"Excitement" (Japanese: わくわく Wakuwaku) is the three hundredth chapter of the Haikyū!! series, written and illustrated by Haruichi Furudate. It was published in the 23rd issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump's 2018 series.
Overview[]
Karasuno continues to lead the match, but Nekoma is putting up a great defence and thwarts many of Karasuno's best attacks. Kageyama, with his exceptional skills, leads his team to break through Nekoma's efforts. Despite the intensity of the match, both teams are extremely relaxed when playing against each other. The only exception is Kenma, who is fiercely determined to take Karasuno down.
Plot[]
Kageyama serves, but unlike before, he adds in a sidespin that makes the ball curve away from Kai. However, he has yet to perfect the control and sends the ball out-of-bounds. Immediately after, Lev's serve hits the net and fails to go over. Alisa is embarrassed over her brother's mistake, but Akane explains that Lev was intentionally aiming for a certain spot. Meanwhile, Tanaka's serve is cleanly received, and Kuroo scores with a vicious spike. Next, Yamamoto is up to serve. Tanaka manages to receive it, and Kageyama saves it from crossing over the net, tossing to Hinata with one hand. Yaku barely manages to save Hinata's spike, but Asahi immediately slams it down.
Kageyama tells Tanaka that his earlier attempt at an A-pass was unnecessary, since it ended up just causing the ball to nearly fly over the net. He adds that any pass that gets the ball near the attack line is good enough for him to set. Karasuno is impressed by Kageyama's cool words. Kenma, overhearing, tells his teammates that he's not necessarily trying to compete with Karasuno in every way.
Kenma is fully determined to defeat Karasuno.
The next rally begins with Hinata serving. Fukunaga receives the serve, passing it to Kenma, who sets it to Kuroo. As the ball ricochets off of Tanaka, Kageyama quickly crosses the court and sets all the way to Asahi on the left, surprising Nekoma's blockers. Despite Nekoma's best efforts, they fail to return the ball, thereby allowing Karasuno to secure a break. The commentators remark that with Kageyama, Karasuno can attack from anywhere on the court. They also note that both teams appear unusually relaxed despite the intensity of the match and being new to the national stage. Nekomata attributes this to the two teams' mutual respect, but he is well aware that one player in particular is an exception to this—Kenma is not considering the weight of this fateful match. He simply wants to defeat Karasuno.