Then, in a place where Hinata couldn't see, he lightly shook his hands.
When Hinata looked over pitifully, Miya Atsumu asked, "Shoyo, have you gained weight?"
At this point, Hinata stood tall with his chest out. "I'm already close to sixty kilograms!"
That's right, in these three-plus months, he had worked hard to gain ten pounds, he had successfully converted it into muscle.
Hinata took off one sleeve of his jacket and raised his arm to show Miya Atsumu-senpai his biceps.
Look! Isn't it a bit bigger than before!
Reaching out to squeeze it, Miya Atsumu ultimately gave Hinata Shoyo a thumbs up: "Very good, you worked hard."
It was worth it, considering he was constantly feeding him Miya Osamu's pudding!
Well, because Miya Osamu was eating his.
Hinata gave a couple of huffs, his face written with pride.
Coach Omimi clapped his hands: "Alright, give me your jackets, it's time to head into the arena—"
Everyone quickly stripped off their jackets and handed them to Coach Omimi, then lined up according to their numbers.
【Tokyo Representative No. 1, Men's, Itachiyama Academy.】
【Women's, Fukurodani Academy.】
【Second Team, Men's, Fukurodani Academy.】
【Female, Itachiyama Academy.】
【Organizer Representative, Male, Nekoma High School.】
【Women's, Seitoku High School.】
The three teams representing Tokyo entered the arena one after another, all of them sounding quite familiar. Hinata blinked, but when he leaned over to look, he only saw five Fukurodani men's and women's volleyball managers walking back while carrying a stack of down jackets.
Hinata leaned forward slightly toward Akagi Michinari, who was closest to him, asked, "Akagi-senpai, by the way.. why are Bokuto-senpai and the others wearing down jackets?"
So cool, they look so warm.
Akagi Michinari remained silent for five seconds before finally saying, "Don't ask; it's just a private school for the wicked rich."
Hinata fell silent: "I understand."
Damn it! So it really does cost money!
Aran turned his head and kindly suggested, "You can go ask Bokuto-senpai if he can let you try it on; I think he'll say yes."
However, considering Bokuto's size, Hinata would probably look quite ridiculous wearing it.
"That's right!" Hinata's eyes lit up.
I'll go check when Bokuto-senpai and the others have their match later; I want to go cheer them on.
Anyway, Karasuno's match is the first one in the afternoon, so as long as they don't clash, it'll be fine.
As for the Municipal Kobe match.. I'll leave that to the seniors to watch.
[Hyogo Prefecture Representative, Men's, Inarizaki High School.]
【Female, Kitagaya Girls' High School.】
Walking at the very end of the line, Hinata held his head high and chest out, accepting the gazes from the entire crowd.
Even if it wasn't all focused on him, it was.. still exciting enough.
The player responsible for the oath at Itachiyama Academy was changed from Komori to Sakusa, though judging by Sakusa's clearly somewhat slow pace in stepping forward, it probably wasn't entirely voluntary.
As for why Sakusa was chosen..
Amatori Toru, standing in the line, pursed his lips.
Because when they were drawing fortunes at the shrine next to Itachiyama Academy, only Sakusa drew a Great Blessing.
—What a sad story.
After the opening ceremony ended, the Inarizaki members, as seeded teams, began their free time.
Training to maintain form was scheduled for the afternoon, the coaches also intended to use this time to observe the condition of each team in this Haruko.
Standing below the large screen in the lobby, Hinata saw the name Inubushi Higashi written prominently on Court 1: "Oh—Kiyoharu and his team are in the first match!"
Looking at the schedule, Hinata once again spotted some familiar faces: "Kenma and his team are in the second match!"
Just as Hinata was about to say something about Aobajohsai also being in the second match, Miya Atsumu grabbed his hand and pulled it down. "That's enough. Are you planning to perform an 800-meter sprint in the middle of the gymnasium?"
Just watching one match would be enough, why do we have to watch them all?
Miya Atsumu glared at the name Aobajohsai on the board: "Didn't you say we were getting short sleeves? Go find Hoshiumi."
Anyway, that certain person has already made enough of a presence among them during this time; it wouldn't make any difference if there were a little more.
As expected, Hinata's attention was immediately drawn away by him, he began happily rushing toward the corner of the hall, where a glimpse of a blue uniform could be seen near the vending machine.
He called out the other's name, "Kamibayashi-senpai!"
Kamibayashi Keiichiro turned around and saw Hinata rushing toward him: "Ah, Hinata, what's wrong? Are you looking for Hikari-kun?"
Hinata nodded. "Yeah! Where are Hoshiumi-senpai and the others right now?"
Kamibayashi recalled the previous conversation between Hoshiumi and Hirugami: "They should be watching the match by the sidelines; you can try looking under the C-section stands."
"Got it! Thanks, Kamibayashi-senpai!" Hinata gave a bow.
Watching Hinata arrive in such a frantic rush and leave with such a bouncy gait, Kamibayashi's lips curled up involuntarily.
But the moment he saw Miya Atsumu, he pulled his smile back.
Why is he bringing a bodyguard with him whenever he goes out..
When Hinata went to look toward the Block C stands, he happened to run into Hoshiumi and Hirugami, who were coming out of the gymnasium together.
He rushed over immediately: "Hoshiumi-senpai! Hirugami-senpai! Let's go buy some short-sleeved shirts!"
Hirugami laughed, "That's perfect, Hoshiumi Hikari also wants to go buy short sleeves."
Hinata rubbed his hands together: "I'll buy them for Senpai!"
Hoshiumi froze for a moment, suddenly remembering the words he had said when he gave Hinata a short-sleeved shirt before.
He hadn't expected this day to come so quickly; in the blink of an eye, Hinata had already become a starter for Inarizaki and won a national championship.
"Then let's go," Hoshiumi agreed readily.
Catching a glimpse of Hirugami Fuku preparing to leave, Hoshiumi Sakusa grabbed his clothes: "You're coming with me."
That's right, even if the Coach and Captain can't find them in a little while, he absolutely cannot be the one to get scolded himself.
The merchandise stalls weren't very far away, so the four of them arrived quickly.
Hoshiumi Hikari had a clear goal and immediately locked onto a green short-sleeved shirt: "This one, size S."
Hinata took a glance and found that he couldn't understand what was written on it, only catching what seemed to be "Neyo."
But since it was Hoshiumi-senpai who wanted it, he would just be responsible for paying.
He turned his head to look at Miya Atsumu, only to find that the other had already taken a wrapped blue short-sleeved shirt from the clerk.
Hinata leaned in: "Do you want this one, Atsumu-senpai?"
Miya Atsumu smiled slightly. "No, this is for you. As for what you'll buy me, of course, you get to choose."
Before Hinata Shoyo could even process the joy of Miya Atsumu-senpai actually giving him a t-shirt, he was stumped by Miya Atsumu-senpai's offer to let him choose it himself.
Hinata Shoyo, who wasn't good at literature, looked hard at the short-sleeved shirts hanging on the wall, searching for words he recognized and could understand.
After glancing over a red shirt with white lettering, he raised his hand. "Hello! I want that one! I want.."
Hinata glanced at Miya Atsumu and added, "183cm size!"
Watching the clerk hand over the clothes, Miya Atsumu was somewhat at a loss for words, as he could roughly guess the logic behind Hinata Shoyo's choice of this garment.
Every scheme is well-considered, every action brings success.
It is indeed a sentence describing someone as resourceful, but.. Hinata, who felt he had watched plenty of domestic and international match videos with him, only understood the meaning of "lifting."
A player who can lift others up, right?
But it didn't matter; he would just take it as Hinata Shoyo praising his strategic brilliance!
Miya Atsumu, who could also pass Japanese Literature, gave a smug chuckle.
After seeing off Hoshiumi, who had received a gift from his junior, Miya Atsumu stuffed the clothes he had bought for Hinata into his hands: "Take a look at this."
Hinata unfolded the clothing and clearly saw the familiar words on it.
[Ace's Insights.]
It was the blue version of the Haruko limited edition that Hoshiumi-senpai had mentioned before.
He had originally thought about buying one, but he was a bit short on cash after buying gifts for his seniors. Considering he also needed to pick one out for Xiaoxia, he decided not to get it.
But now.. Miya Atsumu gave him one.
Hinata felt his nose sting a little. Was Atsumu-senpai.. also expecting him to become the Ace who supports the team?
He looked up at Miya Atsumu-senpai: "Thank you, Atsumu-senpai!"
Seeing Hinata's expression, which looked as if he were about to cry, Miya Atsumu raised his hand to cover the lower half of his face.
After a pause, he finally said, "As long as you're happy. Aren't you also going to pick one for Xiaoxia?"
Hinata nodded, "Yeah, I've already picked one out."
He walked up to the shop assistant again and pointed to a specific orange short-sleeved shirt: "Does that come in a child's size? For a little girl about this height."
The clerk nodded, "Yes, I'll get that for you."
Watching Hinata's choice, Miya Atsumu's mouth twitched; this was truly easy to understand..
There were only two words on the short sleeves—【Stronger】.
As for the owner of this gift..
Xiaoxia sat in a chair in the stands, with Coach Inubata, who had an afro, on her left, Coach Himegomiya, who wore approachable-looking makeup, on her right.
She was sandwiched between the two of them, momentarily at a loss for words.