Karasuno's bench was tense.
The scoreboard read:
Date Tech: 12 – Karasuno: 11
Every point felt like war.
"Don't let them get in your head," Daichi ordered, clapping his hands hard. "Stay fluid."
On the court, Riku adjusted his knee pads and stared across at Kurosawa, whose expression remained blank as ever.
Riku's system pulsed again.
System Analysis: Opponent Kurosawa – Adaptive Intelligence Level 2 Unlocked
Behavioral Sync: Active (Linked to Aone)
Estimated Tactical Response Time: 0.6 seconds
"He's copying me faster," Riku muttered under his breath. "That's not just observation… that's predictive."
Kageyama gave him a quick glance. "Then stop being predictable."
Riku smirked.
"I was just about to."
Date Tech served again. This time, Riku stepped into the reception lineup. A strange move—he wasn't their best passer. But there was a reason.
The ball rocketed toward him—powerful but linear.
He took it.
Poorly.
The ball popped high and shaky.
Kageyama had to run to get under it. Aone and Kurosawa closed in instantly, sensing the forced play.
Except—it was a trap.
Kageyama didn't set it to Hinata or Riku.
He dumped it.
A quick, sneaky tip over the net.
The ball dropped between Aone and Kurosawa like a feather.
The gym exploded with noise.
"Smart," Riku grinned as he returned to position. "If you're gonna track my data, let's feed you garbage."
System ping.
Opponent Processing: Delayed
Pattern Corruption Detected: Behavioral Mismatch
Kurosawa's Sync Disrupted
Across the net, Kurosawa narrowed his eyes.
It was a small shift, but Riku caught it.
A reaction.
A crack in the armor.
Next serve came fast. This time, Hinata received and passed it cleanly to Kageyama. As Kurosawa and Aone tracked his footwork, Riku sprinted for a decoy run.
They followed him.
Mistake.
Kageyama launched it to Tanaka, who smashed it through a wide-open lane.
Another point.
Kurosawa looked at Aone. Just slightly. A twitch. A miscommunication.
They were syncing—yes—but the more Riku manipulated his own rhythm, the more that sync broke.
He didn't have to outplay them in power.
He just had to scramble the data.
"Coach," Sugawara whispered on the bench. "They're cracking. Riku's disrupting their system."
Ukai nodded, impressed. "That kid's got a strange volleyball brain."
Time-out. Date Tech called it.
As the Karasuno squad huddled, Riku took a deep breath.
System Alert: Tactical Disruption Achieved
Temporary Weakness Unlocked – Kurosawa's sync is vulnerable to erratic tempo and mixed strategy.
Recommended Tactic: Use randomness to overload predictive systems.
Daichi gave instructions. "Let's keep the rotation tight. Make them guess. Kageyama, don't fall into habits. Riku, keep running decoys. Make noise."
Kageyama raised an eyebrow. "So… chaos?"
"Controlled chaos," Riku said, cracking his knuckles.
The whistle blew.
Back to the court.
This time, Karasuno went all in.
Fast plays, weird tips, delayed sets, and one surprise jump float serve from Sugawara that no one expected. Every point forced Kurosawa's team to recalculate.
His movements started getting slower.
Less robotic.
More human.
That meant one thing:
He was overthinking.
On the final play of the set, Karasuno had match point.
Kageyama sent a fast set to Riku on the outside.
He saw Kurosawa already shifting to block.
But Riku didn't spike.
He stopped mid-air—and *tipped* it, soft, gentle, and barely over the net.
Aone dove.
Too late.
Ball down.
Set over.
Karasuno took it: 25–23.
Cheers erupted across the court. Hinata tackled Riku with a wild grin. Tanaka shouted about muscle gods. Even Kiyoko cracked a small, satisfied smile from the sidelines.
But Riku wasn't celebrating.
He looked across at Kurosawa.
For the first time, Kurosawa looked... frustrated.
And yet, there was something else in his eyes.
Recognition.
A silent message passed between them.
You're not just a player.
You're like me.
System Message: Core Signature Identified
Hayato Kurosawa – Variant Class User
Status: Stable
Potential Threat Level: Moderate to High
Riku exhaled slowly.
This was far from over.