Haikyuu: I Grind To Beat My Genius Twin Brother

"Hey, Trashkawa!" Iwaizumi Hajime couldn't stand it any longer; the veins on his forehead bulged as he almost charged to the service area to beat up his chubby childhood friend who was showing off. "Serve properly! Or I'll beat you up!"

"Oikawa, be gentle with the juniors," Matsukawa Issei kindly reminded him.

Oikawa Tooru gave an OK sign, then held the volleyball and took several steps back to gain enough distance for a full-power serve.

Hanamaki Takahiro sighed in disbelief: "What a scumbag."

The atmosphere on the third-year side was very lively, but the freshman team was tense.

Kindaichi and Hideaki Kunimi had both been in the same middle school as Oikawa Tooru, and Yuma Kikuzawa also knew Oikawa's serving power well from memories of his past life. The three of them understood deeply just how powerful Oikawa's serve was.

It could be said that Oikawa Tooru's serving power was the best in the entire prefecture; even Wakatoshi Ushijima from Shiratorizawa was a bit worse in serve scoring rate compared to Oikawa.

The volleyball spun twice in Oikawa Tooru's hands, accompanied by an imaginary BGM. The tall and handsome youth tossed the ball, took a running start, jumped… His blue figure stretched out in the air, forming a beautiful arc—then fiercely swung his arm.

Bang—!

The place where the ball met his palm dented deeply, and a cannon-like blast echoed through the gymnasium. The ball's trajectory was completely invisible, and almost at the moment of impact, the ball had already flown to the opposite court.

Then… thud!

The ball hit Yuki's tense arms and flew high above the court.

The sound of hitting and catching happened almost simultaneously. Except for the Kikuzawa brothers, no one else, including Oikawa Tooru serving, had time to react before the ball flew over the freshman team's court.

Good news: the reception was perfect.

Bad news: the one who received was the setter.

"Kindaichi!"

Yuma Kikuzawa shouted decisively, throwing aside the pride of the ace spiker, took two steps under the ball's landing point, raised both hands, and executed a beautiful overhand pass to Kindaichi's head.

Kindaichi immediately jumped to spike. Because neither team had fully reacted, the ball brushed the court with a thud, falling right in front of the stunned Iwaizumi Hajime and Matsukawa Issei, bouncing twice on the ground.

"…"

The gym fell silent for a moment.

The next second, the freshman team burst into intense cheers.

Kindaichi slapped Yuma Kikuzawa's shoulder hard, amazed: "Nice pass! But aren't you supposed to be the main spiker?"

Hideaki Kunimi also looked up and down at Yuki, who accurately received Oikawa Tooru's serve, with a surprised expression.

"Aren't you the setter? Your reception skills are this good too?"

Yuma Kikuzawa gave an awkward smile: "Actually, I was a setter turned main spiker. My mom said I wasn't smart enough to be a setter, so she made me go play other positions…"

Kindaichi: "Uh…"

Hideaki Kunimi: "What about your younger brother?"

Mentioning this, Yuma Kikuzawa's expression darkened as he muttered: "Right, right, why would a setter have such good reception ability? If you're good at reception, just obediently go be a libero…"

Yuki looked at his three teammates, each showing different expressions, and kindly explained rare words: "Liberos can't serve."

…So being a libero would waste your top-notch serving talent! Damn genius—!

Yuma Kikuzawa suddenly realized what Yuki left unsaid and immediately gritted his teeth.

As everyone knows, smiles don't disappear; they just shift.

The freshman team was filled with joy, while the main team's faces were dark.

"Hey, what's up with those two?! Their skills are amazing! Are they really freshmen?!"

Hanamaki Takahiro pointed at the Kikuzawa brothers on the opposite side, completely shocked.

"Damn you, Oikawa!" Iwaizumi Hajime gritted his teeth, "Are you even capable? The first ball was received by the juniors!"

"Eh?! Me?!" Oikawa Tooru pointed at himself in disbelief, "Iwa-chan, didn't you guys also fail to block the rookie's spike?"

"Alright, alright, calm down. Maybe that was just an accident," someone said.

There was constant chatter on the court, while Team Manager Gouguchi below the court widened his eyes. He took out the freshman's information from the drawer and flipped through it.

"So the new students this year are this strong…?"

Coach Irihata smiled: "They just caught the third-years off guard once. It won't be so easy to score next."

Team Manager Gouguchi: "No wonder Coach Irihata is so optimistic about this freshman class. Their reception level is already top-notch for high school."

Coach Irihata's face showed another enigmatic smile: "Yuki's reception is indeed good, but Aoba Johsai didn't recruit him just for reception skills…"

Of course, the third-year starters weren't scared off by a newcomer's serve. They were just surprised at first, but after regaining composure, they quickly adjusted their momentum.

After all, they had been facing Shiratorizawa for years; this little surprise was a piece of cake.

Oikawa Tooru's eyes burned with fighting spirit: "Looks like Aoba Johsai got some decent juniors this year."

Iwaizumi Hajime: "Everyone get serious! It'd be too embarrassing for seniors to lose to freshmen!"

With the team ace's roar, the third-years instantly ignited with energy like they were injected with adrenaline.

The freshman team across felt it most clearly. Losing the first point didn't dampen the third-years; instead, it roused their fighting spirit.

A wave of pressure swept over, causing cold sweat to drip from the foreheads of the freshmen facing strong high school players for the first time.

Hideaki Kunimi wiped sweat and muttered under dull eyes: "Hey, hey, no need to put on this kind of pressure when you play against us."

The only one who could still smile was probably Yuma Kikuzawa.

His face still wore a gentle and harmless smile as he leisurely picked up the volleyball and walked toward the service area.

Let the seniors see the real value of the national tournament's best server…

Yuma Kikuzawa's smile slowly twisted.

As the clearly sinister newcomer stood in the service area, the third-years' hearts inexplicably skipped a beat.

Matsukawa Issei: "Hey, that guy can't be a really good server, right?"

Oikawa Tooru looked at Yuma's familiar backward steps, shivering all over: "I have a bad feeling about this…"

Yuma Kikuzawa maintained his smile, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.

His muscle tremors minimized, blood flowed steadily and regularly, and his heart beat rhythmically. His inner calm was like still water.

The smell of disinfectant in the gym, the feel of volleyball shoes stepping on the floor, the beautifully symmetrical lines of the court in front of him—all were deeply familiar to Yuma. Even with his eyes closed, he could clearly picture the distance between the backcourt boundary line and his toes in his mind.

Born into a volleyball dynasty, he worked hard to hone every volleyball skill to perfection, but if he had to pick his strongest skill, it would undoubtedly be "serving."

Volleyball is a six-player sport, but serving is the only scoring method that relies solely on individual ability.

"Hoo—"

Tossing the ball, running, jumping, hitting… His movements resembled Oikawa Tooru's but were more refined and precise in the details.

This was a serve worthy of being recorded in a tutorial.

The youth in the air was like a bow stretched to its limit, every bone and muscle in its best state. The fierce power started from his stretched toes and surged upward through his tight core, to his forcefully swinging arm, and finally the palm that struck the center of the volleyball, concentrating all power onto the ball.

Bang—!!

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