Hinata dodged those kisses that he couldn't handle and leaned directly against Miya Atsumu's shoulder, rubbing his head against his face.
Atsumu felt the weight of Hinata on him and said, "You've tanned a little, grown a bit taller, gained some weight too."
"It hasn't changed that much.." Hinata chuckled.
But before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt a chill on his neck, immediately after, he was grabbed and dropped to the ground.
Coach Kurosu had a dark expression on his face as he indifferently pulled the two apart. "Alright, people are about to come out, so that's enough."
On the other side, Imai had already used the occasion to present a gift, giving the flowers he received from Miya Atsumu to Unabara Uta.
Unabara Uta was moved to tears. Having spent all day soaking in the Beach Volleyball court after requesting it himself, he was much darker than Hinata, he seemed to have matured a bit.
Hinata's schedule basically consisted of playing Beach Volleyball in the morning and following Coach Utsunomiya to Indoor Volleyball in the afternoon, so he didn't end up being tanned into a black potato from every single angle like Unabara Uta.
But listening to the arrangements for Hinata's future schooling.. Unabara Uta felt that Hinata turning into a black potato was only a matter of time.
Seeing his aggrieved expression, Imai also knelt down to comfort him.
This time, Miya Atsumu wouldn't stand for it.
He pointed at the two people over there who had gone from coaxing to kissing, accused the coach, "Coach, you don't care about those two, you only care about me!"
Coach Kurosu gave Hinata a quick hug and gently patted his head, before turning to glare at Miya Atsumu. "How are those two the same!"
Miya Atsumu was too angry to speak, so he could only watch as the Coach pulled Hinata aside to ask all sorts of questions, leaving him all alone on the side.
Just then, a hand quietly reached over, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze.
Atsumu froze for a moment, looking up to meet Hinata's eyes.
After giving Miya Atsumu enough comfort, Hinata continued to answer the coach's questions, clearing the two Itachiyama coaches of the charge of "bullying him."
Coach Kurosu did not take up too much of Hinata's time, after driving back to Amagasaki, he even thoughtfully dropped Miya Atsumu off at the entrance of the Hinata family home.
He rolled down the car window and said to the two of them, "Don't be late for tomorrow's training. I want to check on how you and Unabara Uta have been training lately."
Hinata raised his hand in response: "Understood! I won't let you down, Coach!"
After greeting his parents and playing with Xiaoxia for a while, Hinata lay down in his own room.
The two weeks of high-intensity training had indeed left him feeling somewhat exhausted, after the sudden silence, he felt a bit drowsy.
Miya Atsumu walked in while drying his hair after showering. "You haven't showered yet; are you going to sleep for a bit before you go?"
Hinata wiggled slightly, clutching the folded, unspread quilt beside him and refusing to let go. "No way, I'll end up sleeping straight through until tomorrow morning.."
Miya Atsumu sat down beside him and reached out to poke his thigh.
The muscle without tension felt very soft and had a wonderful texture; Miya Atsumu grew playful and poked it for a long time.
The drowsy Hinata didn't kick him either, but instead moved his leg away with some difficulty: "It tickles."
Miya Atsumu took the opportunity to start poking his other leg.
Hinata rolled over, pinning that mischievous hand underneath his leg, opened his eyes slightly to look at Miya Atsumu. "Is there a line marking the sun exposure?"
Miya Atsumu looked up to confirm, "Just a little, but it's not very noticeable."
Even with sunscreen, it's hard to withstand being under the sun constantly; it's mostly for safety, to prevent skin damage from excessive UV exposure.
But.. skin that was slightly tanned from the sun was actually quite sexy.
Just as Miya Atsumu was about to reach out and touch it, Hinata sprang up from a bridge position: "Alright! Shower time!"
Miya Atsumu was startled, then his expression turned somewhat terrified.
This sudden shift from zero to full capacity reminded him of a very terrifying old acquaintance!
Has Hinata had too much contact with Bokuto these past two weeks!
No, this won't do!
His Shoyo is going to be corrupted!!
Hinata finished his shower in a flash and, with hair still dripping wet, prepared to dive into the bed Miya Atsumu had already made for him.
Luckily, Miya Atsumu, having returned with the milk, was quick to act and grabbed him by the arm. "Your hair, your hair, I'll dry it for you."
Hinata cheered, "Long live Atsumu-senpai!"
By the time Miya Atsumu had finished drying Hinata's hair, Hinata had already fallen asleep curled up in his arms.
He sighed, gave him a goodnight kiss of his own accord, tucked him into the blankets, then stood up to turn off the light.
“Goodnight, Shoyo.”
Coach Kurosu arrived at the Volleyball Hall early the next morning. Since there were no formal training sessions scheduled for this morning and no requirement to attend, many people chose to get some good rest.
Over the coming week, they will reduce their training intensity accordingly to adjust their condition to its absolute peak.
However.. Hinata and Unabara's current status still needs to be thoroughly checked, to make it easier for him to make subsequent training arrangements.
Coach Kurosu looked at Miya Atsumu, who had followed Hinata over. "First, let's check the progress on the first receive practice. Atsumu, do you want to practice your serve?"
As the Captain, Miya Atsumu didn't refuse to act as a practice partner for Hinata and Unabara Uta: "I guess I could, I'll just use it as an opportunity to practice."
After a simple warm-up, Miya Atsumu walked to the other side of the net and took a volleyball out of the basket beside him.
Are you ready, Shoyo? I still won't be holding back.
Hinata lowered his center of gravity, his expression very serious: "I'm ready!"
Unabara Uta stood beside Coach Kurosu, quietly watching Miya Atsumu's serve and Hinata's first receive on the court.
Actually, it looked much the same as during the training camp at Shirabu, the success rate probably hadn't changed much either; after all, Hinata had been practicing a wide variety of things over the past two weeks, not just limiting himself to the first receive.
Coach Kurosu's face didn't show much expression, but a faint smile lingered on the corners of his mouth.
Unabara Uta tilted his head slightly to look over, yet he could still catch a hint of joy from the corners of the other man's eyes.
Coach Kurosu laughed heartily. "Isn't this great? His judgment is much better than before, his movements are faster than before, he can distinguish which balls are worth receiving."
He rubbed his chin and continued, "And.. Shoyo's lower body feels much more stable."
Unabara Uta also laughed, saying, "If it's not stable, you won't be able to carry out the subsequent offense."
In Beach Volleyball, there are only two players and consecutive touches are not allowed, so one must ensure that they can quickly transition back into an offensive role after participating in defense at all times.
For the two novices, this was difficult to achieve; many times they couldn't manage a follow-up spike and could only resort to a dig.
But Hinata is not the only one defending on the indoor volleyball court; as long as Hinata can find a way to carry out a subsequent attack even when targeted by serves, that will be enough.
Therefore, there was no problem with him receiving close-range balls without letting them touch the ground or performing a diving save for long-range balls, because under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be his turn to save such a long ball.
Coach Kurosu smiled along, then turned his head to look at Unabara Uta: "It's the same for you, isn't it?"
Unabara Uta froze for a moment, then broke into a confident smile: "Of course, this is the greatest gain of my trip."
Hearing his Libero's affirmative response, Coach Kurosu laughed heartily and couldn't help but clap his hands: "Very good, very good."
Having just made a great receive, Hinata turned his head, thinking the coach was praising him, Hinata also raised his hand: "Yay!"
Coach Kurosu reached out and beckoned to Hinata, calling him over: "Alright, Shoyo, you can come down. Unabara, go receive."
Miya Atsumu's stamina and condition are limited; having to act as a sparring partner for two people meant he would naturally be worked to the bone.
"Mm!" Unabara Uta nodded heavily, stepping out onto the court.
Miya Atsumu, who had been secretly noting Unabara Uta's progress during this period, narrowed his eyes and silently rotated the ball in his hands, preparing to give her something big.
Unabara Uta, who was just about to show Coach Kurosu how much his ball control had improved in this short period, remained expressionless.
Atsumu-senpai is getting revenge on him!
Since when did one-on-one serve reception training involve aiming for the corners like this!
Even as he thought this, Unabara Uta's legs didn't hesitate for a second, he immediately lunged forward in a diving motion.
But because he hadn't been in contact with the hard floor for some time, his first step was wrong; his push-off was too forceful, causing him to lunge forward with even more intensity than before.
Because the distance was further than he had expected, he didn't catch the ball with his hands, but instead.. used his shoulder to cushion it.
Unabara Uta's breath hitched as he was struck, everything went black for him.
Damn, I forgot this isn't on sand, so there isn't that much resistance!
Coach Kurosu remained silent for two seconds before finally letting out a deep sigh: "Stop for a moment. You two should get used to the hard floor first and find your rhythm."
If this continues for a couple more hits, they might actually end up getting injured..
Miya Atsumu had already crawled under the net and come to a stop beside Unabara Uta, looking down at him. "What kind of receive was that? Even Shoyo could do better."
Unabara Uta collapsed to the ground.
Coach Kurosu didn't criticize anything; setting aside the fact that Unabara Uta had not yet adapted to the environment, Unabara Uta's reaction speed just now was much faster than before.
If this were a formal match, there would be no need for the spiker on the wing to step in; the Libero could simply receive the ball.
He raised his hand to support his chin, thinking seriously, "Can the tactics be adjusted slightly in this direction.."
After a period of intense final coordination at Inarizaki, they arrived in Oita on time on the evening of August 4th.
The hotel arranged through the official tournament partnership was located near the Inarizaki No. 2 Gymnasium, it was almost full by the time everyone arrived.
After all, not every team was like Shwaiden Adler, having no matches for the first few days. Oita was too far away for most teams, so most had arrived by the 3rd.
However, as one of the strongest contenders for the championship, Inarizaki's accommodation had been reserved in advance, on the sixth floor of the hotel.
This time, the men's and women's volleyball teams were also staying in the same hotel. Furthermore, because the local area was not particularly developed, the hotel was much smaller than those in places like Tokyo, which resulted in more teams having to stay in local inns or guesthouses.
Most of those able to stay in hotels were teams that had achieved sufficient results in the previous two years and had sufficient funds for reimbursement.
So the moment Miya Atsumu was the first to step into the hotel lobby, he saw Hoshiumi Hikari, who was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and a gloomy expression on his face, looking at them.
Miya Atsumu greeted him with a smile, "Yo, isn't that Hoshiumi? Long time no see!"
Hoshiumi Hikari remained expressionless, not giving Miya Atsumu so much as a single glance. "I'm not close to you."
He gets angry just seeing this person now, he wishes he could tear him into ten thousand pieces.
On the same day Hinata and Miya Atsumu's confession succeeded, Hinata told him about it. Although he only offered his congratulations to Hinata at the time, he was actually extremely anxious.
Setting aside the public's level of acceptance for a moment, Hinata's future prospects alone are enough to make him worry.
Among the top few teams in V1, Shwaiden Adler Hinata probably won't have a chance to join, since he is already there.
Miya Atsumu has already confirmed that he is going to the Black Fox Wolf, so it is highly likely that the Black Fox Wolf coach will not consider Hinata, who might have a romantic relationship with Miya Atsumu, since certain things could potentially affect the player's own condition.