"Seriously? Even Eita Semi-senpai gets nervous? Then how did you get over it, senpai?"
Tsutomu Goshiki was overflowing with curiosity, the kind that would not stop until he got to the bottom of things. His face was practically right up against Eita Semi's.
Eita Semi was a little embarrassed and kept turning his head away to avoid Tsutomu Goshiki's gaze, but Tsutomu Goshiki refused to let it go. Like a clingy little puppy, he stuck to Eita Semi and would not leave him alone. Tsutomu Goshiki was not afraid of Eita Semi's scowl at all, because Eita Semi had only ever scared him with words.
One kept chasing after answers, while the other refused to respond, and before long, the two of them were making a fuss again.
Reon glanced over. Seeing that nothing serious was happening, he finally relaxed. When Eita Semi first arrived at Shiratorizawa, his temper had been explosive. Almost every one of his classmates had been yelled at by him at some point, which was why Reon had been worried. But over the past two years, Eita Semi's temper had indeed gotten much better.
Then Reon looked at Ryosuke, who was talking with Ushijima, and walked over to ask him too.
"The IH is almost here. Are you nervous, Ryosuke?"
Ryosuke was definitely going to play in this tournament. The IH was no joke, and Reon was worried his mentality might become unstable.
Hearing Reon's voice, Ryosuke turned around and smiled calmly.
"Of course I'm not nervous."
Ryosuke had the kind of personality that went with the flow. No matter what situation he was in, he always seemed to think, "It doesn't matter, as long as I get the job done."
With that kind of strong mentality, Ryosuke would be able to do well no matter what position he chose in the future.
Reon let out a sigh of relief. At the same time, he felt that Ryosuke saying that was exactly what he had expected.
Yamagata laughed and slung an arm around Ryosuke.
"Don't you know who Ryosuke is? He's the one who's going to inherit my legacy. How could he possibly be nervous?"
Reon shook his head and stopped paying attention to them. He had noticed that Ryosuke had really become much more cheerful after returning from training camp. So training camp had this kind of benefit too?
The morning meeting passed without incident. Everyone looked calm, which was Shiratorizawa's usual style. Nothing mattered more than the day's training.
That evening, on his way home, Ryosuke's phone would not stop ringing. It kept vibrating in his pocket the entire way, and by the time he got home, his thigh felt numb.
He put down his backpack, collapsed onto the sofa, and opened his phone. Only then did he realize they were all declarations of war.
Atsumu Miya: Little Ryosuke, we'll be able to meet the day after tomorrow. I definitely won't go easy on you then~
Looking at that tilde, Ryosuke could practically imagine Atsumu Miya's tone as he said it. That tilde really had soul.
He scrolled down and saw quite a few more messages.
Bokuto: Hey hey hey! Ryosuke! See you at the IH!
Kōrai Hoshiumi: I'm looking forward to this tournament. I hope you don't disappoint me!
Shoyo Hinata: Good luck at the IH!
Scrolling further down, they were all messages of encouragement from his good friends. Several Karasuno senpai had sent him messages, and even that guy Tsukishima had actually sent a message of support. The people from Date Tech had also messaged him right away.
Koganegawa said that if they made it to the finals, their school's volleyball club would charter a bus straight to the venue to cheer them on.
As for Aobajosai, Oikawa was awkward about it. He said things like, "Even if you beat me to death, I would never cheer for those guys from Shiratorizawa!"
But in private, he still secretly sent Ryosuke a message wishing him luck. He really did not support Shiratorizawa, but he supported little Ryosuke. The only hard part of Oikawa was his mouth.
There were also messages from the friends he had met at training camp and during the prefectural tournament.
Ryosuke sat on the sofa, carefully reading each message one by one, then typing out replies and sending them back. As he replied, he felt as if he were completing something incredibly meaningful.
He had never imagined that one day, he would receive greetings from so many good friends. Back in Tokyo, he had also had plenty of friends, but most of them had come because of his older brother or his status. Ryosuke had not been happy at all, until he came to Miyagi.
A gust of wind blew in through the window, and only then did Ryosuke realize he had not closed it.
The night breeze carried the scent of summer and the sound of cicadas. It had already turned a little cool.
Ryosuke leaned by the window and looked up. The bright moon in the sky was perfectly round, and moonlight spilled over the leaves, casting mottled shadows below. He could also hear the soft rustling of leaves in the wind.
When Ryosuke felt the chill on his body, he suddenly thought of his first day in Miyagi. It had still been spring back then. Now, once the IH was over, it would already be the end of summer. Time really passed quickly.
This summer had burned so brightly that many years later, whenever Ryosuke remembered it, a smile would appear on his face. Those summers spent fighting alongside his friends, he thought he would never forget them for the rest of his life.
The story of summer drifted in the evening wind, announcing that it was almost time for it to end. The final battle, the IH. They were coming. ... By the next evening, everyone had somehow gone back early to pack their luggage. For third years like Ushijima, this trip would very likely be their last high school tournament with everyone. As for whether or not they would retire afterward, countless eyes were watching closely.
But the first years were already so excited they could hardly stand it. The night before they left for Tokyo, Tsutomu Goshiki called Ryosuke. He was so excited that he really could not sleep at all, and then he even got glared at by Ushijima.
Ryosuke spoke helplessly from the other end of the phone.
"Goshiki, if you don't sleep now, it might affect your performance tomorrow."
That one sentence immediately cut off Tsutomu Goshiki's voice. Ryosuke knew exactly how to handle him. Tsutomu Goshiki grumbled for a while, then hung up and reluctantly went to sleep.
In his dream, Tsutomu Goshiki saw himself wearing the number eight jersey, standing on the podium together with everyone. Beside him were the senpai and friends he knew best.
Lying in bed, Tsutomu Goshiki grinned strangely and went, "Hehehe."
On the other bed, Yunohama frowned irritably. Right now, he really wanted to hit Tsutomu Goshiki with a hammer. That would guarantee him a good night's sleep.
When everyone woke up that morning, they dragged their suitcases to the gym. It was only six o'clock.
Coach Washijō had always preferred arriving early. Besides, Shiratorizawa had a bye today and no matches to play. In fact, none of the championship contenders had matches on the first day.
The IH was a tournament between representative teams from every prefecture in the country. The first stage was group play. The second stage split the teams into a round-robin between the top eight and another round-robin for ninth through fourteenth place. The third stage was the crossover semifinals, followed by the semifinals for the top four and top eight, all played as best of three. The fourth stage was the final. After round after round of competition, only two teams would remain, and the final would be played as best of five. The school that won in the end would become this year's IH champion.
This year, the organizers had given the championship contenders byes, clearly afraid of repeating what happened last year.
Last year, those schools had drawn lots, and whether the draw had been rigged or they were just unlucky, most of the strong teams ended up running into each other in the round of sixteen. The weaker schools were swept out early, and the seeded teams began tearing into each other right from the top sixteen.
In the end, Itachiyama and Fukurōdani had still made it to the final through sheer strength. Shiratorizawa had lost to Inarizaki at the end of a set that went into the thirties, and failed to fight their way into the top three.
When the organizers saw last year's situation, they had nearly worried themselves to death. There had been no room to work with at all. Everything had been decided too early in the group stage, let alone the later matches. That was why they had made this change this year.
To Shiratorizawa, this arrangement was simply perfect. After all, every year, Ushijima was the one who went up to draw lots, and they knew their captain's luck far too well. He could send them straight into the group of death. When Reon heard about this reform, he had been so excited he almost wanted to bow down to the organizers. They had truly saved their lives.
Even Ushijima had looked rather pleased at the time. Nothing could be worse than that terrible grouping from before.
The bus slowly stopped at the entrance of the gym. As usual, it was a vehicle sponsored by the Hanyu Group. This time, not only had they sponsored the bus, Keigo Atobe had also generously covered everyone's food and lodging.
In short, anything that could be solved with money did not need to be worried about at all. After all, Keigo Atobe also hoped Ryosuke could maintain his condition during the IH. If some small issue with food or lodging made Ryosuke feel unwell or affected his performance, that would truly not be worth it.
The school was quiet, and not a single person had come to see them off. Everyone else was still sleeping. Even morning study did not start as early as Ryosuke and the others had gotten up. Besides, everyone was already used to it.
Shiratorizawa made it to the national tournament every year. At first, people had put up banners and things like that, but after it happened every year, even the principal stopped bothering.
He said it was enough as long as everyone understood it in their hearts. Maybe when everyone went to PE class and saw the empty gym, they would finally notice that the boys from the volleyball club had gone off to compete again, then quietly sigh, "They work so hard," and that would be it.
The members of the volleyball club did not say anything about it either. After all, support would not decide how they performed in a match, and putting up banners every time they came back from a tournament was far too flashy.
The driver who came today had been specially instructed by Matsukawa.
He said their young master was among these children, so the driver should have a better attitude and drive more steadily.
Coach Washijō was the first to get on the bus and sat in the seat beside the driver.
The others got on one after another. Ryosuke, Tsutomu Goshiki, and Yunohama, the three first years, sat together, quietly chattering in their seats.
Looking at the scenery outside the window as it receded behind them, Ryosuke remembered the first time he had traveled far from Shiratorizawa. Thinking back on it now, he suddenly realized that it had already been several months.
After Yamagata got on the bus, he checked the snacks in his bag yet again. Only after making sure those shameless guys had not stolen any did he relax.
Kawanishi was secretly glancing at Yamagata's backpack from the side, wondering how he could trick a few snacks out of him. It was not that Kawanishi could not afford snacks himself. He just liked stealing Yamagata's. If Yamagata had to evaluate this behavior, he would call it cheap.
Ushijima and Tendo sat together. Tendo did not sit still at all and kept turning his head to look at Ryosuke. From the look of it, he wanted to sit with Ryosuke. Ushijima glanced at Tendo, then turned his face away again.
Shirabu and Eita Semi sat at the very back and started arguing again. Reon was so annoyed by the noise that he frowned and told them both to shut up.
Who knew Shirabu and Eita Semi would stop at the same time, glance at Reon, then continue arguing, completely ignoring him.
Reon could only cover his ears helplessly. It was obvious he was a useless old father who spoiled his children too much.
The bus slowly fell quiet. Everyone had gotten up far too early, and the ride was so smooth that one by one, they began yawning nonstop before falling asleep on the bus.
By the time the bus had already stopped in front of the hotel where they would be staying, no one had woken up. The driver looked back and was not sure whether he should call them. These children really did look like they were sleeping soundly.
Coach Washijō opened his eyes and glanced over, only to find them sleeping like dead pigs, completely unaware they had arrived.
Coach Washijō was not a soft-hearted person. He drew in a deep breath and roared,
"Everyone, get up!"
The shout made the driver's head buzz. If he had been any closer, he felt like he might have gone deaf.
Everyone on the bus was startled awake by that roar.
Seeing them all dazed and confused like a nest of newly awakened chicks, who could still tell that these children were all chosen talents?
Ushijima closed his eyes for a moment, fully woke himself up, then took Tendo, whose head was still nodding from sleepiness, off the bus. Reon came to his senses too, then herded everyone off like he was chasing little chicks.
When Ryosuke saw where they were staying, he realized this was the same dormitory from the last training camp. Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium was right next door, extremely close.
Whether they had arrived too early or other people were not staying here, Ryosuke and the others did not see many people at the hotel entrance.
Ushijima had been here once before, so he naturally led everyone to the dormitory. He also showed them around the hotel layout and ordered breakfast at the front desk to be sent to the lobby.
Reon followed behind Ushijima with a gratified expression. Ushijima finally looked like a captain.
"Ryosuke! Let's stay together!"
Tsutomu Goshiki excitedly circled the room back and forth. The room they were looking at had two large beds, and Tsutomu Goshiki very much wanted to stay with his friend.
Then he turned to look at Yunohama.
"Yunohama too!"
Ryosuke had no objections at all. He was fine staying with anyone.
Yunohama was a little reluctant, but he still nodded. He was afraid that if Tsutomu Goshiki stayed with Ryosuke, he would lead Ryosuke astray.
Just thinking about how he had already suffered under Tsutomu Goshiki at school, only to keep suffering now that they were outside too, made Yunohama look surrounded by low pressure from head to toe.
After putting their luggage away, Tsutomu Goshiki and the others hurried straight to the lobby for breakfast.
Looking at the time, it was only just seven o'clock at most. Teams would not start entering the venue until nine, so it was still early.
There were a few people from other schools in the lobby, though not many. When they saw Ushijima and the others arrive, their gazes all turned toward them.
Some of them did not recognize Ushijima and his group, but everyone could clearly see the uniforms they were wearing.
Shiratorizawa, one of this year's championship contenders. Several people watched Ushijima and the others openly and in secret.
Ushijima led everyone to the dining tables without looking to either side.
For them, the most important thing right now was eating breakfast. Each of their stomachs had been growling for a long time.
Tsutomu Goshiki shoveled down the small wontons in his bowl like a storm sweeping through, eating with a blissful look on his face. His words came out muffled around the food in his mouth.
"Mm… Tokyo really is Tokyo. Even the breakfast is this good."
Ryosuke glanced at the wontons in his bowl. It was not really that delicious, was it? Tsutomu Goshiki just had a very good appetite.
...
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