As he walked up to the entrance of the basketball gym, he heard the voices of the girls at the entrance rising and falling.
“So cool!”
Wow, that ball—that face—
Oikawa Tooru stopped in his tracks.
Does the Track and Field Club play basketball? If it's just a few players, it's not very interesting.
Thinking of this, he turned on the spot, preparing to leave.
After all.. how could anyone at Seijo be more handsome than him?
Just as he took his first step toward Iwaizumi Hajime, a girl's voice came from behind him once again.
“As expected of the high school's strongest setter, that was incredibly accurate.”
It's a different kind of cool compared to Oikawa-senpai..
A few question marks slowly drifted above Oikawa's head.
Under Iwaizumi Hajime's gaze as he prepared to step forward, Oikawa suddenly turned around and walked toward the entrance of the gymnasium with a smile on his face.
A gentle and sweet voice rang in the ears of several girls: "Could you please step aside?"
Everyone froze for a moment, when they turned their heads, they saw Oikawa Tooru standing right before them.
O-Oikawa-senpai?!
As he wove through the crowd and stepped into the gymnasium, the smile on Oikawa's face vanished completely.
He stood still on the wooden floor, not stepping further across the sideline because he hadn't changed his shoes.
Obvious twins, a Kansai accent, a volleyball in hand, that face under the blonde hair.. a face that looked very familiar, yet was utterly repulsive.
A faint gasp escaped Oikawa Tooru's mouth: "Ah.."
The sudden silence at the entrance of the Kobe City Gymnasium caused Miya Atsumu, who had been showing off, to instinctively look over.
On the other side, Hinata, who was already practicing single-leg alternating rows with dumbbells under Coach Kosano's supervision, sensed that something was wrong and also turned his gaze toward them.
What came into view was a tall, large-framed youth standing with his back to the sunlight from outdoors, looking at them with a grim expression on his face.
An outside volleyball team entering the school without notifying the hosts, taking equipment used by others for training without permission, occupying Aobajohsai's public resources..
Oikawa lifted his chin and looked askance at Miya Atsumu, "You've got a lot of nerve."
Miya Osamu said in a low voice, "I think they're from the Volleyball Club."
Miya Atsumu kept his eyes locked on Oikawa Tooru, staring straight ahead as he snapped at Miya Osamu, "Don't talk to me."
I don't know why, but I feel like if I look away now..
He would lose.
Author's Note:
(Roll) (Perfect Landing)
Eh? Why are there no emojis on the PC version! QAQ
Chapter 33: The Thirty-Third Fox
A strange silence fell over the gymnasium.
Sitting by the sidelines, Suna's gaze shifted back and forth between Miya Atsumu and Oikawa Tooru before he finally raised his phone, ready to record.
But before he could even open the camera, a startled cry came from behind him.
“Chibi!”
After coming to a sudden halt, Hinata, who had been maintaining a single-legged dumbbell pose, finally couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed.
Fortunately, Coach Kosano was quick to react and caught the dumbbell mid-air, preventing Hinata from injuring his foot.
Miya Atsumu, who was in a standoff with Oikawa Tooru, instinctively turned his head toward Hinata the moment he heard the sound: "Are you okay, Shoyo-kun?"
Seeing Hinata being surrounded by Kita Shinsuke and the others, Miya Atsumu's heart skipped a beat. He could no longer care about Oikawa Tooru, instead grabbed Miya Osamu to squeeze through the crowd toward them.
Watching the Inarizaki members, who had previously been quite scattered, gather toward the wall, Oikawa Tooru, who had been planning to continue being a bit more assertive to show off his "master" aura, felt a bit lost.
What's going on?
Is that little guy also a player from Inarizaki?
Facing the concerned gazes of his seniors, Hinata, who had lost his balance and fallen onto the mat, rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Sorry, I was spacing out and didn't notice.."
Kita glanced at Oikawa Tooru over the crowd behind him, then crouched down to meet Hinata's eyes: "Try to stay focused during training. Take a break first."
After saying that, Kita looked at Coach Kosano: "Coach, are there any other items planned for later?"
Coach Kosano shook his head. "For now, we'll just practice these two. When you return to Inarizaki, remember to strengthen his upper body strength training; his imbalance is a bit serious."
He really wanted to go back to the high jump team to see how Kurosu was training them. Kosano continued, "For future training, forty reps per set will be enough. Try to have someone watching him to make sure he doesn't get injured."
Kita nodded. "Understood. Thank you for the guidance, Coach Kosano."
Finally, he pointed toward Oikawa Tooru, who was still standing by the entrance, hesitating over whether to step onto the basketball club's floor in his shoes: "By the way, Coach Kosano, who is that?"
“Ah, the captain over there from the Men's Volleyball club, his name is Oikawa Tooru,” she said, her tone carrying a hint of regret, “he's the Setter from Shiratorizawa I mentioned to you before.”
After confirming Hinata was fine, Miya Atsumu stood up and turned his head to look at Oikawa Tooru: "So it's him.."
Coach Kosano clapped his hands. "Alright, I'm heading out. If there are any problems, you can come find me at the gym."
No need to move the equipment. I expect we'll need it again tomorrow, so I'll have someone come to clean it up then.
"I'll see you out." Kita Shinsuke stood up proactively and followed behind Coach Kosano and Ema as they left the gymnasium.
Watching Kita Shinsuke leave, Aran wanted to say something, but in the end, he didn't speak.
Hinata also turned his body, sitting on the mat and trying to peer outside by looking through the legs of the Volleyball Club members in his field of vision.
What kind of Shiratorizawa Setter could he be talking about?
He was truly curious.
Oikawa Tooru, who had finally made up his mind to step onto someone else's floor, had not yet taken his first step before an annoying Kansai accent rang in his ears.
Sorry, Oikawa-senpai, we were invited by the Seijo Track and Field Club, we only took up volleyball at Coach Kosano's suggestion. I'm not sure about anything else.
Miya Atsumu's tone sounded very polite, but his eyes staring at Oikawa Tooru were full of provocation.
The implication was—although they were the Inarizaki Volleyball Club, their presence here had absolutely nothing to do with the Seijo Volleyball Club.
After all.. they didn't even know about Seijo's Volleyball Club.
Traveling all this way to Miyagi just to practice track and field?" Oikawa Tooru sneered, retorting without mercy, "What, a mass sport change?
Miya Atsumu stood with one hand on his hip. "Of course not. We have a practice match scheduled with Shiratorizawa; we're just passing through Seijo."
Seeing the temper rising, Akagi took the lead in stepping away from Miya Atsumu.
Rishia, who had intended to drag Hinata away, paused for a moment.
Wait, wasn't Shiratorizawa just a side trip? As far as he remembered, the main purpose of their expedition was to come to Seijo.
Oikawa Tooru's expression darkened visibly.
Miya Atsumu's words struck a chord deep within him, combined with that aura of a genius adorned with all sorts of honors..
It made him feel so nauseous he wanted to vomit.
A practice match against Shiratorizawa?
That means you look down on the Aobajohsai Volleyball Club, right?
And while Rishia was speaking, Hinata was already preparing to stand up, looking at Miya Atsumu at the same time as he said, "Eh? Aren't we supposed to go to Karasuno first? Atsumu-senpai said earlier that we were going to have a practice match against those kings."
Among a crowd of Kansai people, Hinata's voice, with its Sendai accent mixed with a bit of awkward Kansai terminology, was extremely prominent.
Miya Atsumu pressed down hard on Hinata, who was about to get up, forcing him to remain in a kneeling position, unable to move.
A voice, sounding somewhat through gritted teeth, whispered in Hinata Shoyo's ear, "Shoyo-kun, don't sabotage me."
Oikawa Tooru, having caught those two keywords, couldn't help but let out a laugh.
Karasuno? The Kings?
Ah.. are they here to find that cute genius junior of his who has already lost to him?
His gaze shifted away from Hinata, who had just spoken, locked onto Miya Atsumu.
“High School's Strongest Setter.. right?”
The way Oikawa Tooru lowered his head slightly caused the shadow cast by his bangs to obscure his eyes.
He took a step back and raised his arm to brace it against the doorframe beside him.
A voice, carrying a hint of a smile yet sounding somewhat threatening, rang in everyone's ears.
Well said.
Since you're already here, why not try playing a match?
His eyes held no emotion as he looked at Miya Atsumu, creating a sharp contrast with his tone: "How should I put this.. our Seijo Volleyball Club is much stronger than Karasuno, isn't it?"
Akagi subconsciously scanned the gymnasium.
Great, both Captain Kita Shinsuke and the coach are not here; he felt that Miya Atsumu was about to agree immediately.
Just as he expected, the next second Miya Atsumu spoke up: "Since you're begging me like that, senpai.. I guess it's not impossible."
Anyway, there's time tomorrow, I'll be free regardless.
Miya Atsumu lifted his chin, looking down at Oikawa Tooru, who was clearly his senior, with a gaze that was almost condescending.
The smile on his face was merely superficial, as if he didn't take the other person seriously at all.
Even if he agreed to the training match..
It was like a blessing slipping through the fingers of a powerhouse.
——Damn genius.