Haikyuu: Zero To Almighty-Chapter 500: Integration
[The Vanishing Clash of the Titans!]
[Shutout! Who's the Real King of the Regular Season?]
[Strongest High School Player? No—Strongest Ace!]
["Maple Serve"! How Is the Strongest Serve Made?]
As expected, the day after the match between DESEO Hornets and EJP Raijin, the entire V1 League's official website was flooded with news about the game. Sports journalists stayed up late into the night, exhausted yet exhilarated, churning out article after article that blanketed every news section by morning.
Aside from the sleepless excitement of DH's fanbase, the happiest people in the league were probably the supporters of the Black Jackals. When they woke up, they were greeted with a pleasant surprise—EJP had dropped one spot in the standings, and now the Black Jackals stood alone at the top of the regular season leaderboard.
11 wins, 0 losses—Black Jackals dominate the rankings.
11 wins, 1 loss—but that one defeat was too ugly; EJP was now under fire from furious fans across the internet.
10 wins, 2 losses—DH had scored a massive victory and was seeing a surge in public favour, even though their ranking hadn't changed.
10 wins, 2 losses—AD, having lost to both EJP and the Black Jackals, had now found some stability.
With just one game, DH had said goodbye to its "second-tier" label and was now hailed by the media as a top contender for the championship.
"So that's the weight of a 3-0 victory!" Kitajima Kippei had spent the entire morning going through the headlines. One article, in particular, was dedicated solely to him—and yes, the "Bookmark" icon beneath it was already clicked.
"Did you hear? Kujō got called in early this morning by Coach," Kubo Wataru said as he warmed up before practice.
"Yeah, I know."
Just before closing the final webpage, Kitajima stole one last glance at the article praising him. Well-written, he thought. But of course, that was mostly because the writer had excellent taste.
"Kippei?" Kubo was still waiting for a response, but now he was staring at Kitajima's face twisted into a goofy smile.
"Oh, right. Yeah, Kujō is starting practice with the first string today. I think he'll be rotating in as part of the regular lineup with me," Kitajima replied.
"And you're not worried about that? About being a starter, I mean?" Kubo asked bluntly.
"We've talked about this before," Kitajima said calmly, not a trace of concern in his expression. "I wasn't just saying it. Starting or not, what matters most is whether the team wins."
Kubo didn't respond. He simply stared at him.
"Hehe...That said, taking my starting spot won't be so easy," Kitajima added with rare seriousness. "No matter the situation, I'll always compete for my place. That's how it should be, right?"
"Good," Kubo said. "Otherwise, we wouldn't even need to be here."
-----
After Kujō Reiji was officially integrated into the regular lineup, DH's blocking system finally began to take shape.
Spiking, blocking, receiving—Kujō's performance in these three core skills met Coach Nick's expectations. But his setting was abysmal, making it easy for opponents to isolate him and sever his link with teammates.
Even more critically, Kujō had one major flaw: due to his lack of match experience, his rhythm lagged behind that of other players. And this sluggishness wasn't just physical—it showed in his game sense as well.
At first, they had chalked up his struggles in the EJP match to nerves from being benched too long and the overwhelming strength of the opponent.
But during training, Coach Nick realised the problem was much deeper than expected.
"He's got the body, he's got the technique...but still can't produce results?" Kaedehara Taichi muttered.
It seemed the final piece of DH's puzzle still needed a lot of careful sanding before it would fit.
-----
January 14th. DH hosted the Nagoya Wolfdogs on their home court.
Both DH and the Wolfdogs were V1 League clubs from Aichi Prefecture, but the Wolfdogs had fared poorly last season, barely avoiding relegation with a second-to-last finish.
For local fans, it was a bittersweet matchup. Both teams were hometown pride—two sides of the same coin. In previous seasons, neither team had been particularly outstanding, prompting many a sigh, yet their fans had never abandoned them.
But this season, the two clubs were on completely divergent paths. DH had become a championship favourite with a powerful rise in form; the Nagoya Wolfdogs, on the other hand, stood dead last in the league with just 1 win and 11 losses.
[DESEO Hornets 25 – 13 Nagoya Wolfdogs]
[DESEO Hornets 25 – 16 Nagoya Wolfdogs]
[DESEO Hornets 25 – 20 Nagoya Wolfdogs]
For local fans, this match stirred the most complicated feelings of all. Of course they wanted DH to win—expectations were now sky-high. But at the same time, no one wanted to see the Wolfdogs humiliated. After all, they were a local team too.
The Wolfdogs should have been the perfect opponent for Kujō Reiji's "rehabilitation," a chance to ease him back into competitive rhythm. But Kaedehara Taichi had absolutely no concept of the so-called etiquette of "going easy."
---
"Isn't that basically match-fixing?"
"…"
"It's not! We're not losing, just not trying to make the other side look too bad!"
"But giving it your all is the truest form of respect, isn't it?"
"...Sure, that's true in theory. But when the strength gap is this huge—come on, everyone knows how it is."
"I don't."
"…"
Kitajima Kippei looked helplessly toward Nick Foster. "Coach, can you sub him out, please…"
And just like that, Taichi didn't play in Sets 2 or 3. DH's wing spikers for the remainder of the match were Kitajima Kippei and Kujō Reiji.
The match did become more "entertaining" visually—but to many in the crowd, that only made it feel even more awkward.
DH cruised to a clean 3–0 win. With that, the regular season had officially reached its halfway mark, and DH had now faced every team in the league at least once.
Looking back, it was clear the league's scheduling for DH had been anything but ideal. The first stretch of the season had been filled with weak opponents, only to be immediately followed by an unrelenting wall of elite teams. That sudden spike in difficulty had nearly crushed DH when they were routed by the Black Jackals.
At the start of the season, DH had racked up win after win against lower-tier teams. The clear strength gap gave them total control on court, and inevitably, the players grew a little complacent.
Then came the elite teams. As the competition grew fiercer, the real pressure finally began to set in. Coming straight off a string of easy victories, the squad struggled to snap back into a high-stakes mindset. The transition had been jarring—and costly.
It wasn't until after two painful losses to top teams that everyone in DH finally woke up. Only then did the team begin to push themselves to adjust. By the season's midpoint, they'd finally come up with a rough plan to handle things.
It shouldn't have taken that long. It shouldn't have gone that way.
Fortunately, it wasn't too late. Their win over EJP had meant far more than just third position in the standings.
The second half of DH's schedule was just as bizarre as the first—starting easy, tightening up toward the end—but this time, DH was ready. The awkward layout gave them the breathing room they needed to regroup and adapt.
-----
Toray Arrows, Japan Railway Warriors, Gunma Hornets—DH kicked off another winning streak. Meanwhile, Kujō Reiji was slowly but steadily finding his place in the team.
At the suggestion of Yoshii Hiyu, Kujō began actively seeking advice from Kitajima Kippei. While their playing styles were far from similar, Kitajima's wealth of experience proved to be an endless well of insight.
It wasn't until then that Kujō finally understood the real reason the team had once chosen Kitajima Kippei to be their ace...
_________
[T/N]: It took us a little over six months to reach Chapter 500. What a journey it's been. Thank you all for your support so far. Here's to many more chapters to come. Cheers!
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