Volleyball: The Time of Resonance

Yoruichiro rested his face on his hand as he watched a reliable, unpredictable black cat wake up a sleeping sheep.

Hisense also looked over when they heard the noise.

"Why does it feel like I'm falling asleep more and more often in other places lately?" Hisense started a chat.

"It started after we came back from training camp. I've been sleeping more at Otokoma." Yoru Eisuke accepted the chat request. "He just told us he wasn't sick, but I feel it's still related to the sudden knee pain he had that day."

"Yinchuan drinks supplements every day, probably because he doesn't eat properly and doesn't sleep well when he's growing."

Hisense recalls that he also had trouble sleeping for a period of time when he was 10 years old.

Yoru Eisuke: "Grinding and Musuba don't eat much either. They've joined the sports club, so eating so little is definitely not good!"

Regardless of whether it's due to not eating properly, eating so little means insufficient energy intake for people in sports clubs, which is definitely not good.

Suddenly being ground down by Q's lone claw: ? ? ?

On the other side, Kuroo Tetsurou was still entangled with Ginkawa Mya.

"Don't sleep," Kuroo Tetsuro said gently. "After this match, there will be a lunch break where you can sleep."

"You can't sleep now, there's a competition later, what if you're still half asleep?"

I rubbed the long-haired Persian cat's face and head until they were warm, but when I tried to continue, it refused.

Yinchuan Mianye: A disapproving look (JPG).

Just talk, why are you rubbing it so hard?! Do you think I'm a volleyball?!

"Okay, Little Black!"

Kuroo Tetsuro laughed even harder after being "ha"ed at; teasing his childhood friend was quite fun.

Instead of checking on the players' rest, he turned his attention back to the field.

Yinchuan Mian also chose to open a mobile game and click on Tetris...

This will help her wake up faster, the cat confirmed. (JPG)

...... ......

The matches ended quickly, and the cats, having warmed up on the sidelines, returned to their coach.

"Nanshan High School has a good defense, but their overall strength is not very strong. They were eliminated in the second round of the Spring High School Qualifiers. This year, they have a new libero, who is from Aichi Prefecture and is one of the top four liberos in the prefecture."

After briefly explaining the situation, Naoi Manabu handed over command to Kozume Kenma.

The boy with the bob haircut lowered his eyes and thought for a few seconds, while the others waited earnestly for his answer.

The boy in the middle spoke slowly, "Use the rotation order of the setter serving first."

Yinju's two most common rotation orders are Yinchuan Mianye serving first and the setter serving first.

Kozume Kenshin wasn't sure if the opponent would bring in a libero in their first rotation, and nobody thought he could score directly from his serve.

With all the players in the front row being attackers, Yoruichi Eisuke's ability to reorganize the attack after receiving the ball resulted in a higher scoring rate.

The match begins—

The familiar bow in front of the net, the strange slogans that are hard to resist.

It's still the little black one on the left, and the cotton one on the right...

"We are the blood that flows continuously, ceaselessly, to ensure the proper functioning of the 'brain'!"

Seven hands clenched into fists pressed together, and Yinchuan Mian looked at each hand—the feeling of the last spike in the previous game resurfaced.

My heart seems to be telling me that it likes this.

Blue eyes blinked, a fleeting look of bewilderment crossing them.

But this is the third time I've done this, so why am I only feeling happy now? It's so strange.

The referee blew the whistle, and both sides took their positions. The first ball was kicked by Nekoma.

Kozume Kenma chose a seemingly ordinary overhand serve, but the landing point was extremely tricky, landing right between the two opposing players.

Mishandling!

If the first pass is inaccurate, the second setter cannot quickly organize the attack, and when the main attacker spikes the ball, Yinchuan Mian at the net is already ready.

Block!

"Mianye, well done!"

"Grind it, one more ball."

"Well done, Yinchuan!"

Yinchuan Mian gave a high five to Hisense next to him, and continued to stare blankly at the other side of the net.

The attacker, who was being stared at intently by those blue eyes, couldn't help but take a step back.

How terrifying! The cat's enormous phantom seemed to be swallowing him whole. It was only the beginning, he'd only lost one point, but subconsciously he felt he had no chance of winning...

The second ball was again served between the two players.

Nanshan High School was prepared this time and managed to receive the first pass without any major mistakes, allowing the second setter to launch another attack.

Yinchuan Mian also clearly knew his shortcomings—he lacked strength.

Therefore, he rarely scores directly from blocks; in most cases, he scores through—

When Nanshan's main attacker leaped high to prepare to spike the ball, Yinchuan Mian also subtly adjusted her hand shape, not completely blocking the shot, but leaving a line that seemed to be able to be broken through.

—Guide the other party to select the route you want.

Nanshan's main attacker indeed chose to attack that gap, but found that Yinchuan Mianye's finger made a slight adjustment at the last moment, blocking the ball's path.

The force and speed of the volleyball being slammed down by the person who jumped high were instantly reduced by more than half, and Yoru Eisuke, standing behind Ginkawa Mya, easily passed the ball to Kozume Makoto's head.

The referee's whistle blew one after another.

For Yinju, this competition was practically a playground for cats.

Its deep gaze was fixed on the other side of the net. Every movement was light and powerful, revealing the agility and intelligence of a feline. This was a feline that liked to play with its prey, but also a hunter capable of killing with a single blow.

"The team that Yinchuan Mianye is in! They're really strong!"

"The other members of Nekoma are amazing too!"

"Yinchuan Mian isn't a main attacker either! Why did she choose to change positions in high school?!"

"I think Nekoma was already pretty good, if it weren't for those third-year students! Let me introduce you to that free agent..."

"Otoko's skills are pretty good, let's try to get into the top eight!"

......

Kozume Kenma watched the floating ball fly towards him, and without hesitation moved in another direction to make room for Yoruichi.

Congratulations to Mian for finally fulfilling his wish to rotate with a free agent, so now it is Kuroo Tetsurou standing in front of the net.

Yoru Eisuke received the ball steadily, a perfect first pass!

Kozume Maki stared at the ball, countless options flashing through his mind:

Yamamoto called for the ball at position 4, but was double-teamed. Kaiyuuki had a good opportunity at position 2. Fukunaga Shohei was in the back row, while Kuroo Tetsuro...

Kuroo Tetsuro's gaze briefly met Kozume Grin's.

A single glance was enough.

Kozume raised both hands and glanced behind him. The middle attacker, who had been staring intently at him, panicked and quickly ran to the other side.

It's a back-row attack! Nanshan's middle blocker was certain.

However, the ball flew to the net—

The other person in the front row reacted and followed closely behind Kuroo Tetsurou!

When Kuroo Tetsuro jumped, everyone thought he was going to launch a quick attack, but the ball drew a strange arc in the air. It wasn't a spike, but a soft drop shot that landed behind the opponent's blocker.

The three boys in the front row were all fooled and could only watch helplessly as the ball landed.

How could that be? That skinny setter on the other side clearly doesn't have the habit of making unnecessary movements!

Kuroo Tetsurou gave Kozume a high five with a look of great satisfaction.

Kuroo Tetsuro's role is always different. In the absence of Ginkawa Mian, he is Kozume Kenma's most trusted attacker.

(When Yinchuan Mian was also there, Kozume Kenma had two of the most trusted attackers.)

Lone Claw Grinding: I have a sword and a spear, guess which one I'll use.

When a setter can score points by setting the ball to anyone, occasional favoritism can become quite noticeable.

For the next period of time, it was practically a personal show for Tetsuro Kuroo. He scored three consecutive points with quick attacks at different time intervals, and the timing of each jump was subtly different, making it impossible for the Nanzan blockers to keep up with the rhythm.

On the final ball, Kozume finally passed it to their ace.

A spike scores!

......

"Don't you feel that the high school league isn't as difficult as you imagined?" Naoki Manabu said to Ginkawa Mianya, who was already sitting in the coach's chair.

"Fortunately, the gap in strength between junior high school students in the preliminary rounds is also quite large."

"Haha, I was overthinking it. I forgot you have a lot of competition experience."

"..." When talking to elders, Yinchuan Mian always doesn't know what to say.

"Go."

After the match, both teams bowed to each other in a gesture of goodwill.

...... ......

Yinchuan Mian felt that people were staring at her for no reason during lunch, and she also felt that everyone was acting strangely today.

Mushroom Cat, who was also being watched while eating, had already slipped into a corner, leaving Sheep Cat to bear all the consequences alone.

The opponent for the next match has also been determined: Shirakawa High School, one of the top 16 teams.

Logically, the lunch break should be quite long, enough for the cats to take a nap, but unfortunately, they were scheduled for the first round in the afternoon.

Shirakawa High School may not be very strong, but they are a typical "emotional" team. If they play well, they might pull off an upset, but if they are suppressed, they will collapse.

They haven't gotten enough rest at all, and Yinchuan Mian is so resentful she could kill someone.

The thought of playing consecutive matches makes me feel even more tired.

Yamamoto Takeo, on the other hand, was in excellent physical and mental condition, chatting loudly and boasting that he would defeat the next team.

She crunched on a lemon slice, staring blankly at the unfamiliar group playing around. Yinchuan Mianye's lemon slices this time were very well pickled, neither too sweet nor too sour.

The group, watched by Yinchuan Mianye's blue eyes, spoke softer and softer until they fell silent.

The boys in gray team uniforms huddled together, turned their backs to Yinchuan Mianye, and whispered among themselves.

"Are we disturbing them?"

"Is that Yinchuan Mianye? It must be Yinchuan Mianye!"

"Yes, yes, it's him, but he seems angry!"

"Should we apologize?"

"I'm too scared to go. Can you lead the way?"

"I can't! Let the captain go!"

"Captain, are you going? Captain, are you going?"

"No, I don't want to!! Let's keep quiet now, he might release us in a while."

......

"Maya, can you work a little harder?" Kozume Kenma moved himself next to the sheep, wanting Ginkawa Maya to become the main scoring point and not participate in the rotation with the back row libero.

"Hmm?" Yin Chuanmian also snapped out of her daze and tilted her head to look at him. "It's okay."

Yinchuan Mianye herself has many attacking methods when she is an outside hitter. Even if she changes to the middle blocker position, many of her spiking methods and routes are still the same.

By consistently using Yinchuan Mianye as a scoring option, his brilliance would overshadow others, and the opposing team would subconsciously chase after him. This would create a role that could both score points and act as bait.

There weren't many viewers on the first day of the qualifiers, and by the lunch break, most of them had left.

By the time Yinju took the stage, there were very few people left.

The group following Otoko was in a better position because some of them would come back after lunch.

...... ......

Nekoma gets the right to serve.

With the familiar setup, Yinchuan Mian also stood in the service area and tossed the ball upwards.

Thinking of Xiao Hei's impressive plays at the end of the last game, Yin Chuanmian was also itching to try it herself.

Toss the ball – Start running – Jump – Hit the ball!

A perfect jump float shot, seemingly floating but actually quite fast, flew over the net and drifted towards the baseline in Shirakawa Court.

Shirakawa's attacker left his position to avoid the ball, and he judged that the ball would go out of bounds.

However, just as he was about to land, he suddenly veered off course and landed back on the court!

"Beep—!"

Serve and score!

"One more ball!"

"One more ball, Mianye!"

Yinchuan Mian also high-fived the hand that was extended in front of him, took the ball, and went to the service area again.

The members in the back row of Shirakawa were nervously trying to see what Ginkawa Mianya was doing, but the members of Otokoma in the front row had their hands behind their heads.

This is certainly not because they're worried that Yinchuan Mianye's serve will hit them on the back of the head; usually, only Kuroo Tetsuro and Yamamoto Taketaka would do that.

The people of the Sound Horse are blocking the view, and it's effective.

Yinchuan Mian, who may be growing taller but hasn't grown taller yet, still has an advantage at 1.75 meters. (* /ω＼*).

A jump serve without touching the target scores!

The members standing in the back row thought the opponent was still using a jump serve, but when they realized it was a jump serve, they were stunned for a moment. By the time they reacted, the ball had already hit the middle of positions 6 and 3.

Shirakawa, dressed in a white team uniform, angrily slammed his fist on the ground. If he had reacted just a little faster, he would have been able to catch that ball.

Once again praised, Yinchuan Mian also came to the service area and pressed the volleyball back and forth.

What are we going to play this time?

Through the gaps between his teammates, he could see Shirakawa's figure in a white team uniform and the opposing libero in a red shirt.

To be honest, it's strange; he always finds it odd whenever he encounters such a coincidence.

It feels like one of our free agents is an undercover agent sent by the other side.

The volleyball is tossed high into the air, this time it's a jump float!

Even though this was somewhat unexpected, Shirakawa's members barely managed to touch the ball.

Otokoma High School vs. Shirakawa High School, score 3-0.

Yinchuan Mianye received the ball again, squeezed it, and scored three points...

He rarely makes service errors during matches.

At first, I did, but then I met a germaphobe perfectionist.

This stirred up a little bit of the sheep's competitive spirit, so they deliberately put more effort into their serves.

Yinchuan Mianye's jump float was caught, and the boy quickly returned to his position to defend.

Standing at the net, Fukunaga Shohei made a mistake, and the ball went out of bounds.

The score is now 3-1

A boy in a yellow jacket quickly dodged a person who brushed past him and silently walked towards a corner.

The mask he wore covered most of his face, and he frowned as he watched the red team's game below.