IT’S MATCH POINT EVERYONE!!!!
None of them can let their guard down.
THE BALL HASN’T DROPPED YET!!!
KARASUNO DOESN’T LET IT DROP!!!
From Noya… to Kageyama… and finally to Asahi, who gets it across!
But unfortunately, Yaku is there!
Damn, Hinata and his scoring instincts. He’s right there to spike the ball, right at unprepared Yaku.
(everyone is so proud of lev, especially his sister and his dads: yaku and kuroo. and boi, another great expression from kuroo, and great panel of kuroo with his kids. teshiro, shibayama and inuoka are precious)
But of course, Daichi is there to back his team up. Once again the ball gets sent back over the net.
AND KENMA IS THERE TO SAVE THE BALL!!! Another attempt to keep the ball from dropping by Nekoma!!! From Kenma… to Kai… and to Yaku!!
However, it becomes a chance ball for Karasuno!!!
Lev reacts quickly and accordingly. But it’s a perfect toss to Tanaka… for his finest weapon: the lineshot.
And suddenly it’s as if the world has gone silent, all that can be heard it is the echoing sound of the save and the brilliant arch of the ball…
…only to have the silence broken with amazed chatters and exclamations. However, none of this registers to the players on the court…
…they are all thrown back to another time, to another court, to another gym.
Nekoma’s counter attack! Lev and Yamamoto have started moving, asking for a toss.
All Hinata can think of is the next rotation, but…
It’s OVER???!!!! JUST LIKE THAT???!!!
I am in disbelief. We (at least our discord chat) are in disbelief. We are in denial. This cannot be the end. This cannot be the end of the long-awaited, the fated Battle of Trash Heap. But the score is clear.
The last set goes to Karasuno. Karasuno wins.
And yet… they don’t look like they win. Noya is the only one managing to strike a victory pose. Hinata is still looking on in disbelief. While the rest of the team are so exhausted that they can barely stand. Daichi even goes as far as lying down on the floor.
It feels so short, especially compared to Inarizaki match. We lament the unfairness of it all. This is the team we have come to love, the match we have waited for and yet, it already ends? We’re left feeling sad, and empty.
It takes a while to get over it, more so to understand how and why this ends. Nekoma is not a new team, with new players and plays that Karasuno has to find ways to deal with and eventually overcome. Nekoma, as painful as it is to admit, is no Inarizaki. They don’t have particularly skilled and prominent player that is able to turn around the match with one play. They don’t also have untold stories behind the team and the people. There’s not really a reason to prolong the match. If there’s any particular point in this match, besides having continued the rivalry and fulfilling the promise of the fated match, it might be giving a reason for Kenma to keep playing volleyball for his own sake, not for Kuroo’s or for the team’s. Having lost against Karasuno, Kenma is put in similar position with Hinata after Karasuno’s loss against Seijou, which triggers not only his but also the team’s growth as @noehhmii points out. This might act as the setting of the stage for Nekoma, because we’ve seen how terrifying Kenma is, even when he’s not fully giving his all.
However, this loss won’t leave such impact if it’s not between the Cats and Crows, if it’s not Battle of the Trash Heap.
Those gorgeous spread pages. The mirroring images of the match during the official tournament and during the training camp. It speaks louder than any words can say.
Borrowing @kythen‘s words, for the rest of the word, this is the first clash between Karasuno and Nekoma, but for the players on the court, this is one among many. Since the very beginning, this match is nothing unlike the rest of their matches. There’s anticipation, and excitement. Both sides look forward to this match. They might step on the court with the usual mindset and determination to win. However, the longer the match goes on, the longer they go back and forth, slowly but surely they find themselves lost in the game.
Somewhere along the line, it stops about winning, it’s about having fun (credit to @aeshiryzen). It’s about challenging each other, meeting each other with their best plays to raise up each other, to make each other stronger, better. Somewhere along the line, they forget where they are, they forget the stakes. They feel like they’re in another friendly match, in another of their clashes, when there’s no true end, when they can ask for one more.
This might be why the end feels so jarring, so abrupt, for us and also for Karasuno. It’s like waking up from a dream, when reality finally sets in. This explains why the reactions from both sides are so subdued, besides exhaustion.
That it is ended by sweat of all things. It drives home how much this is no dream. Karasuno and Nekoma are so evenly matched, so much of perfect foil to each other that their rallies are frequent and long. Karasuno who keeps attacking and Nekoma who keeps defending. With little to no break, sweat naturally accumulates on the ball. It could have happened anytime, to anyone. However, in this case, it happens to Nekoma, right at Karasuno’s match point, resulting in a loss for Nekoma.
But nothing quite prepared me for a particular person’s reaction.
…that’s such… a chill reaction to the last match of his high school career, his last match as Nekoma’s captain, his last match as a player of Nekoma ever and he WASN’T EVEN ON THE COURT WHEN IT ENDED (omg @amaanogawa, thank you for pointing that out. rip my heart will ya).
I’d like to think that Kuroo’s that calm and accepting, but at the same time, recalling the pure, unadulterated joy in his expression during the match… it’ll break my heart to see him cry. Regardless, I admire how he simply takes his time to accept his defeat and picks himself up T^T.
(wow, everyone looks so dead)
Oh Kenma… What a way to look at things. In a way, it’s such a wonderful and light-hearted take of the match. It’s a reminder how not to take things too seriously, that the result of the match doesn’t signify the end of the world, that the result is not everything. Sometimes it’s about the journey itself. Sometimes it’s just giving your best and taking pride that you have.
The end of the clash of ages indeed. There will be no more matches like this. Even between the Cats and Crows, because this is the start of everything.
I wonder how Kuroo feels to hear that. It’s one thing to hear that Kenma says volleyball is fun, but to hear that he’s thankful for getting him into volleyball?? I just hope it’ll help to salve any sadness or disappointment he feels towards the loss.
And seriously, Kuroo. How many people have thanked you in the course of single match???
And both of them thank Kuroo for the same thing: for finding enjoyment (fun) in volleyball.
Are you some sort of volleyball deity, spreading all the love and joy of volleyball Kuroo?? O_o (now i’m certain that kuroo’s the heart of nekoma is not that far off, and i… do not make myself feel any better)
That said, I hope we’re going to have proper closure (one or two chapters, please furudate-sensei) between Karasuno and Nekoma. I’m looking forward to it but also dreaded it at the same time. My heart is not ready T_T
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