Hiroshi Numata, head of the Strategy and Development Division at Kinhouzan Gakuen High School, was reflecting on the match earlier.
(Matsubara Girls’ High School. They’re quite an interesting team.)
Just as his colleague, Coach Otomo, had said, they were full of weaknesses—but they also had the tools to overcome them. If they were to play Kinhouzan, there might be one match out of ten where they could come out on top.
(No, perhaps not even that. The only one on Matsubara who could properly receive our serves is that small libero who played at Nationals. No matter how powerful a spike might be, it’s meaningless if the toss doesn’t go up.)
Kinhouzan’s strength lies in power volleyball. They have many skilled servers. At the prefectural level, teams might manage, but on a national scale, a team like Matsubara—with their porous defense—could easily be overwhelmed by just serves alone.
That said, improving one’s receive may seem like a slow uphill climb, but it’s actually more like stairs. Once a certain threshold is crossed, a player can suddenly improve by a noticeable step. In some cases, they may even skip steps altogether.
If Matsubara manages to win the prefectural qualifiers, they would have about a month left. And in that time, there’s always a chance they could evolve.
(I was thinking of breaking the rules tomorrow and going to watch the Tokyo representative match instead...)
In Tokyo, Kinhouzan’s current top rival, Ryuusenzan High School, resides. Their representative match is scheduled for tomorrow.
There’s already plenty of information available, but as the final official match of the year—and the last chance to observe their rivals openly—missing it would be unfortunate. Still, it’s also true that they lacked sufficient information on Matsubara.
As Numata was deliberating where to go tomorrow, he was suddenly addressed by an unexpected figure.
“Oh? If I’m not mistaken…”
“Hmm? Ah, Coach Onuki of Tenma! It’s been a while. I’m Numata, from Kinhouzan High.”
===
“Thanks for your hard work.”
Their glasses clinked lightly, the liquid inside gently swaying.
Not that either of them was particularly tired—it was more of a customary gesture.
Incidentally, they were at a family restaurant, and the drinks were simply oolong tea.
The time was 3:00 p.m. It would be about two more hours before the izakayas opened. Not that either of them would drink even if one were open—they both had responsibilities the next day.
“I heard from Otomo that you’re quite the fan of Matsubara Girls’, Coach Onuki.”
“Ah, that’s a secondary reason for coming today. The main one was Tanabe, a second-year from Himesaki. We recently had a practice match with Himesaki High. They’re interested in Tenma too—it’s what you’d call an early scouting effort for the future.”
“Ah, yes. She’s quite a solid middle blocker. …If only she were about three centimeters taller.”
“Kinhouzan is as particular about height as ever, I see.”
Coach Onuki of Tenma University’s women’s volleyball team smiled wryly.
Numata, who oversees scouting and intelligence for Kinhouzan, is known for his strict standards regarding height.
For the record, Tanabe—the middle blocker from Himesaki—stands at 177 cm.
“But it’s simply the truth. To compete with the world in volleyball, height is a bare minimum requirement. No one should understand that better than you.”
“Of course. I’ve been hearing that since my own playing days. ‘Japan’s national team falls short against the world’s height’—a common refrain.”
The high school players they had just been watching likely had no idea. But before they were born—or perhaps when they were just infants—Tadashi Onuki had been the ace spiker for Japan’s men’s national volleyball team.
He’s now a dignified middle-aged man, but back then, with his handsome features and tall stature, he had been heavily featured in the media as a sports star.
On the court, however, Japan often found itself no higher than 8th in the world at best—sometimes even losing every match in a tournament—overpowered by the global standards of height and strength.
“But if we dismiss all the shorter players, volleyball won’t grow. Do you know why Japan is so strong at baseball on the global stage? It’s because the player base is large, and the representatives are selected from a vast pool of talent. What we need first is to grow the number of people playing volleyball.”
“How do you think we can increase that number? One idea is simply making volleyball more accessible. But there’s a faster way—success in a major international tournament, like the Olympics. If we win a gold medal there, interest will surge and the player base will expand rapidly. That’s why the athletes capable of competing globally need to be playing volleyball now.”
Both are valid. Both are correct perspectives.
It might sound like an argument, but neither side harbors ill will. In fact, the relationship between their schools is rather amicable.
Kinhouzan’s Coach Otomo, who champions world-class power volleyball,
And Tenma’s Coach Onuki, who challenges the trend of short, fast toss plays in Japanese women’s volleyball and instead embraces high, open attacks.
There’s no reason for conflict. On the contrary—
“Ah, I should have mentioned this sooner. Our Miyamoto will be in your care starting next year.”
“Leave it to me. Next year’s World Championship might be a bit too soon, but by the year after that—for the World Cup—I intend to have her representing Japan. In fact, considering the generational shift, she needs to be at the level where she can knock someone like Arai out of the lineup by then.”
“Haha. Isn’t Arai from the national team one of your former students, Coach Onuki? That’s a bit harsh.”
Graduates from Kinhouzan often go on to attend Tenma.
Their volleyball conversation continued, eventually shifting to tomorrow’s match.
“By the way, who do you think will win tomorrow—Himesaki or Matsubara Girls’?”
“Himesaki has about an 80% chance of winning, I’d say.”
“Oh? That’s quite a stern take. I thought you were partial to Matsubara Girls’, Coach Onuki.”
“This and that are two different matters.”
“Still, calling it 80% for Himesaki seems rather skewed. I’d say it’s more of a 50-50.”
“If both teams play to their full potential, that might be the case. But volleyball has momentum. And when it comes to controlling the flow of a match, Himesaki’s Coach Akai is very skilled. Also, it’s just a hunch, but—”
＝＝＝
Perspective Shift
Himesaki High School Girls’ Volleyball Club – Head Coach
POV: Noriko Akai
＝＝＝
(To think she had such a weakness...)
Today, after their own match, the game between Youkou High and Matsubara Girls’ High was held. Watching the match video for the second time in her room, she had discovered a way to counter what appeared to be the seemingly invincible quick attack of Tachibana Yuuri.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a complete countermeasure. It was still a powerful technique, but a way to fight against it had come into view.
(Just as the saying "onlookers see more of the game" suggests, I should’ve noticed it sooner as an objective observer… and yet, it took me until the second watch. Meanwhile, that girl noticed it after just a single instance near the end of the match.)
She had realized that her former student had noticed something in the final moments of the match. When she rewatched the video to find out what that might be, she came upon this discovery. Beyond that, Youkou High had also carefully analyzed Matsubara’s strengths and weaknesses.
(She’s always been quick to notice things. I never thought she’d grow into someone like this.)
Now a formidable rival coach, her student from twenty years ago had made a sharp observation. Akai, watching this unfold, began operating her device to pass on this valuable insight to her current team.
(It may feel a little underhanded to take credit for a former student’s discovery, but with this, I can see a path to victory.)
＝＝＝
Perspective Shift
POV: Tachibana Yuuri
＝＝＝
Tonight’s dinner is salmon foil bake. Basically, you just cut it up, wrap it, and toss it in the oven—but it tastes insanely good. On top of that, apparently it used to be prized as a luxury fish, but now it’s cheap.
Tasty and easy on the wallet—salmon’s an amazing fish.
“Is it really that good?”
“Huh? I mean, it’s just normally good? Did it taste weird or something?”
“You just looked so happy eating it, I got curious. Hina’s enjoying it too, though not quite as much as you.”
After finishing our match against Youkou, tomorrow’s the big showdown against Himesaki for a shot at making it to Spring High.
We were having dinner to recharge our energy, but for some reason, Ryou-nee had to chime in with a comment.
…Maybe she’s actually pointing out that both Hina and I are eating over twice as much as she is.
“Well, both Yuu-chan and I exercise, you know. Maybe you should work out too, Ryou-nee?”
It was Hina who clapped back. And she’s not wrong—regular exercise would be a good idea for Ryou-nee if she wants to keep up that sexy dynamite body (ancient expression alert).
“…I do go to the gym, you know.”
Sadly, we’re sisters. We more or less know how much laundry the other puts out, and how sweaty our clothes get. I think she could be trying a little harder though...
“You don’t really look like you’re exercising that much. Maybe push yourself a bit more?”
Hina! Wrap it in a little sugar first, would you!?
“Ryou-nee’s the kind of person who poured all the stats meant for athletic ability straight into brainpower. It’s not fair to compare her to us.”
I’ll cover for my little sister’s slip-up. Also, Ryou-nee’s super pretty and has a great figure, so I bet she really stands out at the gym. Hope no weirdos bother her.
“Anyway, enough about me—it’s about you two. If you win tomorrow, you’ll get to play volleyball in Tokyo during New Year’s like Mika, right? Think you can win?”
“We can. Probably.”
Seriously speaking, there’s no way anyone can completely shut down my quick attacks. You can’t block a spike that comes down from that kind of height with just a few defenders.
So what, they put everyone on receive?
If they’re all focused on me, the other spikers will still be launching attacks.
I’m gonna ride this quick attack all the way to nationals!
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