"Hey."
Just as Hank was about to keep running home, he suddenly heard someone call out from beside him. He turned his head and saw Tobio Kageyama standing behind him, with a visibly flustered Shoyo Hinata at his side.
Seeing the two of them behind him, Hank was a little bewildered. What exactly did these two want from him?
"Tomorrow, we're playing a practice match against Aoba Johsai. You'll be playing too, right?"
"I'm not going to lose to you again."
Kageyama's face was completely serious. After saying those words one by one, he immediately started watching for any change in Hank's expression. Back then, he had actually planned to enter Aoba Johsai as well, but Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa had overlapping exam schedules.
So he had missed his chance to go to Aoba Johsai. But now that he had ended up at Karasuno, and tomorrow they would be facing them in a practice match—
Then in the next game, he was definitely going to win back his pride. There was no way he would let Hank show him up again!
"S-sorry, Kageyama didn't mean it like that. Don't take it to heart."
Shoyo Hinata instantly panicked. He hadn't expected Kageyama to suddenly start talking trash to Hank. Just a moment ago, the two of them had still been competing to see who could run back to Karasuno High first... and then, at this intersection, they had unexpectedly run into Hank.
And just like that, Kageyama had started clashing with him.
From the atmosphere alone, it already felt terrifying. And on top of that, Hinata was a little intimidated by Hank in the first place. He was just too tall... even taller than Kageyama.
He was probably over 185 centimeters.
Was this what a real volleyball player was supposed to look like?
Standing in front of him, Hinata felt tiny.
"All right."
After glancing at Kageyama, Hank turned and left right away. Since they were both in the same prefecture, running into each other every now and then was nothing unusual. And since the two of them were this excited for tomorrow's practice match—
Then he couldn't exactly hold back either. If he got the chance to play tomorrow, he'd give them quite a surprise.
They weren't the only ones improving. Ever since the junior high tournament ended, he had been training like crazy, barely leaving himself any time to rest at all!
Since Kageyama had chosen to stand against him, then he had better be prepared to be completely crushed by him.
"So that's the ace who carried his team to victory all by himself during the junior high tournament?"
"I can't believe we get to play a practice match against him tomorrow!?"
"I'm seriously so fired up!"
After hearing from Kageyama that tomorrow they would be facing Hank's team in a match, Shoyo Hinata was overjoyed. He had never imagined that he would get to face such a strong opponent so soon after joining the volleyball club.
It was way too exciting!
"Don't get carried away, idiot!"
"We may have improved a lot, but do you really think that guy's been slacking off?"
"Be ready. We absolutely can't lose to him!"
As Kageyama watched Hank jog away into the distance, flames seemed to flare in his eyes. He was fiercely competitive by nature. There was no way he would allow himself to be beaten twice by the same person!
Tomorrow, he would bring his new team and face Hank again!
"All right! Then let's do this—today, we race three laps around this road, and whoever gets back to the volleyball club first wins!"
Hinata was so excited that, before Kageyama could even finish reacting, he had already charged straight ahead. Kageyama only stood there for a second before immediately chasing after him.
"Damn it, you idiot!"
Kageyama took off after Hinata, thoroughly irritated.
…
Time quickly passed, and the next day arrived.
Since Aoba Johsai was playing a practice match against Karasuno today, Hank had come to the court early to warm up. He led the team through practice, and just like in the original story, Oikawa still hadn't shown up...
And Coach Irihata, thinking Karasuno might not be especially strong, didn't plan on sending Hank onto the court right away. He wanted to give the other players a bit more match experience first.
"Aah... so that's Aoba Johsai's team... they're all so tall."
Before long, Karasuno's team arrived on time as well. Right now, their lineup still wasn't in its best possible state. Yu Nishinoya, the libero, and Asahi Azumane, the wing spiker, still hadn't come. On the court, there were only Tobio Kageyama, Ryunosuke Tanaka, Kei Tsukishima, and Daichi Sawamura.
Four regulars.
The other two were substitutes.
So Karasuno's strength wasn't at its peak, and with that in mind, it was perfectly normal for Coach Irihata to have the substitutes face the substitutes. But Hank knew...
By the end of the match, he would definitely get his chance to play.
And when that time came...
Putting the match away himself didn't sound bad at all.
With that thought, Hank was more than happy to take it easy and sat down on Aoba Johsai's bench to rest.
(End of Chapter)
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