The corners of Miya Atsumu's mouth curled up involuntarily, he agreed in a daze.
"Long live Atsumu-senpai! Atsumu-senpai is the best!" Hinata cheered.
His good mood was completely shattered once he led Hinata to the hall that Hoshiumi had described.
Seeing the figure standing by the vending machine, Miya Atsumu clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Upon seeing the three of them, Hinata was overcome with immense surprise: "Hoshiumi-senpai! Hakuma-senpai! And Great Hirugami-senpai!"
He had thought he would have to wait until the Interhigh to have the chance to see Hoshiumi again, but he never expected Hoshiumi-senpai would actually come to visit him!
Hinata rushed over without hesitation and gave Hoshiumi-senpai a big bear hug.
Hirugami Fuku also nodded to the two of them: "Long time no see, Atsumu and Hinata."
After finishing his hug with Hoshiumi-senpai, Hinata decisively reached out his hand toward Hirugami Fuku, who was leaning in.
After a moment of surprise, Hirugami Fuku also leaned down to hug Hinata, even reaching out to pat Hinata's head.
Hinata let go of Hirugami Fuku, turned to Miya Atsumu with a silly grin, his face full of excitement from having hugged a V1 superstar.
Miya Atsumu didn't care about this; a mere V1 player, he would be one soon enough.
When the time comes, Hinata can hug him as many times as he wants!
Hoshiumi patted Hinata's shoulder, his face clearly written with admiration and approval. "You played quite well in that last match; you covered your teammates' defensive errors very quickly. Your opportunities for spikes were also quite good, it's just.."
At this point, Hoshiumi paused for a moment.
Hinata instantly grew tense, snapping into a rigid standing position: "What do you mean, 'the level of the opponent'?"
Hoshiumi added with a smile, "It's just that the opponent's skill level is a bit mediocre, so there isn't much room to perform."
He rushed over as soon as he received the news. Fortunately, Nagano and Osaka weren't that far apart, the Prefectural General Gymnasium was very close to the station. He arrived just in time to catch the tail end of the match.
Even Hirugami Fuku hadn't arrived from the attractions in the suburbs yet; he had rushed to the venue immediately after the match ended.
Hinata felt a little embarrassed by the praise, he scratched his head. "It's all thanks to Atsumu-senpai; he directs me through all sorts of tactics."
Behind them, Miya Atsumu stood with his hands on his hips and his chest puffed out, looking like a high-spirited rooster.
Hoshiumi let out a light click of his tongue and continued, "You need to learn these things too. You were already able to interestingly direct Miya Atsumu to perform certain Quick Attacks; once you adapt to standard tactics, you'll be able to do it as well."
Hinata responded quickly upon hearing this, "Yeah, yeah, I understand!"
Hoshiumi patted his chest. "If there's anything you don't know, just ask me. I consider myself quite capable when it comes to coordinating defense and tactical deployment."
And.. I am your mentor, am I not?
Hearing this, Hinata's nose tingled, he nodded repeatedly in agreement: "Hoshiumi-senpai is the best, best, best—best mentor in the whole world!"
Hoshiumi glanced at Miya Atsumu out of the corner of his eye. "Better than anyone else?"
Hinata nodded frantically again: "Yeah, yeah, yeah!"
Watching the children interact, Hirugami Fuku smiled very happily; personally, he really loved seeing scenes like this.
Moreover, just thinking that these were his brother's friends made him feel even happier.
When Hirugami Yukio was in junior high school, he and Hirugami couldn't go home often; on the rare occasions they did visit, they could only see the figure of Hirugami Yukio practicing volleyball all by himself.
—But he didn't look happy.
That was exactly why he and Shoyo had been so worried about this younger brother for a long time. He had even tried to take a break from a match once to go home and watch his brother play, but Hirugami Yukio had stubbornly pushed him away.
At the time, the reason Hirugami Yukio gave was that he felt his brother's match was more important.
Later one day, his younger brother suddenly told them that he wouldn't be playing volleyball after high school, he actually felt a sense of relief.
Hirugami Yukihito was afraid of failing his older brother and sister's expectations, but in reality, that wasn't the case.
To Hirugami Fuku and Hirugami, Hirugami Yukio was more important than volleyball.
Therefore, he treated his younger brother's friends with the utmost kindness, not to mention that whether it was Hoshiumi, Hakuma, or Miya Atsumu, they were all exceptional talents who perfectly suited his tastes.
Hirugami Fuku looked at Miya Atsumu: "By the way, Atsumu-kun, do you have any plans for where you'll go after graduation?"
Miya Atsumu shook his head. "I plan to see how things go; I'm in no rush."
Hirugami Fuku also nodded: "There's indeed no rush. You can consider our Adler when the time comes; our Setter will need to be replaced in a couple of years."
"I will," Miya Atsumu nodded.
Hoshiumi's expression was slightly distorted; after all, Hirugami Fuku had expressed interest in recruiting him, but he had no plans to go to college and would most likely go to Shwaiden Adler.
If he and Miya Atsumu were on the same team..
Hoshiumi shuddered.
Just thinking about it made him feel nauseous; although he acknowledged Miya Atsumu's strength and his attitude toward volleyball, it didn't mean he was willing to spend every waking hour with Miya Atsumu.
Unfortunately, he had no way to influence the decisions made by the club leadership; if it truly came down to official business, he could only grit his teeth and agree.
From a distance, Minka Shugo, whose eye-catching hair color stood out alongside Miya Atsumu and Hinata, saw Hirugami Fuku speaking gently to the two of them, looking as if he were very familiar with them.
Minka Shugo fell silent.
He remembered that this was Osaka, not Tokyo, so why were some people still haunting him like ghosts!
They even had their eyes on the kids from Kansai!
Chapter 256: The Two Hundred and Fifty-Sixth Fox
Minka Shugo gave a forced smile, but Inunari, who had followed him, froze for a moment the instant his eyes met Hinata's.
Inunari blinked, flashed a smile at Hinata, waved a hand at the same time.
Noticing that Hinata seemed to have sensed something and suddenly turned his head to greet someone, Miya Atsumu was a bit confused: "Shoyo, what are you looking at?"
Hinata lifted his eyes and thought for a moment about where he had seen these two before. "Black.. familiar-looking people."
Miya Atsumu turned slightly upon hearing this, following the direction of Hinata's gaze toward the entrance of the corridor on the other side.
A very tall person stood there, Miya Atsumu was very familiar with that face.
—The new Captain of the Black Jackals who took over last year, the 24-year-old Middle Blocker, Minka Shugo.
He with the light-colored hair beside him was someone he didn't recognize, but he wasn't very tall, considering the previous injury of the Black Jackals' Libero, he was very likely the newly joined Libero.
It seemed their guesses while reviewing the footage and organizing materials yesterday were correct; the main purpose of the Black Jackals' participation this time was to showcase their new Libero.
The actions of the two from Inarizaki naturally piqued Hirugami Fuku's curiosity, the moment he looked up, he locked eyes with Minka Shugo.
The gentle smile on Hirugami Fuku's face froze in an instant, becoming incredibly forced.
Although he knew this was Osaka, even a venue for Men's Volleyball matches, he was not prepared for the shock of a sudden encounter with his old rival here.
However..
Hirugami Fuku also noticed Inunari following Minka Shugo.
Unlike Miya Atsumu and the others who only studied Black Jackals' match footage for the afternoon's games, as the captain of a professional team, he would keep an eye on the roster changes in the V1 League.
Every year, player transfers, retirements, the arrival of new players are all publicly announced.
And following the conclusion of last year's various university leagues and the end of the V1 regular season, the full public announcement regarding the winter transfer window information has been released.
Both of the Black Jackals' new players this year are Liberos, one of them is this person from Inunari.
—The Best Libero of the University Volleyball Championship a month ago, who is expected to graduate from Hosei University this March.
Heiwajima, the Libero for the Shwaiden Adler, has only been with the team for a few years and is currently in his prime, so there is no need to recruit someone of a similar age.
The competition for Inunari was primarily between the Black Jackals and EJP Gods.
EJP Gods' Libero was getting older and his reactions couldn't keep up, so he announced his retirement during this period, but their own team's efforts to train a successor have not yielded sufficient results.
He heard from the coach that EJP was also interested in Yaku, who is graduating from Nekoma this March, but Coach Nekota had already taken the initiative to contact other teams, as the latter is planning to go abroad to the Russian Super League next year.
Compared to the Russian Super League, Japan's V1 truly lacks competitiveness.
After failing to recruit players twice in a row, the most important Libero position could only be filled by a second-team player; he felt nothing but heartache for the EJP Gods' coach.
However, according to rumors, the Black Jackals' coach had already set his sights on them and made contact back when Inarizaki wasn't even famous yet; under these circumstances, it's only natural that EJP couldn't compete.
When it comes to scouting talent, the Black Jackals are incredibly formidable.
Moreover, they actively scout players who aren't very well known; their coach has incredibly sharp eyes and is quite fond of using young players.
Noticing Hirugami's gaze drifting toward his own Libero, Minka Shugo stepped forward without hesitation, blocking the path in front of Inarizaki.
He flashed a "friendly" smile at his old friend, then raised his hand in greeting.
Long time no see.
Hirugami smiled and teased, "It hasn't been that long, has it? Not much time has passed since the last match, right?"
They only finished the regular season of the league in November, the two teams had encountered each other in other matches during that time, but the Semifinals wouldn't begin until April.
Minka Shugo had no mood to chat with Hirugami at this moment; instead, he immediately looked toward Miya Atsumu: "Setting that aside for a moment, Miya Atsumu-kun, do you have time to talk with me?"
Hirugami also took a step forward, standing in front of Hinata and Miya Atsumu. "Are you two really in such a hurry?"
Minka Shugo threw up his hands. "You were the one who started it."
Obstructed by Hirugami's broad frame, Hinata struggled to lean to the side so he could clearly see the two members of the Black Jackals opposite him.
That light-haired senpai was staring at him for some reason, it was a bit.. scary.
After receiving a glance from Minka Shugo, Hinata shuddered instantly and shrank back behind Hirugami.
At a time like this, having a familiar, quite tall, even the Captain of a top V1 King team by his side could provide him with a sufficient sense of security.
Minka Shugo's smile froze.
How did he suddenly become disliked by the kid? This isn't a good opening..
Reaching out to pat Hinata's back, Miya Atsumu took a step forward and replied, "Minka-san, we are opponents this afternoon, so let's talk after the match is over."
Minka Shugo nodded. "True. See you this afternoon."
Indeed, the match itself is what matters most right now.
Moreover, for them, the match itself can reveal much more.