HBWnovel Chapter 98: Haruo's Idea
Chapter 98: Haruo's Idea
Currently, Koji couldn't help but feel excited. He tried his best to hide his trembling hand, didn't want to show any weakness or mess up in such a crucial situation. He couldn't help it though. Just like any other sophomore who experienced the disaster last year, he didn't have a high hope for this team.
The thought that they were a weak team had already been planted inside his mind, and no matter what the coach and the optimistic freshmen like Yuki and Riku said, it wouldn't change his mind that they were a weak team.
That was why when the weak team managed to beat a far stronger team and match the intensity of another strong team, he finally started to feel optimistic. He began to imagine how it would feel to win this game, what would happen next and how amazing they would be treated by their peers. All of those images flew around his head one by one, and it somehow made him excited all of a sudden.
Unfortunately, what came together with the imagination was the pressure.
Koji couldn't help but shiver when he imagined the worst-case scenario that could happen. He failed to do the serve perfectly, giving away the momentum to the opponent. Then, they would have no chance to snatch it back, and until the end of the game, they couldn't chase the score.
In the end, they lost the game, and not only they were eliminated from the tournament, but the team was also disbanded for good.
And he became the biggest sinner that caused all of that.
Koji's hands were shaking quite violently, afraid of his own thoughts.
'No, no, no. Nothing bad would happen. Everything is going to be alright. Come on, don't overthink. Everything would be alright.'
Now that the team managed to survive until the final set and even one point could be crucial for how the game went, the imagination of the worst-case scenario kept flashing inside his mind, giving Koji a nightmare. The 9-meter distance between him and the net seemed too far away suddenly, and the 2,5 meters net height was like a tall building towering under his eyes.
He couldn't help but gulp nervously while kept chanting prayers inside his head as if his life depended on it.
'Please, don't let me mess this up... God... Kami-sama... Jesus... Buddha... Wherever you are, please help me this time... Don't let me mess this up... Please...'
The moment the referee blew the whistle, he didn't throw the ball in the air. Instead, he raised the hand that had the ball in it and hit it shakingly, sending a normal serve to the other side of the court.
All of his teammates were taken aback, turning their heads immediately to him. Even though Koji just learned how to do a jump serve recently and it wasn't as good as Riku's Koji was always confident in doing so, and in this game, even though he didn't contribute any points from the direct serve, at least it was enough to trouble the opponent.
When they saw his pale face, they realized that something was wrong with Koji. Unfortunately, the game was still on, so it was impossible to come and ask what happened.
*Thud!*
"Nice receive, Aki!"
All of them stared at each other, could see that it was an idea worth trying.
'Still, who will join the attack?' Besides the setter, Ito, and Nitta, all of the players there had their own specialization and weren't that good at attacking.
'Well, why don't you let me?' Haruo grinned, offering himself to be the main character for this experimental strategy.
'You?' One of them asked, doubtful. 'I have never seen you doing a spike before. Can you do it?'
'Hey, I can spike, you know?' Haruo defended himself. 'I have never had a chance to do that before since Nitta-senpai and Ito-senpai would always be there, but this might be a good chance for me to show it off!'
All the players there looked at each other for another second before turning their heads to Ito, asking the captain to take the decision. After weighing his options and glancing at Saito on the bench, he finally decided to follow his instinct.
'Okay, since Haruo-kun is confident about it, he can join the attack. Yamada, make sure you will give a good pass, okay?'
'Yes, Sir!'
-End of the flashback-
At first, they did it in a desperate attempt since Saito didn't have any intention to take another timeout. They had to adapt quickly to the situation on the court, and they felt what Haruo proposed was worth a shot. Never did it cross their mind that the strategy would work perfectly, activating their offense once again.
*BAM!*
"ONE TOUCH!"
"Oh! Good block, Nitta!"
"Yamada-senpai!"
*BAM!* .net
"HELL YEAH!" Haruo clenched his fist excitedly as his next spike was able to contribute to another point for the team. Even though it failed to pierce Tsunemori's defense, he aimed the ball well enough to make it bounce to one of the opponent's blockers and gave them a point out of it.
Tsunemori High 21 25 9
Kyoei Gakuen 25 7 9