Their opponents in tomorrow's match are Shirabu, which means.. Karasuno is out of the top eight.
Miya Atsumu tilted his head slightly, looking down at the losers.
After a moment of stagnant air, the first person to speak was actually Hoshiumi: "Hey, Miya."
The two from Inarizaki remained silent, simply waiting quietly for Hoshiumi to continue.
The Little Giant of Karasuno held his chin high; even though he stood below Miya Atsumu, he still possessed an arrogance that seemed to look down upon his opponent.
It seemed they were not losers, but winners who could hold their heads high.
Hoshiumi's voice was still loud: "If Inarizaki can't even win this, don't blame me for coming to your gym entrance to mock you."
Miya Atsumu had a faint smile on his face: "Don't worry, we won't lose."
Even though both sides were smiling, one of them gave Hinata a sense of intense tension.
After a few seconds of a standoff, Hoshiumi was the first to look away.
He walked toward the other side of the entire floor, without giving the two from Inarizaki another glance: "Let's go, Yukihito."
Watching Hoshiumi leave, Hinata, who hadn't been able to get a word in at all, followed Miya Atsumu into the hotel room.
He thought for a moment before speaking, "I didn't quite understand what Hoshiumi-senpai said."
"About the match?" Miya Atsumu asked.
Hinata nodded. "Yeah, why is Hoshiumi-senpai so certain that we'll definitely win tomorrow?"
Miya Atsumu had already guessed the whole story, but he only explained simply, "You can just think of it as Karasuno having already drained all of Shirabu's backup batteries."
Although Kiryu's recovery was also incredible, even the slightest impact on his condition would cause a significant qualitative change in the match.
Hinata blinked, seeing that Miya Atsumu had no intention of continuing the topic, he turned and said, "I was worried that Hoshiumi-senpai and the others would be in a bad mood because they lost the match, but it looks like they're doing alright now?"
Miya Atsumu collapsed onto the bed without even taking off his clothes, his voice lacked any warmth when he mentioned Hoshiumi: "It just shows how thick-skinned he is."
Hinata tilted his head, expressing deep skepticism toward Miya Atsumu's words.
Noticing Hinata was still standing there dazed, Miya Atsumu patted the bed beside him, gesturing for Hinata to come and sit.
Hinata hung his jacket by the door and sat obediently beside Miya Atsumu.
Today's match schedule wasn't that long, it was only evening right now.
Miya Atsumu looked at the ceiling, which was dyed a golden orange in his field of vision, when he turned his head, he saw a head of the same color.
"Don't let his appearance fool you; he's probably crying on the inside." Miya Atsumu kept his mission of undermining Hoshiumi firmly in mind.
But thinking of the status Hoshiumi held in Hinata's heart, which was almost like a faith, he ultimately changed his tune: "He is the Ace."
Hinata twisted his body slightly, meeting Miya Atsumu's gaze. "An Ace?"
“Individually, there's certainly more regret," Miya Atsumu said, tilting his head and looking into Hinata Shoyo's eyes, "but without a doubt, Karasuno's loss in this match was well-deserved; in fact, they have achieved their best results in recent years."
Losers don't need cheers, but for Karasuno, they are not losers.
It seemed that Miya Atsumu found the movement of having to tilt his head slightly to make eye contact with Hinata Shoyo a bit tiring, so he reached out and tugged on the hem of Hinata Shoyo's shirt.
Hinata took the opportunity to shift back slightly, making it more comfortable for Miya Atsumu.
Miya Atsumu's voice continued in his ear: "Losing to an opponent you could have beaten—that is, without a doubt, a disgrace."
“But to have nearly defeated an opponent who was already at the top, to have achieved one's best performance ever.. that is something to be quite proud of.”
Hearing this, Hinata turned his head in surprise to meet Atsumu's eyes.
Feeling a bit guilty for half a second, he then said bluntly, "That doesn't sound like something Atsumu-senpai would say."
It was originally meant to comfort Hinata by making excuses for Hoshiumi, but it somehow ended up turning into a silent debate between Miya Atsumu and Kita Shinsuke.
He narrowed his eyes. "Then, what should I be like?"
Hinata Shoyo stood up abruptly, after taking off his shoes, he crouched on the bed under Miya Atsumu's bewildered gaze.
He raised his hand to stroke his chin, feigning a look of profound thought.
“I won't give you a bad set.”
"If you can't even spike my ball properly, you might as well stop playing volleyball altogether.." or something like that.
Miya Atsumu's head buzzed, he hurriedly stood up to hold Hinata down.
He also cast a quick glance to see if the door was closed, remaining constantly on guard against Suna, who might spring out from any corner to take photos or videos.
He reached out and covered Hinata Shoyo's mouth, feeling as though his own dark past was being exposed. "Stop, stop, stop, let's not mention this kind of thing ever again, okay?"
Hinata blinked, signaling that he understood.
Alright, he would definitely never mention it to Atsumu-senpai again.
As Miya Atsumu let out a sigh of relief and released his grip, he lay back down on the bed, feeling a strange sense of having survived a close call.
It's such a relief that Suna isn't here..
Although Karasuno wore Shirabu down, the match against Shiratorizawa was far from as easy for Inarizaki as it looked on the surface.
Especially as the Ace, Aran also suffered significant exhaustion.
Miya Atsumu raised a hand to cover his eyes, dazed as he recalled those previous several climaxes that could only be described as being "a single step away."
In a match, stories without failure are only experienced by the team that lifts the championship trophy at the end.
As for us, who achieved victory today, perhaps one day in the future, we too will find ourselves among the losers.
That's right. In this long and grueling journey, there is only one ultimate winner.
So Shoyo, are you ready?
Miya Atsumu tilted his head slightly; he had expected to see Hinata's ear, but in that instant, he was caught completely off guard by Hinata's bright eyes.
At such a close distance, Atsumu could even hear Hinata's breathing clearly.
Hinata's voice was firm and powerful: "Even though I'm not on the court and don't know if I have the right to say this, Atsumu-senpai.."
We came here for the championship.
Atsumu froze for a moment, but then suddenly burst into laughter: "Hahaha—you're right, you're absolutely right."
Different historical records and different skill levels inherently bring different standards of requirements.
So from the moment they stepped onto this stage with Inarizaki, no matter who they lost to, it would be "losing to an opponent they shouldn't have lost to."
The thing to think about was very simple: victory, nothing else.
Miya Atsumu propped himself up on the bed and leaned toward Hinata, pressing his hand onto the sheet beside Hinata's ear.
Strands of hair fell down his forehead as the High School's Strongest Setter watched the figure reflected in the eyes of the boy below him.
—There is only him.
Atsumu narrowed his eyes, a hint of a satisfied smile on his face.
He spoke softly, like a bewitching monster from legend.
“Shoyo, you are already a qualified fox.”
Chapter 71: The Seventy-First Fox
Staring into Miya Atsumu's eyes, Hinata couldn't help but swallow hard.
He asked quite uncomfortably, "Um, Atsumu-senpai.. aren't you a little too close.."
He felt like the air wasn't circulating well, breathing was becoming a bit difficult.
Miya Atsumu let out a low laugh, in that same posture, he raised his hand and pressed it against the hair on Hinata Shoyo's forehead.
In any case, for now, just focus on observing everyone's volleyball. You won't make mistakes if you have it all memorized.
"I will," Hinata nodded.
He hesitated for two seconds before finally saying, "So, Atsumu-senpai.. isn't it time to get up?"
I'm seriously going to suffocate!
Atsumu stared down at Hinata for a long time, until Hinata, meeting his gaze, unconsciously held his breath, only then did he suddenly lunge forward.
His face slammed into the soft bedding, at the same time, he wrapped an arm around Hinata's neck: "I'm exhausted, I'm going to sleep."
Staring at the ceiling, which had grown dark along with the sky outside, Hinata was somewhat dazed.
The sense of pressure pressing down from above vanished, allowing Hinata to relax a little.
At this moment, Hinata suddenly realized that he was unable to breathe not because of the lack of air circulation.
But.. right now, he was truly about to suffocate.
Hinata, pinned down by one of Miya Atsumu's arms, began to struggle: "Atsumu-senpai! You're pressing on my throat, I can't breathe—"
Miya Atsumu opened one eye and reluctantly let go of Hinata.
He pushed himself up from the bed, supporting his weight with his hands, continued, "The champion of last year's National Sports Festival was Fukuoka, so strictly speaking, Itachiyama never achieved consecutive titles. That's why I need to be more ambitious now."
Finally relieved, Hinata sat up and tugged at the short-sleeved shirt he was wearing, which had arrived a bit late in his development. "Consecutive championships?"
I have six major tournaments left before I graduate, my goal is very clear." Atsumu's eyes were full of ambition, "I'm going to win six consecutive championships.
If it had been Aran beside him, he might have started undermining him right then, but Miya Atsumu had Hinata Shoyo by his side.
Hinata also felt a fierce fighting spirit ignite within him: "Then—I'm going to win nine consecutive championships!"
"Very good, you have great ambition." Atsumu nodded, looking very satisfied.
But tonight, this isn't what matters. The most important thing.. is sleep.
Hinata was just about to say something more to Atsumu-senpai when he saw the other man already preparing to crawl under the covers.
He hurriedly reached out to grab Miya Atsumu. "Atsumu-senpai, don't sleep yet! You haven't even taken a shower!"
Suna, in the next room, looked up: "What's all this noise about?"
Ginjima shook his head. "I don't know, but Shoyo is living with Atsumu, so they definitely won't start fighting."
If the twins were living together, they could have called Kita Shinsuke over by now.