Everyone cheered and clinked their cups together, laughing as they talked about the matches they had watched over the past two days.
Outside the restaurant, the sky gradually darkened.
The owner of the sushi restaurant wandered over to the entrance with a bottle of shochu in hand and switched on the lights. Warm yellow light spilled softly across the room.
The last traces of sunset were still visible outside. Tiny specks of dust drifted through the lamplight, making the whole scene look almost impossibly beautiful.
By the time they finished eating, everyone's stomachs were stuffed full. They sprawled across their chairs without moving, and at first glance, the room looked like it was full of corpses.
At that point, Reon and Ushijima stood up to pay the bill, only for Keigo Atobe to stop them.
"You're going to pay?"
Ushijima blinked and nodded with complete seriousness.
Keigo Atobe chuckled.
"No need. My family owns this restaurant. Even if you hadn't suggested going out for dinner today, I was planning to treat all of you anyway."
Reon scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.
"That doesn't feel right."
Keigo Atobe stood up with a stretch and gave Reon a sidelong glance.
"What's wrong with it? Just consider it my way of thanking you for taking care of Ryosuke all this time."
Reon looked like he still wanted to say something, but Ushijima stopped him. He shook his head at Reon before turning to Keigo Atobe.
"Then thank you for dinner today. When we win the championship, it'll be our turn to treat you."
Keigo Atobe burst out laughing, clearly delighted.
He genuinely liked how straightforward Ushijima was. He didn't think Ushijima sounded arrogant at all. As far as Keigo Atobe was concerned, Ushijima and the others had the ability to back up those words.
"Sure. Then I'll wait for the day you win the championship."
After saying goodbye to the two of them, Keigo Atobe headed outside toward Ryosuke.
Ryosuke was standing by the entrance with the fading light of dusk behind him, giving him a warm, gentle appearance. When Keigo Atobe saw Ryosuke waving to him, his normally sharp, stern features softened at once.
Once Keigo Atobe had gone outside, Reon looked at Ushijima in confusion.
"Why didn't you let me pay just now?"
Ushijima gave Reon a faintly exasperated look. It was rare to see Ushijima think Reon was being slow.
"If you paid now, Keigo Atobe would find some other way to make it up to us. It's better to just let him treat us."
Ushijima paused before adding,
"If we refused, he probably wouldn't feel comfortable about it."
After all, Keigo Atobe wanted everyone at Shiratorizawa to keep looking after Ryosuke. In his eyes, Ryosuke was basically a little kid who couldn't take care of himself.
Reon stared at Ushijima in surprise.
Ushijima had actually come up with something that insightful.
Scary.
Since they had all come together, naturally they were going back together too.
The group set off at dusk and walked until night had fully fallen. Darkness came quickly. In the short time it took them to cross just a few traffic lights, the last traces of daylight had disappeared.
Summer nights were still hot. Cicadas chirped and frogs croaked all around them. The evening breeze tugged at the boys' clothes, carrying the scent of sweat and their laughter far into the distance.
From afar, they looked full of youthful energy. Their faces still held the innocence and passion of boys who had yet to experience much of the world, and their hearts were filled with anticipation for tomorrow.
They were about to set off toward what came next.
Reon and Ushijima walked at the very back, watching the lively group ahead.
For a moment, Reon thought it might not be so bad if time could simply stop here.
Many years later, whenever Reon thought back to the night before the Final Four, he would still find himself sighing.
It felt as though his life had never given him another summer quite like that one.
"Do your best tomorrow, Ushijima."
"I know, Reon."
"Could you at least look at me when you answer? You sound so halfhearted."
His steady voice carried a touch of helplessness before being swept away by the evening breeze.
...
Miyagi.
That night, anyone in Miyagi who had watched the match probably had trouble sleeping.
It had simply been too exciting. People couldn't help looking forward to tomorrow's match.
Oikawa and Iwaizumi, of course, had not returned. They planned to stay in Tokyo and watch all the way through the finals.
"Man... it feels like something's missing when Oikawa isn't around."
Makki walked along with his backpack on, chatting with Matsukawa.
Matsukawa gave him an amused look.
When Oikawa was around, Makki complained every day about how noisy he was. Now that Oikawa was gone, he had started talking about how much his absence stood out.
What a contradiction.
Matsukawa swung his backpack behind him and broke into a run.
"He'll be back in a couple of days! Hanamaki, if you don't hurry, the bun shop's going to close!"
"Huh?! Wait, I'm coming!"
Over at Karasuno, Shoyo Hinata was once again the last person to leave.
He normally went home with Kageyama, but Kageyama seemed to have something to do today, leaving Shoyo Hinata on his own.
Shoyo Hinata closed the gym doors behind him. By then, the sky was completely dark.
He looked up at the night sky, then pulled out his phone and sent Ryosuke a congratulatory message.
Watching today's match had left Shoyo Hinata fired up.
Ryosuke's performance on the court had been incredibly impressive, but Shoyo Hinata wasn't jealous. If anything, he had started to admire Ryosuke a little.
And nationals were completely different from the prefectural tournament.
The prefectural tournament was a dividing line. If you wanted to cross it, you had to put in far more time and effort than everyone else.
Shoyo Hinata was certain that one day, he would stand on the stage of the national tournament too.
Maybe he would even go farther than that.
He believed it for one simple reason.
He loved volleyball enough to believe that day would definitely come.
His phone chimed.
Shoyo Hinata immediately looked down and saw that Ryosuke had replied.
Shoyo Hinata: Congratulations to Shiratorizawa on making the Final Four! Ryosuke, you looked so cool on the court today!
Ryosuke: Thanks, Shoyo Hinata. You looked really cool when you played too. The teams Shiratorizawa will face after making the Final Four are going to be even tougher.
After reading the message, Shoyo Hinata's fingers immediately flew across the screen. He typed while walking, only occasionally lifting his head to check where he was going.
Somehow, Shoyo Hinata ended up chatting with Ryosuke the entire way home.
He really was fearless when it came to socializing. No matter the situation or the place, he could somehow strike up a conversation with anyone.
Who knew what he and Ryosuke had managed to talk about for that long?
When Shoyo Hinata finally got home, he and Ryosuke exchanged goodnights over the phone.
Once he lay down in bed, he began looking forward to tomorrow's match.
As he thought back on the excitement of today's game, a bold idea suddenly appeared in his mind.
Shoyo Hinata wanted to go to Tokyo and watch the match in person.
The thought lingered in his mind for a long time, refusing to disappear.
...
Back in Tokyo, it was already late at night, yet nobody was asleep.
Everyone had gathered in Ushijima's room to play cards.
Several captains sat together with playing cards in their hands and white slips of paper stuck all over their faces.
One glance was enough to tell that Bokuto had lost the most.
There were so many strips of paper stuck to his face that it was almost impossible to see him underneath them. Bokuto pouted with a deeply dissatisfied expression, looking utterly dejected.
Bokuto was simply too terrible at cards, so Keiji Akaashi eventually had no choice but to push him aside and take his place.
Bokuto leaned miserably against Keiji Akaashi, looking pitiful beyond words. His enormous head rested on Keiji Akaashi's shoulder, while Keiji Akaashi remained completely unfazed.
On the other side of the room, Kenma and Ryosuke sat together playing games on their consoles and talking quietly as they played.
The sight of the two cats huddled together was strangely pleasing.
Kuroo and Hoshiumi were arm-wrestling, and neither seemed able to gain the upper hand.
Meanwhile, Eita Semi had gone back to his dorm and was looking over an outfit he had brought with him, wondering what he should wear tomorrow if he didn't end up playing.
It was already ten at night.
Ryosuke was still playing when he happened to notice the time.
His heart jumped.
He hurriedly stood up.
"Everyone, stop playing."
His voice was too quiet.
Nobody heard him.
Ryosuke looked around and realized no one had noticed, so he raised his voice.
"Everyone, stop playing! It's almost time for room inspection!"
That snapped everyone back to reality.
The people who had been happily playing immediately pulled out their phones to check the time.
Sure enough, it was time for room inspection.
Reon reluctantly put down his cards and asked Hirugami, who was sitting beside him,
"Which coach is doing room inspection tonight?"
Hirugami thought for a moment, then slowly looked at Reon.
"I think it's Coach Washijō."
He hadn't spoken loudly.
The room still fell completely silent.
"Coach Washijō is doing room inspection?!"
Everyone immediately panicked.
If another coach caught them, there was a good chance they would simply turn a blind eye. The tournament was still underway, after all.
But if Coach Washijō caught them, they were finished.
Everyone would be punished together. Not a single person would escape.
He might even report them to their own coaches.
If that happened, once the tournament ended, brutal punishment would be waiting for every last one of them.
Just imagining Coach Washijō catching them made Reon's scalp tingle.
Keiji Akaashi had already reacted.
He grabbed Bokuto with his left hand and Haruki Komi with his right and immediately rushed for the door.
Haruki Komi still had grilled meat in his mouth when he was dragged outside, his face completely blank with confusion.
The dorm room descended into chaos.
Once Reon and Hirugami realized how serious the situation was, Reon grabbed a backpack from the floor and started shoving everything into it.
Playing cards, snack wrappers, sunflower seed shells.
There was no time to worry about whether any of it was clean.
Kuroo grabbed Kenma's jacket and backpack.
Yaku was frantically putting on his shoes when he looked up and realized Kuroo had already run off with Kenma.
He immediately cursed and chased after them.
"Kuroo, you bastard! You seriously left without me?!"
"Hoshiumi! Hurry up! Stop packing your little backpack! Ryosuke can bring it to you tomorrow!"
Hirugami saw Hoshiumi still slowly packing his bag.
He and Hakuba immediately rushed forward, grabbed Hoshiumi from either side, and carried him out.
Hoshiumi's legs kicked wildly in midair.
At that moment, Keiichiro Kanbayashi wandered out of the bathroom in a daze.
He rubbed his eyes and looked around at everyone in confusion, wondering why the room had suddenly become complete chaos.
When he saw Hirugami and Hakuba leaving, Keiichiro Kanbayashi hurried after them.
Just as he reached the doorway, Hakuba reached back and slammed the door shut.
"Bang!"
"Ow!"
Keiichiro Kanbayashi clutched his nose and crouched down.
That was what you called getting taken out by your own teammate with a door.
After shutting the door, Hakuba vaguely felt as though he had heard something strange.
The thought flashed through his mind and disappeared almost immediately.
Ushijima calmly stood up and stuffed everything into the cabinet.
Tsutomu Goshiki poked his head in, hesitated for a moment, then left too.
Ryosuke, I'm sorry!
He absolutely did not want to get caught by Coach Washijō, so he was getting out of there first.
He would apologize to Ryosuke tomorrow.
Tsutomu Goshiki's room was right next door.
The instant he turned into his own room and closed the door, measured footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Ryosuke immediately recognized them as Coach Washijō's footsteps.
His heart tightened.
He exchanged a look with Reon and Ushijima.
There was no way they could leave now.
"Why don't we do homework and try to fool Coach Washijō?"
Ryosuke suggested quietly.
Reon immediately nodded.
"I think that could work."
"Okay."
"I didn't bring my homework..."
Reon raised an eyebrow at Ushijima.
"You actually have days when you forget your homework?"
Ushijima frowned.
"Not me."
At that moment, Ryosuke's eyes widened as he looked beside him.
Keiichiro Kanbayashi was standing there with one hand over his nose.
When had he gotten there?!
"Keiichiro Kanbayashi-senpai?!"
Reon and Ushijima both whipped their heads around.
Sure enough, there stood Keiichiro Kanbayashi, still clutching his nose.
Reon took a deep breath.
The footsteps outside were getting closer.
Coach Washijō was almost at the door.
At that critical moment, inspiration suddenly struck Ushijima.
He grabbed Keiichiro Kanbayashi and shoved him into the bathroom.
Ryosuke and Reon quickly dug their homework out from wherever they had tossed it.
The three of them sat down at the table and began working with extremely serious expressions.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Room inspection."
The knock came the instant they opened their homework.
Ushijima and Ryosuke turned toward Reon at the same time, silently urging him to answer the door.
Reon helplessly put down his pen and went to open it.
When Coach Washijō saw that Reon had answered, he stepped forward, moved past him, and entered the room.
Then he spotted Ryosuke sitting at the table doing homework.
Coach Washijō raised an eyebrow.
Seeing him look their way, Ushijima immediately explained,
"We're helping Ryosuke with his homework."
Ryosuke obediently nodded.
Coach Washijō stared silently at the three of them.
Those few short seconds felt like an eternity.
Reon was already starting to wonder if Coach Washijō had somehow discovered Keiichiro Kanbayashi hiding in the bathroom.
Keiichiro Kanbayashi was thinking exactly the same thing.
His heart was practically in his throat.
Coach Washijō briefly looked around the room, but in the end, he said nothing about it.
Instead, he looked at Ryosuke.
"It's late. Don't stay here too long. Finish your homework, then go back and get some sleep."
At that moment, the three people in the room and the one hiding in the bathroom all breathed a silent sigh of relief.
They watched Coach Washijō leave.
The instant they heard the door close, everyone relaxed.
Keiichiro Kanbayashi finally emerged from the bathroom, his forehead covered in sweat.
As he wiped it away, he couldn't help thinking that they had only been trying to avoid getting caught during room inspection, yet somehow they had made the whole thing feel like they were sneaking around having an affair.
Keiichiro Kanbayashi certainly had an active imagination.
The four of them looked at each other and laughed.
For all of them, this had been a completely new experience.
Once Coach Washijō was safely gone, Keiichiro Kanbayashi quietly opened the door and slipped back to his own dorm.
Over at Kamomedai, Hakuba and Hirugami had already delivered Hoshiumi back to his room before returning to their own.
But Hakuba couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
...
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