Hinata looked as if a door to a new world had been opened before him: "I completely understand!"
Iizuna smiled, but said nothing.
—It certainly wasn't because he also wanted to hear Sakusa being called by his name.
Early the next morning, the moment Hinata arrived at Shiratorizawa, he found Sakusa: "Good morning, Sakusa-senpai!"
Hearing this form of address, a question mark slowly appeared over Sakusa's head.
When he saw that his cousin and his captain were both laughing secretly, he knew exactly what had happened.
In the end, he accepted the greeting just as Komori had imagined: "Good morning."
—It's going to be a real pain to refuse, isn't it?
Hinata said with a face full of pleasant surprise, "I look forward to learning from you today as well, Shin-senpai!"
On the second to last day before he was set to leave Shiratorizawa, a new member appeared at this training camp.
Watching the group file in one after another, Komori whispered to Hinata, "The people from Sannomiya Industrial are an established powerhouse from Akita Prefecture; they are quite good at blocking."
The Sannomiya Industrial coach walked up to Washijo. As a graduate of Shiratorizawa who had once played under Washijo Tanji, he greeted Coach Washijo very humbly, "Long time no see, Coach Washijo."
Washijo's gaze swept across the players who were arriving one after another, he nodded in approval. "Long time no see. The quality of this year's freshmen is quite good."
Although Sannomiya Industrial failed to reach the nationals in the Interhigh, he had watched the video of the finals; the score was extremely close, their Ace's condition didn't improve until the later stages.
If it were a best-of-five, there might have been a chance to win.
With the addition of Sannomiya Industrial, the three teams could play practice matches against each other in rotation, giving one of the teams a chance to rest.
As for Hinata, he had been placed in the position of head referee by Coach Washijo since early this morning, responsible for blowing the whistle.
After lunch came the daily physical training, Hinata and Goshiki proceeded with the drills previously arranged by Coach Kosano of Aobajohsai as usual.
This time, Coach Washijo did not arrange receive and serve practice again, but instead filled the entire day with practice matches. It was only after the afternoon matches ended that the self-training time began.
After standing for a whole day, Hinata couldn't help but feel some soreness in his back and waist. After a bit of light stretching, Hinata walked toward the sidelines with great enthusiasm, preparing to put on his protective gear for training.
Right at that moment, a voice that had clearly not yet changed came from the doorway behind him: "Hello?"
Hearing this clearly youthful voice, Hinata turned around, just as he was about to bend down to greet the person, saw a "little kid" who wasn't much shorter than him.
Not much shorter than him..
His heart felt a little cold, but Hinata still said enthusiastically, "Hello, are you looking for someone?"
So tall, he must be at least 1.8m, definitely a great prospect for volleyball.
The other person averted his gaze and said in a small voice, "My brother brought me here, I just came to take a look.."
Eh—" Hinata Shoyo drawled, "I'm Hinata Shoyo, you?
"Suzuki.." Hearing the slight Kansai accent at the end of Hinata's voice, he finally looked at Hinata with a hint of curiosity.
Under Hinata's encouraging voice, he finally told Hinata his full name: "Suzuki Nanao."
"That's a very domineering name." Hinata reacted instantly; this should be the younger brother of Sannomiya Industrial's main spiker, Suzuki Garaku.
But.. to be honest, the two of them don't look much alike at all.
It should be what Hirugami-senpai mentioned before, one takes after his father and the other after his mother?
Hinata looked at the corner of the volleyball shoes peeking out from the other person's backpack and asked, "So.. do you want to come in and play volleyball? We're doing self-training right now, you can join me."
Never mind," Suzuki said, looking rather uninterested. "I don't want to play volleyball, I'll just watch. You don't need to worry about me, Hinata-senpai.
Under Suzuki's puzzled gaze, Hinata suddenly took a step back.
Kageyama-senpai!
He cleared his throat and said solemnly, "But just idling on the sidelines isn't a solution either. I happen to be practicing my digs and need a partner."
Goshiki, who happened to hear this, silently withdrew his hand that had been about to pat Hinata on the shoulder.
He glanced at Suzuki Nanao at the door and realized that Hinata seemed to be coaxing a child.
Suzuki hesitated for a moment, but ultimately shook his head firmly: "No need, I'll just wait here until it's over."
After signaling to Goshiki Tsutomu, Hinata took the other's hand and led him over to the bench by the side of the court: "That's perfect, I'll take a break too."
"How old are you now, Suzuki-kun?" As the two sat down, Hinata asked the question he had been wondering about.
Suzuki Nanao replied, "Fifth grade."
Hinata's words caught in his throat, his brain stopped functioning for several seconds.
Only fifth grade?!
This height.. 1.9m is very solid!
"You.. you must be amazing at volleyball! What position do you play?" Hinata said, his face full of excitement and undisguised envy.
He wasn't even 1.5m tall when he was in sixth grade!
Damn, I'm so jealous. He also wants to be 1.9m or 2m tall; he would definitely be able to play volleyball much better like that.
“Middle Blocker,” Suzuki Nanao said, watching his brother talking to Iizuna and Sakusa, as he inexplicably relaxed beside Hinata, “Actually.. I don't know why I play volleyball.”
I just started because my mom plays, my brother plays too.
"Is your mother a professional volleyball player?!" Hinata was even more envious; this could truly be called a volleyball family.
Suzuki nodded. "Yes, she used to be a Middle Blocker for the V1 team Guangxin Ye Hongtu, but she's changed careers to become a coach now."
Facing Hinata's gaze, which was filled with envy and admiration, Suzuki blushed slightly out of embarrassment.
Knowing his guess was correct, Hinata secretly clenched his fist: "Suzuki-senpai is also a Middle Blocker."
Is it really a family tradition? It seems Hirugami-senpai's older brother is also a Middle Blocker.
Hearing Hinata call him Suzuki Nanao, Suzuki felt a bit awkward: "Um.. Hinata-senpai, please just call me by my name."
Hinata complied readily: "Okay, Nanao."
But volleyball really does come down to personal preference. When I was your age, I didn't even know what volleyball was.
Suzuki was not the first person to tell him that he didn't like volleyball; whether it was Nagumo-senpai or Hirugami-senpai, whom Hoshiumi-senpai mentioned, they were all people with certain talents who simply had other dreams.
Of course, it's a pity, but any dream should be worthy of respect and blessings.
"Does Nanao have any thoughts about his own future?" Hinata asked with a smile, looking at little Suzuki beside him.
Suzuki shook his head. "Not yet."
However, his family hopes he plays volleyball.
"Shoyo! Come play three-on-three!" Komori called out to Hinata.
Hinata is leaving tomorrow, so we have to make the most of this remaining time.
Hinata quickly stood up in response: "I'm coming!"
Before leaving, he looked at Suzuki Nanao: "Don't dwell on it too much; you still have plenty of time to think."
The moment you fall in love with volleyball might arrive before you know it.
And, if you like it, playing volleyball will become even more enjoyable.
Watching Hinata's retreating figure, Suzuki slowly lowered his eyes by the side of the court.
If I like it.. will I be happy?
"Please look after me, Shirabu-senpai!" Hinata greeted Shirabu.
This was the first time in the last few days he had worked with Shirabu, though he and Sakusa-senpai had already played together on both sides of the net.
Aside from Sakusa-senpai strictly forbidding him from setting, everything was quite harmonious.
Suzuki Nanao watched Hinata's side quietly, looking completely listless.
And on the court closest to him, the match between Hinata, Sakusa, Shirabu, Goshiki, Agatsuma, Komori had already begun.
Agatsuma's blocking skills are quite high, even to some extent being much better than the Hirugami in Hinata's memory.
However, Hinata didn't have much of a chance to face him, because it was obvious that Shirabu preferred using Sakusa, leaving the task of receiving the ball to him.
Hinata lowered his center of gravity to receive the ball.
—Exactly what he intended!
Over the next few days, he absolutely had to practice his receiving to be even stronger than before, so he could return and give the seniors a surprise!
"Nice receive!" Shirabu praised.
Although the ball's position wasn't great, Hinata had managed to receive Goshiki Tsutomu's spike, which was already quite impressive.
After receiving the ball, Hinata rushed forward without hesitation.
Ensuring that the knees do not touch the ground when receiving the ball is not just to avoid injury, but more importantly, to ensure that one maintains the ability to carry out a follow-up attack.
After receiving the ball, one must move forward immediately; even if there is no time to attack, one must at least feign an attack.
Maximize your own value to the fullest extent, covering your teammates' attacks to score points.
Shirabu glanced at the blockers on the opposite side and suddenly decided to forgo setting the ball to Sakusa, instead raising his hand to send it to the middle.
Watching the ball come toward him, Hinata's face showed a hint of pleasant surprise, he then quickly adjusted his path forward to chase down the ball.
By the sidelines, Suzuki Nanao bit his lip, as faces flickered through his mind.
Fearful, desperate, unwilling..
With the opponent's block being so despair-inducing, why can they still charge forward so fearlessly?
Agatsuma's reaction speed was incredibly fast; he pulled his fingers back almost immediately to prevent the opponent from scoring off his hands.
With a loud bang, the volleyball flew over the net, landing near the baseline.
After confirming that the ball would not go out of bounds, Komori kicked off the ground and lunged forward, digging the ball up.
"Sorry!" The volleyball flew over the net once again, flying back toward Hinata and Shirabu.
Hinata shouted at the top of his lungs, "Free ball! Shirabu-senpai! One more time!"
Shirabu's gaze swept across the opposing blockers, without hesitation, he sent the ball to Sakusa on the other side.
Goshiki and Agatsuma stepped forward again, the two of them blocking directly in front of Sakusa.