—He will definitely seize every opportunity.
Komori laughed, pushing the wooden platter in front of him toward Hinata. "Want some?"
With the mindset of not letting good food go to waste, Miya Atsumu began to enjoy it.
Hinata took a bite of the sweet melon, then looked up and asked Komori, "Gen-senpai, do you have any plans later? Are you going to participate in the evening activities?"
Komori replied, "Kiyoomi doesn't really like crowded places; he'll probably just rest in his room and enjoy the view by himself. I'm planning to go see the performance at eight-thirty, so I won't be participating in the sky lanterns activity."
Seeing that Hinata was about to invite him, Komori hurriedly said, "You guys go ahead and enjoy yourselves, don't worry about me."
Feeling the other party's polite refusal, Hinata felt a slight sense of regret. "Okay."
Komori soaked for another ten minutes, after chatting with Hinata for a while about Central Physical Education University, he stood up to prepare to leave. "I feel a bit lightheaded from soaking. I'm going to sit in the lobby for a bit. Once you two are finished eating, just return the plates to the restaurant over there."
Hinata raised his hand in response: "Roger!"
Watching Komori leave, Hinata turned his head toward Miya Atsumu and said in shock, "Atsumu-ge, you guessed right, Natsume-senpai really did it!"
Miya Atsumu didn't know what to say right now; although Komori's statement was very calm, many of its details matched his previous deductions regarding Bokuto's promotion to Ace.
Ever since he decided to go to Central Physical Education University, Komori had visited the Central Physical Education University Volleyball Club many times with Coach Utsunomiya, so he knew much more about the situation there than Hinata did.
According to him, Shiratori and Bokuto had a poor relationship with the seniors from the moment they enrolled. Especially since Bokuto's personality is quite difficult to deal with; even though Bokuto has reined himself in quite a bit, he still can't manage to get along harmoniously with the seniors.
Additionally, because Coach Raphael intended to nurture him, he had already been designated as the starting Ace upon enrollment, which to some extent exacerbated certain people's negative opinions of Bokuto.
Although they hadn't done anything, it was simply that no one was close to Bokuto.
But since the two of them were freshmen, it was only natural that they weren't familiar with players from other grades; even Shiratori didn't realize something was off until the second half of the year.
It wasn't a big deal; after all, they got along well with the other club members in the same year, so it could only be described as a "generation gap" existing between players of different grades.
Bokuto didn't care about this.
—But this didn't stop Shiratori from feeling displeased.
His motivation was definitely not to protect Bokuto or to stand up for him.
Among the players able to take the court, only the two of them were first years; if tensions were to escalate and others refused to cooperate, it would easily cause problems that would lead to poor results.
So, on an afternoon after training ended, Shiratori, who had discussed this with his childhood friend, dragged Bokuto along and invited everyone from the Volleyball Club to play 2v2 matches until he had won everyone over.
With the added advantage of his status as the starting Setter, Shiratori used forceful means the next day to drag the Third Year senior, who was still in the position of Captain, to the Coach.
From that day on, the true person in charge of the Central Physical Education University Volleyball Club became Shiratori.
Atsumu covered his face, his voice weak, "That's why I told you to stay away from Shiratori-senpai, he's a bad person.."
Hinata's expression was serious: "Natsume-senpai is very amazing."
Shiratori's way of doing things was somewhat beyond his understanding; if he were in his position, he would have chosen a different way to solve the problem.
But.. this also means he would make the same choice as Shiratori.
Bokuto-senpai is such a good person! How could anyone bully him!
A bit angry, Hinata buried his entire self into the hot spring, trying to calm himself down.
But..
You're getting even hotter and angrier!
Interrupted by one shocking event after another, Miya Atsumu, who had originally intended to enjoy a romantic moment with Hinata, no longer had the heart for it.
He glanced at Hinata, who had started swimming in the hot spring, closed his eyes to let his mind go blank.
It must be said that soaking in a hot spring after an exhausting match cycle is truly refreshing for both body and mind.
As it approached noon, the number of people at the hot spring gradually increased after lunch.
Miya Atsumu poked Hinata: "Let's go check out other places."
Hinata climbed out of the hot spring: "Okay."
The snow fell harder and harder, but the temperature of the hot spring caused the snow that should have been piling up to melt into only a thin layer.
After returning the platter, the two of them arrived at the lobby to find that Komori had already left.
Looking at the introduction to Kawarai Hot Springs in his hands, Miya Atsumu silently vowed to himself that the next time he came, he would definitely stay in an open-air hot spring room at Kashoen.
He would have to train hard and play matches diligently to earn a generous income.
Hinata will definitely not stay in Japan in the future, to prepare for a possible long-distance relationship, he felt it was necessary to save up a large sum of money to buy plane tickets..
Right at that moment, Hinata's voice rang in his ear: "Next time.. let's go to the open-air hot spring at Kashoen, where there's no one else."
The two of them agreed instantly, "Okay."
The evening performance was a regular program with nothing particularly novel about it. After the final fireworks display, the remaining tourists followed the staff's guidance toward a nearby open space.
Far away from the hot springs, the snow was piled high, making a crunching sound underfoot.
It rarely snowed this heavily in Hyogo Prefecture, a sight that only existed in Hinata's memories.
It was probably during the winter of his second year of middle school, when he made a wish at the shrine closest to his home to gather six people, including a dog, to play a match this year.
The snow that day was much heavier than it is now. On the way back, he could no longer pedal his bicycle and could only walk slowly while pushing it. By the time he arrived home, it was just as dark as it is now.
But his wish was indeed fulfilled; during the school season before the cherry blossoms had even bloomed, Hinata, who had worked so hard to promote the Volleyball Club, gained three juniors.
“Shoyo! I got them!”
Miya Atsumu walked over holding two stacked sky lanterns, with the matches distributed by the staff still in his hands.
Hinata took a pen out of his pocket and wrote down a wish for himself and his family to be in good health.
He leaned forward to take a look at the note Miya Atsumu had written, it was almost exactly the same as his.
The match ignited the fuel inside the lantern, the hot air lifted the white paper shade. Hinata released his hands, the lantern drifted slowly upward, flying high into the sky.
One by one, warm-colored lanterns were released, floating up into the dark sky.
Miya Atsumu looked up at the sky lanterns flying in a continuous stream toward the clouds. The snowflakes falling down landed on his eyelashes; the warm breath he exhaled melted them, only for them to immediately turn into ice crystals in the freezing environment.
Hinata's voice came from beside him: "It's so beautiful—"
Miya Atsumu turned his head, only to look straight into Hinata's eyes.
He didn't know if Hinata's words just now were meant to be a sky lantern or a compliment to him.
But since they were making eye contact.. he would just take it as a compliment.
Atsumu pulled his hand out from his thick down jacket and reached into Hinata's pocket on his own, clasping Hinata's hand.
He didn't have a desire to spend the rest of his life with Hinata, because he didn't think he would ever leave Hinata; an established fact didn't need a vague, ethereal wish to sustain it.
Hinata must have thought the same way.
He was certain.
Chapter 550: The Five Hundred and Fiftieth Fox
On an ordinary morning, Rishia Heisuke, whose biological clock had already been disrupted by Hinata, woke up precisely at five o'clock.
He originally wanted to sleep in, but after tossing and turning for a while, he finally resigned himself to his fate and got up.
He put on his clothes just like usual, did a quick wash, put on his shoes, headed out the door.
It also snowed in Hyogo Prefecture yesterday, but it didn't pile up too thick.
After lying at home for two days, Rishia felt as if his body was about to rust. But with Hinata not around, he couldn't be bothered to go for a run; running alone was simply too boring.
While he was using a broom to clean the yard, the door to the house next door was pushed open, Hinata's father walked out carrying Kiyuki's things.
Rishia Heisuke took the initiative to greet the other. "Good morning, Uncle."
Hinata's father also replied with a smile, "Good morning, Heisuke."
The two of them said no more, each cleaning their own yard.
The yard of this detached house was far from that large; on ordinary days, Hinata's siblings would often hit the ball into Rishia's yard while playing, so their workload for clearing the snow was not particularly heavy.
Putting the tools back in their original place, Rishia Heisuke asked, "By the way, Uncle, the magazines and newspapers featuring our Volleyball Club will be released today. Would you like me to bring one?"
Hinata's father, who had intended to do so anyway, readily agreed and went inside to get some change for Rishia.
By the time Rishia arrived at the bookstore entrance, several of the first-year kids were already there.
Good morning, Rishia-senpai!
“Good morning, Senpai!”
Good morning, Rishia-senpai.
Good morning, Senpai!!
Rishia had a smile spread across his face: "Good morning, good morning."
After finishing Haruko, Kumagai went to Kyoto to attend the intensive training camp he had previously signed up for, while Unabara Uta and Imai went traveling to Hokkaido with their parents.
Regardless of whether the seniors were planning to attend university or not, they were all preparing for their entrance exams, the third years of Inarizaki were also in class today.
Suna, on the other hand, received an invitation from Tokai University and is currently visiting the campus.
So today, the only ones who had an appointment here were him and Tokura.
They chose this place only because there are many restaurants nearby, so they could stop for breakfast on their way back.
He hadn't expected the first years to be there either, after all, there wasn't just this one bookstore near Inarizaki; newsstands also sold magazines.
Hearing Rishia's question, Fukami responded, "Shoyo-senpai brought me here before to buy textbooks."
A question mark appeared above Rishia's head: "Textbooks?"
Aren't textbooks all centrally procured by the school? Why would you buy them here?
Fukami explained, "Once, Shoyo-senpai and Yu Team were eating in the Locker Room, they accidentally spilled sauce on my book.."
Rishia remained silent.
He suddenly felt that Hinata and Miya Atsumu being punished with six months of cleaning the Locker Room was still too light a punishment.
Tokura came running up, arriving late: "I'm here, I'm here—"