"It feels like Ushijima's power has increased again," Iwaizumi Hajime said with a serious expression.
"Yeah... looks like when Taichi and I came to observe their training last time, he wasn't even going all out," Oikawa's voice was low.
Oikawa Tooru had seemed perfectly normal along the way, but precisely because of that, Iwaizumi found something off. He kicked Oikawa's calf.
"Hey, you're way too stiff. If even the captain is like this, how are we supposed to win against Shiratorizawa? This is just a practice match."
Oikawa stumbled forward a step from the kick and turned back to glare, "What the hell? Can't I act a little deep and serious? Didn't you notice how many Shiratorizawa girls are in the audience today?"
"Just wait, they're going to see my dashing form soon and start cheering for me on the sidelines. Ah! I really am a sinful man." The ever-pretentious Oikawa was already lost in his fantasy.
But that was actually a good sign. Seeing Oikawa return to his usual infuriating self with that smug face, Iwaizumi reflexively bumped foreheads with the grinning Oikawa.
"Ow!" Oikawa staggered back, holding his reddened forehead, ready to complain—when he saw Iwaizumi looking at him seriously.
"As long as you're fine. Now go lead the team in warm-ups, Captain."
"...Right."
Oikawa looked back at his teammates, finally setting aside his unease, and walked toward the center of the court.
"Everyone, get warmed up! The match starts in 30 minutes!"
"Yes!"
Both teams began warming up—passing, receiving, spiking drills one after another.
"System, there should be missions for this match against Shiratorizawa, right?" Kaedehara Taichi asked the system while stretching.
"Ding! Temporary Mission: Finals Rehearsal."
"Shiratorizawa is Aoba Johsai's biggest opponent in the prefecture. Winning this practice match will be a crucial foundation for the finals."
Mission Objectives:
Defeat Shiratorizawa — All of the host's abilities increase by 1 point.
Become top scorer of the match — Reward: +5 to Spiking.
Limit Ushijima Wakatoshi to 10 points or less per set (including 10) — Each successful restriction rewards +2 to Receiving.
Mission Failure Penalty: None.
Taichi carefully read the list of tasks before him, falling into thought. Three missions for just a practice match? And no penalty for failure? Are they saying I can't complete even one?
Is this match really going to be that hard...?
"Taichi, why are you spacing out?" Kindaichi nudged him from behind, signaling it was his turn to spike.
"It's nothing." Taichi snapped out of it and quickly jumped to spike the ball.
…
On the other side of the net, Tendou Satori swayed over to teammate Kawanishi Taichi and whispered in his ear, "Taichi, did you notice there's a little guy named Taichi on the other team too?"
Kawanishi nodded. "He's the first-year who came with Oikawa-senpai last time. I remember."
Tendou suddenly bounced over to the other side. "I heard that in their last endurance training, he actually beat Ushijima!"
"What?! Tendou-senpai, is that true?" Goshiki popped in from the side, eyes wide.
Before Tendou could answer, Goshiki had already rushed to Ushijima: "Ushijima-senpai, is it true you lost to a first-year from the other team in long-distance training?"
Ushijima frowned. In his view, that hadn't really been a competition per se—but he nodded. "Yes."
"No way!" Goshiki looked utterly crushed.
Kawanishi glanced over at the other side's first-year too, slightly rattled now that their ace had confirmed it.
"Ushijima-senpai, the only one who can surpass you is me! Today, I'll overwhelm that Kaedehara Taichi with my strength!" Goshiki suddenly declared with fire in his eyes.
"Say that again after you've improved," Shirabu Kenjirou poured cold water on him right on cue.
"Alright, alright. Goshiki, your words are as cool as your bangs!" Tendou, now quite entertained, couldn't help but laugh.
"Thank you, Tendou-senpai!" Goshiki responded loudly and seriously.
Taichi glanced toward the noisy group from Shiratorizawa's side, not quite sure what they were saying.
"Ding! Temporary Mission: Only One Taichi."
"The host has drawn Kawanishi Taichi's attention and is seen as his most-wanted opponent. Mission: Score more spike points than Kawanishi Taichi — Reward: +1 Spiking."
???
What the heck? But before Taichi could react—
"Ding! Temporary Mission: Surpassing the Ace."
"The host has drawn Goshiki's attention and is seen as his most-wanted opponent. Mission: Overall performance exceeds Goshiki — Reward: +1 Receiving, +1 Strength."
Another one? And what does 'overall performance' even mean?!
Taichi looked at Kawanishi and Goshiki—both of them looked completely normal.
Damn it, these NPCs are plotting against me.
Still, since all their goals aligned, it didn't matter much—he just had to go all out with his spikes.
Taichi felt like Shiratorizawa was turning into some kind of mission generator. Just one practice match had more tasks than all the ones before combined.
But all this commotion helped ease his nerves a little.
"Beep! Teams line up."
"Let's have a good match!"
Aoba Johsai's lineup:
Front: Setter Oikawa Tooru, Middle Blocker Kaedehara Taichi, Outside Hitter Kunimi Akira
Back: Outside Hitter Hanamaki Takahiro, Middle Blocker Matsukawa Issei (Libero Watari Shinji), Outside Hitter Iwaizumi Hajime
Shiratorizawa's lineup:
Front: Middle Blocker Kawanishi Taichi, Outside Hitter Ushijima Wakatoshi, Outside Hitter Ohira Reon
Back: Middle Blocker Tendou Satori (Libero Yamagata Hayato), Setter Shirabu Kenjirou, Outside Hitter Goshiki Tsutomu
Match begins. Aoba Johsai serves.
Shiratorizawa's formation was exactly as expected. To fully utilize Ushijima's power, they usually placed him in the front row at the start.
"Let's test the rookie's receiving first." Iwaizumi served—rather than sending the ball toward third-year Tendou or libero Yamagata, he aimed at first-year Goshiki.
"Nice receive, Goshiki."
Goshiki cleanly received the ball and sent it perfectly to Shirabu.
"Ushijima-senpai!" Of course, the first shot went to their ace. Shirabu tossed it high and dead center above the net.
Ushijima made his approach from the back row and leapt high with force.
Here it comes! The three blockers on the net tensed.
"Triple block!" Oikawa, Taichi, and Kunimi jumped together in a line.
BOOM!
The ball shot straight through—unstoppable. It landed in Aoba Johsai's backcourt.
A wipeout spike!
Ushijima's hitting point completely outclassed Taichi and Kunimi's block, hammering the ball straight down.
[Aoba Johsai 0 – 1 Shiratorizawa]