Some things were capital offenses if spoken aloud; he needed to think about how to sugarcoat them, or perhaps downplay their severity.
Miya Atsumu raised his hand to support his chin, suddenly laughing aloud. "Have you made it up yet?"
Hinata replied instinctively, "Not yet.."
Realizing he had said the wrong thing, Hinata quickly raised his hand to cover his mouth and blinked at Miya Atsumu.
The Great Detective Miya Atsumu tried to reason it out himself: "Hoshiumi wants to see me get teased, you're helping him out."
Hinata nodded and then shook his head.
He had indeed helped, but most of the time he just lent his phone to Suna, so he didn't actually know exactly what Suna had sent to Hoshiumi.
Miya Atsumu got his answer: "Oh, so you're the middleman between Hoshiumi and Suna."
This time, Hinata really just nodded.
Atsumu felt his fists clench, he couldn't help but take a deep breath.
He knew it!
How could his cute, kind, reliable, sunny Shoyo-kun possibly be involved in spreading those ugly photos of him!
It must be Hoshiumi and Suna's fault!
Tapping his own leg, Miya Atsumu asked the second question: "When did it start?"
Hinata replied with two serious words: "A long time ago."
Miya Atsumu recalled the time when Hinata's serve had hit him in the head; it had been over a year since then.
Since Hinata was already acting as a middleman for Suna and Hoshiumi back then..
He said with a dark expression, "Don't tell me you started teaming up with Suna to screw me over from the very first time you met Hoshiumi."
Hinata fell silent.
Thinking about it again.. it does seem to be like that.
Silence was practically an affirmation, this answer made Miya Atsumu feel like his vision was going black.
His little Shoyo, the little Shoyo he held in the palm of his hand—he had been plotting against him from the very first time they met, that wicked Badminton Head!
Miya Atsumu reached out and covered his face.
It's fine, it's fine. At that time, he and Hinata weren't close either, Hinata was still quite afraid of him.
In comparison, for Hinata, the Little Giant of Karasuno might indeed be more important and more worth approaching and pleasing..
In the end, it was Hoshiumi and Suna's fault for leading Hinata astray—
Atsumu quickly forgave Hinata in his heart, while simultaneously shifting all the blame onto Suna and the others.
After observing Miya Atsumu's dazed expression for a while, Hinata decided to take the initiative and test the waters.
He moved forward a bit, reaching out to grab the hand Miya Atsumu had placed on his knee. "Atsumu-ge, are you.. angry?"
I was wrong, I apologize to you, I haven't done anything like this again since that happened this year..
While he was explaining to Suna and Hoshiumi about stopping at the transit station, the trending topics Suna had sent to Hoshiumi had already reached chapter 97.
He had never actually opened those compressed files, since his flip phone didn't have that function anyway.
Most of them were just forwarded by Suna-senpai, who then used his phone to forward them to Hoshiumi.
If he really insisted on looking for incriminating evidence in his phone.. there would probably only be about twenty or thirty ugly close-up photos of Miya Atsumu.
However, contrary to Hinata's expectations, Miya Atsumu had no intention of checking his phone.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Atsumu-ge let out a sigh and looked down at Hinata on the floor. "I'm very angry right now, you need to make it up to me."
Hinata naturally agreed a hundred times over: "No problem! I'll do anything you ask, Atsumu-ge! I'll brave any fire or blade for you!!"
That won't be necessary.." Miya Atsumu narrowed his eyes. "Just make sure you don't run away when the time comes, Shoyo.
Hinata tilted his head, a look of confusion in his eyes.
Miya Atsumu had already come to terms with it after some self-brainwashing.
It was probably too late to delete the photos; given Suna-senpai's meticulousness, he had likely already prepared a dedicated backup for them, so deleting them would be useless.
All he could do was be more careful about his personal image in the future, so he wouldn't give Suna the chance to take photos of him..
No matter how many mistakes were made, they were all Suna and Hoshiumi's fault; he would never be angry with Hinata!
Thinking of this, Miya Atsumu suddenly paused.
No, it seems Hoshiumi is also making videos of Oikawa-senpai's embarrassing photos..
Oikawa-senpai is already a professional player now, since becoming a public figure, his fan base has become very large.
Then.. could he suppress his popularity by making a video of Oikawa-senpai's unflattering photos?
A wicked idea formed in his mind, Miya Atsumu's smile turned sinister, causing the already uneasy Hinata to shrink back.
Miya Atsumu's smile deepened: "Don't be nervous, Shoyo. I'm not like Hoshiumi; I'm not going to make you do anything."
You can owe me that for now; let's discuss Oikawa-senpai's matter.
Hinata, who had just prepared to stand up, collapsed back to his knees with a thud: "I'm guilty! I admit my mistake!"
I was caught coveting Atsumu-ge by Oikawa-senpai! He had been subtly advising me to give up before, but I didn't understand! I caused Atsumu-ge to wait for so, so long!
Miya Atsumu was left stunned by what he heard: "What on earth?"
Hinata was incomparable, blurted out everything he should and shouldn't have said: "Oikawa-senpai said dating would affect playing volleyball.. At that time, I didn't understand anything, I didn't realize my own feelings, I didn't realize your feelings either, Atsumu-ge.."
At that time, I was even thinking that you were reliable and handsome, that you would be a good husband..
He hadn't expected at that time that Atsumu would actually become his partner and be a good husband to him in the future.
Miya Atsumu waved his hands repeatedly, making a mental note of Oikawa Tooru: "No, no, no, how can this be a mistake? It's just that Oikawa-senpai isn't speaking properly and isn't being clear with you."
“And things like being a good husband..”
Miya Atsumu was completely defeated. He raised his hand to wipe his face. "Shoyo, you're truly terrible."
“It's judgment time, you actually have the nerve to confess your love to me at a time like this.."
Atsumu's voice was full of helplessness: "Fine, fine, you win."
He opened his arms toward Hinata, his eyes drooping in a way that made him look incredibly pitiful. "Your good husband is very sad right now; he needs a hug."
Hearing that, Hinata didn't hesitate for a single moment; he pushed off the ground and lunged forward.
Leaning in to give Atsumu-ge's face a big kiss, Hinata said earnestly, "Atsumu-ge, don't be sad! Tomorrow, we'll team up to teach Suna-senpai and Hikari-kun a lesson!"
Miya Atsumu stroked the back of Hinata's neck: "It's a deal. We'll go together to stake out Rintaro and catch him slacking off."
Actually, Hinata, who had planned to ruthlessly expose the two of them on the court, blinked his eyes and ultimately surrendered to Miya Atsumu's overwhelming dominance.
“Alright, no problem!”
It's just taking photos! Even though his phone's pixel quality is terrible, it's still doable!
After finalizing the specific plan for tomorrow's stakeout with Miya Atsumu, Hinata lay on the bed, swinging his legs.
Suddenly remembering what happened before this farce, he turned his head toward Miya Atsumu. "By the way, Atsumu-ge, I ran into a very strange person downstairs just now."
Miya Atsumu, who was trying to comb through the hair Hoshiumi had tangled, asked in confusion, "A strange person?"
I ran into him near the infirmary while buying drinks for Atsumu-ge," Hinata recalled the scene, "I don't know what happened, but he seemed to punch the chair and ended up injuring his hand.
Almost everyone appearing in the Volleyball Association building has a direct or indirect connection to volleyball, hands are a very important part of the game.
Miya Atsumu frowned. "They really don't take care of their body at all."
I didn't get a clear look at his face, but he should be about my age," Hinata recalled the details he had seen. "His hair was chestnut, a bit long, almost covering his eyes..
He paused, recalling some of the other person's strange movements. "It seems like there's an injury on his leg.. no, his knee?"
When Hinata was opened up, his first reaction was that the other person disliked being touched, but considering how that person had relied entirely on his arms to push himself up.. it was highly likely that he had a knee injury and didn't want him to press down on his knee.
Upon hearing this description, the previously distracted Miya Atsumu stopped what he was doing.
He turned his head toward Hinata and said softly, "You should have seen him before, at last year's National Sports Festival."
"Eh?" Hinata was stunned.
He could indeed sense a faint sense of familiarity from the other person, but even searching through his entire memory, he could not find a corresponding figure.
No.
Chestnut hair, not very tall, seen at the National Sports Festival, the same age as him, injured knees..
Hinata's eyes widened. "Ah, it's him."
He had indeed seen him before.
During the quarterfinals of the National Sports Festival, the substitute Libero from the same year as him, who was playing against Fukuda General.
It wasn't just that he had seen him while studying Fukuda General's match recordings; they had even been waiting in the Players' Tunnel when his opponent was carried off on a stretcher after getting injured.
Atsumu responded earnestly, "After all this time, his injury should have healed by now."
Hayami was originally from the junior national team, so he likely came here to participate in training and selection together; we might even see him tomorrow.
Coming from the Junior National Team only means being discovered early; it doesn't mean one can stay on the National Team forever. The Komori and Yaku who appeared later are both significantly stronger than him.
Star First's Libero from the last tournament was also from the junior teams, just like Iizuna-senpai, as far as he knows, he doesn't play volleyball anymore.
Hinata, however, was somewhat hesitant.
But the person he had just seen was far from the high-spirited youth in his memories.
It could even be said that he was like a completely different person.
That kind of reaction, those kinds of movements..
Did he really come here after fully recovering from his injuries, just like Atsumu-ge said?
Chapter 387: The 387th Fox
Taking advantage of the evening, Miya Atsumu and Hinata did something big.