Since Ushijima had spoken, no one had any objections. After all, he was still the captain.
Once the captain had made the call, everyone stopped fooling around. Both those watching the commotion and those at the center of it obediently split into groups and began warming up.
Reon and Ushijima stood together and supervised them. Once everyone was nearly done with their warm-ups, the two of them joined in as well.
This was the scene that greeted Coach Hibarida when he arrived.
He had assumed that discipline among high school boys would generally be terrible. No matter how strong a team was, there were bound to be problems with discipline, and any place where a bunch of teenage boys gathered was almost guaranteed to be chaotic.
Don't ask how Coach Hibarida knew.
He had been that age once too.
Coach Hibarida stood outside the door, mentally preparing himself. He had already imagined the mess he was about to walk into.
But when he opened the door, instead of finding a group of boys gathered around bragging and laughing their heads off, he saw them lined up properly and warming up with complete seriousness.
That genuinely surprised Coach Hibarida.
He had never encountered anything quite like it before.
So he leaned against the doorframe and watched them with interest.
The players were so focused on warming up that none of them noticed Coach Hibarida's arrival.
As for why Shiratorizawa could remain so orderly even without their coach present, that had everything to do with Coach Washijō's usual strictness.
If the coach of another school wasn't around, things probably wouldn't be nearly as orderly as they were at Shiratorizawa. It might not descend into complete chaos, but there would definitely be people losing focus or whispering to each other.
Shiratorizawa had been thoroughly conditioned by Coach Washijō's iron discipline.
And even when Coach Washijō wasn't there, Ushijima was.
Ushijima rarely voiced his opinion outside of what was necessary, but whenever he did speak, no one dared ignore him.
Most importantly, the team had someone like Reon.
Reon knew every member of Shiratorizawa inside and out, and he was also more than capable of enforcing discipline physically.
If someone didn't warm up properly, Reon's first approach was to reason with them patiently.
If that failed, there was always the second approach.
It was also the final approach.
Physical enforcement.
Yamagata had been on the receiving end of that plenty of times in the past.
In short, everyone had already gotten used to Coach Washijō's way of doing things. On top of that, Reon and Ushijima were both there keeping an eye on them.
No one dared cause trouble.
Naturally, Coach Hibarida also thought of Coach Washijō's usual coaching methods.
He had never particularly approved of that style. He always felt that being too strict might stifle the kids.
But after seeing Shiratorizawa today, Coach Hibarida found his opinion of Coach Washijō's methods shifting once again.
Perhaps he shouldn't have been so biased.
Every team had its own way of training.
This approach might not suit other schools, but for Shiratorizawa, it was a perfect fit.
Coach Hibarida was still lost in thought when the team's warm-up came to an end.
Only then did he snap back to reality.
Watching Shiratorizawa warm up had been strangely satisfying. Everything had been orderly, every player had taken it seriously, no one had slacked off, and no one had chatted unnecessarily.
If a team could treat something as seemingly minor yet crucial as warming up with this much seriousness, Shiratorizawa was bound to go far.
Clap, clap, clap!
Coach Hibarida's applause interrupted the team's next movement.
Everyone turned toward the sound and saw an unfamiliar man standing there.
Ryosuke tilted his head as he looked at Coach Hibarida.
Coach Washijō really was impressive.
Ryosuke had assumed they were still discussing whether Coach Hibarida could come over. He hadn't expected Coach Washijō to act so quickly and actually get him here already.
The moment Ushijima saw Coach Hibarida, he quickly came to his senses.
Under everyone's puzzled gazes, he calmly stepped forward and bowed.
"Coach Hibarida, we'll be in your care for this morning's match."
In front of outsiders, Ushijima carried himself exactly like a captain.
Once they heard what Ushijima said, even the players who had never attended the National Youth Team camp could more or less guess who the man was.
So this was the famous Coach Hibarida.
Seeing Ushijima come forward to greet him, Coach Hibarida showed no airs at all.
He helped Ushijima straighten up, patted him on the shoulder, and laughed heartily.
"It's been a while! Ushijima, you look like you've improved again."
Coach Hibarida wasn't merely being polite.
Just from the air Ushijima carried around him, he could tell that Ushijima had probably matured mentally during this period.
Perhaps he had come to terms with something.
Whatever the reason, it was a good change for Ushijima.
After Ushijima finished greeting Coach Hibarida, everyone automatically lined up behind him and bowed together.
"Coach Hibarida, we look forward to your guidance!"
Their voices were perfectly synchronized and rang through the room.
Coach Hibarida smiled and waved his hands dismissively.
His gaze swept across the group before finally settling on Ryosuke, who stood in the front row.
Ryosuke was actually one of the reasons Coach Hibarida had agreed to temporarily take charge of Shiratorizawa.
Before the match, Coach Washijō hadn't been the only one to approach him.
Ryosuke's CEO older brother had also paid him a visit and bluntly declared that if Coach Hibarida refused to lead the team, he wouldn't sponsor the next IH.
That was practically a combination of threats and bribery.
So how could Coach Hibarida possibly...
Refuse?
He had agreed immediately.
If this had happened when Coach Hibarida was younger, he would have rejected the offer without a second thought. He would have seen it as an insult.
But now that he was approaching middle age, all Coach Hibarida wanted was for Keigo Atobe to keep insulting him.
By all means, insult him as much as possible.
All right, that sounded a little strange.
But that didn't diminish Coach Hibarida's enthusiasm for temporarily leading Shiratorizawa.
"All right, no need to be so formal. I'm Hibarida. I'm sure most of you have heard my name before. For today's match, I'll be serving as your temporary coach. I hope we have a good time out there."
Once Coach Hibarida finished speaking, the players began whispering among themselves, clearly curious about him leading Shiratorizawa.
Coach Hibarida opened his mouth to say something else, but the announcement system came on at that exact moment.
He immediately changed what he was about to say.
"All right, enough talking. Let's head to the waiting room by the court."
Coach Hibarida clasped his hands behind his back and walked at the front.
The Shiratorizawa players followed behind him like a line of chicks.
...
Over at Itachiyama, the team was also warming up when they heard the same announcement.
Sakusa lowered the towel he had been using to wipe away his sweat and glanced up at the loudspeaker.
Behind him, Komori tugged at his wrist guard to adjust it while turning around to hurry along the first-years who were still dawdling.
Iizuna stretched beside Sakusa.
Sakusa felt the warmth radiating from the person next to him and immediately shifted away in distaste, putting some distance between himself and Iizuna.
Having another grown man standing that close to him was far too intrusive for Sakusa.
Ryosuke, of course, was an exception.
Iizuna stared speechlessly at Sakusa's obvious attempt to move away.
He couldn't help thinking that Sakusa never seemed to act like this around Ryosuke.
Of course, he didn't show any of that on his face.
Instead, Iizuna smiled cheerfully at Sakusa.
"You're about to face Ryosuke as an opponent. How are you feeling? Want me to interview you?"
Sakusa paused briefly at the question before answering flatly,
"Nothing in particular. It just feels like another match."
Seeing the faint smile in the corner of Sakusa's eyes, Iizuna desperately wanted to shout, "Liar! You're obviously looking forward to it!"
But to avoid embarrassing Sakusa and making him angry, Iizuna wisely kept his mouth shut.
If he actually shouted that aloud, Sakusa would probably beat him half to death.
"All right, enough messing around. Come line up. We're getting ready to go out."
Itachiyama's coach pushed the door open and found everyone gathered together talking quietly.
He raised his voice, and the group instantly fell silent.
Iizuna also put away his playful expression and looked toward the coach.
"Got it!"
The match was ready to begin.
...
Thirty minutes until the match.
The coaches led their respective teams toward the court.
On the way, the two teams happened to meet head-on in the corridor, almost like one of those confrontations before a match in an anime.
Coach Hibarida led Shiratorizawa from one side, while Itachiyama approached from the other.
The two teams came to a neat stop in the narrow hallway.
Itachiyama's coach stared at the man leading Shiratorizawa, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.
Wasn't that Coach Hibarida?
Why was he leading Shiratorizawa?
Had there been some kind of order from above?
In the span of just a few seconds, Itachiyama's coach ran through countless possibilities in his head.
He couldn't come up with a convincing answer, but that didn't stop him from immediately trying to get on Coach Hibarida's good side.
"Well, if it isn't Coach Hibarida! It's been a long time, hahaha!"
Coach Narumi stepped forward, grabbed Coach Hibarida's hand, and shook it enthusiastically while exchanging pleasantries with him.
His expression was...
Extremely flattering.
Komori rubbed his eyes.
It was the first time he had ever seen his coach make an expression like that.
It was honestly a little frightening.
Coach Narumi could only think, Who am I doing this for? You bunch of brats!
Coach Hibarida looked at Coach Narumi and quickly searched his memory for everything he knew about the man.
Then he smiled warmly.
"It really has been a long time, Coach Narumi."
Coach Narumi opened his mouth, clearly intending to keep chatting, but before he could get a single word out, Coach Hibarida smoothly cut him off.
"Whatever you want to say can wait until after the match. The audience is still waiting. Narumi, let me see just how strong the team you've trained really is."
"Yes!"
Coach Narumi immediately straightened up and answered sharply.
That smiling tone somehow made him tense up.
People who smiled that pleasantly were rarely up to anything good.
Who knew what Coach Hibarida might be plotting behind his back?
After that, the two teams passed each other.
Among all the Itachiyama players, Ryosuke spotted Sakusa immediately.
He tilted his head and smiled at him, silently mouthing,
"See you on the court."
Ryosuke held out his right hand toward Sakusa.
Without changing his expression, Sakusa walked past him and raised his left hand.
Their palms met briefly in the air.
Then, without looking back, the two continued in opposite directions.
The teams went their separate ways, heading to different areas to warm up and prepare for the match.
Right on cue, the announcement system came to life again.
"Welcome, everyone, to the semifinals of the National High School Boys' Volleyball League. The two teams about to take the court are Shiratorizawa, representing Miyagi, and Itachiyama Academy, Tokyo's second representative. Meanwhile, Fukurōdani and Ichibayashi will also be playing in another venue.
"The two matches will take place simultaneously, and the winners will advance to tomorrow's final. We hope you're looking forward to it!"
"All right, let's turn our cameras toward the court. Approaching us now is Shiratorizawa, the powerhouse from Miyagi. Leading the team is Shiratorizawa's... national team coach, Coach Hibarida. It seems Coach Washijō wasn't available today.
"With national team coach Hibarida leading Shiratorizawa today, it looks like Coach Hibarida has quite a close relationship with the school."
As expected, Coach Hibarida's appearance immediately changed the way people looked at Shiratorizawa.
For a national team coach to personally lead them suggested there was probably a prodigy on the team who had caught Coach Hibarida's eye.
Or perhaps Coach Hibarida simply thought extremely highly of Shiratorizawa as a whole.
Whatever the case, it clearly wasn't as simple as the commentator's explanation that he "had quite a close relationship with the school."
The stands immediately grew noisy.
Everyone was curious about Coach Hibarida's appearance.
Several players in the audience who recognized him sucked in sharp breaths.
Shiratorizawa really had some serious influence.
Getting Coach Hibarida to lead them might very well be a first in the history of the IH.
"I'm not seeing things, right? That's Coach Hibarida?"
Hoshiumi rubbed his eyes and asked Hirugami in confusion.
For a moment, he genuinely wondered if he was still half-asleep and hallucinating.
Otherwise, how could he possibly be seeing something like this?
Hirugami raised an eyebrow as he looked down toward the court, then nodded.
He had also wondered whether he was seeing things.
But there was no mistake.
That really was Coach Hibarida.
"Tsk. I really don't understand what Coach Hibarida is doing here. Does he seriously think that highly of Shiratorizawa?"
Kuroo strode over on his long legs with Kenma and Yaku beside him.
Yaku naturally sat down next to Hoshiumi.
Kuroo's words also made Hirugami start thinking.
Could Coach Hibarida really have some other reason for doing this?
Down below, Coach Hibarida suddenly felt his nose itch.
He almost sneezed, but then remembered how embarrassing it would be to sneeze in a situation like this and managed to hold it back.
Coach Hibarida had the distinct feeling that someone was talking about him.
What he could never have imagined was that this group of elite players had already analyzed his actions more thoroughly than he himself ever had.
Coach Hibarida hadn't even realized that he apparently thought so highly of Shiratorizawa.
"Next onto the court is Itachiyama Academy. Leading the team is Itachiyama's coach, Coach Narumi. Behind him is Itachiyama's third-year setter, Iizuna, followed by their ace, Kiyoomi Sakusa..."
"All right. Players from both teams, please take the court for warm-ups. The match will begin shortly."
After the commentator finally finished his lengthy introduction, it was time to get down to business.
Everyone loosened up their bodies and prepared to take the court.
Ryosuke glanced up at the camera, seemingly lost in thought.
"Ryosuke, let's go."
Ushijima's tall figure appeared in front of him.
Only then did Ryosuke snap back to reality.
He smiled at Ushijima and stood up.
"Got it, Ushijima-senpai."
Meanwhile, Coach Washijō was already sitting in a taxi on his way to the meeting, watching the live broadcast on his phone.
...
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