Chapter 88: After the Match
"Karasuno!!!"
"Fight!"
The Karasuno volleyball club members formed a large circle and shouted their rallying cry together with complete seriousness.
Except for a certain face-conscious glasses-wearing guy who was still being stubborn, everyone shouted with utmost earnestness. The hot-blooded trio was especially serious—Hinata Shoyo, Tanaka Ryunosuke, and Nishinoya Yuu were all yelling at the top of their lungs.
Hoshino Masaru, who was right between Hinata Shoyo and Nishinoya Yuu, bore the brunt of it. Fortunately, this unfortunate kid had predicted the volume level of the two beside him.
He managed to pull his forearms back in time before they shouted, covering his ears to avoid the temporary deafness that might have resulted from being caught in that two-sided assault.
After Coach Ukai Keishin gave the order that starting tomorrow, training would be hellish, and dismissed them, everyone quickly began cleaning the venue and putting away equipment.
Yamaguchi Tadashi was still savoring those three points that Shimada Makoto had just scored with his serves—it was the first time he'd seen that kind of serving.
A method that didn't require tremendous power or jumping ability, but could still score points against strong opponents through techniques honed by hard practice.
He was very interested.
Not tall enough to stand out, not physically gifted enough. Although receiving could be improved through training, who doesn't have the cool dream of becoming a scoring ace?
While everyone was cleaning up the gym, Ukai Keishin was also sighing to Takeda-sensei:
"Being in the position of having to choose comes with its own troubles."
After saying this, he glanced at the Karasuno members.
Ichise Guren, who was clearly holding back; Hyakuzawa Yudai with his impressive height and reach; Azumane Asahi with his incredible power; Tanaka Ryunosuke with his varied spiking angles and excellent strength.
Just the choices among attackers alone were enough to give Ukai Keishin a headache. Not to mention there was also the freak duo that, when paired together, would provide countless benefits to the team's offensive firepower.
And then there was Tsukishima Kei, whose fundamentals weren't solid enough, but who had excellent height, decent reaction speed, and great mobility—plus he showed real intuition and rationality in blocking defense.
He was rare shield material.
At the setter position, there was also Karasuno's legitimate setter, Sugawara Koshi, who had tremendous team chemistry and worked seamlessly with the upperclassmen.
Even between Hoshino Masaru and Nishinoya Yuu, where the strength comparison was undisputed, Nishinoya Yuu was undoubtedly the deserving libero, but could Hoshino Masaru, who was like a textbook for receiving, really not replace Sawamura Daichi?
'Hmm, indeed he couldn't replace him.'
'Daichi's on-court leadership ability is probably first-tier for Karasuno.'
'I knew this year's Karasuno was full of talent, but I didn't expect there to be three national-level players.'
Ukai Keishin stopped his incredibly conflicted internal deliberation and looked at Karasuno's three geniuses.
Kageyama Tobio, Nishinoya Yuu, Ichise Guren.
'Well, this really is the first time I've experienced this kind of happy problem.'
...
May 3rd.
Shinkansen, Tokyo Station.
"Hey, everyone stay close together—this isn't school, you know."
A guy with hedgehog-like hair was calling out to his team members, telling them to stay near and not wander off, so he wouldn't have to spend effort hunting them down one by one.
—The cats had arrived.
On his bike ride from Yukigaoka to Karasuno, Hinata Shoyo's heart was extremely excited.
'Having Nishinoya-senpai with that kind of receiving ability fighting alongside us—I'm so excited!'
'Wait.'
'If Nishinoya-senpai plays libero, then doesn't that mean...'
'That Hoshino guy is going to get pushed out? He won't be able to play in the starting lineup!'
Hinata Shoyo, riding his bike, broke into a smile.
'Serves him right for always making fun of me.'
Hinata Shoyo wasn't worried at all that Hoshino Masaru, who would be losing his starting position to Nishinoya Yuu, would have any negative emotions. Because that guy always vented any negativity through complaints.
And although he had a low presence off the court and didn't talk much, he was actually very clear-headed inside and saw problems very clearly.
'Heh, I'll go tease him about it later.'
'Oh! And Asahi-senpai, who can deliver those powerful spikes, will be joining us too!!!'
'Those super cool spikes—I want to hit the kind of spike that blows away blockers too.'
'Huh!'
'Wait, who will Asahi-senpai push out of the lineup?'
'Or could it be that he might not make the starting lineup either?'
At the thought that even Azumane Asahi, who could deliver those kinds of spikes, might not make the starting lineup, Hinata Shoyo felt an inexplicable chill.
'This is bad—our team has way too many strong players.'
'I might not make the starting lineup either.'
At this thought, Hinata Shoyo's short legs pedaled the bicycle even harder.
"Ohhhh!!"
"To become a starter, I'll start by being the first player to reach school!"
"Ohhhhhhhhh!"
On a country road, sitting on a bamboo chair, a chubby kid with light brown hair pointed at Hinata Shoyo, who had just sped past on the road, too shocked to speak.
After making sounds in his throat for a while, he finally turned to his mother, who was working, and said:
"Mom, I just saw Midousuji."
His mother looked back at her son with complete confusion, then glanced at the copy of "Yowamushi Pedal" sitting beside her son's chair. Finally understanding, she patted her precious son's little head and said:
"Hai, hai."
"Then Hitoshi should become a strong athlete too~"
The chubby kid said proudly:
"Mm-hmm! Of course! My athletic nerves are amazing!"
"No matter what I do, I'll do it the best!"
"I'll properly inherit the Akutsu name!"
***
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