Watching the Rakusan first-year Ace score with a beautiful, precise line spike, Rishia clapped while suddenly thinking of what happened last year.
He thought back for a moment. "Come to think of it.. there's still one month left."
Kumagai was stunned for a moment. "What do you mean there's only one month left? The Haruko preliminaries?"
Rishia Heisuke nodded. "Yeah, the Haruko preliminaries last year were held in early November. I remember the finals were on the 5th, right.."
Under Kumagai's bewildered gaze, Rishia Heisuke said, "That evening, Shoyo and I met Atsumu-senpai for the first time."
Rishia complained, "Atsumu-senpai was quite terrible back then; he even said to Shoyo.."
Just then, Hinata's voice drifted over: "What are Heisuke and Akuma talking about?"
Kumagai laughed, not noticing that the two Shiratorizawa setters were still behind him: "Talking about the first time you met Atsumu-senpai."
Hinata's eyes lit up, under the horrified gaze of Rishia Heisuke from the corner of his eye, he raised his hand to press down his bowl cut. "Atsumu-senpai told me back then, 'First, there's Miya Atsumu-senpai, second..'"
It was already too late for Rishia Heisuke to try and stop him.
"I'm not giving the ball a toss." Hinata's voice and Miya Atsumu's arrogant voice sounded in his ears almost simultaneously, with absolutely no difference in tone or inflection.
At the same time, the other party appeared before his eyes, standing in the shadows of the player tunnel entrance with a face full of gloom.
"Pfft." Wase laughed mercilessly, seemingly able to already imagine Miya Atsumu's expression at that moment.
After all, Hinata had even managed to mimic that Kansai accent; it was practically identical.
On the other side, Shirabu followed Rishia Heisuke's gaze and looked back, seeing Miya Atsumu walking toward them.
—That's certainly something he would do.
While Hinata and Kumagai were still teasing Miya Atsumu, a figure nearly a head taller than Hinata approached from behind and grabbed Hinata by the collar.
Hinata was still wondering why Kumagai had stopped laughing when he felt his entire body leave the ground.
"Dear little Shoyo~ what are you saying?" A sticky, thick voice rang in Hinata's ear, making his whole body stiffen.
Having lost all color, Hinata was like a fish unable to flounder, held in Miya Atsumu's hand and carried away by him under the gaze of the other four.
Watching Miya Atsumu's back, Wase nodded silently. "I'll tell Wakatoshi and the others in a bit."
Shirabu remained noncommittal about this; after all, he didn't have a good impression of Miya Atsumu either, so there was no need to protect Miya Atsumu's image.
Rishia Heisuke and Kumagai Kuniharu were also pale with dread at this moment.
The two of them knew—they were finished.
On the other side, Miya Atsumu gently set Hinata down on the ground, looking down at the somewhat apprehensive Hinata.
Is he angry? He's definitely angry, after all, since he had promised so clearly not to mention it before.
Although Hinata might have just avoided mentioning it in front of him, it just so happened that he caught him this time..
Miya Atsumu slumped down, clutching his head in defeat.
However, he also knew that he had no personal image left to protect; it was just a few more defeated subordinates from Shiratorizawa mocking him, so it wasn't a big deal.
Hinata knelt on the floor in apology, "I was wrong! Atsumu-senpai!"
Seeing that Atsumu-senpai showed no reaction for a long time, a nervous Hinata hurriedly rummaged through his bag and pulled out the birthday gift he had originally planned to give that evening: "Um! Atsumu-senpai! Happy Birthday!"
Distract him, distract him, he remembered Kenma saying that..
Atsumu looked up and took the small box that Hinata handed to him.
Countless possibilities of gifts that should or shouldn't be there flashed through his mind. Miya Atsumu opened the box and saw..
—A complete set of nail care products.
Miya Atsumu knelt on the ground, unable to get up.
“Doesn't Atsumu-senpai like it?” Hinata grew even more nervous.
That shouldn't be the case; he had asked Aran-senpai and Suna-senpai several times before finally deciding on this specific gift for a Setter after seeking Kenma's opinion!
"No, I like it very much," Miya Atsumu said with a smile.
As if sensing the people around them watching, Miya Atsumu reached out a hand to pull Hinata up. "Don't kneel, get up."
Stopping a reporter who wanted to come up for an interview with a look, Miya Atsumu lowered his gaze to look at Hinata again.
He suddenly realized what he was angry about today.
He.. was just a little unwilling to accept it, unwilling to let Hinata's number one spot slip away like this.
It was clearly him who first encountered Hinata Shoyo, it was also him who guided Hinata Shoyo step by step to master the Quick Attack, serving, receiving..
Miya Atsumu knew that Hoshiumi was the most important person in Hinata Shoyo's heart, but he didn't know exactly where he stood.
—Even though he wasn't sure why he cared about this.
Hinata, who seemed to be deep in thought, finally opened his arms toward him: "To celebrate Atsumu-senpai's birthday."
Miya Atsumu did not refuse; instead, he leaned in and embraced him, following his movement.
Resting his chin on Hinata Shoyo's shoulder, Miya Atsumu leaned close to Hinata Shoyo's ear and asked softly, "Which is more important, me or Kiryu-senpai?"
Hinata answered without a second thought, "Atsumu-senpai, of course."
There was no other answer to this question; after all, to Hinata, Kiryu was a respected senior, but not a close companion or mentor.
Miya Atsumu continued by asking, "Then what about me and Hoshiumi?"
This time, Hinata buried his head on Miya Atsumu's shoulder and thought for a long time, so long that Miya Atsumu's hand around his waist unconsciously tightened a little, before he finally replied, "Even though I also wanted to say it was Atsumu-senpai.."
Hinata's voice faltered for a moment. "But they're still about the same, aren't they?"
Or rather, he had no way to compare the two of them.
Atsumu-senpai, who supports his takeoff, Hoshiumi-senpai, whom he admires most.. they weigh the same.
Miya Atsumu, feeling refreshed in both body and mind as he loosened his grip slightly, rubbed the tip of his nose against Hinata's ear: "Then, who is the most important to you?"
Feeling a bit ticklish, Hinata turned his head to dodge slightly and answered quite decisively, "Mom and Dad, Xiaoxia, Coach Kurosu, probably Heisuke."
Miya Atsumu glanced at Rishia Heisuke, who was still in his line of sight looking quite silly.
Miya Atsumu released his grip on Hinata.
Miya Atsumu collapsed to the ground.
Hinata jumped in surprise: "Eh? Atsumu-senpai, what's wrong! Do we need to call an ambulance!"
The long whistle echoed through the court, the members of Rakusan, who were ending their match, immediately noticed the somewhat noisy group from Inarizaki by the sidelines.
The first-year Ace, Aoba, slightly raised an eyebrow: "What are the Inarizaki members doing?"
Captain Tooyama patted his shoulder: "Haruka played quite well today, but he needs to pay attention to his speed during lateral turns; it would also be best to warm up his ankles properly."
Inarizaki had a little guy this morning who was quite impressive; it's said his agility and speed during turns are both remarkably high.
Aoba Haruka pointed toward Hinata, who was crying and yelling at Miya Atsumu not to die. "Captain, are you referring to that person?"
Tooyama glanced toward the Inarizaki members where Aoba Haruka was pointing, followed suit into silence.
“—Probably.”
Chapter 83: The Eighty-Third Fox
After tugging twice at Miya Atsumu, who wouldn't budge from the ground, Hinata cast a pleading look toward Rishia and Kumagai on the other side, but at this moment, both of them didn't dare to move.
The two from Shiratorizawa had already left, so Hinata could only cast his gaze toward Kiryu Ya, who was being interviewed by the sidelines.
He shouted toward that direction, "Kiryu-senpai, help! Atsumu-senpai is done for!"
Kiryu Ya, who had been working so hard to maintain his image in front of the cameras, wanted to find a hole to crawl into at that very moment.
The reporter looked at him: "Are they acquaintances?"
Kiryu Ya's face flushed, he fought the urge to bow his head: "No, I don't know them."
Finally, when the medical staff actually looked over, Miya Atsumu scrambled up by himself.
Miya Atsumu's gaze swept toward Rishia Heisuke, who was trying to pull Hinata away, startling him and Kumagai into quickly taking two steps back.
Rishia Heisuke gave Hinata an apologetic look, then reached out and grabbed Kumagai to quickly flee from the sidelines. "Let's go, let's go, Unabara Uta just sent me a message, telling us to go find him.."
Kumagai also nodded hurriedly, "Let's go, let's go, I saw his message too."
In fact, Unabara Uta, who hadn't sent any messages at all, suddenly let out a sneeze.
Akagi, who was beside him, looked at him with concern. "What's wrong? Do you have a cold?"
Unabara shook his head. "A hair just flew past my nose."
Akagi said earnestly, "Go back and take some medicine. It seems like the flu is starting to spread again. Today, representatives from both Iwate and Osaka had to withdraw from their matches due to fever. Starting tomorrow, make sure to wear a mask whenever you aren't playing.."
I wonder when this flu will end. Last year, Atsumu caught it.. No, to put it bluntly, he just worked himself into getting it.
Last year's flu lasted three or four months; I hope this one ends quickly.
On the other side, Miya Atsumu followed behind Hinata Shoyo and stood next to the area where Karasuno was warming up.
There weren't that many participating teams for the National Sports Festival; on the first day, stretching only needed to be done in the basketball gym, while warm-ups could be performed at the competition venues.
Seeing Hoshiumi's spikes during warm-ups draw cheers from the Karasuno crowd, Miya Atsumu asked Hinata with lingering doubt, "Shoyo, if you only consider the Setter, who do you think is the best?"
Hinata didn't even have to think about it: "It's Atsumu-senpai, of course. After all, Atsumu-senpai is the strongest Setter."
Although he was a bit happier, Atsumu still pressed further, "Then, if we don't consider strength, who do you think is the best?"
His eyes were full of anticipation and nervousness, for fear of hearing something like Akuma, Kageyama, or Kenma.
But fortunately, Hinata still gave him a decisive answer: "Of course, it's also Atsumu-senpai."
Atsumu-senpai is my Setter now, isn't he?
Meeting those pure and certain eyes, Miya Atsumu clutched his chest and took a sudden step back.
Under Hinata's somewhat bewildered gaze, he took two quick steps forward and lunged, hugging Hinata from behind.
Resting his chin on Hinata Shoyo's head, Miya Atsumu was practically radiating bubbles of happiness. "Of course, I love Shoyo the most, too."
Hoshiumi looked back from the court and saw the two people by the sidelines at first glance.