Indeed, he might return very late.
Then I'll go sleep at your place, you can sleep in my bed," he added before leaving, "You two, don't stay up late.
Although there was no need to wake up early tomorrow, the impact of staying up late on one's condition is very serious.
He felt quite relieved and trusted Miya Osamu, so he quickly settled in to watch the videos together.
Having resolved a major issue, Hinata said goodbye to Miya Osamu and then happily threw himself onto Miya Atsumu's bed. "Atsumu-senpai! Let's watch the videos!"
Miya Atsumu handed over his tablet, letting Hinata choose for himself. "Which one should we watch first?"
After thinking about it seriously for a while, Hinata replied, "Ichibayashi's, I'm a bit curious about how they played against Natsume-senpai and the others."
He watched two sets of the match between Ichibayashi and Karasuno and had a general idea of how they played, but he was somewhat baffled by how Fukuda General lost.
After all, they were a team that had played them in the national finals; they were impeccable in every aspect, even their first receive, which was slightly weaker, was actually very impressive.
Miya Atsumu raised his hand and pulled up the video Hinata wanted to watch: "Fine, then we'll watch this."
Looking at the face that appeared for only a single frame due to the editing, Hinata swallowed hard. "Ah, that super fierce senior."
Miya Atsumu gave a brief introduction: "Number 4, Captain Hoshinoya Teru, the position is Opposite Setter; you can look to Ushijima-senpai or Kuroo-senpai for reference."
However, even though he is the Captain, he doesn't really manage much. Just like Bokuto-senpai, tactical adjustments and calling time-outs.. are handled by their Setter and Vice-Captain.
After speaking, Miya Atsumu paused, then pointed at the person wearing the number 1 jersey on the screen.
Hinata replied seriously, "That scary, smiling, bespectacled senior."
Miya Atsumu turned his head to look at Hinata beside him. "By the way, his glasses are just plain lenses."
Hinata was stunned by what he heard: "Huh?"
“I knew it! This senpai doesn't seem to wear glasses during matches!”
This resulted in him not even recognizing him when he saw him in the restroom; he only managed to tell who it was after seeing the number on his uniform.
Besides, the Ichibayashi team members wore different colored uniforms in the morning and afternoon; isn't it perfectly normal that he couldn't recognize him!
Hinata guessed, "Is it to look cool?"
Miya Atsumu shook his head. "No, it's because he wants to make himself look a bit more dignified."
"Dignity?" Hinata looked up, contemplating what Kita Team would look like wearing black-rimmed glasses.
It does seem to have more presence, but I feel like the Kita Team would suit metal frames better.
Hinata became even more curious. He shifted his position, leaning almost right against Miya Atsumu. "So, what is it because of?"
Miya Atsumu raised his hand again, pointing toward the Coach's bench in the video: "Don't you think something is missing from this court?"
On the Fukuda General Coach's bench was Coach Tsurumaru, whom Hinata already knew, with several resting players beside him.
And Ichibayashi's coach's bench.. was completely empty.
Having snapped out of it, Hinata scrambled to his feet: "Ichibayashi doesn't have a coach!"
Miya Atsumu snapped his fingers. "Correct."
Amidst Hinata's shock, he added, "It's not that they aren't there, it's just that they aren't here."
Hinata's eyes widened: "Not here? At a time like Haruko?"
This is the most important tournament, the Third Years will retire after it's over—is the coach really not here?
Miya Atsumu shook his head, equally puzzled by it: "I'm not sure of the specific reason, I haven't seen their coach either, but currently, the Vice-Captain Kuroe Dai is acting with coaching authority."
Kuroe Kao herself was the type who had quite delicate features, but since she had to handle negotiations with coaches from other schools during pre-match warm-ups, she came up with the idea of wearing glasses.
However, in Miya Atsumu's own opinion, those glasses provided very little boost to Kuroe Kao's aura.
It was mainly because Kuroe Kao became inexplicably much more confident after putting on the glasses, he could hold his own even when speaking with various older coaches.
To be able to lead the team to victory against Fukuda General and Karasuno without a coach can be considered quite impressive.
Watching Hinata, who had inexplicably curled up under his blanket and was staring at the screen as if facing a great enemy, Miya Atsumu was a bit bewildered: ".. What's wrong with you?"
Hinata replied, "I feel like this senpai looks a bit scary wearing glasses."
It's fine if it's just the Vice-Captain and the Setter, but the thought of the opponent also being a part-time coach..
Miya Atsumu dragged the progress bar: "It's fine, he doesn't wear glasses on the court."
He looks quite easy to bully when he isn't wearing glasses.
.. Thinking about it that way, it is indeed a bit confusing.
A new face appeared, Miya Atsumu continued the introduction: "This is Ouji Son, the Left Wing Spiker."
Aside from the Captain, he's the most aggressive player, his playstyle is very.. just like his name.
"As his name suggests?" Hinata was puzzled.
.." Miya Atsumu was silent for a moment, "See for yourself.
Fukuda General started this match, with Ichibayashi choosing the Ace Opposite's defensive positioning at Position 4, the second most offensive Spiker, Ouji Son, serving first from the back row.
After the Libero performed a back receive on Kuroo's serve, the setter Kuroe Kao instantly rushed toward the court, completed a high-difficulty toss, sent the ball toward the center near Position 2.
Ouji Son, who was already in position, immediately executed a perfect back-set dump, scoring the first point with incredible speed.
After watching this person lift his hand to brush back his hair and spread his arms to accept the cheers, Hinata also fell into silence along with Miya Atsumu.
After searching through adjectives in his mind, Hinata, lying on the bed, finally gave his evaluation: "So gorgeous."
Indeed, he felt like a prince.
But..
He looks a bit familiar.
After saying that, Hinata turned his head to look at Miya Atsumu.
Miya Atsumu, being stared at by Hinata, froze for a moment, quickly reflecting on whether he had done something improper.
He had changed his clothes, washed his face, brushed his teeth, but his hair seemed a bit messy after blow-drying it..
The moment his hand touched his hair, Miya Atsumu suddenly realized.
He propped himself up to sit up, grabbed the quilt, threw it over Hinata's head, pressed his whole body down on top of him.
Alright then, Shoyo, you're getting more and more skilled at talking back to your seniors.
The sound of a card swiping echoed at the door.
Miya Osamu, having forgotten to grab his uniform for tomorrow, saw the chaotic scene on Miya Atsumu's bed the moment he opened the door.
A string of question marks flew through his head, Miya Osamu's face was written with shock: "There's a match tomorrow, what are you two doing?"
Miya Atsumu, who had been tickling Hinata, looked up. "I'm disciplining this guy whose audacity is growing every day."
Watching Hinata crawl out from underneath and distance himself from Miya Atsumu, Miya Osamu wiped his nose.
He took a clean uniform out of his bag and gave another warning: "Don't mess around."
The door was slammed shut by Miya Osamu with a bang, leaving only Miya Atsumu and Hinata staring at each other.
Hinata was bewildered: "Do what?"
Miya Atsumu was puzzled: "I'm not going to fight with you, what is he worried about?"
After staring at each other for five minutes, both gave up on thinking at the same time: "Forget it, let's just keep watching the footage."
Miya Atsumu jumped to the next point: "Middle Blocker, Second Year Hayakawa, First Year Nare Yoshio."
This Nare Yoshio was the MVP of the Interhigh Junior High in Tochigi Prefecture the year before last. He's 1.89m tall, it looked like he was already over 1.9m during the Interhigh.
Watching Hinata turn serious, Miya Atsumu added, "But his experience level is average; just have Kai Kiyoharu deal with him."
On the screen, Nare Yoshio stepped forward the moment Shimizu prepared for a coordinated Back Quick Attack, timing his position perfectly to block the ball directly back into the Fukuda General court.
Hinata became even more serious: "No.. I think this person's individual blocking ability is very strong."
He gave him a faint sense of Kuroo-senpai, though not quite as intense.
He might grow into the next Kuroo-senpai in the future, but unfortunately, it certainly isn't now.
The remaining ones are the Right Wing Spiker Fujisawa Kafka, the Libero Nasuji," Miya Atsumu said, quickly brushing past two people. "There's nothing to worry about; their skill levels are both very average.
Hinata applied the logic to the situation: "Does that mean Ichibayashi's overall receiving and defense are both very poor?"
The Right Wing and Libero are the players primarily responsible for receiving, especially when the Opposite is the Ace; in that case, the Right Wing's receiving duties become even more heavy.
Miya Atsumu gave Hinata an affirmative response: "Exactly, it's very bad."
As Hinata's face lit up with joy, Miya Atsumu's tone shifted: "But their setter is very capable; it doesn't have much of an overall impact."
Taking Aobajohsai as a reference, Kuroe-senpai is even better than Oikawa-senpai when it comes to making up for errors in the first receive.
Hinata pondered deeply: "Hmm.. so that would be Kiryu-senpai and Oikawa-senpai on the same team?"
"Similar, but not quite that exaggerated." Miya Atsumu propped his chin in his hand.
If Kiryu and Oikawa were actually on the same team, it would be insane. They might as well just add Komori Motoya to the mix.
"Shirabu is just Kiryu-senpai going in to make up for the consecutive errors in the first receive and the setter, but Ichibayashi is the Ace working with the setter to make up for the first receive; his overall stability is much better," Miya Atsumu described more vividly.
Hinata recalled the match between Karasuno and Ichibayashi: "That's exactly how it felt.."
This feeling was especially obvious during Karasuno's powerful service turns.
Miya Atsumu summarized, "Relatively speaking, they're like an advanced version of Shiratorizawa, just without the left-hander."
Compared to Itachiyama.. I'd say they're still a bit stronger, after all, they really have no blind spots.
Hinata once again drew a parallel: "So you mean we're stronger?"
They defeated Itachiyama, so they are better than Itachiyama, which means that, rounded off, they are better than Ichibayashi.
If you make a reasonable deduction.. it is only natural that they would win the championship.
Miya Atsumu nodded in affirmation, "Exactly, that's it."
Then look at this, the process of how they coordinate the back-two..
Early the next morning, after finishing his grooming, Miya Osamu woke Xiaoxia up.
Everyone's physical stamina was heavily depleted during the matches, even Hinata, who usually insists on going for morning runs, had canceled that activity.