Oikawa had disliked Shiratorizawa for a long time, yet Ushijima himself had absolutely no self-awareness regarding it.
—He's hopeless.
After eating breakfast, the members of Inarizaki boarded a bus at a nearby bus stop at a junction to head toward Karasuno Town.
As the bus drove further into the countryside, Rishia Heisuke felt a bit out of place: "It feels like we're almost out of Sendai."
The place where Seijo is located is a true city center. Although Shiratorizawa's location is also quite remote, at least it is in a commercial area near a university town.
After the bus crossed that mountain, the only things visible in the surrounding area were simple detached houses.
After getting off at the Karasuno stop, Coach Omimi, who was leading the group, pulled up the navigation to prepare for their trip to Karasuno High School.
The distance between the bus stop and the school was not short, but since they hadn't driven, they had no choice but to walk there.
Stepping off the bus and breathing in the fresh air, Rishia Heisuke couldn't help but remark, "I feel like if we had been on there any longer, someone would have gotten carsick."
However, according to Hinata, his original home was even more remote than this..
To be honest, it was somewhat unimaginable.
Aran looked at Rishia Heisuke beside him. "By the way, Shinsuke mentioned before that Karasuno originally wanted to borrow the Municipal Gymnasium, but Coach Ukai and the others refused them."
Although Amagasaki isn't quite a major city like Kyoto or Osaka, it is still prosperous and has complete supporting facilities. By comparison, they had never been to a school in a super-suburban area like Karasuno, let alone come here for a training match.
The opposing coach's proposal to rent a gymnasium was likely also a consideration of the environment.
Ginjima raised an eyebrow slightly. "Rejected it? Why?"
It would be more convenient to go to the Municipal Gymnasium, the rent wouldn't be outrageously expensive when there are no matches being held.
Watching Hinata walking at the very front, saying something to Miya Atsumu, a smile played on the corners of Kita Shinsuke's mouth.
For Shoyo, going to Karasuno might be more like a pilgrimage.
Aran also nodded. "After all, it's the gymnasium where that Little Giant spent three years.."
Rounding the corner ahead, the gate inscribed with "Karasuno High School" came into view.
Hinata's eyes were fixed on the end of the road: "This is.. Karasuno!"
The Little Giant's alma mater!
Before he even knew what volleyball was, the Little Giant was already playing here.
And today.. he will be playing here too!
From a distance, the members of Inarizaki could already see a group of people waiting at the entrance.
In stark contrast to Inarizaki's fiery red, Karasuno's uniforms were a deep, dark black.
The head coach leading the group, Tetsuya Takeda, mustered his courage to step forward and extend his hand toward Coach Kurosu Masamune: "Hello, I am Karasuno's head coach, Tetsuya Takeda. We spoke on the phone previously."
Kurosu tried his best to calm his aura: "Hello, I am Inarizaki's head coach, Kurosu Masamune. It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to exchange ideas with your school."
The captains of both sides were also shaking hands and greeting each other nearby, while Kageyama, following Sugawara Koushi, stared fixedly at Miya Atsumu, his eyes filled with the drive to compete and the desire for a challenge.
In fact, Hinata Shoyo, who had already simulated countless times in his head what he would say when they met, watched Kageyama Tobio warily, but the latter hadn't given him a single glance from beginning to end.
Kiyoko Shimizu, the manager for Karasuno's third-years, patted Hitoka Yachi on the back, signaling her to go and greet Hinata.
They had previously watched this year's match between Inarizaki and Municipal Kobe together in the screening room, Kiyoko remembered that this little orange-haired kid was an Inarizaki first-year manager.
A bit frightened, Yachi stepped in front of Hinata under Miya Atsumu's gaze: "H-hello, I am Karasuno's manager, Hitoka Yachi."
So scary, those Inarizaki players are so much bigger than the Karasuno players—
Stop staring at her, you blond-haired guy! So scary!
Hinata, who had been staring at Kageyama, snapped out of it and met Hitoka Yachi's pleading gaze, which seemed to beg for it to end quickly.
He quickly shook hands with the other person: "Hello, I am Hinata Shoyo."
After completing the required procedure, Hitoka Yachi immediately ducked back behind Kiyoko Shimizu.
Meanwhile, Kageyama Tobio, who had been focused on Miya Atsumu all along, followed Miya Atsumu's gaze and saw Hinata Shoyo on the side; a face that had been appearing in his mind not long ago entered his field of vision.
Kageyama froze for a moment, a sense of extreme absurdity welled up in his heart.
This guy.. went to Inarizaki? And even joined the team to compete?
How is that possible? This guy has been playing volleyball for three years and is still a total mess.
Sugawara Koushi noticed Kageyama's abnormality and asked softly, "You know him?"
Kageyama was silent, which was rare for him.
After a long time, he uttered two words: "I suppose so."
Searching through his mind, Kageyama couldn't remember where Hinata appeared in that video.
To facilitate better coordination, he remembered the appearance of every player on Inarizaki, including the substitutes. Hinata definitely wasn't among them; otherwise, he wouldn't have had no impression of him at all.
Noticing that Kageyama was thinking about something, Sugawara Koushi replied, "That is Inarizaki's manager."
Although once all impossibilities are ruled out, only the truth remains, Kageyama still rejected it flatly: "Impossible."
“Eh?” This time, it was Sugawara Koushi who was stunned.
Recalling their meeting once again, he remembered the stairs under the setting sun, the vitality there was so intense that even he could still remember it clearly now.
A person like that.. as long as he's still playing volleyball, he won't be content just standing on the sidelines.
Walking behind the coach toward the Karasuno Gymnasium, Hinata's gaze remained fixed on the back of Kageyama's head in front of him in the Karasuno team.
Miya Atsumu looked down at Hinata, who was standing a step ahead of him, couldn't help but reach out to pat the top of his head. "Stop staring at him all the time; there's nothing to see."
While Hinata remained silent, Miya Atsumu continued, "Since you're already here, you're going to go even further than him, so you need to make him come and see you."
And Hinata.. should watch Miya Atsumu.
This time, Hinata rarely didn't listen to Miya Atsumu, or perhaps he was simply so immersed in something else that he didn't hear him.
Looking at Miya Atsumu's defeated expression, Miya Osamu mocked him without mercy: "Have you finally started annoying Shoyo-kun too?"
Miya Atsumu retorted, "No way! Shoyo-kun likes me most!"
That's right! Yesterday, Hinata already admitted that he is a good person!
He understood; it was all Kageyama Tobio's fault. He would see him get crushed in a moment!
Although he hadn't watched any of Karasuno's footage except for the match against Nekoma, judging by these Karasuno players, it was obvious they relied heavily on unorthodox playstyles and were nothing to be afraid of.
Unlike the scale of Seijo and Inarizaki, Karasuno couldn't even assemble a complete starting lineup and substitute roster, so they had no such thing as a second string support staff.
Everything, including the warm-up exercises before the practice match, had been arranged by the managers beforehand.
There weren't even benches for the coaching staff; instead, they were using folding chairs typically used for basketball games.
"Quite shabby.." Miya Atsumu, who found the entire Karasuno setup somewhat unpleasant to look at, let out a light tsk.
Seeing Hinata lost in thought, Miya Atsumu asked, "What's wrong?"
Hinata shook his head. "I just suddenly thought the Little Giant is truly amazing."
Growing up in a place like this, then becoming a pillar of strength in the hearts of others..
So, he had to become even greater than the Little Giant.
Even though they were old acquaintances, because of the tense atmosphere surrounding Karasuno as a whole, Kageyama didn't have much opportunity to communicate with Hinata.
It wasn't until he saw Hinata and the rest of the Inarizaki team already warming up that he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
As expected, it was the Inarizaki players, not the manager.
The decision not to wear team uniforms was made from the very beginning. Coach Kurosu provided the reason that the weather was muggy, since the Karasuno Gymnasium did not have air conditioning, the uniforms would hinder the players' movement.
Although he felt something was wrong, Coach Ukai still agreed to Inarizaki's request.
The draw gave Inarizaki the first serve.
This time, because Hinata was to play as a right-side Wing Spiker, Coach Kurosu adjusted the overall formation; with Oori Ren resting, he moved Ginjima, whose receiving skills were somewhat weaker, to the Middle Blocker position.
Inarizaki started with a standard S1, but Karasuno's positioning was as magical as ever.
In the back row, Tanaka replaced Libero Nishinoya Yu, while Kageyama was in Position 2, which was the first serving position for Karasuno in a receiving formation.
In terms of Karasuno's overall offensive strength, even the Ace's scoring rate from spikes isn't as high as Kageyama's serve at this stage, so they will do their utmost to protect Kageyama's serve.
"Here it comes, Miya Atsumu's Dual Wield," Sawamura Daichi said, clapping his hands.
While protecting the back row with Setter Sugawara Koushi, Karasuno employed a formation of a Libero and a Wing Spiker for the receive.
Actually, regarding the question of whether Tanaka or Sawamura should play as the Middle Blocker, Ukai Keishin had been conflicted about it for a while.
But in the end, they chose to keep Sawamura Daichi, who has excellent receive skills, to anchor the defense, while Tanaka would act as the cannon at the Middle Blocker position.
Therefore, this current lineup is the strongest receiving formation Karasuno can put forward.
Testing his touch on the volleyball, Miya Atsumu tossed the ball up in the final second of his service time.
He wasn't sure how good the Libero over there was, so he would test them out with a powerful serve first.
With a bang, the volleyball flew over the net and reached Nishinoya Yu in an instant.
Nishinoya Yu's pupils contracted.
This serve.. it's even faster than the one in the video!
In just over a month, has Miya Atsumu's serve improved to another level?
Completely caught off guard, Nishinoya ultimately only managed to touch the ball, failing to successfully absorb its momentum.
The volleyball slammed out of bounds, Karasuno fell silent for a few seconds.
Did their strongest guardian completely miss the very first ball?
Miya Atsumu shook his right hand: "That was impressive, you actually managed to touch it."
Any Libero with even average skill wouldn't have had a chance to touch that ball just now.
That was actually a bit.. unexpected.
Great serve, Atsumu! One more!
Nishinoya Yu's expression turned serious: "I'll receive the next one."
This jump serve itself lacks the power and spin of Oikawa Tooru, but he will definitely be able to adapt to it.