The red LEDs of the scoreboard burned bright.

  24-15. Set point for the Port Osea Divers.

  On the court, Jules Moreno launched herself into the air on the left wing. The set from Willow was crisp, a little high, but serviceable. Jules cranked her arm back and hammered the ball cross-court.

  It ricocheted off the sloppy block of the Tarin Herons, spinning wildly into the stands.

  TWEEEEET! TWEEEEET!

  "Point, Set, Port Osea Divers! 25-15."

  The home crowd erupted. The plastic bleachers shook under the rhythm of stomping feet. Drums pounded. The roar of "O-SE-A!" filled the warehouse-style gym.

  On the sidelines, the Divers' bench jumped up. High fives flew between bench players and main players walking in. Laughter bubbled up, light and easy.

  "Too easy!" Jules shouted, jogging off the court and grabbing her water bottle. She wiped her forehead, grinning. "I thought the First Pick would be scary. They're kind of... squishy."

  "Soft," Sarah Lemear agreed, sitting down and stretching her legs. "Their blocking line is full of holes."

  Himeko Nakamura sat at the end of the bench. She held a towel in her hands yet didn't use it; she hadn't broken a sweat.

  She stared at the floorboards, her brow furrowed.

  Around her, the team buzzed with the high of a dominant first set. They talked about the post-game meal. They joked about the Herons' messy uniforms. Mentally, they were already banking the 3-0 win.

  Himeko tuned them out as she looked at her hands.

  She turned them over, palms up. The skin was completely smooth, zero sting.

  Usually, after a first set against a team with a primary scorer, her hands would be red. They would thrum with the residual vibration of impact. She rubbed her thumb over her palm, expecting the familiar tenderness of a blocked spike. She found only cold, unblemished skin.

  She looked across the court.

  The Tarin Herons were huddled loosely. Jiayi Rui, the number 11, stood on the outskirts of the circle. She was drinking water, looking up at the lights with a vacant expression.

  Himeko's mind replayed the last twenty minutes.

  Through the entire set, Himeko had been hunting for Jiayi. Yet every time Himeko jumped to seal the net, ready to crush the rookie's spike, Jiayi's ball... vanished.

  The memories of the rallies played back in slow motion, disjointed and unsettling.

  Rally 4: Himeko sealed the line. She pressed her shoulders high, filling the space. She waited for the impact. Jiayi slowed her arm speed instantly. She tipped the ball gently over Himeko's fingers. Lisa dug it easily. Divers transitioned and scored.

  Rally 9: Himeko closed the seam. She anticipated the power swing. Jiayi rolled her wrist, sending a soft, looping shot deep into the corner. The reserve defender picked it up. Divers transitioned and scored.

  Rally 17: Himeko and Sarah formed a perfect double block. A wall of four hands obscured the view of the court. Jiayi saw it. She swung fast, aiming intentionally wide. The ball sailed past the block, untouched, landing out of bounds.

  "Out!" the line judge had called.

  The Divers had cheered. Another error for the rookie. Another point for Osea.

  But Himeko remembered the look in Jiayi's eyes in that moment.

  As Himeko hung in the air, hands pressing forward, she had looked through the net. Jiayi's eyes were soft, cyan, and terrifyingly clear. She had looked at Himeko's hands, then at the ball, and simply decided not to engage as she discarded the point.

  Why?

  Why would a scorer refuse to score? Why would a prodigy refuse to challenge the block?

  "Himeko? You good?" Coach Elena stood in front of her, a confident grin painted her face.

  Himeko blinked, snapping back to reality.

  "Yes... I'm good."

  " You know, since we're on such a streak, I can definitely twist management's arm into paying for that seafood tower," Elena said with excitement.

  "Hmmm, sounds exploitative, could get into some troubles."

  "Pffft, big deal. It's called rewarding your players so they play better," Elena wink. "Don't worry, I can talk them into anything."

  TWEEEEET!

  Across the court, the whistle blew for the second set.

  "Alright," Elena clapped her hands together. "Time to get back out there, superstar."

  She reached out and gave Himeko a firm, enthusiastic slap between the shoulder blades, pushing her toward the court.

  "Go finish them off. Make me proud!"

  Himeko stumbled slightly from the force of the encouragement, nodding once. She walked back onto the floor, the noise of the crowd rising again.

  But as she took her position at the net, she couldn't shake the cold feeling in her gut.

  The Tarin setter pushed a high ball to the left pin.

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  Himeko Nakamura tracked it. Her feet moved in the practiced shuffle she had drilled a thousand times. She saw Jiayi Rui approach, a lazy stride that ate up the court without looking fast.

  Himeko jumped. She pressed her hands over the net, creating a roof over the line.

  Jiayi was in the air, didn't even bother to look at Himeko. Her arm whipped through a fast, flat arc. The ball hissed past Himeko's outside shoulder, missing her block by two inches.

  It traveled straight to the back row.

  Lisa Denire was waiting. The libero shifted her weight, dropping to one knee. The ball hit her platform with an easy thud, popping up perfectly into the center of the court.

  "Nice dig!" Jules shouted.

  Willow set the counter-attack. Sarah killed it.

  Point Osea.

  Himeko landed and turned to look at Lisa. The libero stood up, dusting off her knee pads. She looked satisfied.

  But Himeko looked at Lisa's feet.

  Lisa was standing three feet further to the left than her standard defensive anchor point. She hadn't moved there consciously; the ball had pulled her there. Every attack from Jiayi landed right in Lisa's pocket, but that pocket was drifting. The defensive shell was stretching, thinning out in the middle to cover the edges.

  The next rally confirmed the suspicion.

  Jiayi attacked again. Himeko closed the seam. She hit a sharp cut shot that bypassed Himeko entirely.

  Lisa dove. She dug it. The rally quickly ended after Divers' masterful attack.

  "Too easy!" Lisa yelled, pumping a fist.

  Himeko frowned. She felt paranoid as the ball went exactly where Jiayi wanted it to go, and the Divers were celebrating catching it. They were winning points, but losing their shape.

  Rally twelve. The set was tight to the net. Himeko anticipated a tip. She stayed grounded, ready to pounce on the soft ball.

  Jiayi exploded. She snapped her wrist with violent speed, hammering the ball off Himeko's shoulder before she could react only to be dug by the backline.

  Rally fifteen. The set was wide. Himeko and Sarah formed a solid double block, ready for the power swing.

  Jiayi was in the air. Her arm looked heavy, loaded for a kill. At the last microsecond, her elbow dropped. She patted the ball gently. It looped over the block, dropping into Lisa's platform.

  Himeko landed, shaking her knees to ensure flexibility. She felt out of sync. Like trying to grab smoke with bare hands.

  The scoreboard ticked up. 18-12 for Osea.

  Himeko stood at the net during a dead ball. She looked down at her hands.

  She flexed her fingers. She turned her palms over, inspecting the skin.

  They were pale, smooth, unblemished.

  She looked at her mental stat sheet.

  Blocks: 0.

  Deflections: 0.

  One-touches: 0.

  She was the primary middle blocker. She had jumped against the opposing ace perhaps fifteen times this set. She had not touched the ball once.

  A cold drop of sweat rolled down Himeko's forehead. Was the lead the result she was looking for?

  "Service!"

  The game marched on. The Divers overwhelmed the Herons with superior firepower. Jules and Sarah hammered away at the Tarin defense, racking up points.

  24-17. Set point.

  Sarah served. The Herons received poorly. They sent a free ball over.

  Willow set Sarah in the middle.

  Sarah jumped. She swung hard, burying the set point into the floorboards.

  BOOM.

  The ball bounced high.

  TWEEEEEEET! TWEEEEEEET!

  "Set count 2-0, Port Osea Divers!"

  The buzzer sounded. The stadium erupted into a party.

  The Divers jogged off the court, swarming the bench. The mood was electric.

  "That's what I'm talking about!" Jules beamed, high-fiving everyone in range. "We are on fire tonight! Did you see how Lisa was out there? We are unbreakable!"

  "They have nothing," Sarah laughed, drinking from her bottle. "Their offense is so predictable. Everything goes to the right, and we just pick it up."

  Coach Elena was clapping, her face flushed with the easy victory. "Keep the pressure up! Don't let them breathe! Seafood tower is calling our names!"

  Himeko sat on the edge of the bench. She accepted a water bottle but didn't drink.

  The noise of her teammates felt distant. The laughter grated on her ears.

  She looked across the court.

  The Tarin Herons were huddled loosely. There was no panic, no frantic whiteboard scribbling from their coach.

  Jiayi Rui stood near the cooler. She held a cup of water in one hand. She was saying something to her libero, a small smile playing on her lips. She looked relaxed. Her jersey barely had a sweat stain. She looked like she was at a picnic, not down 0-2 in an away game against an undefeated team.

  She looked up.

  For a second, Jiayi's eyes met Himeko's. She offered a polite nod.

  Then she turned away, tossing her empty cup into the bin.