Volleyball: The Time of Resonance

"Shirakawa finally scored a point!"

"It's so oppressive, I feel like I don't even dare to breathe."

"Yinchuan Mian is so strong! No wonder she shone so brightly in the junior high school competition!"

"So what if you're strong? You still got your serve returned!"

"Shirakawa is just getting started! He'll crush a fallen tycoon with ease!"

The murmurs from the nearby audience were clearly heard, and black energy gradually began to emanate from the boy's body.

The target wasn't the audience, but a cat jumping around in the audience.

The phone rang, interrupting the other person's grumbling, "Wait a minute, don't go in yet, I'll be right there!"

…………

The score is now 13-10, with Soundhorse in the lead.

Shirakawa's coach, his face ashen, called a final timeout.

Shirakawa's captain, a burly man standing 190cm tall, passed by the net and said to Kuroo Tetsuro with a smile, "Why are all the students this year lower grades? It's not easy, not easy at all."

"Indeed, they're all in lower grades, and to only be leading by three points is truly shameful."

Captain Shirakawa's forehead bulged with veins, and he wanted to say something sarcastic, but out of the corner of his eye he suddenly saw the cold expression on Ginkawa Mian's face.

"If it weren't for Yinchuan Mianye, you would be nothing!"

"That's wonderful! Luckily we have Mianye!"

"you!"

It would be such a waste not to use the pause time to rest. Kuroo Tessou strolled back to the rest area and took a sip of water.

I can only drink some water, since the pause I requested is only 30 seconds.

Back on the field, when Kuroo Tetsuro passed by a sheep, he casually straightened the sheep's clothes.

The two moved very naturally, and no one thought there was anything wrong with helping Yinchuan Mian tidy up her clothes.

However, a scream suddenly came from the audience, startling two or three of Otoko's cats so much that their fur stood on end.

Hisense squeezed the volleyball in his hand and slapped it against the ground twice.

Upon hearing the whistle, four seconds later, he tossed the volleyball up and delivered a jump serve that landed squarely on the opposite side of the court.

The libero Shirakawa dove to save the ball, which bounced high off the back of his hand. The setter caught the ball in time and quickly organized a counterattack.

A brown shadow moved across from position 3.

Yinchuan Mianye!

He wasn't alone; Kuroo Tetsuro also moved over from the other side.

Three people blocked the net!

Shirakawa's ace, a flicker of panic in his eyes, abruptly changed course and took a small diagonal shot, where Hisense had already repositioned itself.

"Senior Hai! Well done!"

"What a beautiful sea!"

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

"If you hate crowded places so much, why did you come here?" The boy with the beady eyebrows leaned against the railing, looking down at the volleyball courts below.

The boy with the black seaweed-like hair, hiding in the corner, wore a mask and had an expression that said "keep away."

Many people who passed by him silently went around him.

"Look," the black-haired boy said in a low voice, "we can go now."

"Huh? We haven't even finished watching the whole game, are we already leaving?" The boy with the beady eyebrows asked, confused. When he arrived, the score was only 4-1.

It's only 15-11 now, there are still at least 10 goals left.

"Nothing has changed." The boy with the black seaweed-like hair frowned and said in a bad tone, "Not progressing is the same as regressing."

The boy with the beady eyebrows sighed as he saw his companion lose interest, then seemed to remember something and spoke with a smile.

"Shengchen, you clearly like him a lot, don't you?"

The boy named Sakusho Seishin stared at him with a look that said, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

The optimistic and cheerful boy with puffy eyebrows, Genya Komori, approached his younger cousin.

"Why keep paying attention to him if you don't like him? Don't give me that 'rival' nonsense. When you came to Jingtashan and found that Yinchuan Mian hadn't come either, you said he wasn't worthy of being your rival."

"A house cat that can't survive on its own," said Seishin Sakusho on Wataru Ginkawa. "There's no need to consider him a rival."

Compared to the cat that had been a constant presence throughout his junior high school years, another tall white bird was more worthy of attention.

The black-haired boy turned and walked back.

Komori Gen followed a few steps, saying, "Even house cats catch mice, Seishin, don't jump to conclusions so quickly."

…………

Naoi Manabu was well aware that his teammates hadn't had enough time to gel and their teamwork wasn't exactly seamless.

However, Kozaki was meticulous enough to patiently set up one set of codes after another.

The first three matches went relatively smoothly, but the outcome of the remaining matches is uncertain, especially considering their final opponent in this division...

But Jingta Mountain—

Being overly ambitious is not advisable. Naoki learned to deal with the immediate enemy or the opponent he was about to face first, by researching and watching videos, so as not to give himself a chance to make a mistake.

Even if some schools have already included some newcomers in their starting lineups during IH, they still won't let them play in the games.

This is the rule that outsiders always complain about: first-year students don't play.

The main reason they weren't allowed to play was because they had just switched from soft volleyball to hard volleyball, and their time to integrate with the team was too short, making it easy for them to make mistakes in coordination.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that some schools have a strong seniority culture, and maliciously exclude first-year students.

Therefore, the biggest difference between Onkoma and those teams became apparent: the short time for team cohesion made it easy for mistakes to occur, and the teams were prone to hindering each other during operation.

Kozume Kenmaru truly lived up to his reputation as the brains of the team; his command of his limbs greatly reduced the occurrence of such situations.

But reduction doesn't mean absence; Naoi Manabu flipped the watch in his hand to one of the earlier pages.

If we win this match, our opponent tomorrow will be Teiko.

Among the top 16 in Tokyo Prefecture, Teiko's overall strength is more stable than Shirakawa's, and... in the previous match, he noticed that all of Teiko's players were second or third year students.

They didn't have any first-year students playing.

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

Yinchuan Mianye, who had just received the ball, quickly ran to make room.

Hisense jumped up and spiked the ball towards the other side, but it was barely caught by the opposing libero.

Ginkawa Mian also glanced at Kozume Kenma, then jumped again. Sure enough, the ball that Kuroo Tetsurou had caught was steadily passed to Kozume Kenma.

Yinchuan Mian also jumped to a high point, and the ball flew into his palm!

Fast break score!

The referee's eyes held a hint of appreciation, a level that could be considered a negative reaction.

When it was Yamamoto's turn to serve, the impatient young man didn't choose the safer option and instead used his less familiar jump serve.

A loud "Hoo-wah—"

If nothing unexpected happens, something unexpected is about to happen—just as the ball is about to cross the line, the opposing libero, who has more faith in Yamamoto than Yamamoto himself, catches the ball!

Kuroo Tetsuro couldn't help but chuckle, while Yoru Eisuke, who was waiting to go on stage in the warm-up area, burst into laughter without restraint.

"sorry!"

Shirakawa apologizes to the freelancer.

Yinchuan Mian also took another look at that little red raindrop. This undercover agent is no good!

The setter receives the ball and organizes the attack, with Tetsuro Kuroo standing in the back row.

Yinchuan Mian also kept an eye on the setter's movements, her legs reacting faster than her brain as she sprinted to the left to keep up with the opposing outside hitter's pace, however—

Second attack!

Kuroo Tetsuro's attempt to save the ball failed.

Yinchuan Mian also apologized after landing, saying, "I'm sorry."

With her hair already wet, she looked back at the ball with a slightly disappointed expression.

Yinchuan Mian was also annoyed. In fact, he had just thought of a second attack, but the game was going too smoothly and he didn't adjust in time.

"It's okay, let's try again!" Kuroo Tetsurou patted the sheep.

"That setter on the other side is so dirty!!" Yamamoto Taketaka glared angrily at the opposing setter.

"fine."

"It's okay, I didn't expect it either."

The golden pupils of the lone claw seemed to slit vertically, intently watching the other's every move.

The volleyball flew back and forth again, and Yinchuan Mian also jumped up to hit a quick attack, giving the opponent a chance to score.

With sweaty palms and cheeks, Gu Zhao gently jumped up, and the moment his hand touched the ball, he launched a second attack that caught everyone off guard.

The boy, his hair soaked with sweat, landed and took two steps back, as if he had exhausted all his strength.

His dark brown hair covered his ears and cheeks, and when he looked up at the setter opposite him, he gave off a strangely eerie feeling.

"You!" Shirakawa's setter felt a chill run down his spine from that look.

Yamamoto Taketaka glanced at it and felt a chill. Unsure, he looked again, then glanced at Kozume Kenma. He was certain now; their setter had an eerie quality.

Fukunaga Shohei exclaimed "Wow!"

"Grinding, you're so cool!" Kuroo Tetsuro couldn't help but slap the skinny setter on the back to express his excitement.

"Little Black!"

Kozume Grinding's demonic aura vanished instantly, and he angrily returned to his assigned position.

Blue eyes met golden eyes, and a lone claw ground against a strange, hallucinatory vision appeared—the other was a silly, dazed Persian kitten.

It was squatting in place, its head tilted, one ear erect and the other drooping as it looked at him.

"That grinding was amazing!! One more ball!!"

The Persian kitten shook its head, its tail held high, and meowed at people.

Very good, a sense of accomplishment rose in the heart of a certain mushroom cat.

The match continued, and the two sides entered a grueling phase.

Shirakawa was clearly not prepared to lose the game so easily, and he tried his best to return every ball.

However, the result of each ball being dragged back and forth more than ten times was that the stamina of the lone claw grinding was exhausted.

Naoi called the first timeout of the game.

"How's Lone Claw doing?" Hisense asked with concern.

Kuzume nodded, but his breathing was rapid: "It's nothing."

Shirakawa looked thoughtfully in the direction of Otokoma.

They had clearly also noticed Kozume Grinding's stamina issues, but abandoned their plans to address them before they could even be implemented.

First, Kozume Kenma does not participate in catching the ball. His first reaction when the ball is about to land next to him is to dodge and make room for others.

Secondly, he is a setter, so even if the rhythm of the first pass is disrupted, it will not have a significant impact on him.

Otoko's first pass seems a bit too consistent.

I'm so envious of Shirakawa's setter.

The brown-haired boy jumped more and more often, and at least twice out of three times, the ball was in his hands.

The volleyball flew towards him again, and the moment Yinchuan Mian jumped up, he suddenly felt his body become very light.

Fast break score!

20:13

Mushroom-headed cat looked thoughtfully at Yinchuan Mianye, wondering if even a favorable situation could evolve.

After several more back-and-forth, inseparable balls—

Bad news: Kozume Grinding is out of energy.

Good news, the score is now 23:15.

Even better news, Yinchuan Mian also served.

Yinchuan Mian did not choose to mix jump floats and jump serves, but instead used two consecutive jump floats to hit near the baseline.

Shirakawa's teammates were torn between catching the ball and not catching it, and just as they were about to catch it, the ball drifted in another direction.

Serves lead to consecutive points!

Soundhorse wins!!

The cats in red team uniforms, and of course the cats in white team uniforms, were all very excited!

Winning this game means they can continue playing and stay in this competition for a while longer!

Yinchuan Mian also felt her legs were a little weak and wanted to squat down or sit down on the spot.

As soon as he made a move, leaning back, a black cat appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Yinchuan Mianye by the back of the neck.

A single strand of hair sticking up from the brown curly hair looked just like a question mark.

"Don't lie down or pee anywhere."

"Little Black, I didn't!"

Naoi Manabu stood up and said to his teammates who were walking towards him, "You've worked hard. You played very well in this game."

Yinchuan Mian was also pulled to the side, her gaze drifting to Baichuan High School.

It seemed like everyone there was crying. The little cat, with its good hearing, listened intently and realized it was because the senior students were leaving the club.

Kozume Grinding had found a suitable chair to sit down, and that was the end of it for them.

The few remaining players quickly tidied up the volleyball hoops to make room for the next team.

"Is there anyone else who wants to stay and continue watching the game?" Naoi Manabu asked.

"Coach, are we leaving now?" Yinchuan Mian didn't want to continue watching the game, but he needed to go to the bathroom.

"I will watch the rest of the games here. As for you guys, I hope you can go back and rest as soon as possible to conserve your energy for tomorrow's game."

Yinju's cat meowed for a while, then decided to go back to rest.

Yinchuan Mian also tugged at Heiwei Tielang's clothes, telling him that she was going to the toilet first.

Because it was during the competition, there were only a few people scattered around on the road.

"Yinchuan Mianye?"

"It really seems to be him. I watched his match this morning. He changed positions, but he's still amazing."

"Maybe that's what genius is."

"I'm so envious. I wish I were a genius."

"What's the use of being a genius? Even Otoko can't win a championship."

Two people in green school uniforms were whispering to each other as they passed by.

Having overheard everything clearly, Yinchuan Mianye opened the toilet door without a care in the world.

There were still some sweat stains left on the doorknob from people who had just finished playing, which was a bit disgusting.

The boy went to the sink and turned on the tap. The cool tap water made a "whoosh" sound, which would probably give people a cool feeling if it were summer.

"Hey, is this Yinchuan Mianye?"

The boy, who was diligently rubbing his paws, turned around in confusion.

The person who arrived was estimated to be over 1.8 meters tall, wearing a white team uniform with light blue trim around the edges.

They are from Teiko High School.

Without intending to answer him, Yinchuan Mian took out a tissue from her pocket and carefully dried her hands.

He came here to use the restroom.

The students from Teiko High School were furious at being ignored.

Why does he look at me like that?! Isn't Otoko still a weak team?!

"Is this how polite you, Nekoma, are? I'm talking to you, didn't you hear me?!"

Yinchuan Mianye: "...?"

Are you here to fight?

The boy genuinely wondered, "I don't know you, is there any need for us to chat?"