Chapter 53: Karasuno's School Opening
In the blink of an eye, it was the start of the new school term. Four guys wearing Karasuno uniforms went to their respective classes in the morning, then gathered together again after school.
Two tall figures and two shorter but fierce-looking figures walking together on the road was quite intimidating.
The only thing was that the orange-haired guy among them was wearing athletic clothes, which looked somewhat out of place compared to the other three in their uniforms.
Even so, this hallway that was packed to capacity due to ongoing enrollment was forced to clear a path by the intimidating aura of the four-person group.
"So... so tall!"
"What's the deal with these guys?"
"They look so intense!"
"Damn! Are these the guys coming to compete with me for the top of Karasuno?"
Ignoring the whispered conversations of the surrounding students, Hinata Shoyo saw the path that had opened up. The little sun, who had changed into his athletic wear immediately after school, couldn't wait and waved at the three behind him.
"I'm going ahead."
Then he took off running, leaving only a farewell with a long drawn-out ending.
The remaining three - Ichise Guren scratched his nose somewhat awkwardly, while Hyakuzawa Yudai and Hoshino Masaru looked at each other, then at Hinata Shoyo who had already disappeared, and pursed their lips helplessly.
'This is no different from middle school' x2
"Hey! You guys are so tall! Come join our basket—"
A student wearing a basketball uniform saw Ichise Guren and Hyakuzawa Yudai's tall frames and instantly got excited, wanting to invite them to join his club and dominate the nation together.
Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking, a club mate behind him grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
"Nothing, nothing! Sorry to bother you, sorry to bother you! Please carry on, you three! Hahahaha."
Only after the three had walked far away did the basketball club member responsible for recruitment poke his head out curiously.
"What's wrong? Are those three really delinquents? Why didn't you let me recruit them?"
The curiosity on his face instantly transformed into a look of disdain for his teammate.
"You wouldn't be afraid that the people I recruit are too good and would surpass you, making you unable to hold your head up in front of Ayahane, would you? Huh? You sly fox!"
"Idiot, those three were featured in sports magazines - three members of Miyagi Prefecture's strongest middle school volleyball team who made it to the national semi-finals just a few months ago. They're super volleyball players."
"Huh? So what? I'll invite them to join basketball. If they don't join, they don't join. Besides, who says you can't play basketball in high school if you played volleyball in middle school?"
"Hey? I was trying to help you and now you're blaming me?"
"Who asked you to help? I think you're just afraid my performance will surpass yours."
In the hallway ahead, Hinata Shoyo had transformed into a bolt of lightning. After running through the spacious 'passage' and entering the lower floor, he used his superior reflexes and physical abilities to weave left and right through the crowd, quickly passing through and heading straight for the gymnasium used by the volleyball club.
Behind him, a female student was handing a stack of forms to three male students.
"Thanks for your hard work~"
"It's nothing."
"Not too few, but there used to be more."
"There will be more in the future, Daichi."
"Kiyoko-senpai, you're beautiful today too!"
After simple greetings and flirting, the three looked at the list in Sawamura Daichi's hands.
"Eh!!" x3
The three stared in shock at the name on the first application form.
Sugawara Koshi looked at the name on the form with a bewildered expression.
"Isn't this the 'King' from Kitagawa Daiichi?"
"How did he end up at Karasuno?"
Sawamura Daichi was equally confused. Although he'd received word that this might happen, he hadn't expected it to actually come true.
"I don't know."
Stroking his chin, Sugawara Koshi was happily troubled.
"He's not still the same aloof and arrogant genius as before, is he?"
"He wouldn't dare! I'll show him what senpai's love looks like!"
Tanaka Ryunosuke had already rolled up his sleeves.
When they continued reading further down, they were even more...
"Eh eh!! The strongest player in Miyagi Prefecture!!" x2
Tanaka Ryunosuke and Sugawara Koshi, seeing the unsurprised Sawamura Daichi, had the feeling of [We agreed to be on level 3 together, so why are a level 99 boss?].
"Daichi, did you already know about this?"
With a dry laugh, scratching his head, Sawamura Daichi said:
"Ah? You mean about all the third-years from Yukigaoka, last year's national semi-finalists, joining Karasuno?"
"Ah~ I roughly knew about it, hahahaha."
"What?! All of them joined? You better confess honestly!!"
"Why did you come to Karasuno too?" x2
Hinata Shoyo, who had already reached the gymnasium, and Kageyama Tobio had another fated encounter.
The difference was that this time, Kageyama Tobio came to Karasuno as a defeated loser who had been beaten by Hinata Shoyo, while Hinata Shoyo came to Karasuno as the victor.
"You really are a lucky guy, relying on your teammates' strength to get a free pass to nationals."
"What? Did your teammates go to Shiratorizawa while you didn't get selected?"
Although Kageyama Tobio had been defeated by Yukigaoka overall last year, he still believed that true strength came from having six strong people, that you needed to find six powerful people to form a team.
He still couldn't understand the concept of team spirit.
And Hinata Shoyo - this guy whose technique was much better than a beginner's but still terribly rough in his view - had just been lucky to join Yukigaoka and get carried to nationals by his teammates.
Internally, he still looked down on him with some 'jealousy' and a hint of frustration at his wasted potential.
Thinking about this made Kageyama Tobio even angrier. Why should he, who trained so devotedly and worked so hard to get stronger, fail to make it to nationals, while this guy who clearly didn't work hard normally could make it to the national semi-finals?
"Having a good body, jumping ability, explosive power, and competitive spirit - what's the use of being competitive in games if you don't train normally!"
"You technically hopeless waste!"
Originally, Hinata Shoyo had always felt somewhat guilty about holding back the Yukigaoka team during nationals due to his skill level. Although he was unwilling to accept it, he clearly understood that only by continuing to train hard could he become stronger.
After being eliminated by the powerhouse schools, he had already realized his strength was nowhere near enough, and his contribution to the team was far too small.
Although he had long been aware of this, Kageyama Tobio's scolding still made him very upset.
"What did you say?!!"
Hinata Shoyo, who had been scared back a step by Kageyama Tobio's dark glare, immediately stepped forward again.
"Stop looking down on me!"
"I admit that when we played against you, my technique was nowhere near enough, but!"
"I'm no longer who I was back then!"
"These past few months, I've trained desperately without a moment's rest!"
Seeing Hinata Shoyo talk back to him, Kageyama Tobio got even more fired up.
"I was planning to get revenge on you guys in high school! It's bad enough that you came to Karasuno, but I'll definitely defeat your other teammates!"
"Then you came to the wrong place! You should have gone to Shiratorizawa!"
Not minding Hinata Shoyo's words about coming to the wrong place, but being asked about a sore spot, Kageyama Tobio fell silent for a moment before saying:
"I failed the entrance exam."
Although the two still erupted into an argument stemming from that match, their positions had miraculously completely reversed, except that Kageyama Tobio still looked down on Hinata Shoyo's volleyball technique.
Following the original plot, the two engaged in powerful serves and receives. Although Hinata Shoyo's receiving technique had improved much more than in the original at the same period, how could he possibly receive Kageyama Tobio's serve on the first try?
And Sawamura Daichi, who had already coordinated with Ichise Guren, found an excuse to kick both of them out of the gymnasium.
The three late arrivals - Ichise Guren and company - looked at Hinata Shoyo with expressions that said [Although I don't know what happened, I knew you'd definitely cause trouble].
They also gave Kageyama Tobio a look that said [Although I don't know why you came to Karasuno, I'm completely unsurprised that you got kicked out of the gym].
Especially Hoshino Masaru, whose expression was vivid and perfectly demonstrated how to use facial expressions for mockery and sarcasm.
Watching this made both their blood pressure spike.
Actually, on the way here, Ichise Guren had already briefed the other two on his arrangements. Sugawara and Tanaka inside the gymnasium also already knew about Sawamura Daichi and Ichise Guren's plan.
After entering the gymnasium, the six became quite familiar and started greeting each other. Although Hyakuzawa Yudai still spoke little and Hoshino Masaru remained well-mannered and polite when meeting people for the first time.
But this didn't prevent the six from reaching a consensus: Kageyama Tobio was a guy with great technique, but he needed to learn what team spirit meant.
Hinata Shoyo's speed and jumping ability, if paired with Kageyama Tobio, could definitely be well developed.
So, except for Tanaka, the other five with relatively flexible average intelligence began discussing how to 'torment' these two, especially using Hinata Shoyo to torment Kageyama Tobio.
And what to do if that didn't work.
In the end, Sawamura Daichi made the final decision, setting the meeting's main tone.
While preserving each person's individual characteristics, they would promote harmonious cooperation between the two. To build an excellent team, they'd start with cooperation between these two people.
And to make Kageyama Tobio, who was incredibly serious and extremely rigorous about volleyball, feel the presence and power of teammates, they needed a Hinata Shoyo who would never be slower than him, and would even always be one step ahead in volleyball, to change him.
Using Hinata Shoyo's honest and straightforward power.
***
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