His children are all good children, he knows.
More than a hundred schools were involved in the first day of the Haruko matches, even the seeded teams without matches had their own small cheering area within the gymnasium.
As each team entered to be inspected, one could hear shouts that, while not perfectly clear under the music playing at the venue, were nonetheless delivered with great vigor.
Hearing a particularly unique sound among them, Coach Kurosu was somewhat surprised: "Wataiko?"
He followed the sound with his eyes, seeing the cheering area on the third floor near the corner, where a black flag with white lettering that read "Fly High" was hanging.
Regular schools usually have cheerleading squads for their cheering area, at most some snare drums, or perhaps the school's brass band, but this was the first time he had seen a Wataiko team.
It was a bit far away, so Coach Kurosu couldn't clearly see the signature under the banner. "Which school is it from?"
The banner looked a bit familiar; he must have seen it somewhere before.
But during this period of preparation for Haruko, he had watched so many Regional Finals videos that the banners flashing through his mind must have numbered at least eighty or a hundred.
Coach Omimi looked at the two teams that had just entered the arena: "Karasuno, I assume."
Shinzan Girls' cheering area was next to the main stands, just like Inarizaki's, it was so large that Karasuno, entering at the same time, seemed quite insignificant.
Aside from those who looked over because of the sound of the Wataiko and the flute, most people didn't pay any attention.
Coach Kurosu chuckled. "It'll be quite intimidating, wouldn't it? They might just become a terrifying dark horse."
The situation in Miyagi over the past few years has been uncertain. The teams that qualify for the tournament change almost every time. The era where Shiratorizawa dominated alone seems to have shifted into a three-way split. However, many teams do not have direct contact with Karasuno, which results in the teams that qualify each time not receiving that much attention.
But the more this happens, the easier it is for certain teams to underestimate their opponents, the more exciting the performances of Inarizaki will become.
Of course, the opponent's highest achievement is estimated to stop at the top eight.
Because the winner will be Inarizaki.
[Hyogo Prefecture's number one representative: Male, Inarizaki High School; Female, Kita Girls High School.]
Atsumu-senpai led the team onto the court with the school sign in both hands, while Hinata, who was in the line, waved at the two coaches as he passed by them.
Go—Inarizaki is the strongest!!
Standing once again beneath the dome of the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, Hinata's state of mind was completely different.
Past victories were already things of the past; he stands here at this very moment for the sole purpose of standing at the summit once again.
He will do even better than his past self and become the undisputed strongest, just as someone once told him—he would make himself someone that others would have no choice but to choose.
Although he didn't want to think about it, he knew that this was already the last major tournament of Miya Atsumu and his teammates' high school careers.
After Haruko, Atsumu and the others will leave, just like the former Kita Team did, at that time, only they will be left behind.
So.. just like before, he will also make sure that Atsumu-senpai and the others can leave without any regrets.
Hinata stood at the front of everyone, chest out and head held high, as he took the oath before the tournament flag.
He swore that he would definitely do it.
Watching Hinata's back, Kageyama, standing behind Enoshita Chikara, slowly withdrew his gaze.
Although he had beautiful aspirations of becoming the Emotional Champion Senior, his reason told him that Karasuno was still a very long way from reaching that goal.
Kageyama decided to cast aside reason.
If he didn't come here to become the Emotional Champion, he might as well pack his bags and go home.
No matter who the opponent is, he will win.
After the lengthy opening ceremony speeches concluded, the first day of matches was officially declared started. The first round of warm-ups took place in the main gymnasium and the sub-gymnasium respectively, while the remaining teams left one after another to warm up in other rented gymnasiums outside.
Inarizaki didn't have that problem; they were using the same venue as Rakusan. The other team used it for warm-ups in the morning, they would go there in the afternoon to do training to maintain their feel for the game.
Miya Atsumu spoke up and asked Hinata, who had already put on his jacket, "Which match do you want to go watch?"
Hinata looked at the match schedule posted on the wall, his brain working through a sudden brainstorm.
All of their matches in Block A are in the morning.
But Star First's match is the last one in the morning, the matches taking place at that time include their next opponents, as well as Karasuno and Yangquan.
After struggling to come to a conclusion for a long time, Hinata looked back at Miya Atsumu and asked, "Are the coaches watching the match involving our opponents for tomorrow?"
Miya Atsumu stood with his hands on his hips. "Of course."
Hinata made a decision in an instant: "Let's go watch Karasuno's match!"
Miya Atsumu happily agreed, "Sure."
He wanted to see exactly what kind of tactics Karasuno was playing now; if there were still no changes compared to the Regional Qualifiers, he was going to make fun of Kageyama.
The warm-up time for the first round of matches was not that long, which was bad news for the teams traveling from afar.
Due to insufficient funds, many teams only arrived yesterday, leaving them with no time to adapt to the environment in Tokyo, no time to maintain their touch, some were even still suffering from the discomfort of their long journey.
The bad news is, Karasuno is one of them.
The good news is, their opponents are too.
With both sides in poor condition and lacking sufficient time to warm up, the competition comes down to who can complete the adaptation process the fastest.
Fortunately, the person most affected by the change of venue was the setter, Miya Atsumu was quite confident in Kageyama's ability to adapt.
Of course, he himself didn't have such worries at all.
He had played in almost any kind of gymnasium, he considered his ability to perceive vertical space to be quite strong.
Watching Kageyama set the ball from across the net, while Tsukishima, having just finished a spike, ducked under the net to circle around to their side of the court, Hinata locked onto him almost immediately.
“Tsukishima—Good luck!”
Hearing Hinata's voice, Tsukishima raised a hand to push the glasses on his face; having habitually pushed them, he then realized that his sports glasses were fixed and didn't need pushing.
Yamaguchi, who had followed after finishing the spike, nudged Tsukishima with his elbow: "You two are quite close, aren't you?"
Hinata's way of addressing him was very friendly, he would often take the initiative to greet Tsukishima.
I didn't expect Tsukishima to have friends from other schools; it's somewhat.. heartening.
Tsukishima didn't even look at Hinata by the sidelines. "Who said that? I have nothing to do with him."
Some guy has been hovering around him since that time they met at Shiratorizawa, acting as if they were close friends, exactly like some guy from Date Tech.
He was least skilled at dealing with this kind of person.
Hinata, who had been ignored by Tsukishima Kei, wilted. He blinked and lowered his hands.
Miya Atsumu withdrew his gaze from Tsukishima Kei: "It's fine. When we play Karasuno later, you can smash through his block and grind him into the floor!"
If Karasuno doesn't make it in front of us, the two of us will go and mock them together.
Hinata nodded heavily. "Yeah!"
Chapter 486: The 486th Fox
As he proceeded to the next warm-up drill, Kageyama turned around and also noticed Hinata and Miya Atsumu by the sidelines.
He pursed his lips, the expression on his face becoming even more serious and solemn.
It seemed that Inarizaki took this potential opponent quite seriously; in that case, they should also deliver a performance significant enough to force them to take them seriously.
In their brief encounter in the past, they hadn't even faced Inarizaki at their full strength; regardless, at that time, they truly were not considered opponents by Inarizaki.
And now, standing on the national stage, do they already count as "opponents" in their eyes?
But none of that matters.
Even if it wasn't, when the time for a real confrontation came, he would certainly make those who underestimated them pay a heavy price.
Another group of people, who were also watching the match, were having a quiet discussion by the sidelines.
Karasuno? I've never heard of them.
Is the competition in Miyagi Prefecture really that intense? Shiratorizawa didn't even qualify for the Interhigh or Haruko.
Shiratorizawa's strength must have declined; no one can carry the team after Ushijima-senpai graduated.
But Goshiki was also selected for Youth Training.
How can they be the same? What level is Ushijima-senpai at?
Hinata turned his head to look over there, frowning slightly.
I think the school from Miyagi that made it into the IH was some kind of industrial school, right? I remember they were knocked out in the top sixteen; they're nowhere near the level of Shiratorizawa.
So Karasuno's level is probably about that much, then.
The person beside them was about to say something, but a voice suddenly rang in their ears.
“The match hasn't even started yet, besides.."
Hinata stood with his hands on his hips, looking up at the two of them. "Akari is really amazing."
Upon seeing the Inarizaki colors on Hinata, the two people who had been chatting amongst themselves suddenly fell silent.
The moment Miya Atsumu's gaze drifted over from not far away, they felt an even stronger urge to just run away.
Um.. well.." The tall player raised a hand to scratch his head and began to ramble, "We have other things to do, so we'll be heading off now!
Hinata watched the two of them running away, looking a bit dazed.
He shouted loudly, "You haven't apologized to Akari yet!"
But neither of them looked back, quickly leaving the two from Inarizaki out of their sight.
What a joke! If they had stayed even a moment longer, their senior would have been able to come over and collect their corpses!
Miya Atsumu walked up to the fuming Hinata and reached out to pat his shoulder: "Alright, don't get angry over someone like that."
If you underestimate your opponents like this, you won't get very far.
Atsumu-senpai tilted his head toward the two teams in the court, who had finished the lottery and were having their final pre-match meeting: "And you don't need to worry about Karasuno; nothing is more effective than strength and results."
Hinata nodded. "Yeah."
He was clearer on this than anyone else.
Karasuno started first, with Kageyama Tobio serving from Position 1.