"Wow, this is so delicious! Did you make it yourself?"
Tōru Oikawa was surrounded by a group of girls from other schools, his face glowing with a radiant, happy smile.
"Yes! I stayed up te st night to make them!"
The girl the cookies smiled shyly.
"Wow, I'm so happy. Thank you so much!"
"N-no problem…"
The girl's face turned bright red.
"Oikawa-kun, um… we take a photo together?"
Anirl asked expetly.
"A photo? Of course, no problem!"
Oikawa grinned and held up a "V" sign with his fingers.
Thwack!
A volleyball flew in from nowhere, perfectly smag Oikawa in the head courtesy of Iwaizumi Hajime.
"Ah…"
The girls gasped, stepping back a few paces in shock.
"Ow…"
Oikawa turned around dramatically, rubbing his head.
"Even Coach doesn't hit me like that…"
The volleyball rebounded and was caught effortlessly by Taichi Kaedehara, who stood nearby.
Iwaizumi stood emotionless, staring Oikawa down.
"Sorry… let's save the photos for ime, okay?"
Oikawa turned back to the girls with a forced smile.
"Ehh—"
"Aw, what a shame…"
The girls watched as Oikawa was dragged off by his two Aoba Johsai teammates.
------
"What the hell, Taichi?! You didn't call me for something this fshy?"
On the way back to the gym, Oikaouted as Iwaizumi filled him in on what Taichi had said to Karasuno and Date Tech earlier.
"Oh please, Oikawa-senpai. You'd much rather show off in front of girls, wouldn't you?" Taichi shot him a sideways gnce.
"Uh…"
Caught red-handed yet again, Oikawa had no eback.
"Alright, you two." Iwaizumi, standiween them, pressed down on their heads with his hands.
"Focus oches. You talked big, so now we have to back it up!"
"Got it."
"Yes, sir!"
The sight was almost ical.
Both Oikawa and Taichi were taller than Iwaizumi, yet they somehow seemed perfectly in pce being scolded by him.
Nearby, some spectators began them as Aoba Johsai's captain and vice-captain—but they were puzzled about the bck-haired 'new guy'.
"Coach said that pared to Senkawa North and Oomisaki, Karasuno and Date Tech are the teams we o watch out for. We'll spend the m their matches."Iwaizumi led Oikawa and Taichi toward the spectator seats for Karasuno's game.
"Ah!"
Hinata Shōyō spotted the three of them iands.
"It's Taichi and….the Great King!"
"Yahho~! Tobio- and chibi-!"
Oikawa waved enthusiastically, his trademark smirk firmly in pce.
"You two freaks still hanging in there?"
Taichi sed Karasuno's pyers, his eyes sharp and calg. He hadn't paid much attention earlier, but now the team looked….plete.
"Shōyō, don't lose before you get to us."
Taichi's words were dired challenging.
"Mm!"
Hinata nodded firmly, determination bzing in his eyes.
"Oh hey, they've got a libero now! They didn't have one during the practice match…"Oikawa he ge in Karasuno's lineup.
"And they've added more tall pyers," Iwaizumi added.
"Not to mention… a new coach?"
Taichi's eyes narrowed as he focused on Nishinoya Yuu and Asahi Azumane. He activated the analysis system in his mind.
[Asahi Azumane: Wing Spiker. Overall rating: 84. Height: 184.7 cm, Power: 95, Jump: 80, Stamina: 82, Speed: 75. Teique: Serve: 85, Spike: 90.]
Power at 95?
Taichi frowned slightly. Asahi's mild personality pletely hid the fact that his strength was on another level.
[Nishinoya Yuu: Libero. Overall rating: 89. Height: 159.3 cm, Power: 70, Jump: 90, Stamina: 98, Speed: 95. Teique: Receive: 93.]
Whoa, here es anenius.
Taichi's gaze lingered on Nishinoya. Despite being shorter than Hinata, his athletic ability was undeniably top-tier among high school pyers.
[Ding. Kageyama Tobio's setting ability has increased from 96 to 97. Hinata Shoyo's stats have shown signifit ges.]
???
The system's sudden notification took Taichi pletely by surprise.
Kageyama improving his setting ability again was shog enough, but what was this about signifit ges to Hinata Shoyo's stats?
Taichi turned his gaze toward the court, where Hinata was boung around during warm-ups, his energy as boundless as ever.
[Hinata Shōyō, Middle Blocker. Overall rating: 85. Height: 163 cm, Power: 65, Jump: 95, Stamina: 99, Speed: 95. Teique: Block: 70, Receive: 65, Spike: 78.]
Taichi frowned.
Sure, it was on sehat the lower someone's baseliats were, the easier it was for them to improve. But this rate of growth was insane—Hinata was catg up to him at this point…
Spending every day with the Aoba Johsai team had almost made him fet the kind of monsters his oppos were. The so-called 'Geion of Monsters' was living up to its name.
"Sit down a ready for the match," Coach Irihata called out to the trio who had just arrived.
"With new pyers and a new coach, what kind of team will Karasuno turn into?"
"Tweet!"
The referee's whistle echoed through the gym.
"Both teams, line up!"
"The Miyagi Prefecture High School Volleyball Tour Preliminaries are officially underway!"
"Let's have a good match—!"
Both teams roared with energy, their voices eg in unison.
Karasuno High's starting lineup:Front row—Wing Spiker Ryūnosuke Tanaka, Middle Blocker Hinata Shōyō, Wing Spiker Daichi Sawamura.Back row—Setter Tobio Kageyama, Middle Blocker Kei Tsukishima (Libero: Nishinoya Yū), Wing Spiker Asahi Azumane.
Tokonami High's starting lineup:Front row—Wing Spiker Hayato Ikejiri, Setter Yoshiharu Haga, Middle Blocker Kazuma Chaya.Baiddle Blocker Rikuto Shibuya (Libero: Taiga Sakurai), Wing Spiker Hiroki Tamagawa, Wing Spiker Hikaru Komaki.
Taichi sed the lineup on Nekoma's side. Other than that 'Ikejiri guy' arently used to be Daichi Sawamura's middle school teammate, he didn't reize a single name.
[Hayato Ikejiri, Wing Spiker. Overall rating: 80. Height: 177.2, Power: 83, Jump: 78, Stamina: 82, Speed: 75. Teique: Serve: 80, Spike: 83.]
[Yoshiharu Haga, Setter. Overall rating: 76....]
[Kazuma Chaya, Middle Blocker. Overall rating:78....]
Taichi stopped analyzing. The gap in skill levels betweewo teams retty clear. It didn't seem like Tokonami could push Karasuno hard enough to reveal anything signifit.
The spectators weren't particurly engaged either. Most people didn't bother paying attention to these 'unknown' schools.
Thwack!
Nishinoya Yū received a serve with effortless precision, the volleyball flying ly into Kageyama's hands.
"It's ing!"
The Aoba Johsai pyers iands straightened up, eager to see Karasuno's signature freak quick attack.
Whoosh!
Kageyama's set soared high and wide to the left side. Hinata, starting his approach from the backcourt, rocketed forward with terrifying speed.
Boom!
The sound of the ball being spiked echoed sharply.
"He's flying—!!"
Someone iands couldn't hold back a gasp as they watched Hinata's gravity-defying leap.
"Bang!"
The ball smmed into the floor. Point for Karasuno.
"Karasuno… didn't use that move, did they?"
Kindaichi Yūtarō muttered, visibly surprised.
"No," Coach Ihata replied thoughtfully. "It was a standard quick attack—still rough around the edges, but nothing too fancy. It seems the little guy has been undergoing some very meaningful training."
His tone grew more serious.
"Uanding the ons you have, adding to that arsenal, and choosing the most appropriate attack based och situation…"
He paused, a small smile f.
"The team that once relied solely on brute force—have they started pying with wisdom now?"
Coach Irihata chuckled, shaking his head.
"What a troublesome team… hahahaha."
He g Oikawa and Taichi sitting nearby, notig that their expressions were identical—focused, intense, and brimming with excitement. They looked like children who had just discovered a fasatioy.
"Heh. Looks like Aoba Johsai doesn't o worry too much."
_________
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