We're still playing volleyball..
That's wonderful..
Glancing at the White Crane Flag hanging in the opposing stands, Koldorf turned to Sakusa and said, "In our place, the White Crane symbolizes a warrior's will."
Sakusa was stunned for a moment. "Unyielding.."
Koldorf nodded and then shook his head. "Not entirely. It's more that I hope the spirit can be brought back by the Tsurumaru team as well, passed on in an endless stream."
Coach Tsurumaru clapped silently by the sidelines, a satisfied and relieved smile on his face.
That's right. Even if they fall on the road to the summit, the flame will still endure eternally, it is precisely because of this that they have been able to make it this far.
Next time, they will undoubtedly go even further.
Coach Tsurumaru turned his head toward Coach Kurosu and gave him a smile: "We shall see what the future holds."
Coach Kurosu gave a light huff.
It doesn't matter, he was just as handsome when he was young,
And.. now the championship is his, that is enough.
[National Sports Festival Men's Volleyball, High School Division Finals, Final Result: Fukuda General 1:3 Inarizaki.]
[Winner, Hyogo Prefecture representative, Inarizaki High School.]
Thank you for the game!!
Across the net, Shiratori reached out a hand to Hinata: "Shoyo."
After shaking hands with Kazama Junichi and preparing to leave, Hinata Shoyo turned his head, his mind too clouded to process who was calling him.
Hinata instinctively stopped in his tracks and turned his head toward the source of the voice.
Miya Atsumu narrowed his eyes, but out of a sense of courtesy after the match, he leaned in close to Hinata's ear and whispered a reminder, "Handshake."
Hinata blankly reached out his hand, Ushijima also took it and shook it.
Just as Hinata was about to pull his hand away, he did not pull it back.
Looking up in confusion once again, Hinata met those green eyes.
“In the future..” Shiratori seemed to let the words roll around in his mouth before continuing, "If there's a chance, let's play volleyball together, side by side on the same side of the net."
Hinata, who hadn't fully processed what had been said, instinctively replied, "Okay."
Without even waiting for the shocked Miya Atsumu beside him to speak, Shiratori decisively let go and turned to walk away.
With a word stuck in his throat, Miya Atsumu, whose face was about to turn even darker than the Fukuda General team uniform, reached out and snatched the towel from Aran's hand, then meticulously wiped the hand Hinata had just shaken with Shiratori.
“Shoyo, stay away from these people from now on; every single one of them has ulterior motives..”
Before he could even finish speaking, he suddenly felt a weight settle in his arms.
Miya Atsumu was completely stunned: "Shoyo?"
Noticing the situation here, Coach Kurosu quickly walked over, raised his hand to brush aside Hinata's hair to check his temperature, then breathed a sigh of relief. "He's asleep."
After a brief moment of consideration regarding whether to wake him up for stretching, Coach Kurosu ultimately decided not to disturb Hinata.
Anyway, the match is already over. I'll just find a physiotherapist to treat Hinata later, so I'll skip the stretching for now.
He looked up toward the substitutes, "Who still has the energy? You'll need to carry Shoyo back in a bit."
Kumagai raised his hand. "I'll do it."
Suna looked over at Miya Atsumu, who was refusing to let go of Hinata, a faint expression of watching a spectacle on his face.
Aran reached out and patted Miya Atsumu on the shoulder: "Go back and focus on your physical training."
Miya Atsumu finally let go, allowing Kumagai to carry Hinata away.
Shut up!
Chapter 124: The One Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Fox
Opening the door to the lounge, Coach Omimi quickly used the nearby mats to set up a temporary bed on the floor. "Put him here."
After Kitagawa folded the clothes nearby and placed a pillow on top, Kumagai carefully set down Hinata, whom he was holding.
Coach Kurosu, who arrived later, pulled out the small blanket he had borrowed from Itachiyama's Coach Himegomiya to use as a blanket for Hinata. Unfortunately, the blanket wasn't long enough, so Coach Kurosu ended up adding a team jacket on top.
Coach Omimi froze for a moment, then whispered, "Why did you snatch the blanket that was meant to cover someone's legs?"
This was equipment that Himegomiya almost never went without after her leg injury, especially since the gymnasium stands were quite chilly, so it was impossible not to use it.
Coach Kurosu said righteously, "I didn't steal it; she brought it over herself."
Kumagai, who had been watching the whole thing, fell into an eerie silence for two seconds.
Actually.. it was Kurosu who asked her for it, Coach Himegomiya only reluctantly agreed.
Watching Hinata settle down quietly while clutching a corner of the blanket, Coach Kurosu looked at Kumagai: "Alright, Kuniharu, stay here and keep Shoyo company. Omimi and I are going to check in with the judges."
Shinsuke, go check on Atsumu and the others to coordinate the upcoming interviews.
"Alright," Kita Shinsuke replied first.
They were quite familiar with the journalists responsible for the interview, Kita was already very familiar with all the procedures, so he could handle them independently even without a coach present.
"Understood." Kumagai also nodded.
Before leaving, Coach Kurosu mentioned the most important matter: "By the way, Shinsuke, remember to tell the reporters that there will be a private interview for Shoyo tomorrow."
Kita gave a light laugh. "I will."
It would be more accurate to say.. they had intended to do exactly that from the beginning.
Watching the two coaches leave, Kumagai silently began moving chairs to make enough space for himself to stretch.
The Women's Volleyball finals will be held on the Center Court after this, so they will have to do their subsequent stretching on the adjacent court; he will have to do the same here.
Yeah, he definitely needs to stretch properly. Otherwise, when Coach Kurosu comes around to check everyone tomorrow, even though he is a substitute, he might still be sent to the physiotherapist.
—Just thinking about it is despairing.
And Hinata, who is already asleep.. he'll only die a much more miserable death!
Wiping away his crocodile tears, Kumagai began to quietly move his joints and stretch his muscles.
Not until he finished his routine stretching and began to feel drowsy while leaning against the lockers with his phone in hand, did the door to the rest area suddenly creak open.
Miya Atsumu slipped inside and raised a hand to gesture for silence to Kumagai.
Kumagai silently crawled to the opposite side, leaving the spot closest to Hinata's head for Miya Atsumu.
Sitting down beside Hinata Shoyo, he reached out with some concern and felt the temperature of Hinata Shoyo's neck through his clothing to check his fever.
Whether it was because he had fallen asleep or not, his temperature was clearly higher than before.
Miya Atsumu quickly rummaged through the first aid kit, pulled out a mercury thermometer, placed it under Hinata's armpit.
Woken up, Hinata opened his eyes dizzily, catching a vague glimpse of a golden silhouette.
Rubbing Hinata's hair, Miya Atsumu said softly, "It's okay, go back to sleep."
Kumagai silently moved even further away, looking at Miya Atsumu as if he were looking at some kind of monster.
No, no, no, Atsumu-senpai shouldn't be like this, right?
He shouldn't be making a sour face and being hostile to everyone, right? Especially to a volleyball loser.
Miya Atsumu seemed to sense something, turning his head to give him an expressionless look.
Kumagai made himself even smaller, but his own large build meant he was destined to be unable to squeeze into the cabinet behind him, so he could only try to minimize his presence under Miya Atsumu's gaze.
Atsumu clicked his tongue.
However, he was in a great mood today, so he wouldn't bother arguing with his junior.
Staring at Hinata's face for five minutes, Atsumu reached out and took the thermometer out.
Looking at the mercury column that had clearly risen past the red line, Miya Atsumu's mood instantly plummeted.
Kumagai was also startled by Miya Atsumu's appearance. Ignoring the chill radiating from him, he leaned in closer: "Do you have a fever?"
Coach Kurosu had already taken Hinata's temperature earlier, there were no abnormalities at the time, so how did he develop a fever so quickly?
Kumagai stood up, holding his phone and preparing to head out. "I'm going to call the coach."
But just as he pushed open the door, he ran straight into Nagumo and Miya Osamu, who had just arrived.
Nagumo's face was full of joy, he immediately gave Kumagai a thumbs-up: "That's amazing, Akuma, you're already able to coordinate a 4-2 with Atsumu."
Kumagai quickly put a finger to his lips and then pointed inside, indicating that someone was sleeping.
Nagumo looked up and then fell silent.
Glancing toward Hinata's direction, Miya Osamu turned his head to meet the eyes of the twins who had just walked over.
A hoarse, unrecognizable voice rang out: "Not bad."
Miya Atsumu puffed out his chest and held his head high: "Of course, it would be the same whether you're there or not."
Miya Osamu lowered his eyes: "Isn't it better this way?"
The lounge fell into an eerie silence for two seconds before Miya Atsumu skipped over the previous topic: "Shoyo has a fever. I'll let Coach know and then take him to the hospital."
Nagumo's eyes widened, realizing the situation was serious, he quickly offered, "Let me take you there; it's very close."
If we use the fast track, the test results will be out in just over an hour. If it's not the flu or a cold, a fever-reducing injection should do the trick.
Let's go, let's go. We can call Coach while we walk; I brought money.
Having made up his mind, Nagumo Kanata quickly walked into the rest area and woke Hinata up: "Shoyo, come on, change your clothes, I'll take you to the hospital."
Looking at this senior who had just been tutoring him in Japanese literature not long ago, Hinata felt his head spinning: "Nagumo-senpai?"
Nagumo moved so quickly that no one else could react: "You have a fever. Be good and let's go to the hospital early so you'll feel a bit better."
As soon as he finished speaking, Nagumo reached out toward Miya Atsumu, gesturing for him to hand over Hinata's pants.
Miya Atsumu hurriedly pulled out Hinata's clothes and helped Hinata put them on along with Nagumo.