At this, he looked toward Miya Osamu, who had remained emotionally steady throughout: "Osamu, aren't you going to cry?"
Osamu froze for a moment. "Me? I'm fine."
It wasn't as if they had lost before; if it were Haruko, he might have been upset, but IH was merely the beginning of this year, they still had chances.
Coach Omimi was incredibly satisfied with this choice for Vice-Captain: "As expected of Osamu, he's truly reliable."
Meanwhile, on the other side, Miya Atsumu had already returned to his room.
“I'm back.”
Pushing open the door, Miya Atsumu saw Hinata lying on the bed, scrolling through his tablet.
Seeing Miya Atsumu return, Hinata Shoyo moved to the side, making room for Miya Atsumu to sit on the edge of the bed.
Miya Atsumu placed his things on the nightstand and beckoned to Hinata, "Shoyo, legs."
Hinata stretched his leg out and placed it on Miya Atsumu's thigh.
The wound on his leg wasn't serious, the process of applying medicine wasn't very painful, so he quickly became distracted and pulled up the footage from this afternoon's Finals.
Hearing the familiar voice, Miya Atsumu looked up at him. "What are you doing watching game footage? Do you want to do a review right now?"
Hinata shook his head. "No, it's just a point I want to confirm."
After Miya Atsumu finished applying the medicine, he patted Hinata's thigh, Hinata hurriedly pulled his leg back, leaning toward Miya Atsumu with the tablet: "Atsumu-ge, here, wouldn't it be better to adjust the Hou Er?"
At that time, I was only thinking about getting the ball out there, so I subconsciously sent it straight on, but theoretically, there is attacking space in the back row.
Miya Atsumu nodded. "If it were me, I would indeed make that choice, but things change in an instant on the court. Opponents might react differently depending on your specific intent with the set, so you can't work backward from the result to determine the process."
There's nothing wrong with this line of thinking. Shoyo, you still have a lot to practice when it comes to setting. I'll teach you more slowly when we get back—things like setting strategies and how to deceive the block.
Okay," Hinata nodded, "And here..
Even though they said they wouldn't review the match, the two of them still discussed various scenarios that might have occurred during the game.
It wasn't until Hinata's stomach let out a thunderous roar that Miya Atsumu finally snapped back to his senses.
He remembered the dinner he had forgotten: "Ah, the food seems to be at the door."
Hinata put on his slippers and bounced out the door to get dinner: "I want to eat!"
Looking at his appearance, Miya Atsumu gave a helpless smile. "Who was it that just said dinner could wait until tomorrow?"
Carrying four or five lunch boxes, Hinata said without a hint of embarrassment, "It was Atsumu-ge."
After eating and sending their clothes to be washed, the two of them ultimately gave up on tidying up their belongings.
Several hours had passed since the afternoon match ended, the sun had completely dipped below the horizon. Miya Atsumu no longer had the energy to mess with Hinata.
After all, Hinata was also quite exhausted, seeing how he could still calmly review the match, he likely wouldn't let the loss get to his head.
After putting away the tablet, Miya Atsumu leaned down to kiss Hinata, who had already fallen asleep while listening to the post-match summary recordings being narrated by Minka Shugo and the others.
Goodnight, Shoyo.
It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky the next day that Coach Kurosu woke everyone up.
The group followed the Coach to the floor where Itachiyama was located, all while yawning.
The Itachiyama therapist, Teacher Mikail, was already very familiar with the Inarizaki members.
Seeing Miya Atsumu being pushed in, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and then tossed the limp, dead-fish-like Inamura aside.
Alright, let the Inarizaki members come.
He looked Miya Atsumu up and down, recalling how this little fellow had previously said his technique wasn't very good.
Coach Mikail's smile deepened: "Don't worry, it will definitely be perfect this time."
His smile was gentle and his eyes were bright like sunshine; if one ignored Inamura, who was still struggling to crawl on the ground, it would have been a truly pleasing sight.
But..
Noooooooo—spare me—it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!
“Shoyo!! He—lp—me—!!”
Outside the door, Rishia curled up on the floor, silently pressing his hands together in a moment of silence for Miya Atsumu.
Hinata faced the wall on the opposite side, wanting to escape and distance himself from Miya Atsumu during these few minutes.
A moment later, Miya Atsumu was tossed out, ending up in a heap alongside the corpses of Itachiyama.
Mikail poked his head out. "Where's Hinata? Your Captain wants him to come next."
Hinata's heart finally stopped racing.
He wanted to pretend he didn't exist, but he was still forced into the spotlight under the gaze of the Inarizaki members.
Coach Mikail raised his hand, his black-haired assistant stepped forward, grabbing Hinata by the back of his collar and lifting him up.
The moment he was dragged through the door, Hinata clung to the doorframe, refusing to let go: "Atsumu-ge—you can't sell me out like this!"
“Waaaaah.. I don't want to!!”
Miya Atsumu rolled over on the ground and looked at the wailing Hinata. "Whether you die early or late, you're going to die. If we finish early, we can watch the others make fools of themselves at the entrance."
Hinata's crying faltered for a moment; finding that there was truth in those words, he let go.
Not long after, Hinata's sharp wailing erupted from inside the room: "Help me—it hurts, it hurts, it hurts—"
The blonde therapist's voice rang out immediately after: "His muscles are so stiff. Uta, help me hold him down so I can treat him properly."
“Aaaaaaaagh!”
A scream pierced through the entire floor. Rishia silently reached out and shut the room's door completely, cutting off Hinata's piercing voice.
Kumagai, who didn't need any therapy, silently pressed his hands together in prayer, joining Rishia, who had also narrowly escaped death, to offer a moment of silence for Hinata.
Rest in peace, Shoyo.
Unabara raised a hand to wipe away non-existent tears: "That's so tragic."
Although he theoretically needed to undergo therapy, he had an injury, since it was a muscle injury, the next few days would be his time off, allowing him to just lie around at home.
So.. in the end, Hinata was the only Second Year dragged in to be executed.
What? You're asking why they all came?
—Of course, it was to watch the spectacle.
“For something like a muscle strain, Teacher Mikail should be able to handle it too. Do you want me to.." Inamoto had just started speaking when Unabara covered his mouth.
Unabara rejected him three times in a row: "I don't, I'm not, I don't need it!"
Komori sat by the wall, looking at Miya Atsumu, who had already moved closer beside him. "Anyway.. welcome to the Losers' Bracket, the strongest challenger.
However.. this time, neither of them was the new king.
Miya Atsumu said with absolute certainty, "We'll reclaim the throne soon, don't you worry."
Inarizaki will also undergo some roster changes; before the next battle begins.. they will still have plenty of time to prepare.
Inamura shook his fingers. "No, no, no, Itachiyama will be the ones winning."
Miya Atsumu was relentless with his words: "You're purely dreaming."
Itachiyama can't even beat their own Inarizaki, let alone Karasuno.
Although Itachiyama has Komori and Sakusa in defense, they lack the ability to break through Itachiyama's defense head-on offense..
No, Sakusa's spike is sharp enough, it's the kind of extreme sharpness that a normal person wouldn't be able to replicate. Perhaps he really could carve a path to victory against Karasuno?
You couldn't really think of it that way.
Itachiyama's setter is average; if Hirugami were to focus on marking Sakusa, the limitations of the setter's own skill level would likely mean Sakusa wouldn't have an easy time either..
It's a fifty-fifty split between Itachiyama and Karasuno as well.
Komori rubbed his arms. "You look like you're thinking about something bad."
Miya Atsumu looked at him. "I'm thinking about your chance at a three-peat this year."
Inamura, whose anger had instantly reached its limit, stood up abruptly. "Don't stop me! I'm going to bury him today!"
He knew that a dog's mouth couldn't spit out ivory; Miya Atsumu's mouth was as foul as ever.
However, not a single person from Itachiyama blocked him, not a single person from Inarizaki blocked him either.
Inamura's movement froze halfway through as he turned his head toward Sakusa, who was standing in the corner.
You guys should have stopped me.
Miya Atsumu let out a sneer and gave Inamura a thumbs up: "A Captain who's been abandoned by everyone."
Inamura glared back, "You actually have the nerve to laugh at me."
The two of them were just two sides of the same coin, neither one was in any position to criticize the other!
Just then, the door to the therapy room was opened again, a crumpled-up Hinata was tossed out: "Alright, next!"
Miya Atsumu reached out to catch Hinata, whose face was bright red, clearly in pain.
I'm.. I'm going to be killed..
Mourning for Hinata, who was being targeted so heavily for a moment, Komori turned and said, "I ran into Coach Unabara when we were leaving yesterday; it seems like the two of us might be getting promoted to starters."
Miya Atsumu froze for a moment. "Are you serious?"
Komori nodded. "There's a tournament in September, but I don't know if we'll have the chance to participate."
Unlike the format of the winter training camp, summer training camps are not held every year, most are organized before major tournaments to select and use players on the spot.
Last year, Ushijima was officially promoted to the national team during this time, it wasn't to the youth team, but he was promoted directly to the senior national team.
However, Ushijima Wakatoshi does not have any records in the senior national team yet; until a particularly important match arrives, he will continue to hone his skills with the youth team.
Hinata's voice rose weakly: "I'm so jealous.."
Komori smiled. "You'll have your chance next year, too."
But as for spikers.. it might indeed be a bit later. Kiyoomi might have to wait until next year; after all, there aren't many like Ushijima-senpai.
Spikers who can be promoted to the national team during their third year are almost all once-in-a-century ultimate geniuses like Ushijima Wakatoshi; furthermore, because Ushijima himself has such solid fundamentals, he can be used immediately upon joining the team, skipping much of the training process.
Thinking of this, Komori paused for a moment. "If I had to say, Coach Washijo's training method might be the one that best fits the national team's selection standards."