The next day, during lunch break.
Kageyama Tobio had arrived early at the Karasuno gym, practicing jump serves and aiming for precision, hoping to eventually reach the terrifying ball control of Oikawa-senpai.
Later, three yawning figures entered the gym:
Ichinose Guren, Hoshino Katsuri, and Yudai Hyakuzawa
"Ha~"
"I knew it. You'd be up early, coming to the gym to practice receiving."
Guren yawned, eyes half-closed, as he commented on Hoshino's predictable behavior.
Hoshino looked annoyed.
"Who told you to declare war on the senior on your own? If I don't step up and improve my condition, it'd be like I'm not taking him seriously!"
Guren's expression was subtle. He looked at Hoshino and said slowly:
"You're clearly bothered by this, aren't you?"
"I'm not that bothered!"
Meanwhile, Hyakuzawa, observing the two bickering teammates, yawned again. Though silent, his inner monologue was frantic:
"You two should just serve and receive. Why did Guren wake me up?"
Recalling how soundly he had been sleeping, only to be woken by his cousin next door, Hyakuzawa's drowsiness returned. He planned to sneak away and catch some rest on the gym floor.
Kageyama tilted his head in confusion. He couldn't understand why these three were there. Practicing at home would be more comfortable, right?
Skipping lunch nap to chat in the gym? Could chatting make you MVP?
He didn't get it.
Fortunately, the two who stayed behind noticed Hyakuzawa sneaking off but didn't get angry. Instead, they started practicing serves and receptions.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Guren's powerful jump serve was overwhelming. Even though Hoshino, skilled enough to successfully receive the former captain's serve, it still left his arms aching with each ball, creating quite a racket.
The noise distracted Kageyama, who refocused to continue his training. After all, matches were even noisier; he needed to ignore distractions to play well.
Yet, things didn't go as planned.
He finally concentrated and launched a serve he thought would hit the water bottle, but Hinata Shoyo suddenly appeared and received it perfectly.
Scolded by Kageyama, Hinata just grinned, unfazed, and looked over at the other two practicing receptions.
"Oh! Hoshino! Train me too! Teach me more about receiving!"
Hoshino gave Hinata a sideways glance, like a small dog, and sighed:
"Well… we can train together. You catch one, I catch one."
"As for technique, what you need is experience and long-term practice. Ball sense can't be rushed."
Hinata's eyes widened.
"So… I just need to receive more balls?"
".Yeah… not wrong."
"Yosh! Guren! Serve me a hundred balls!"
"Are you crazy?! I'm not sharing my serves with you!"
"Hahaha, don't be so stingy, Hoshino!"
Feeling his serves being treated like a reward, Guren felt a subtle surge of competitiveness. Rolling up his sleeves with a sunny smile, and a faint cross on his forehead, he was anything but calm inside.
"Hey, tell me! Did you guys decide who's taking the hits?!"
"Huh?!"
Guren, with a tinge of anger, expressed his frustration to the other two.
Meanwhile, Kageyama executed his next serve.
"Alright! This one feels good!"
The sharp contact between his hand and the ball drew the attention of the three watching.
Before they could see whether the ball hit the water bottle, a figure dashed over.
"Again?" Kageyama thought.
A sense of shock hit him.
Using an incredibly skillful reception technique, the approaching figure perfectly absorbed the serve's force and spin, passing it with pinpoint accuracy to the usual setter's position.
The three others also noticed the precision, each reacting differently in their minds.
Hinata dashed over to ask Nishinoya Yuus height, rarely had he seen a teammate shorter than himself.
Guren, however, frowned inwardly.
"Uh-oh. His receiving level is higher than I expected. If he matches up against Hoshino, will Hoshino lose confidence?"
"I misjudged Nishinoya's skills because I remembered him too vaguely."
From Guren's perspective, if Nishinoya's reception level was compared to Guren's attack, Hoshino's ability would roughly correspond to Tanaka Ryunosuke's attacks in daily play, a seemingly small difference but enough for a non-hot-blooded player like Hoshino to potentially be shaken.
But Hoshino himself was thinking something entirely different. At the very moment Nishinoya received the ball, he instinctively realized:
"This is Karasuno's Guardian Deity."
Then, almost naturally, he decided:
"I'm not the opponent. This skill level… he's a genius."
Watching Hoshino's eyes go back to that "dead fish" expression, Guren silently mused:
"What am I thinking? He's already given up."
With a shrug, Guren also wasn't sure what to do next.
First, he had picked this opponent for Hoshino; maybe it was too strong.
Second, letting Hoshino face Nishinoya fully prepared could be tough, skipping a full match might be better.
Third, the choice belonged to Hoshino. He hadn't seen the opponent before, but now that he had, if Hoshino didn't want to challenge him, Guren could report it to Sugawara.
Still, Guren's mischievous streak wasn't so easy to let go.
"What's wrong, Hoshino? Is the opponent too strong?"
Guren feigned casualness. Hoshino, though smart, was just a first-year and didn't overthink.
Guren couldn't see that Hoshino's reply was based on observation:
"He's not using basic techniques or pure practice. That reaction speed, that ball sense…
He must be the best libero I saw in Junior High at Chidoriyama Junior High, though I can't remember his name. Still, his reception left a strong impression."
Hoshino spoke everything he had just felt, seemingly objective and without emotion.
Yet Guren could sense Hoshino's unwillingness to give up. Though subtle, his competitive streak was there, like Tsukishima's.
If he weren't willing to concede, then Hoshino's fighting spirit would be tested.
Watching Hoshino's competitive determination, Guren smiled inwardly:
"Since he hasn't conceded, I'll give him a little push."
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria