Suna looked down at Miya Atsumu, his voice sounding a bit listless. "Coach Kurosu said you haven't been replying to his messages."
After hearing this, Miya Atsumu silently pulled out his phone, which he hadn't looked at once since he first received it.
Indeed, Coach Kurosu had sent him many messages, all regarding the situation within the team.
Watching Miya Atsumu hurriedly start replying to Coach Kurosu's messages to report their situation, Suna gave a sneer.
He reached out with his chopsticks, took a piece of steak from Miya Atsumu's plate, placed it on Hinata's plate, while putting another piece on his own, thoughtfully leaving half a piece for Miya Atsumu.
Actually, Hinata, who had just received food from Miya Atsumu, didn't dare to speak, but instead quickly devoured the still-hot steak.
He turned his head toward Suna-senpai. "By the way, Suna-senpai, I discussed it with Atsumu-ge, we want to explore further in terms of offense, like setter tactics and things like that.."
Swallowing the steak he had snatched, Suna nodded. "I think I get it. You'll be the one setting?"
They had previously swapped in Kumagai for a 4-2 rotation, but if they could further strengthen their ability to transition tactics while retaining Hinata's offensive capabilities as an Opposite, it would indeed be much better than before.
As for Hinata's setting.. under Miya Atsumu's meticulous training, it has at least reached a level that he won't reject.
Hinata nodded. "Yeah, I'll work hard!"
He asked tentatively, "Suna-senpai, do you have some time later? Can I try setting a few balls to you?"
Suna's playstyle, which allows for sudden changes in spike direction, requires the setter to adjust his tosses to accommodate those changes, he hadn't practiced specifically against Suna before.
But if he were to partner with Suna in the future, he would have no choice but to learn.
Actually, Suna, who really wanted to go back and rest, remained silent for a while, but he had played two matches as Libero and one as Setter this afternoon, his number of spikes was barely countable.
To be honest.. my hands are itching.
After a brief moment of thought, Suna replied, "We can try two balls."
Hinata looked at Miya Atsumu on the opposite side again. "Are you going, Atsumu-ge?"
Miya Atsumu waved his hand. "I'm not going. Coach Kurosu wants to have a voice call with me.."
After finishing off the rest of his meal, Hinata bounced along behind Suna toward the Inarizaki No. 2 Gymnasium.
The Inarizaki No. 2 Gymnasium stays open until around ten, while people do come in for independent training during that time, the training intensity is usually quite high, so there aren't many people around.
When Hinata entered the gym, he happened to see Sakusa and Komori still on the court.
He froze for a moment. "Kami-senpai? Aren't you going to eat?"
Previously, Sakusa had always finished eating first and was the first to take a shower, but this time, he actually hadn't eaten yet?
Sakusa stared at the volleyball in his hands and replied softly, "I'm going right now."
Komori shrugged. "Kiyoomi isn't in good form today, so Coach Kurosu kept him back for a lecture. Anyway, the bathroom is already a mess, so we might as well wait until everyone has left before we go."
Hinata expressed his understanding: "Ah, that's true."
Sakusa's condition was very poor when he woke up this morning. Today, he was paired with Sakusa for one set, but the opponent's spike error rate was quite high, so he stopped setting to Sakusa later on.
Komori laughed and, after putting the volleyball back in the bin, walked toward the sidelines: "Don't do any too strenuous exercise right after eating. I'm going to do some stretching with Kiyoomi; if you have any questions, you can ask me anytime."
"Alright—" Hinata responded.
The two balls Suna mentioned were truly just two balls; after finishing those two, no matter how much Hinata begged him, he wouldn't agree, leaving Hinata alone to glare at him while clutching the volleyball in resentment.
Sitting by the side of the court watching Komori and Sakusa stretch, Hinata lowered his eyes.
To be honest, he actually hadn't sat quietly like this all by himself for a very, very long time.
Although one can practice volleyball alone, the efficiency is ultimately not as good as having two people.
He sent a message to Miya Atsumu, until Miya Atsumu arrived, he could only wait..
Watching Sakusa's flexible wrist, Hinata was momentarily dazed.
Suna also has great flexibility, so, just like Sakusa, his spikes clearly carry his own unique personality.
That also means.. the spikes of these two people aren't actually "standard."
Wait..
Not standard?
Hinata's eyes widened slightly as something that had always been in his blind spot finally clicked into place.
The doors to the Inarizaki No. 2 Gymnasium opened again, someone walked in.
After hesitating at the entrance for a long moment, the person walked straight to Hinata's side and looked down at him.
“Do you have time right now?”
Chapter 396: The 396th Fox
“Kageyama?” Hinata looked up, gazing at the newcomer.
The lights overhead were very bright, so he couldn't see Kageyama's expression clearly, but.. he could still imagine it.
Hinata asked proactively, "If you have time, do you want to play volleyball?"
Kageyama nodded. "Yeah, there are some things I'm quite concerned about."
"Alright!" Hinata stood up abruptly and was the first to head toward the court.
Anyway, there were some things he couldn't figure out just by using his brain, so he might as well go onto the court and experience it firsthand; perhaps he would find his rhythm that way.
Komori watched the two of them stand firm on the court and asked, "Do you need help tossing the balls?"
Hinata shook his head. "No need, I can do it myself! Gen-senpai, go grab some food!"
He turned his head toward Kageyama. "Try what? I don't care, as long as I can spike."
Standing at the point of the set in front of the net, Kageyama responded, "Quick Attack. I want to try that kind of set that stops in mid-air."
Hinata froze for a moment, raised a hand to rub his chin, looked at Kageyama with a surprised expression.
Staring at Kageyama's face for a while, Hinata couldn't help but burst out laughing, nudged Kageyama's waist directly with his elbow. "I thought you weren't interested? Why do you want to practice it now? Isn't it a useless technique?"
Hearing the teasing in his words, Kageyama grew red with embarrassment and anger. "Shut up! So what if I'm suddenly interested?"
Hinata quickly retreated out of Kageyama's potential strike range, placed his hands on his hips, raised his chin, saying, "Then bring it on! Lord Hinata will be merciful enough to practice with you."
Kageyama clicked his tongue softly, but he still began to silently warm up his wrists.
Indeed, even though ball control is a very important part for a setter, this technique itself is truly of no benefit to Karasuno.
But.. he's still feeling unfulfilled, isn't he?
Anyway, it's not training time right now, so just let him do whatever he wants.
“Here it comes.”
Hinata spun the ball in his hands, confirmed with Kageyama, tossed the ball upward to simulate an opponent's spike, before dropping his center of gravity to pass the ball toward Kageyama's position.
After completing the first receive, he lowered his center of gravity again and took a running approach toward the attacking point near the edge of the net at Position 4.
At the exact moment Hinata jumped to his highest point, Kageyama, having finished his calibration, sent the ball toward his hitting spot at the moment of contact.
Seeing the ball come toward him, Hinata's spiking motion hesitated for a moment, then his entire body shifted to the left, twisting himself in mid-air.
Kageyama wanted to pursue the momentary hang time of the set at the hitting point, but he couldn't fully control the ball, causing the parabola created by the spin to miss Hinata's hitting point instead of following the intended path.
—It was off by nearly twenty centimeters from the intended position.
But Hinata, having anticipated this, had already completed his mid-air turn, managing to spike the ball even from a nearly diagonal angle.
With a loud bang, the ball slammed down near the sideline, narrowly avoiding going out of bounds.
Landing on one foot, Hinata spread his arms and stumbled a few steps after a half-turn, barely managing to regain his balance.
After stabilizing his body, Hinata turned his head toward Kageyama, who had messed up the set, curled his lips into a triumphant smile.
Kageyama, who had been surprised that Hinata actually managed to land that spike, met Hinata's smile and inexplicably caught a hint of provocation within it.
His temple twitched, Kageyama squeezed a sentence through his teeth: "Nice spike."
Hinata lifted his chin: "Hmph."
Komori, who was still sitting on the floor, clapped lightly. "An amazing reaction time."
No.. what's relatively more terrifying is his body control; he was still able to adjust his spiking motion even in a situation like that disrupted Quick Attack.
After picking up the ball, Hinata crawled back under the net and turned to ask Kageyama, "What were you thinking when you set that ball, Kageyama-kun?"
"Huh?" Kageyama's movements came to an abrupt halt.
Was that.. a mockery of his set just now?
But he quickly realized that Hinata wasn't Tsukishima, that the question was most likely just meant literally.
Kageyama replied, "I'm thinking about how to set the ball to the best possible position."
Hinata pressed further, "What about the form?"
Kageyama didn't understand what Hinata was asking and could only say, "Form? Just like usual should be fine, the key is how to set the ball."
The spike route, the angle of the set, the choice of the target, things like that.
Hinata nodded. "Just like Atsumu-senpai."
Hearing Hinata's words, Kageyama slightly raised his eyes, but then immediately remembered what the coaches had said: "And also.."
You'll try to pay a little more attention to not letting your wrist flip outward when you set?
Hinata froze: "Eh? Kageyama, was your wrist turning outward when you were setting before?"
Now that you mention it.. it does seem like that's actually a thing.
He held the ball with one hand and used the other to mimic a setting motion. "Coach Inubata said that when setting, you absolutely cannot let your wrists flip outward, otherwise it'll really injure your wrists."
Kageyama, you were clearly a very famous Setter before, yet you actually have problems with your fundamentals?
Kageyama's expression shifted. "Ah, um.. no one has ever told me that before."
In terms of technique, his grandfather taught him at first, later, once he entered school, there were school coaches. After introducing him to the basics, the former didn't have much energy to teach him due to health reasons, while the latter simply led everyone through systematic training.
Moreover, his popularity doesn't seem to be that good, his seniors don't really look after him much; overall, a large part of his training was self-taught.
Hinata raised his hand and patted Kageyama's shoulder: "You'll have to work hard to correct that after this, Kageyama-kun, since your fundamentals have issues."