"Why do people call Oikawa-senpai the Great King?"
It was rare for Kageyama Tobio to show curiosity about anything outside of volleyball. His large eyes blinked with puzzlement as he looked toward Ichinose Guren, clearly wanting to hear the explanation.
The moment Kageyama showed interest in something not volleyball-related, the entire Karasuno bus perked up.
"Eh!? Kageyama actually gets curious about things outside volleyball!?"
Shoyo Hinata immediately popped up from the back row, bright orange eyes wide. Though the question was directed at Kageyama, his entire posture screamed I want to know too!
"What? What is it? What are we talking about!?"
Nishinoya Yuu, fearless, energetic, and raised by pure Spartan chaos, climbed over the seat from the opposite row, even though he had no idea what was going on.
Soon Tanaka, Sugawara, Asahi, and a wave of equally curious teammates crowded around.
Daichi and Ennoshita, a bit more mature, simply leaned in to listen.
At the very back, Tsukishima remained seated with his headphones in, while Yamaguchi stayed still only because if Akiteru doesn't move, I shouldn't either instincts had kicked in.
Of course, Tsukishima had already turned off the music and was secretly listening.
He too was just a little curious.
Ichinose looked at the crowd forming around him and could only laugh and shake his head.
"You guys… why are you all such gossips?"
But seeing all the faces silently saying 'Hurry up and talk', he sighed.
"Alright, alright. Fine."
He began with a question:
"You guys know who was called like that in history, right?"
This instantly drew everyone's focus.
It was the kind of crowd-leading technique that had been ingrained in every member of the Ichinose family; he didn't even have to try to do it.
Of course, Karasuno's Four Dumb Idiots looked completely blank.
There was no way those four, whose grades were already barely passing, could know that kind of historical trivia.
While the third-years and remaining second-years strained their brains, and first-years Hyakuzawa and Hoshino waited for Ichinose to reveal the answer,
A cool voice drifted calmly from the back.
"Alexander the Great."
"The king of Macedonia. Ranked first among the Four Great Western Military Commanders."
Everyone turned to look down the aisle of the bus,
Where Tsukishima Kei sat with his headphones now resting on his neck, wearing the proud expression of academic superiority, with Yamaguchi beside him glowing with pride like a loyal sidekick.
"It's literally in the recommended reading list from elementary school. You guys didn't read it?"
Tsukishima said it with dramatic astonishment, poking straight into everyone's pride.
Yamaguchi beamed.
But everyone was used to "the poisonous-tongued glasses guy", so they ignored him and turned back to Ichinose.
Which made Tsukishima's vein twitch in annoyance.
"These idiots…"
Ichinose continued smoothly:
"Shoyo, do you remember the nickname you gave Oikawa the first time you met him?"
Suddenly pulled into the spotlight, Hinata flailed slightly.
"Huh? Oh, oh! Yeah! I called him… The Great King!"
Ichinose snapped his fingers.
"Exactly. 'The Great King', The Great King."
"That's literally the English title of Alexander the Great."
He paused, letting that sink in.
Hoshino, the perfect straight man, followed up right on cue:
"But that alone isn't enough to call Oikawa the Great, right?"
Ichinose grinned.
"Of course not. Oikawa's birthday is July 20th~"
"Wait, don't tell me, "
Another perfect assist from Hoshino.
"That's also Alexander the Great's birthday."
"And do you know what Alexander's ultimate dream was?"
Before Tsukishima could speak again,
Nishinoya suddenly shot up, practically vibrating.
"I KNOW!!"
"He wanted to find the sea at the end of the world!"
Everyone stared at him.
"Nishinoya… are you sick? Since when can you answer questions like that?"
Even Sugawara was actually stunned. Nishinoya's reputation for only knowing four-character shout phrases was somewhat legendary.
Nishinoya puffed up with serious pride.
"Because I thought Alexander was super cool! People say he wanted to see what the end of the world looked like, so he kept conquering! I also wanted to see what the world's edge looked like when I was little, so I remembered it!"
Everyone went:
"…Ah. Yeah. That makes perfect Nishinoya-sense."
Ichinose continued:
"And what does the kanji for Oikawa's surname mean?"
Kageyama, quick on the pickup, answered instantly:
"To reach the river!"
"Correct. Same birthday. Same dream. Same title."
"Shoyo called him The Great King on their first meeting."
"So tell me, if that's not Alexander reborn, what is?"
A chill of awe ran across the entire bus.
Then,
"Let's beat them!"
"I want to receive his serves!"
"I'm definitely going to defeat Oikawa-senpai!"
"I can't wait to face a strong opponent!!!"
The air inside the bus filled with rising fire,
Because now, to them,
Beating Aoba Johsai meant facing Alexander the Great himself.
=============
Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria