Chapter 12 -Vs Fujizawa (Final)

The Fujizawa players can be seen sitting on the bench, resting and drinking water.

"Tsk..." Goshiki grunted.

"Hey, you need to calm down. We need you at your best to win against them - you're our ace!" said Sakamoto, deliberately emphasizing "ace" to cheer up Goshiki.

"Right! Since my team needs me, it's time to show what I'm made of," said Goshiki while simultaneously slapping both his cheeks with his hands.

"Finally, it seems I managed to calm this crazy guy down," thought Sakamoto.

"Everything's going well, everyone. We need to keep this rhythm, and we'll win this!" said Hinata.

The second set begins with Sekimukai serving towards the opponent's libero, who manages a good pass to Sakamoto, who sets the ball for Goshiki, who scores with a cross-court attack for the first point.

1-0 Fujizawa

"This guy seems different from the last game... he looks more focused," Izumi said to Hinata.

"That's not very good for us. Him making mistakes was the best thing that could happen, but still, it's better to beat them when they're at their best," said Hinata.

Wing spiker Sagae serves the ball towards Sekimukai, who receives it off his arms, sending it towards Izumi at stomach height, who uses an underhand set for a poor toss to Hinata, who was near the net in position 3 and had to deal with a triple block from the opposing team. He hit the ball off one of the blockers, sending it out of bounds.

1-1 Tied

Kawashima serves, and the ball hits the net but then falls towards the opponent's court floor, forcing Goshiki to dive to make the reception that went to Sakamoto, who also had to make an underhand set to Goshiki, who had already gotten up and jumped energetically, managing to beat the block and score another point.

2-1 Fujizawa

"LET'S GO! I WON'T LOSE!" shouted Goshiki while celebrating.

"That was also a good reception, the effort paid off," praised Fujizawa's libero.

Now in Fujizawa's rotation, it was middle blocker Yu Shibata's turn to serve. He executed the serve towards Hinata, who received it perfectly and immediately prepared to get Izumi's set, who made a high toss allowing Hinata to make a huge jump and hit the ball over the opponent's block, making it explode on the floor!

2-2 tied

After this point, it was Hinata's turn to serve, and as soon as he touches the ball, the crowd visibly starts getting excited, as by this point, the boy was already known mainly for his fast and powerful serve.

"We can defend this!" shouted Goshiki to encourage the team, but once again the ball hits his wrists and goes out.

And a sequence of two more serves were successful, but the fourth went out.

5-2 Yukigaoka

"Damn, he always manages to turn the score around with these serves," lamented Goshiki.

After the sequence of points from Hinata's serves, there was a series of successful attacks from Fujizawa with Goshiki leading the team in offense.

16-12 Fujizawa

"This isn't good, guys, they're four points ahead," said Sekimukai.

"We can't lose this point," said Hinata while receiving Sagae's serve and directing it to Izumi, who sets to the middle of the net for Daisuke, who manages to put the ball on the floor in the center of the court.

16-13 Fujizawa

But despite Yukigaoka's efforts to try to come back in the score, they were overcome in the second set by the Fujizawa team, who had clearly returned with renewed spirit after losing the first set, managing to win the second set 25-21.

Hinata- 10 points

Daisuke- 6 points

Sekimukai- 3 points

Kawashima- 2 points

"Man, we couldn't do it this time!" said Izumi while drinking from a water bottle.

"These guys are really good!" commented Sekimukai.

"They took this one, but we already won against them in the first set, we can do it again. We're not leaving now!" said Hinata.

"Right!" everyone shouted in unison.

Shibata starts serving, but Suzuki manages to receive it, sending it towards Izumi, who decides to set for Sekimukai, who manages to execute his practiced move and attack the ball off the opponent's fingertips, making it fall at the back of the court before anyone could recover it.

1-0 Yukigaoka

This time, the Yukigaoka team decides to start with Hinata as their first server to try to build an early advantage. On his first serve, he manages to hit the floor without any difficulty; on the second, Goshiki tried to receive but wasn't successful; on the third, the libero almost managed to receive it but it fell before he could recover it; however, on the fourth, the libero manages to receive it and pass to Sakamoto, who sets for Sagae, who executes a dink shot that catches the Yukigaoka team off guard.

4-1 Yukigaoka

"Tsk, only three points... after all, I can't expect to score several service points in a row against elite teams," he thought.

Once again, it was Goshiki's turn to serve, so the boy executes a powerful serve that hits Suzuki's arms and goes out.

4-2 Yukigaoka

"Take that! You're not the only one who can score with serves," Goshiki taunted.

"I never said that... I think," said Hinata with his hand on his chin, thoughtful.

"Don't fall for his provocations again," warned Sakamoto.

"Right," said Goshiki while going to the back of the court to serve again, and again manages a strong serve that this time was received by Suzuki, who again gets a good pass to Izumi, who decides to use the opposite in position 2 of the court. However, Kawashima tries to hit the ball to the back of the court, but the players are unsure if it was in or out and everyone looks at the referee.

"OUT!"

4-3 Yukigaoka

"Damn!" sighed Kawashima while clutching his shirt.

"It was a good try!" said Hinata.

The game continued to be competitive with some points going to one side and others to the other, and when it was 23-23 at its climax, Sekimukai served and it was received by the opposing libero, and then Sakamoto prepares to make the next play, but he didn't count on Daisuke watching him and abandoning the block that would go to Goshiki to go alone against Shibata and manage a monster block, securing another point for his team.

24-23 Yukigaoka

"LET'S GO!" shouted the boy who normally didn't show much emotion.

"What a read!" said Hinata while patting his head.

It was Izumi's turn to serve, who tries his best but is easily received by the opposing libero who again makes a good pass to Sakamoto, who notices Goshiki looking at him thirsting for a set and preparing to jump, and after receiving the pass, he sees a triple block from Hinata, Daisuke, and Sekimukai.

"I WON'T LOSE TO YOU!!" he shouted while hitting the side of Hinata's hands and managing to score.

24-24 Tied

"THAT'S IT!" he shouted.

Sakamoto serves the ball that goes towards Hinata, who manages to make a good reception and immediately prepares to jump. With this movement, Izumi notices that Hinata drew the attention of the two blockers from the opposing team, so he decided to set for Sekimukai, who found himself high up facing Sagae's block.

"Whatever God wants!" he thought while attacking the opponent's block, hitting between Sagae's two arms and going towards the floor.

25-24 Yukigaoka

"Let's go! I'm a genius," shouted the boy.

"Looks like it's the end for Fujizawa," said a boy in the crowd.

"Why do you say that? They still have a chance to win, it's not over yet!" retorted another boy beside him.

"Just look who's serving!" said the boy while watching Hinata going to the service position.

"Let's end this!" said Hinata while finishing his preparation to serve and tossed the ball up, jumped and hit it, sending it flying towards Goshiki. "This time for sure..." Before he could finish his thought, the ball flew off his wrists and went out of bounds.

26-24 Yukigaoka

Hinata-16 points

Daisuke- 5 points

Sekimukai – 4 points

Kawashima – 1 point

"We won, damn it!" shouted Sekimukai.

"We're in the quarter-finals!" said Izumi cheerfully.

"Hey, your name is Shoyo Hinata, right?" said Goshiki.

"Yes," answered Hinata.

"From today on, you're my rival... I'll never forget what happened today, but be prepared because next time the result will be different!" said the boy while turning and leaving without waiting for a response.

"The next match will be in an hour, and the winner of the game happening now will be our opponent. Want to go watch?"

"No need, we all know it will be Kitagawa Daiichi winning. Let's use this time to rest and use the bathroom," said Hinata.