Chapter 71: Walking Home After School
On the way home, the volleyball club members formed a long line.
Sugawara Koshi and Sawamura Daichi walked at the front, with Tanaka Ryunosuke and the freak duo in the middle, followed by Hoshino, Hyakuzawa, and Ichise Guren as a group of three, and finally Tsukishima Kei and Yamaguchi Tadashi bringing up the rear.
Suddenly noticing that the people in front had stopped moving, Ichise Guren and the other two walked forward and caught a bit of their conversation.
However, this roadside chat didn't last long, and soon everyone continued on their way home.
After saying goodbye to the others, the three began walking the short 5-minute stretch that was theirs alone.
"By the way, why are you guys walking this way?"
Hoshino Masaru was somewhat puzzled. He lived relatively close to Karasuno to begin with. But based on his middle school experience, Hyakuzawa Yudai and Ichise Guren should live in a different direction.
Ichise Guren quickly responded, clearing up Hoshino Masaru's confusion.
"Oh, I never told you about this."
"Yudai and I moved. Our parents figured since we're going to high school at Karasuno, we might as well live near Karasuno."
"Hyakuzawa and I moved to an apartment around here."
"As expected of third-generation heirs to big corporations, you don't even care about property taxes, huh?"
Hoshino Masaru was already used to these two brothers' outrageous wealth, but still made his habitual sarcastic comment.
Hyakuzawa Yudai quietly explained.
"We don't need to pay property taxes. We're living in employee dormitories of an Ichise Group subsidiary."
Ichise Guren then rigorously added a few more details about their living situation.
"Ichise Group has brought a lot of employment opportunities and industrial tax revenue to Miyagi Prefecture, so the local authorities were gracious enough to waive property taxes on employee dormitories."
Hoshino Masaru: Damn rich kids!
After this conversation, the three fell into silence for a full minute before Hoshino Masaru finally spoke up.
Scratching his cheek, Hoshino Masaru asked somewhat embarrassedly.
"Um, what's your first reaction when you hear 'Karasuno's Guardian Deity'?"
Fortunately, both were teammates who had fought through the national middle school tournament with Hoshino Masaru, and neither had particularly nasty personalities (when Ichise Guren didn't have his hair slicked back).
The two thought seriously for a moment before giving their answers.
"For me, since Daichi and Tanaka-senpai just introduced him, my first reaction is some senpai who plays libero and is really good at receiving."
"Similar to Guren-nii, but I also wondered just how passionate a senpai who even Tanaka-senpai says is overly hot-blooded could be."
Hoshino Masaru didn't react much to Ichise Guren's answer, but suddenly got chills after hearing Hyakuzawa Yudai's thoughts.
"The passion level of Hinata plus Tanaka-senpai?"
"I feel like he'd be a constant source of material for me and Tsukishima to complain about."
Brushing off his goosebumps, Hoshino Masaru laughed.
"But still."
"A genius libero, huh. I'd really like to meet him in person."
"Then let's go meet him!"
"Eh?"
Hoshino Masaru looked at Ichise Guren, who had suddenly jumped into the conversation, somewhat bewildered.
'What's going on? Why is he suddenly so supportive?'
"I knew about this beforehand. Daichi-senpai told me about his situation."
"Before going home, I also talked with Sugawara-senpai about it."
"I won't allow some guy who's not as good as you to easily steal the position you've been fighting alongside us for so long, just because he's a second-year!"
"I can accept a starting libero who's stronger than you, but I absolutely won't allow some guy who's pushing you out of your starting position just because he's older."
After hearing Ichise Guren's statement, Hoshino Masaru stared at him with an expression that said 'You're not an idiot like Hinata, so why are you doing something this stupid?'
Even the righteously spirited Ichise Guren couldn't help feeling a bit guilty.
Secretly thinking to himself:
'Although Nishinoya is amazing, he's not necessarily 100% stronger than Hoshino.'
'Although I actually just want to stir up trouble.'
"Ahem! Don't look at me with that expression."
"Hoshino! Since you brought up the topic of Karasuno's Guardian Deity yourself, you must care about it too, right?"
"Not really. Going home, going home~"
"Bye bye."
Watching Hoshino Masaru act like he was avoiding the topic at all costs, claiming he had things to do and running off home.
Ichise Guren scratched his head and turned to ask Hyakuzawa Yudai.
"Was my desire to stir up trouble that obvious?"
"Yes."
"Tsk, I need to work on my acting skills."
The two high school students, both far taller than their peers, walked home with their school bags, under the occasional stares of passersby.