Once he felt that he could walk again, he relaxed significantly and turned his head to look at Hirugami with a speechless expression. "What do you think?"
Hirugami smiled: "That is indeed very interesting."
I have to say, Hikari-kun, your nemesis cultivation plan is a huge success.
Hoshiumi bared his teeth at Hirugami: "Inarizaki won't be so lucky next time. I'm going to beat them until they're crying and rolling on the floor!
Hakuma nodded seriously: "Yeah, definitely."
Hinata is amazing, Hoshiumi is amazing too.
In comparison, he, who has the height but has achieved nothing.. is simply pathetic.
Hoshiumi, who had finally caught his breath, let out a long sigh. "Work hard, Meisei."
Hakuma replied, "I'll get stronger than all of you."
Hoshiumi was slightly surprised to hear this.
He looked up at Hakuma's expression and couldn't help but chuckle, "Then next time, we'll shut out Inarizaki."
Hakuma nodded, "Alright."
On the other side, Miya Atsumu took the rejected Hinata back and looked down at him with interest.
I told you Hoshiumi is a bad guy, yet you still went out of your way to get bullied.
Hinata struggled for a moment: "Hikari-kun is a good person."
But he really had no strength right now and failed to break free from Miya Atsumu's grasp.
“Hoshiumi is a bad person.”
Hikari-kun is a good person.
A bad person.
A good person.
“Atsumu-senpai is a good person.”
Atsumu-senpai is a bad person.
Watching the two of them finally return to line up, Vice-Captain Miya Osamu gripped the Inarizaki High School sign in his hands.
This guy.. doesn't do a single thing a captain should do.
Osamu rolled his eyes at Atsumu, interrupting the two of them as they argued over whether Miya Atsumu or Hoshiumi was the better person. "You're just pure evil; your heart is black through and through."
Hey!" Miya Atsumu protested. "I'm clearly handsome, reliable, amazing.
Osamu snorted, "Heh, being handsome is thanks to Mom, being amazing is somewhat true, as for being reliable.."
He mercilessly shoved the sign into Miya Atsumu's hands: "Do some Captain's work, Atsumu-ge."
Hinata shrank behind Kumagai and added, "Exactly, exactly!"
Miya Atsumu also glared at Hinata. "Just you wait until you get back."
Hinata shrank back again.
After confirming that Hoshiumi from Karasuno could still walk, the Head Referee signaled for both sides to bow and step forward to shake hands.
Thank you for the game!
“Thank you for the guidance!!”
Watching everyone return, Coach Kurosu gave a light smile. There wasn't a single flaw in today's match, from the pre-match preparations to the meticulous strategic layout maintained throughout the middle of the game.. Compared to his former erratic playstyle and his tendency to get overly heated and let opponents dictate the pace, Atsumu and the others had matured more than anyone could have imagined.
“You played well in today's match. We'll do the review after the break is over. Our break lasts until next Monday, so you can arrange your own time.”
Of course, you can also go back to participate in the School Festival.
Unabara Uta nodded silently; since his and Imai's Tokyo date plans were already ruined, he might as well go back to participate in the School Festival.
There will be a bonfire party during the School Festival tonight, so he can go dancing with Imai!
Miya Atsumu curled the corners of his mouth, beginning to relish the wonderful life he had ahead of him for the next few days.
Anyway, all the matters regarding the School Festival had already been dumped on Miya Osamu and the others, so he didn't plan on returning to Hyogo for the next few days.
Scanning the crowd of people with various expressions, Coach Kurosu clapped his hands: "However, everyone should also pay attention to your own safety. There is only half a month left until the Haruko Preliminary Round, I don't want to see any of you twisting an ankle."
Alright, now go and greet the audience.
Yes!
Under Miya Atsumu's leadership, the Inarizaki members stood firm once again beneath that black banner.
This time, everyone stood with their chests out and heads held high, their faces filled with a pride stemming from their confidence and their status as winners.
Thank you all for your support!!
What a great match! We've avenged our previous loss!
So cool! Shoyo!
Everyone was cool! Atsumu-senpai's performance today was especially cool!
Everyone—you were amazing—
Hearing this voice, the Inarizaki members all turned their heads collectively to look toward the front of the middle-aged men's formation on the side.
Aran and Kita Shinsuke had already walked over here, standing in front of the railing and shouting loudly to the crowd below.
Hinata held his head high and puffed out his chest. After a brief rest to recover a tiny bit of his strength, he rushed to the railing below, waving frantically at Kita Shinsuke.
“Did the Kita Team see that! My set!”
And my serve! It's super amazing now, too!
And my spike!! My back row attack is super amazing!
Watching Hinata's incoherent state, Unai Aman smiled on the other side.
And in the next second, Hinata's shout rang in his ears: "Little Giant-senpai!! Did you see that?! Our championship!!"
Unai froze for a moment, then set down the drawing board with only two strokes left, placing his hand to his mouth as he shouted in response, "I saw it—as expected of the Little Giant—"
Hinata's mouth hung wide open, even his jumping motion faltered for a moment.
Countless bursts of joy rushed into his brain, causing his entire being to boil over instantly.
The next second, under everyone's gaze, Hinata suddenly fell backward.
Miya Atsumu, who had followed closely behind, reacted quickly and grabbed Hinata, looking down to meet Hinata's flushed face.
After a short while, Hinata returned to normal on his own.
He clutched his side, gasping for breath. "I'm.. I'm winded.."
Seeing that Hinata was alright, the Inarizaki supporters, who had been holding their breath, finally relaxed completely, for a moment, the area was filled with joyful laughter.
Feeling too embarrassed to show his face, Hinata reached out to grab Miya Atsumu's shirt, attempting to crawl inside his shirt to hide his face.
Miya Atsumu quickly reached out to stop his movement: "If you want to see, I'll take it off for you later, there are so many people here.."
Look this way—
Miya Atsumu looked back, meeting the selfie stick held up by Aran above.
He fixed his hair, put an arm around Hinata, flashed a smile at the camera, instantly switching into professional mode.
“One, two, three—cheese!”
After returning to the court to pick up their belongings, the Inarizaki members left the court.
The Women's Volleyball Finals were also to be held at the Center Court, so they needed to clear the space for the opposing teams.
Post-match stretching was as painful as ever, especially for Hinata, whose muscles were extremely tight after such a high-intensity match, which significantly impacted his otherwise decent flexibility.
“It hurts! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!”
Hinata was being held down by Fukami for a stretch, grimacing and wailing in pain; he felt as if his legs no longer belonged to him.
On the other side, Miya Atsumu had already collapsed on the floor, while Kumagai, who was responsible for helping him stretch, stood nearby with an innocent expression on his face.
Coach Kurosu and Coach Omimi were not at the sub-gymnasium; the two of them had gone to the Judges' table ahead of time to confirm the data for each player in this tournament.
In fact, the selection for each award was already relatively clear. There was likely no controversy regarding the Best Setter, the Best Libero would most likely be Unabara Uta.
After all, the first receive success rate of Karasuno's Libero was significantly lowered by the high-intensity serves from Inarizaki.
The most controversial position will likely be the Best Middle Blocker.
Suna played the whole match this time, his assist and spike scoring statistics were quite impressive, but he fell significantly short of Hirugami in terms of points scored directly from blocks. Ultimately, how he is evaluated will depend on the weight given to various statistics by the judges' table.
Walking toward the second-floor corridor leading to the Judges' table, Coach Kurosu ran straight into two coaches from Itachiyama.
Coach Himegomiya waved at Coach Kurosu. "Perfect timing, the data for your Inarizaki is right here."
She looked at the data and marveled, "As expected of Shoyo, these spike statistics are truly beautiful; he also has quite a lot of points and assists."
Coach Utsunomiya also nodded in agreement: "Based on this scoring, Hinata's MVP is quite secure."
After all, in the evaluation of this kind of award, the weight of a Spiker's scoring is inherently greater than that of a Setter's assists. In the past, the MVP of Inarizaki's championships was mostly Miya Atsumu because his performance as a Setter was exceptionally brilliant. Furthermore, Inarizaki has many attacking options, so the scores for each Spiker are relatively even when distributed.
But in this tournament, regardless of whether Inarizaki used their front or back-row rotation, the undisputed core was Hinata.
When it comes to offense, Hinata can be said to have performed flawlessly.
Whether it was a quick attack, a good play, or covering a back-row attack, Hinata was basically involved in almost every single ball.
Glancing out of the corner of his eye at Coach Kurosu's triumphant face, Coach Utsunomiya turned and said, "By the way, I brought the recommendation agreement today. Let's go to the meeting room to sign it in a bit; I've already called his guardian to ask about it."
Coach Kurosu's smile froze on his face.
This guy.. he's being a bit too impatient, acting as if Hinata is going to run away immediately. He even went ahead and contacted Hinata's parents..
He certainly knew that he hadn't given the two of them Hinata Natsu's parents' contact information, but since Coach Himegomiya had taken Hinata Natsu as a disciple, it was impossible for her not to be in contact with Hinata Natsu's parents.
—This was premeditated!
Coach Himegomiya also rubbed his hands together and leaned in, "So, uh, does Inarizaki have any secret techniques for scouting talented players? Care to share them with us?"
“How about this, next time you come to the testing center, I'll give you a thirty percent discount!”
Veins popped one by one on Coach Kurosu's forehead. He reached out and snatched the Inarizaki data sheet from Coach Himegomiya's hands, waving his hand at the two of them. "Shoyo is exhausted, let him get some rest first. No secret techniques!"