After saying this, Hayami reached out to introduce the person who had been silent by his side and was quietly observing Hinata: "By the way, Hinata, this is our setter, Izumi Nozomi. You can just call him Izumi-senpai."
Hinata stopped in his tracks, standing properly, greeted the senior with slicked-back hair who was much taller than Hayami: "Hello, Izumi-senpai!"
Izumi Nozomi smiled and raised a hand to greet Hinata: "Hello. I often hear Hayami mention you; thanks to your care of him back when he was with the Junior National Team."
Hinata raised a hand to scratch his head and said modestly, "I didn't really do much; Hayami is just incredibly talented himself."
Izumi reached out and placed a hand on Hayami's shoulder: "There's no need to be so humble. Hayami has been recuperating ever since his accident, he hasn't really had any friends his own age. It's wonderful that you can be friends with him."
Hayami nodded repeatedly, agreeing with everything the senior said.
Just then, a voice came from not far away: "Isn't that Hinata? Why are you here all by yourself?"
Hinata turned his head toward the newcomer and greeted them again, "Hello, Inamura-senpai. Hello, Koldorf-senpai."
Koldorf, who had also come to use the restroom, nodded to Hinata and entered the restroom first.
Inamura, who had simply followed along for a stroll, stood with his hands on his hips and leaned in slightly toward Hinata.
Hey, you, Star First. We're both from the same half-court. Why don't we team up and take this little guy out? That way, Inarizaki will lose a key player, our difficulty in advancing will be greatly reduced.
Inamura's lips curled into a slight smirk. "You're the hardest one to deal with. Miya Osamu and the others can figure out their playstyle, but something like a Quick Attack.. it's difficult when the Spiker's own speed is so far beyond the norm."
He straightened his back and shrugged at Hinata. "Behave yourself, we won't go too hard on you."
Hearing this, Hayami's expression clearly froze for a moment, a string of question marks immediately popped up over his head.
Huh? Is the current Captain of Itachiyama really this kind of person?!
This can't be right; he remembers it wasn't like this when Iizuna-senpai was around. What about Sakusa-senpai? Isn't he going to pull him back?
“Don't just stand there," Inamura said, waving at Hayami, "Let's carry him away together, then dig a hole and bury him right at the entrance of the Inarizaki No. 2 Gymnasium in a bit."
Hinata was already scared witless, stumbling backward until his back hit the wall. "I-I-I—I didn't do anything wrong! Are you going to bury me?!"
He was wrong; he shouldn't have stayed here for even a single second longer.
Heisuke was right; no matter what kind of restroom it was, his compatibility with them was so bad that he would definitely run into some kind of problem.
—The restroom is terrifying.
Hayami took a step forward and stared at Inamura, saying, "Inamura-senpai, don't bully people."
Inamura froze for a moment: "Huh?"
Well, it looks like he found the wrong help; those two from Star First are on the same side as Inarizaki.
He stopped teasing Hinata and added, "I was just teasing you, so don't go telling on me when you get back."
Hinata relaxed, silently holding a grudge in his heart.
He's going to tell Atsumu-ge as soon as he gets back!
As his gaze caught a figure in a down jacket in the distance, Hinata struggled for a moment in his mind about whether to greet Akaashi and the others or to quickly make his escape to go watch Hoshiumi and the others' match.
Fortunately, Hayami ultimately made the choice for him.
Hayami pushed Hinata's back toward the direction of the court. "Hinata, I'll take you back. That senior from Itachiyama has ill intentions toward you."
Hinata nodded vigorously: "Yeah, yeah!"
Back when they were doing physical therapy, Inamura would often stand by and laugh at them.
So Inamura is a bad person—the brilliant Hinata decided.
Just as the two from Star First and Hinata had stepped away, a very anxious person rushed to the entrance of the restroom.
“Eh? Where's Shoyo? I thought I just saw him.”
Bokuto looked left and right, but he couldn't find that tuft of orange hair he had just caught sight of.
Akaashi reached out and pulled Bokuto-senpai back before he could go into the restroom to harass everyone in every stall: "Bokuto-senpai, Hinata has probably already headed over to the court."
“But Shiratori-senpai just said he already sent a message to Hinata, that he'll arrive at our side this afternoon.”
Bokuto gave up on continuing to look for Hinata: "Alright, since you and Natsume both say so.."
Hinata hasn't come to say hello to him yet today!
Actually, Shiratori, who hadn't even made any plans to meet Hinata in the Fukurodani cheering area, had already slipped away while Bokuto-senpai and Akaashi were leaving, was currently sitting on the steps in the aisle of the Inarizaki cheering area.
It didn't matter that there were no seats; he could just sit on the steps!
Izumi Nozomi used his height and physical build to escort Hinata and Hayami all the way to a spot near the court, since there was a small empty space near Miya Atsumu, they were able to watch the match from a close distance.
Seeing Hayami following closely behind Hinata with a smile, Miya Atsumu rolled his eyes where no one else could see: "Why is it you again?"
Hayami stood with her hands on her hips, looking as if she had no intention of leaving: "It's just that the Itachiyama senior was bullying Hinata just now, so I followed him back."
Hearing this, Miya Atsumu couldn't even bother to glare at Hayami anymore, his gaze toward Hinata filled with nothing but shock.
He seemed to have somewhat underestimated Hinata's constitution for being an automatic trouble-magnet; how could he run into Itachiyama and Star First just by going to a restroom less than fifty meters away?!
Hinata nodded repeatedly: "Hayami is super amazing! Izumi-senpai is amazing too!"
Miya Atsumu's mouth twitched for a moment.
He wiped his face in silence and said with determination, "Fine, from now on, don't leave my sight for a single step when we go out."
It was a bit too noisy nearby, Hinata, having not heard clearly, asked in confusion, "Atsumu-ge, what did you say?"
Miya Atsumu took a deep breath and patted Hinata's shoulder with one hand: "The outside world is.. a little too dangerous for you."
Izumi Nozomi glanced at Miya Atsumu, finally, his gaze landed on his own junior: "Are you going to watch from here, Hayami? Or do you want to go to the stands with me?"
Hayami hesitated for a moment, but ultimately nodded when Hinata looked over: "Okay."
At a time like this, match results and one's own condition are, of course, more important.
Besides.. Hinata would surely want to play a beautiful, all-out match against them even more.
Hayami waved at Hinata. "See you tomorrow, Hinata."
Hinata jumped up and waved to Hayami, "See you tomorrow!"
Watching Hayami, who was wearing his team jacket, leave with Izumi Nozomi, who was only wearing his jersey, Hinata suddenly noticed that Izumi Nozomi's number was 1.
Wait.. he remembers the Star First captain he saw before seemed to be number 3?
Hinata sighed softly, "That's amazing."
But speaking of that Star First setter-senpai..
When Hayami taught him serve strategies before, he seemed to have mentioned that this person felt balls coming from behind were difficult to set.
Great, it looks like tomorrow's match will have a use for that!
Thinking of this, Hinata let out two forceful breaths through his nose, feeling quite motivated, then focused all his attention on the match being played by Karasuno.
Hinata's voice was so loud that the cheers for Hoshiumi could be heard from the side of the court, even all the way up in the Inarizaki cheering area.
And Karasuno also lived up to everyone's expectations by winning this match beautifully, successfully advancing to the next round.
The composition of the top sixteen was also finalized after the afternoon matches concluded, at the same time, it was announced that this year's Haruko had officially ushered in the most terrifying Third Day of Magic.
Once it was confirmed that their opponents for the Round of 16 would be Star First, Miya Atsumu had already taken advantage of the afternoon to watch through the game footage of Star First's matches from this Haruko.
The good news is that Star First's current overall level is inferior to Inarizaki's, but the bad news is.. their playstyle, which leans towards Kenma the, will inevitably affect Inarizaki's overall state.
And the even worse news is that one of Karasuno's opponents in tomorrow morning's match is a Middle Blocker who was injured and taken off the court; without any surprises, Karasuno will be able to secure a spot in the top eight.
At its core, Karasuno's current playing style is also Kenma the's way.
Having two matches back-to-back on the Third Day of Magic.. I'm afraid it will leave their condition in a terrible state.
Miya Atsumu made a decisive suggestion: "Let's adjust the starting lineup as much as possible for the morning and afternoon matches; don't use the same lineup for both."
“Nishizawa Hokuto's condition is alright; let him play in the morning match against Star First. The blocking in the afternoon match against Karasuno is quite difficult to deal with, so let Unabara play.”
Hinata nodded seriously. "Indeed, Unabara's counterattack is still very formidable."
After speaking, Hinata paused.
He looked up at Miya Atsumu. "But Atsumu-ge, this decision isn't just because Unabara's counterattack is great, right? The setting and everything else we had Unabara practice before.. are we going to use them against Karasuno?"
Atsumu curled the corners of his mouth, a rather cunning smile playing on his lips. "Isn't Karasuno the best at this? Then of course we have to let Unabara observe it up close; that way, it'll be harder to make mistakes when they face Itachiyama or whoever later on."
Besides.. this is quite interesting, isn't it?
Omnivores aren't just crows; foxes are omnivores too.
Chapter 491: The 491st Fox
Standing by the court, Hinata raised his arms with force to stretch his body.
Glancing at the side large screen, which showed it was just past eight o'clock, he couldn't help but remark, "The schedule for the Seed is so grueling."
Inarizaki has won plenty of championships over the past two years, but because the Seed status is determined based on the previous year's matches, combined with the changes to the IH tournament format and Karasuno's sudden rise, Inarizaki is only just beginning to take turns as the Seed at this time.
Moreover, by the looks of it, Inarizaki will likely play as the Seed for the entire next year.
Unless a team unexpectedly applies for a schedule change, the Seed's matches are always the first ones in every round.
Coach Omimi smiled and reached out to pat Hinata and the others on the shoulder. "Waking up early is good for your energy throughout the day."
To ensure they were in their best condition an hour and a half after eating, Hinata and the others basically got out of bed around six o'clock.
Although it is normal for those who usually wake up early for morning runs, it can easily become a source of pressure for players during a frequent schedule of matches.
Hinata stood with his hands on his hips and said to Coach Omimi, "I'm fine, so is Atsumu-ge."
He made sure to urge Miya Atsumu to go to bed early, so they both rested well, there wouldn't be any problems in the upcoming matches.
Coach Omimi gave a gentle smile. "Truly reliable."
Just as Hinata was putting his jacket into the cart in preparation to enter the court, an unfamiliar melody suddenly blended into the Inarizaki school song that had been playing in his ears all along.
The next second, a call came from a distance.
Hinata!
Hinata suddenly looked up and saw Hayami Subaru, who had already walked onto the court.
He raised both hands high: "Hayami! I'm coming!"