Chapter 63: Gentle as Jade?
The practice match was over, and Ichise Guren and the others had more than accomplished their objective. Not only had they helped Kageyama Tobio understand what team spirit meant through his interactions with Hinata Shoyo, but they had also allowed him to stand united with others for the first time, facing outward as one.
The new members lined up in their team uniforms.
Arranged from tallest to shortest: Hyakuzawa Yudai at 201cm, Tsukishima Kei at 189cm, Ichise Guren at 187cm, Kageyama Tobio at 182cm, Yamaguchi Tadashi at 179cm, Hoshino Masaru at 174cm (surprise, I grew taller too!), and Hinata Shoyo at 168cm.
"Mm-hmm!"
Tanaka Ryunosuke nodded with great satisfaction.
"This year's new members are all pretty good! They all look like they've got fighting spirit!"
"Ahahaha!"
After the welcome ceremony concluded, both Sugawara Koshi and Sawamura Daichi took deep, synchronized breaths, as if trying to exhale all the fatigue that had built up over these past few days.
"At first we just wanted to try getting Kageyama Tobio to fit into the team, but we ended up with such an intense match."
"Yeah... By the end, even watching made me feel tired. It's amazing they could still pull off that kind of performance in that final rally."
The two parental figures of the Karasuno family reflected together on the energy of the new students. Watching them bounce around with such vigor gave them the strange illusion that they, having just entered their third year, were somehow getting old.
"Practice match!"
Huff, huff.
"Practice match! Against one of the prefecture's top four! Aoba Johsai High School!"
Beneath his soft yet surprisingly resilient hairstyle were eyes that, despite being behind glasses, couldn't hide their brilliance.
Takeda Ittetsu, who had stepped up as Karasuno volleyball club's advisor, was currently clutching the invitation and official documents faxed over from Seijoh, hurriedly changing his shoes, eager to get inside and share this good news with the team members.
"Ah! You two must be the problem children—Kageyama and Hinata."
"I haven't met you before. I heard you've been doing independent training outside this whole time. What passionate young men."
First, he introduced himself to the two new students who had never actually entered the gym during official club practice hours—Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shoyo.
Then he gave everyone a detailed explanation of the practice match requirements that Aoba Johsai had proposed.
For excellent young people to improve in any skill, strong self-motivation is essential, but beyond that...
Guidance from experienced seniors, scientific training methods, a good training environment, and opponents who promote mutual improvement and healthy competition are also indispensable.
A practice match against Aoba Johsai, one of the prefecture's top four, was something many schools' volleyball clubs would kill for. Not only could they gain intelligence on Seijoh, but more importantly, training against strong opponents—even if you lose—makes you stronger than before.
The news Takeda Ittetsu brought caused quite a stir in the gym. After all, since Karasuno's decline, schools that used to regularly play practice matches with them had gradually started to distance themselves.
Since Sawamura Daichi's year had joined the club, they hadn't played any matches outside of officially organized tournaments. Most of their time was spent on internal training matches and the like.
To improve at volleyball, besides diligent and effective training, battling against strong opponents with different styles was also a very effective path. Being able to secure this practice match opportunity with Seijoh made both third-years wonder if their advisor had gone and done the dogeza again.
But Takeda's explanation of Aoba Johsai's conditions left both Sugawara and Daichi silent.
'A practice match opportunity that was so hard to come by, and they want to bench Sugawara.'
'...'
After a moment of silence, Sugawara Koshi quickly snapped out of it and spoke up.
"I'd like to see Kageyama and Hinata's quick attack combination too."
From a distance, Hoshino Masaru coolly turned to look at Ichise Guren.
"Ichise, looks like they're underestimating you."
Ichise Guren didn't bother responding to this troublemaker's instigation, simply replying with:
"They don't know I came to Karasuno."
Just that one sentence revealed the overwhelming confidence belonging to that summer's MVP, the arrogance of this man.
'If they knew I came to Karasuno, they'd be the ones begging us for a practice match. Whether we'd even agree would be another question.'
This was the confidence of the strongest middle school spiker, the Best Player, Best Spiker, and Best Server of the Miyagi Prefecture Middle School Comprehensive Athletics Tournament men's volleyball division.
'However...'
Ichise Guren didn't continue debating with Hoshino Masaru about Seijoh's invitation. He simply gazed quietly at that silver-haired senior.
'The most steadfast player of the third years.'
That moment of reluctance was obvious, but he quickly realized that if he didn't speak up, the second and third-year players would develop resistance to this practice match.
[They might even refuse it.]
[If benching me can help Karasuno improve, then I'll step down.]
[We've gotten used to losing these past two years. If an opportunity comes, we absolutely, absolutely have to seize it!]
[For victory, I can tolerate losing my starting position.]
Ichise Guren had already read these thoughts on Sugawara Koshi's face.
'Mm... the most steadfast player of the third years.'
'Not gentle as jade, but unyielding and indomitable.'
***
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