Coach Sanjo led the two of them to the Locker Room: "The morning session is physical training in the gym, so there's no need to bring any protective gear."
Hinata, watch your knees; there will be a lower body training segment.
Hinata raised his hand: "Understood!"
After changing into his short sleeves and shorts, Hinata stretched and moved his body.
Free from the constraints of those protective gear pieces meant for safety, he felt his flexibility increase significantly.
Looking at Hinata's bare knees and ankles, Unabara Uta was slightly dazed.
In his memory, Hinata had always worn knee pads from beginning to end, making him the only exception in Inarizaki.
Their fundamental skills were decent enough, so to prevent them from developing the habit of letting their knees touch the ground, Coach Kurosu strictly forbade them from wearing knee pads.
After all, touching the ground most of the time would affect the quality of receiving and subsequent offense, so they had to start by addressing the habit of "being afraid of pain."
Sometimes, Hinata now resorts to touching his knees to the floor, using the ground to help him receive heavy spikes.
After all, his physique is relatively small, making it easy for him to be sent flying directly by a ball, so this is merely an emergency measure. Once he matures in the future, it would be best to break this bad habit.
However, Hinata himself understood this principle well, Coach Kurosu had also emphasized it to him, so he only used it once or twice occasionally.
Coach Sanjo, who had watched plenty of Inarizaki matches, crossed his arms over his chest and looked Hinata up and down, suddenly asking, "If you don't use protective gear, are you afraid?"
Upon hearing this question, Hinata clearly froze for a moment, a look of confusion crossing his face: "Why would I be afraid?"
Coach Sanjo said with lowered eyes, "It hurts much more when you hit the hard floor."
"Ah." Hinata had a sudden realization.
He shook his head and said in a very lighthearted voice, "I don't wear knee pads because I'm afraid of getting bumped; they're used to stabilize the meniscus and the patella.. that's how you call them, right?"
Because I jump quite a lot normally, so Coach is worried about the strain on my knees.
However, the knee pads he is using now were newly sent by Miya Atsumu; the metal support inside the previous ones had snapped due to metal fatigue during a training session.
“I see..” Coach Sanjo gave a light laugh.
He reached out and opened the door to the Locker Room, stepping out first.
Standing in the light cast by the morning sun, he turned his head slightly to look at Hinata and Unabara Uta in the room.
Then congratulations to you both; you can enjoy two weeks of carefree jumping and diving.
—Sand is actually very gentle.
Hinata's eyes widened slightly.
Walking behind Coach Sanjo, they arrived at the entrance of the gym, where people were already performing their warm-up training.
And one of them was someone Hinata was very familiar with.
Eh?!
The other person turned around as well, looking somewhat surprised to see the two of them, but a gentle smile soon spread across his face.
A leisurely voice followed: "Coach said some high schoolers were coming to train for a while, but I didn't expect it to be you.. the kids from Inarizaki."
Unabara Uta was also startled by the sudden appearance of an acquaintance: "Shimizu-senpai! Have you started playing beach volleyball!"
Shimizu held up a finger, waving it in front of him, said with a smile, "No, it would be more accurate to say I've 'returned' to playing beach volleyball."
Another person asked, "An acquaintance?"
Shimizu explained, "Yeah, an opponent I played against in high school. A national champion type, you know."
His partner gasped in shock, "A national champion! That's incredible!"
Hinata secretly puffed out his chest, he couldn't help but let a smile curl at the corners of his mouth.
The physical training for beach volleyball was similar to the indoor training. Hinata picked it up very quickly, even completing his training volume alongside the fourth-year seniors under Coach Sanjo's instructions.
Hinata and Unabara Uta did not participate in the first day of sparring training, after all, the two of them knew nothing about beach volleyball.
Even though they are both volleyball, the court, the rules, the common techniques used are completely different; they are two entirely different sports.
However, for the two of them, who were currently mostly still stuck in basic training, it was still quite easy to get the hang of.
Especially after listening to Coach Sanjo explain many theoretical details, they could roughly understand the flow of beach volleyball competition.
Since there were theory classes for third and fourth-year students in the afternoon, Coach Sanjo took the opportunity to announce self-training sessions, asking Shimizu, who was quite familiar with Hinata, to help lead them.
Shimizu weighed the ball in her hands. "Do you want to come up and try it out?"
Hinata raised his hand: "I do!"
Looking up at the closed roof, Shimizu felt a slight sense of regret. "The weather isn't very good today, is it?"
It has been drizzling since after eight o'clock this morning, so there was no way to open the roof, there was no sun.
Moreover, due to the design of the roof, the lights are all positioned around the perimeter, so he has nothing to use to gain momentum for his high serves.
But it didn't matter; playing with two novices didn't require that kind of skill.
Shimizu suggested, "For now, let's get used to the feeling of running and jumping on sand."
Curious, Hinata Shoyo quickly kicked off his shoes and walked barefoot onto the sand-covered court.
His body sank slightly, but at the same time, the soft and coarse sensation beneath his feet felt unfamiliar to him.
Unabara Uta followed him in, leaning down to reach out and grab a handful of sand.
Indeed, if one were to perform a diving save on this kind of ground, there probably wouldn't be much psychological pressure.
Hinata hopped on the sand and said with some frustration, "It doesn't feel right to jump."
Because the sand was soft enough, it couldn't provide the same feedback as a hard floor to help him soar into the sky.
Moreover, movement would become difficult due to the resistance, consuming even more physical strength.
Shimizu smiled with crescent-shaped eyes. "On the other hand, it means you can jump without any hesitation."
The sand will absorb the excess force, which can reduce the strain on the ankles and knees upon landing, even if you fall, you won't suffer any serious injuries.
He suggested, "Shoyo, do you want to try jumping with all your might?"
Hinata's eyes widened. "Ohhh—really?!"
Shimizu gave an affirmative answer: "Of course."
Unabara Uta tried a diving maneuver behind them, but since it was his first time on the sand and he hadn't mastered the angle, he dove straight into the ground and ate a mouthful of sand.
Shimizu laughed, "But if you don't get the hang of it, this could happen."
He picked up the volleyball from the ground and handed it over. "Let's start with the simplest adaptation first; feel how the sand-covered volleyball feels in your hands."
"Yeah!" Hinata nodded vigorously.
They started practicing with the most basic serves and receives, the three of them forming an equilateral triangle to pass the ball to one another.
Hinata and Unabara Uta also quickly found their rhythm, Shimizu's shouting frequency decreased significantly.
Just then, a booming voice suddenly rang out from the direction of the stands: "Shoyo! Is that Shoyo!"
Hinata looked up sharply and saw Bokuto Kotaro leaning over the second-floor stands, along with Shiratori Natsume by his side.
He shouted out in pleasant surprise, "Bokuto-senpai! Natsume-senpai!"
Shimizu Kanata also raised her hand and waved to the two of them: "Natsume, Kotaro, you're certainly a high-energy Mr. Sunshine today."
Unabara Uta, who had just performed a diving save to the other side of the net, lay face down on the sand, feeling a sense of existential doubt.
Wait, is this really at Central Physical Education University, not some time-traveling trip back to the Haruko scene? Why are there so many familiar faces everywhere?
Shimizu shook the sand off his hands and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "Let's call it a day here; we'll continue tomorrow."
Hinata, who also wanted to talk to Bokuto and the others, nodded: "Okay!"
After changing his clothes, he rushed straight over and high-fived the two of them. "It's been a long time, senpai!"
Unabara Uta, following behind, was stunned by such familiarity and was momentarily at a loss for words.
Glancing at Bokuto, who had suddenly grabbed Unabara Uta to say something, Shiratori took the opportunity to seize Hinata and pulled him out through the exit of the beach volleyball venue.
Shiratori said helplessly, "I wish I could just sleep until two years from now."
Why? Because of Bokuto-senpai?
Hinata blinked and suddenly said, "But Natsume-senpai seems to really like Bokuto-senpai."
Shiratori stumbled, turning back to look at Hinata with a terrified expression: "Shoyo, you seem to be saying something that makes my skin crawl."
He exaggerated the severity of the situation, trying to garner sympathy: "If you weren't coming later, I would have already lost all hope and prepared to drop out.."
Listening to Shiratori's words, Hinata tilted his head. "Isn't that so? But I feel like every time I see you, Bokuto-senpai seems to be there too?"
Hearing this, Shiratori fell silent.
Hinata was right; he really had become almost like a conjoined twin with Bokuto. Ever since the Black Eagle Flag match ended, Bokuto had been clinging to him constantly.
This phenomenon became even more severe, especially after the Captain of Fukurodani came over to take a look.
To be honest.. he was almost used to it.
Even if he didn't coax Bokuto, as long as he stood by his side for a while, Bokuto would be able to cheer himself up.
—It was a bit easier than he had imagined.
“Natsume-senpai is a very kind person,” Hinata said with a smile, “it makes you want to be close to him. I bet Bokuto-senpai feels the same way, right?”
Shiratori's eyes widened as scenes buried deep within his memories suddenly flashed before his eyes.
That person is terrifying; stay away from him. He looks really fierce.
He clenched his fists, then quickly released them.
But.. the one who is truly as blazing and scorching as the sun should be the person right in front of me.
Even knowing that touching him would mean being burned to ashes by the flames, I still couldn't help but want to get closer, to reach out and touch him.
With a helpless smile on his face, Shiratori said softly, "That's wonderful then."
Hinata chuckled, "With Natsume-senpai, there definitely won't be any problems."
Just then, Bokuto's unmistakable voice drifted down from above: "Found you! Natsume! Shoyo!"
Bokuto leaned over the edge of the platform above the stairs and shouted toward this side, "Shimizu said a new cat cafe just opened up by the school gate! Let's go together!"