The whistle for the start of the final set hadn't blown yet, but Kenma looked like he was ready to call an ambulance. He sat on the bench, head between his knees, breathing as if the air in the gym had been replaced with soup.
"Kenma," Ryuu nudged him with his foot. "Don't die. We need your brain."
"My brain... has shut down," Kenma wheezed. "I'm running on... backup power."
"Just toss it high," Ryuu said, tightening his shoelaces. "I'll handle the rest."
On the other side, Itachiyama looked... pristine. They were sweating, sure, but they didn't look ragged. They looked like they had just finished a light warmup jog.
"That's the difference," Coach Nekomata observed, his face grim. "Efficiency. They don't waste movement. We have been scrambling like madmen just to keep up. In a third set, that fatigue kills you."
Ryuu stood up. He cracked his neck. Crack. Crack.
"Good thing I have high stamina stats," Ryuu muttered. He looked at Sakusa, who was aggressively toweling off his arms. "Hey, Weasel! Tired yet?"
Sakusa didn't look up. "I'm not tired. I'm contaminated."
Set 3 Start.
Score: 0 - 0.
The coin toss gave Nekoma the serve.
Kuroo served. It was a good serve, aiming for the back corner.
Komori stepped to the side. He didn't dig it; he let it go.
Thud.
The ball landed two inches out.
"Out!"
Itachiyama 1 - 0.
"Don't mind, Kuroo!"
Ryuu rotated to the front left. He looked at the blockers. They weren't jumping as high as before, but their positioning was tighter. They were conserving energy.
Itachiyama served. Kai received.
"Kenma!"
Kenma set to Ryuu.
Ryuu jumped. His legs felt heavy. The explosive "pop" from the first set was dulled.
'Focus on technique. Don't muscle it. Whip it.'
Ryuu swung. He snapped his wrist.
The ball flew fast, but Iizuna (the setter) was perfectly positioned in the block shadow. He dug it.
"Counter!"
Iizuna set to Sakusa.
Sakusa didn't jump with explosive power. He jumped efficiently. He saw Ryuu blocking.
'He's tired. His hands are drifting apart.'
Sakusa hit a sharp spike right through the small gap between Ryuu's arms.
Itachiyama 2 - 0.
Ryuu landed, staring at the space between his hands.
"Sloppy," Sakusa muttered as he jogged back. "Close the window."
Ryuu grit his teeth. "I'll close it on your neck."
________________
Score: Itachiyama 8 - 4 Nekoma.
The Kings were turning the screws. They weren't doing anything special. They just weren't missing.
Every time Ryuu attacked, Komori was there, or the block touched it, or Iizuna dug it. They were suffocating Nekoma with perfection.
Ryuu felt like he was punching a pillow.
"Damn it!" Ryuu shouted, spiking a ball that Komori dug again. "Die! Why won't the ball die?!"
"Cover!" Yaku shouted.
The rally continued. It had been going for 45 seconds. Everyone was gasping.
Kenma bumped the ball high. "Ryuu... please..."
It was a plea. End this. I can't move anymore.
Ryuu looked at the ball. He looked at the Itachiyama defense. They were set. A triple block waited for him. Komori was in the cross.
'If I spike this normally, they dig it. The rally continues. Kenma dies.'
Ryuu backed up. He took a deep breath, inhaling the smell of sweat and floor wax.
'I need to do something they don't have data on.'
He ran. He jumped.
The blockers braced for the "Whip Spike."
Ryuu swung. But he didn't hit the ball with his palm.
He hit it with the side of his fist.
A Hammer Blow.
He chopped the ball downward, aiming for the very edge of the block.
The ball hit the middle blocker's outer wrist—not the palm, but the bony part of the wrist.
CRACK.
Because of the weird angle and the fist contact, the ball spun sideways violently. It ricocheted off the wrist and shot horizontally along the net, completely bypassing Komori.
It landed near the pole.
Nekoma 5 - 8.
The rally ended. Nekoma collapsed on the floor, gasping.
"What..." Komori stared at the ball. "He punched it? Like a karate chop?"
Ryuu landed on one knee. He looked up, sweat dripping into his eye.
"It's called..." Ryuu panted, making up a name on the spot. "...The Dragon's Fang."
"It's called a lucky shank," Sakusa corrected, looking annoyed.
"It scored," Ryuu stood up slowly. "Cry about it."
________
Score: Itachiyama 14 - 10.
Nekoma was hanging on by a thread. Ryuu was carrying the offense entirely. Yamamoto and Kuroo were being shut down by Itachiyama's disciplined blocking.
It was Ryuu vs. The System.
Ryuu rotated to serve.
"If I don't score here," Ryuu whispered to the ball, "we lose the momentum."
He looked at Komori.
'He's the anchor. If I break him, the ship sinks.'
Ryuu tossed the ball.
He channeled every ounce of frustration, every bit of exhaustion, into his arm.
BOOM.
The serve was a monster. It had the speed of his power serve but the spin of his new technique.
Komori stepped in. "Mine!"
He set his platform perfectly.
But Ryuu had aimed for Komori's right foot.
The ball dipped. Komori had to drop his shoulder. The ball hit his forearms, but the heavy top-spin caused it to shoot low.
It hit Komori's knee pads and rolled away.
Ace.
Nekoma 11 - 14.
"Nice serve!" Yaku roared.
Ryuu didn't smile. He just spun the ball again.
"Another one," he commanded himself.
He served again. Same spot. Komori adjusted. He dug it this time, but it was an overpass.
"Chance!"
Kuroo dunked the overpass straight down.
Nekoma 12 - 14.
Itachiyama called a timeout.
____________________
Itachiyama Bench.
"He's evolving mid-match," Iizuna said, wiping his face. "His form in the first set was raw. Now, he's adding spin and targeting Komori's feet."
Sakusa drank his water, his face dark.
"He's annoying," Sakusa said. "He makes the game chaotic. I can't find a rhythm because he keeps changing the tempo."
Coach Itachiyama nodded. "That is his weapon. He drags you into the mud. Don't engage him in a brawl. Stay clean."
Sakusa crushed his paper cup.
"Stay clean..." Sakusa muttered. He looked at Ryuu across the court, who was laughing with his teammates.
"No," Sakusa whispered. "To kill a monster... you have to cut its head off."
_______________
Match Resumes.
Score: Itachiyama 18 - 17 Nekoma.
The gap was closing. Ryuu was in the zone.
Itachiyama attacked. Iizuna set to Sakusa.
Ryuu was blocking.
'He's going to wipe it again. Or spin it.'
Ryuu watched Sakusa's wrist.
Sakusa jumped. He looked at Ryuu.
For the first time in the match, Sakusa smiled. It was a tiny, creepy twitch of the lips behind his bangs.
Sakusa didn't spike. He didn't wipe.
He hit a Super Inner Cross.
He twisted his body in the air so violently that he was almost facing the net post. He snapped his wrist, hitting the ball at an impossible angle—almost parallel to the net.
The ball flew inside Ryuu's block. It landed way inside the 3-meter line, closer to the net than the back line.
THUD.
Itachiyama 19 - 17.
Ryuu landed. He stared at the spot where the ball hit.
"That angle..." Ryuu whispered. "That's illegal. You need a protractor to hit that."
Sakusa landed. He looked at Ryuu.
"You're not the only one who can make a mess," Sakusa said.
________________
Score: 22 - 20.
Itachiyama was two points ahead. They were close to the finish line.
Ryuu was exhausted. His jumps were getting lower.
Kenma noticed.
"Ryuu," Kenma whispered during a rotation. "Can you jump?"
"I can fly," Ryuu lied, though his legs felt like lead.
"Okay," Kenma nodded. "Then fly."
Itachiyama served. Yaku received.
"Kenma!"
Kenma set the ball. But he didn't set it to the antenna. He set it slightly inside.
Ryuu approached. Three blockers were there.
Ryuu jumped.
He felt gravity trying to pull him down. The blockers looked like a towering wall.
'I can't hit over them anymore. I can't blast through them.'
Ryuu looked at the wall.
'Then I'll go through the keyhole.'
He saw a tiny gap between the blocker's arms and the net tape. A gap maybe two ball-widths wide.
Ryuu didn't swing his arm. He pushed the ball. Fast.
He threaded the needle.
The ball shot through the gap, brushed the net tape, and fell onto the Itachiyama court before Komori could dive.
Nekoma 21 - 22.
Ryuu landed, stumbling slightly.
"That was..." Kuroo blinked. "Precision? From you?"
Ryuu smirked, wiping sweat from his eye.
"I told you," Ryuu said, his voice raspy. "I'm a genius. I just usually choose violence."
He looked at the scoreboard.
21 - 22.
"Time to finish the boss fight," Ryuu whispered. "I'm running out of potions."