Hey, Osamu," Miya Atsumu said, turning his head to look at his twin brother, "we are going to keep winning, winning, winning.
Miya Osamu said with determination, "You don't have to tell me."
The Kita Team once said they wanted a consecutive championship.
In the years leading up to this, only Itachiyama had ever achieved it.
They had already won a National Sports Festival championship, next was Haruko.
Exhaling softly, Miya Atsumu stepped forward and continued walking.
Parting is painful.
Especially a parting filled with regret will leave a scar that remains etched throughout one's entire life.
But parting will eventually come, all they can do is try to minimize their regrets as much as possible.
The Kingly Inarizaki?
No, that title was still far from Miya Atsumu's expectations.
Before he leaves.. what he wants to see is the "dynasty" known as Inarizaki.
While the Inarizaki members went to the sub-gymnasium to stretch, Hinata had already followed Hoshiumi around to the edge of the court where the match was still ongoing.
He also did his stretches by the court under the watchful eyes of Hoshiumi and Hirugami, even doing them while walking.
Inarizaki's match ended quite early, but one of the matches in the same time slot lasted a considerable amount of time, even reaching 35 points in the third set, which prolonged the entire schedule by more than just a little bit.
"That's exactly how it is when teams focused on defense face each other.." Omimi lamented.
Basically, every single point could be dragged into an incredibly long rally, with both sides maintaining nearly identical levels of offensive and defensive intensity, the score remained neck and neck.
Just watching them, Hoshiumi felt like he was suffocating: "So terrifying."
Although Karasuno is also known for its blocking, they do not lack strong offensive options, so situations like this almost never occur.
Hirugami flipped through the upcoming match schedule: "There's another one this afternoon."
Nekoma and Hayakawa Industrial—the latter's current coach is a former student of Coach Nekota, their playing styles can be described as being of the same lineage.
Since both teams seem to lack any outstanding offensive weapons, it's expected that the match will be a real grind.
Hinata, who was still looking around, immediately spotted Kenma and others preparing to enter the court for warm-ups: "Ah, it's Kenma and others."
There was an interval between the last match of the morning and the first match of the afternoon, so the general warm-up was held in the main arena instead of having to go to the sub-gymnasium.
"You know them?" Hoshiumi asked, turning his head toward Hinata, who was trying to say hello.
Watching the Nekoma members enter the gym and begin warming up from across half the arena, Hinata withdrew his gaze with a hint of regret.
Yeah, Kenma and I are good friends.
Hoshiumi pointed over there: "Do you want to go closer to watch?"
There wasn't much worth watching in this match in Block C; there was no way Fukuda General wouldn't be able to beat this round's opponents.
“Alright!” Hinata nodded vigorously.
Meanwhile, Shiratori Natsume, who had just changed into her team uniform and was also preparing to enter the arena, watched helplessly as Hinata walked away from her with a light step. She felt quite dejected.
Fukai rolled her eyes. "Stop staring. Even if you keep looking, he won't turn back."
Shiratori's face was filled with visible regret, which made Fukai feel even more of a headache.
I wonder what kind of spell that little brat from Inarizaki cast on this guy; he seems completely captivated.
On the other side of the sidelines, Coach Kurosu was standing shoulder to shoulder with Coach Utsunomiya.
"Our Atsumu-kun said he doesn't want to study anymore after graduation, so give up." Coach Kurosu said expressionlessly.
He should be in the cafeteria or somewhere in the stands enjoying the match, rather than being here talking to his most hated person.
—Besides, it's about their own kids.
Why don't you ask again? There's no academic pressure over there, as long as they can produce results," Coach Utsunomiya persisted, "International exchange is also convenient, it won't interfere with playing matches with the national team at all.
"Give it up, there's no possibility." Coach Kurosu continued to discourage him.
"Besides, even if Iizuna doesn't go, there's no need for you to target Atsumu-kun." Kurosu really didn't want to deal with Utsunomiya.
Wakamura, Shiratori, Oikawa, Wase.. so many setters are graduating this year, isn't that perfect?
No, if we're going to choose, we should choose the best," Coach Utsunomiya said with a serious expression. "If Atsumu-kun is willing to come, I can use a substitute to fill in for a year.
If we can secure Miya Atsumu, it would be best not to waste the time of any other prospects.
“……” Coach Kurosu didn't know what to say either, so he simply turned and walked away in silence.
Watching Kurosu's retreating figure, Coach Utsunomiya felt a bit melancholy.
However, he was only testing the waters; the chance of Miya Atsumu coming was slim to begin with.
Not to mention, even if Atsumu-kun had an interest in continuing his studies, he would likely be recommended for admission to an even better university.
As Miya Atsumu was preparing to follow Miya Osamu to the rooftop restaurant, a finger pressed a button on the vending machine at the first-floor corridor entrance.
Immediately after, a drink dropped down.
Matou leaned down and took the drink from the collection slot below.
Before he could even open it, a hand reached out, the palm held open in a manner that was somewhat entitled.
Sighing softly, Matou placed the drink into the other person's hands.
Popping the tab, Wakamura drank half the bottle in one go.
After finishing, he spoke with a face full of disgust, "Ugh, it's so bitter. Why are you drinking this kind of thing?"
".." Matou remained silent.
Wakamura guessed for him, "Feeling down, so how about some coffee?"
Without giving Matou a chance to interject, Wakamura reached out and patted his shoulder. "I understand. After all, it's the last volleyball match of your life; losing so miserably must be very upsetting."
Matou lowered his eyes and looked at him: "Aren't you?"
This was their high school's final match, the one most filled with regret.. must have been Wakamura himself.
Wakamura clearly hesitated for a moment.
As if pondering something seriously, he hesitated for a moment before asking, "Has he.. arrived?"
The topic jumped so abruptly that even Matou was stunned for a moment.
However, he quickly realized what Wakamura was referring to, so he shook his head slightly: "No, he went to a closed training camp to improve before the end of the year; there probably won't be any news until the exams."
Tsk," Wakamura clicked his tongue, "Forget it, never mind him.
He slightly raised his eyes to look at the venue map hanging next to the vending machine: "As for me.. I am indeed a little unhappy, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up."
Anyway, there will definitely be more chances to face each other in the future. Regardless of whether those guys are still on the same team or not, I will defeat every single one of them.
He flashed a smile at Matou: "Let's come watch Haruko together again next year."
Their journey at Municipal Kobe had already come to an end, but he believed in his juniors.
They are all incredibly exceptional children, stronger and more talented than them, they will surely go even further than them in the future.
Perhaps one day in the future, he will see the day Municipal Kobe officially defeats Inarizaki.
Matou nodded: "Okay."
Wakamura averted his gaze and said softly, "By the way.. which school was he planning to take the entrance exam for?"
Matou said expressionlessly, "Todai."
It was quiet by the vending machine for five minutes.
"Tsk," a displeased click sounded as Wakamura shoved the remaining half-bottle back to Matou.
This coffee tastes terrible.
Chapter 174: The 174th Fox
The match between Nekoma and Hayakawa Industrial was quite grueling.
Because both sides lacked certain offensive capabilities and utilized the same defensive system, the gap between them never widened.
Wow, he saved it!
Watching Yaku dive to save a ball that had already flown out of bounds, Hinata cheered.
That's it! Spike it directly!
As for Hoshiumi, he completely immersed himself in Yamamoto, getting excited along with his movements.
In the next second, seeing Yamamoto's spike blocked directly back by Hayakawa Industrial, Hoshiumi and Hinata both went wild at the same time.
Damn it! It was blocked!
Yaku reacted again with extreme speed, lunging forward and steadily sending the ball up toward Kenma's head: "Kenma! I'm counting on you!"
The hearts of the two, which had just plummeted to rock bottom, leaped once more: "We saved it!!"
Looking at the two people making such a fuss, Hirugami on the other side didn't know what to say.
This match is getting way too immersive..
Hirugami rubbed his chin and spoke, "However.. it feels like Hayakawa Industrial seems to be intentionally draining the stamina of Nekoma's Setter."
By frequently using spikes and serves to force the opponents' Libero and Setter to move, they force them into specific positions to drain their stamina.
Prolonged mental tension can easily lead to overload, which can also easily result in final errors.
Both they and Inarizaki use this way of playing, but Hayakawa Industrial clearly plays in a much more obnoxious manner.
However, Nekoma's Libero is too strong, so the effect was somewhat insignificant, but..
Hirugami added the final sentence: "Nekoma's setter has terrible stamina."
No matter how strong the Libero is, it would be enough as long as they could make Nekoma's Setter move like a normal person.
Hinata rubbed his chin. "True, I heard Kenma is always running at the very back every time."