"So reliable!" Hoshiumi cheered for Oikawa Tooru.
Miya Atsumu-senpai, who had brought the delicious food over, raised an eyebrow. "What are you saying about me?"
Fine, there was no place for him here, so he might as well go back and find his juniors from Hyogo.
Hoshiumi raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are you saying Haruko will beat Inarizaki so badly they'll be left crawling on the floor?"
Miya Atsumu-senpai looked them both up and down before raising a hand to block them.
Impossible! Inarizaki is invincible!
Oikawa Tooru raised an eyebrow. "You'd better be careful not to be caught off guard by some dark horse appearing out of nowhere, only to end up falling into a pit in the end."
Looking at Miya Atsumu, who had just sat down opposite her, Hanae Akari, who could now hold a conversation with the seniors, whispered, "When it comes to this Haruko, Seijo is already considered a major dark horse, isn't it?"
“……”Watching the harmonious Miya Atsumu and Hanae Akari, Oikawa Tooru expressed his shock.
“Aren't you guys supposed to be rivals? Why are you sitting together like this.."
Just the thought of sitting next to Ushijima Wakatoshi made him want to vomit.
"Oikawa-senpai, you're wrong about that." Miya Atsumu spoke up to interrupt Oikawa Tooru.
"Huh?" Oikawa Tooru was a bit stunned.
Miya Atsumu rested his chin in one hand, a provocative smile playing on his lips: "It's a win-win for us; Seijo and Shiratorizawa are the true rivals."
Hanae expressionlessly snapped a whole boiled egg in half with his chopsticks: "No, I will definitely defeat Inarizaki."
If not this year, then next year, until graduation from high school.
He will remain steadfast in this goal and risk everything for it.
After glaring at Miya Atsumu-senpai, Oikawa Tooru and Hanae Akari formed a united front: "I'm rooting for you."
Just then, several people's phones chimed one after another with incoming messages, the entire cafeteria grew lively.
"What's going on?" Chika-ya from Shinzen High School asked, looking somewhat lost as he turned to Komori, who had pulled out his phone.
On the other side, Rakusan's ace Aoba Haruka, who was also a bit dazed, leaned over to look at Hanae's phone: "What's going on? Why did everyone receive a message?"
As the only two first-year students called up for this training camp, the two of them had already rapidly built a rapport.
Hoshiumi quickly scanned the message from Hirugami: "Ah, the Haruko match schedule is out."
The moment she heard those words, Aoba Haruka collapsed to the ground.
On the other side, Chika Tanigaya Eiji understood everything and instantly lost interest.
Watching this junior's dazed and pained expression, Oikawa Tooru was a bit bewildered: "What's going on?"
Hoshiumi replied, "The ones that qualified from Kyoto for this year's Haruko are Inubushi Higashi."
It was a region recognized nationwide as hell; compared to them, Miyagi was nothing.
This is the only region so hellish that the officials proactively inquired whether they needed a second slot..
At the same time, Seito from Kyoto Prefecture reached the semifinals in this year's Interhigh, Rakusan took eighth place in the National Sports Festival, yet the team that unexpectedly qualified for the Haruko was Inubushi Higashi.
Inarizaki didn't need to participate in the lottery at all; after all, as the National Sports Festival champions and the IH runners-up, they were granted the second seed, their position was fixed as the last one in the fourth district.
Seeing the team names written above, Oikawa Tooru let out a soft "wow": "Hanae, your chance for revenge has come."
Inarizaki has been exempted to the top thirty-two. If nothing unexpected happens, their opponent in the round of thirty-two will be Municipal Kobe.
Miya Atsumu was stunned: "Are you serious? Isn't this a mistake in the seeding?"
Generally speaking, the possibility of representatives from the same prefecture appearing in the same district is almost zero.
Komori replied, "The seeds aren't fixed within the regional boundaries, right?"
They had been drawn into the same group as Fukurodani before, so it was basically just down to luck of the draw.
In addition to the four seeds, the positions for the host team's representatives are also fixed, also in the final district.
Looking at Inubushi Higashi, who was positioned at both the beginning and the end of the Itachiyama lineup, Miya Atsumu clicked his tongue in amazement, "Inubushi Higashi is in the First District."
Curious, someone asked, "Who is in the Second District?"
Hoshiumi pointed out several teams that were relatively familiar: "Fukurodani, Sannomiya Industrial, Shonan, Shirabu.."
Someone gasped, "Wow, that's hellish."
However, none of the teams present were here, so there was no one to chime in.
Oikawa Tooru, who couldn't find Karasuno, flipped to the top: "Third District.. seeded teams include Fukuda General, Karasuno, Oga High School, Ichirin.."
I haven't heard of many of them, but if Fukuda General and Karasuno were to face each other, it would likely be a great match.
Someone leaned in close to Miya Atsumu: "Inarizaki should find this one quite easy, right?"
W-will it??
Hinata scratched his head. Why did he feel a sudden chill running down his spine?
Although Municipal Kobe didn't win a single set against them this year, their progress has been very obvious, they might even be even stronger in the Haruko tournament.
Seijo has also already defeated Shiratorizawa; looking at the footage from that match, many of their tactics have been refined to the point of being flawless.
And then, representing the organizers, Nekoma High School, this..
Although it has been a long time since he last played, he has remembered Yaku-senpai's terror from the moment he entered high school until now.
Plus, that 1.9m tall guy whose name he doesn't even know yet—he'll be very strong, right?
Goshiki Tsutomu clicked his tongue lightly, looking at the two from Seijo with a darkened expression: "Seijo, play your best. I'll be waiting to see your match against Inarizaki."
His tone was quite serious, as if he were saying something like, "Don't bother coming back if you don't make it to the top eight in the nation."
As long as we defeat them, we can at least bring back a top eight finish in the nationals; if we're eliminated before that.. it would be too much of an embarrassment to Miyagi.
Kunimi Akira frowned. "You don't have to tell me."
Beside him, Kindaichi's expression was also very serious, matching Rishia Heisuke's gaze without falling behind in intensity.
Even Inarizaki is an opponent they must defeat; they will go further than Shiratorizawa.
Rishia Heisuke did his absolute best to avoid making eye contact with Kindaichi.
In the end, he could only look at Hinata awkwardly, casting a faint, pleading look toward him.
Hinata patted his chest. "Bring it on! But we're the ones who will be champions!"
No one would doubt the sincerity of his words, because.. they had actually done it before.
For a moment, the gazes of the crowd fixed on the two from Inarizaki grew even more intense.
Rishia Heisuke held his breath.
Goshiki Tsutomu asked, "By the way, this year's Haruko starts on January 5th. Shoyo, are you coming back for the New Year?"
Hinata replied, "No, we're planning to go to Kyoto."
On New Year's Day, we'll wake up early to pay our respects at the Inari Shrine next to Inarizaki, the next day, we can go to Kyoto with everyone from Inarizaki, taking Xiaoxia with us to participate in the festival activities.
"Then this training camp will be the last time we see each other before next year's Interhigh." Goshiki Tsutomu felt a slight sense of regret.
After staring at Hinata for a while, Goshiki slightly averted his gaze.
His face turned slightly red as he spoke the words he had been wanting to say for a very, very long time.
I wish you success in your endeavors and hope you take the championship in one fell swoop.
Hinata's eyes lit up. "Thanks, Akari!"
They had been tested on these two idioms before! He got them right!
"I will catch up," Goshiki Tsutomu said with a very serious expression.
Before Hinata could even answer, Kageyama's voice rang out: "I will, too."
Kindaichi refused to back down: "Seijo will definitely make it through next year too."
"What, what?" The newly arrived Koganezawa rushed over.
The strongest is our Date Tech! Next year, the ones to qualify will definitely be us!
Listening to the uproar in the gymnasium, Rishia Heisuke lay motionless on the floor.
It was obvious that he had stopped breathing for quite some time.
Chapter 156: The One Hundred and Fifty-Sixth Fox
The five-day intensive training camp had come to an end in what felt like the blink of an eye.
Standing at the entrance of the gym, Hinata turned his head slightly toward Rishia beside him. "Today is the last day."
"Yeah." Rishia Heisuke nodded.
Coach Washijo had been waiting in the gym for a long time, watching the players he had selected walk in one after another.
There were no concluding remarks to signal the end; he simply gave a slight nod of his chin, gesturing for everyone to begin their warm-ups.
It was the same basic training as usual, the only difference being that it was the afternoon practice.
Coach Saito stood before everyone: "After three days of two-on-two matches, I believe everyone has gained something of their own."
As a finale, this afternoon you will all have the chance to face a full-strength Shiratorizawa.
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire gymnasium erupted.
Hinata's eyes widened: "Really! Shiratorizawa!"
Although we have played against Ushijima-senpai and the others in two-on-two matches, as expected.. a complete team is just different!
Of course it's true," Coach Saito laughed, "Everyone will have at least one opportunity. In your spare time, you can watch other people's matches, or if you have any questions, you can come and ask us.
As everyone was eager to get started, Coach Saito continued, "Also, just to let you know in advance, we will be recording the entire upcoming match. We'll send the footage to your coaches later so they can review the progress you've all made during this period."
Rishia Heisuke instantly became nervous.
Is this for real? Am I going to show this to Coach Kurosu and the others? Won't it turn into a public execution?
Coach Saito looked at Hinata with a smile: "Everyone whose name is called, step forward. Come on, Hinata."