As for buying a house..
Although the Black Jackals' club isn't in a prime location in Osaka, it's definitely not some remote suburb either. Given his current salary as a rookie.. he certainly can't afford to buy one.
Consider it once you have more money in the future.
Eguchi briefly explained the current situation at the club: "It's the off-season right now, so there are no professional match schedules or National Team schedules, which means the club isn't at full strength. Thomas has already returned to his home country, Mr. Oliver is currently traveling abroad."
Oda-san has been staying at the club recently; he will confirm the handover details with you, Miya-kun.
Hinata looked up and thought back for a moment, recalling that the other person was the Black Jackals' current starting Setter. According to Miya Atsumu, he seemed to be planning to retire this year, around the time the V1 Finals ended in May.
What Miya Atsumu had to do was finish integrating with the team before the other player retired and left. Although he might not be able to play as a starter during the upcoming V1 Finals, the Black Eagle Flag starting lineup would definitely include him.
Along the way, Hinata also had a general idea of the Black Jackals' situation; none of this was a secret. Regarding their trip, the only thing that needed to be kept confidential was the specific amount of Miya Atsumu's signing fee.
Because his signing bonus far exceeded that of a normal rookie, it would cause a negative impact. After all, the extra amount was something he had won through his previous gambling agreement.
What the Black Jackals negotiated with Atsumu was a salary that would be renegotiated annually, rather than making Miya Atsumu work until he died under the rookie salary set for his first year.
While Miya Atsumu went to sign the contract, Hinata took the opportunity to have a self-guided tour of the Black Jackals' facilities.
The decor here is different from the training base where they frequently hold events. Although the first-floor lobby feels a lot like some large corporation upon entering, once you leave that space, the overall feeling becomes much more private and cozy.
The Black Jackals leadership's offices and meeting rooms are on the top floor, that is where Miya Atsumu and the others went to sign their contracts.
And the place where he was located seemed to be the second-floor lounge adjacent to the dormitories, with the two of them's belongings placed on the floor beside the sofa.
Next to the potted plant by the wall stood a life-sized statue of Fox-Wolf Helper, while a massive projection screen hung on the opposite wall. On the coffee table sat some yogurt that appeared to have been recently opened but not yet finished.
There were two handheld consoles on the sofa, on the carpet, there were game controllers and neatly arranged game cartridges.
Although there were quite a few things, it wasn't messy; if anything, it felt quite lived-in.
Hinata?
In the next second, a familiar voice rang in Hinata's ears.
He turned his head and saw Inunari walking over, carrying a plate of apples.
His eyes lit up, he proactively walked over to meet her. "Inunari-senpai!"
Inunari was wearing a set of plush, thick pajamas, his hair was a bit messy, looking as if he had just woken up.
He was a bit dazed. "Why are you.. ah, Miya Atsumu is coming to sign today, right?"
It seems.. Minka Shugo did indeed mention to them yesterday that there would be guests, even asked them to tidy up the things in the large living room..
Inunari sighed inwardly, unwilling to face this fact.
Captain Minka Shugo also played video games last night; although he was the first to leave, he was part of it too!
After silently absolving himself in his mind, Inunari put the handheld console from the sofa into the cabinet by the wall and invited Hinata to come sit on the sofa. "Sit here, I'll go get you some snacks."
Walking into the breakroom, Inunari scratched his hair with his hands, attempting to salvage his image.
Unai is enough to leave Hinata with a "bird's nest" impression; there absolutely cannot be another one like him!
After confirming that his hair was lying flat, Inunari poked his head out and asked, "What are you drinking? Water, coffee, milk, or.. hmm.. there's only orange and grape Fanta in the fridge, I'll go buy some more in a bit."
Hinata raised his hand: "Orange Fanta!"
"Okay." Inunari pulled out a can of Fanta and also got a small cup of yogurt for Hinata.
Watching Inunari push the yogurt and the plate of apples in front of him, Hinata was a bit confused: "How do you eat this?"
Inunari speared a piece of apple with his fork, gave it a little shake, said with a smile, "Apples with yogurt are super delicious."
Taking a bite just like Inunari, Hinata's eyes lit up: "Oh! It really is delicious!"
After being lost in the delicious food for two minutes, Hinata tilted his head slightly and met Inunari's smiling eyes.
He swallowed the food in his mouth and asked with great interest, "By the way.. Inunari-senpai, did you watch our Haruko matches?"
In the previous matches, Inunari had attended the venues in person, but because the Black Jackals had arranged work for him during this year's Haruko period, he ultimately was unable to attend the matches with Unai.
Inunari turned on the projector and opened You Tube on the web browser, finding a random comedian's channel to play: "We watched the Haruko Finals together a few days ago, Leonard-senpai was left in awe for a long, long time.."
What's going on, what's going on? I think I heard someone mentioning me?
A bit of broken Japanese reached Hinata's ears. Hinata turned his head and found it was Leonard, who was also wearing pajamas.
Inunari greeted him: "Good morning, senpai."
Leonard walked two steps to the sofa and sat down next to Hinata, leaning one hand against the back of the sofa. "Oh, oh! Isn't this the orange flash kid from Inarizaki? Are you preparing to join our Black Jackals?"
That ability to break through a block is just too terrifying. Just thinking about the possibility of you appearing on the opposite side of the net makes my future look incredibly bleak.
Inunari nodded and followed up with a question: "That's right, Hinata, do you have any thoughts about coming to the Black Jackals? I think we'd be a great fit for you, Coach Sansou likes you a lot too."
Hinata blinked. "Atsumu-ge did indeed invite me to join the Black Jackals, but for now, I'm planning to attend university, I haven't decided on my next steps yet."
At that time, since I still wasn't sure of the situation, I might take some advice from my mentors.
Japan's professional leagues are not considered strong on a global level; in recent years, the best result in the Club World Championship was only being the runner-up for Shwaiden Adler.
There are many who use the V League as a springboard, much like Oikawa, so the specific arrangements will depend on the situation when the time comes.
Hearing Miya Atsumu's invitation, Inunari had a good idea of what was going on.
If Hinata didn't plan to head overseas to develop his career immediately after graduation, there would still be a high probability that they could become teammates.
Hinata chuckled. "If it's on the other side of the net, I'll try to go as easy as I can, so I won't make Leonard-senpai work too, too hard."
As Leonard shouted at Hinata, Inunari curled his lips into a smirk.
If it's not extremely, extremely hard, then it's just extremely hard, right?
The signing process for Miya Atsumu's contract concluded very quickly; after all, Coach Kurosu had already verified the contract and the consent form from Miya Atsumu's guardian had been obtained in advance, so in the end, it only required Miya Atsumu's own signature and thumbprint.
After assigning the task of taking Miya Atsumu to his temporary dormitory and conducting today's tour to Minka Shugo, the Black Jackals manager left happily with Miya Atsumu's signed contract, preparing to handle the subsequent arrangements.
A press conference needs to be held for a starting-level new player joining the team, along with preparations for interviews and official announcements.
Thinking of the bright future ahead, the manager's motivation grew even stronger.
Minka Shugo took Miya Atsumu in the elevator to the second floor, as soon as they stepped out of the elevator, they heard laughter coming from the living room.
It was pitch black inside, with only the screen glowing.
Leonard's laughter was the most boisterous, even slapping the sofa while he laughed.
A sense of foreboding rose in Miya Atsumu's heart.
As he drew closer, the images on the large screen became clear; it was none other than himself.
He had seen this video before; it was a fan edit from Inarizaki that spliced together highlight reels and funny moments into a contrast video.
And in the next second, accompanied by humorous background music, the image froze on that already widely circulated meme.
Minka Shugo's knuckles cracked as he clenched them.
Just as Miya Atsumu felt the world go black and was about to collapse, the Black Jackals Captain's angry voice rang out as well.
You guys! What do you think you're doing this early in the morning!
I told you there were guests!!
—The guest had already stopped breathing.
Chapter 553: The Five Hundred and Fifty-Third Fox
Leonard and Inunari, having been forcibly suppressed by Captain Minka Shugo, apologized to Miya Atsumu and were punished by being forced to tidy the living room; they were now diligently mopping the floor with brooms and rags in hand.
As guests, Hinata and Miya Atsumu sat side by side on the sofa. Because Minka Shugo was standing right behind them with his arms crossed, staring at the two of them while they worked, they didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
Realizing he was being too serious, Minka Shugo gave two light coughs and took two steps toward Leonard, who was wiping the windowsill, leaving some space for Miya Atsumu and Hinata to talk.
Miya Atsumu, letting out a sigh of relief, turned his head to look at Hinata, his eyes filled with a mix of helplessness and exasperation.
Meeting Miya Atsumu's somewhat devastated gaze, Hinata's eyes drifted upward for a second. "Actually.. it wasn't on purpose."
He swore it was just an accident.
After Inunari switched to the comedy channel, the autoplay function turned on. They had been chatting and weren't really paying attention to the large screen, nor did they notice which specific video was being played.
And the subsequent autoplay was all system recommendations, which likely included some personalized customization features, causing it to jump inexplicably from comedy variety shows to volleyball.
But.. this volleyball content wasn't strictly volleyball; instead, it was funny videos from the volleyball world.
Before playing Miya Atsumu's video, they had actually just finished watching Adler's blooper reel for this year; among the clips, Captain Hirugami's expression after a failed block had become a widely circulated meme this year.
After staring each other down for a full minute, Miya Atsumu gave up the struggle against Hinata.
He thought about it carefully; whether it was his parents, his coach, or Aran and the others, everyone thought he wasn't a serious person and had the potential to be a comedian.
As for the teammates he would be in close contact with in the future, his "tall and impressive image" would eventually vanish without a trace.
Instead of mourning his image when the time comes, he might as well make sure such a thing never existed in the first place.
He only needs to maintain a cool and mysterious image in front of the fans!
Anyway, for the sake of the Black Jackals' public image, the manager and the coach will both help him!
Miya Atsumu had come to terms with it; Miya Atsumu took it very well.
He didn't consider himself a particularly good person, nor did he have any need to "get along with certain people."
The same requirements placed on Inarizaki players would also be applied to the professional players of the Black Jackals; nothing would change just because he had gone from being a senior to a junior, or because the people he dealt with had changed from students to professional players.
The Black Jackals assistant, who had previously handled the paperwork for Miya Atsumu, also walked in carrying a booklet of dormitory room cards; seeing several people busy with a deep cleaning, he felt as if the sun had risen in the west.
It should be noted that although the living room is considered a common area, the Black Jackals players get along so well and often hang out here together that many of their personal belongings end up piled up in the living room. Despite paying attention to personal hygiene, things inevitably become a bit cluttered as they accumulate.
Generally speaking, they arranged for a cleaning service to come once a week to tidy up.
He truly had never seen a scene like this, where the players themselves took it upon themselves to do a massive cleaning..
After unable to help but stealing a few extra glances at Inunari and Leonard, the assistant turned to the two, "Miya-kun, Hinata-kun, half of the dormitories for the starters are currently vacant. The room types are all different, so come and pick one."
Miya Atsumu pulled Hinata up as he stood: "Alright."
The dormitories for the starting players are all single rooms, with a corridor running along the north side, all the windows in the rooms face south to allow for natural light.
The interior space consisted of a simple living room, bedroom, bathroom. The living room was quite spacious, providing plenty of room to be arranged according to one's personal preferences.