—For example, himself.
He will join the Black Jackals, then.. set his sights on Shwaiden Adler!
Anyway, this isn't the first time he's been the strongest challenger; if he can pull off a coronation drama now, he certainly will in the future.
But speaking of that..
Miya Atsumu turned his head to look at Iizuna and Agatsuma in the two rows behind him: "Iizuna-senpai, did Komori say where he's going after graduation?"
Iizuna, who had been secretly observing the two of them, was caught red-handed. He coughed twice in embarrassment before realizing that Miya Atsumu was asking about something serious.
He shook his head. "Not yet. However, many teams have extended olive branches to him, he wants to look around a bit more."
Could it be that Miya Atsumu is recruiting Komori for the Black Jackals first?
However, the Black Jackals have already signed Inunari this year, so they shouldn't need a new Libero in the short term, right? Could it be that things went south? Did they only sign him for one year?
Although V1 players usually sign three-year contracts, there are also those like Oikawa who only sign for one year.
Miya Atsumu clicked his tongue inwardly, then immediately followed up with, "So, does he have any intention of attending university?"
Iizuna rubbed his chin. "Probably not. He personally wants to go straight into professional volleyball; he didn't agree when the Coach previously asked him to join Central Physical Education University."
To put it plainly, it was something like he would have won if he had joined a professional team before Sakusa, because Sakusa had the intention of attending university and was currently torn between Waseda and Kyoto.
However, Iizuna personally felt that the scales in Sakusa's heart should have already tipped toward Waseda, for the reason that.. he didn't want to go to a place crowded with Kansai accents.
Miya Atsumu was even more unhappy.
Fine, it seems Komori can't be moved, so I'll just go and do Hanae's work later.
Wait.. something's not right.
He helps Coach Utsunomiya with recruitment, so Coach Utsunomiya should pay him a salary!
He wasn't a greedy person; he didn't want much, just enough to be converted into Hinata's future training funds—just buy plenty of advanced equipment!
Get everything from fully automatic blocking simulation equipment and such!
—Miya Atsumu started dreaming.
So he pulled out his phone and sent a "You there?" message to Hanae, whom he had added on social media during their youth training days.
Before the other person could reply, Miya Atsumu felt someone poke him in the arm.
He turned around and met Hinata's eyes, which were filled with dissatisfaction.
“Atsumu-senpai isn't listening to a word I'm saying at all.” Hinata looked at Miya Atsumu, accusing him of his behavior.
Miya Atsumu put away his phone, completely failing to notice the reply already sent from the other side: "Sorry, sorry, I was just thinking about Shoyo's future university life; I want to have Komori or Hanae as your teammates."
Hearing this, Hinata froze for a moment. "Eh? What?"
It seems like Komori Motoya-senpai and Hanae are both Liberos; does Atsumu-senpai want them to come to Central Physical Education University to be his classmates?
Miya Atsumu nodded and gave a brief explanation: "Yeah, we have a setter and wing spikers capable of breaking through defenses now, so we shouldn't have to worry about middle blockers; as long as they have enough height, they can train. Plus, Bokuto-senpai and Shiratori-senpai are both incredible at blocking. The only gap we have is a libero."
Although your receiving skills will improve bit by bit with practice, Shoyo, if you want to pursue ultimate speed in many cases, powerful defense behind you is indispensable.
Shiratori-senpai's skill as a setter is indeed quite average, but with that height, his starting point for setting is inherently superior to most other setters, which indeed produces an effect with even greater speed when coordinated.
Miya Atsumu rubbed his chin. "If Komori doesn't have any ideas, then we'll have to consider Hanae; the level of everyone else is still a notch below.."
Hinata nodded vigorously, committing every single word of Miya Atsumu's speech to heart.
But Atsumu-senpai had already thought of that for him.. He really is amazing.
Noticing a gaze that had been fixed on him, Miya Atsumu turned his head toward Hinata and met those eyes, which were brimming with admiration.
No, it felt like more than just admiration; it was something more complex.. What was that word again?
Hinata spoke up, "Atsumu-senpai is just incredible!"
He understood everything, knew everything, would explain it all to him with great patience.
Before, he didn't understand why his heart would race because of how reliable and handsome Atsumu-senpai was, but now he understood.
—It was him feeling that he liked Atsumu-senpai even more.
That's right, Unabara Uta said that after someone shows what they can do, they should be given praise and cheers.
Come to think of it, has he been doing that all along?
That's great, then maybe Atsumu-senpai has already developed a bit of a liking for him without him even knowing!
Thinking this, Hinata couldn't help but smile.
The lights in the surroundings dimmed, the match was about to begin.
Since Central Physical Education University was playing away this time, they didn't have the chance to come over and greet Hinata and the others.
Although EJP Gods' strength has declined in recent years due to an unsuccessful transition period, they are still more than capable of playing against university students.
Not to mention that the two main players of Central Physical Education University are still first-year students, so they lack experience.
Because of a single defensive error by the Libero, the ball flew straight out of the court.
Bokuto, who was nearby, immediately sprinted over, attempting to catch the ball before it flew over the fence.
But clearly, he had failed.
Watching the ball fly toward him, Miya Atsumu's expression turned grim. "Again?!"
But he was holding a water bottle in his hands right now, making it impossible for him to receive it; even if he tried to dodge, he probably wouldn't be able to..
And just at that moment, a hand reached out from the side, using a single forearm to cushion the ball underneath, sending it vertically upward.
After the ball bounced up, it fell back down and was caught steadily in Hinata's hands.
"Are you okay, Atsumu-senpai?" Hinata turned back to look at Miya Atsumu, who had almost been hit, his eyes full of concern.
Miya Atsumu, who had been soaked by the water in his own hand while dodging, waved it off. "I'm fine, I'm fine. You showed up just in time, Shoyo."
If Shoyo hadn't caught it just now, there was an eighty percent chance he would have been hit.
Bokuto, who was already slumped against the fence, said dejectedly, "I couldn't save it.. I hit the railing before I could touch the ball.."
Hinata turned his head to cheer for Bokuto: "Bokuto-senpai, you were already amazing! There definitely won't be any problems with the next ball! Bokuto-senpai can definitely win this point back with a beautiful spike!"
Hearing Hinata's words of encouragement, Bokuto felt revitalized on the spot: "Alright! I'm going to go get that next point!"
Shiratori, who had also been in a state of despair, felt revitalized as well, silently giving Hinata a thumbs up.
So reliable! Shoyo!
Watching the group head back onto the court, Miya Atsumu finally began to clean up his own mess.
"Tissues.." Miya Atsumu instinctively reached into his bag, but a tissue had already appeared before him.
He glanced at Hinata, who had taken a moment from watching the match to hand him a tissue, his face beaming with happiness: "Thanks, you're so reliable, Shoyo."
Hinata gave a little grunt through his nose.
Unabara Uta had said that one must actively observe the opponent's needs and show their reliable side!
Atsumu-senpai also looks very happy! He must have been extremely reliable just now!
Seeing him like this, Miya Atsumu wiped his nose while taking a break from wiping his face.
Oh no, he's a bit too cute.
Chapter 293: The 293rd Fox
Imai, sitting at the very top of the opposite stands, lowered the binoculars in his hands and turned to look at Unabara Uta, who was beside him struggling to chew on some dried sweet potato: "I feel like something isn't right."
Unabara Uta froze for a moment. "What's wrong?"
Did they have a fight? That doesn't seem right. When the camera panned over just now, he saw the two of them still smiling at each other.
Imai said with a straight face, "It just feels like there's a sense of dissonance.. a sixth sense."
It feels like there's some sense of distance, even greater than before?
Unabara Uta scratched his head. "Really? Didn't we come here holding hands?"
Relatively speaking.. doesn't that mean they're even closer now?
Imai went straight to the point: "Don't you think they look like two first and second-year students right now? Like they're in that stage of having their first crush, but being awkward and at a loss for what to do—"
Unabara Uta raised his hands in surrender, forcibly interrupting Imai: "I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong, alright? Stop bringing up that bit of dark history.."
Because he suddenly realized that the friend he had been playing with since he was in diapers was a girl, sensed that he might actually have feelings for her, his legs went weak from the unconscious intimacy, causing him to tumble down the stairs, he ended up with a sprained ankle that forced him to sit on the bench for three months.. stop bringing it up!!
Hehe," Imai gave a mischievous smirk, then added with a sly excuse, "I meant the two of them, not you.
Unabara Uta took a good look through the binoculars, trying to find a point to refute him: "That can't be right. As long as Shoyo confesses, how could Atsumu-senpai not say yes? Once they are together, there's no way Atsumu-senpai would be so restrained.."
But it turned out that Imai seemed to be right.
Setting Shoyo aside for a moment, the main thing was that Atsumu-senpai's behavior was very unusual; he even had some very obvious expressions like, "Shoyo is so cute, but I have to hold back from touching him."
Unabara Uta couldn't help but shout, "Atsumu-senpai, you're totally OOC!"
Actually, it was only because the gaze from Iizuna Sho behind him was so intense, even Coach Utsunomiya would occasionally glance over from the sidelines, that the normally well-behaved Miya Atsumu couldn't help but let out a light click of his tongue.
Although he really wanted to say that coming to watch this match was a mistake, but.. thanks to Oikawa-senpai, he had discovered a very useful way to counter Hinata!
For the sake of this matter, it wasn't that he couldn't give Oikawa-senpai a little support.
Thinking of this, Miya Atsumu turned his head toward Hinata, who was watching the match intently, leaned in toward him imperceptibly, once again placing his hand behind him to subtly draw him into his space.
Hinata tilted his head slightly toward Miya Atsumu, who had already leaned in, said, "By the way, Atsumu-senpai, the middle blocker over on EJP Gods gives off a very troublesome impression."
Miya Atsumu nodded and pointed a finger at number 11, who was rotating with the Libero. "Yeah, EJP Gods' blocking is a very classic, reactive style of blocking."
That number 11 has sufficient height and very fast reaction speeds. Most of the time, he can keep up with many back row spikes just by relying on his arm length, with his ample experience.. it wouldn't be difficult to specifically shut down Bokuto-senpai.
Hinata thought for a moment: "In other words, the method used against Agatsuma-senpai before can also be used here?"
The last person to be described by Miya Atsumu like that was Agatsuma-senpai, whom he had managed to shake off through sheer superior speed and height.
But before Miya Atsumu could nod, Hinata shook his head on his own: "No, I'll have a better way to respond now."
Whether it was pure speed or height, both were inferior strategies; he had already felt a sense of discomfort when he relied solely on his physical abilities before.