T.N.: 身不由己 (shēn bù yóu jǐ): "The body is not controlled by oneself." This idiom conveys the idea of being compelled or forced to do something, unable to act freely or according to one's desires.

THUS, the last member for extra practice, Kobayashi Aotori, arrived. Haiba Lev let out a long sigh of relief and quickly raised his hand, shouting:

"Me! Kuroo-senpai! I want to join the extra practice too!!"

"Huh?" It seemed that Kuroo didn't understand Lev's enthusiasm, but the next moment, seeing Yaku glaring at Lev, Kuroo understood what was going on.

"Hmm... but we are indeed short of one more person. Kenma refused to come for extra practice no matter what. He was even more reluctant when he heard that he would have to face Aotori's serves," Kuroo said, sounding troubled.

The next moment, under Lev's pleading gaze, Kuroo snorted and shrugged helplessly: "No choice, then. We'll add you. Yaku, please keep score for us."

Lev clenched his fists and silently celebrated.

Yaku glanced at Lev helplessly, then nodded, "Alright, but let me try the first serve."

"Try what?" Lev looked confusedly at Yaku-senpai, who was clearly speaking to him.

Yaku crossed his arms and directed his gaze to the corner, where Kobayashi Aotori had just put away his baseball cap and was sitting, waiting for them to finish their discussion:

"Let Aotori-san do the first serve, and I'll try to receive it."

Kuroo raised his eyebrows in understanding, an unfathomable smile on his face.

It's known that when watching the finals of the Interhigh National Tournament, after seeing Kobayashi Aotori's serve on the court, Yaku had been obsessed with receiving his serves.

Lev, of course, agreed wholeheartedly, as his real goal wasn't the extra practice but to escape Yaku-senpai's devilish training.

If he could, he would be happiest guarding the scorekeeper board.

"Well, if you want Aotori's serve to target you, just stand in the libero's position as usual." Bokuto immediately chimed in, his big eyes blinking, reminding at the worst possible moment:

"Because Aotori will definitely serve towards the libero's position!"

"So cool!!" Hinata exclaimed with starry eyes, clenching his fists.

Yaku narrowed his eyes slightly and snorted, "The 'Libero Killer,' huh? I've heard a bit about it."

AT THIS MOMENT, Kobayashi Aotori had no idea that Bokuto, who had already caused him trouble during the day, was now giving him a reputation he didn't deserve.

Walking over leisurely, Kobayashi Aotori warmed up a bit, stretching his muscles that were sore from sitting all afternoon.

Feeling his state return, he brushed his bangs aside with his hand. Under Kuroo's guidance, the six of them split into two teams.

One team was Bokuto, Akaashi, and Kobayashi Aotori; the other was Kuroo, Hinata, and Yaku.

Although Bokuto shouted, "I also want to receive Aotori's serve," Kuroo rejected him, citing "multiple private sessions" as the reason.

...If you want to reject Bokuto, just reject him. Why are you looking at me with such a resentful look?

Why did I feel inexplicably guilty and agreed to Kuroo's unreasonable request this morning?

Indeed, I'm too kind and can't do double standards.

But if it weren't for Bokuto's harassment on the first day making him realize he shouldn't agree to extra practice on their turf, he would have completely turned into a soulless serving machine.

Even now, Kobayashi Aotori didn't understand what was so special about his serves that all these "protagonists" were going to great lengths to face them.

Now, he wasn't as naive as when he first arrived, thinking everyone's praise for his serves was sarcasm. It seemed his serves were somewhat exceptional.

—Unfortunately, he had long been accustomed to this kind of serve, and could only occasionally serve a ball that truly satisfied him. The usual serves were commonplace in his eyes.

Thinking of words that would piss off everyone present, Kobayashi Aotori showed no emotion as he accepted the volleyball handed over by Lev, slowly walked behind the serving line, and casually patted it on the ground.

Feeling the eyes of the three opponents instantly fixate on him—

Yaku's gaze was particularly focused. He stood in the back row, still in his familiar libero position.

Kobayashi Aotori took a deep breath, stepped back two paces, and his movements, repeated countless times, were no different from before—

The volleyball spun high into the air, everyone following its trajectory, while he felt the heartbeat of the ball.

At a familiar point, he heard—

"Boom—!!"

The figure leaping high became a massive shadow, looming over everyone below. With a loud bang, the volleyball instantly tore through the air towards the opposing court with unstoppable force—!

AS EXPECTED, the volleyball headed straight for Yaku in the back row.

The trajectory was smooth and unobstructed, clean and sharp, just like Kobayashi Aotori's actions of tossing, running, jumping, and hitting the ball—without any superfluous movements, straight to the point—!

Yaku squinted slightly. He had watched many videos of Kobayashi Aotori's matches, studying his serving style.

This ball seemed ordinary, just a fast and powerful advanced serve, but Yaku knew it couldn't be that simple—!

His brain worked at high speed, but he had to admit, facing this serve with its terrifying momentum, as if it would shatter everything in its path, made it hard to concentrate and think about what kind of serve it was—

There wasn't much time for Yaku to think, and Kobayashi Aotori's serve showed no visible differences... damn it!

His eyes twitched slightly from the intense focus, he took a deep breath, and stared intently at the volleyball in front of him.

At that moment, time seemed to be stretched to infinity——

The rapidly spinning volleyball slowed in mid-air, its rotation decelerating in Yaku's eyes, and just before it reached him, he caught it—!

He captured that second, that tiny change in angle—!

It's to the right!!

He quickly adjusted his position, took a sharp step back, and raised his hands to the right!

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the volleyball indeed curved, dangerously close to the boundary, and shifted its angle—

To the right!

Bokuto's mouth dropped open in shock, his owl-like eyes widened, and even Akaashi, who had seen many of Kobayashi Aotori's serves, was stunned.

However—

The volleyball gently landed on Yaku's arms, resting steadily in the crook of his elbow...

As if it wasn't the same ball that had just shown unparalleled power in the air!

"Hey! Don't sleep!" Kuroo, seemingly possessed by Bokuto for a moment, shouted his catchphrase, stepping forward excitedly, and loudly calling out to the volleyball resting in Yaku's arms, as if really trying to wake it up.

Yaku maintained his posture, not because he couldn't accept the result.

He was contemplating and savoring.

Just as the volleyball landed in his arms, he had tried to lift it, but—

It was too heavy!!

It wasn't like how outsiders saw it, as if the volleyball suddenly lost power and fell into Yaku's arms. On the contrary, the weight just now made Yaku's arm feel numb from pain!

He slowly lowered his arms, still with a look of bewilderment and surprise.

He looked up abruptly and stared at Kobayashi Aotori who was flexing his wrist on the other side of the net in shock. He realized he was probably the first libero to "perfectly" receive such a curving serve from Kobayashi Aotori since the latter's videos had been available in Japan—

Although there have been some people who had received it, most relied on personal skill and overall abilities. No one had truly analyzed and understood the serve like he had.

This led to Yaku not expecting that even if he received the ball, it didn't mean he could return it—

So this is what it means to "perfectly" judge Kobayashi Aotori's serve?

No result.

His serve, even if received, didn't end the opponent's attack!

Even if one calculates accurately and predicts the position correctly, there's not enough time to accumulate strength to counter the force of the serve!!

Even after leaving the court, Yaku's arms still felt slightly swollen. The feeling just now was very peculiar, a mix of a perfectly fitting plug into a socket and a sense of helplessness.

UNBEKNOWNST TO YAKU, Kobayashi Aotori was also surprised by the outcome.

He knew his serves best. Although he doesn't know how he does it, after serving thousands of times, he had gotten used to the ball's unpredictable spins and curves. Yaku had managed to predict the landing point based on the feel.

He clearly knew Yaku had judged the landing point correctly. This had never happened in his previous life or this one, so he was quite surprised by the result.

...To perfectly judge the landing point of his serve, even he couldn't do it initially...

Could Yaku be his kindred spirit?!

Would training with him reveal more about the different outcomes of his serves?

Wouldn't that prevent situations like in the Interhigh National Tournament where he repeatedly surprised even himself with his serves?

So, the types of his serves were not only related to himself but also to the type of libero receiving them!

Kobayashi Aotori felt he had discovered an earth-shattering secret.

He looked excitedly at Yaku, who had returned to the scoreboard in a daze, and subconsciously called out:

"Yaku-senpai! Let's train together next time too?"

When the other looked up in confusion, Kobayashi Aotori couldn't help but smile and said what was on his mind:

"You're very suited to receiving my serves."

Yaku blinked, looked away uncomfortably, and responded:

"...Okay!"

Yes, if that second feeling was due to a failed receive, then the first feeling of perfect fit probably applied to Kobayashi Aotori as well.

KUROO SEEMED SURPRISED, as if not expecting Kobayashi Aotori to acknowledge someone else's strength.

...Though his praise still included himself.

If you want to praise someone for his good catching, just say he caught the ball well. It's awkward to say things like "he is very suitable for catching my ball".

If Yaku could hear Kuroo's thoughts, he might feel the need to stand up for Kobayashi Aotori.

The description was very appropriate. Kobayashi Aotori wasn't trying to say Yaku "could receive the ball well," but rather, "Yaku Morisuke could truly understand Kobayashi Aotori's serve."

Yaku glanced at Kobayashi Aotori helplessly and silently flipped a page on the scoreboard.

...Now it's your turn, Kuroo, Hinata.

Experience what it's like to face Kobayashi Aotori's serve.