The moment the bookstore opened, everyone rushed inside.
Reo Mizuta, who had been dragged along by Fukami, sighed and followed the others into the bookstore.
He only hesitated in front of the magazine rack for two seconds before Fukami stuffed a copy of Monthly Volleyball and a local Hyogo newspaper into his hands.
As soon as he got the magazine, he saw the group photo of them holding the trophy on the cover.
The university players' tournament had already finished in early December, it was the cover story for last month's issue. The main highlight of the January issue of Monthly Volleyball was, of course, Haruko, having won the championship, they naturally occupied the cover of the magazine.
Even as a Substitute, he occupied a corner.
Seeing Tokura take seven copies all by himself, Rishia was full of confusion: "Why did you take so many?"
Tokura sighed, "Teacher Gojo said my mom wants to give one copy to each of her theater troupe's friends.. so she asked me to buy a few more to send over."
Rishia patted his back: "Good job."
Tokura waved his hand and stuffed a stack of magazines into the oversized backpack he had brought along.
The first-year students made plans to go eat sushi, while Tokura and Rishia prepared to have pork cutlet rice; the group went their separate ways in front of the bookstore.
After ordering the food, Tokura suppressed his grief and indignation, opening the magazine with great anticipation.
During the National Sports Festival, because the adult division was being held simultaneously, there were several incredibly classic upsets in the adult division, so the mainstream focus of the interviews wasn't on them at that time.
More than half of this issue was dedicated to reports on Haruko, even he was granted an exclusive interview.
“So..”
You two went out first thing in the morning just to buy a magazine?
Komori, who had been called over by Hinata to eat breakfast together, stared dumbfounded at the magazines laid out on the table.
Setting the breakfast on the table, Hinata grinned, "I saw features on Gen-senpai and Kami-senpai in there too, so I thought we could all look at it together."
Unlike the two people who were still wearing their hotel yukatas, Hinata and the other person, having gone out once already, were dressed in their own casual clothes.
The temperature in the hotel was very high. Before sitting down, Hinata took off his scarf and his jacket, then folded them neatly on the empty chair.
Komori looked up, his gaze froze as it swept over Hinata's neck, nearly causing him to choke on the hot tea he had just taken a sip of.
Miya Atsumu, who had just returned with steamed dumplings, had a look of confusion on his face, unable to react to what was wrong with Komori for a moment.
He followed Komori's gaze, it landed on the side of Hinata's neck.
After coughing lightly twice, Miya Atsumu looked up at the ceiling and silently sat back in his chair.
Sakusa placed the cup in his hand gently on the table: "It hasn't been long since the match ended; you should moderate your exercise."
The one who almost choked this time was Miya Atsumu.
He said with a straight face, "Do you believe me when I say I didn't do anything?"
Sakusa replied, "I don't mind things like that."
He paused, then pointed out the issue he was concerned about: "But you should still be careful since you're a minor."
Miya Atsumu couldn't clear his name even if he jumped into the ocean right now: "I told you, I didn't do anything!"
Sakusa, that hypocrite, isn't upright at all; don't think he didn't see someone snickering behind a cup just now!
However, Sakusa was likely just making fun of Komori; his target wasn't them.
Well, Miya Atsumu admitted that he had gone a "little" overboard last night and should have been careful not to leave traces where they could be seen.. Hinata did a great job with that.
But that really was an accident; he hadn't intended for that to happen.
Hinata thought about it seriously for a moment and then added, "It really wasn't anything."
Komori covered his forehead with one hand. "Let's skip this topic.."
He reached out for the magazine, but Hinata had already excitedly flipped to the page about Itachiyama and handed it over as he reached.
The fact that Itachiyama had achieved three consecutive championships had already become a sort of new legend in the world of high school volleyball, now everyone widely referred to Itachiyama as the "Emotional Champion Senior."
But Monthly Volleyball was a legitimate magazine after all, so it didn't judge Itachiyama from that perspective; instead, it reviewed some of their highlight performances during the match against Inarizaki.
Sakusa's recommendation to Waseda had already been settled on the day Haruko ended, when reporters came for interviews later, they didn't hide anything and just said it directly.
After all, the contract had already been signed, so there was no need to worry about other teams interfering.
Central Physical Education University and Waseda are both schools belonging to Kanto, during last year's Haruko, Waseda won ten consecutive championships, but they suffered a narrow defeat to Central Physical Education University during the autumn tournament.
It was obvious that they had undergone reforms during the summer, their playing style in the autumn tournament was completely different from before.
Having finished reading the impartial report, Komori looked up and asked the two of them, "By the way, who among you will take over as Captain and Vice-Captain next year?"
Meanwhile, on the other side, Rishia had also parted ways with Tokura.
Since he was mainly playing as a Substitute during this tournament cycle, he felt incredibly restless after his brief rest; after seeing off Tokura, he ultimately made his way to the school's Inarizaki No. 2 Gymnasium.
The Inarizaki First String's vacation lasts for three more days, during which the Inarizaki No. 2 Gymnasium will open according to a schedule, allowing for self-directed training.
Faint sounds of volleyball could still be heard coming from the Sankan area, but the Second Gymnasium was quite quiet, as if there wasn't a single person there.
He tentatively pushed the door and found that it was open.
Rishia, walking through the door, said loudly, "Good morning—"
Thinking he wouldn't get a response, he was just about to head to the Locker Room when a figure poked their head out from the Volleyball Hall: "Good morning!"
It was Ogata Tomoya, wearing the school's standard sports uniform.
Watching the other person's busy state, Rishia felt a bit dazed, but she still quickly went to the Locker Room to change her shoes and then jogged all the way into the Volleyball Hall.
The back door of the Second Gymnasium, which was located near the school's back gate, was open. A truck was parked there, Ogata and Coach Omimi were unloading goods from it.
Rishia hurried over. "I'll help too, Coach."
Coach Omimi gave a short laugh, while lifting a box himself, he pointed to another one: "I'll be in your debt."
After being busy for half an hour, the goods brought in had piled up into a small mountain by the side of the volleyball court.
Rishia raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and asked, "What is this?"
Ogata Tomoya stood nearby, checking the list while explaining to Rishia, "These two boxes are our new team uniforms, these three boxes are sportswear."
After speaking, he walked in front of several large, eye-catching boxes. "Over here is the fitness equipment sponsored by the Black Jackals. This box contains the protective gear, vitamins, calcium supplements, foreign language textbooks that Coach Raphael gave to Shoyo?"
After a two-second silence, Ogata reached out and pointed to the other side. "These are the newly made school badges, the new display cabinets added to the hallway outside. Also, the replicas of everyone's individual awards have been framed and are all here."
This afternoon, the Coach and I plan to arrange all these certificates and trophies, we also have a few more to pick up from the Principal's office.
Exhibiting them would cause them to fade in the sun, there was also a risk of damage, so whether it was the original MVP award Miya Atsumu had given to Coach Kurosu or the team's championship certificates, all the originals were kept in Coach Kurosu's own office for safekeeping.
Rishia looked toward the boxes that Ogata had pointed out at the very beginning: "So.. have next year's numbers been decided yet?"
Coach Omimi laughed, "Of course, once Shoyo and the others return, we can hand out the new uniforms."
Ogata, who had already seen the roster in advance, laughed. "Shoyo will be very happy."
Rishia felt a bit uneasy: "Give me a heads-up, who did the Coach select for Vice-Captain?"
In the event that Kumagai could not serve, he felt that both Ogata or Tokura would be very suitable.
It just can't be him, it just can't be him..
If the Vice-Captain had to deal with all those leaders and coaches from other schools, that would be just too terrifying!
Ogata gave a soft laugh, uttering words that sounded as if they came from hell.
It's you.
Chapter 551: The Five Hundred and Fifty-First Fox
In summary, I recommended Heisuke.. Rishia to the Coach for the position of Vice-Captain.
Miya Atsumu poked at the plate of tamagoyaki in front of him with his chopsticks, earning a sharp glare from Sakusa sitting diagonally across from him.
Komori stopped his unconscious motion of stirring the soup, momentarily unsure of what to say.
Because he felt Rishia needed experience, he pushed him up to be the Vice-Captain or something.. It sounded quite terrifying, but it was certainly the kind of thing Miya Atsumu could pull off.
Miya Atsumu finished off that plate of tamagoyaki, set down his chopsticks, said, "Heisuke is actually quite capable, it's just that he lacks courage; many times, he needs someone to give him a push."
Ogata.. is indeed very suitable to be a protect.. no, I mean the Vice-Captain, but he is actually unexpectedly irrational. If Shoyo becomes Captain, I think he'll need someone to help him step on the brakes.
Komori thought hard: "Unexpectedly irrational.."
He didn't actually know Ogata; he had only heard Hinata mention him once or twice. He was said to be the current Captain of Inarizaki's Second String, playing the position of Middle Blocker.
But based on Miya Atsumu's description, does this person actually make even more irrational decisions than Hinata at certain times?
Hinata frowned slightly, pursing his lips as he looked at Miya Atsumu. "I feel like Atsumu-ge is talking bad about me."
Miya Atsumu flatly denied it: "No, I didn't."
Inarizaki has always encouraged its players to make bold challenges on the court, he also enjoys using playstyles that can catch opponents by surprise.
Perhaps what can always support such capriciousness is ability itself. He can, of course, but Kumagai is still a long way off.
Alright, he admitted that he didn't choose Rishia solely because of this.
Rishia was cowardly most of the time, though he could help act as a brake. Yet occasionally, under Hinata's influence, he could make decisions that were bold and brilliant enough. That was exactly what he saw in him.
Sakusa wiped his mouth clean, then took out a new disposable mask and put it on.
Hinata, who was still busily eating, swallowed the food in his mouth and looked at Sakusa in shock, asking, "Is Kami-senpai full?"
The other person had eaten less than half of what he had, so how could he already be full?
A muffled voice came from behind the mask, "The nutritional requirements for breakfast have already been met."
He reached out and beckoned to Hinata.
Hinata understood what he meant and handed over the bag placed by the window, which contained other magazines and newspapers.
Sakusa took a magazine and opened it, intending to take advantage of this free time to have a good read.
Aside from the interview segments, the magazine consisted mostly of evaluations of the players' performances by the magazine's editors and authors; Monthly Volleyball was very fair in its evaluations in this regard, making it very worth referencing.
He didn't look at the posters on the preceding inner pages. After the summary section regarding the results of this Haruko ended, there was an eight-page special report on Inarizaki.
In this graduating class, the star players include Miya Atsumu and Suna, Miya Osamu is equally eye-catching. If it weren't for the fact that he has no intention of continuing, he would likely have been scouted by some professional team by now.