In the end, Osamu Miya's replies became so half-hearted that Atsumu Miya could not hold back and started cursing him out. Then Keiji Akaashi came knocking with a low-pressure expression, telling Atsumu Miya to keep his voice down.
There was no helping it. The moment Bokuto heard someone talking loudly, he thought people were arguing. He started looking around, wanting to come out and watch the commotion. The instant Bokuto heard Atsumu Miya's voice, he dropped the clothes he had just folded and tried to rush out for the excitement.
Keiji Akaashi truly felt helpless. It was late at night, and they still had to return to school for morning reading tomorrow. If they did not go to sleep early now, then with Bokuto-senpai's personality, he definitely would not be able to get up in the morning.
Keiji Akaashi's voice was very gentle and mild, but Atsumu Miya somehow heard a threat in that calm tone. He immediately shut his mouth dryly.
Osamu Miya was still mercilessly laughing at him over the phone.
"Hahaha, when did you get so cowardly? One sentence from someone and you went quiet."
Atsumu Miya snorted and said angrily,
"It's late at night. If I'm too loud, I'll disturb people. I'm a good, law-abiding kid."
The two of them kept chatting like that until the middle of the night, until Osamu Miya was so sleepy that his head kept nodding.
In the end, Atsumu Miya helplessly hung up the phone. He lay on the bed with no sleepiness at all, just like the night before he had left. Everything had happened too quickly, like a dream.
Forget it. He should sleep early. Otherwise, when that idiot Osamu saw his dark circles tomorrow, he would definitely laugh at him again.
Kageyama was also packing his things, holding his phone in one hand as he hesitated over whether to call Hinata. During the entire training camp, he had not heard that idiot Hinata's voice once. He really was not used to it at all.
Although the training camp had indeed been very interesting, with strong players everywhere and opponents evenly matched, Kageyama was also a kid who missed home.
Whenever he could not sleep at night, he began thinking about the seniors at Karasuno and Hinata.
Thankfully... he would be going back tomorrow.
Kageyama hesitated for a long time, but in the end, he still did not make the call. Forget it. He would be back tomorrow.
At that moment, Ryosuke and Ushijima were crouched by their beds, packing their things just like on the first day they had arrived at the training camp. Ryosuke had no negative reaction at all. He ate when he should, slept when he should, and was even a little excited.
That was because he and Ushijima-senpai had agreed not to rush back tomorrow. They would go home first, then go to the biggest amusement park in Tokyo for a round of fun. Ryosuke was already looking forward to it so much he could barely contain himself.
Ushijima glanced at the excited Ryosuke and shook his head helplessly. He really was a child. Just one trip to an amusement park was enough to make him this happy.
Everyone in the other dorm rooms was busy packing, but Yaku was different.
His home was nearby. When he came, he had only brought one bag with him. Light and unburdened, with nothing to worry about, he pulled the blanket over himself and snored loudly enough to shake the room. This was the unique big-heartedness of a Libero. Once the blanket was on, whatever happened could happen.
Kiryu, on the other hand, was not in such a good mood. He was currently overwhelmed, searching for the homework he had brought with him. Originally, he had wanted to be a good student and bring his homework along during the training camp. Unfortunately, his dorm room just so happened to be the largest one. Those guys kept dropping by his room whenever something came up, so for some reason, things kept disappearing day after day. His socks had gone missing the day before yesterday, his water bottle had disappeared yesterday, and today, even his homework was gone.
"Hiss... Did a thief break in?"
Kiryu could not figure it out no matter how he thought about it. Forget it. If he could not understand, then he would stop thinking about it. It was no big deal. At least he did not have to do his homework.
Night gradually deepened. The temperature in Tokyo also dropped sharply in the evening. The stars in the sky still flickered, and there was not a single cloud in sight. It seemed tomorrow would be a good day.
The week-long national team training camp ended just like that. On the day they arrived, Coach Hosho's speech had stirred everyone's blood. On the day it ended, everything was quiet and soundless. ... Early the next morning, at six o'clock, the noise Bokuto made getting up woke everyone first. Bokuto dragged his suitcase with a loud clatter, then huffed and puffed as he did push-ups in the room. After that, he opened the door with a bang, waking Sakusa, who had reached the limit of his patience. Sakusa silently climbed out of bed, wrapped a cup inside a pillow, and tried to open the door so he could smash that idiot Bokuto to death.
When Komori opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Sakusa carrying a cup and pillow out the door with murderous intent. It scared him out of his soul. He was truly afraid there would be bloodshed first thing in the morning.
Bokuto held up his phone and raised his arm in a shout.
"HEY, HEY, HEY! Good morning, everyone! Time to get up!"
When the owl-brand alarm clock rang, it really was deafening. Keiji Akaashi's eyebrow twitched. He hurried out the door and covered Bokuto's big mouth, genuinely afraid that Bokuto-senpai might be assassinated one day.
"Bang!"
"Ow!"
Unable to endure it any longer, Sakusa finally put all his strength into smashing the pillow into Bokuto's face. The hotel pillow was the firm kind, only a little soft, so with Sakusa's strength behind it, hitting Bokuto in the face actually hurt quite a bit.
Komori and Keiji Akaashi each grabbed one of them to stop the two from fighting on the spot. Komori knew very well how frightening his cousin's morning temper was. If Sakusa had not gone out without a mask that morning, this definitely would not have ended with just a pillow.
Bokuto hummed and whined, looking terribly wronged as he kept muttering,
"I just wanted to wake everyone up. Why are you being so mean?"
Sakusa shuddered in disgust. A big man over one meter eighty, strong enough to knock out an ox with one punch, whining like that. What did he think he was doing? Keiji Akaashi, on the other hand, was already used to it. Sakusa, left speechless with anger, turned and walked away, and the early morning incident came to an end just like that.
Ryosuke rolled over in a daze in his sleep. He had dreamed of an owl perched by his bed, crying "hey, hey, hey." In the dream, Ryosuke was caught off guard and laughed. What kind of owl cried like that? He rubbed against his little blanket and sank back into deep sleep again.
Bokuto and Keiji Akaashi dragged their suitcases onto the bus before everyone else had woken up. They were leaving so early today that they did not even have time to say goodbye to their friends. There was no helping it. Fukurōdani's morning reading started early every day, and their coach was ruthless. He had approved exactly one week of leave for them, not a minute more or less. If they were late today, it would count as skipping class.
When Bokuto got on the bus, his mood visibly fell. Leaving this early meant he did not even get the chance to say goodbye to Hoshiumi and Ryosuke. He really liked his friends.
Keiji Akaashi sighed helplessly. Bokuto-senpai's personality really did rise and fall dramatically. Keiji Akaashi comforted Bokuto in a soft voice.
"Bokuto-senpai, once we go back, IH will be in a week. It'll come very soon. You should think carefully about your signature move for when you get on the court."
Sure enough, Bokuto's attention was immediately diverted. Keiji Akaashi really did know exactly how to handle Bokuto.
The bus was still moving slowly as the sky brightened. By the time everyone woke up and gathered at the training camp venue, they realized Bokuto and Keiji Akaashi had already left.
"Damn it! Bokuto actually snuck away!" Hoshiumi said angrily, utterly despising this behavior of Bokuto leaving without a goodbye or even a message.
In truth, Bokuto had already typed out a message. He had planned to send it the moment he left that morning, and to the group chat too. But Sakusa's pillow attack had knocked the matter right out of his mind, so the message remained sitting in his input box, never sent.
Ryosuke carried his bag and kept yawning while rubbing his eyes. It was really strange. Back at school, he could never sleep properly, but the moment he came to the training camp, he would fall asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow, and somehow still never get enough sleep.
Ushijima supported Ryosuke's nodding head, feeling completely helpless. With Ryosuke looking like this, he still wanted to go to an amusement park? He looked like he might fall asleep in the very next second.
Sakusa stood silently beside Ryosuke like a ghost. Did they really think he did not know those two were sneaking out to have fun? Yesterday, he had even heard Ushijima showing it off during dinner. Sakusa was practically drowning in jealousy right now. He had unilaterally decided that he would follow Ryosuke for the entire day. He was going too!
Wakatsu Kiryū was still asking everyone one by one whether anyone had taken his homework. It was not as if he wanted to do it, but there was no helping it. There was a test paper inside that homework, and it counted toward his final evaluation. Now that the test paper was gone, Wakatsu Kiryū was close to breaking down completely. This was even worse than facing a team with a knife-wielding Setter in a match.
Atsumu Miya, meanwhile, shuffled slowly toward Ryosuke, wanting to exchange LINE with him so he could secretly ask the little beauty out to play later. Unfortunately, Ushijima and Sakusa were standing on either side of Ryosuke like guardian statues, so Atsumu Miya could not find a chance to make his move.
"What are all of you standing here for? Why haven't you gone back yet? Are you waiting for me?"
Coach Hosho looked at the group in surprise. He had just passed by the training hall and heard the noise inside, so he poked his head in for a look, only to find that these kids still had not left.
Hearing Coach Hosho's voice, everyone turned around in delight.
They had gathered here partly to say goodbye to everyone, but also because they wanted to thank Coach Hosho. They had originally wanted to say it last night, but Coach Hosho had left too quickly, and they had not found an opening at all. So today, everyone had unanimously decided to wait here for him. And sure enough, they caught Coach Hosho right after his morning run.
Coach Hosho was still puzzled. Were these kids having some kind of gathering this early in the morning?
Then, to his surprise, with Ushijima leading them, everyone bowed neatly to Coach Hosho. Their voices were loud and filled with gratitude.
"Thank you for your guidance these past few days, Coach!"
Ryosuke and the others did not know anything about Coach Hibarida or the others. They only knew that these past few days, Coach Hosho had personally handled everything for them. Lodging, training, meals, resolving conflicts. Coach Hosho had been busy every day like an overworked caretaker. He had truly worked hard.
For a moment, Coach Hosho froze in place. He had been a coach at the training center for several years and had seen off one batch of kids after another. It was impossible to say he did not feel sad. But never before had anyone thanked him so solemnly. For a moment, Coach Hosho's eyes turned a little red. His chest felt both sour and full, with a small sense of satisfaction mixed in. He steadied his emotions and looked directly into everyone's eyes.
"There's no need to thank me. If you really want to thank me, then stand on the highest stage and tell me, 'I did it.' Understood?"
"Yes!"
Coach Hosho did not know that many years later, at the world competition, he would proudly look at this group of kids, the ones people would call the "Monster Generation," and show them off to the people beside him.
"See that? I was their coach back then."
Of course, that was a story for another time. Coach Hosho smiled in satisfaction, then waved his hand and pretended to impatiently chase them off before strolling away with his hands behind his back.
Hirugami pulled Hoshiumi's suitcase and looked at everyone apologetically. Their school bus had already arrived at the entrance.
"Everyone, Hoshiumi and I will be leaving first. The school bus is already here. The next time we meet, we'll be opponents. I definitely won't go easy on you."
It was rare for someone as composed as Hirugami to say something so childish.
Hoshiumi echoed Hirugami like a parrot, waving his fist like an attacking shuttlecock.
"I won't go easy on you!"
Ushijima nodded at Hirugami.
"I'm looking forward to our next meeting. Be careful on the road."
"Hoshiumi, see you next time!"
Ryosuke smiled brightly at Hoshiumi. Hoshiumi and Bokuto were the best friends Ryosuke had made during this training camp. The next time they met, they would be looking at each other across that two-meter net. But Ryosuke was not sad about it. In fact, he was looking forward to it very much. He was eager to block a few of their balls. Just imagining that scene made Ryosuke feel completely refreshed.
Hirugami and Hoshiumi left under everyone's gaze, the tall one and the short one still bickering as they walked.
Ryosuke turned back thoughtfully to look at Kageyama. For some reason, he felt that the way Hirugami-senpai and Hoshiumi got along was very similar to Kageyama and Hinata.
Kageyama, who had felt his stare, looked back at the inexplicable Ryosuke, then turned his head away again. He had originally thought Ryosuke and Ushijima-senpai would go back with him, and Kageyama had felt a little uncomfortable about it. He was not the type who liked talking to people. He had not expected Ushijima-senpai and Ryosuke to have taken an extra day off and that they would not return with him. Shiratorizawa really was great. They could even take a few more days off.
That was fine too. At least he would not feel uncomfortable the whole way back, Kageyama thought.
Then he nodded at Ryosuke and bowed to Ushijima.
"Ryosuke, Ushijima-senpai, I'll head back first."
Ushijima nodded slightly at this kouhai, while Ryosuke smiled and waved at Kageyama. He was a little worried about Kageyama going back alone. After all, Daichi-senpai had said that Kageyama and Hinata had inherited the same terrible sense of direction.
Kageyama left with his bag on his back. Right now, he could hardly wait to return to school and see everyone.
"Ah, then I'll head out first too."
Standing beside Ushijima, Wakatsu Kiryū scratched his head with a simple smile. Forget it. If his homework was gone, then it was gone. Still, this training camp really had been great.
Ushijima nodded.
"Wakatsu Kiryū, see you next time. I hope you become even stronger."
"Hahahaha! I'll take that as a good omen," Wakatsu Kiryū laughed loudly.
Among athletes, Ushijima's words were the best kind of blessing and declaration of war. It seemed that last match against Mujinazaka had not been enough for him.
Ushijima watched his friend leave, then lowered his head and signaled for Ryosuke to carry his backpack properly. They should leave too. Just as Ushijima was about to say goodbye to everyone, Sakusa quickly followed after them, with Komori trailing behind him, still completely out of the loop.
Ushijima's gaze drifted over like a blade.
What did this person want? Was he planning to follow them too?
...
...
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