimi Akira, and Kindaichi Yūtarō all jumped at once.

"Damn it…"

Yasui Junichi was only 182cm tall—the shortest of Aoba Johsai's blockers, Kunimi, still stood at 184cm. Although Matsuo had aimed the set to avoid Taichi as much as possible, even the 191 cm-tall Kindaichi looked overwhelmingly intimidating.

Boom!—

Yasui tried to send the ball past Kindaichi's right, but the opposing block pressed down toward the right-front side at the same time.

—Smack!

The ball was thoroughly stuffed at the net, bouncing out along Ichibayashi's sideline.

Aoba Johsai scored off the block.

[Aoba Johsai 6 – 3 Ichibayashi]

"Beep!—"

Ichibayashi called a timeout.

"Eh, already…?" Taichi hadn't even touched the ball since rotating to the front.

"But it's the perfect timing," Kunimi Akira remarked as he glanced toward Ichibayashi's bench. "Just a little more and they probably wouldn't have been able to hold out."

"Yasui, this isn't what I put you on the court to see. You understand that, don't you?" Coach Tamagawa said bluntly.

"Yes, I understand." Yasui Junichi answered without resistance, completely earnest.

"Go reflect on it. If you haven't figured it out, then you're not involved in our next plays."

"Yes, sir."

Yasui walked off on his own.

—If I were five centimetres taller…that ball would've scored…

-----

Back in junior high, Yasui Junichi had already understood how much of a disadvantage height was for a wing spiker.

At the same time, he had considered his team a kind of 'family', and even though he didn't become a starter until his third year, he had felt nothing but joy.

However, only half a year later, he lost his starting position to a first-year. That underclassman wasn't even as skilled as him—but he did have height. And because of that, the coach had higher hopes for the rookie's potential…

That final half-year—the last time he would ever play for that team—was taken from him, all because of something he couldn't control.

So instead of joining his teammates at Fukuoka's most prestigious volleyball school like they'd all promised, Yasui Junichi chose to attend Ichibayashi alone—a school that, after changing coaches a year ago, was rumoured to hold brutally intense practices.

"That's fine."

Only by doing this could he hold on to that bitterness inside.

—"Yasui, height is important for a spiker. In aerial battles, the higher elevation holds the advantage," Coach Tamagawa had once said during first year, after keeping him behind for extra training. "But if that was all that mattered in volleyball, then Japan wouldn't be able to compete with the taller, stronger Western teams."

—"You have the skill to make up for your lack of height. So start training like hell to develop it."

"Yes, sir!"

An ordinary player like him, who didn't want to give up volleyball, had been noticed—and invested in—by this coach. Yasui Junichi suddenly realised: maybe it was himself who had been trapped all along by the belief that height was everything.

"If I can be just a bit faster!"

"If I can jump a little more explosively!"

"If my angle is just a little sharper!"

Stop using height as an excuse for not scoring!

Face your failure—and ask yourself how to never repeat it again!

That's how Yasui Junichi became a starting player for Ichibayashi.

And that's how he found himself, now, standing on the national stage. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

-----

"Coach, I won't miss my chance again."

A calm determination had returned to Yasui Junichi's gaze.

Coach Tamagawa nodded without asking anything further.

"After this timeout, Aoba Johsai will most likely pass the ball to Kaedehara Taichi. It's completely normal if we can't stop him from scoring—don't let it rattle your mentality." Tamagawa continued his instructions. "What's important is how we snatch points back from them quickly. One for one. Force their strong rotation to end fast."

"Yasui, the ball will be centred around you. This time, unlike usual, I want you to attack only from the sidelines."

"Yes, sir!"

Only sideline attacks…That was clearly to avoid direct confrontation with Kaedehara Taichi as much as possible. Yasui thought to himself, but not a single trace of resistance showed in his heart.

"In terms of technique, there's no doubt we're inferior to the reigning national champions. But when it comes to our obsession with volleyball—we'll never lose!"

Coach Tamagawa rallied the team one last time.

"Opportunities vanish in an instant. Only by grabbing them can we start our counterattack!"

"Yes, sir!!!"

-----

The timeout ended, and the match resumed.

"Now this is more like it. I was starting to worry you'd lost your fighting spirit." Kaedehara Taichi smiled across the net at Ichibayashi's players.

"Don't worry. We'll fight you to the very end." Uchizawa Iori replied firmly.

Kyōtani Kentarō served his second ball.

BOOM!!

Smack!

Hanyū Kōmitsu barely managed to receive it. Matsuo Satoshi quickly moved into position and set the ball to the left wing.

Yasui Junichi sprinted along the sideline and jumped.

"Again?"

"Three-man block!"

Aoba Johsai's front row formed a triple block in front of him once more.

No one had expected Ichibayashi to pass the ball to Yasui again—this was practically a repeat of the pre-timeout play. It didn't seem possible that he could find a solution in such a short time.

"Will he go for a cross-court shot?"

Taichi braced himself, anticipating the ball to fly toward the left.

Boom!—

Yasui stubbornly aimed the spike toward Kindaichi Yūtarō's right side again.

—Smack!

With the previous play fresh in his mind, Kindaichi's block came down even faster and more solid than before!

Bang!

The ball was knocked back toward Ichibayashi's court, slamming into the floor—seemingly identical to the last rally.

"Ugh…what are they doing?!!"

Groans erupted from the stands. To the spectators, it looked like Ichibayashi had completely cracked under pressure.

But then—

The line judge raised their flag.

"Out!"

It was almost the same as the previous play—except for one tiny difference, and that decided the point.

The ball had landed outside the right sideline—on Ichibayashi's side.

Touch out.

This time, Yasui Junichi had scored.

[Aoba Johsai 6 – 4 Ichibayashi]

Yasui looked across the net at Kaedehara Taichi.

"I'm Yasui Junichi, Ichibayashi's other ace. It's an honour to match up against you, genius."

_________

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