Hayami regained her composure.
He just said that he simply couldn't imagine Miya Atsumu falling in love at first sight!
He had faced Miya Atsumu once back in Junior High, he had a very deep impression of that person's sinister appearance at the time.
Chikatani picked up a piece of broccoli with trembling hands, but it fell back down because his hands were shaking.
—Hinata just said something incredibly shocking with a completely straight face!
Hanae spoke up and asked, "A scrub? How much of a scrub?"
He knew that Hinata had been a team manager during his first year, but that was mostly because the starting roster for Inarizaki was already full.
A player who could catch Coach Kurosu's eye.. no matter how bad they might be, they wouldn't be all that bad.
Hinata replied honestly, "Losing to Kitagawa Daiichi by a gap of nearly 20 points."
Hanae nodded. "That is quite pathetic."
Hayami followed up by asking, "So, was it Miya Atsumu-senpai who said that after watching the match?"
Hinata shook his head. "No, the first time we met was back in autumn. I had just finished playing with Heisuke, Atsumu-ge was watching from the side."
Glancing at the passage leading toward the dishes, after confirming that Miya Atsumu was not there, he raised his hand to press down his hair.
Hinata brushed his bangs to the left, a playful smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth, though his eyes remained cold.
I don't do tosses for ball-scum.
Very similar.
It's too similar.
Hanae clapped repeatedly in praise, Chikatani also strongly agreed.
Seeing Hinata's incredibly lifelike expression, Hayami was momentarily reminded of Miya Atsumu from his own memories.
I have to say, he captured the essence perfectly.
I'm telling you, when I went with Heisuke to the club to take a look beforehand, Atsumu-ge didn't say a single word to me; he even glared at me. He was so cold!
Hinata spoke with increasing excitement, completely unaware that everyone else had fallen silent without him noticing: "And that time we played against Hikari-kun.."
A dangerous low pressure descended from behind. Hinata's voice grew smaller and smaller, realizing something was wrong, he shut his mouth and then, once and for all, crawled under the table.
As long as he couldn't see Miya Atsumu, then Miya Atsumu couldn't see him!
Miya Atsumu, who was carrying two trays and had picked up two drinks on his way, had a smile on his face and a gentle voice.
What's wrong? Did you drop something on the floor?
“Do you need my help, Shoyo-kun?”
Chapter 395: The Three Hundred and Ninety-Fifth Fox
Lying on the ground, Hinata stared at Miya Atsumu's legs and silently retreated a little bit.
Hanae thoughtfully pulled in his legs, making a little space for Hinata so that he could squeeze in.
In the quiet surrounding environment, the sound of something being placed on the table was exceptionally clear.
Feeling the vibration coming from the table above his head, Hinata shifted, shrinking all the way into the gap between Hanae and the wall.
A shadow cast down from the outside, half a face appeared in Hinata's field of vision.
What's wrong? Aren't you coming out to eat?
Unlike the expression Hinata had just been imitating, Miya Atsumu's face was full of smiles, yet Hinata could clearly feel..
Right now, Miya Atsumu is extremely dangerous.
But he wasn't saying anything bad about Miya Atsumu; he was just stating the facts!
Thinking of this, Hinata gained his courage again.
He crouched on the ground, neck stiff, glaring back at Miya Atsumu and pretending to look very fierce.
Miya Atsumu also crouched down, facing Hinata head-on.
The two stared at each other in a standoff for a while, just as Chikatani was about to flee, Miya Atsumu suddenly covered his face with both hands.
Shoyo, you're being so mean to me—waaaaaah!
Hearing such obvious fake crying, Hayami couldn't hold it in for a moment: "Pfft."
Miya Atsumu raised his head slightly, glaring at Hayami through the small gap.
Hayami shut his mouth and turned his head toward Chikatani, who was sitting on his outer side, his eyes asking if he wanted to run away together.
As for Kageyama, who had originally moved his stool to the aisle side, he had already been pushed away by Miya Atsumu and was now eating seriously at another row on the opposite side.
The two nodded simultaneously, in the next second, Hinata had already crawled out from under the table on all fours and moved directly to Miya Atsumu's side.
Hinata looked up and leaned toward Miya Atsumu, "It's all my fault. Don't cry, Atsumu-ge, I apologize to you!"
A voice with a faint sob in it drifted out from under his hands: "I am very sad."
Hinata's hands pressed against Miya Atsumu's knees, his whole body leaning in close. "Don't be sad, I'll give all my steak to Atsumu-ge!"
Miya Atsumu dodged Hinata's hand and continued his grievance, "We clearly had an agreement, but Shoyo doesn't remember at all—"
Recalling the crux of the matter, Hinata added once more, "No more mentioning it! From now on, we won't mention it even if it's not about Atsumu-ge!"
Although they had agreed not to mention it in front of Miya Atsumu, Miya Atsumu said what he said, from now on, this would be a secret between the two of them!
"Really?" Miya Atsumu paused for a moment, then asked.
"Really, really!" Hinata raised his hand and swore.
“Then..” Miya Atsumu lowered his hand, a smile spreading across his face, "I'll show you some mercy and forgive you."
Having been let off the hook, Hinata raised his hands and cheered, "Atsumu-ge is the best! Long live Atsumu-ge!"
Miya Atsumu was in a great mood after receiving Hinata's promise. He grabbed Hinata by the collar and stood up. "Alright, let's go eat. Coach gave you extra steak, but it's mine now."
Let's go to the window seat, over there.
"No problem!" Hinata reached out to pick up the two trays and headed toward the seat Miya Atsumu had pointed out, taking the lead.
Two steps behind Hinata, Miya Atsumu tilted his head slightly and scanned the table of Second Years.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, scanning through them one by one.
Sensing the underlying threat, Chikatani couldn't help but shudder.
Hayami silently averted his gaze, while Hanae turned his back to Miya Atsumu, pretending not to see.
Only after Miya Atsumu had walked far away did Aoba Haruka, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly grab his head and slump onto the desk: "Aaaaah—if Miya Atsumu-senpai finds out I've been spreading rumors about him, I'm dead!!"
He had always believed it, never once suspecting that it was entirely false!
It's all Kureha's fault! She misled him!
He was wrong; he would never again make wild guesses about the seniors' interpersonal relationships!
Miya Atsumu-senpai is the coolest, Hinata is the best, the two of them are a match made in heaven!
So please don't kill him, ahhhhh—
Hanae reached out and patted his shoulder. "It's fine, we can keep a secret; we won't tell anyone."
Hayami added, "But Hinata might tell Miya Atsumu-senpai."
Chikatani raised a hand to cover his face. "We're definitely going to be held responsible for this."
Kageyama, who had moved back, said with a serious expression, "Today's soup is delicious."
The entire table fell silent for two minutes. Everyone held their chopsticks in silence with their hands pressed together, as if holding a moment of silence for their future selves.
The four of them said in unison, "Itadakimasu—"
Hayami took a sip of the soup and affirmed Kageyama's comment that it was delicious: "Speaking of which, Hinata really isn't from Kansai, is he?"
Chikatani asked, "Why do you say that?"
Hanae added to help, "His Kansai accent is very unauthentic."
Chikatani rubbed his chin. "Now that you mention it, that's true. I thought it was just his personal preference."
Miya Atsumu and the others' Kansai accent was still very obvious, people like Kumagai spoke with a bit more of an Osaka accent, while Hinata's accent was a bit.. of a hybrid.
Specifically, it manifested in the way the accent would shift depending on the accent of the person being spoken to; when speaking with them, it would shift toward the Kanto accent, though the sentence endings would still sound like those of Miya Atsumu and the others.
Aoba Haruka turned his head toward Hanae. "Hanae, you moved to Kobe in high school, right? Your accent sounds quite normal."
Hanae waved it off. "Who wants to learn the Kansai dialect?"
He didn't want to join Kanzaki and the others in doing comedy routines in the team, not even a little bit.
He produced evidence to refute the claim: "There are people in Inarizaki who don't speak in the Kansai dialect, Suna-senpai is one of them; being led astray is Hinata's own problem."
Suna walked into the cafeteria at that moment, everyone fell silent simultaneously, watching Suna's every move.
He picked up a tray as usual, filled it with food, then.. walked over to the table where Miya Atsumu and Hinata were sitting, sat down beside Hinata.
Sat down?!
Chikatani tilted his body slightly; although he was a little scared, he could not suppress his curiosity.
You should know that although Suna is also from Inarizaki, he hasn't eaten with Hinata and the others these past few days; instead, he has been moving around with Hoshiumi and Hakuma much more frequently.
Considering the romantic relationship between Hinata and Miya Atsumu, it was actually understandable.
But.. why did he take the initiative to go over there today?
"Coach Kurosu said that Nishizawa Hokuto's integration into the team has been going well; although he lacks experience, he can substitute for Unabara Uta at critical moments. Heisuke's training regimen has been expanded to include blocking, if he shows results, he will take over from Kageyama to provide cover for Shoyo. Also.. Coach Omimi said they have a surprise prepared for Shoyo." Suna briefly relayed the news from the coaches.
His voice was very steady, as if he were an emotionless broadcasting machine.
"I knew Nishizawa Hokuto could do it, Heisuke has been working hard too, and.. a surprise?" Hinata blinked, his face full of curiosity.
What kind of surprise will it be, prepared for him?
Miya Atsumu reached out to interrupt: "Wait, wait, wait! I'm the Captain, why wasn't I told about this?"