Hinata was a little worried about Aran: "Has the successor for the coach position been found? Will it affect Aran-senpai?"
Miya Atsumu shook his head. "I don't know; Aran hasn't mentioned this matter to me."
Blanco's departure has been delayed by nearly a year. Knowing that he was going to leave, it is highly likely that the Tachibana Red Falcons have already hired a new coach to lead the team and build cohesion, minimizing the losses caused by Blanco's departure.
He comforted Hinata: "But it's okay, Kito-senpai is here, so there won't be any major problems."
As the most skilled and experienced Setter in the country, Kito is the team's anchor; even if the New Coach cannot win everyone over, Kito-senpai can still keep things under control.
Besides.. those veteran powerhouse teams certainly have their depth.
Hinata blinked, staring blankly at the match between Tachibana Red Falcons and Izumo Hornets on the tablet.
But none of that matters right now; just thinking about seeing Aran-senpai and Oikawa-senpai face off against Kiryu-senpai and Wakamura-senpai makes him feel incredibly excited.
I'm so excited for the day after tomorrow.
Miya Atsumu originally wanted to go to Disney Land with Hinata on Saturday, but since the date was a last-minute idea, the tickets for that period had long since been sold out.
In the end, after wandering through Akihabara in the morning, the two of them chose to go sightseeing at Senso-ji in the afternoon.
And on the morning of Sunday, Halloween, the match between Tachibana Red Falcons and Azure Rockets opened as scheduled.
Miya Atsumu and Hinata's seats were in the very front of the Tachibana Red Falcons' side of the stands; they were family tickets obtained by Aran, offering an excellent view, only a few meters away from the players' backcourt rest area.
Before entering, the two had already collected the cheering sticks distributed by the Tachibana Red Falcons fan club.
But Miya Atsumu had no intention of using it; in fact, he had already tucked it into the very bottom of his backpack.
Because..
He came today to cheer for the Azure Rockets.
Hinata had already put on his headphones, prepared to watch the match while listening to the commentary.
In professional matches, there are many details that they might miss, so it is better to listen to the commentary at this time.
Led by the mascots of both sides, the players entered the court accompanied by their respective volleyball angels.
Looking at the children lined up in a row, Hinata turned his head slightly toward Miya Atsumu, wondering if Miya Atsumu had also done this kind of work when he was little.
Miya Atsumu knew what Hinata was thinking without even turning his head. His lips twitched, he finally said, "Aran has done it, but I haven't."
Actually, there was an opportunity, but because he and Miya Osamu fought so fiercely over that single spot that they ended up disfigured, Aran ended up benefiting from it in the end.
Aran, who was already on the court, glanced at the bitter and resentful Miya Atsumu and silently reached up to scratch his head.
What happened now?
Are the young couple fighting?
Chapter 465: The Four Hundred and Sixty-Fifth Fox
With a sense of foreboding, Aran glanced at Miya Atsumu's side several times before finally withdrawing his gaze at the call of the coach.
In short, Miya Atsumu is also someone who cares deeply about his personal image; although he has recently shown signs of developing into a comedian on the internet, his looks and handsome playing style are, at the very least, beyond doubt.
In short, Miya Atsumu shouldn't cause any trouble for him while watching the match today.
Even if he and Hinata were to have a quarrel for some reason, he firmly believed that Hinata would be able to make up with Miya Atsumu.
Aran felt relieved.. no, rather, he had decided to completely ignore Miya Atsumu.
He isn't close with Miya Atsumu today, seriously.
The players from the Azure Rockets were the first to take the court. Seeing Kiryu Ya walk onto the court, Hinata gave his loudest cheers to support him: "Go for it, Kiryu-senpai! Kiryu-senpai is the coolest!"
Hearing that incredibly obvious voice, the previously nervous Kiryu Ya looked up toward the source of the sound and immediately saw Hinata waving frantically at him.
He curled his lips into a slight smile, while taking his position on the court, he waved toward Hinata.
The Tachibana Red Falcons fans behind the two were a bit stunned, but Kiryu Ya's reliable and composed personality, combined with his stable results and performance, earned him great popularity among bystanders throughout the V1 League.
Seeing him wave towards this side, someone behind him let out a small scream.
Wakamura, who followed closely behind, glanced over briefly, his expression contorted for a second when he saw it was Miya Atsumu and Hinata.
He had also originally invited Matou, who is currently studying in Tokyo, had even sent a ticket to Nagumo by mistake, but both of them had classes today and neither of them came.
Not to mention Tosaka, he also has a match today with Tokai Heavy Industries in V2.
Why are there so many bystanders from Inarizaki?
And to cheer for Oikawa Tooru.. did Miya Atsumu really go there?
Regarding this, Wakamura expressed deep doubt.
But he didn't have the luxury of worrying about that anymore. The current match cycle was already more than halfway through, his Azure Rockets' score was still in the middle of the pack, with no way to secure a spot in the Finals.
Therefore, every single point is extremely important right now; they must not only win, but also strive to earn as many points as possible in every set.
Miya Atsumu leaned back against his chair and commented, "Actually, the Azure Rockets have done quite well to reach this stage. Kiryu-senpai joined the team as the Ace, Wakamura-senpai joined as the starting Setter; it's as if, aside from the Libero, the team's two most important positions are both held by newcomers."
The team's coordination in this league probably hasn't fully meshed yet, but even so, these two players, who perform with enough stability, were able to lead the team to a victory against the EJP Gods previously.
Hinata stared at Kiryu Ya on the court and said softly, "After all.. it's Kiryu-senpai."
That person is a role model for all spikers, Wakamura Souya, who is currently his partner, is also a player who can perform consistently even under high pressure. Having played against Municipal Kobe so many times, he knows this better than anyone.
Even when Hanae had not yet fully adapted to the high school tournaments, Wakamura could support the entire team, preventing them from collapsing under Inarizaki's strong attack.
And now, the quality of the professional players in the Azure Rockets is even better than the players from Shirabu and Municipal Kobe before, so the two already stable individuals should be able to perform even better than in the past within such a superior environment.
Just as Coach Kusubashi once said..
Kiryu-senpai, who is able to focus all of his energy on the act of 'scoring' itself.. he must be absolutely terrifying.
Hinata's expression was very serious, his hands, resting on his lap, clenched slightly with tension.
Glancing at him sideways, Miya Atsumu, who had originally intended to say something, ultimately fixed his gaze on the headphones hanging from Hinata's ears.
He asked, "Do you want to listen to the commentary?"
Hinata nodded. "Yeah, because I feel like I can't see the details of professional matches clearly, so I need help from a commentator."
Miya Atsumu raised a finger and waved it in front of him. "There's nothing good about listening to that. I'll provide the commentary for you; I guarantee you'll understand it."
Hinata blinked.
He certainly trusted Miya Atsumu's ability, he knew clearly that Miya Atsumu was very patient with him and wouldn't look down on him just because he had many questions.
But..
He hesitated for a second before finally asking, "Is it objective?"
Miya Atsumu's hands rested on the back of the chair behind Hinata, faintly enclosing him in an embrace.
He curled his lips into a slight smirk, turning his head to meet Hinata's gaze.
“No, it's purely subjective.”
Hinata fell silent.
But in the end, he still took off his headphones.
Because he discovered one thing: the venue was quite noisy, with only one earbud in, he had no way to fully hear the commentators' voices, nor could he join in the cheering.
Moreover.. he could understand Miya Atsumu's commentary, whereas he didn't quite understand the meaning behind some of the overly formal terminology used by the official commentators.
Miya Atsumu was satisfied with Hinata's personal commentary.
Scanning through the starting lineup for the Tachibana Red Falcons, Miya Atsumu wore an expression that suggested he wasn't surprised at all. "As expected, Oikawa-senpai is still starting on the bench for the first set."
Hinata rubbed his chin: "I noticed it yesterday while watching the footage; Aran-senpai's playstyle is completely different when he's with Tachibana compared to when he's with us at Inarizaki."
While Inarizaki's playstyle was considered systematic by themselves, many people had told him that it felt like chaotic play, Aran was naturally one of the components in their flashy tactics.
Even though he's called the Ace, he often serves as a decoy; Miya Atsumu is truly using Aran as a very useful tool.
Hmm.. but he really is very useful.
"Of course, compared to our Inarizaki's multi-point triple or even quadruple attack style, Tachibana Red Falcons actually use a classic dual-core system," Miya Atsumu explained.
The overall playstyle is basically the same as when Coach Blanco was with the Argentina National Team. If you really want to make a comparison.. actually, Aobajohsai and Itachiyama are both of that school.
He pointed to Jose Blanco, who was standing next to the Coach's bench, said, "By comparison, although the Azure Rockets also have a dual core, they don't perform as well in this regard as Tachibana Red Falcons because their secondary core's level isn't prominent enough and their offense isn't quite as strong."
If you're going to pair up with Kiryu-senpai, it's best to have a Deputy Assistant who has a clear offense, who is also good enough at digesting bad balls and performing strong attacks.
Hinata tried to understand what Miya Atsumu meant: ".. Digging bad balls?"
He knew what Miya Atsumu was referring to, but digesting bad sets was essentially Kiryu-senpai's specialty; adding another deputy assistant for that would be a bit redundant, wouldn't it?
Exactly. To put it bluntly, Kiryu-senpai's adaptability was actually forced out of him by necessity in the past. Once he's in a professional team with abundant resources, he will definitely find ways to unleash his true potential.
Miya Atsumu chuckled. "As for what Kiryu-senpai excels at.. Shoyo, you should know quite clearly."
Yes, Hinata knew very well.
Kiryu has sufficient strength, the adaptability he cultivated previously allows him to perform full-power spikes in any situation; in many ways, he can actually serve as a surprise strong attack spiker during impossible situations.
Moreover.. Kiryu has mastered various spiking techniques, combined with his own physical strength advantage, he would likely be on par with Ushijima when performing a pure, direct strong attack.
To fully exploit this advantage.. he truly needs a deputy who can support him.
Hinata gave it a serious evaluation and suddenly said, "I think I can give it a try."
Miya Atsumu's expression froze for a moment. He turned his head to look Hinata up and down, while Hinata was staring intently at Kiryu, who had just scored a point with a spike.
I know you like Kiryu-senpai, but.. didn't we agree? That we'd prioritize the Black Jackals when we return home..
Atsumu's voice sounded incredibly pitiful, the corners of his mouth turned down, his gaze fixed on Hinata was filled with grievance.
Hinata, who was lost in thought about Kiryu's volleyball, suddenly turned his head and hurriedly reached out to grab Miya Atsumu's hand, placing it on his own lap: "Atsumu-ge, don't be scared! I'm not going anywhere. If I were to consider domestic teams, I would definitely consider the Black Jackals first!"
Miya Atsumu pulled back his pitiful expression. "Well, since Shoyo said that, I'll take your word for it."
He looked down at Hinata, taking Hinata's hand in his own. "If I break my word.."
Hinata squeezed his hand back firmly: "If you break your word, you'll turn into a puppy!"
Miya Atsumu expressed that he was very moved, just as he was about to say something, a voice came from not far away: "Ahem, ahem, ahem."
The two of them looked up to find Oikawa Tooru, who had stood up from his seat in the waiting area at some unknown time and had strolled over to them.