Coach Kurosu stood up and clapped, the smile on his face impossible to hide.
Watching the kids hugging and cheering on the court, as their coach, he felt nothing but pride and happiness.
This match.. these kids have done their absolute best with what they are capable of at this stage.
As a coach, he could easily give this match a perfect score.
Tomorrow's match, rather than being a test of skill and ability itself, is actually more of a test of physical stamina and willpower.
In this regard, he is willing to place the utmost trust in his players.
And they will certainly complete the final match of this Haruko perfectly, bringing the championship trophy back to Inarizaki.
Aside from that.. that becomes the job of their coach.
At the Head Referee's signal, the captains of both sides picked up the signs bearing their respective school names and lined up by the sidelines.
The Head Referee brought his hands together in the center, signaling for both sides to bow in thanks.
Thank you for the guidance!!
Thank you for the guidance—
Coach Kurosu didn't say much either; he simply gave them a brief word of encouragement, then tilted his head to signal them to go and thank the audience.
The Inarizaki members stood under the "No Need to Reminisce About Yesterday" banner as usual, receiving the cheers and applause of the supporters in the posture of victors.
On the other half of the court, the Ichibayashi members also stood in place beneath the Ichibayashi team flag.
Vice-Captain Kuroe Kao spoke up first: "Bow!"
Everyone bowed deeply. "Thank you all for your support!!"
Their audience wasn't actually very large, but every single one of them was shouting and cheering for them with all their might.
Even under the cheers of the Inarizaki members, they could still hear these voices clearly, which made them feel at ease.
Raising his head, Rei quietly looked at the six large characters on the banner.
It seems.. he didn't manage to do even one of them.
Ichibayashi's coach wasn't there, so they only offered a few brief summary remarks by the sidelines before finally leaving the court.
Everyone was very quiet; no one spoke along the way.
In the end, Kuroe Kao spoke up and broke the silence.
He asked Ouji Son, who was one step behind him, "By the way, what was that secret you mentioned during your match?"
Ouji Son's hair had been dried as much as possible, as he walked toward the Players' Tunnel, he used his hands to briefly tidy his hairstyle.
Then he turned his head to look at Kuroe Kao, winking at him. "You guess."
Kuroe Kao, his face full of exhaustion, looked up and toward him: "Is it about how you hide in the coach's office and cry in front of that flower pot every time you lose a match?"
Ouji Son's face visibly turned red: "You, you, you—how do you know about that!"
I asked Coach Kurosu to keep it a secret!!
Hayakawa said helplessly, "That flowerpot is facing the window. Even though it's on the fifth floor, you can see it very clearly from the experimental building opposite."
"Aaaaaah—" Ouji Son covered his face and crouched on the ground, feeling utterly humiliated.
Raising his hand to put on his glasses, Kuroe Kao pressed further, "So, what are you trying to say?"
Ouji Son looked at Hoshinoya-senpai, whose hair had been dyed because of his scheme, then looked at the second victim, Nasu, before speaking up with a bit of embarrassment.
Actually, my hair.. was dyed because Coach Kurosu forced me to.
Speaking of which, Ouji Son felt deeply aggrieved: "She said I can only dye it back once I win the championship."
He actually thought his previous hair color was very cool!
“Didn't I quit the club before? But after Coach Kurosu watched my previous footage, he came straight to my house to find me.”
She saw at a glance that I hadn't given up on volleyball, so she made a bet with me.
Kuroe Kao became interested: "What kind of bet?"
Ouji Son curled his lip. "She said if you win the three-on-three against Double Flower, I have to return to the Volleyball Club unconditionally and stay there until graduation."
If we lose, she'll be responsible for paying for me to go to the Volleyball Classroom to play volleyball, without having to go with you guys.
And the result of that match.. was that Kuroe Kao and the others won.
The three first-year players defeated Double Flower's current second-year starters in a very spectacular victory.
"I'm willing to accept my loss. Under her suggestion, I got my hair dyed," Ouji Son said, spreading his hands.
Later, I couldn't stand the scolding from the Dean of Students, so I tricked Akiteru into dyeing his hair too.
Ichibayashi's Dean of Students absolutely loathed students who dyed their hair, permed it, or wore eccentric clothing, Ouji Son checked two of those boxes.
Kuroe Kao was somewhat speechless, in the end, he could only give Ouji Son a thumbs-up.
Nasu turned his head and asked Hayakawa, "So.. Hayakawa-senpai, what color was Ouji-senpai's hair originally?"
He was truly curious; after all, by the time he arrived at Ichibayashi, Ouji Son and Hoshinoya-senpai already had blonde hair.
Moreover, he had never seen Ouji-senpai with pudding hair before, though he had seen Hoshinoya-senpai's black roots.
Hayakawa fell silent for two seconds, only after Ouji had pulled ahead of them did he say in a low voice, "Green."
Nasu was shocked: "Huh?"
Rei followed silently at the very back of the entire team, Ouji Son's attempts to lighten the mood didn't make him happy in the slightest.
It was all his fault.
If he could have blocked Miya Atsumu's spike at 33 points, maybe they could have made a comeback..
Nasu, realizing his junior's state was problematic, turned back and looked up at him. "What's wrong with you?"
Rei lowered his head. "I'm sorry, senpai, I couldn't block their spike."
Nasu was stunned for a moment. "You played really well in today's match. You even blocked several of those Quick Attacks; otherwise, we would have lost a long time ago."
Keep your back straight, don't let that tall stature go to waste.
"Yes." Rei stood up straight with his chest out and head held high.
But he could only maintain that posture for five seconds before his whole body slumped once again.
—He was so exhausted that he couldn't even straighten his back.
Nasu laughed and patted his shoulder. "Next year will be our home turf. When that time comes, we definitely have to let the seniors see us active on the national stage."
After all, there aren't that many live broadcasts during the Regional Qualifiers, so the seniors on the other side of the Earth won't be able to see them.
If you really want to say who should take the blame for this match, it would be him.
He made too many mistakes; from the first receive to receiving spikes and then to counterattacks, he was in a frantic rush throughout the entire process.
Nasu put his hands on his hips: "Let the past stay in the past. Don't worry, don't feel resentment or regret."
And then.. to welcome the next victory.
Rei said with absolute certainty, "I will, I will win the championship."
He had decided; once he went back, he was also going to dye his hair blonde just like Ouji-senpai and the others.
—I won't dye it back unless I win the championship.
At the end of the corridor, Kuroe Kao and Hoshinoya-senpai, walking side by side at the very front, saw Hinata lying like a corpse next to the vending machine in the hallway.
Miya Atsumu sat nearby, holding a sports drink he had just taken from the vending machine.
He was completely drowsy, his drink was visibly about to slip from his hands.
Fearing that Hinata would be crushed, Kuroe Kao called out to two people: "Hinata, Miya."
Hinata sat up with a start, seemingly jolted awake: "Yes! I'm here!"
Miya Atsumu was also startled by Hinata's sudden shout, which snapped him wide awake, allowing him to perfectly avoid the accident of his drink splashing onto Hinata's head.
Kuroe Kao found it amusing, but merely raised a finger toward Miya Atsumu: "Be careful not to drop it. Once you're done stretching, hurry back and get some sleep."
Miya Atsumu nodded, responding to the other's kindness with a superficial courtesy: "Thanks for your concern, Senpai."
Before leaving, Kuroe Kao's footsteps faltered slightly. "By the way.."
The two from Inarizaki turned to look at him at the same time, their movements perfectly synchronized, even the angle of their heads was identical.
Kuroe Kao added one last sentence: "Keep working hard; we'll meet again in the distant future."
Not next year, not in university, certainly not on the professional stage of the V1 League.
But in that distant future, on the world's most elite stage..
He will do it.
They are the same, right?
Watching the retreating figures of the Ichibayashi members, Shoyo was completely dazed.
He tilted his head and looked toward Miya Atsumu. "Did that senpai just say something?"
Miya Atsumu was also confused. "It seems so."
Having used his brain too much, he felt a bit dim-witted right now.
"What did he say?" Hinata continued to ask.
"I don't know.." Miya Atsumu pondered to no avail, because he really hadn't been listening.
Aran's call rang out.
Shoyo—Atsumu—get in here for stretching—
If you don't get here soon, I'll have the Coach arrange a massage package for you both—
At that, the two of them instantly perked up and rushed into the gymnasium in a few quick strides.
They're coming, they're coming!