After school, Ryosuke went to Sendai Gymnasium. He hadn't gone over the weekend to practice his serve.
As he approached the entrance, he spotted a large notice board set up outside. It read:
"Due to the commencement of the Prefectural Tournament, the venue will be closed."
Ryosuke stopped in his tracks. So the Prefectural Tournament was being held at Sendai Gymnasium? What a blunder.
He sighed and texted Udai an apology, saying he'd have to wait until after the tournament to continue training.
Udai: It's fine. I've taught you everything I can. The rest is up to you.
Ryosuke tightened his grip on his phone, eyes steady. At his current level, he'd be able to use the hook serve by the Inter-High.
With that settled in his mind, he slowly walked home.
That night, lying in bed, he stared at his team uniform, joy nearly spilling out of his chest.
Excitement for the competition mixed with nervous anticipation. He rolled around on his bed several times, unable to contain himself.
The day had finally come. During those silent years of his life, every night he had dreamed of standing on the center court. That single dream had taken him years just to step onto the stage for.
He had just received a message from Hinata saying he wanted Ryosuke to come watch the prefectural tournament.
Ryosuke readily agreed. When it came to Hinata, he always felt like he was watching his own kid grow up. He knew exactly how gifted Hinata was. The thought that he had personally nurtured such a powerful future rival was thrilling.
With all kinds of tangled emotions, Ryosuke hugged his uniform and fell into a deep sleep.
In his dream, he stood once again beneath the dazzling lights of center court. Applause. The roar of the crowd. His teammates cheering.
Ryosuke believed in that dream as firmly as he believed that day would come.
It wasn't so much a dream as a future reality…
The next morning at school, the moment Tsutomu Goshiki saw Ryosuke enter the classroom, he eagerly rushed over and claimed the seat beside him.
"Ryosuke, I heard the draw results came out this morning!"
"Yeah?" Ryosuke replied absentmindedly, rubbing his aching leg. The pain had kept him up all night.
The past two nights, his knee had hurt so badly he could barely sleep.
"Goshiki, come with me to see the team doctor later."
Goshiki's eyes went wide, immediately assuming something was seriously wrong.
"What happened?! Are you okay?!"
Ryosuke couldn't help laughing at his overreaction.
"It's fine. Just my knee."
"Your knee hurts and that's 'fine'?! The tournament's about to start!"
Ryosuke pressed a hand against Goshiki's shoulder to calm him down.
"Relax. It's just growing pains."
Goshiki still looked uneasy. After class, he dragged Yunohama along with them to the team doctor's office.
Inside the office, Saito raised an eyebrow at the three standing neatly in a row, wondering what trouble they were bringing this time.
Ryosuke explained his situation glumly. It didn't affect training during the day, but at night the pain was so bad he couldn't sleep.
Yunohama pushed up his glasses, lenses flashing faintly. "I thought it was just me. Mine hurts at night too—and sometimes during the day."
Now Goshiki panicked for real. He shot to his feet and stared at them.
"Then why don't I hurt?! Did you two secretly hit your growth spurts without telling me?!"
The way his voice rose at the end sounded like a wife accusing her cheating husband.
Saito gave him a speechless look and went to fetch ointment and bandages.
"Everyone hits their growth spurt at different times. You two just had the bad luck of it lining up with the tournament. Goshiki, don't rush it. With your height, when your time comes, it'll probably be even tougher than theirs."
Goshiki's face drained of color as he immediately imagined himself in their situation.
"During a growth spurt, the knees are especially fragile. You have to protect them. If you push through and play anyway, you could easily develop synovitis. You two should talk to the coach about this."
Ryosuke walked back to class in a daze. He couldn't help interpreting that as: better not play, or you'll end up with a lasting injury.
He had just received his uniform yesterday, and now it felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over him. In the sweltering heat, his heart felt icy.
He drifted through the entire morning.
After afternoon classes ended, everyone headed to the gym as usual.
Lost in thought, Ryosuke was hit square in the face by an oncoming volleyball.
"Bang!"
"Ah! Ryosuke, are you okay?!"
He rubbed his reddened nose and shook his head at the flustered Kawanishi. "I'm fine."
Then he drifted away like a wandering spirit.
Kawanishi stood frozen. Did I just knock his brain loose?!
In the corner, Ryosuke and Yunohama exchanged a glance, both looking downcast.
Tendo and Reon couldn't make sense of the unusually gloomy first-years.
Just as they were about to ask, the adviser entered and immediately noticed the two slumped figures in the corner. With a faintly amused look, he called them out.
The remaining seniors exchanged glances.
"They didn't do something stupid, did they?" Yamagata muttered.
"Impossible," Ushijima said firmly.
"Then what's going on?" Kawanishi asked, still feeling inexplicably guilty about the ball earlier.
Goshiki walked past holding a volleyball, looking confused. Why aren't they asking me??
Though a little annoyed, ever-helpful Goshiki explained anyway.
"Their knees hurt."
That sent ripples through the group.
"Growing pains??"
"Probably. We missed a tournament our first year because of that."
"Yikes. Ryosuke and Yunohama must feel awful."
Outside, they found Saito and Coach Washijō waiting.
Coach Washijō already knew Ryosuke's knee hurt at night, but he hadn't realized it was this bad. The kid hadn't said a word. It made him both angry and worried. Stubborn brat—never learns.
He rolled his eyes.
"I know what's going on. The team doctor checked Ryosuke's knee. It only hurts at night. If he plays, he has to wear a knee brace—with ointment wrapped inside."
Ryosuke's eyes lit up. That was basically permission to play. He broke into a bright grin.
He knew Coach Washijō would agree. Having watched him get this far, he wouldn't make him give up so easily.
Coach Washijō turned his face away, looking exasperated. That foolish grin was hard to look at.
Beside him, Yunohama's eyes filled with hope. If Ryosuke could go… then maybe he—
"Yunohama."
Coach Washijō's gaze shifted. The next words weighed like a thousand pounds.
"Your case is more serious than Ryosuke's. The team doctor estimates your growth spurt was too intense—it came all at once, increasing the load on your knees. And your knees hurt during the day too, don't they? You never said anything.
If you insist on playing, there's a real chance of irreversible damage after your growth spurt ends. Whether you go or not is your choice. Just don't regret it."
Yunohama fell into heavy silence.
Coach Washijō was strict, but he never gambled with a player's future. Ever since Reon had insisted on playing through his growth spurt in his first year and ended up injuring his knee, it had been a thorn in the old coach's heart.
He didn't want to watch another student walk step by step toward a dead end. That was the one thing he refused to compromise on.
Yunohama pressed his lips together. He wanted to play. He wanted to fight on court. But reality didn't bend for passion.
"I'll play," he finally said. "Let me be a substitute."
It was the biggest compromise he could make. If he couldn't stand shoulder to shoulder with them, then at least he wanted to witness their climb to the top. Even if he was just there for the ride, it would ease his heart a little.
Coach Washijō sighed and nodded.
"No matter what, it's your body. I'll be keeping a close eye on both of you," Saito said with a small smile.
Ryosuke could see the unwillingness in Yunohama's eyes. That deep frustration—he understood it too well. He began thinking about how to comfort him.
"Alright. Back inside," Coach Washijō said with a wave.
As soon as they entered, they were greeted by a wave of noise. Coach Washijō's face darkened instantly.
Ushijima, catching sight of him, gave a subtle cough.
Tendo immediately stopped mid-sentence. As Ushijima's close friend and resident intuition monster, he instantly understood the meaning behind that cough.
Sure enough—
"What are you all doing?!"
The roar echoed through the gym.
It was like someone hit the mute button. The entire place fell dead silent.
Coach Washijō stood by the small blackboard, glaring at the energetic players.
Ryosuke and Yunohama quickly returned to formation.
After scolding everyone one by one, Coach Washijō moved on to the draw results.
"The groupings are out. We're in the same bracket as Date Tech. The other three schools? All teams you beat last year—the kind you can't even remember the names of! When the time comes, you'd better perform properly, understood?!"
Sports were ruthless. Out of forty teams in Miyagi Prefecture, Shiratorizawa could count the ones they truly remembered on one hand. Strength decided everything.
"Yes!"
The unified shout shook the gym. Satisfied, Coach Washijō left.
After he was gone, Shirabu looked at Ushijima curiously.
"Ushijima-senpai… you didn't draw the lot this time, right?"
Ushijima nodded stiffly.
"Seriously?!" Yamagata popped up.
Reon chuckled. "I drew it. Why are you all so distrustful of Ushijima's luck?"
That single sentence cast silence over them.
Shirabu gave an awkward laugh. "No, it's fine." Even as Ushijima's most devoted supporter, he had zero confidence in his luck.
Ushijima looked slightly depressed. Luck really was unpredictable.
After a bit of teasing, the topic died down.
"Anyone going to watch tomorrow's matches?" Ushijima asked.
Ryosuke froze, remembering his promise to a certain little orange.
"I'm going!"
"Come to school tomorrow," Ushijima said. "We'll go together."
Ryosuke nodded.
When he went to look for Yunohama afterward, he realized he was gone. He must have slipped away during the conversation.
Ryosuke scratched his head in frustration.
When Goshiki found out what had happened, those still present fell into silence.
Reon quietly held his knee for a moment before standing.
"Don't worry. I'll go check on him."
Goshiki tried to follow, but Kawanishi pulled him back.
"Reon damaged his meniscus badly after playing through his growth spurt as a first-year. He understands. Don't interfere."
Ryosuke and Goshiki finally let it go.
———Day One of the Prefectural Tournament
Early the next morning, Ryosuke woke up before dawn. Only now did he truly feel it—his dream had officially begun.
After breakfast, just as he was about to leave, Coach Washijō called out.
"Get back here!"
Ryosuke turned around to see him holding a small bowl of dark ointment, looking displeased.
With a snort, Coach Washijō pulled out bandages and a knee brace.
"Leg out. I'll show you once. From now on, until your growth spurt is over, you wrap this every morning. You never say anything when something's wrong! How am I supposed to know what you're thinking?"
He muttered the whole time, carefully applying ointment and wrapping several tight layers around the knee.
Ryosuke stared at him, noticing how careful—how faintly trembling—his hands were. His chest tightened.
When he was little, before his grandfather passed away, he used to visit Coach Washijō's house often. Once, he had seen him playing volleyball in the backyard.
He remembered it clearly. The not-so-strong old man jumped toward the ball. The sunlight that day was blinding. For a split second, it had looked like he had grown wings.
The ball slammed into the ground with a thunderous crack, and something exploded inside young Ryosuke's heart. A seed was planted.
That scene had stayed with him for years. The ball Coach Washijō had struck back then had traveled through time—into Ryosuke's own hands.
So that fierce little old man had grown old too…
Coach Washijō looked up and saw him on the verge of tears.
"What are you staring at? It's done. What, you want me to help you stand up too?"
The sharp scolding shattered the moment. Ryosuke's lips twitched. So much for the emotional atmosphere.
He stood and bounced lightly. The bandage was tight and already warm. He tested his knee's movement and nodded in satisfaction.
Slipping on his backpack, he turned back. "I'm meeting Ushijima-senpai to watch the matches. See you!"
Coach Washijō nodded—then spotted a suspicious bulge in the backpack.
"Hold it! What did you stuff in there, brat?!"
Ryosuke bolted. No way he was letting Coach Washijō find the full bag of high-calorie chips inside. He might not be allowed back home tonight.
He ran all the way to school and found Ushijima waiting at the gate.
After a brief exchange, Ushijima nodded solemnly.
Then the two of them headed to Sendai Gymnasium together.
The venue was already bustling. Even before reaching the entrance, crowds filled the area. Many teams were sitting on the lobby floor, waiting for announcements to call them to warm up.
When Ushijima and Ryosuke arrived, it caused a small stir.
...
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