Ryosuke had already been feeling a little down, but after hearing Coach Washijō say that, he felt even worse.
He lifted his head, his eyes already turning red.
Coach Washijō's heart lurched.
Damn it. Had he actually made the kid cry?
At that point, Coach Washijō stopped caring about maintaining his dignity. He stepped closer and said in exasperation,
"What are you so upset about?! I'm going to a meeting, not dropping dead!"
Ryosuke's head snapped up, and he stared at Coach Washijō with wide eyes.
"Grandpa Washijō! You can't say things like that!"
His sadness immediately turned into anger.
Coach Washijō looked slightly sheepish. He knew Ryosuke had always been sensitive about things like that, and now he had gone and made the kid angry too.
Coach Washijō coughed twice to cover his embarrassment, then glanced around. If anyone saw him like this, he would never live it down.
"All right, forget that. I'm going to a meeting this morning, so listen carefully to Coach Hibarida. If anything comes up, discuss it with Ushijima and Reon. Follow their instructions. If there's something you don't understand, ask Reon. If you run into a blocker you can't handle, switch out and let Tendo go in first. Watch carefully from the sidelines and learn. And don't lose focus during the match..."
When Ryosuke remained silent, Coach Washijō simply kept talking, giving him instruction after instruction until it almost sounded as though he were entrusting Ryosuke to them for good.
Ryosuke listened and gave several subdued hums of acknowledgment, his hands hanging at his sides as his fingers unconsciously curled into fists.
Coach Washijō's sudden meeting would definitely affect Ryosuke.
Ever since the first match, Coach Washijō had always been there beside him. A large part of the reason Ryosuke could stay so composed was because Coach Washijō was watching over him. As long as Coach Washijō was there, Ryosuke felt secure.
Without him, things were harder to predict.
Seeing how upset Ryosuke looked, Coach Washijō didn't know what else to say.
The two stood facing each other in silence for a while. Coach Washijō racked his brain but couldn't think of anything that might comfort him.
After a long moment, Ryosuke finally raised his head. His eyes were still slightly red as he looked at Coach Washijō.
"Go to your meeting. Don't worry. Reon-senpai and everyone else are still here."
Now that Ryosuke had said that himself, all the comforting words Coach Washijō had struggled to come up with remained unspoken.
Instead, he reached out with his large, calloused hand and gently ruffled Ryosuke's hair.
"All right. Since you understand, I'll get going. I don't know whether I'll make it back in time for the match, but I hope that when I return, I'll see that you've won."
Coach Washijō turned to leave.
After walking a few steps, he looked back and saw Ryosuke still standing there, looking like an abandoned kitten.
The sight made his chest ache.
His first instinct was to turn around and comfort Ryosuke, but reason told him not to.
Coach Washijō frowned and ultimately forced himself to keep walking without looking back again.
He was afraid that if he did, he would soften.
A young bird learning to ride the wind couldn't remain sheltered beneath an elder's wings forever.
It had to learn to face the storms over the sea on its own.
Ryosuke stood where he was and watched Coach Washijō walk farther and farther away.
Only after his figure disappeared from sight did Ryosuke finally look away.
He sniffed, then turned around with determination and started walking.
He looked toward the door at the end of the hallway.
There was hesitation and worry in his eyes at first, but little by little, both gave way to resolve.
Behind that door were Ryosuke's teammates.
On the court were opponents who shared the same passion as them.
And in the stands were his friends and his older brother.
He couldn't hesitate just because Coach Washijō wasn't there.
Playing volleyball was supposed to be fun.
When he reached the door, Ryosuke shook his head.
Why had he been thinking so much just now?
He had made it seem like they were parting forever.
How melodramatic.
That was Ryosuke's own assessment of himself.
With a creak, Ryosuke pushed the door open.
Everyone waiting for him turned around.
The moment they saw him come out, smiles appeared on their faces.
"Ryosuke, do you want to go back and change first?"
Tsutomu Goshiki came over and asked him.
He vaguely remembered Ryosuke mentioning that morning that the team uniform he was wearing felt uncomfortable, so he urged Ryosuke to go back and change.
Ushijima silently marveled at him.
Considering how impossible Tsutomu Goshiki had been to wake up that morning, it was impressive that he still remembered something like that.
The reminder immediately jogged Ryosuke's memory.
Now that he thought about it, his entire body suddenly felt unbearably itchy.
The team uniforms Ryosuke usually wore had been custom-made by Keigo Atobe. They looked exactly the same as everyone else's, but the fabric was different.
The uniforms Shiratorizawa provided were already quite good, and the material wasn't bad either, but Ryosuke still found them uncomfortable.
To him, the fabric felt far too rough.
When Keigo Atobe found out, he had several identical uniforms custom-made so Ryosuke could rotate between them.
Ryosuke was practically the Princess and the Pea. Even the tiniest loose thread could bother him for ages.
It was one of the rare ways in which everyone got to see Ryosuke being particular and delicate.
Tsutomu Goshiki's reminder distracted Ryosuke enough that, for the moment, he forgot about Coach Washijō leaving for his meeting.
He scratched his arm and realized his skin really was starting to itch.
Then he turned to Ushijima.
"Ushijima-senpai, Tsutomu Goshiki and I are going to change first. Where should we meet afterward?"
The question stumped Ushijima.
He blinked a few times, then turned to look at Reon.
Reon was usually the one who handled questions like this.
Reon looked at Ushijima, who clearly had no idea what to do, and sighed deeply.
Ushijima was dependable during matches.
When exactly was he going to become a little more dependable the rest of the time?
"Let's meet at our usual warm-up area in twenty minutes."
Reon addressed everyone, giving them some time to take care of whatever they needed to do.
As long as they reached the warm-up area before Coach Hibarida, it would be fine.
Once Reon gave the instruction, everyone exchanged glances and dispersed.
Yamagata yawned as he walked beside Kawanishi.
He had stayed up a little too late the night before, then gotten up early this morning, so he was already feeling sleepy.
He hadn't eaten breakfast either.
It sounded miserable, but Yamagata was still in a good mood.
At least he still had time to eat.
During training camps in the past, Yamagata often skipped breakfast just so he could sleep a little longer.
Now, thanks to Reon waking everyone up early every time, Yamagata no longer had to train or play matches on an empty stomach.
Yamagata and Kawanishi went back to grab their backpacks, then headed for the cafeteria, planning to go straight to the warm-up area after breakfast.
Eita Semi and Shirabu decided to use the time to go back and squeeze in a short nap.
Ushijima and Reon returned to the dorm instead to clean up the mess everyone had made the night before.
Over at the cafeteria, Keiji Akaashi had also dragged Bokuto out of bed for breakfast.
Bokuto walked behind Keiji Akaashi, yawning nonstop.
Keiji Akaashi turned around to look at him several times.
Seeing Bokuto yawn over and over again, Keiji Akaashi felt utterly helpless.
He really shouldn't have let Bokuto-senpai go play with everyone the night before.
When Coach Washijō came around for room inspection, Bokuto had been right in the middle of enjoying himself.
After returning to his dorm, he had been so energized that he simply refused to settle down. He even tried to drag Haruki Komi and Konoha into playing cards with him.
Fortunately, everyone at Fukurōdani knew their ace far too well.
If they gave Bokuto any encouragement at all, nobody was going to sleep that night.
So Konoha and Haruki Komi wisely ignored him.
Even by himself, Bokuto still managed to stay excited until well past midnight.
Keiji Akaashi had watched Bokuto's eyes practically glowing in the darkness, without the slightest hint of sleepiness, and let out a heavy sigh.
He really was an owl.
He simply refused to sleep at night.
Of course, another possibility was that Bokuto had been too excited about today's match to sleep.
Once this match was over, they would finally know which two teams would be competing in tomorrow's final.
Keiji Akaashi glanced at Bokuto again before refocusing.
He led Bokuto over to a stall selling steamed buns and stopped there.
His gaze swept across the cafeteria.
There were quite a few people eating breakfast this early in the morning.
Keiji Akaashi spotted players from Itachiyama and Fukurōdani as well, but his gaze didn't linger on them.
Instead, he searched the cafeteria for the school called Ichibayashi.
The sudden appearance of Ichibayashi as a dark horse made Keiji Akaashi uneasy.
He had asked around in several places and still hadn't managed to learn anything about them.
The team was simply too mysterious.
It gave him a bad feeling.
Keiji Akaashi looked at Bokuto, who was happily eating, then lowered his gaze.
There was no point thinking too much about it now.
Once the match started, they would find out exactly what kind of team Ichibayashi was.
With that thought, Keiji Akaashi took a hard bite out of his steamed bun.
No matter who their opponent was, Fukurōdani had to win.
Yamagata and Kawanishi leisurely ate their noodles.
It was rare to have such a relaxed breakfast before a match, slowly eating noodles and drinking hot soup.
Yamagata let out a contented sigh.
After one mouthful of hot soup, he felt as though even his soul had relaxed.
When he looked up, he saw Keiji Akaashi and Bokuto leaving together.
That suddenly reminded Yamagata of Fukurōdani's opponent today.
He looked at Kawanishi.
"Kawanishi, do you know anything about Fukurōdani's opponent? That Ichibayashi team. Where did they come from?"
Kawanishi lifted his head from his bowl and gave Yamagata a baffled look.
"Do I look like someone who'd know that kind of thing?"
Then he pursed his lips.
"You're asking the wrong person. You should ask Ryosuke. Even if Ryosuke doesn't know, Keigo Atobe can find out."
Yamagata nodded thoughtfully.
He decided that when he saw Ryosuke later, he would remember to ask.
Yamagata was genuinely curious about it.
Besides, learning more about an unknown opponent could only be useful.
Each occupied with their own thoughts, the two slowly finished breakfast, slung their backpacks over their shoulders, and headed toward the warm-up venue.
There were already quite a few people there.
Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki had been the first to arrive after changing.
They were already pushing over a small cart filled with volleyballs and setting up the net in preparation for warm-ups.
Yamagata strolled in lazily from behind.
He saw Tsutomu Goshiki toss a volleyball into the air and prepare to jump.
He immediately called out,
"Tsutomu Goshiki! You haven't warmed up yet! Don't start jumping around!"
Yamagata's shout immediately caught Tsutomu Goshiki's attention.
Tsutomu Goshiki scratched his head and gave an embarrassed little laugh.
"I just wanted to spike one ball and see how it felt."
Yamagata looked at him with unusual seriousness.
"That's still not okay. If you haven't warmed up, your joints and muscles aren't ready yet. Suddenly jumping like that could easily make you sprain your ankle or get a cramp. You don't want to lose your chance to play just because you skipped your warm-up, do you?"
That genuinely frightened Tsutomu Goshiki.
His expression immediately turned panicked as he stood there clutching the volleyball, unsure what to do.
"I... I'm sorry, Yamagata-senpai."
He lowered his head meekly, looking rather pitiful.
Yamagata's expression grew even more serious.
"Just apologizing isn't enough."
Tsutomu Goshiki looked up.
"Then what should I do...? Ow!"
The moment Tsutomu Goshiki raised his head, Yamagata curled his thumb and middle finger together and gave him a hard flick on the forehead.
By the time Yamagata pulled his hand away, a large red mark had appeared on Tsutomu Goshiki's forehead.
Yamagata flexed his fingers as he recalled the crisp sound from the impact.
Not bad.
That was one solid forehead.
Tsutomu Goshiki covered his forehead, tears gathering in his eyes.
That single flick made him feel as though Yamagata had nearly given him a concussion.
Kawanishi looked at the bright red mark on Tsutomu Goshiki's forehead.
"Don't blame Yamagata. What you did just now really was dangerous. During a tournament, if any one of you gets injured, Shiratorizawa loses one of its players."
After saying that, Kawanishi lowered his voice mysteriously.
"And there's a reason Yamagata reacts so strongly to this. Back when he was a first-year, he went to receive a ball without warming up before his very first match and ended up spraining his ankle. His foot swelled up like a steamed bun, and he missed the first match of his high school career. Yamagata just doesn't want the same thing that happened to him to happen to any of you."
Only then did Tsutomu Goshiki fully realize what could have happened.
If he had gotten hurt just now, he might not have been able to play in today's match at all.
His face immediately went pale.
He stammered out another apology and thanked Yamagata at the same time.
"Thank you for warning me, Yamagata-senpai. I'm really sorry about just now. If you hadn't stopped me, and something happened..."
Seeing Tsutomu Goshiki panic like that, Yamagata understood that he had genuinely scared him.
His voice softened.
"I'm not trying to blame you. I just need you to remember this properly. Safety comes first."
Tsutomu Goshiki nodded rapidly like a chick pecking at grain.
"What are you all standing around here for?"
Reon's voice came from behind them.
Everyone turned around together.
The moment Reon did, he spotted the bright red mark on Tsutomu Goshiki's forehead.
He paused.
"Tsutomu Goshiki, what happened to your forehead?"
Hearing that, Yamagata glanced at the mark and guiltily took a step backward.
Tsutomu Goshiki had certainly done something wrong, but Yamagata also knew he had used too much force.
If Reon found out, Yamagata was definitely getting scolded too.
Sure enough, after Tsutomu Goshiki honestly explained everything, Reon first gave him a stern lecture.
Then he turned toward Yamagata, walked straight over, and grabbed him by the ear.
"Tsutomu Goshiki doesn't know better, but you don't either? You could've just explained it to him! Look at how red his forehead is. Don't do that again. If you do, I'll give you one on the head too."
Reon was equally protective of all the first-years.
Whenever something happened, no matter who caused it, that person was getting a lecture from Reon.
Coach Washijō, of course, was outside the range of people Reon dared to lecture.
Yamagata had lost every trace of the confidence he showed when flicking Tsutomu Goshiki's forehead.
He meekly nodded along, looking utterly miserable.
Seeing Yamagata getting his ear twisted, Tsutomu Goshiki stood to the side and started grinning and cackling.
Then Yamagata glared at him.
Tsutomu Goshiki instantly went silent.
"All right, Reon, that's enough. Let's hurry up and warm up."
Ushijima had a feeling that if they kept this up, they would still be arguing when the match started, so he stepped in and ended the conflict.
And once Ushijima had spoken,
...
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