The timeout ended, and the match resumed.

Kaedehara Taichi served a floater. Although the ball's trajectory wasn't particularly tricky, his aim was sharp, targeting Kageyama Tobio.

Kageyama was forced to receive the first touch.

"Asahi!" Sawamura Daichi quickly covered and took on the role of the setter, delivering the ball to the familiar face of Azumane Asahi.

"Double block!" Kunimi Akira and Hanamaki Takahiro leapt up to intercept.

Iwaizumi Hajime received the ball cleanly.

"Mad Dog-chan!" Oikawa Tōru set the ball to the left flank.

On the edge of the net, a figure exploded into the court with the speed and ferocity of a leopard before soaring high into the air.

"Triple block!" Sawamura Daichi, Azumane Asahi, and Hinata Shōyō jumped together.

Thud! Thud!

Two consecutive booming sounds echoed as the spike was stuffed back into Aoba Johsai's court.

"Tch." Kyōtani Kentarō clicked his tongue in frustration and shook his head.

Karasuno scored with a block.

[Aoba Johsai 20 – 12 Karasuno]

"OOOHHH—!" Every point Karasuno scored fueled their momentum, raising their spirits another notch.

"Damn it! This idiot still refused to adapt. It's so hard to fix his bad habits!"

Oikawa Tōru was practically itching to smack Kyōtani over the head.

Even with three blockers in his face, the Mad Dog had insisted on spiking straight into Asahi instead of choosing the angle toward the smaller blockers. What an absolute meathead!

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Oikawa decided to let it go—for now. There was another issue at hand.

"Kunimi, your slacking-off time is over~"

Kunimi Akira jolted in surprise. Did he notice? How embarrassing.

"…Sorry."

"If you keep this up, Coach Irihata is going to tear you apart after the match. Let's win this set first, and then you can slack off."

Kunimi: "???"

"After all, 'high efficiency, low effort, and constant composure' is your secret weapon, isn't it?" Oikawa lightly pushed Kunimi. "But when it counts, you'd better deliver."

"Got it, Oikawa-senpai," Kunimi muttered softly, though a memory flashed through his mind—Kageyama's scolding from their middle school days.

Yeah…I really can't afford to lose to Kageyama.

Karasuno's turn to serve. Hinata Shōyō stepped up to the service line.

Coach Ukai hesitated momentarily but ultimately decided against substituting in their pinch-server.

For one, Yamaguchi Tadashi had only been practising his jump float serve for a week; it was his first time stepping onto the court, and the odds of a service error were high.

Secondly, the current team on the court was in good rhythm, and there was no need to add unnecessary variables. The priority right now was to figure out Aoba Johsai's offence.

Smack!

Taichi barely suppressed a smile as he received Hinata's soft serve with ease.

Bang!

The sudden acceleration caught Karasuno off guard. Kunimi Akira, working with Oikawa in the centre, executed a lightning-fast quick attack (A-tempo).

Aoba Johsai scored.

[Aoba Johsai 21 – 12 Karasuno]

"Damn it! With Taichi out of the front row, we completely overlooked the quick attack option," Daichi muttered.

Aoba Johsai served again. Hanamaki Takahiro delivered a standard jump serve, which Nishinoya Yū received cleanly. Kageyama set the ball to the middle.

Tsukishima Kei spiked past Kunimi Akira's block with a high, overhand kill, scoring directly.

Karasuno scored.

[Aoba Johsai 21 – 13 Karasuno]

"Answering back with a quick attack, huh? Kageyama really didn't like losing," Oikawa remarked under his breath.

Karasuno served again. Sawamura Daichi targeted Oikawa with his serve.

Smack!

Oikawa instantly set the ball toward Kunimi's position.

No setter! Tsukishima and Kageyama immediately leapt to block Kunimi.

Whoosh!

Kunimi jumped and instead set the ball to the left flank.

Boom!

Kyōtani Kentarō smashed the ball down for the kill.

Aoba Johsai scored.

[Aoba Johsai 22 – 13 Karasuno]

"The set was too low," Kyōtani Kentarō muttered.

"I'm not the setter," Kunimi Akira replied flatly.

Kyōtani bared his teeth in frustration, his expression twisted into a feral grimace.

With a thwack, Iwaizumi Hajime delivered a sharp hand chop straight to Kyōtani's head. "The coordination was great, and the spike was solid."

"Yessir—" Kyōtani replied, his tone begrudging yet obedient.

Kaedehara Taichi noticed that even without participating directly in the offence, Aoba Johsai still managed to score consistently. The gap between the two teams hadn't shrunk at all.

It made sense. Long before he had joined the team and grown into the player he was today, Aoba Johsai had never been a weak team.

With Oikawa Tōru as their linchpin, they always played as a unified whole, squeezing the maximum potential out of every single player. That was—and always had been—Aoba Johsai's signature style.

Bang!

Iwaizumi spiked for the kill.

[Aoba Johsai 23 – 13 Karasuno]

Oikawa and Iwaizumi exchanged a smiling high-five. Any team that overlooked Aoba Johsai's former ace would be in for a painful surprise.

As Taichi reflected on his journey so far, he noticed something about his use of the 'super quick attack'.

Unlike Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shōyō, who used it as 'the strongest decoy', Taichi had always wielded it as one of his weapons to confuse opponents.

If he were to call himself a 'decoy', then the only one being deceived by the act was himself.

Of course, Taichi had always aspired to be the ace. He never entertained the idea of merely serving as a decoy. But surely Oikawa had already realized this—so why hadn't he said anything?

Boom!

Kyōtani Kentarō hammered down a sharp cross-court spike, scoring again.@@novelbin@@

Aoba Johsai had reached set point.

[Aoba Johsai 24 – 13 Karasuno]

Kaedehara Taichi suddenly thought to himself that his recent matches felt somewhat like Ushijima Wakatoshi's style of play.

Whenever he was on the offensive, the rest of the team merely focused on receiving and delivering the ball to him.

In the end, it was always up to him to spike and score.

But this kind of play didn't align with Aoba Johsai's team-oriented strategy. Moreover, Taichi lacked Ushijima's overwhelming skill and dominance. Naturally, the result was a situation where he could be easily shut down.

So, what should he be doing now?

As he watched Hanamaki Takahiro pick up a spike, with Oikawa waiting up front for the set, Iwaizumi and Kyōtani readying themselves for an attack, and Kunimi scanning Karasuno's positioning, the answer became clear.

He needed to blend in.

Kaedehara Taichi adjusted his position and started his approach.

Oikawa's lips curled into a faint, nearly imperceptible smile. I was planning to tell him after this set was over…

The ball was set high, and Aoba Johsai launched a multi-position simultaneous attack.

Bang!

Even Kageyama hadn't anticipated that Oikawa would set the ball to Kaedehara Taichi, who had been nearly silent in the back row up until now.

Taichi executed a back-row attack and spiked the ball down for the final point.

[Aoba Johsai 25 – 13 Karasuno]

"Tweet—" The whistle blew, signalling the end of the first set.

For a moment, Karasuno's players were frozen in disbelief—both at Kaedehara Taichi's back-row spike and the lopsided score displayed on the board.

A twelve-point gap loomed over them like an insurmountable mountain.

Meanwhile, Aoba Johsai's players quickly headed to their bench, grabbing water and taking their brief rest. There was still a second set to play.

"Oikawa-senpai, why have you been letting me attack alone recently?" Taichi's question came out of nowhere, abrupt and blunt. Still, he figured Oikawa would understand what he was getting at.

"Kunimi's been slacking off, and I haven't said anything about that either~," Oikawa replied, dodging the question.

Hearing his name, Kunimi slowed his steps and quietly edged farther away from Oikawa.

"But Kyōtani-senpai is always used as a decoy, isn't he?" Taichi pressed on.

Iwaizumi, sensing Kyōtani's rising agitation, quickly pulled him aside.

Oikawa turned to Taichi and pressed his index finger against Taichi's forehead. "Mad Dog's offense is already polished. You, on the other hand, still need work."

Idiot. How can you be so dense about something like this?

The coaches and the third-years had, of course, noticed Aoba Johsai's subtle shift in strategy. However, they all agreed that the change would benefit the team. For the sake of victory, everyone was willing to adapt.

Taichi suddenly recalled the timeout earlier—one that had seemed almost as if it were called just for his sake—and couldn't help but laugh softly.

So that's what it was all about. This is Aoba Johsai.

_________

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