"Don't talk to me, I don't have a brother like you."
Yuuki Kikuzawa: "..." But I didn't say anything.
Yuma Kikuzawa: "Hmph." (￢︿̫̿￢☆）
Three days after the National Junior High Volleyball Tournament, the Kikuzawa family had already moved to their new address in Miyagi Prefecture.
Because their parents would be working at Miyagi University in the future, the family left Tokyo and bought a small, cozy house in Miyagi Prefecture.
Currently, the one-sidedly sulking Yuma Kikuzawa was organizing the room with his expressionless younger brother Yuuki.
Since Yuuki hadn't passed the last ball to Yuma during the finals, the betrayed Yuma hadn't looked his brother properly in the eye for three days.
After all my trust in you, you actually passed to someone else!
"Ugh, so annoying! Why do I still have to share a room with you even in high school!"
Yuma complained, banging the wall with a loud "duang" before wincing in pain from his upper bunk bed.
Yuuki Kikuzawa calmly arranged the blankets on the lower bunk, glancing briefly at his dramatic brother above without saying a word.
——Just get used to it.
Without Yuma deliberately picking fights, the brothers' room returned to silence.
Yuuki moved around like a diligent little bee, unpacking boxes and putting everything in its proper place until the bedroom became neat and tidy.
After finishing, Yuuki flipped through the school brochures on the desk before walking to the bed and knocking on the upper bunk board.
"What?"
Yuma, who had been secretly reading manga on the upper bunk, stuffed the comic under his pillow and poked his head out impatiently.
Yuuki rolled his eyes at his slacking brother and asked, "Mom said we should choose our school ourselves. Look through these materials."
"No." Yuma retreated back under the covers, rolling comfortably as he hummed, "I've already decided which school to attend."
Yuuki recalled the top four schools in the prefecture he'd just seen.
"Shiratorizawa?"
"Tsk tsk tsk..." Yuma crawled out from under the blankets, wagging his finger as he looked down at Yuuki with deliberately condescending smile, "Yuuki, have you forgotten? What's our ultimate goal? That's right! World champions! We're going to become world-class volleyball players!"
Yuuki remained expressionless: "So?"
"So as future world champions, I absolutely refuse to be Wakatoshi Ushijima's backup!"
"There's no rule limiting a team to just one ace."
"Okay, that's not actually the main reason." Yuma dropped the act and lay back down, "The real reason is that if we choose Shiratorizawa, our first year would be boring. With a top-three national ace ahead of us, we'd miss many development opportunities."
If the "Absolute Champions" Shiratorizawa added the Kikuzawa twins to their roster, they'd dominate effortlessly, making matches unchallenging.
Cruising to nationals sounded utterly dull.
Yuuki nodded: "Makes sense. So which high school then?"
...
April, the season of cherry blossoms and Japan's school term start.
Yuma and Yuuki Kikuzawa stood at the school gates amidst flowing crowds of students.
Nearly identical in appearance, they wore white and teal uniforms with equally tall, well-proportioned figures, their silver-gray hair shimmering slightly in sunlight. One wore a faint, rakish smile radiating confidence, while the other remained expressionless, emanating an unapproachable aura.
If anything could attract more attention than one unfamiliar handsome guy, it was two strikingly similar yet distinctly different twin heartthrobs.
Passing students frequently stole glances their way, whispering among themselves.
Ignoring the attention, Yuma gazed up at the "Aoba Johsai" sign above the gate, maintaining calm composure despite his swirling emotions.
While choosing the school had been simple, actually getting in had been quite an ordeal.
As one of Miyagi's top elite high schools with terrifyingly high academic standards, the Kikuzawa brothers had entered as athletic recruits but still needed to meet minimum academic requirements.
The past month had exhausted Yuma as he struggled to raise his academically challenged brother's grades to passing levels, nearly suffocating from endless cram sessions together.
After completing enrollment, class assignments, and the freshman orientation that lasted until afternoon, the pale-faced twins supported each other leaving the school building.
"F-finally over... That principal sure could talk..."
Who would have thought two star athletes could nearly collapse from a freshman assembly?
Following directions, they arrived at Aoba Johsai's volleyball club headquarters—the third gymnasium.
"Excuse us—!"
Pushing open the gym doors, Yuma bowed politely while pressing Yuuki's head down with him.
"Oh my, more freshmen! Over here~"
A cheerful voice called out. Looking over, they saw a handsome chestnut-haired upperclassman waving at them with a grin.
"New members gather here," added a more serious-looking boy beside him.
Following instructions, the twins joined two other freshmen already waiting.
The two stood close together, clearly acquainted. One had a distinctive onion-like hairstyle and stood nearly 190cm tall, while the other exceeded 180cm with a lazy, lethargic demeanor.
"Ah, you're Kikuzawa, right? I'm Yutaro Kindaichi, same class as you—Class 5."
The onion-haired boy introduced himself first.
"Oh, a classmate! I'm Yuma Kikuzawa." Yuma patted his brother's shoulder, introducing the reticent Yuuki, "This is my brother Yuuki Kikuzawa, Class 1. Yuuki, say hello."
Under pressure, Yuuki reluctantly greeted them.
Kindaichi observed the aloof Yuuki before exchanging looks with his equally unenthusiastic companion.
Sighing with deadfish eyes, the boy said, "Hideaki Kunimi. Nice to meet you."
Kindaichi added, "We both graduated from Kitagawa Daiichi and played volleyball together. You're twins? You look so alike, just different vibes."
While sharing identical facial features, Yuma was meticulously groomed with hair gel, earrings, a tongue piercing, and careful attention to skincare and fashion—his slight smile completing the image of a stylish city boy.
Yuuki presented stark simplicity—neat silver hair, year-round rotation of sportswear, and permanent icy demeanor disinterested in everyone—the epitome of a cool, detached heartthrob.
Though unmistakably twins at first glance, no one would ever confuse the two brothers.
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