Watching Hyakuwa begin to practice self-passes with familiar form, Coach Washijo said with his back to Hinata, "Your form is much more watchable than before; Kurosu couldn't manage that level."
"Yeah, Coach Inubata helped me correct it," Hinata nodded.
Washijo followed up by asking, "How long did it take?"
Counting on his fingers for a moment, Hinata replied, "About a month and a half.."
Hinata vaguely heard Coach Washijo let out what sounded like a sneer, but by the time he looked up, the man had already returned to his usual composure.
Washijo had already shifted the focus of the conversation to Hyakuwa: "You can't fix basic skills like this in just a few days; training for a different specialty like receiving will take at least a month."
And I won't only be training you on digs, so you'll have to work hard on your own after you get back; remember how this feels.
Hyakuwa nodded. "Understood."
Seeing that Hyakuwa Takehiro had already taken the hint, Coach Washijo patted his arm again. "Alright, carry on."
Watching Coach Washijo's departing back, Hinata blinked.
Wait, why did Coach Washijo seem to be in such a great mood today?
The receiving training only lasted for one morning, after a simple meal, the afternoon was dedicated to spike training.
The person responsible for tossing the ball was a first-year from Shiratorizawa, who had been called up for the training camp, this time the setter also had to practice spiking.
The afternoon session ended early, leaving the remaining time for free practice and interaction.
Hinata looked toward Rishia: "Heisuke, do you want to play two-on-two?"
Taking a sip of water, Rishia Heisuke happily agreed, "Sure."
This training volume.. it's so little and easy, he actually feels like he could run another five kilometers.
—Of course, there was no way he was going to run.
"Hyaku.." Hinata was just about to grab Hyakuwa Takehiro, but he saw the other man's back as he had already walked out of the gymnasium.
He glanced at Kindaichi and Koganezawa, who were practicing serves, as well as Goshiki Tsutomu, who had told him long ago that he was going to pick someone up and was preparing to leave.
In the end, he cast his gaze toward the two members of Karasuno, who were staring at each other while holding a ball for some unknown reason.
After hesitating for less than half a second, he asked with a sense of righteousness, "Kageyama! Want to play!"
Kageyama replied quickly, "Okay."
Rather.. he was also getting a bit impatient.
Hinata immediately looked at Tsukishima Kei, having completely forgotten what the other person's name was, Hinata recalled Bokuto's words: "Hey! Tsukishima-senpai, do you want to play together!"
Hearing that familiar way of addressing him and that tone, Tsukishima's expression twisted instantly. "What kind of way is that to address someone, no, I'm not playing."
This guy.. he doesn't know the people from Fukurodani, does he!
Bokuto-senpai said your blocking is incredibly sharp and amazing," Hinata said, approaching Tsukishima, "and he even said he'd give me a chance to try playing against you.
An incredibly expectant gaze fell upon Tsukishima: "Let's play volleyball together!"
Tsukishima Kei leaned back slightly, trying to create some distance from Hinata. "You're short, yet you certainly talk a lot, no, I'm not playing."
"I watched the Karasuno match footage, you completely blocked that Aobajohsai number 16's short diagonal!" Hinata said, gesturing with his hand.
I can do short diagonals too, but I don't think you can block me.
Tsukishima's expression twisted even further, but he still waved his hand dismissively: "Find someone else, I'm not playing with the King."
Hinata was momentarily stunned. "Why? Aren't you teammates?"
Tsukishima pushed up his glasses. "Playing against him would be exhausting."
Kindaichi, who had been eavesdropping, nodded beside him: "Exactly, exactly, it'll be exhausting."
Hearing Kindaichi's voice, Tsukishima turned his head slightly toward him, but he said nothing.
Kindaichi was saying that when they were at Kageyama Junior High, they often relied too much on Quick Attacks, which caused the team's coordination to break down and made chasing the ball very exhausting.
As for him.. his physical condition is fine, but playing against the King is just mentally exhausting.
Because under normal circumstances, this guy would either set balls so simple they were speechless just to accommodate them, or, if he got anxious, he would easily give them extremely difficult balls that were hard to keep up with.
Of course, the latter happened more frequently.
But it was still alright; during the Interhigh, it was truly.. almost every single ball required him to use his eyes to ask for his experience.
After being educated by the Inarizaki setter, he became a bit bolder than before, but only when Sugawara-senpai was present.
Now that the third-year seniors have retired, Kageyama, who has completely taken over as the starting setter, can only once again choose a conservative playstyle to maintain stability in order to coordinate with them.
Actually, it's nothing much, it's just.. after playing so much, I'm inexplicably a bit angry.
Tsukishima-kun and I together?" Hinata shook his hands. "I'll set for you!
It's just you, Tsukishima-kun, I'm counting on you!
To be honest, he was indeed feeling a bit restless.
In the period before coming here, he had been practicing receiving with Coach Inubata, including but not limited to underhand and overhead serves; while practicing overhead serves, the coach also specifically explained a lot of knowledge regarding setting to him.
Coach Inubata was truly worthy of being a former national player, having worked in youth volleyball education for many years, his explanations were profound yet easy to understand; he felt he had learned a great deal about setting from him.
At least.. there's one Atsumu-senpai in every fifty!
Under Hinata's intense, expectant gaze, Tsukishima's expression shifted several times before he finally squeezed out a few words: "Fine, we'll play just one set."
Kageyama, on the other hand, looked at Hinata, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes.
Really? Hinata can set now? Is he learning that fast?
Looking at Kageyama's surprised and confused face, Tsukishima Kei felt confused himself. "What kind of expression is that?"
Kageyama replied calmly, "It's nothing, I just remember this guy hasn't been playing volleyball formally for very long, so his ball handling might be.."
Terrible.
Without Kageyama even needing to finish his sentence, Tsukishima Kei had already filled in the last two words in his own mind.
The ominous premonition had ultimately come true; he now felt as if he were caught between two blades, with a guillotine waiting no matter which way he turned.
He just wanted to travel back one minute in time and make his possessed self shut up for agreeing to that.
He looked at Hinata, then looked at Kageyama.
In the end, Tsukishima Kei still took a step toward Hinata: "I'll go with you."
Help, he really never wants to have to deal with the King mindset on the court ever again.
—When will Sugawara-senpai come back to save him?
Rishia had no objections and proactively walked toward Kageyama: "Nice to meet you."
"Please take care of me." Kageyama nodded to Rishia Heisuke, while simultaneously recalling the previous match against Inarizaki.
Um.." After his eyes darted around as he struggled to organize his thoughts, Kageyama finally spoke up and asked, "What kind of plays do you usually make?
Hearing this question, Rishia Heisuke was momentarily stunned.
Raising a hand to scratch his head, he replied, "I can't say there's anything I play frequently, it's just.."
Try it yourself; all the setters on our team do that.
You're the setter, right? According to Atsumu-senpai, your level should be a bit better than Akuma's?
Across the net, Hinata and Tsukishima both cast their gazes toward him at the same time, one with curiosity and the other with shock.
—I wonder what kind of plays Heisuke and Kageyama will pull off?
—Is this guy completely handing over control to the Setter?
Kageyama opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing, simply lowering his eyes and beginning to think about how to play.
A first-year student at the national level—even if he only played as a substitute, his ability to step in and serve during those critical moments demonstrated his exceptionally high quality.
At the very least, looking at all of Karasuno, there is not a single person who can reach this person's level.
Then.. let's start by being a bit bolder.
Spinning the volleyball in his hands, Kageyama raised his hand and tossed the ball into the air.
There was no one to act as a referee for them, let alone someone to blow a whistle and count down the seconds; everything was simply done by feel.
Hinata, positioned further back, lowered his center of gravity and stood on his toes, ready to move in either direction at any moment.
Watching Kageyama jump to spike, Hinata crossed his steps toward his own back-right diagonal.
Even though his legs weren't that long, by using a step-in to swallow up half a step, he was still able to achieve the effect of moving to the edge of the court in a single stride.
He raised his hands and got under the ball.
Great, the positioning is perfect!
But in the next second, the moment his arm made contact with the ball, he realized something was seriously wrong.
Kageyama's serve power.. how is it even heavier than Atsumu-senpai's?
Hinata, momentarily losing his balance, stumbled, the volleyball flew high into the air, landing back on the opponent's side.
"Opportunity Ball!" Rishia shouted.
Tsukishima Kei couldn't help but steal a glance at Hinata out of the corner of his eye.
This guy..
"That's amazing," Kindaichi couldn't help but say.
Even if one had major issues with Kageyama, his serving skill was beyond doubt.
Even with the error, Hinata did manage to get a hand on the ball; after all, most people can't even touch Kageyama's serve.
Rishia Heisuke steadily sent the ball directly above Kageyama's head.
Tsukishima, on the other side of the net, was already centered and ready to block.
Kageyama glanced at him, performed a fake second attack, then sent the ball toward the Position 4 marker.
For this position, the opponent's defense.. is undoubtedly the best for this kind of ball.
But Kageyama wasn't the only one who knew this; Tsukishima, who had been his partner for nearly a year, understood it clearly as well.
He took two quick steps to catch up, blocking in front of Rishia with an incredibly standard blocking posture.