It was the photo of holding hands that Suna had captured earlier; he had set it as his wallpaper after getting Hinata's permission.
Sakusa remained silent for two minutes before turning his head toward Komori, who looked completely unfazed, asked, "You knew all along?"
This news came a bit too shockingly, leaving him in a daze.
Coach Himegomiya told me," Komori scratched his head. "Didn't Shoyo stay at her place for a while before?
Sakusa frowned, appearing to be processing this sudden, shocking news.
Komori expressed a very open-minded attitude: "It won't interfere with the match anyway, having a positive and healthy romance is beneficial for both mind and body."
Miya Atsumu gave a silent nod of his chin, while simultaneously raising his hand to wave at Hinata, who was jogging over toward them.
After finishing his conversation with Hoshiumi, Hinata came rushing over, bouncing with excitement: "Atsumu-ge! Gen-senpai! Kami-senpai!"
Sakusa looked back and greeted Hinata along with Komori.
Watching Hinata's lunging movement get intercepted by Miya Atsumu, only to be grabbed by the back of his collar and dropped to the floor, he replayed Komori's words in his mind.
—It seems like it actually makes a lot of sense.
If it's beneficial for physical and mental health, then there's no problem at all.
He looked down at Hinata and said softly, "Good luck in the match."
Personally, he was indeed looking forward to playing a match against Inarizaki when they were in their best form.
It's time to settle the grudge from last year's National Sports Festival.
Hinata nodded heavily: "Good luck to you too, Kami-senpai! See you in the Finals!"
Komori also added, "See you in the Finals!"
Just as Komori and Sakusa were about to find another place to watch the match, Miya Atsumu suddenly spoke up to stop Komori: "Komori, want to make a bet?"
Komori and Sakusa both looked back at him, confusion written in their eyes.
Miya Atsumu said with a smile, "If our Inarizaki wins this time, you're going to Central Physical Education University."
Sakusa raised an eyebrow slightly and asked on Komori's behalf, "And if we win?"
Miya Atsumu pointed to himself. "Whatever teammates you want in a professional team in the future.. I can help you find the right ones."
Komori tilted his head slightly. "What about you? Is that possible for you too?"
Atsumu's smile remained unchanged as he looked Komori in the eye. "I'd love to say yes, but I've already signed a contract with the Black Jackals, I can't leave until the contract period ends."
But whether you want Aran or Rintaro, or even a Setter whose skill level is close to mine.. I will find a way to introduce them to you.
However, his contract with the Black Jackals was not the final version, but rather a performance-based agreement.
He would need to achieve even better results during this year to demand better treatment and a higher salary from the Black Jackals.
Komori thought seriously for a moment. "That sounds good."
Sakusa, on the other hand, was somewhat dazed.
Being interested in Miya Atsumu's proposal meant that both Komori and Miya Atsumu had judged that either outcome would fall within their acceptable range.
In other words.. has Komori changed his mind a little and decided he wants to go to university?
Miya Atsumu was not at all surprised that Komori would agree. "Then it's a deal."
Komori gave an affirmative hum, then followed up with a question: "So just how many favors did Coach Utsunomiya give you to get you to recruit for him?"
Miya Atsumu shrugged. "There's nothing I can do about that. Since Shoyo is planning to go, isn't building a dream team a great idea?"
Komori stood with his hands on his hips and gave a confident smile. "That's not necessarily true. When the time comes, remember to help me recruit Ushijima-senpai to my professional team."
Hearing the person Komori mentioned, Miya Atsumu also felt it would be a bit difficult: "Whoa, that request of yours.."
Komori, having guessed that Miya Atsumu would react this way, also shrugged his shoulders. "It's only natural for the High School's Best Libero to switch to last year's High School's Best Spiker, anyway. Besides, you, the High School's Best Setter, don't plan on going with me either."
Looking from side to side, Hinata echoed, "That makes sense."
Komori waved goodbye to the two of them. "Alright, we're heading out first. If we stay any longer, we'll have to head over to the gymnasium for training soon."
After seeing off the two from Itachiyama, Hinata looked up at Miya Atsumu. "But wouldn't Ushijima-senpai choose to go to the strongest, Shwaiden Adler?"
Miya Atsumu wasn't worried; instead, he simply waved his hands. "At the very least, we still have High School's Best Middle Blocker."
Since Hirugami didn't plan on continuing to play volleyball, the next Middle Blocker in line was Suna, he felt absolutely no psychological pressure in selling Suna out.
And it wasn't until this moment that Inamoto, who had been following behind the two senpais like a ghost, finally recovered from his petrified state.
Dating!!
Miya Atsumu was startled, his body jolting as he quickly reached out to press down on Inamoto. "Shh, don't just say anything, the media is still here."
Inamoto's hands trembled as he pointed at Miya Atsumu and then at Hinata, feeling as though he were still dreaming.
Sakusa, who had already walked a long way, suddenly stopped in his tracks at this moment.
Komori froze for a moment. "What's wrong?"
Sakusa lowered his eyes and thought seriously, "It feels like.. I've forgotten something."
The two of them stared at each other in silence for a full minute before finally pulling that forgotten junior from the corners of their memories.
“Inamoto!!”
Chapter 314: The Three Hundred and Fourteenth Fox
After two and a half days of intense matches, the IH group stage has come to an end. The 24 teams that advanced from the group stage, along with the original 4 seeded teams, have entered the subsequent knockout stage.
The drawing lots ceremony was held in a nearby auditorium, where representatives from each team were already waiting in their seats.
The auditorium was very quiet. A staff member turned on the large projection screen above and operated the computer to open the file for the match bracket.
The top section was still blank, with no team names filled in, leaving it empty except for the match schedule at the very top.
Hinata sat beside Miya Atsumu, quietly watching as the two boxes used for drawing lots were carried up.
He knew that the blank bracket would eventually be filled with lines, only the ultimate victor would be able to reach the very center.
That represents—the championship.
The tournament's official chairperson stood up, walked to the microphone with his speech in hand, delivered a lengthy address.
It was no different from the day the tournament began, consisting of the same kind of words of encouragement and well-wishes, Hinata no longer had the heart to feel the excitement of the first day.
After today's drawing is finished, they will have only tomorrow to prepare before facing two days of high-intensity matches.
Who will it be, their opponent.. who will it be?
The host on the stage announced the name of the previous champions: "The representatives from Itachiyama, please come forward to draw lots."
Sakusa stood up and walked onto the stage with an extremely calm expression, grabbing a random slip from the box at the staff member's signal.
This box contained only four slips of paper, representing the four competition regions.
As for the seeded teams, they only need to draw this one slip and do not need to draw the remaining ranking numbers.
As teams with a bye in the first round of the knockout stage, the seeded teams have fixed seeding positions within their respective regions.
Sakusa showed the number on his ticket to the staff, after the notary confirmed it, Itachiyama's name was written into position number 7 at the bottom left of Group B.
However, as the first team to come up for the draw, Itachiyama's position was difficult to predict at this stage, no commotion broke out in the auditorium.
The host continued calling out, "Will the representatives from Inarizaki High School please come forward for the draw."
Miya Atsumu and Coach Kurosu both looked at Hinata, who was sitting on the far edge, gesturing with their eyes for him to go up and draw a lot.
Yes!!
Hinata Shoyo stood up abruptly, bumping into the table as he rose, causing the entire row to shake slightly.
The host on the stage froze for a moment, but said nothing.
Under the gaze of the entire audience, a strangely nervous Hinata walked down the stairs with his feet stepping in sync. Just as he was about to step onto the stage, he tripped on a step and nearly face-planted onto the platform.
"Pfft." Miya Atsumu couldn't help but let out a laugh.
Immediately following that, the auditorium, which had been somewhat tense, was instantly flooded with laughter, the atmosphere lightened considerably.
Sitting on the soft carpet, Hinata's face turned an incredibly bright red as he listened to the laughter behind him.
—How embarrassing!
The attendant standing to the side reached out to help him: "Um, Hinata-senshu? Are you okay?"
Hinata scrambled up from the ground using both his hands and feet: "I'm fine! I'm completely fine!"
He took a deep breath and strode up onto the podium.
The tournament committee chairman sitting next to him couldn't help but chuckle, gesturing toward that red box.
Sakusa had just drawn one, so there were only three slips left in the box.
Just as Hinata was about to reach out to grab a slip, he caught a glimpse of Miya Atsumu, who was still laughing at him, in his peripheral vision as he turned slightly.
Atsumu-ge! That's so mean! He's going to hold a grudge!
After a one-second cold war with Miya Atsumu in his mind, Hinata refocused his attention on the lottery box.
Itachiyama is in Group B, which means as long as they draw any group between C and D, they can avoid facing Itachiyama before the Finals.
Considering their ultimate goal of winning the championship, this was the best possible outcome.
Thinking this, Hinata reached out and grabbed one of the slips.
He opened the slip of paper he had drawn, as he saw that sharp corner, he was stunned.
The official looked up to confirm and took the slip from Hinata's hands.
Looking at Hinata's somewhat shocked and bewildered expression, Miya Atsumu, who had been laughing just a moment ago, stopped.
He frowned slightly, his expression heavy and serious: "This is bad.."
The next second, as the cursor on the large screen moved to the top-left corner of the entire table, the whole auditorium erupted into an uproar.
Oh my god—
No way!