Miya Atsumu turned his head slightly to look at the closed bathroom door, then took a cleansing balm out of his backpack.
Taking off his heavy pants and sweatshirt, Hinata muttered Miya Atsumu's name in his head.
Some people keep instigating him, but now they're just teasing him.. so mean! He decided he wasn't going to pay any attention to Miya Atsumu for the rest of the night!
After squeezing the toothpaste and setting it aside, Hinata turned on the hot water and filled a cup to the brim to use as mouthwash.
Just as he was about to set the cup down on the counter, the bathroom door was suddenly pushed open, a neatly dressed Miya Atsumu walked in.
A dazed Hinata said instinctively, ".. Atsumu-ge?"
Atsumu closed the door behind him, walked up behind Hinata step by step, then reached over him to place that small jar of cleansing balm on the shelf beside the mirror.
Hinata's gaze followed the small green jar upward, in the next instant, he felt himself being pushed forward, his entire body pressed firmly against the cool marble of the sink counter.
He propped himself up with his free hand, the sensation of his body being pressed against a hard object was not very pleasant.
Hinata tilted his head slightly and prepared to set down the water cup in his hands.
But right at that moment, Atsumu's long fingers had already touched his elbow.
The texture of the sweatshirt against his back was not cold against Miya Atsumu's pants; it was much more comfortable than marble.
Hinata instinctively shifted his center of gravity backward, leaning his entire weight against Miya Atsumu, faintly, he felt something hard pressing against his waist.
He lowered his eyes to look at the hand supporting his elbow, bit his lower lip.
Wasn't Atsumu-senpai quite interested just now? He was teasing him so much a moment ago..
Miya Atsumu looked at Hinata's slightly dissatisfied expression in the mirror and lowered his head slightly to bite his earlobe.
A voice filled with amusement sounded in Hinata's ear: "Shoyo, let's play a game."
Hinata stood on his tiptoes, trying to let Miya Atsumu kiss his neck: "What?"
Miya Atsumu leaned in a bit closer, using pressure to fix Hinata's posture in that off-balance position.
Then he reached out with his other hand and gently moved Hinata's hand that was being used to brace against the floor.
Having suddenly lost his footing, Hinata panicked a little, could only find a sense of security and control over his body by leaning completely against Miya Atsumu.
Atsumu stroked every knuckle on those hands, then took Hinata's hand and guided it to touch his own waist and abdomen.
His light chuckle sounded in Hinata's ear, with their bodies pressed tightly together, the vibration of his body could be clearly felt.
“Shoyo, you must be very envious of how steady my hands are, so.. let's do some preliminary training.”
Hinata wanted to set down the cup of water in his hands, but Atsumu held his elbow, not letting him put it down at all.
A devilish voice rang in his ear: "Next, Shoyo, you have to hold this cup steady; you mustn't spill it."
Having said that, Miya Atsumu withdrew his hand.
Calloused, rough fingers brushed against Hinata's arm, tracing the marks along his ribs as they moved toward his chest.
Even though he was leaning completely against Miya Atsumu, those restless hands still made Hinata feel somewhat overwhelmed.
He looked into the mirror opposite him, held tightly in the arms of a neatly dressed Miya Atsumu, his somewhat distressed expression looking particularly disheveled.
As Atsumu's hands below applied pressure, Hinata ultimately failed to keep the cup steady.
The water cup fell onto the counter, as it rolled, it spilled all over Hinata.
He braced himself with his hands, leaning forward slightly toward the sink counter.
After adjusting his condition, he turned his body and looked up at Miya Atsumu's face: "Now Atsumu-ge's pants are wet too.."
“I'll help you take it off.”
Looking at Hinata's reddened eyes, Miya Atsumu also leaned down and kissed the red eyeliner at the corner of his eye that he had drawn himself.
Okay.
The first weekend of November arrived, more than ten days after the opening of the National Sports Festival.
Despite the tight schedule, the final stages of the regional qualifiers for each prefecture and municipality still began one after another, taking into account the subsequent arrangements for the National Team youth training and Haruko.
Inarizaki's spot was secured without much suspense.
Although the ten-odd days haven't been enough to fully recover, Coach Kurosu had rotated the first-year students and some substitutes during the earlier matches when the pressure was relatively low.
This time, the Finals was once again between Inarizaki and Municipal Kobe. Compared to the Interhigh, their first-year Setter's level had become much more stable, they no longer suffered from those instances of easy consecutive errors under high-pressure environments.
Even so, Municipal Kobe, despite having sufficient defense but lacking offense, still failed to take a single set from the full-strength starting lineup of Inarizaki.
Having been shut out by a massive score by Inarizaki once again, Hanae truly cried this time.
Although he is only a Second Year High School student, he has been a core starter for the team since last year. Even after Wakamura graduated, many of their tactics, despite their weakened offense, were built around him as the Libero.
He also had sufficient confidence in his own abilities. Although he wasn't certain he could completely defeat Inarizaki, who had already returned to the peak of high school volleyball, winning a single set.. he felt there was still hope.
But the reality was far more brutal than he had imagined.
This time, he still failed to take even a single set from Inarizaki.
Kanzaki was completely panicking: "Don't cry, Akari, I apologize, it was my fault just now.. That ball, that ball could have clearly been won.."
Hanae, who was usually so strong, lost control of his emotions and began to cry along with him.
Shaking hands with Hanae across the net, Miya Atsumu gave him a gentle smile. "Keep working hard next year, little Hanae."
Hanae's tears became even more uncontrollable.
It was because of this.. that he simply could not let it go.
Wakamura-senpai's obsession used to be Miya Atsumu, but having lost this opportunity, he would never again be able to overcome Inarizaki, which possessed Miya Atsumu.
He was unwilling to accept it.
It was so close.. just one point away.
Hinata bounced past him: "Hanae! See you at Haruko!"
Hanae had no hope for this at all.
It had been over a decade since they were last in the same regional qualifying group as Inarizaki for Haruko, he didn't believe they would be so lucky as to be grouped together again this time.
Looking down at the floor, he couldn't tell if the liquid on the ground was his tears or his sweat.
Kanzaki reached out and pulled him, saying, "Let's go say hello to Wakamura-senpai, Matou-senpai, the others."
Hanae did not respond, merely replaying the recent match over and over in his mind.
Yes, they were only one point away in their last set.
But.. if Inarizaki had truly brought that same strong offense they showed during their match against Karasuno, it definitely wouldn't have been as simple as just one point.
They would lose again and again, without any special reason from beginning to end.
It was simply a matter of being outclassed.
Wakamura and Matou rose from the stands one after another, preparing to head toward the Players' Tunnel to welcome the juniors.
In fact, he had been playing in a match this morning and had rushed over this afternoon immediately after finishing. After all, he had already made a promise to the juniors, he absolutely could not break his word.
He was different from that guy who once promised him they would compete against each other for the rest of their lives; he was not the kind of person who would break a promise so easily.
Walking out of the court, without the cheering that had been echoing through the gymnasium, Hanae felt a sense of complete stillness wash over him.
There is no use in saying anything now; he can only strive to make himself stronger..
Stronger.
Kanzaki greeted the newcomer: "Wakamura-senpai."
Wakamura was still wearing the Azure Rockets uniform. After greeting a few people, he signaled for Hanae to stay behind for a moment.
Hanae was a bit dazed, but he still followed Wakamura to sit down on a chair beside the water dispenser.
Wakamura said softly, "You played really well in today's match, but unfortunately, the current Inarizaki is indeed a bit overpowered."
But their strongest Third Years are about to graduate, so your chances of winning the Hyogo championship next year will be much higher than they are now.
Hanae nodded seriously, "Yeah, I understand."
Wakamura fell silent for two seconds before suddenly speaking, "It might be a bit early to ask this, but.. Akari, do you plan on going to university?"
Hanae froze for a moment, then answered honestly, "Miya Atsumu-senpai invited me to Central Physical Education University before, but then he rejected me, saying that Komori-senpai was planning to go, so there was no spot for me."
“So.. I don't have any plans for the time being.”
There is no point in going to a team that doesn't have the chance to play the Black Eagle Flag, he cannot rely on Waseda to provide him with recommendation spots like gold every year; aside from Central Physical Education University, the fluctuations among the remaining schools are simply too great.
By contrast.. going straight to a professional team would be a good option.
Wakamura spat at Miya Atsumu. "What an asshole. That guy, how can he stand someone up like that?"
He turned to look at Hanae and said with a serious expression, "Don't take it to heart; he's just using you as a backup to pave the way for that person in his family."
“Perfect, I have another proposal. Do you want to hear it?”
Having finished their stretching, the Inarizaki members had already boarded the bus for the return trip to Amagasaki. Since they had classes tomorrow, Monday, the venue for this tournament was not as far as the previous one, the bus ride back was short, so they wouldn't be staying for another night.
Sitting side by side in the back seats with Miya Atsumu, Hinata leaned forward to peek at Miya Atsumu's phone: "Did you find it?"
Miya Atsumu replied, "Hold on, hold on, the connection here is bad.. don't rush me."
Although he was also curious, the webpage simply wouldn't load, there was nothing he could do about it.
The moment text popped up on the phone screen, Miya Atsumu replied, "I'm in."
It's the Haruko, currently the interface is at the Miyagi venue, with one more live stream still ongoing.
There are many schools in Hyogo, so more than half were eliminated during the First Match, the remaining matches will be completed over these two days of the weekend.
But because the venues in Miyagi are somewhat limited, the Women's Volleyball team also needs to use the same gymnasium, their schedule has an extra day, with the Finals taking place tomorrow.
The current screen shows two semifinals of the Miyagi Prefecture Men's Volleyball, with the matches in the upper bracket still being played.
Miya Atsumu replied, "It's 1:1. Right now in the third set, Shiratorizawa leads Date Tech 17:13."
The second set is already finished; Karasuno won 2-0 against Aobajohsai.
Hinata quickly leaned in closer: "Karasuno won?"
Miya Atsumu clicked on the ongoing match between Shiratorizawa and Date Tech. "It's normal. The current third-year class at Aobajohsai is quite mediocre; the only one who can play is that Opposite, but Yagari doesn't have the same formidable ability as Oikawa-senpai. Even though the Opposite has proactively adapted to his setting, they still can't manage to produce enough of an effect."
By comparison, Karasuno can at least guarantee that their first receive and setting won't fail. With that kind of safety net, playing against a team like Aobajohsai that relies on tactical offense to score will be quite smooth, but it will be very easy to get dragged into long rallies.