On the bus heading to the prefectural gym, everyone was doing their own thing. Ichinose Guren rested with his eyes closed, and Yudai Hyakuzawa, influenced by him, also closed his eyes seriously to rest.
Hoshino Katsuri sat in the back row, quietly staring out the window, lost in thought.
The remaining four, Hinata Shoyo and the "three small ones", were nervously clutching their stomachs.
Hoshino glanced disdainfully at them, then returned his gaze to the window. Perhaps he was trying to avoid any potential "vomit attacks" from the four in front.
After the first day's intense match, the four were less tense than during the opening battle.
Upon arriving at the gym, the seven players formed a circle and began warm-up exercises to activate their bodies.
On the sidelines, some volunteer staff chatted among themselves.
"Look! That team! The ones in green who beat Kitagawa Daiichi!"
"Where? Where? Let me see."
"Wow, that number 2 is tall! The captain must be over 1.8 meters!"
"Really? Number 2 is a giant?"
"Wait, why are the others so short? Three of them are just 1.6-something meters."
"Did they really beat Kitagawa Daiichi? Looks like just two strong players, the rest are just filler."
"Who knows… maybe it's all thanks to that 1.9-meter monster. Where would junior high school students find someone that tall?"
Hinata, listening closely, felt frustrated and unwilling to accept it.
"Damn it. In this match, I have to show my flair as a middle blocker, I can't let Hyakuzawa and Guren steal all the spotlight!"
Motivated by his self-set goal, Hinata powered through his warm-ups with extra intensity. Every stretch and arm exercise was executed explosively… until Guren delivered a precise wrist strike to his forehead.
"What are you doing? Trying to exhaust half your energy during warm-ups?"
Clutching his forehead, Hinata exclaimed, "It hurts! I'm just excited! I have infinite stamina!!!"
Smack!
Another strike from Guren.
"No one has infinite stamina. You're not some anime protagonist."
"But I really have a lot of energy. If I don't sweat during warm-ups, I feel like I'm not warmed up."
"Then cover yourself with a thick blanket for half an hour. Guaranteed sweat."
Hinata's face turned pale.
"Won't I get heatstroke, Guren? It's almost summer!"
"Didn't you say you wanted to sweat?"
Embarrassed, Hinata scratched the back of his head. "Ah… haha… I didn't mean that."
===========
At that moment, a team in dark teal uniforms entered, ready for the routine "team comedy show" that was Yukigaoka's daily antics.
Leading them was a slightly handsome but fierce-looking player, about the same height as Guren: Akashi Asuka from Sengoku Junior High.
He shouted as he entered:
"Who cares if it's Yukigaoka? They beat Kitagawa Daiichi, but I'll take them all down!"
Two other tall players joined in, yelling:
"Yeah! Watch me, Jujiro Kazama!"
"And me! Masato Oomae! They'll know my strength!"
Behind them, two main players, Ryuhei Sanashita and Oda Miki, wore expressions of let them do as they please, we're not the ones losing face.
When they saw Yukigaoka's team, however, they all gasped.
"Damn! That guy must be two meters tall!"
Akashi, slightly displeased, exaggeratedly spat out the words.
"Not quite that tall, but definitely over 1.9 meters."
Sanashita, the main setter, quickly intercepted Akashi's comment, knowing it could hurt his teammates' confidence.
"What's going on? Is this guy a repeating student? How can a junior high school student be this tall? No one his age grows this much."
Masato Oomae, the middle blocker, was both shocked and annoyed.
This height is insane, how can we even block him?
At this height, the net is already a disadvantage compared to the spike height, and with this guy nearly two meters in shoes… how do you play against him?
Today they got back from the exhibition at nine in the morning.
It was short, but let's make do, friends.
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