"Oh." Kageyama returned to his usual expressionless state.
A new day, new streets, with only the still-sleepy Rishia Heisuke following Hinata and Goshiki on their morning run.
Hinata had also run along this street in Shiratorizawa, with Goshiki Tsutomu leading the way, Rishia Heisuke felt very at ease, running even as he drifted in and out of sleep.
After turning around at the end of a winding mountain road, Hinata heard that familiar shout once again.
Peering out, he saw Kageyama, dressed in long sleeves and long pants, sprinting all the way along.
"Ah, King." Hinata's eyes froze.
Before Goshiki Tsutomu could say anything, Hinata was already shouting down below, "Kageyama! Want to come run with us!"
That shout completely startled Rishia Heisuke awake: "What? More training!"
Goshiki Tsutomu looked at him, his eyes filled with disdain: "If you want, we can go for a half marathon this afternoon."
Anyway, the two-on-two session this afternoon will end around four or five o'clock, so they should be back before they go to sleep.
Hinata's eyes widened. "Are we really going to run? I can do it!"
Rishia raised his hand and covered Hinata's mouth: "No! You can't!"
And Kageyama had also run up.
Having thought he would be the only one there, Hinata was a bit stunned by the noisy scene; this morning run lineup was terrifying.
Hinata raised his hand. "Kageyama! Come on, let's race to see who can reach Shiratorizawa first!"
"Alright," Kageyama replied.
Goshiki Tsutomu, who also had no intention of losing, rubbed his hands together in anticipation, the three of them dashed forward in an instant.
Watching the figure drift further and further away from him, Rishia Heisuke collapsed to the ground.
“Help.. me..”
Shirabu, who had also taken the other route for his morning run, stopped at the school gate, standing there with his hands on his hips, panting.
First—!!
Goshiki Tsutomu rushed toward the school gate while roaring, but he braked abruptly the moment he saw Shirabu, nearly running right past him.
He stood at attention, under Shirabu's look of pure disgust and a silent plea to move along, he shouted, "Good morning, Senpai!"
After half a minute of silence, Shirabu finally spoke: "Don't shout while running."
Goshiki Tsutomu, feeling as if he had been sliced to death by that gaze, retreated in defeat: "Okay, I understand."
Shirabu followed up by asking, "You went out for a morning run by yourself?"
Goshiki Tsutomu stood up straight and responded loudly, "No! I went running with Hinata, Rishia, Kageyama!"
Shirabu's expression became even stranger.
That look was practically asking—then how could you possibly take first place?
The two stared at each other in silence for a full five minutes, even Goshiki Tsutomu realized where the problem lay.
Rishia Heisuke, having finally arrived at the location, asked in confusion, "Where are those two?"
The three of them looked at each other at the entrance of Shiratorizawa.
Looking at Rishia's devastated expression and then at Goshiki Tsutomu's pathetic face, Shirabu felt his heart sink.
It's.. over.
“Ohhhhhhh——”
Aaaaaahhh—
After running past an intersection, Kageyama and Hinata, who had been competing with each other all along, stopped in unison.
The scenery around them had become completely unfamiliar, even they realized something was wrong.
Kageyama looked back at Hinata: "Hey, what kind of directions are you leading us with?"
Hinata felt guilty, but then he spoke up defiantly, "You kept running half a step ahead of me, so I thought you knew the way!"
This guy is just relying on his long legs!
Looking at the road sign, which no longer indicated the town where Shiratorizawa was located, Kageyama, who was equally lost, turned his head toward him and asked, "What do we do now?"
Hinata fell silent, spinning around to take in the surrounding scenery, then began to act frantically: "Damn it, a mysterious old man should have appeared by now.."
Whether it's Shirabu-senpai, Kawanishi-senpai, or even Ushijima-senpai, someone please appear and save me!
Are you calling me?
A steady voice rang out not far from the two of them. Hinata looked up and saw Ushijima Wakatoshi, who was also out for a morning run.
As if he had seen a savior, Hinata rushed forward immediately and clung pitifully to Ushijima's arm.
“Ushijima-senpai, help me!”
Ushijima patted Hinata's head, signaling him to stand straight and let go: "What happened? I'm here, don't be afraid."
It's like this..
Looking at the two people sitting side by side opposite him, Shirabu lowered his eyes and scrutinized them.
So.. are you saying that you got lost during your morning run and Ushijima-senpai brought you back?
"No, we ran back together," Hinata retorted.
I almost felt like my legs were going to break; Ushijima-senpai is truly fast, his endurance is incredible.
In the end, Shirabu said no more, instead turning his criticism toward his junior. "Be more careful next time; don't cause trouble for your seniors again."
Goshiki Tsutomu stood straight. "Yes!"
Chapter 152: The One Hundred and Fifty-Second Fox
You.. *sigh*..
Watching Hinata, who had just returned from being lectured by Shirabu-senpai, Rishia Heisuke let out a deep sigh.
He knew that once he lost sight of this guy, something was bound to happen.
What kind of accident-prone constitution is this!
As if that certain guy didn't see anything wrong at all, he looked at him with eyes full of anticipation: "Heisuke, I asked Ushijima-senpai about his morning running time; let's go run with him tomorrow."
Rishia remained silent, but eventually nodded. "Sure."
If Ushijima-senpai were here, he would probably be able to make Hinata behave.
Before he even had a chance to enjoy his bright future, Hinata's voice rang out once again.
"Ushijima-senpai is so fast, I almost couldn't keep up with him this morning. But it's not the kind of sudden burst of speed, it's very sustained—" Hinata gestured, pulling his hands apart to describe the endurance.
Rishia, you know what I mean, right??
Hinata looked at Rishia excitedly, only to find that the other had lost all color at some unknown point: "Rishia?"
Rishia wanted to travel back in time to kill his past self who had agreed so readily, but.. it was already too late.
Will he really be able to survive to participate in the upcoming training camp tomorrow?
Seeing that Rishia looked like he was about to slide under the cafeteria table, Hinata hurriedly reached out and started shaking him, "Heisuke, don't die on me!"
Meanwhile, on the other side, Kageyama was still devoutly eating the breakfast provided by the Shiratorizawa cafeteria, completely oblivious to the fact that Rishia, sitting opposite him, was practically losing his soul.
Rishia raised his hand: "I'm still alive.."
Stop shaking him; if you keep shaking him, he's actually going to die.
Hinata breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "By the way, when we were leaving, Ushijima-senpai told me he'd see me later. Will the seniors be coming to the training camp too?"
Doesn't that mean.. we'll have the chance to play against Ushijima-senpai!
Speaking of which, he was also curious why he hadn't seen Ushijima-senpai and the others yesterday, even though they used to occasionally come to the volleyball gym to play for a bit.
So they were preparing a surprise for them?
Thinking of this, Hinata's eyes brightened even more: "Rishia, I really want to receive Ushijima-senpai's spike! The last time I came, I only managed to receive one!"
Kageyama, who had not said a word from beginning to end, suddenly looked up and looked at Hinata: "You actually played against Shiratorizawa?"
He remembered Hinata was still a substitute during the Interhigh; he had even specifically watched the recording of that match.
Hinata replied, "We came here the day after our match against Karasuno, when we were in Miyagi last time."
Kageyama thought hard.
Doesn't that mean Hinata already had the strength to return one of Ushijima's spikes back then?
But.. to actually have the strength to compete against a Shiratorizawa starter, it's truly something to look forward to.
When Tsukishima Kei arrived at the volleyball gym to report for duty, he saw Kageyama already practicing setting against the wall.
After a two-second silence, Tsukishima asked, ".. When did you get here?"
He had originally planned to wait for Kageyama to leave together as they had agreed yesterday, but Kageyama had sent him a message saying it wasn't necessary.
He had wanted to come earlier to mock the King, but he hadn't expected this guy to arrive even earlier.
Kageyama looked up and thought back for a moment. "This morning.. around six?"
I ran into Hinata and Rishia while I was out running, so I followed them over to have breakfast.
Tsukishima gave a light click of his tongue.
Fine, then.
On the other side, Koganezawa, who had also rushed into the gymnasium, immediately sought out Rishia Heisuke: "Where is that little brat of yours?"
The legendary national champion, that super amazing little guy—he didn't even get a chance to say hello yesterday!
Rishia replied, "Shoyo went to training; he has other plans."
Compared to the people at the training camp, Hinata's fundamental skills are already quite good.
He has nothing else to do and can learn here under Coach Washijo, but Hinata still needs to go practice his balance.