Once Bokuto made that expression, he was probably already crying on the inside.
Before Akaashi could make amends for Miya Atsumu's distraction, Hinata's voice rang out: "Bokuto-senpai is amazing! His strength is different from other seniors."
It feels.. similar to Kiryu-senpai?
Miya Atsumu's alertness instantly spiked to the highest level.
As far as he knew, Hoshiumi was undoubtedly number one in Hinata's eyes, tied with the Little Giant. Next in line was Kiryu Ya; anyone else, whether Ushijima or Sakusa, could only be placed in the next tier.
And Hinata met Bokuto once, then placed him in such a high position?
Bokuto-senpai instantly returned to his peak form, spreading his palms toward Miya Atsumu: "That's right, that's right! I'm an Ace that could be counted on one hand!"
Hinata continued to cheer sincerely, "Bokuto-senpai is amazing!"
Miya Atsumu protested, "Then I'm still one of the few Setters you can count on one hand."
Akaashi sighed inwardly.
What kind of finger is that? Not a single person passed the literature exam..
Ignoring Miya Atsumu, who repeatedly tried to provoke him, Bokuto-senpai asked another question that made everyone's vision go dark.
He looked at Hinata: "By the way, I still don't know your name."
For a moment, Akaashi felt as if he heard a mocking laugh.
Hinata had already raised his hand and said, "My name is Hinata Shoyo!"
Bokuto gave a thumbs up again: "Hinata! What a great name!"
Akaashi was momentarily stunned.
These two.. their names are quite similar.
——They are both things that shine.
Author's Note:
It's here, it's here! The food is here! The merchandise is here too!
If you want the merchandise, leave 2 points for this chapter! I'll be doing a giveaway for 15 people! You'll get 2k Jinjiang coins! [confetti][confetti][confetti]
Chapter 61: The Sixty-First Fox
Seeing that the situation was gradually going wrong, Coach Anromi once again cast his gaze toward Coach Kurosu over there, with a hint of a plea for help in his eyes.
But Coach Kurosu's movements were still a bit too slow; he had originally been smiling while watching Hinata and Bokuto interact, but once he saw Miya Atsumu go over, he immediately made a gesture toward Kita.
Kita Shinsuke nodded and walked over to Miya Atsumu's side.
An emotionless voice rang out immediately after: "Go back and train."
Miya Atsumu gave a light click of his tongue, but said nothing more and prepared to leave with Kita Shinsuke.
But in the next second, he noticed that Hinata had no intention of leaving, still looking at Bokuto with reluctance, Kita Shinsuke hadn't called for him either.
Several question marks appeared above his head as Miya Atsumu protested, "Shoyo, aren't you leaving?"
Kita Shinsuke gave a patient explanation: "Shoyo doesn't need to take the court this time, so he doesn't need to participate in the training to maintain his touch. Afterward, Coach Kurosu will arrange separate physical training for him, Kumagai Kuniharu, a few others."
In other words, as long as the coach doesn't call Hinata to work, Hinata is free to move about.
Miya Atsumu struggled, "My touch is amazing! I'll go back in a bit!"
Kita said, "We're about to practice spiking, so the Setter can't be absent."
"Isn't Kuniharu here? Or let Osamu—" Before Miya Atsumu could finish his sentence, he swallowed his words under Kita Shinsuke's gaze.
He immediately turned his head, wanting to reach out and pull Hinata, but the distance was already too great, he couldn't reach him at all.
After glancing at Miya Atsumu and Kita Shinsuke, Hinata instantly turned his head to look at Bokuto: "I'll just watch from here! Bokuto-senpai, don't worry about me!"
That's right, just watching him from the sidelines allows one to absorb knowledge through observation.
Bokuto rubbed his chin, squinting one eye as he leaned closer to Hinata. "I'm only just noticing now, you.."
Hinata blinked, looking at Bokuto with a hint of nervousness, unsure of what the other person was going to ask.
Bokuto threw out his entire question: "Do you know Tsukishima?"
His brain spun for a moment, Hinata completely failed to realize what those two syllables the other person had uttered actually meant.
He subconsciously asked in return, "A.. Tsukishima? Who is that?"
After a moment of thought, Bokuto raised his hand to form two circles around his eyes. "A tall, listless, blonde Middle Blocker wearing black-rimmed glasses."
Hearing this, Hinata quickly searched through the corresponding descriptive adjectives in his mind. In the past few months, he had encountered a dozen or so Middle Blockers, but there was only one person who matched every single point.
He had an epiphany: "Ah! It's Karasuno's number 10!"
Right, right," Bokuto-senpai nodded, "His block..
"Extremely listless!" Hinata replied.
"That was quite sharp!" Bokuto gave his verdict.
"Eh?" Hinata froze for a moment.
"Huh?" Bokuto, who also heard Hinata's evaluation, was stunned.
On the other side, Akaashi, who had just confirmed the start of the halftime break with the coach, walked back and was the first to realize why Hinata said that. "Ah, it really was like that before."
—Back when Karasuno had their first weekend training camp at Nekoma in late June.
Bokuto rubbed his chin: "Is that so?"
Akaashi nodded, "That's right."
Hinata grew excited: "It's not like that anymore!"
On the other side, Konoha didn't know where to even begin his吐槽 for a moment: "Are these three people performing manzai?"
Tatsuo Washio thought seriously for a moment: "Probably?"
“Tsukishima has improved a lot; he might even give you a big surprise,” Bokuto laughed, “but I was wondering why you felt a bit familiar; Kuroo and Tsukishima mentioned you a few times before.”
The Fukurodani Ace looked down at Hinata with a smile: "—Inarizaki's little Ace."
Hinata recoiled a step, his entire face flushing slightly.
K-K-King.. Ace?!
Kuroo-senpai and that bespectacled Middle Blocker actually described him like that!
After a brief moment of being stunned, Hinata stepped forward, chest out and head held high as he looked at Bokuto: "Yes! I want to become an Ace! A super dazzling Ace on the court, just like Bokuto-senpai!"
Watching Bokuto beside him with eyes shining, Akaashi opened his mouth, unsure of what to say.
This little brat from Inarizaki.. his natural talent for being a hype man is terrifying.
"It's decided!" Bokuto suddenly shouted, startling Akaashi who was standing beside him.
Bokuto looked at Hinata with great excitement: "Hinata, you better watch and learn from my heroic style! When you get back, go take the Ace position away from Aran!"
By then.. I'll be able to claim the top five title all for myself, hahahaha—
Akaashi spoke up to puncture Bokuto's fantasy: "No, Bokuto-senpai, the top five consists of five people. Even if you squeeze out Aran, there are still three people ahead of you."
Bokuto-senpai whipped his head around: "Akaashi! You should be saying that I'm the strongest!"
Hinata blinked and said very sincerely, "Aran-senpai is very strong. According to Coach Kurosu's arrangement, even if I were subbed in, I should play on the right wing."
In other words—there was no relationship of one replacing the other; instead, they were used together to pursue the maximization of benefits.
Bokuto, completely undermined, fell silent for two seconds, stroking his chin again as he fell into deep thought.
Finally, he found a second reason: "Ah! Then if you become the Ace next year and lead Inarizaki to defeat Sakusa, wouldn't that prove.. that I am the strongest!"
This time, even Akaashi couldn't find any fault with it.
The theory is indeed sound, but.. Bokuto hasn't even taught anything yet.
Bokuto was full of enthusiasm: "Come on, come on, what do you want to see?"
"Can I!" Hinata's eyes lit up.
"Of course! It's a break anyway, I've got nothing to do, so Akaashi, come toss some balls for me." Bokuto called out to Akaashi with total confidence.
Assuming Akaashi agreed, he looked at Hinata again: "What do you want to see?"
Hinata didn't hesitate for a second: "Short Diagonal!"
Both Kiryu-senpai and Kami-senpai have said that Bokuto-senpai's short diagonal is the best!
“Ohhh—you have great taste!” Bokuto gave Hinata a thumbs up.
Akaashi worked tirelessly to set for Bokuto, while Hinata moved with Bokuto to the area in front of the three-meter line after tossing the ball.
Bokuto easily spiked a very standard and extreme short diagonal, one of the most textbook short diagonals Hinata had ever seen.
Bokuto ducked under the net and turned his head to look at Hinata: "How was that!"
Hinata clapped his hands enthusiastically. "That was so cool! The spike height was absolutely perfect. If it had been a normal block, that ball would have just zipped right past the blockers!"
I can already imagine the look of shock on the blocker's face!
Akaashi had a shocked expression; this guy's ability to flatter was truly at the pinnacle, even using multiple angles to do it.
The most terrifying part is.. this guy is absolutely being sincere.
enough, in the next second, Bokuto raised a finger: "Akaashi! One more!"
Bokuto spiked another ball, seeing it up close, Hinata's eyes were filled with curiosity: "That's amazing! I want to see that backhand one again!"
Alright! No problem! Leave it to me!
Fukurodani manager Kyaku-tou looked at Coach Anromi beside him: "So full of energy. If only he could be this spirited for every match.."
Akaashi might be able to lose a bit less hair, even though his hair is still very thick for now.
Anromi recalled for a moment: "Did Inarizaki have a bye in the first round?"
Kyaku-tou nodded: "Yes, they had a bye."