The smile that had just begun to form on Hinata's face froze.
University.. He had absolutely no confidence in his own grades; the possibility of him being admitted was infinitely close to zero.
Seeing Hinata's expression, which looked as if he were about to burst into tears, Coach Kurosu couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Hahahaha, what are you thinking about?"
How can I split one day into two so I can study desperately to improve my grades enough to pass the entrance exams?
Hinata's expression went blank as he wondered if there were any supernatural methods that would allow Akuma to possess him.
Coach Kurosu said with a sense of helplessness, "Shoyo, Central Physical Education University is a sports university. Aside from subjects like physical education and sports medicine, most of it is based on competition results rather than written exam scores."
In fact, you could say most of them enter through the recommendation system.
Hinata's hope for life was rekindled: "In other words—you don't have to study yourself to death!"
"That's right." Coach Kurosu nodded.
Currently, Coach Utsunomiya of Itachiyama is also working at Central Physical Education University, he is also one of the people in charge of indoor men's volleyball.
His meaning is that if you truly have the ambition, he can write a recommendation letter for you, help you apply for a beach volleyball minor, fight for a study abroad opportunity for you.
But in exchange, you will have to find a way to balance both on your own, you'll need to produce results in your matches, as well as pass your language exams during your freshman year.
Coach Kurosu's expression was very serious.
To be honest, although they both share the words "volleyball," beach volleyball and indoor volleyball are worlds apart, the difficulty of mastering both is extremely high.
Not to mention Hinata's own grades weren't good to begin with; in just one year, passing the language exams..
"Ah—you scared me." Hinata patted his chest with his hand, feeling a sense of relief as if he had just escaped a disaster.
I thought I was going to have to take the entrance exams..
So it turns out he only needs to study one foreign language!
No need to study Chinese or mathematics!
Hurray!
As for the conditions mentioned before, Hinata even felt they didn't quite count as conditions.
After all, the reason he wanted to play beach volleyball was to be able to play indoor volleyball even better. If he couldn't even master both disciplines.. what kind of volleyball player would he be?
He knew that the gap between him and Atsumu-senpai, Kageyama, the others was a chasm of time.
Beach volleyball, which compresses all techniques together to the maximum, is the best medium for him to pursue, even surpass, time.
Therefore, he certainly won't miss this opportunity!
Coach Kurosu laughed even more happily, his face full of appreciation for Hinata: "Good, since you have confidence, then I will go and reply to Utsunomiya."
As for the cost of studying abroad.. Shoyo, if you strive for better results during your high school years, the subsidies and prize money will increase.
"Understood!" Hinata raised his hand in response.
He understood—eight consecutive championships!
Before leaving, Coach Kurosu added, "Also, based on the annual enrollment trends, you might have some acquaintances waiting for you by the time you enter Central Physical Education University."
Hinata blinked.
Hmm? An acquaintance?
Chapter 253: The 253rd Fox
Watching Hinata return with a silly grin on his face, Miya Atsumu, who had just finished dealing with Kumagai's problem, put his hands on his hips and asked him, "What happened? Why are you smiling so happily?"
Hinata immediately turned serious: "It's a secret."
Although he believed Atsumu-senpai would definitely be happy that he could have a better future, for some reason.. he felt that he couldn't easily tell Atsumu-senpai about this.
Miya Atsumu tilted his head and rubbed his chin, making an ambiguous sound in his throat: "Hmm??"
Hinata remained unmoved, the two of them stood there, locked in a stalemate of stares by the side of the court.
The inexplicable atmosphere caused the entire Volleyball Hall to fall silent. Miya Osamu and Suna, who were discussing blocking coordination, turned their heads at the same time, only to see a guilty-looking Hinata and a calm Miya Atsumu.
In the end, Miya Atsumu gave in: "Fine, fine. As long as it's not something that's going to spread my ugly photos and dark history all over the world, then I don't care."
Hearing this, Hinata's expression became even more indescribable.
Hmm.. it seems like he really has done that.
He had indeed only sent a few embarrassing photos of Miya Atsumu-senpai to Hoshiumi-senpai, but he couldn't be certain who else Hoshiumi-senpai had sent them to.
What if it had already been spread all over the world without him even knowing..
No, no, no, he must keep this secret, take it to his grave, never let Atsumu-senpai know for the rest of his life.
Yeah, definitely!
Miya Atsumu didn't intend to pursue the matter further, instead turning his head to prepare to organize the subsequent training.
Today's intra-squad match and regular training have concluded, the remaining time is for self-directed training.
The specific training items were decided by the club members themselves. As Captain, his main responsibility was to maintain order within the Volleyball Hall and, incidentally, ensure everyone's safety.
January passed quietly as everyone worked on their coordination, on February 1st, the new Inarizaki men's volleyball team arrived collectively at the Prefectural General Gymnasium in Osaka.
The upcoming Rookie Tournament will be co-hosted by Osaka, Kyoto, Amagasaki, featuring new professional players from various clubs as well as players from various high schools.
However, because of the vast number of participants and the lack of group stages, there were actually very few opportunities for high schoolers to achieve any significant results.
For high schoolers, it was generally more about entertainment than competition, its main purpose was to provide a stage for new teams to build chemistry during graduation season.
Just as Shoyo got off the bus after Miya Atsumu, he heard someone calling his name: "Sho—yo—!"
He looked up and found it was Kai Kiyoharu from Inubushi Higashi.
Just as excited, he rushed straight over and high-fived Kai: "Kiyoharu—"
Meanwhile, the members of Municipal Kobe, who were also checking in, looked back.
Hanae honestly greeted Miya Atsumu, who was following behind to check in with the Inarizaki members alongside the coach: "Atsumu-senpai."
Hinata also rushed over, intending to high-five and greet this future rival: "Hanae-kun!"
Hanae did not refuse the high-five because of their future rivalry, but instead raised his hand in response: "Long time no see. The winner today will definitely be me."
Hinata immediately retorted, "No! It's me!"
Rishia Heisuke, who had followed them over, complained, "Give it up, we're in different districts."
Although there shouldn't be any problems with their match this morning, as their opponents are only a corporate team, but.. their opponents this afternoon are a professional team, one that even ranked at the top of last year's league in the V1 League.
Hinata turned his head to look at Rishia Heisuke, his eyes full of disagreement: "Heisuke, we need to have dreams."
The match hasn't even started yet, how can we give up so easily?
Rishia's expression turned serious: "You're right."
But..
Forget it, he decided not to speak up and crush Hinata's confidence.
Moreover, V1 teams wouldn't send their entire starting lineup to play in a Rookie Tournament; it's likely the Captain would bring a few second-string players and rookies.
After all, for the V1 League, it is still the off-season, so the starters might not have the energy to play matches; they would probably prefer to watch the excitement from the sidelines.
What if—what if they accidentally won?
After listening to the conversation between the two, Hanae fell silent.
Because it wasn't far, they had all taken a bus over this morning, both of their teams had about four hours left until their morning matches.
And Municipal Kobe's first opponent in the draw was a V2 professional team; compared to Inarizaki.. they were even more doomed.
He even felt that there was no real need for them to check into this hotel; they could just come and go on the same day.
However, there is a professional team's fan signing event tomorrow at noon, that is something they absolutely must attend.
Rather, it would be more accurate to say.. their purpose for coming this time is for autographs!
Speaking of which, Inarizaki seemed even more hateful.
Hinata, who had been given a glare of resentment by Hanae for no apparent reason, blinked and tilted his head in confusion.
Hanae said no more. After obediently saying goodbye to the Inarizaki members, he turned and left the hotel lobby, dragging Kanzaki, who was still watching the commotion, along with him.
And Kanzaki, being dragged by someone nearly a head taller than him, felt as though his entire body was being skidded across the floor.
“Akari, wait, wait, wait, did I do something wrong—?”
How did he remember not doing anything wrong today? Why was he being treated like this?
Hanae said expressionlessly, "You're too tall."
Kanzaki, who could only struggle to turn around and bend over to follow Hanae, felt like crying without tears. "There's nothing I can do about this! I didn't do my hair like the Inarizaki Little One!"
Hinata, left behind, felt as if he had been inexplicably struck by a heavy blow.
When Miya Atsumu came over to find him with the room card, the first thing he noticed was Rishia Heisuke's face, which was written with terror, Hinata, who looked so pitiful he was almost in tears.
After pushing aside Rishia Heisuke and handing the person over to Miya Osamu, Miya Atsumu leaned down slightly to look at him. "What's wrong? Who bullied you?"
Hinata raised his hand to touch his fluffy, natural hair, looking up at Miya Atsumu-senpai for validation: "My hair hasn't been styled, really."
Although he was also dissatisfied with his height, he had no intention of using his hair to increase it.
And even with a hairstyle like Hoshiumi-senpai's, the purpose is to increase presence! After all, neither arm length nor leg length will change just because your hair makes you taller.
Miya Atsumu raised both hands and slapped them directly onto Hinata's head, completely messing up his fluffy hair.
His once-orderly hair was frizzed up by static electricity, looking like a round little ball from behind.
Having confirmed it, Miya Atsumu patted Hinata's shoulder: "Yeah, it's natural."
Unabara Uta, passing by behind them, let out a sudden laugh, as the camera flash went off, Hinata's figure was frozen on the phone screen.
On the other side, Suna, who had just woken up and was walking into the hall with his bag, glanced at Unabara Uta's phone screen, silently pointed at his own phone, then pointed at himself.
Unabara Uta raised his hand in an OK gesture, silently reaching an agreement with Suna.
Hinata, completely unaware of how his image had changed, blinked, not understanding why he was suddenly being patted.