Seeing the other party enter the state so quickly, Coach Kurosu also reached out and pulled Hinata out: "This little guy."
The 186cm Coach Kosano looked down, meeting Hinata's sparkling eyes.
Hello, Coach! I'm Hinata Shoyo!
Coach Kosano took a step back, allowing Hinata to appear fully within his field of vision.
His calf muscles were solid, his thighs were lacking, his arms weren't much to look at, from the looks of it.. he probably didn't even have abs.
This is indeed quite a bit different from the others in Inarizaki.
However, the people Coach Kurosu took an interest in were indeed not bad; since he brought them, it meant they could be trained.
Coach Kosano, who had experience working with the badminton team, said, "You want to train your single-leg jumping ability, right? Then let's start by giving it a try."
She pointed to the basketball court that had already been cleared over there. "Go. Take a running start, jump with your right foot, touch the backboard."
Under Coach Kosano's watchful eye, Hinata warmed up his joints before stepping forward to prepare for his jump.
He cleared the height of the rim with incredible ease, even surpassing it by nearly the length of a forearm.
This height.. it's at least 3.3 meters.
The previously calm Coach Kosano suddenly looked toward Coach Kurosu: "It's such a waste to play volleyball; you should come play high jump instead!"
Didn't you say before that he was from Miyagi Prefecture?
Before Coach Kurosu could even react, Coach Kosano had already walked up to Hinata: "Would you like to join Aobajohsai's high jump team? The boarding facilities at our school are quite good.."
Many times, jumping ability and vertical reach are not synonymous, especially in an event like the high jump.
The probability of a body that is too long hitting the bar is much higher. Many excellent athletes are only around 1.8 meters tall, in the women's category, there are many who are only 1.7 meters.
With this kind of jumping ability, why even play volleyball! They should just do high jump instead!
She guaranteed that she could develop Hinata into the next national-level top athlete.
Coach Kurosu's expression crumbled. "Hey! What kind of poaching is this! I'm still standing right here!"
Hinata also refused solemnly, "I'm sorry, Coach Kosano, but I still prefer volleyball more."
Looking into Hinata's eyes, Coach Kosano was momentarily dazed.
She had seen that kind of look two years ago as well.
Tsk, why is everyone so obsessed with volleyball.." she clicked her tongue lightly. "Forget it, now switch to your left foot and jump again, then jump with both feet.
Having received his orders, Hinata quickly completed Coach Kosano's instructions.
Watching Hinata's final jump reach nearly 3.4 meters, Coach Kosano nodded. "There's definitely room for improvement. The basics of jumping are essentially the same in volleyball and badminton; just focus on the overhead press."
She shouted to her teammates, "Ema! Move the mats to the wall!"
After making Hinata kneel on the mat, Coach Kosano handed a small weightlifting barbell into Hinata's hands.
In that instant, her smile was like an angel and a demon at the same time: "Alright, let's begin."
After confirming all the training items with Coach Kosano, Kurosu was also pushed over to the high jump team's side.
With Coach Kosano watching, he felt at ease.
As Hinata's training got back on track, the others from Inarizaki were left feeling a bit lost on what to do.
Miya Atsumu said with a straight face, "It feels a bit boring just sitting around like this."
Kita sighed, "I told you to have free time.."
He knew these guys couldn't just sit around; they might as well all go explore Sendai freely.
Ginjima suggested, "Want to play basketball?"
We might as well make use of this ready-made basketball court.
Miya Atsumu refused decisively, "No, I'm not playing basketball."
Coach Kosano looked over: "The volleyball gym is right next door; we can borrow some volleyballs to use."
Miya Atsumu's eyes lit up: "That sounds great."
Even though they couldn't do full-contact drills without a net, they could still practice things like setting and bumping.
Aran volunteered, "I'll go."
He was a bit curious about what the Seijo volleyball club captain was like; the neighboring gym didn't seem particularly small either.
Ema called out and followed, while Coach Kosano said to Hinata while scrolling through his phone, "Alright, now switch to your left leg."
Hinata shifted his weight to his left leg while simultaneously switching to his left hand to lift the barbell.
Even though he had always considered himself to have great stamina, training like this.. was truly exhausting.
Watching Hinata's movements become a bit distorted after a few pushes, Coach Kosano said, "Take a break."
You can run and jump, but your upper body strength is really lacking. Eat more meat and train more.
"Yes!" Hinata responded loudly.
On the other side, Ema and Aran had already entered the volleyball gym.
Ema spoke up proactively, "Hello, I'm Ema from the track and field club. The coach sent me to borrow some volleyballs."
Yagihata Shu froze for a moment. Since the third-year seniors weren't around at the moment, he simply pointed toward the warehouse on the other side. "It's over there, just go grab it yourself."
After speaking, his gaze remained fixed on Owari Aran.
A foreigner? How did he not remember someone like that from Seijo?
While he was in a daze, Owari Aran and Ema had already left through the other gate, pushing a volleyball cart.
Aran returned to the gymnasium with the volleyball, Miya Atsumu, who had been idling with nothing to do, jumped up immediately as well.
Slapping the volleyball against the floor, Miya Atsumu's expression turned somewhat surprised. "Does the Seijo volleyball club have such a large budget?"
All a dozen or so volleyballs in this car were brand-name balls purchased according to standard specifications; Inarizaki only has these.
Aran nodded. "I picked them out specifically, the people from the volleyball club didn't stop me."
I see there are quite a few people in the gym; it certainly looks like the setup of a strong school.
Coach Kosano, who had been watching Hinata practice his vertical jump, looked over. "Ah, our school's men's volleyball team is quite strong. We played the final against Shiratorizawa in the recent Interhigh preliminaries, we have consistently been one of the top four in the prefecture."
This time, it was the Inarizaki members who were stunned: "Really? We've never heard of that."
Coach Kosano shrugged his shoulders. "I heard Coach Irihatsu say before that their Setter is very amazing, they've been scouted by Shiratorizawa several times."
After saying that, she turned her head to look at Hinata Shoyo: "Alright, Shoyo-kun, now switch to your left hand."
"Is that so.." Miya Atsumu drew out his voice.
A setter that Shiratorizawa has their eyes on? He was somewhat interested.
Just then, whispering voices drifted from the entrance of the gymnasium: "They really are handsome, they even have that Kansai accent."
Twins? They're both so handsome—
Miya Atsumu nudged Miya Osamu beside him, then turned back with a full smile to greet the crowd at the entrance, "Hello, everyone."
Miya Osamu also turned around with Miya Atsumu, cooperating with him to continue the twins' marketing.
“They're looking! They're looking! He looks even cooler this way!”
Excuse me!" a girl asked loudly, gathering her courage. "Are you also a track and field athlete, senpai?
Miya Atsumu pointed to the volleyball bag beside him. "No, I'm a volleyball player."
A small commotion broke out at the entrance: "Ahhh, he plays volleyball too! I knew handsome guys who play volleyball were everywhere!"
Hearing this, Miya Atsumu raised an eyebrow slightly.
Also?
Meanwhile, Oikawa Tooru, who had just returned from a run, changed his shoes and entered the Seijo volleyball gym.
Seeing him enter, Yagihata Shu and the others greeted him: "Good afternoon, Oikawa-senpai."
Oikawa responded, "Good afternoon, everyone. Keep up the hard work."
Before he could even go to get the balls to prepare for practice, he was shocked to find that the whole cart of volleyballs that Seijo originally used for First String training had vanished.
Question marks popped up in his head. That cart of volleyballs was the volleyball club's most expensive asset, they were the same in feel and specification as the ones used in matches. How could they all be gone?
What? Is no one picking up the balls during collective serve practice?
Oikawa looked back with a puzzled expression.
—No, there aren't many balls on the court at all; even if there were, they would all be from the other several trucks.
Seeing him in this state, Watari Chikaharu, the Libero who had been in the gymnasium, raised his hand and said, "Oikawa-senpai, people from the track and field club just came by to borrow some volleyballs."
Hearing this, Oikawa had already guessed the whole story: "And then you weren't looking, so you let them take the volleyballs used by the First String?"
The second-year students worked hard to avert their eyes, trying to pretend that nothing had happened.
Oikawa Tooru was fuming.
No, why is the track and field club borrowing volleyball equipment!
They had better pray they haven't broken it, otherwise.. he will definitely give those guys a taste of his wrath!
Having lost much of his mood, he sighed, only to find his childhood friend seemingly looking at something by the entrance. He decisively grabbed his water bottle and walked over. "Iwaizumi, what are you looking at?"
Iwaizumi Hajime tilted his chin up, gesturing for him to look at the gymnasium across the way.
Seeing a crowd gathered around the entrance of the gymnasium across from him, Oikawa Tooru was a bit bewildered.
He asked Iwaizumi beside him with some confusion, "Isn't the basketball club on break? What are they doing over there? Why is it so lively?"
Iwaizumi Hajime recalled what he had heard this morning. "Ah.. Coach Irihatsu mentioned something, saying the track and field club has requisitioned the gymnasium today for something, but he didn't say what."
Since the track and field team was originally Seijo's flagship, if they were to requisition the basketball gym, the basketball club basically had no right to protest.
Moreover, the Seijo basketball club's skill level is quite poor, those people from the basketball club had already left for vacation long ago.
But.. even the track and field club shouldn't have this many people.
Generally speaking, scenes where people are crowded so densely that not even a drop of water could leak through only happen when Oikawa is playing a match.
Oikawa Tooru made a quick decision, shoved the water cup into Iwaizumi Hajime's hands, then, after putting on his shoes, bounded out of the gymnasium: "I'll go take a look."