Noticing something else that interested him, Kito turned and said, "Miya also has many scoring assists; although the frequency isn't particularly flashy, his overall score is very high, as he is involved in almost every single point."
Oikawa Tooru shrugged his shoulders. "That guy's setting is disgusting; as long as the first receive is stable, he can reliably set up at least three different attacking options."
When it comes to evaluating a Setter's ability, besides their raw skill in setting itself, the most intuitive metric is actually the Setter's ability to control the entire team.
In this regard, he believed he would not lose to the vast majority of setters; even Kageyama would not surpass him in this aspect.
Relatively speaking, Kageyama can coordinate, but because of issues with coordination, he is actually somewhat crude.
In a situation where everyone except the Libero is attacking, they could actually very easily eliminate at least one offensive option.
But the level of adaptation and coordination with his teammates is also an important metric for a Setter's ability, Kageyama's failure in this regard is an irrefutable shortcoming.
He watched Miyagi's matches this year, but it has been a long time since then, so he didn't know if the opponents had improved.
He certainly knew that Kito had seen Kageyama, but he had no interest in asking.
Regarding multi-point attacks, he can now manage it, as his coordination with Tachibana Red Falcons is currently quite good.
But setting those aside, for a certain fellow who is pampered by many high-level spikers.. that kind of four-point attack is basically flawless.
—And it's also the most infuriating part.
Miya Atsumu's behavior is the most typical example of acting all innocent after getting what he wants.
"Yeah, it's like this.." At this point, Kito's voice faltered slightly.
He turned his head to look at Oikawa Tooru and asked with some surprise, "Are you that familiar with the people from Inarizaki? Especially Miya Atsumu, are you very concerned about him?"
He could understand it last year, since Aobajohsai and Inarizaki had a history of facing each other, but why was Oikawa Tooru paying so much attention to this year's matches?
He remembered that Aran hadn't come to Oita because of his schedule, right?
Oikawa Tooru's expression contorted for a moment.
He flatly denied it, "That's absolutely not true, it's all just your delusion, Senpai."
I don't mind, Miya Atsumu.
After all..
“Who cares about him?!"
Chapter 424: The 424th Fox
Miya Atsumu sneezed repeatedly, startling everyone nearby.
“What's wrong? Atsumu-ge, do you have a cold?” Hinata wanted to move closer to Miya Atsumu, but remembering the Coach's instructions, he pulled back, creating distance between himself and Miya Atsumu.
If Miya Atsumu really had a cold, to ensure the team's combat effectiveness for the rest of the match, he should stay away from Miya Atsumu and keep his distance.
Atsumu hurriedly waved his hands to clear himself of any suspicion of having a cold: "It's nothing, it's nothing, I definitely don't have a cold. It was just some fluff flying past just now."
Hinata breathed a sigh of relief and moved back to his seat beside Miya Atsumu: "It's true, Atsumu-ge has been going to bed early and waking up early lately, eating healthy, hasn't left the windows open while sleeping and caught a chill, has been careful to stay warm after matches, it hasn't even been peak flu season lately.."
He drew a conclusion on Miya Atsumu's behalf: "In short, there's definitely no possibility of a cold!"
Miya Atsumu stood tall with his chest out. "That's right!"
Upon hearing Hinata's words, Unai froze for a moment.
He looked at Hinata, then at Miya Atsumu, said subconsciously, "Hinata is very familiar with Miyagi."
Aran said, "Because the two of them live together."
Unai was no longer surprised: "I see."
Miya Atsumu looked up at the ceiling of the Inarizaki No. 2 Gymnasium and quickly changed the subject: "Um, I can go with Hinata to make copies right now. I remember there's a photocopier in the convenience store on the first floor.."
Unai happily agreed, "Sure, I'll get it signed for Hinata when I bring it back in a bit."
After saying that, he remembered something else and changed the subject, saying, "How about.. you give me an autograph too? Aran just gave me one. I'm planning to collect autographs from professional players to show off when I have the chance in the future."
Unai rummaged through his pockets and handed Miya Atsumu a black signing pen.
Miya Atsumu stared at Aran's signature in the notebook Unai handed over for a long time before deciding decisively, "I'm going to buy a new pen; I want to sign in gold!"
Hinata raised his hand, his face practically screaming with eagerness: "Can I sign too!"
“Even though I haven't become a professional player yet, I feel like it's only a matter of time.”
Miya Atsumu turned his head toward him. "Shoyo, do you have a signature design?"
Hinata blinked and asked sincerely, "Do signatures need to be designed too?"
Of course," Atsumu smiled, his eyes lowering, "If you trust me, Shoyo, I'll design it for you?
We could add a few elements you like, Shoyo, for example.. a smiley face? Or maybe a little fox tail?
Hinata nodded repeatedly. "That sounds great, that sounds great!"
He still trusted Miya Atsumu's taste.
Miya Atsumu was the first to stand up, said to Kita Shinsuke and the others, "Then, we'll be heading off first?"
Hinata had just about to stand up when a thought suddenly occurred to him.
He rubbed his hands together and said to Unai, "If Giant-senpai doesn't mind, I can help collect autographs—I guarantee they'll all be future star players!"
He just saw that Iizuna-senpai and the others were already over at the Itachiyama cheering area, it looked like Ushijima-senpai was there too.
He hadn't greeted Natsume-senpai and the others yet today, he was also planning to go check out the cheering area near Shirabu, as Kiryu-senpai and the others might be there as well.
As he spoke, he pointed to the clothes he was wearing. "I even collected a short-sleeved shirt with over thirty professional players' signatures on it before!"
Hearing this, Miya Atsumu's previously calm face instantly contorted.
He recalled some dirty past hidden beneath the beautiful moments; the source of all that wickedness was the hateful Oikawa Tooru!
—Even though the first thing he did upon returning was to rub out those words from Oikawa Tooru, even adding that Atsumu-sama's serve is the greatest.
Unai agreed readily, handing the notebook directly to Hinata: "That's a huge help."
Hinata patted his chest. "I promise to complete the mission!"
Following behind Miya Atsumu as they left the stands, Hinata headed toward Iizuna and the others with his notebook in hand, his goal clearly in sight.
But Miya Atsumu was quick, grabbing Hinata by the back of his collar and lifting him up: "Wait, let's go make copies and buy some signing pens first."
He wanted to take his time going and take his time returning, after all, he had no intention of easily giving up on his and Hinata's private world.
Hinata felt a slight sense of regret, but he still gave Miya Atsumu an enthusiastic response: "Yeah, yeah, Atsumu-ge is so thoughtful."
I wonder if Ushijima-senpai will still be there if I go over in a little while, or if he might have already gone over to Shiratorizawa to comfort Akari and the others..
I've decided, I'll add Shiratorizawa to my schedule; I need to go say a proper hello to Coach Washijo!
Miya Atsumu, who was still feeling relieved that he had successfully bought himself some time, had no idea that several more items had been added to his schedule today; he was simply searching for the location of the largest convenience store on the map.
Remembering something, Miya Atsumu spoke up and asked, "By the way, Shoyo, because the National Sports Festival was postponed this year, the schedule is a bit tight. Coach Unabara said the Junior National Team training has been moved to mid-to-late December, so it won't conflict with the intensive training camp at Shiratorizawa at the beginning of the month. Are you going to both?"
However, Hinata couldn't refuse the Junior National Team training camp; what Miya Atsumu really wanted to ask was whether Hinata was going to Shiratorizawa.
Hinata replied, "Coach Kurosu asked me about this before; I probably won't be going to Shiratorizawa."
The coach said that participating in too many training camps in a short period of time makes it easy to.. get too full? Besides, Miyagi is too far away, the round trip takes a lot of time.
As he spoke, Hinata looked up at Miya Atsumu. "I won't be going back with my mom and the others during winter break."
Noticing his gaze, Miya Atsumu turned back to look at him. "So you're living at home by yourself?"
Hinata recalled Coach Kurosu's words: "Um.. Coach said for me to stay in the dormitory with Suna-senpai."
But he had a new idea: "Or how about you come to my house, Atsumu-ge?"
Miya Atsumu rubbed his hands together. "Sure, I'll cook for you."
Hearing this, Hinata looked at Miya Atsumu in shock: "Atsumu-ge, can you actually do it?"
He knew Miya Osamu loved researching food, Miya Atsumu had also told him that he had researched a bit alongside Miya Osamu, but Hinata wasn't sure exactly what Miya Atsumu could do.
Miya Atsumu patted Hinata on the head: "Your Atsumu-ge can handle it; at the very least, we won't go hungry."
With the kind of meal plan Coach Kurosu gives them every day, it should be quite easy to make.
With his intelligence, there definitely won't be any big problems!
Hinata stopped overthinking and decided to trust Miya Atsumu completely: "Atsumu-ge is just amazing!"
Staring at Miya Atsumu's raised chin for a moment, Hinata turned and said, "But speaking of the Junior National Team, I remember you guys aren't going to the winter training camp?"
Miya Atsumu's mood, which had been exceptionally high due to Hinata's praise, instantly plummeted, his expression became extremely gloomy.
His voice was full of resentment: "That's right, we aren't going."
Actually, even if he were allowed to go, he wouldn't be able to.
Because the youth training program itself is for selecting talent for the National Youth Team, he has already been selected, so naturally he doesn't need to participate in the selection.
After he left, the most eye-catching setter in this batch of the Junior National Team would likely be Kageyama.
Judging by the talent he has shown, as long as Karasuno's performance at this year's Haruko is decent, there shouldn't be any major issues, he will likely be promoted to a regular starter by his third year.
Of course, he felt that Hinata wouldn't have much of a problem either. After all, there were far fewer outstanding spikers in Hinata and Kageyama's age group compared to the two generations before them. Even among the likes of Aobajohsai, Hinata's strength was at least among the top tier.
Moreover, considering the bonus from his achievements.. it wouldn't be impossible to say that Hinata is the strongest spiker among his peers.
It's just that when the time comes, he and Hinata won't be in the same age group, which makes it very difficult for him.
Actually, based on his birthday, he should have been able to be moved down a group, but Iizuna-senpai was struggling to lead the team alone, so he really had no way to lower the group level.
Moreover, if it weren't for the fact that Hoshiumi was already in their group, he could have actually suggested promoting Hinata to the higher group. But there was no way to do that now, because he wasn't willing to have Hinata play as a substitute; he'd rather have him play more as a starter in the lower group to gain experience.
Miya Atsumu gave a soft click of his tongue.
—It's all Oikawa-senpai's fault.
After purchasing a gold sign pen, Miya Atsumu also specifically bought a folder to hold the copies of those manuscripts for Hinata.
Hinata spent a long time choosing in front of the photocopier, finally making copies of all the sketches.
The photocopier in this convenience store was mainly used as a remedy for those who had lost their player credentials and other materials at the very beginning; since more than half of the tournament had already passed, there was hardly anyone left with a need for photocopying or printing.
The two of them spent more than ten minutes fussing here before they finally got all the photocopies packed.