—I hope we don't wake up Xiaoxia, who is still sleeping.
"What are you doing here?" Miya Atsumu looked at Miya Osamu expressionlessly.
Miya Osamu ate the last bite of his beef rice ball and wiped the sauce from the corner of his mouth. "I'm just completing Mom's errand, taking the opportunity to see if you're secretly crying."
Huh? What kind of nonsense are you talking? You think I'd cry?" Miya Atsumu slightly raised his chin. "No way, I came straight back yesterday to watch the live broadcast of the match with Shoyo.
And besides, I went back because I was naturally happy.
Miya Osamu was silent for a few seconds. "I think you're pretty happy right now; you're practically bubbling with joy."
Glancing back sharply at Hinata's father, who had gone out to hang the laundry, Miya Atsumu denied it immediately: "What are you talking about!"
Give him some face in front of his junior, what kind of snotty comment is that..
Hinata's father nodded cheerfully toward Miya Osamu: "Osamu-kun.. right? Do you want to have breakfast together in a bit?"
Since he was someone his son and Atsumu-kun frequently mentioned, because of that face that was just like Atsumu's, he recognized him instantly.
Before Miya Atsumu could even open his mouth to refuse, Miya Osamu had already nodded: "Then we'll have to trouble you and your wife, Uncle."
"Alright," Hinata's father replied.
Watching Hinata's father head back, Miya Atsumu looked at Miya Osamu with disdain. "You're really thick-skinned, aren't you?"
Before Miya Osamu could say another word, Miya Atsumu had already snatched the bag from his hands: "Mine now."
Miya Osamu didn't stop him; it was indeed bought for Miya Atsumu, who might have been late, but unexpectedly, Miya Atsumu had woken up early.
Watching quietly as Miya Atsumu carried the things into Hinata's house before turning back, Osamu tilted his head slightly. "I already ate your pudding for today."
Miya Atsumu wasn't surprised: "Then you owe me ten."
Miya Osamu retorted, "What, are you going to use them to buy out your ugly photos from Suna?"
Miya Atsumu countered sternly, "I've always been handsome!"
Silence fell between the two of them once again.
After a long time, Miya Atsumu's lively expression gradually faded from his face.
The sun slowly rose in the east, tinting the entire sky with gold.
The faces of the two people who had been in the shadows were finally illuminated, not by gloom, but with the same tranquility as always.
Miya Atsumu stood with one hand on his hip. "Since you aren't playing volleyball anymore, then there shouldn't be any problem if I squeeze every bit of value out of you before you graduate high school, right?"
Be my guest," Miya Osamu said, refusing to back down. "And besides.. you're the one who shouldn't let your skills decline before graduation day, so you don't end up playing worse than me.
"I'm clearly the stronger one right now," Miya Atsumu said, raising an eyebrow.
"You can't beat me in arm wrestling, your physical strength isn't even as good as mine. Where exactly are you strong?" Miya Osamu stated the facts brutally.
"I'm a setter, I don't need to turn into a gorilla!" Miya Atsumu continued to argue.
"I'm an Opposite, I can do everything you do, I'm more well-rounded," Miya Osamu said expressionlessly.
Fine, let's compete right now!
You're on!
Meanwhile, Rishia and Hinata were still in the middle of a slow jog.
"I'm so curious about what happened," Hinata said, glancing back toward his home.
Yesterday, Atsumu-senpai almost broke down in tears holding him, thinking back, it's possible that Osamu-senpai said something to him.
"I'm also quite curious about what actually happened.." Before Rishia could finish his sentence, two shouts rang out simultaneously from behind him.
Aaaaah—I'm going to be faster—
Ohhh—the winner is definitely going to be me—
The next second, two people flew past them, disappearing at the end of the street in the blink of an eye.
Hinata and Rishia Heisuke stopped in their tracks at the same time, the two of them looking at each other in confusion.
Rishia felt like he still hadn't woken up: "What just passed by?"
The next second, Hinata's eager voice rang out as well: "Heisuke! We can't lose either!"
"Wait, wait—" Before Rishia could even speak to stop him, Hinata had already started pulling him along at full speed.
Ohhhhhhh—
You're disturbing the neighbors, you're disturbing the neighbors! Shoyo, keep it down!
In the end, the Hinata-Rishia duo successfully made a comeback, but Rishia Heisuke had already collapsed by the time he returned to the entrance of the Rishia residence.
"We won!" Hinata cheered, raising his hands.
"He—help me.." Rishia Heisuke felt as if his soul was still chasing after him.
Hinata's mother's voice rang out just at that moment: "Take a shower, it's time to eat—"
Panting, Miya Atsumu glanced sideways at Miya Osamu. "I arrived a toenail ahead of you, I win."
Miya Osamu decisively rebutted, "What nonsense, my hair clearly arrived first."
The two of them entered the Hinata family's yard while arguing, but finally shut up together before pushing the door open to go inside.
Watching Miya Osamu and Miya Atsumu enter one after the other, Xiaoxia, who was still at the door planning to corner her brother, was momentarily stunned.
Ah, there are two Atsumu-senpais now.
Hinata Shoyo pointed at Miya Osamu and said to Hinata Natsu, "This is Osamu-senpai."
Miya Atsumu snapped his head toward Miya Osamu.
Xiaoxia suddenly realized and hurriedly greeted Osamu: "Hello, Osamu-senpai!"
They really look exactly alike; I can't tell them apart at all.
Seeming to have noticed Xiaoxia's confusion, Hinata quickly added, "The yellow one is Atsumu-senpai, the gray one is Osamu-senpai."
Thinking back, he couldn't tell them apart either; it was Rishia who had him remember them that way.
Thinking about it now, even if Atsumu-senpai and Osamu-senpai had different hair colors, he might still not be able to tell them apart.
Staring at Atsumu-senpai for a long time, Hinata Shoyo had a sudden flash of inspiration.
Ah, Atsumu-senpai's hair is to the left, Osamu-senpai's hair is to the right!
Watching Hinata suddenly start acting all smug, Miya Atsumu, who saw right through him, remained silent.
Touching his own hair, Miya Atsumu's gaze swept across the golden sky outside.
This color feels quite nice too..
—It's the color of sunlight.
After two weeks of intense and exciting exam preparation, Hinata successfully passed his final exams.
Good news, I didn't fail a single subject.
Bad news, he forgot to write his name on the math answer sheet and was forced to fail.
Watching Hinata being scolded mercilessly by the math teacher in the office, Coach Kurosu and Rishia Heisuke, who were waiting for him to prepare to head to Sendai together, didn't even know what to say.
However, there was no need for extra lessons this time, so it wouldn't delay their subsequent itinerary.
Meanwhile, Miya Atsumu had already headed to the Volleyball Association all by himself.
Arriving at the Volleyball Association building once again, Miya Atsumu familiarly completed the registration at the front desk.
He had arrived early; no one else had arrived yet.
While he was wandering around the lobby looking at the new medals on the wall, a rather familiar voice rang out behind him.
“Miya Atsumu?”
Miya Atsumu froze completely, then turned his head bit by bit, his face written with disbelief.
Four people were standing near the reception desk not far from him, three of whom were his acquaintances.
Oikawa Tooru, Coach Unabara, Coach Kosano, and.. a Caucasian person he didn't know but who looked very familiar.
A string of question marks appeared in his head, all Miya Atsumu felt at this moment was endless shock.
Wait, wait.
The youth training program shouldn't be recruiting third years! Why is Oikawa-senpai here?!
As if sensing Miya Atsumu's confusion, Oikawa Tooru placed his hands on his hips and lifted his chin: "I'm here to talk."
Coach Unabara, who was standing behind, didn't look very happy, but he still whispered something to the white coach beside him.
Coach Kosano rubbed his hands together. "Oh my, Atsumu-kun, why haven't I seen your little one?"
Glancing at Oikawa Tooru, who was equally interested in the topic, Miya Atsumu said, "He went to Shiratorizawa."
Hearing this, Oikawa Tooru and Kosano both froze at the same time.
Wait, where did he go?
Coach Unabara rubbed his chin, remaining silent.
And it wasn't until this moment that Miya Atsumu suddenly remembered why he thought that Caucasian looked familiar.
He had once watched his matches on a television screen that wasn't even that clear back then.
The former Argentina National Team Setter, Jose Blanco.
Most importantly, this person seems to have visited their school after the National Sports Festival and spoke with Coach Kurosu about something.
What's going on? Is this person going to transfer to the Japanese National Team as a foreign coach?
But looking at Coach Unabara's serious and depressed expression.. it doesn't quite feel like it.
And what role did Coach Kosano from the neighboring national badminton team play?
Even though he felt like his brain was about to explode, Miya Atsumu still maintained the appearance of a mysterious, top-tier player.
Just then, someone finally spoke up and broke the stalemate: "Oh, Miya Atsumu, long time no see."
Miya Atsumu turned his head and found it was Hoshiumi Hikari.
For the first time, he felt that Hoshiumi's image was so positive and his face so friendly: "Long time no see."