Ushijima stepped forward and ruffled Ryosuke's hair.
In the past, Ushijima had never really understood why Tendo had been willing to risk getting beaten up just to ruffle Shirabu's hair when Shirabu first joined the club.
Now he understood.
A freshman's fluffy hair really did feel nice.
"What about me? What about me? Was I amazing too, Ryosuke?"
Tsutomu Goshiki circled around Ryosuke like an excited puppy.
Ryosuke smiled and high-fived him.
"Of course you were amazing too. That cross-court shot was seriously cool."
Tsutomu Goshiki proudly lifted his chin.
Then a hand reached out from behind and pushed his face aside.
Tendo poked his head into view.
"What about me?"
Tsutomu Goshiki was very unhappy about having his spot stolen.
He immediately started flailing and shoving at Tendo.
The two jostled together, but Tendo took advantage of his long arms and legs to pin Tsutomu Goshiki to one side, leaving him unable to move.
Then Tendo looked expectantly at Ryosuke.
Ryosuke couldn't help laughing.
The way the two of them fought for his attention looked exactly like cats competing for affection at a cat café.
Suppressing his laughter, Ryosuke said,
"Tendo-senpai was amazing too. I learned a lot from that last set."
Tendo lifted his chin happily.
Finally, some recognition.
He hadn't even done much actual blocking during that set. He had spent almost the entire time keeping Suna occupied.
Without blocking, Tendo had felt like he had barely participated in the match.
He never expected Ryosuke to say that he had learned something from watching him.
In an instant, the slight gloom Tendo had been feeling disappeared completely.
His grin nearly stretched from ear to ear.
Reon covered his face.
He couldn't bear to watch.
Tendo looked far too pleased with himself.
Ushijima, who had been walking at the back, had originally planned to talk with Shinsuke Kita for a little longer.
But when he noticed that everyone was nearly lined up, he decided to join them first.
He could have dinner with Shinsuke Kita after the remaining matches.
They hadn't had a proper conversation in a long time.
Ushijima jogged over and took his place at the front.
Coach Washijō stood before everyone with his hands behind his back, preparing to give his usual post-match talk.
"You played well this time. Inarizaki has always been a team everyone has to be wary of. They're strong and difficult to deal with. Stopping them before the semifinals is a good result for Shiratorizawa.
From here on, aside from us, only three teams remain. Fukurōdani, Itachiyama, and Ichibayashi. All you need to do is defeat those teams, and the championship is yours."
Coach Washijō said it so casually that it sounded as though the championship was already in their hands.
Reon's eyelid twitched.
Their coach really thought highly of them.
Fukurōdani alone was already going to be difficult enough.
"Ichibayashi? I've never heard of them before."
Tendo voiced his confusion.
Coach Washijō looked at everyone and nodded.
"I only heard about them recently myself. They appeared out of nowhere and fought their way into the semifinals, knocking out Rihang along the way. I don't know exactly how strong they are, so you still need to be careful.
I'll find out more about them later. Our match against Itachiyama is tomorrow morning. In the other arena, Fukurōdani will play Ichibayashi. The winners will face each other in the final the following morning."
Coach Washijō's expression turned stern.
"The final is right in front of you. You've already played two matches today, so you're tired. Get some rest early tonight. Don't go messing around.
And don't let me catch anyone sneaking off to do extra practice tonight. If I catch you, you can look forward to doing twice as much when we get back."
As he spoke, Coach Washijō's gaze swept across Ushijima and Tsutomu Goshiki, the two habitual offenders.
Tsutomu Goshiki guiltily hunched his shoulders and stayed silent.
Ushijima, meanwhile, looked like his thoughts were somewhere else entirely.
"All right. Dismissed."
Seeing that everyone appeared to have taken his words seriously, Coach Washijō waved them off.
The day had exhausted him.
He really was getting older. He no longer had the endless energy he used to.
The kids had burned through a lot of stamina in two matches today too.
They deserved a proper rest.
Coach Washijō was surprisingly easygoing whenever they won.
Once the coach left, everyone began packing up.
After changing clothes, Reon and Ushijima went to collect their bags, only to find that everything had already been packed.
"Did you pack this?"
Ushijima lifted his neatly packed bag with a puzzled expression.
Reon scratched his head.
"Wasn't me. I didn't have time."
Then Ryosuke's cheerful voice came from behind them.
"I packed them."
It was Ryosuke's first time packing someone else's things, and the result looked pretty good.
After all, Ryosuke normally had Coach Washijō's wife pack his own belongings for him.
Seeing how proud Ryosuke looked, Reon felt absurdly pleased.
It was almost like watching his own child finally grow up.
Ushijima's eyes filled with approval as he patted Ryosuke on the shoulder.
"Ushijima-senpai! Reon-senpai! Ryosuke! We're leaving!"
Tsutomu Goshiki shouted from up ahead.
The three exchanged glances and immediately followed.
The whole group walked out of the arena carrying their bags.
"Whoa, really? Ryosuke packed everyone's bags himself today?"
"Tsutomu Goshiki! Look at how neatly Ryosuke packed this. When are you going to take those stinky socks out of your own bag?"
"Whoa, Ryosuke, you even washed the cups!"
Ryosuke's efforts caused a huge commotion among the team.
After getting praised several times in a row, his face turned red.
He looked delighted.
Whenever he couldn't be on the court, Ryosuke was more than happy to find some other way to help everyone.
By the time they reached the outside of the arena, a large group of people just happened to "run into" Shiratorizawa.
Over on Inarizaki's side, Atsumu Miya's fox-like eyes immediately locked onto Ryosuke, who was smiling happily among his teammates.
Part of him was happy to see Ryosuke.
Another part of him was still upset about losing.
Atsumu Miya awkwardly made his way over.
He felt a little jealous, though he would never admit it.
It was only one loss.
They could fight again next year.
Atsumu Miya comforted himself with that thought.
Before he could even speak, Ryosuke spotted him.
His eyes lit up.
"Atsumu Miya-senpai!"
Ryosuke hurried over in a few quick steps and immediately launched into an excited stream of words.
"Atsumu Miya-senpai, that quick attack you did with Osamu Miya-senpai was so cool! How did you do that?! I want to learn it too! I really want to learn it!"
Those sparkling eyes were impossible for Atsumu Miya to refuse.
For the moment, he completely forgot the slight disappointment of losing the match.
He puffed himself up proudly and started explaining.
"Ahahaha, it wasn't that impressive. It's actually really simple. Ya just do this, then that, then this, then that..."
Atsumu Miya's explanation sounded incredibly vague.
But that absolutely didn't mean he was brushing Ryosuke off.
The real problem was that even Atsumu Miya had no idea how to put the feeling into words.
If Ryosuke could hear what was going through Atsumu Miya's mind, he would probably think about it for a moment before suddenly exclaiming,
"So that's telepathy!"
Once Ryosuke successfully distracted Atsumu Miya, everyone from Inarizaki quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Good.
This was much better.
Otherwise, the moment Atsumu Miya had nothing to do, he would start thinking about the loss again.
Then he would get upset.
And after getting upset, he would train like a madman.
Whenever Atsumu Miya went crazy with training, everyone else inevitably got dragged into it.
After tournaments, the entire team usually ended up pushing themselves to exhaustion because of him.
Shinsuke Kita, Ushijima, and Reon stood together, smiling as they watched everyone mess around.
They looked like parents taking a group of children out for a walk.
"Now that this tournament is over, the next one will be the Spring High."
Shinsuke Kita spoke with a trace of emotion.
The Spring High would be their next major tournament.
This was his final year.
The time he had left to play volleyball with everyone was beginning to count down.
Ushijima understood what he meant.
He reached out and reassuringly patted Shinsuke Kita on the shoulder.
Then he said,
"Let's go out for dinner tonight."
Ushijima tilted his head and thought for a moment, as though searching for a suitable reason.
"To review what we learned from the match?"
Shinsuke Kita couldn't help laughing.
Then he nodded.
In reality, Ushijima simply wanted to spend some time with a friend he hadn't seen properly in a while.
Shinsuke Kita was one of the few people Ushijima could genuinely talk to about personal things.
Reon, on the other hand, was more like an overly concerned mother to him.
"What? What? You're going out to eat without us?"
Hoshiumi happened to walk over just in time to hear them.
He immediately rushed over, making a huge fuss before Hirugami could stop him.
Hoshiumi circled around Shinsuke Kita.
"I want to go too~!"
Compared with the serious Hirugami and the empty-headed Ushijima, Hoshiumi had taken quite a liking to Inarizaki's gentle captain.
Shinsuke Kita narrowed his eyes with a smile and ruffled Hoshiumi's short hair.
"You'll have to ask Hirugami first."
Hakuba, who had followed behind, stared in disbelief as Shinsuke Kita repeatedly rubbed Hoshiumi's head.
His eyes nearly popped out.
Hoshiumi wasn't getting angry?
He wasn't even resisting?
This was completely outside Hakuba's understanding.
Apparently Hoshiumi actually had a side like this.
"Is it okay, Hirugami?"
The instant Hoshiumi turned toward him, his expression completely changed.
Hirugami helplessly rubbed his forehead.
Then he looked at Shinsuke Kita.
"Captain Kita, would you mind a few more people joining?"
Shinsuke Kita blinked.
"Of course not. But I'm not the one paying."
As he said that, he glanced toward Ushijima.
Hirugami immediately understood.
"Ushijima-senpai, you don't mind, right?"
Of course Ushijima didn't mind.
Hirugami had even called him senpai and asked so politely.
What was there to object to?
Ushijima gave him a stiff nod.
"Then obviously we're coming too."
Kuroo swaggered over.
One hand held onto Kenma to stop him from tripping while playing a game as he walked.
The other swept dramatically toward his forehead in an exaggerated American military salute.
He looked thoroughly unserious, with a wide grin on his face.
Ushijima genuinely wondered where all these people had come from.
The moment someone mentioned food, they all appeared out of nowhere.
Were they starving ghosts reincarnated?
Before Ushijima could even respond, another person appeared.
Haruki Komi popped up with a grin.
"If you're going out to eat, can I come too? Heh-heh."
Hirugami turned around and looked Haruki Komi up and down with interest.
"What happened? Did they leave you behind because they have something against you?"
Haruki Komi immediately rolled his eyes at him.
"Don't try to stir things up. I get along perfectly well with everyone."
"Ryosuke."
Just as Ryosuke was preparing to slip away and find Sakusa, Sakusa appeared behind him with Iizuna and Komori.
Ryosuke jumped in surprise.
Then he turned around and glared at Sakusa.
Sakusa rubbed his nose, looking slightly guilty.
If he had known Ryosuke would react like that, he wouldn't have startled him.
After glaring at Sakusa, Ryosuke noticed the other two and politely greeted them.
"It's been a while, Komori-senpai, Iizuna-senpai."
Ryosuke immediately put on a cheerful smile as he greeted them.
Iizuna looked extremely pleased at being called senpai.
It wasn't as though no one ever addressed him that way.
But very few people said it as sweetly as Ryosuke did.
A broad smile immediately appeared on Iizuna's face.
"Good to see you too, Ryosuke."
Sakusa couldn't stand watching Ryosuke smile at someone else.
He stepped forward and squeezed Iizuna aside.
His dark eyes fixed on Ryosuke.
"What about me?"
Sakusa had never once heard Ryosuke call him senpai.
Faced with the question, Ryosuke merely gave a haughty little snort and refused to answer.
Ushijima had originally been staring blankly at the growing crowd.
Then, within moments, several people in yellow-green uniforms appeared among the sea of colorful team jerseys.
Ushijima's unfocused gaze immediately sharpened.
He searched through the crowd.
Sure enough, he spotted Sakusa hovering around Ryosuke like a peacock showing off its feathers.
Well, Sakusa wasn't actually doing anything of the sort.
But that was how Ushijima saw him now.
Ushijima quickly walked over and planted himself directly between Ryosuke and Sakusa, like the river separating the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
His eyes swept over Sakusa from head to toe.
His voice carried a faintly interrogative tone.
"You're coming to dinner?"
Only then did Sakusa pull his attention away from Ryosuke.
He nodded at Ushijima.
Ushijima nodded expressionlessly in return, accepting his presence.
Then he remained firmly beside Ryosuke, giving Sakusa no opportunity whatsoever to get close.
Iizuna and Komori exchanged delighted looks when they saw Sakusa being thwarted.
While Sakusa was still trying to figure out how to get the obstructive Ushijima out of the way, Keigo Atobe arrived.
Keigo Atobe had wanted to find Ryosuke the moment the match ended.
But Coach Washijō had been speaking to the team at the time, so Keigo Atobe waited until the talk was over.
What he hadn't expected was for Ushijima and the others to move so quickly.
By the time Keigo Atobe spotted Ryosuke, he also saw the brat who was trying to steal his younger brother away.
Keigo Atobe nearly exploded with anger.
For a moment, he almost failed to maintain his gentlemanly composure.
He stopped where he was for a second and rearranged his expression.
Then he became the older brother Ryosuke was familiar with again.
From a distance, he called out,
"Ryosuke."
The moment Ryosuke heard that familiar voice, he turned around.
Sure enough, there stood Keigo Atobe, looking as though he had rushed there despite a busy schedule.
Ryosuke naturally viewed his older brother through the most flattering possible lens.
His eyes immediately lit up.
He was convinced Keigo Atobe must have carved time out of an incredibly busy day just to come see him.
The thought touched Ryosuke deeply.
Keigo Atobe opened his arms.
Ryosuke immediately rushed toward him like a cheerful little bird.
"Keigo!"
The delight in his voice made his happiness unmistakable.
...
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