Wrapped in a bath towel, Sakusa huddled in a corner of the bathroom with a mask still on his face, radiating dark energy as he stared fixedly at the cockroach crawling along the opposite wall.
His fingers were clenched so tightly that his nails were almost digging blood from his palms. This grown man, over 180 centimeters tall, now looked utterly helpless and wronged.
Sakusa closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then stiffly shouted,
"Komori!"
His voice cracked.
Komori, who was playing games on the bed outside, tilted his head in confusion. He thought he had heard Sakusa's voice. It had been so loud that it even cracked, so it had to be his imagination, right?
"Komori!!"
There it was again.
"Swoosh!"
Now Komori was certain that this was indeed his cousin's voice. His eyes widened, and he jumped off the bed, jogging all the way to the bathroom.
He even politely knocked on the door.
"Kiyoomi? I'm coming in?"
"Hurry up!"
Komori swore he had never heard Kiyoomi speak that loudly before.
Once he went in, Komori discovered that his cousin, who was usually cold, aloof, and impossible to approach, was now trembling in a tiny corner. On the opposite wall, a pitch-black cockroach was crawling along as if greeting him.
"Hurry up and get that thing away!"
Sakusa really could not take it anymore. The very existence of that kind of creature was mental pollution to him, let alone having to face a cockroach directly. This was absolutely the most terrifying thing in the world.
"Okay, okay," Komori said, secretly laughing. Then he picked up the insecticide in the bathroom and sprayed wildly at the wall.
However, the cockroach did not die. Under both of their gazes, it kept moving its legs and crawling quickly.
Cockroach: Heh, still alive.
Sakusa's pupils trembled. He felt that something terrible was about to happen. Sure enough, in the next second, that cockroach started crawling toward him with all its legs.
Sakusa's face lost all color in terror. Even with the mask on, Komori could tell that his cousin's face had twisted.
His cousin, who was always a genius at everything, was actually panicking over such a small thing. Komori felt a strange sense of achievement. He grabbed a broom and shouted,
"Omi-Omi, don't be scared. Watch me!"
Under Sakusa's expectant gaze, Komori brought the broom down hard.
The air fell silent. Seeing that there was no movement under the broom, Sakusa and Komori both let out a breath at the same time.
In the next second, the cockroach stubbornly poked its head out from under the broom, looked up at Komori, who was right in front of it, then turned its head to look at Sakusa. Finally, with a rustle, it crawled away.
Komori: "!"
Sakusa closed his eyes, clenched his fists, and in the next second, his face went pale. His expression flipped, and he fainted on the spot.
Komori was shocked and quickly went over to support Sakusa. Even after fainting, Sakusa instinctively tilted his head away to avoid being touched. It was clear just how far his mysophobia went.
Komori even accidentally stepped on the cockroach, making a crunching sound. Sakusa's eyes flew open, looking like he was about to pass on for real.
"Kiyoomi! Kiyoomi, are you okay?!"
For a while, the scene descended into chaos.
Sakusa's room was right next to Ryosuke's.
Ryosuke paused while drying his hair and tilted his head to look at Ushijima.
"That's weird. I think I heard Komori-senpai screaming."
Ushijima continued watching last year's match footage as if nothing had happened, not even lifting his head.
"You heard wrong."
Even if Ryosuke had not heard wrong, Ushijima would not let him go check on them in the middle of the night. Two lone guys together. That would be far too inappropriate.
"Go to sleep."
Ushijima pulled his attention away from the video and said this to Ryosuke. He was already used to staying up late watching matches and could still get up at five or six the next morning to run, but Ryosuke was different. He was still growing. Kids who stayed up late would not grow tall.
"Oh…"
Ryosuke sighed. He had originally wanted to act spoiled and get away with it, but Ushijima was watching him from the side, so he could only nod and crawl back into bed.
He had thought that after moving into the dorm, no one would control him anymore. He had not expected Ushijima-senpai to be this strict. He did not give him any chance to act recklessly at all. Sigh. Life was too hard.
Lying in bed, Ryosuke closed his eyes and thought about tomorrow's match. He had thought he would be unable to sleep, but unexpectedly, after a while, he drifted off in a daze.
Early the next morning, Ryosuke stretched and sat up in bed. Outside the window, the sky was still dim and gloomy. Ryosuke picked up his phone and checked it. It was seven o'clock. The sky was still this dark. It looked like it was going to rain.
Ryosuke stood up, preparing to change clothes, then paused. Curious, he twisted at the waist and looked himself over.
Huh? Strange. Why did his body not hurt at all? Could it be that those medicines and vitamins were working? It seemed the things he usually disliked did have some use after all.
"Ryosuke, let's go."
Ushijima poked his head out from the washroom and glanced at Ryosuke.
There was still a practice match today. Hosho had said the opponents would arrive at noon, so they could use the morning to practice a little more and discuss tactics with everyone.
"Oh, okay!"
Ryosuke eagerly grabbed his training clothes and pulled them over his head. It had been a long time since he had experienced a good night's sleep. Usually, he slept poorly, and even during training he felt listless.
It seemed a good night's sleep really was important.
At that moment, on the other side of Tokyo, Ran Takahashi looked at the weather outside the window. It looked like it was going to rain.
"What are you looking at?"
Shoma Tomita had just come back from a run outside and was wiping off sweat with a towel.
Ran Takahashi was dazed for a moment, then smiled and said,
"Looks like we'll need umbrellas today. The weather isn't great."
At the mention of that, Shoma Tomita thought of today's practice match. He smoothly slung an arm around Takahashi's shoulders.
"Ran, do you think there'll be some interesting kids in this year's National Youth?"
"Shoma! You changed clothes last night and didn't wash them again!"
Tomohiro Yamamoto stormed in from the balcony, holding a pile of dripping wet clothes. He was furious. This guy always threw his clothes into the washing machine and then ignored them completely, making it impossible for Yamamoto's clothes to spin dry every morning.
"Hehehe."
Seeing that things were going badly, Shoma Tomita immediately ran.
"You're still running?! You brat, today I'm going to teach you what a senior's dignity means!"
The two of them caused chaos all the way from the dorm to outside the door.
Ran Takahashi shook his head helplessly. He was already used to it. With a group of roommates this noisy, there truly was not a single peaceful day. He lowered his head and packed his bag.
He hoped today's trip would not disappoint him. Right now, the national team urgently needed promising seedlings.
... "This morning's training will stop here for now. The national team will arrive at noon. I'll arrange for them to stay with us. This exchange will last three days. This afternoon and tomorrow morning will be practice matches. For the remaining time, I'll train all of you according to the official national team training methods.
"All of you will participate. During this period, the seniors from the national team will also give you guidance. I hope you can seize this opportunity!"
Hosho stood on the platform and finally announced the news.
"Yes!!" everyone answered with full force.
Hosho looked at them, nodded in satisfaction, then dismissed them.
"Hey, hey, hey! Wakatsu! Are you still going back to sleep at noon? Let's stay and see who from the national team is coming!"
Bokuto happily grabbed Wakatsu Kiryu before he had a chance to leave.
Wakatsu Kiryu had originally planned to say that he needed to nap at noon. If he missed his nap, his afternoon training would feel off.
"Yeah, yeah!" Before Wakatsu Kiryu could speak, Hoshiumi, who had heard them, turned right back around and happily circled Bokuto.
"Oh! You guys weren't going to bring me?" Atsumu Miya also cut in. Sneaking off to do extra practice without him? Absolutely unforgivable.
"We'll bring you, we'll bring you."
Hoshiumi nodded perfunctorily. He did not have much goodwill toward Atsumu Miya, that popular guy who used his height to attack him every single day. Of course, that was limited to that specific behavior. As a practice partner and playmate, Atsumu Miya was still very competent.
"Then is little Ryosuke going too?"
Atsumu Miya finally revealed his true motive. Hmph, if it were not for little Ryosuke, he would never mess around with these people every day. He was just tough mouthed and soft hearted.
"I'm going."
Ryosuke adjusted the wrist guard on his hand and nodded. When he came, he had specifically brought wrist guards and a shoulder brace, planning to properly practice his hook serve again.
Last night, as he was drifting off, Ryosuke had somehow thought of Sakusa's serve, that extremely flexible wrist and the serve with spin. So he wanted to try it. What kind of effect would a hook serve have if it carried spin?
He did not know what the result would be, but if he managed to master it, it would definitely become a major weapon.
"Then I'll stay too."
Ushijima watched these four gather together again and felt rather uneasy. What if the other three led Ryosuke astray? Sigh. It was truly worrying.
"Then we'll stay too."
Keiji Akaashi and Hirugami exchanged a glance and spoke with tacit understanding.
Seeing that so many people had said they would stay, Sakusa and the others simply stopped leaving as well. Everyone stayed behind, which made it convenient to train together at noon.
For some reason, perhaps because the National Youth training load had been too heavy lately, or perhaps because Ryosuke had been obediently eating his meals, Ryosuke was no longer as resistant to the training meals as before.
"Ryosuke has been doing well lately," Keiji Akaashi said with satisfaction as he watched Ryosuke eat in big mouthfuls.
Ryosuke really was such a good kid. He listened to whatever people said and never caused trouble. He only got picky when it came to eating.
He was so easy to look after. Much easier than Bokuto-senpai. Bokuto-senpai was such a handful from morning to night. Sigh. Though that was not bad either.
For some reason, Keiji Akaashi suddenly felt an urge to switch children. If Bokuto-senpai was the little sun type, then Ryosuke was practically an angel.
That said, this was purely Keiji Akaashi's wishful thinking. Ryosuke's "good child halo" was too thick, and the "good child halo" of Shiratorizawa's group of guardians was also very strong. So no matter how much Ryosuke fooled around, everyone still thought he was a good kid.
Only Tsutomu Goshiki and Yunohama knew that this guy was a black-hearted tangyuan. He looked innocent and sweet, but he was definitely naturally black on the inside.
Ushijima also nodded. He felt that Ryosuke's recent appetite was good, too. Later, he would report this matter to Coach Washijō and Atobe.
After eating, everyone sat in their chairs, chatting while they digested.
Bokuto and Hoshiumi had competed over who could eat more during lunch, and now they were both a little too full. Keiji Akaashi and Hirugami were currently lecturing the two of them.
Ushijima looked at Ryosuke and became even more satisfied. Only then did he speak.
"I have digestive tablets in my bag. I'll bring some over."
Keiji Akaashi and Hirugami thanked Ushijima repeatedly. This was truly a lifesaver. Overeating at noon made digestion troublesome, and they still had intense exercise in the afternoon. A heavy body was a serious problem for athletes, not to mention the possible damage to the body. They might even throw up after exercising.
Normally, they would absolutely never eat until they were stuffed. But these two kids were both combative types. Light a spark, and they exploded. Their minds were not mature enough either.
For Bokuto, this happened often. His appetite was large to begin with, so if he was not careful, he easily overate.
Hirugami had a headache. He did not know what had gotten into Hoshiumi lately. He kept acting like a child and constantly clashing with Bokuto. The moment Hirugami stopped watching him, Hoshiumi would run off and fool around with Bokuto.
After the two of them finished taking the digestive tablets, everyone had rested enough. They all went back to change into their volleyball shoes and gear, then immediately began training.
Atsumu Miya and Kageyama were arguing. Well, it was more like Atsumu Miya unilaterally disliked Kageyama. No one knew what was going on with Kageyama, but he always seemed to easily provoke setters like Oikawa and Atsumu Miya.
Ushijima and Wakatsu Kiryu were paired up and practicing against each other, purely competing with arm strength as they hammered the ball back and forth. It was obvious to the naked eye that both of them had gotten even stronger.
Sakusa and Bokuto practiced spiking, with Keiji Akaashi acting as the setter.
Ryosuke adjusted the wrist guard on his hand, folded it over, and wrapped it neatly around his wrist bone. Since he served often, that area would feel uncomfortable, and it was also to prevent sprains. Sometimes, wearing a wrist guard really could save your wrist at a critical moment.
Komori and Yaku stood on the opposite side of the net from Ryosuke, staring at him eagerly.
They had not gone to watch the prefectural tournament, but every school's coach had gotten recordings to study the rising stars from each school. That was practically tradition.
As Liberos, Yaku and Komori were naturally holding back a burst of energy, wanting to receive the rumored hook serve.
Ryosuke looked up helplessly and saw the two of them urging him on with their eyes. That gaze was impossible to ignore.
"Alright, I'll serve now."
After adjusting everything, Ryosuke moved his wrist and shoulder, then walked over to the basket and picked up a volleyball.
Standing in a familiar position, Ryosuke closed his eyes.
After going through the prefectural tournament, Ryosuke felt that his understanding of volleyball had improved a little. In the past, he had always believed that volleyball was simple. If you had hands, you could play.
That was the kind of humblebrag only a genius could make. But there was no denying that Ryosuke loved volleyball deeply. It was just that after this tournament, Ryosuke had seen so much.
The weakness of stubborn people, the courage to chase after others with everything they had, the passion of youth, and everyone's love for volleyball. All at once, Ryosuke understood. His perspective had opened up.
Compared with so many people's hard work, Ryosuke realized that relying on his talent to stay one step ahead felt almost like taking advantage of them. Only by working harder, by working a little harder than everyone else, could he be worthy of his own talent.
He held the ball in his left hand in front of his chest, then tossed it high into the air.
Yaku's eyes widened. Wasn't the height of that toss a little strange?
At that exact moment, the national team group happened to enter. The moment they pushed the door open, they saw everyone training, and several of them noticed Ryosuke, who was serving.
"Hiss, that stance?" Tomohiro Yamamoto rubbed his chin.
"A hook serve," Shoma Tomita added, also copying him and rubbing his chin.
Ran Takahashi watched with great interest.
***
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