"So you're the new junior, huh? I watched your match against Kitagawa Daiichi from beginning to end a few days ago.
Choosing Aoba Johsai really was the smartest decision you could have made.
So let's get along from here on out, Hank-chan!"
With a smile on his face, Toru Oikawa walked over to Hank. To anyone watching, it looked almost like he was trying to throw his weight around, but Hank himself did not care in the slightest. After all, he had read the original story and knew Oikawa's personality very well.
At their core, they were the same kind of person.
They both desperately wanted to chase victory.
Neither of them wanted to lose.
"Don't talk to a new recruit like that. It makes people uncomfortable."
Right after Oikawa's brief face-off with Hank, a buzz-cut boy came over from behind with a volleyball tucked under his arm. He smacked Oikawa hard on the head, then dragged him back.
"Ow, that hurts, Iwa-chan!"
As Oikawa was dragged away, his cries for mercy echoed through the entire club. Since the two of them were childhood friends, their relationship was extremely close, and their constant roughhousing was something everyone in the club had long since gotten used to.
No one said anything about it.
"All right, summer recruitment for the club officially starts today. Anyone planning to join, just leave your name here and line up.
Next, we're going to hold an internal match. Your opponents will be seniors who already graduated from Aoba Johsai.
Your performance in this match will directly determine whether you'll have a chance to take the court as regulars for Aoba Johsai in the future. Aoba Johsai is one of the powerhouse teams in the prefecture, so naturally, our selection standards are stricter.
So get yourselves ready."
After taking a simple glance at Hank, who had everyone's attention, Coach Nobuteru Irihata started explaining what would happen next. He had already prepared everything in advance, arranging for the new first-years who had just joined the club to play against upperclassmen who had already graduated.
Because playing against people above their level made it easier to see where their limits were. After all, as university players, those seniors had an absolute advantage over the freshmen, whether in physical ability or volleyball experience.
So this match would reveal their true level more clearly, as well as their future potential.
It was the fastest way to evaluate them.
"As expected of Aoba Johsai. They're a powerhouse in the prefecture, and now they don't even have same-age teams to practice against anymore?"
"They actually brought in college students who already graduated. Can middle schoolers really be practice partners for people like that?"
Yui Michimiya, who had taken the bus to Aoba Johsai's volleyball club, looked at Hank with worry in her eyes. The moment he joined the club, he was already being thrown into training against university students who had four more years of experience. That would no doubt deal a blow to Hank's confidence.
"Shigeru Yahaba, I'm putting you in charge of organizing the offense for your juniors."
Coach Irihata sat upright on the bench to the left of the net and spoke in a stern tone.
"Yes, sir!"
After hearing the order, Yahaba changed into Aoba Johsai's uniform and stood in the setter's position.
"Shinji Watari, you're in too. As the libero, you can't afford to slack off."
Coach Irihata casually arranged for another player to go in as well. It was the shaved-head guy who had appeared a few times in the original story, and that distinctive look had left some impression on Hank.
"Kindaichi, Kunimi, and Hank—get ready to go in."
Once all the arrangements were in place, the Aoba Johsai freshmen who had originally come from Kitagawa Daiichi all stepped onto the court. The moment they walked out there, they immediately felt an extremely terrifying pressure.
And that pressure naturally came from the university seniors standing in front of them.
Since they came from volleyball teams and were several years older, they were basically all over 185 centimeters tall. That kind of height alone was enough to make many of the people present feel intense pressure.
"We're playing against college students? There's no way we can win... Why would they even have us play against college students?"
"Every one of them looks at least 185 centimeters tall. If it comes to blocking, even with Hank on the team there's no way we can win!"
"This is a guaranteed loss."
The moment Kunimi and the others saw the university team come out, they immediately became convinced that defeat was certain. Even before stepping onto the court, they had never expected that they might actually win.
After all, beating university students while still in middle school sounded far too absurd.
It was simply impossible.
"I know you. Your name's Hank, right?
I watched your junior high tournament match a few days ago. Your performance was dazzling, sure, but let me tell you this... there's always someone better out there.
Don't get arrogant over one little victory. We're your seniors."
After changing into Aoba Johsai's uniform, Hank walked over to Oikawa's side and took position at spot four, the wing spiker position. Standing across from him, a player who was a full 190 centimeters tall spoke in a flat voice.
The hostility was obvious from the very start.
A senior lecturing a junior—there was no hiding it at all.
"It's that time of year again—time to crush the rookies' confidence. I swear, there's got to be something wrong with that old man. He pulls this every single year!"
"Those little middle school brats probably don't even know how to spike properly."
"You love to see it. They need to learn what real university-level strength looks like!"
Very soon, after both sides had taken the court, the university team could not help but start mocking them.
To them, Hank and the others were juniors.
Whether in seniority or in strength, they were far behind, so from the university players' point of view, throwing a few harsh words at them was only natural.
Boom!
Just as everyone felt this was asking too much of the freshmen, the university side launched the first serve.
As expected, it was a jump serve, a far more difficult kind of serve. Because it came from an older player, the accuracy and power of the ball far exceeded the limits of middle school players.
The serve flew straight toward the libero standing behind Hank.
As expected... they wanted to use the serve to shatter Hank and the others' confidence right from the opening point.
(End of Chapter)
If I see that this fanfic has support, I will upload 20+ chapters to Patreon!!
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]