Chapter 9 - The Junior High Athletics Meet begins!

A few days had passed since the festival, and the Yukigaoka Junior High members were preparing for their practice, but this time everyone arrived forty minutes early.

"Looks like everyone is focused on...", said Hinata.

"After taking a beating like that, there's no way to just sit around doing nothing. From today on, we're going to work two or three times harder than we already were," said Sekimukai.

"I think the same way. It became clear that we don't have enough weapons to face teams at that level," said Izumi.

"But besides physical and basic training, I don't know what else I can do to improve, and that makes me angry!" Sekimukai vented.

"Me neither," Izumi agreed.

"Hold on, guys, all of you have ways to improve," said Hinata.

"Then tell me what I can do, you know-it-all!" Sekimukai confronted.

"Okay, it's time to launch the development plan: Yukigaoka," said the boy.

"But what the hell are you talking about," asked Sekimukai.

"Of course physical training is important; after all, if you can't jump high enough to make a good block, we'll be doomed to defeat against good teams, but the fact is that's not all you can do," said Hinata.

"I still don't understand," said Izumi.

"Let's see... for example... Sekimukai, in the game against Kitagawa Daiichi members during the festival, you were repeatedly stopped by their blocks, and what else did you do?"

"Get to the point, what are you trying to say," said the boy.

"I'm trying to say that all of you need to develop new weapons to surprise the opponents," Hinata observed.

"It's easy to say. I was already trying to put into practice what you told us about hitting at the fingertips of the block, but it wasn't enough."

"How about a Dink shot? It's a very efficient play that's used even at the professional level. Of course, you can't just use this type of play because it becomes predictable, but having it in your arsenal will be very useful for our team, and this will also be useful for Izumi who has only been setting. With you mastering Dink shots, you'll also be able to score," said Hinata.

"That makes sense," said Izumi, thoughtfully holding his chin.

"We don't have any other option; all other forms of attack would depend on us being able to jump high and overcome blocks," said Sekimukai.

"So this will be the plan for the next few months. We'll continue with basic and physical training, and we'll add at least one new weapon to each team member's arsenal," Hinata continued.

"Now, Daisuke, I noticed during the last games and during training that you have good game reading, especially when it comes to blocking opponent attacks. However, at the festival, I noticed you had to delay calling your teammates to block. I believe the best way to take advantage of this would be to give you freedom to try to read and intercept enemy attacks even if you're wrong!" said Hinata.

"Right, I'll work on that." said Daisuke.

"Mori, try to learn something from him about reading plays."

"Right," said Mori.

"Now for Kawashima, I think you would also benefit from learning the Dink shot, so try to do that," Hinata continued.

"Alright," said the boy.

"Suzuki, being honest, you're already doing very well, so just keep up the good work," said Hinata.

"Right, thank you!" said the boy, happy to be praised.

Then in the blink of an eye, three months passed, and it was just a few hours before the long-awaited Junior High Athletics Meet.

"Man, I can't believe the moment has come, especially because we had to go through these last weeks of tests. If we had done poorly, I don't think we would have been allowed to go," said Sekimukai.

"Don't talk as if the rest of us were at risk... only you had to count points to stay above average," said Izumi jokingly.

"It's not my fault if you're all a bunch of nerds," said Sekimukai.

"If you stay there talking, you'll end up missing the bus," said Hinata walking towards the school gate with the rest of the team members slightly ahead of him.

Soon all the group members were settling somewhere on the school bus, and Hinata ended up sitting next to Daisuke, who wasn't usually very fond of talking, so he supposed it would be a trip where he could reflect a lot.

"The problem is that school trips don't bring good memories for him, but God can't be so shameless as to make him die prematurely again, and even in the same way," he thought while watching the driver start the bus.

After about an hour, they had arrived at the gymnasium where the matches would take place. They disembarked at the entrance and soon entered; everyone on the team seemed very nervous, even the third-years for whom this was still their first tournament of their lives.

"Well folks, the moment has come. Whoever needs to go to the bathroom can go, just make sure to be back before the warm-up ends," said Hinata after reaching the center of the court.

"How are you not nervous, look at all these people," said Sekimukai observing the large number of people in the stands watching.

"Just think of these people as spectators of our show!" said Hinata smiling.

"You're crazy," said the boy.

Before the warm-up ended, Hinata called Izumi for a private conversation. "Man, Sekimukai is very nervous, and I think there's something we can do to solve this," said Hinata.

"What?" asked Izumi.

"The first ball of the game has to go to him so he can score and gain confidence," Hinata requested.

"Alright," Izumi understood.

After this dialogue, the duel between Yukigaoka Junior High and Kaminawa Junior High was about to begin with a serve from the opposing opposite hitter that was easily received by Suzuki, who as always directed the pass to Sekimukai in position four.

"Finish them, Sekimukai," shouted Izumi.

After receiving the pass, Sekimukai jumps and faces a double block.

"I can do this, take that!" said the boy while aiming at the fingertips of the block and made the ball fall in the middle of the court.

1-0 Yukigaoka

"That's it, I'm awesome," shouted Sekimukai while celebrating.

"Keep sending balls to him," said Hinata to Izumi.

"Right!" Izumi agreed.

The game continued with three consecutive points made by Sekimukai, who even used his Dink shot.

4-0 Yukigaoka

"I'm on fire today!" said the boy.

"From what it seems, I won't have to worry in this match," thought Hinata.

And after two relatively easy sets, they achieved their first victory in the tournament by: 25-10 and 25-11.

Sekimukai- 20 points Hinata- 15 points Daisuke- 10 points Kawashima- 3 points Mori- 2 points

"It's the first time I've scored so many points; those guys really weren't as good as they said," stated the boy.

"From what I saw, they weren't with their best player for some reason," said Daisuke.

"We have nothing to do with that; now let's wait to know who will be our next opponent. We're going to win this and secure another day," said Hinata.