Even though fighting during the off-season isn't great, he could accompany Hoshiumi to find a small grove to play a little trick on Miya Atsumu.
Glancing at Hinata, who was looking around restlessly, Hoshiumi leaned back in his chair. "Shoyo, what do you like about him? I'll find you a replacement."
As for skill, although there isn't a direct replacement, one can still find something similar.
As for looks, Inarizaki has one ready-made.
As for personality and character.. he felt that he should take Hinata to the hospital for a brain CT scan.
Hinata glanced at Miya Atsumu, who had pulled his mask slightly apart to breathe because it felt stuffy, then answered without hesitation, "I like them all."
Hoshiumi couldn't catch his breath for a moment and nearly choked on his own saliva.
He felt like he really should take his little apprentice to the hospital for a full check-up to see if he had been drugged by Miya Atsumu.
By this time, Miya Atsumu could no longer suppress the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Taking advantage of the mask on his face, he let his expression run wild, his squinting smile faintly gave off a fox-like scent to Hoshiumi.
Miya Atsumu reached out and placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder: "Shoyo only likes me, right?"
Hinata nodded. "Yeah, I only like Atsumu-ge."
Hoshiumi's expression became even more distorted, yet Miya Atsumu continued to twist the knife into him: "Shoyo said he only likes me; he doesn't like you."
Hinata felt his head spinning slightly, he could only say subconsciously, "No, I like Hikari-kun very much too."
A mischievous smile played at the corners of Miya Atsumu's mouth beneath his mask as he teased Hinata with his words: "But you just said you only like me. Could it be that you're lying, Shoyo?"
Being stared at by both Hoshiumi and Miya Atsumu at the same time, Hinata's brain stalled for a moment: "No, I.. um.."
On the other side, Bessho Chigen, who had been gnawing on a salt-boiled chicken leg, paused and looked toward the seniors, his expression carrying a hint of shock.
—Do these two "likes" mean the same thing?!
Seeing Hinata's thoughts start to tangle, Miya Atsumu stopped making things difficult for him; after giving Hoshiumi a self-satisfied look, he let Hinata go.
Glancing at the court, where Itachiyama had already taken an 8-point lead and entered a time-out, Miya Atsumu looked past Hinata and asked Hoshiumi, "Where's your setter? Aren't you bringing him?"
Hoshiumi rested his chin on his hand and let out a scoff. "Bring him along just so you can bury him before the match even starts?"
Miya Atsumu wagged a finger, "Am I that kind of person? The one who would do such a thing is Oikawa-senpai."
Oikawa Tooru had more than once wanted to secretly get rid of Hinata before a match, which would have solidified his reputation as a villain; using this reason to keep Hinata away from Oikawa Tooru was actually quite effective.
—Though the effect was actually extremely limited.
Hoshiumi, who found Miya Atsumu unpleasant to look at and Oikawa Tooru even more so, nodded: "That makes sense."
He and Oikawa were no longer allies; they were enemies!
If Oikawa Tooru hadn't done those extra things, these two probably wouldn't have had a chance by now, let alone had the nerve to provoke him right in front of him.
Glancing sideways at Hinata, who was immersed in watching the match, Hoshiumi silently withdrew his gaze.
Actually, to be objective, Miya Atsumu is indeed handsome, quite reliable on the court, is someone Hinata can trust and rely on.
But.. these positive evaluations didn't stop him from being dissatisfied with Miya Atsumu himself!
It's nothing; he simply hates anyone who "seduces" his little apprentice.
When Miya Atsumu looked over, Hoshiumi instantly flashed a ferocious expression to intimidate him.
Miya Atsumu stopped picking fights with the Karasuno players and began to evaluate the Itachiyama players seriously: "Number 7 is much more mature than he was at the beginning of the year."
At the beginning of the year, Inamoto came on as a substitute after Iizuna sprained his ankle; that set could be described as being played quite poorly, his legs were even shaking while he stood on the court.
In the deciding set, Inamoto managed to find some form, though it was clear that because Iizuna always played as a starter, Inamoto's lack of match experience meant he hadn't quite synced well with the others, but overall, his fundamentals were still up to par.
And now, Inamoto has become well-acquainted with Sakusa and the others, after some time of working together, he can coordinate various attacks with ease. Although he is not quite on the level of the former Iizuna, he is not actually that far off under Komori Motoya's stronger defense cover.
Hinata rubbed his chin: "This number 10.. seeing him in person, he feels even more incredible."
“Maybe he feels similar to Akari? In terms of his role in the team, his playstyle, things like that.”
"Yeah, there are definitely similarities." Miya Atsumu gave Hinata an appreciative look and motioned for him to continue.
Receiving the tactical master's affirmation, Hinata felt a surge of excitement and continued his deduction: "However, Shiratorizawa used an Opposite tactic before, Akari was the Right Wing's offensive cover."
“Itachiyama's Ace, Kami-senpai, is a Left Wing Spiker, the Opposite is just there to cover for him, but Number 10 is also on the Right Wing, so their responsibilities aren't really that different.”
The difference.. is the difference between an Opposite Ace's playstyle and a Left Wing Spiker Ace's playstyle?
Hinata summarized his thoughts seriously: "The Opposite style leans more towards Position 4 Strong Attack and Position 1 and Position 2, while the Left Wing Spiker might play Position 4 Strong Attack, Position 4, or perhaps Position 3 gaps, Kami-senpai himself also tends to play front row offense."
As he spoke, Hinata suddenly turned his head to look at Miya Atsumu, his eyes full of "praise me quickly."
Miya Atsumu nodded repeatedly. "Shoyo is amazing, you got them all right."
Having received confirmation, Hinata gave a cheeky grin. "Hehe, it's because Atsumu-ge taught me well."
Hoshiumi, who was already numb, automatically filtered out the things that would annoy him, instead said, "After all, Sakusa's wrist-reliant style of play truly achieves its maximum effect only when playing near the net."
Miya Atsumu waved his hand dismissively at Hoshiumi, "Stop studying Itachiyama and just study us instead."
Hoshiumi crossed his arms over his chest. "That's hard to say. If you guys stumble tomorrow morning, we'll have to make last-minute preparations."
Although they weren't actually there to watch Itachiyama's match, he still insisted on contradicting Miya Atsumu.
The match between Fukuda General and Star First was held at the same time as the match between Itachiyama and Shonan; Shirabu's unexpected elimination by Shonan in the morning was enough to prove that Shonan's skill level has improved significantly over the past year.
The winner of the match between Fukuda General and Star First will be Karasuno's opponent tomorrow morning. Furthermore, both sides have undergone significant changes, meaning previous data may not be fully applicable; they will have to study each match as it comes.
Moreover, compared to studying Inarizaki, who come up with new ideas every single day, studying these two teams through video might actually be more effective.
As for Inarizaki.. perhaps fighting fire with fire might be a good choice.
Thinking of this, Hoshiumi turned his head and bared his teeth at Hinata and Miya Atsumu in a smile that could only be described as extremely sinister, his expression so distorted it was painful to look at.
For a moment, Miya Atsumu, who had a brief hallucination of Miyagi's sour-faced setter, fell silent for a second. "Your smile is disgusting."
Hoshiumi smiled even more terrifyingly: "No, I'm just looking forward to tomorrow's match too much."
He was also looking forward to tomorrow's match. Hinata turned his head to look at Miya Atsumu, mimicking Hoshiumi's expression as he flashed a terrifying smile at Miya Atsumu.
Miya Atsumu raised a hand in front of him and said with a blank stare, "No, don't go imitating that."
As expected, Hinata should be kept away from Hoshiumi; that guy is almost going to lead Hinata astray.
The match between Itachiyama and Shonan was not particularly intense, perhaps due to the excessive loss of stamina from the morning matches, Shonan's overall error frequency was quite high.
The gap in the First Set was even stretched to 6 points, a quite miserable loss.
Miya Atsumu said with a hint of regret, "It doesn't have much reference value."
Although Shonan is also a school with expertise in blocking, their blocking strength is actually not on par with Date Tech, but their Libero is quite skilled, so their overall defensive strength has kept up.
The reason Shirabu could win was mainly due to Shirabu's near-single-core playstyle; the new generation of the dual-tower Middle Blockers had not yet fully matured. However, this style of play was completely insufficient against the multi-core Shirabu, so it is understandable that they were suppressed to this extent.
Watching Komori Motoya complete another perfect counterattack, the ball he provided was feinted by Inamoto into a true pass, finally, Itachiyama scored to wrap it up. Miya Atsumu spoke softly, "As expected, Komori is the most troublesome one after all."
Hinata patted his chest and said, "Leave Gen-senpai to me."
From the moment he started playing volleyball until now, the number one Libero in his mind has always been that senior who seemed so kind from the very first time they met.
Compared to Yaku, who is also a top-tier Libero, Komori Motoya possesses a greater sense of boldness. Although his overall receiving stability is not as strong as Yaku's, because he has played as a Wing Spiker, he is highly sensitive to the various intentions of attackers, resulting in a much higher success rate for his diving saves and receiving movements.
Combined with the comprehensive adaptability inherited from Inamoto and Iizuna, one could imagine just how sharp it was.
In today's match, two-thirds of Komori Motoya's successful defenses resulted in scores, which will be the greatest obstacle on his path to scoring.
But.. he had already defeated them once, this time, he would do even better.
Miya Atsumu let out a low chuckle. "Then I'll leave it all to you, our Ace."
Hoshiumi turned his head to look at Hinata: "Don't lose. I'll be waiting for you in the Finals."
In the case of being aces themselves, on the ultimate stage representing the highest honor, to duel with Hinata—this was something he had fantasized about countless times long ago.
He once thought it might take a longer time, but Hinata arrived much faster than he had imagined.
Hinata reached out toward Hoshiumi: "Let's settle this, Hikari-kun."
Hoshiumi grabbed it without hesitation, tightly shaking Hinata's hand.
See you tomorrow.
After Itachiyama and Fukuda General secured their respective victories, today's matches concluded completely. The spectators who had watched the games also left the court one after another, setting off on their journeys back to their respective homes or stations.
Walking away from the venue with the crowd, considering the large number of people, Miya Atsumu did not leave hand-in-hand with Hinata, but instead maintained some distance between them.
Miya Atsumu walked behind, his eyes lowered as he thought about the match he had seen this afternoon, subconsciously stepping on the shadow Hinata cast under the setting sun.
Today's match is the most valuable information they could get before facing that kind of match in person.
It was already established that Itachiyama's roster composition was set, but after replacing Inamoto with a core Setter today, they showcased their current playstyle in Quick Attack coordination for the first time.
The tactical arrangements, which originally centered around Sakusa as the absolute core, were further enriched; combined with that first-year number 10 freshman whose well-rounded abilities left almost no weaknesses, their offensive capability reached a terrifying level.
Suddenly, Hinata, who was walking ahead, came to a sudden halt.
Miya Atsumu, who was lost in thought, wasn't paying any attention to the path while being led by Hinata, causing him to fail to react in time.
Atsumu almost crashed into Hinata, but fortunately, he managed to stop just a step away from him.
Hinata turned his body and looked toward Miya Atsumu.
His eyes reflected a brilliant golden orange in the sunset, the look he gave Miya Atsumu was one of overflowing admiration: "What I said before.. I wasn't lying to Atsumu-ge."
Because.. what I feel for Atsumu-ge is love.
This didn't conflict with his liking for Hoshiumi, Unai, Kenma, or anyone else; his feelings for Miya Atsumu were a kind of love, which was different.
Miya Atsumu, who had thought he was about to make some very serious speech, felt helpless: "Little dummy."
Those words.. were just meant to tease Hinata in the first place.
He knew, he had always known.
No, it would be more accurate to say that he had sensed everything long ago through their repeated glances, embraces, hand-holding, kisses.
Miya Atsumu lowered his eyes, his gaze tender, his voice filled with an undeniable love: "I love you too."
The crowd around them gradually thinned as the two walked out of the Sports Park.
Hinata's pace slowed down until he was walking side by side with Miya Atsumu.
He reached out and gently hooked his fingers with Miya Atsumu's, Miya Atsumu gripped them back without hesitation. As their fingers intertwined, their hearts were connected in that moment.
“Let's go back.”