The Golden Week holiday arrived.
This was the last short break before the High School Inter-High preliminary rounds. To prepare for the league, virtually all school sports clubs held intensive training camps during this break.
Karasuno did this.
Seijoh was no exception.
However, at this critical moment, the person least likely to take a leave of absence from Seijoh did so.
That's right.
It was him, it was him, it was the training fanatic: Akashi Asuka.
There was no helping it.
Akashi didn't want to take time off either, but today was the day his new book was released.
After signing the contract, and following nearly a month of preparation, Akashi's book was finally printed and put on sale in major bookstores.
The sales of a physical book are like the subscription numbers for an online novel in his previous life.
They are the direct determinants of a book's success or failure, so it was not excessive for Akashi to take a day off for this reason.
And what was Akashi doing?
Actually, he didn't do much; most of the work was handled by his beautiful editor, Wakayama Hinatsu.
The two didn't stop all day, moving back and forth between the major bookstores in the entire Aoba area.
Wakayama Hinatsu was mainly observing the readers' reactions in secret. Having just graduated from university, the young woman was always full of energy.
The next day, Akashi returned to Seijoh's training camp dormitory.
Upon his return, a group of people gathered to ask Akashi what he had done the previous day.
Akashi honestly replied that he had gone out with his beautiful editor to check on the sales of his published novel.
The result was... no one believed him.
Why do people love to lie these days?
It's mainly because few people believe the truth!
...
The Inner Competition
Unlike Karasuno, Seijoh's Golden Week training camp was not focused on playing matches. Seijoh didn't lack match experience anymore. The main training objective during this Golden Week was to accelerate the integration between the first-year newcomers and the third-year players.
In the previous match against Shiratorizawa, Seijoh had made quite a few errors.
The primary reason was the lack of training integration between the newly joined first-years and the third-year players, resulting in a lack of synchronized coordination and failure to bring out their full strength.
However, there was one exception among them.
Needles to say, it was Akashi Asuka.
The routine training remained largely unchanged, but during the training camp period, after everyone else's training concluded, Irihata Nobuteru would arrange a 2{v}2 match between Akashi and Iwaizumi Hajime every day.
The partners for both players would frequently change, but the main spiker positions for the two of them never did.
This arrangement immediately alerted some quick-witted players to something unusual.
But no one said anything about it.
Including Iwaizumi Hajime himself.
This confrontation continued until the last day of Golden Week. Before stepping onto the court that day, Irihata Nobuteru specifically called Iwaizumi Hajime aside and said: "Iwaizumi, you must understand that today's set might be your last chance."
Iwaizumi Hajime's gaze was calm, and he nodded: "Yes, I understand!"
He then turned and walked onto the court.
Oikawa Tōru naturally followed behind Iwaizumi Hajime, seemingly intending to be his partner for this set. However, before he could step onto the court, Irihata Nobuteru stopped him directly: "Oikawa, you stand down. You are not playing in this match today."
Oikawa: "!!!"
Oikawa was shocked and turned to say something, but before he could speak, Irihata Nobuteru ignored him and turned to Yahaba Shigeru: "Yahaba, you will be Iwaizumi's partner for this match."
"Yes, Coach!"
Yahaba Shigeru, who was drinking water, was startled, then quickly reacted and rushed onto the court.
Unbeknownst to them, all the main Seijoh players had gathered to watch. After the several days of duels between the two, everyone had practically understood the coach's intention.
However, no one commented on it, and even though Oikawa made some sneaky gestures a few times, he never openly refuted Irihata Nobuteru's decision.
Because, emotionally, the third-year core players naturally hoped Iwaizumi Hajime would remain the 'Ace.'
But they also knew that if the team wanted to improve further, some changes had to be made.
Especially through the duels of the past few days, they had clearly seen the gap between Akashi and Iwaizumi Hajime.
Akashi stepped onto the court, lightly stretching his wrists, and said plainly: "I won't hold back, Iwaizumi-senpai."
"Then let me see if you truly have the right to lead this team forward."
...
"Now then, the match officially begins."
"It's the [Iwaizumi Hajime · Yahaba Shigeru] pair vs. the [Akashi Asuka · Mishita Ryuhei] pair. The Akashi team will serve first."
BEEP!
As the referee's whistle blew, Akashi walked to the baseline with the ball.
The court outside was silent, but Akashi's heart was even calmer.
To be honest, while Akashi knew that with his ability, he would become the team's 'Ace' one day, even he didn't expect the day to come so soon.
But since the opportunity had arrived, there was no reason for him to pass it up.
In this kind of almost distorted club system in Japan, 'gekokujo' (overthrowing a senior by a junior) is extremely difficult. Even though Seijoh is not that strict in this regard, if Akashi wants to win everyone's complete conviction, he must defeat Iwaizumi Hajime with absolute power.
"Hoo~~"
"My apologies, Iwaizumi-senpai, but on this matter, I cannot concede."
Mishita Ryuhei, standing in front, suddenly felt a flutter in his heart, as if sensing something. He turned his head slightly to glance at Akashi behind him, and that single glance made him meet Akashi's profound, dead-calm eyes.
Mishita Ryuhei's eyelids twitched instantly.
"That feeling... did this guy hit the zone right now?"
Mishita Ryuhei felt a vague, ominous premonition. His mouth twitched subtly a few times, and he ultimately decided to cover his head and retreat far to the side.
"Huh?"
Iwaizumi Hajime and Yahaba Shigeru on the opposite side were momentarily confused by Mishita Ryuhei's actions.
Although they were already accustomed to covering the backs of their heads and giving some space when Akashi served, Mishita Ryuhei's reaction today was excessive.
It's only a two-person match, and you're practically retreating out of the court!
The two couldn't quite figure it out.
However, in the next second, a ball suddenly smashed onto the floor behind them, and the hitting sound seemed to follow only an instant later. In a flash, Iwaizumi Hajime's and Yahaba Shigeru's pupils contracted sharply.
...