Looking at that posture, Hoshiumi's expression turned even uglier than if he had swallowed a fly in an instant.
What are they doing?" Hoshiumi's voice drifted softly into Hirugami's ear. "What is that bastard doing?
Hirugami looked in the direction of his gaze with a confused expression and saw the two heads huddled together.
As if meeting Hoshiumi's gaze, Miya Atsumu tilted his head and rubbed his face against Hinata's hair, casting a provocative look.
—He looks somewhat familiar.
Before Hirugami could even recall why it looked familiar, the temperature around him suddenly rose a few degrees in the next second.
“What is that blonde bastard doing to my junior?” Hoshiumi said, rolling up his nonexistent sleeves and making a move to rush to the sidelines, "I'm going to tear him apart right now!"
Calm down, Hikari-kun, calm down." Hirugami pulled Hoshiumi back and said kindly, "In a bit, wouldn't it be enough if you used tooling the block to find a way to hit him in the face?
Hoshiumi looked enlightened and gave Hirugami a thumbs-up, "You're the smart one."
On the other side, Kamibayashi didn't know what to say: "No, this is just too difficult."
As it turned out, Kamibayashi's judgment was correct.
Despite Hoshiumi's repeated attempts, the final result of each was failure.
Glancing at Hoshiumi's expression, Hirugami gave a helpless smile.
—Even more crazed.
Karasuno's opponents were not a strong school, the entire match proceeded quite smoothly.
However, because clearing the court and warming up took a bit longer, the progress of the entire match was much slower than on the other courts.
As the match on the Karasuno side was nearing its end, a sudden commotion erupted from two courts away, leaving the two people watching the Karasuno match feeling a bit dazed.
From far away, a reporter's voice drifted over: "Shiratorizawa is out? For real? It's only the first round.."
Who is the opponent.. That's not surprising. How did these two teams end up facing each other in the first round..
Miya Atsumu lowered his head and asked Hinata, "Do you want to go take a look?"
With his movement, the orange hair lightly brushed against his face, carrying the orange scent that Miya Atsumu was familiar with.
It wasn't purely sweet; instead, it had a hint of the bitterness of orange peel.
Hinata glanced at Karasuno, which was already finding its rhythm on the court, nodded. "Let's watch."
However, it was still a bit difficult to accept the fact that Shiratorizawa had actually been eliminated in the first round of the National Sports Festival?
Wase-senpai and the others were just laughing and talking with him a moment ago..
Seemingly sensing Hinata's emotions, Miya Atsumu lowered his head and said, "It's actually normal. Compared to the Interhigh and Haruko, which are highly unpredictable during the regional qualifiers, the teams assigned to the National Sports Festival are the strongest based on a comprehensive evaluation of their regions."
Many absolute powerhouse schools might be knocked out during the regional qualifiers due to their playstyle, but they are definitely top-tier once they reach the nationals. For example.. Kyoto's Rakusan and Akita's Kindaichi Industrial.
Hinata gave a low murmur of agreement, while Miya Atsumu had already skillfully looked up to search the big screen: "Who is Shiratorizawa's first-round opponent.."
When he saw that school name, Miya Atsumu's voice caught for a moment.
"So it's them." Miya Atsumu wasn't surprised anymore.
Hinata was a bit dazed, but the large screen over there happened to be blocked by Miya Atsumu beside him, so he didn't see it.
He tilted his head to look around Miya Atsumu, but the big screen had already switched to the preview for the next round of matches.
Miya Atsumu reached out and patted Hinata's head, guiding him to stand by the side of the court where the Shiratorizawa match had been held, then raised his hand to point at the banner behind them, which had a white background with black lettering just like Inarizaki's.
Representing Hyogo Prefecture, Fukuda General High School—one championship and two runner-up finishes in the three major tournaments two years ago.
Hinata took a small step back, allowing the incredibly striking banner to come fully into his field of vision.
[There is no genius that cannot be defeated without effort]
It was just a short sentence, yet it resonated like a bell that could make one's entire soul tremble.
Standing there, Hinata could inexplicably feel a surge of vitality rushing toward him, along with a growing sense of pressure approaching from behind.
Hinata's shoulder was bumped by someone, the moment he looked up, he met a pair of eyes as green as gemstones.
A pure blackness, almost like that of Inarizaki, surged from behind Hinata, nearly swallowing him whole.
Like a trapped beast in a quagmire, it made Hinata feel a sense of suffocation.
Just as Hinata was trying to break through this predicament, a hand suddenly reached out from behind him.
"Hey, hold it." An annoyed voice sounded in his ear; it was Miya Atsumu.
Miya Atsumu grabbed Hinata by his collar and yanked him, who was about to be knocked down, to his side.
Reaching out to shield Hinata behind him, Miya Atsumu lifted his chin to meet the gaze of the chestnut-haired boy who had collided with Hinata.
"Apologize." Atsumu frowned, his tone quite unfriendly.
If he hadn't grabbed him just now, causing Hinata to fall, Hinata would most likely have collided with other members of Fukuda General High School, or even been stepped on.
If Hinata had sprained his ankle because of that.. it wouldn't have been as simple as just being angry right now.
As if only just noticing Hinata, the chestnut-haired boy tilted his head to look at him and said with a smile, "Sorry, I didn't see you at all just now."
Those eyes held a hint of provocation, making Hinata feel as if he had been pierced by an arrow in the knee.
Is he.. calling him short?!
Before Miya Atsumu could say another word, Hinata had already summoned his courage and shouted, "It's okay, I can definitely jump higher than you!"
Before the chestnut-haired boy could twist his body to say anything else, a hand swung violently from behind, striking him on the head with a heavy thud.
“Ow!”
The number 2 player, wearing the jersey with the Ace insignia, pressed down and bowed to Hinata: "If you hit someone, you better apologize properly."
“Go find Kita in a moment and perform a formal apology. If Inarizaki doesn't forgive you.. you'll have to commit seppuku to atone for your crime.”
Number 12, with chestnut hair, was held down and forced into three consecutive bows: "I'm sorry! I accidentally bumped into you!"
After being kicked once more, the opponent was finally kicked into the player tunnel.
The Captain bowed to Hinata once again: "I apologize for not keeping my own teammates in check. I will visit you personally to apologize later."
The members of Fukuda General High School left one after another, while the green-eyed youth who had been making eye contact with Hinata at the beginning leaned down slightly to meet his gaze, white hair brushing against his face.
Gentle words sounded in Hinata's ears: "Sorry, that person can't quite control his temper; he didn't mean to bump into you."
You're Hinata, right? I watched your match this morning. You jump really high, just like the Little Giant.
Hinata's face flushed slightly, he stepped back half a step behind Miya Atsumu, looking a bit flustered: "I'm just average.. I just got lucky."
The person wearing the number 1 jersey straightened up and looked at Miya Atsumu: "I'm really sorry, I promise there won't be a next time."
Hinata looked up following his movements, only then did he suddenly realize.. this person was so tall.
Miya Atsumu's attitude also softened, but he remained assertive: "It's fine, Shiratori-senpai. As long as there isn't a next time."
Shiratori nodded in acknowledgment before also leaving.
Watching the senior's back, Hinata asked Miya Atsumu, "Atsumu-senpai, that Shiratori-senpai.. is he a Middle Blocker?"
Miya Atsumu shook his head. "No, he is the Setter."
Hinata widened his eyes: "A setter?! Then—tall! He's probably 1.9m!"
While it's rare, being taller is also an advantage for a Setter," Miya Atsumu explained patiently. "Think about it, when I'm playing a Quick Attack, I usually compress the ball's trajectory to be as short as possible, for that, I use a jump set.
The higher a Setter's position is, the shorter and faster the trajectory of the ball will be when setting to a Spiker.
I understand!" Hinata nodded, at the same time, he added by drawing an inference, "Then, when I want to set, do I also need to jump higher?
He looked up at Miya Atsumu, his eyes filled with the pride of someone who seemed to have found the right answer.
Miya Atsumu was silent for two seconds before finally saying, "No, you should figure out a way to get the ball to the right position before you worry about jump setting."
—He certainly didn't want to spike such a frustrating receive.
By the time this interlude ended, the Shiratorizawa Team had already left.
Miya Atsumu and Hinata didn't stay any longer either, leaving the gymnasium before dinner time.
The hotel where Inarizaki stayed this time was also arranged by the tournament officials, but they arrived a bit late this time, by the time they checked in, the standard rooms were mostly full.
In the end, the Inarizaki members were assigned three standard rooms and one family room, while the rest were all double rooms.
For a tall and well-built volleyball player, sleeping on a large bed is indeed more comfortable than a single bed in a standard room, but..
Woken up by the heat once again, Hinata struggled to break free from Miya Atsumu's embrace. But clearly, he failed.
Sighing, Hinata pushed Miya Atsumu's arm: "Atsumu-senpai, wake up, it's already eight o'clock.. the hotel cafeteria will stop serving breakfast soon."
After returning yesterday, Coach had ordered a cake for the twins, but to prevent anyone from getting diarrhea, no one ate much of it, the leftovers were given to the other guests who were present at the time.
But in the end, things ran a bit late, it was already close to midnight by the time they went to sleep.
Regarding Miya Atsumu using him as a body pillow, Hinata refused at first.
There was no other reason; it was mainly because it was too hot, running the air conditioning all night would easily cause a cold.
The reason Miya Atsumu gave was that he and Osamu both slept like this at home, he couldn't sleep without holding something.
Hinata expressed his disbelief.
But every time he woke up, he found that he had lost the struggle, over time, he had grown used to it.
Actually, Miya Osamu, who wasn't sharing a bed with Miya Atsumu at all, walked to the bedroom door and knocked mercilessly: "You bastard, Atsumu! Get up right now! Open the door!"
Miya Atsumu gave a light click of his tongue and let go of Hinata.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw that Miya Osamu was wearing a mask, with a look of disgust, he shoved several packs of masks into his hands: "Wear one when you go out."
As if he had come into contact with some kind of germ, Miya Osamu gave a look of disgust at the disheveled Miya Atsumu and left without looking back.
A giant question mark appeared over the head of the still-unconscious Miya Atsumu.
Wait, was Miya Osamu physically assaulted by Sakusa-senpai? He wasn't even carrying any virus on him!
"What's wrong, Atsumu-senpai?" Hinata asked, leaning forward in confusion.
The sound of the shutter flashed by as Suna leaned back to snap a photo of Miya Atsumu, leaving a picture of Miya Atsumu, who looked like he was just out for a stroll, in his phone.
Miya Atsumu, clutching a towel, shouted to Suna, who was walking back to his room looking satisfied, "Hey! Is that what you use your waist for?! At least wait until I've finished washing up and doing my hair!"
Inarizaki's second match was against the representative team from Hokkaido, for this match, Coach Kurosu replaced the starting Libero with Unabara.