KOBAYASHI AOTORI held a volleyball in his hand again, gently patting it twice on the ground. Gripping the volleyball in his hand, a warm and familiar sensation once again surged through his palm.

He silently watched the group of strong boys glaring at him like tigers eyeing their prey and blinked.

Being stared at by a bunch of tall, fierce, and strong men, to be honest, felt very unsettling...

Ahem. He pushed aside the random thoughts in his mind and focused on the volleyball in front of him.

"Beep—" The whistle sounded, and out of the corner of his eye, he clearly saw everyone bending down warily, and sighed inwardly.

There's no need for that, there's really no need to be wary of a minor character like me.

He slowly tossed the volleyball into the air, feeling the gaze of everyone focused on him. In Kobayashi Aotori's hazel eyes, there was only the shadow of the volleyball.

He keenly felt the gaze of everyone present concentrated on him, or perhaps on the volleyball.

This kind of attention, almost like a "protagonist."

Feels great.

"Boom—!!"

The explosive sound rang out, and a gust of strong wind hit Haruma's face.His expression froze for a moment, but in the next moment, he quickly snapped back to attention. This time, his focus was much higher than the last time, and his impression of Kobayashi Aotori was updated—

He couldn't be one-sidedly categorized as either a power player or a flexible player. He could unleash explosive giant weapons like dynamite, and just when you were fully focused on receiving the ball, it would suddenly switch to a light, teasing, and tricky serve that would ruthlessly slap you in the face.

He suddenly clenched his teeth—

This rascal!!

"Bang!"

(He received it! Bishin Haruma received Kobayashi Aotori's serve! Can he stop Mr. Dynamite's current devilish dominance!) Commentator A's enthusiastic commentary burst into the ears of every spectator.

(I-it's Shiratorizawa's chance ball!)

"Sorry!" Bishin quickly apologized, but at this moment, no one could blame Bishin Haruma for receiving that tricky serve. Moreover, Kiryuu himself was someone who never attributed every mistake to his teammates.

He always took responsibility for everything, somewhat like an angelic version of Tobio Kageyama.

By the way, Tobio Kageyama was the demonic kind.

Shirabu kept a close eye on the volleyball flying high over the net, glancing at his teammates, noticing Ushijima Wakatoshi's cold gaze. Almost instantly, he made up his mind—

"Pop."

"Swish——"

"Boom!!" The volleyball brushed past the ear of Unnan Keisuke, one of the "Mujinazaka Twin Towers," stirring up a gust of strong wind that made his hair flutter momentarily.

His expression stiffened, and instinctively tilted his head to the opposite side. The volleyball landed behind him, and he covered his ears forcefully, listening to the continuous ringing in his ears, and glared fiercely at Ushijima Wakatoshi on the opposite side.

"Ah~ Wakatoshi-kun, be a little more careful next time, don't injure the opponent's player~!" Tendou's voice rang out at an ironically opportune moment. Ushijima Wakatoshi looked at Unnan Keisuke on the opposite side with a serious expression and said in a deep voice:

"Sorry."

Shirabu couldn't bear to watch Tendou Satori "bullying" the opposing players again, but was it just his illusion? He felt that recently Aotori's mockery seemed to have toned down a lot.

Of course, in terms of words. This guy's skills in sarcasm on the court have never been weak.

Just as Shirabu felt a bit pleased about Aotori's growth, Aotori happened to pass by to get the ball, and as the ominous sound echoed in his mind, it indeed came true—

On the opposite side, Usuri Michiru looked at Kobayashi Aotori with a bright smile, his voice sunny, "Kobayashi-san's serve is so amazing~ But I wonder, such a ball—"

"—how many more can you serve?" He looked at Kobayashi Aotori across the net, his face slightly lowered, but his eyes looking up with a pressing aura, speaking to Kobayashi Aotori in a low voice.

Shirabu froze, then frowned slightly, about to step forward and give him a piece of his mind when Tendou Satori beside him tugged at his sleeve. He looked at him puzzled, but met Tendou Satori's meaningful smile, as if saying:

Just watch, Aotori-chan is not one to lose in a verbal spar.

Sure enough, in their eyes, Kobayashi Aotori, who was originally just passing by, stopped in his tracks upon hearing Usuri Michiru's words.

He stood at the net, with a height advantage of a few centimeters over Usuri Michiru, looking down at him, his naturally puzzled expression tilted slightly:

"A serve like this..." He pondered for a moment, seemingly calm but actually with his chin raised, his long eyes slightly squinted, forming a naturally proud and mocking expression, and said calmly:

"Don't you just serve as many as you want?"

Usuri Michiru's expression stiffened, and then, under his incredulous gaze, Kobayashi Aotori added fuel to the fire:

"After all, such a serve."

"Su-per or-di-na-ry."

Each word cut deep into Usuri Michiru's heart. His vision went black, and Kiryu immediately supported the enraged Usui Michiru, feeling somewhat panicked, not knowing how to comfort him.

And the culprit just looked at them in confusion, then inwardly thinking "I don't get their point," turned and walked back to his position without looking back.

SHIRABU silently watched Kobayashi Aotori, who had angered Usuri Michiru with just a few words. Tendou Satori's smile behind him became even more radiant. He patted Shirabu's shoulder, the latter trembling slightly, took a deep breath, and vowed never to never entertain fantasies about Kobayashi Aotori being a better person.

Standing in the back row, Kobayashi Aotori suddenly remembered something. He "ah"ed and in a voice only audible to his teammates, said calmly:

"The one on the opposite side, Wakatsu Kiryuu, is quite a self-centered guy."

Ohira Reon looked at Kobayashi Aotori in astonishment. It was the first time he had taken the initiative to discuss the on-court situation during a match.

Perhaps Kobayashi Aotori hadn't realized that since their victory over Inarizaki, which overturned what he perceived as a "fixed result," his mindset seemed to have undergone subtle changes. He no longer solely relied on his teammates but began to think about how to make Shiratorizawa change those established "fixed results."

People are like that. When they don't know, it's fine. But once they discover that what you thought was a fixed result can be changed by effort or luck, it's hard not to hope and fantasize.

Kobayashi Aotori is no exception.

Goshiki Tsutomu didn't think as much as Ohira Reon did. He just blinked in surprise and asked.

"Quite... 'self-centered'?"

Kobayashi Aotori nodded slightly. "If I have to say, he's probably the kind of guy who sees himself as the 'absolute ace,' the 'crucial pillar' of the team."

"He takes his teammates' failures upon himself. Don't forget his nickname, 'Bad Ball Killer.' He compensates for his teammates' mistakes with his own performance. We can target this in our attacks."

...Although he didn't know how to target it himself, just providing information should be enough, right? After all, he still had his Shiratorizawa teammates.

...ABSOLUTE ACE? Super self-centered?

—Isn't Aotori talking about himself? Goshiki's beady eyes blinked, then he quickly shook his head.

No, no, Aotori should be more like:

"Hmm, I'm indeed the ace player, but that has nothing to do with you being weak and causing the team to lose, no conflict at all, right?" /head tilt

Ugh—What a terrible personality!

Completely different from the Kiryuu Wakatsu he's describing!

Unaware that his teammates who he had placed his hopes on were silently mocking him in their hearts, Kobayashi Aotori returned to his position obediently after providing the information.

"Well, Aotori-chan really did check the opponent's match records carefully." Tendou chuckled and whispered to Ushijima Wakatoshi next to him. The next moment, his face showed a bit of confusion, tilting his head:

"But living with him, I have absolutely no idea when Aotori-chan did this analysis..."

"Haha! Aotori-chan is indeed a mysterious person!"

Ushijima Wakatoshi nodded seriously in agreement with Tendou Satori's words: "Aotori is very diligent."

A drop of cold sweat slid down Shirabu's forehead. He didn't understand how Ushijima Wakatoshi had such a strong, gentle filter for Kobayashi Aotori...

Kobayashi Aotori: Clearly, you all have a dark filter for me!!

BUT ONCE AGAIN immersed in his volleyball domain, Kobayashi Aotori naturally didn't know that he had provided information while his teammates fell into the "Kobayashi Aotori praise circle."

After feeling a little relieved and shifting the pressure to his teammates, his own pressure wasn't that great anymore.

This move might be shameless, but it worked.

He relaxed his brows, and at the referee's whistle, he slowly tossed the volleyball, and his mind couldn't help but brainstorm.

Since Kiryuu Wakatsu would forcibly compensate for his teammates' shortcomings, maybe it would be better to serve towards his weakness?

But does the opponent have weaknesses?

"Boom—!"

Another light and floating serve. Usuri Michiru, who was already fuming from Kobayashi Aotori's words, now saw this seemingly mocking serve, and his face darkened even more.

This bastard... I must receive his serve!

The serve was still aimed at the libero, Bishin, but at this moment, Bishin's state wasn't very good.

No matter who it is, under the high-pressure state of such a match, continuously receiving strange, tricky serves, would have their brain messed up.

All because Kobayashi Aotori's ball trajectory was too erratic, like a self-taught wild path! How on earth did he learn such strange ball paths from systematic learning!

Bishin wanted to cry but had no tears, but given the situation, he recalled his teammates' words during the discussion and couldn't help but darken his eyes. To everyone's surprise, he suddenly gave up his position—

Commentator A: (What?! Bishin Haruma, the libero of Mujinazaka High School, chose to retreat in the face of the opponent's serve.... Ah! It's the 'Mujinazaka Twin Towers'!)

As the commentator said, Bishin Haruma, who stepped back, left a position where a figure swiftly leaped up—Unnan Keisuke!

Without hesitation, he seized the opportunity and, in a difficult posture, received Kobayashi Aotori's tricky serve!

The volleyball flew high, and everyone, whether players or spectators, at this moment, their gazes were all directed upward.

—USURI MICHIRU took a deep breath, looking at Kobayashi Aotori, who had somehow already stood under the net, with a bad premonition but still unhesitatingly raised the ball high. At the same time, a deafening impact from Kiryuu Wakatsu followed—

A diagonal shot! Did it dodge Tendou's blocking direction?

Sure enough, after losing two points in a row, Kiryuu Wakatsu also became cautious—

"Boom!"

At the same time, under the circumstances that no one could have predicted, a pair of hands wrapped in bandages suddenly appeared like a high wall, ruthlessly intercepting Kiryu Wakatsu's cannon-like spike—!

Unfortunately, the block flew out of bounds.

But undoubtedly, he blocked Kiryu Wakatsu's spike!!

The whole venue was in an uproar. Even though Shiratorizawa lost the point, everyone was shocked for the team that lost the point.

Kobayashi Aotori, landing on the ground, slightly frowned in the gaze of the crowd, looking at his fingers in a bit of a daze.

Ouch, it hurts?

His joints felt like they were about to be broken, which led to him barely caring about the blocking direction, causing the ball to just go out of bounds.

But undoubtedly, it still hurt a lot.

The area under the bandage was definitely swelling up. As expected of Kiryuu Wakatsu, blocking his spike was practically seeking death.

But if given another chance, he would still do it.

And he would clench his teeth and insist on controlling the direction after getting familiar with the force, never allowing the same point loss situation to happen again.

Standing on one side of the net, looking down with a slightly frowned expression, Kobayashi Aotori didn't know that at this moment, if he tilted his head slightly, he could see the shocked gazes of everyone from Mujinazaka High School.

This guy, is he really a monster...?

What kind of character has Shiratorizawa added?