Haruka Arai told him that it was because Kureha had a fever and was afraid of infecting them and affecting their match tomorrow, so she wouldn't shake hands.
Although he hadn't noticed anything unusual about him during the match, looking from a distance just now, he could indeed see that his complexion was abnormal.
As he put on his jacket to leave the court, Hinata muttered under his breath, "I didn't notice at all just now.."
It's like this," Unabara Uta leaned in, "once that tension you were holding is released, your physical condition might rapidly deteriorate or something.
Hinata blinked. "Is that so?"
After thinking seriously, Kumagai replied, "It's possible, maybe something like hormones.."
Hearing him speak, Hinata quickly rushed over: "Akuma! Did you see my super cool Quick Attack!"
Kumagai replied, "I saw it, I saw it, it was very cool."
As soon as he finished speaking, he lowered his head slightly and met Hinata's eyes, which were full of anticipation.
Alright, he knew what Hinata meant.
In a sense, Hinata is really easy to understand.
Miya Atsumu has less than five months left until graduation; in fact, once Haruko ends in early January, Atsumu will step out of his role as Inarizaki's starting setter and pass the position on to him.
He knew his skill as a setter was only so good, he might never be able to coordinate with Hinata for that kind of quick attack again.
—Then any sense of coolness would be gone, wouldn't it?
After thinking it over seriously, Kumagai quickly came up with a solution.
He proactively handed Hinata a solution to the problem: "It's the one we used before, the pinpointed Quick Attack. Shall we go back and continue studying this?"
Hinata cheered, "Yes, yes! Long live Akuma! Akuma is the best!"
Although he felt that Akuma's tosses were also very easy to spike, that adjusting his technical balls was very convenient, he was also very confident in his own technical balls.
But.. of course, being stronger would be even better.
After all, their goal for next year is still to be the champions; they certainly won't stop at their current position.
He knew Kumagai would have many other thoughts; asking him indeed yielded useful answers.
He is too smart!
Having seen right through him, Rishia hesitated to speak. He turned to look at Unabara Uta and said to her, "Actually, I think that even if Shoyo were to become the captain, Akuma would still be the most reliable one."
Unabara Uta nodded seriously. "Mm, I guessed it. He would say—'Akuma, you say a few words.'"
Rishia responded with a calm expression, "Actually, he has already done that."
Hinata, who was behind them, protested, "I heard that!"
I can handle the coordination now, if you don't believe me, go ask Haruka Arai and Kageyama and the others!
He paused, then turned his head to look at Kumagai. "But Akuma does feel more reliable, in terms of IQ."
The Inarizaki members all looked toward Kumagai together, their expressions filled with a sense of awe.
Miya Atsumu, who had gone with Coach Kurosu to confirm the match results and sign the paperwork, turned his head slightly to look at the Inarizaki supporters as they carried things out of the corridor.
The Women's Volleyball matches are up next, so the main cheering area in the Center Court needs to be vacated.
Seeing Miya Atsumu, everyone from the cheering squad greeted him enthusiastically.
Atsumu-kun! Good luck in tomorrow's match!
Give Shoyo my regards—
Sure thing, I will," Miya Atsumu replied enthusiastically to everyone, his mood quite good, "Yeah, no problem.
As he drifted further away from the crowd, Miya Atsumu's mind went blank for a moment.
Thinking of something, Miya Atsumu looked at Coach Kurosu ahead of him. "Coach, do you still want Shoyo and me to do the oath-taking and flag-raising at Haruko?"
If nothing unexpected happens, yes," Coach Kurosu said, keenly sensing there was more to Miya Atsumu's words, then asked instead, "Do you have any other ideas?
"Hmm.." Miya Atsumu seemed to hesitate for a moment.
After making his decision, he looked up to meet the coach's eyes again, his gaze firm. "Yes, I have a proposal—"
Coach Kurosu's eyes widened slightly, but he had no objections to Miya Atsumu's proposal and simply nodded in agreement. "Fine. According to the regulations, there shouldn't be any issues, as long as you are willing."
Rather.. the biggest obstacle in this proposal was Miya Atsumu himself.
Atsumu-senpai breathed a sigh of relief. "Then it's settled."
Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from behind: "Um—Atsumu-senpai, Coach, can I go with you?"
I can help pack things up!
The two turned around and saw Imai running toward them, carrying his instrument case.
Coach Kurosu nodded. "Alright, we're going to the Sub-gymnasium now to stretch."
Imai gave a cheeky grin and followed behind Miya Atsumu.
Imai, who had already received some inside information from Unabara Uta, walked over and asked, "Atsumu-senpai, are you guys.. going to Shibuya for Halloween?"
Miya Atsumu didn't expect Imai to strike up a conversation with him. After a brief moment of being stunned, he replied somewhat speechlessly, "The two of you exchange information way too quickly."
This was just a sudden thought he had during the match, but Unabara Uta really has no filter.
Imai smiled. "Hehe, actually, Unabara and I were planning on going too."
Her face was full of restless excitement: "Does Atsumu-senpai have any dating strategies? There will be so many people that day; I'm afraid the observation deck and restaurants might be hard to book, we'll probably need to wear costumes for Halloween, right?"
Alarm bells rang in Miya Atsumu's head: "What are you talking about?"
Imai held up the screen showing that the Sky Observation Deck was fully booked for Sunday, facing him. "It just so happens that Unabara and I are planning to head to Osaka, so I'm afraid we won't be able to make it to the restaurant we booked earlier, or the makeup artist.. If Atsumu-senpai doesn't mind, could we give the reservations to you?"
Staring at that reservation interface for a long time, Miya Atsumu felt a shameful surge of excitement.
His gaze shifted for a second: "I-it's not like I wouldn't go, right?"
After a brief moment of thought regarding that holy site for dates mentioned by Unabara Uta, Miya Atsumu spoke rapidly, "How much? I'll transfer the money to you later, along with the shopping fee."
His speech was rapid, as if he was afraid Imai would change his mind.
Imai shook his phone. "You don't need to pay the proxy shopping fee; just scold Unabara a little less, senpai."
Miya Atsumu rolled his eyes secretly. "I scold him because he plays poorly and doesn't put in the effort; it's not like I want to scold him. I'm being very merciful, okay?"
At the very least, he personally felt that he was being quite kind to Unabara Uta.
The three of them turned into the corridor leading toward the Sub-gymnasium, from a distance, they saw Hinata clinging to Kumagai, facing off against Unabara Uta and Rishia from the opposing side.
Relying on Kumagai standing on his side, Hinata said quite proudly, "Between me and Akuma, we're definitely smarter than you two combined!"
Unabara Uta waved his hand. "Shoyo, leave Akuma alone. Stop trying to make his intelligence a negative number."
Hinata looked like he was about to cry: "Atsumu-ge said I was smart!"
Rishia complained, "That's only on the volleyball court, right? If you're talking about actual results.. uh, should I even mention that?"
“Besides, if you're talking about the court aspect, Atsumu-senpai once said that Akuma isn't very smart.”
Miya Atsumu, having understood nothing, had several question marks floating above his head, but his feet reacted even faster, he had already rushed in front of several people, prepared to assert his authority as Captain.
Just then, Miya Osamu chimed in to add insult to injury: "You guys actually believe what Atsumu says? His own grades are nothing special; he failed both math and English in his recent exams and was scolded by Mom.."
Before Miya Osamu could even finish his sentence, a yellow shadow lunged at him from the side: "Osamu, you bastard! I heard you talking behind my back!"
Miya Osamu was being held in a chokehold and could see there was no way to throw him off: "Let go! You're so heavy!"
Suna, who was in a poor position, suddenly turned his head, while Masaru Haseda, who had been preparing to move things in the corner, locked eyes with Suna and quickly pulled out his phone, silently pressing the record button.
Suna expressed that he was quite satisfied.
Actually, a large portion of his material over this past year came from Masaru Haseda. As for why.. it wasn't because he didn't work hard himself, but rather because most of what Haseda provided were recorded videos.
This junior still isn't bold enough; he never dares to use the flash photography function.
Although the perspective provided by Masaru Haseda was indeed very discreet and had never been discovered by Miya Atsumu and the others, it was difficult to take clear photos in a dim environment like this without a flash. This time, eighty percent of what he got was still just a blurry mess of video.
—and it was going to take up a massive amount of his memory.
Coach Kurosu's forehead bulged with veins as he grabbed his tactical board and slammed it against the two men's heads: "You two! Do you really have to be suspended right before the Finals!"
Rishia looked at the two senpais being forcibly suppressed by Coach Kurosu and silently knocked a wooden fish in her heart.
Even so.. to be honest, Osamu-senpai's words weren't exactly slander.
Listening to Coach Kurosu's lecture, Hinata silently found himself a new sanctuary, shrinking behind Unabara Uta and Tokura to escape the coach's line of fire.
Imai, who had been helping Unabara Uta organize her bag, looked at Hinata, who had already crouched down beside her. "By the way, Hinata, is there any monster you want to dress up as for Halloween?"
Zombies, little ghosts, vampires, things like that?
Hinata rubbed his chin. "That's right, you have to dress up for Halloween."
“Hmm..”
He thought about it seriously, but he couldn't come up with anything.
Winter in Sendai is very cold; in fact, they don't go out at night. Last Halloween, he and Xiaoxia just draped themselves in bedsheets to pretend to be ghosts.
After carefully recalling the horror movies he had seen, Hinata said earnestly, "A mummy?"
Imai replied, "Rejected, that one isn't good."
It would be boring if everything was wrapped up, especially since Hinata and the others still have dates to go on.
Hinata admitted defeat: "I can't think of anything."
Imai decided for him: "Then a fox monster would be the most suitable."
Both handsome and cute, perfect for photos—it's absolutely perfect!
Hinata's eyes lit up. "Ohhh—that sounds great too!"
Listening to the sound of the lecture coming from over there, Kito, who was on the other side of the corner, scratched his head.
Although he couldn't hear exactly what was being said, the corner of the tracksuits visible over there definitely belonged to Inarizaki.
He felt that Inarizaki played quite well this set; they made almost no mistakes, playing beautifully and decisively from beginning to end.
But were their coach's standards really that high? To get scolded even after playing so well?
“You two, did you just graduate from kindergarten? What's there to shout about!”