Sure enough, after waiting nearly ten more minutes, Hinata finally came into view, looking around as he walked.
Ryosuke crunched through the last bite of his popsicle, stood up, and waved.
"Shōyō, over here!"
Hinata's eyes lit up as he ran over. "Oh! I spent forever trying to find the way!"
Ryosuke smiled helplessly. Why was Shōyō so determined to come pick him up himself? Was this some kind of pride unique to people who were terrible with directions?
It was still a little chilly out, but Hinata didn't seem to care at all. He had come out in short sleeves and shorts, pale arms and legs exposed, brimming with energy.
Hinata chattered nonstop as they walked, and Ryosuke listened seriously, not brushing him off, as Hinata recounted all the little details of daily life.
"Kageyama is so dumb! He only got 21 on the quiz, and because of that he can't go to training camp. Daichi-senpai was super scary too. He said if we don't meet the academic standard, we're done for.
"Oh! And Sugawara-senpai told me to thank you properly. Thanks for taking me home last time. Do you want to come over for dinner tonight? I told my mom I invited a friend!"
Ryosuke felt his head starting to spin. Hinata took another deep breath and kept going.
"Kageyama, that boke, was too embarrassed to ask, so he made me ask how you guys train at Shiratorizawa. If possible, he wants to play a match with you. And our libero, Nishinoya-senpai, heard you're amazing at receives and wants to compete too!"
Ryosuke struggled to keep up. Hinata spoke so fast it was like all punctuation had vanished.
Kid… when you get excited, do you just delete every comma in existence?
Forcing a smile, Ryosuke answered slowly, one sentence at a time.
"Sure. Thanks for inviting me to your house. And you don't need to thank me—I'm here to hang out with you today. I'm free all day, so of course we can play volleyball."
Hinata laughed and smoothed his hair down, then caught Ryosuke by the sleeve and started running. "Come on! We're almost there!"
Looking at Hinata's bright, fluffy orange hair, Ryosuke reached out and gave it a quick, playful tousle.
Hinata just laughed and fixed his hair, then grabbed Ryosuke by the wrist and broke into a run. "Come on! We're almost there!"
They turned a corner and soon arrived at the gates of Karasuno High.
Ryosuke followed Hinata around as he introduced the campus—the library, the classroom buildings, the club rooms. The school wasn't large, but it had a warm, welcoming atmosphere.
Hinata explained that Karasuno used to be called the "Ferocious Crows," once standing shoulder to shoulder with Shiratorizawa in Miyagi. In recent years, though, they had gradually declined…
The mood dipped for a moment, but as soon as Hinata mentioned the gym, Ryosuke perked up again.
The final stop was, of course, the gymnasium.
As they approached, the thudding sound of serves echoed from inside.
Hinata pushed the door open and shouted at full volume, "Daichi-senpai! Sugawara-senpai! Nishinoya-senpai! Kageyama! I brought Ryosuke!"
It was like a built-in megaphone.
Ryosuke covered his face and tried to hide behind Hinata's not-very-tall frame.
Social death. Absolute social death. He had never experienced something this mortifying in his life.
"Oh, you're here," Daichi said, clearly pleased.
"Hey there!" Sugawara greeted warmly.
"Whoa! You're the legendary Ryosuke?" Nishinoya's eyes gleamed with competitive excitement.
"Uh… hi." Kageyama forced a stiff expression that somehow made him look even more intimidating.
(Kageyama: I don't know why everyone's smiling, but I'll just smile too.)
Ryosuke nodded politely at each of them. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a tall guy with a small mustache watching them with a tense expression.
He edged closer to Hinata and whispered, "Shōyō… is that guy some kind of delinquent? He looks scary."
"What?! Asahi-senpai isn't a delinquent! And don't be scared—he's just a little timid!"
One sentence. Two people socially destroyed.
Ryosuke: (weakly) I see… once you've experienced social death once, it just keeps happening.
"Hey! Shōyō, how could you say that out loud…" Asahi protested, voice shrinking halfway through.
But facing Hinata's completely innocent expression, he couldn't bring himself to stay upset.
He shuffled over to Nishinoya, looking deflated. "Nishinoya… am I really that scary?"
Nishinoya patted him on the back.
"It's fine."
Asahi: moved.
"I thought you were used to it by now. You do look kind of intense," Nishinoya added helplessly.
Asahi: moved (shattered).
Watching them, Ryosuke couldn't help but feel that even though every member of Karasuno seemed a little odd—and some constantly clashed—they were clearly close.
Kageyama suddenly stepped in front of Ryosuke and pointed a volleyball at him. "Hey. Let's compete."
"Hey! Kageyama, that's rude!" Sugawara smacked the back of his head. "At least wait until he's more familiar with us!"
Kageyama rubbed his head, confused. "Huh? But Hinata already brought him here. Isn't that familiar enough?"
Sugawara: "......"
Ah. Kageyama was unexpectedly sharp in certain areas.
Daichi stepped in. "Alright, I'll take Ryosuke to meet everyone first. We'll talk later."
Ignoring the dissatisfied looks from Kageyama and Hinata, Daichi led him over.
Pointing to a tall boy with glasses, he said, "This is Kei Tsukishima, first-year middle blocker."
Ryosuke blinked. He's tall. About the same height as me.
Tsukishima gave him a quick once-over. So this is the guy who brought Hinata back that day. Hmph.
He nodded curtly and walked away.
Ryosuke glanced at Daichi. "Um… he doesn't seem very happy?"
Daichi forced a smile. "You know how boys are. Sometimes they're just like that."
Ryosuke: "?"
"This is our manager, Kiyoko Shimizu. And that's our pinch server, Tadashi Yamaguchi."
Ryosuke nodded, then returned to Hinata.
Picking up a volleyball, he said, "Shōyō, let's play 3v3."
Hinata froze for a second before realizing Ryosuke hadn't been brushing him off earlier.
This was… this was incredible!
He nodded fiercely. "Okay!"
Then he turned—
Ryosuke instinctively tried to cover his mouth, but he was a second too late.
"Ryosuke wants to play 3v3! Who's in?!"
Everyone training, chatting, or spacing out turned to look at Ryosuke at once.
The intensity of their gaze made his scalp tingle.
He laughed awkwardly and nodded.
That look was terrifying.
It felt like he had just unknowingly volunteered himself as the main event.
...
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