Haikyuu: Reborn in Karasuno

At the start of the second set, Kakugawa's offense was fierce, but Karasuno also showed its full strength; half of Hyakuzawa's powerful spikes were saved, while the other half went straight to the floor as points.

Although Kakugawa's tactic of ignoring Shoyo to focus on intercepting others worked at times, Hayato and the rest were far from weak — they kept breaking through Kakugawa's blocks to score.

"Alright!"

With a heavy spike, Hyakuzawa's serve blasted Nishinoya off his feet. Pumping his fist, Hyakuzawa shouted after winning the point.

Nishinoya, who had dived for the ball but slipped and fell, clicked his tongue in frustration.

"Don't worry about it. If they score one, we'll take two back. Our new weapon was made for this. The Tokyo training camp wasn't for nothing — let's show them."

Daichi patted him on the shoulder. Nishinoya got up, fired up again.

Up in the stands, a primary school boy, brought along by the old man, watched intently.

"Teacher, if I meet an opponent like that one day, but I don't have a weapon like Shoyo, does that mean I'll lose?"

The old man chuckled, crossing his arms before ruffling the boy's hair.

"Of course not. Volleyball isn't a one-man game — there are six people on the court, you know."

As if on cue, Karasuno launched a synchronized attack. Multiple spikers surged forward, confusing the blockers and scoring cleanly. Kakugawa's bespectacled captain clenched his teeth.

"Number 10 alone is bad enough, but there's also Number 13 — as strong as an Ace — and now this multi-person attack. How did Karasuno improve so much in such a short time? Damn it."

"If they score, we'll take it back. That's all we can do now."

Hyakuzawa, front row, didn't even glance back as he spoke. Sweat streamed down his face, but his eyes never wavered. It was his first official match, but his hunger to win was as strong as anyone's.

His determination sparked the others, and Kakugawa rallied again.

The set stayed tight. Hayato fired off three straight service points before missing the fourth. Hyakuzawa responded with cross-court spikes that kept Kakugawa in the game.

"Kakugawa's Number 9 — even with that fatigue, his momentum's building."

Watching from the bench, Coach Ukai felt a spark of admiration. Rookie or not, Hyakuzawa had passion. A year of training would make him a real threat.

"Hyakuzawa Yudai… Karasuno's first-years will have a real fight on their hands next year," Ukai murmured.

Tanaka saved a spike, but the ball popped too high, drifting back over the net to Kakugawa's side. Hyakuzawa, who had just landed, jumped again and crushed it to the floor.

"I'm still a novice, but I can score. Who needs technique when you've got brute force?"

Shoyo, who had failed to block it, stared across the net at Hyakuzawa. Neither of them looked ready to yield.

With Shoyo at the net and Hayato in the back, Daichi tightened the defense. Even if they couldn't kill the ball with a block, they'd get a touch and keep it alive.

Hyakuzawa's spike smacked into Shoyo's palms and ricocheted backward. Hayato dove, popping it up, and Tanaka — fresh from landing — hustled to keep the rally alive. The ball floated over Shoyo's head.

"Shoyo, it's yours!"

Hayato was still on the floor when he shouted.

Shoyo locked on to the ball. Hyakuzawa was waiting for him — but he'd forgotten Shoyo wasn't a one-trick attacker. The spike grazed his fingertips and flew out of bounds for a touch-out point.

The whistle blew. 25–18. Karasuno had broken through the first round of preliminaries and punched their ticket to the prefectural representative selection tournament in October.

On Kakugawa's side, heads hung low. On Karasuno's, Hayato hoisted a bewildered Shoyo into the air while everyone else cheered around them.

"Awesome! First round, cleared!"

"Nice one, Shoyo!"

In the stands, Hitoka and a short girl — about her height — jumped and hugged in excitement.

"Yay, we won even without Fujikujira!"

"Huh? Fujikujira? What's that?"

The old man chuckled.

"This year's Karasuno is strong."

After celebrating, both teams lined up.

"Senpai, train me harder when we get back. I want to win next year."

Hyakuzawa's words made Kakugawa's captain smile and push up his glasses.

"Count on it. We'll be back next year."

They bowed. "Thank you for the game!"

The sun hung low, painting the sky orange-red as the day's matches ended.

Back in the gym, Hayato kept his promise and introduced Tanaka to the short girl and her friend. To Hayato's dismay, Tanaka — usually brash — went shy, scratching his head and laughing awkwardly. The other second-years didn't even approach.

Hayato rolled his eyes at him and turned to chat briefly before Daichi called them to leave.

"Where's Kiyoko-nee?"

Hitoka explained Kiyoko had gone to check for forgotten items. Shoyo suddenly remembered his lunch box and dashed off. Hayato's eyes widened — Wait, isn't this when those guys hit on Kiyoko? He sprinted after him.

He wasn't as fast as Shoyo, but by the time he reached the second floor, Shoyo was already in front of Kiyoko, who was holding the lunch box.

Even though Shoyo looked intimidated by the blond, delinquent-like guys crowding them, he still shielded Kiyoko and tried to push her away from trouble. One reached for Shoyo's collar — but Hayato's hand clamped around his wrist first.

"Hayato?"

"Hayato-senpai!"

Both Kiyoko and Shoyo looked relieved.

"Excuse me," Hayato said, smiling — but not kindly — "do you need something from our lovely manager and our lovely junior?"

At 190 cm, he towered over the roughly 180 cm blond.

"Karasuno's jacket… You're Number 13, right? The one who played that two-meter guy from Kakugawa? You're tall too."

Up close, the blond had an earring and the air of a troublemaker.

"Ah~ I wanted to play against that two-meter guy too, but you beat him — so you must be stronger."

"Play? You also broke through the first round?" Shoyo asked.

"We don't need to play the first round, Little Shorty."

"Little—! So… are you an IH top-eight team?"

"Nope. Top four."

That stunned Shoyo — this guy wasn't just some random.

"I'm Terushima Yūji, Jozenji High."

"Hayato Kuroha."

Terushima grinned. "Kuroha, Little Shorty — both strong. If we meet, let's have a good game." He ruffled Shoyo's hair and turned to go, but Hayato stopped him with an arm.

"Apologize. You just disrespected our manager."

Terushima blinked, glanced at Kiyoko, then clapped a hand into his palm in understanding.

"Ohhh, I get it. Lovely Karasuno manager, sorry for bothering you earlier."

Only after that did Hayato lower his arm and let them pass.

----------

Support me at patréon com/Lukas25