Coach Ukai had once said, "There is no best individual, only the best team!"
Hayato had never believed he could win through his own efforts alone. Volleyball was not that simple. Even Shiratorizawa, packed with powerful players, could lose. Anyone who thought personal strength alone was enough to dominate the world ought to go wash up and sleep.
From soccer to baseball, even MOBA games, team competitions depended on overall coordination to win. When everyone's abilities were roughly equal, no one could naively think that being invincible alone meant they could lead everyone to victory.
At the end of the day, the focus of team competition lay in the first two words: team. Wasn't Kageyama strong back when he was at Kitagawa Daiichi? He was very strong, yet he had still been benched. Without a team, there was no way to move forward. The same went for an ace. While leading his teammates onward, he was also supported by them from behind.
Now, Hayato's individual ability had little room left for major improvement. Rather than strengthening himself, making his teammates stronger was what he needed to do most.
If Hayato had been a volleyball beginner, then he would not have joined the Volleyball Club. Starting from zero was far too difficult, and he would only have held everyone back.
If Hayato had merely been familiar with volleyball, then he would not have joined the Volleyball Club either. Half-baked skills would not have helped them at all.
But Hayato was an experienced, highly skilled ace captain. That was why he had come. He had decided to become Karasuno's pillar, lead everyone to Nationals, and even win the championship.
Some might say that Nekoma's Haiba was also a beginner, but was Nekoma the same as Karasuno? Of course not. Nekoma's defense had no weak points, and the entire team excelled at receiving. They had both the confidence and the ability to take in Haiba. What about Karasuno? Despite their tremendous offensive power, they also gave away points at an alarming rate.
Starting from the Spring High qualifiers, Karasuno's match record had been as follows.
First Round: Ohgiminami 25–16, 25–13
Kakugawa 25–22, 25–19
Second Round: Josenji 25–21, 25–20
Wakunan 25–20, 20–25, 25–23
Semifinals: Aoba Johsai 25–23, 28–26, 26–24
Aside from the first match against the relatively weak Ohgiminami High, where Karasuno had won by a wide margin, every other match had been a grueling battle. That was why Karasuno could not afford to add another volleyball beginner to their roster. Even Yamaguchi could only serve as a pinch server. That showed just how poor Karasuno's defense was.
In the final match against Shiratorizawa, they had even exhausted every last ounce of strength, fighting for a full five sets before they won.
"So, Hayato-senpai, how much longer are we supposed to keep running?"
Hinata panted as he ran, barely able to get the words out. That morning, after riding his bike over to find Hayato, he had thought they would run together. Instead, Hayato had simply gotten on his bike and made him run while he followed alongside on it.
"Five more minutes, then we can rest. After that, we'll practice receives."
After checking his watch and seeing that the time was about right, Hayato had Hinata make one final sprint. As for receive practice, it was meant to improve his ball-handling and ensure that Hinata would not become a defensive hole when he rotated to the back row. Although Hayato had said he would maximize Hinata's strengths, Nishinoya, as the libero, would not rotate with Hinata in every match.
Receive practice was still very necessary.
Once he finally finished running, Hinata braced his hands on his knees and gulped down air, sweat dripping steadily from his face to the ground. Then a towel appeared over his head, followed by Hayato's voice.
"Good work. Here, replenish some fluids."
Hinata took the water bottle Hayato handed him. Without even having time to speak, he started drinking. He gulped it down for quite a while before finally stopping and letting out a long breath.
"Hah... I'm alive again. Hayato-senpai, did you put something in this water? It tastes like banana cream."
After drinking, Hinata licked his lips and noticed that something was off about the flavor.
"Tastes good, right? I added a scoop of Protein Powder. This is Hayato-senpai's reward for giving you personal training. Well, I drink it regularly anyway, so I just prepared some for you too while I was at it. No need to thank me."
Hayato said it casually, then took out his own bottle and drank a few mouthfuls to prove he was not lying.
"Oh! I see. Thanks, Hayato-senpai!"
The innocent little Hinata naturally believed Hayato's explanation and did not dwell on it. Once they had rested enough, the two found a park and began practicing receives.
Since the Volleyball Club had morning practice at seven, they only trained for a while before heading back together. When they arrived outside Hayato's house, he returned Hinata's bike and sent Kiyoko a message.
Before long, Kiyoko came out of the house. She was not particularly surprised to see Hinata; Hayato had already messaged her the night before to explain. She nodded at Hinata in greeting.
Hinata energetically wished Kiyoko good morning as well. Since he had ridden there on his bike, and although he was innocent, he could still read the room a little, he used his bike as an excuse to leave first and avoid being a third wheel.
After telling the two upperclassmen he would see them at school, Hinata leisurely rode his little bike away from Hayato's house.
"How did this morning's special training go?"
"Mm... not bad."
Once they were alone, Hayato and Kiyoko walked toward school and chatted.
"Didn't you say you wanted to give everyone in the Volleyball Club a surprise? Will it be okay?"
"Of course. Kiyoko-senpai, just wait to be shocked. Hinata will definitely improve a lot before the summer training camp."
"Then I'll look forward to it."
"I think you should be looking forward to this Friday even more, Kiyoko-senpai."
"Really? I think someone else is looking forward to it more than I am."
After parting with Kiyoko when they reached school, Hayato found a familiar envelope in his shoe locker.
"This must be the usual love letter, right?"
He took out the envelope, put his leather shoes in the locker, changed into his indoor shoes, and opened the letter as he headed toward the Volleyball Club's changing room.
The handwriting on the envelope was delicate, and the contents were very concise. It roughly said that during a previous PE class, she had been drawn in by Hayato's basketball playing. After hesitating for a long time, she had decided to tell him how she felt. She would wait for him behind the school building after classes that day. Her name was Hatoya Kohane, from Class 3 of Year 2.
Though he did not know her, Hayato knew the class. PE classes here were held jointly for two classes, with boys and girls split into groups. There had been one class where the boys played basketball while the girls played volleyball. It was probably then.
"Yo, Hayato. What are you doing?"
In the hallway between the main school building and the athletic club rooms, Tanaka and Nishinoya happened to be walking over together. Seeing Hayato by himself, they came over to greet him. When Hayato turned around, the love letter in his hand was exposed and caught their attention.
"Th-this... could this be the legendary l-o-v-e l-e-t-t-e-r? Damn you, you cursed city boy."
Putting on a silly English accent, Tanaka complained about Hayato receiving a love letter. But knowing Hayato, he understood that receiving one was perfectly normal, so most of it was teasing. Of course, a small part of it was genuine envy, jealousy, and resentment.
"Damn it, you winner-at-life types. Being Kiyoko-senpai's childhood friend is already unfair enough."
Nishinoya jabbed Hayato in the side with his elbow, venting his dissatisfaction as well.
Boys' friendships deepened through horseplay. After the three messed around for a while, Hayato put away the letter. After hesitating for a moment, he asked Nishinoya about the girl named Hatoya Kohane.
Asking that directly practically revealed who the letter's sender was, but Hayato did not know the girl and could not think of a safe way to reject her. Nishinoya was also in Class 3 of Year 2, so Hayato had assumed he would know her. But Nishinoya said that she was not very noticeable normally, and he did not know much about her either.
That answer was completely useless. Hayato smacked his forehead in frustration, feeling troubled. He had no experience rejecting confessions. How was he supposed to turn her down without hurting her?
Once morning practice officially began, Tanaka and Nishinoya wanted to tattle to Kiyoko, but Hayato hooked an arm around each of their shoulders and bribed them with a bottle of green tea apiece. At last, the two gloating companions let him off.
Thanks to that love letter, Hayato was distracted throughout the day after morning practice ended. He did not even react when the teacher called on him, making a fool of himself in class.
Once school finally ended, Hayato arrived early behind the main school building and looked somewhat nervous. Meanwhile, every second-year member of the Volleyball Club was lying in wait behind bushes nearby.
"Hey, isn't it kind of wrong for us to spy on him?"
Ennoshita tried to talk them out of it.
"This is Hayato's first time getting confessed to since he came to Karasuno. As his friend, how could I not be here? Right, Nishinoya?"
Tanaka spoke in a gossiping tone.
"Yeah. As a member of the second-year study group, I feel the same way."
Nishinoya was also just there to watch the fun. During their earlier exam study sessions, Hayato had already become familiar with the other second-years. So after someone quietly leaked Hayato's gossip, everyone naturally came to watch.
"Shh, keep it down. Look over there. Is someone coming?"
A petite pink-haired girl in a school uniform walked over. When she saw Hayato already waiting, she hurried forward with two quick steps.
"Sorry, Kuroba-kun, for keeping you waiting. I'm Hatoya Kohane."
The girl bowed politely and apologized in a soft voice.
"It's nothing. I just got here too."
Hayato looked at the pink-haired girl before him, feeling somewhat nervous himself. He had to reject her properly.
"Oh, she's the loli type."
"So cute."
"Her voice is soft and nice too."
The spectators behind the bushes whispered among themselves.
"Um, ever since I saw you playing basketball before, Kuroba-kun, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."
After pausing, the pink-haired girl clenched her fists and silently encouraged herself. The atmosphere reached its most crucial moment.
"Kuroba-kun! Please..."
"Join the basketball club!"
The sudden turn nearly threw Hayato's back out.
"Huh?"
"Actually, when I saw your form that day, I thought you would definitely be a perfect fit for our basketball club. Ah, I'm the basketball club's manager. Our captain has been worrying lately because we don't have any new members. It just so happened that we had class together that day, and that's when I noticed you, Kuroba-kun."
Her previously soft manner of speaking vanished as the pink-haired girl rattled off the words at high speed.
"Wait, wait. So this letter was actually just meant to ask me out privately and invite me to join the basketball club?"
Hayato could hardly believe what he was asking. For the moment, his brain could not process it.
"Eh? Y-yes. If I came to find you in your class, Kuroba-kun, it might cause you trouble. A private conversation like this would be more convenient, right?"
Hatoya Kohane tilted her head innocently, leaving Hayato unsure how to respond.
After Hayato explained that he had already joined the Volleyball Club and wanted to focus on that, Hatoya Kohane became a little dejected after being rejected. Then they apologized to each other for wasting the other's time, and she left alone. After she was gone—
"Pfft."
Someone could not hold it in and quietly laughed.
"All right, holding back your laughter behind the bushes must be painful. Just laugh."
Hayato had noticed the second-years long ago. He shook his head helplessly, then heard his terrible friends burst into loud laughter.
"Hahaha, sorry, Hayato, but seriously, hahaha."
Tanaka slung an arm over Nishinoya's shoulder and laughed until he clutched his stomach. Nishinoya laughed so hard that tears came out. Aside from Ennoshita, who came over and patted Hayato's shoulder in heartfelt sympathy, Kinoshita Hisashi and Narita Kazuhito were laughing loudly too.
"All right, all right. Once you've laughed enough, go train. Seriously, are you all so free that you came here specifically for this?"
Hayato chased them off irritably, feeling extremely embarrassed. After making them promise that the matter ended here and no newcomers could find out, everyone came over and patted Hayato on the shoulder after laughing themselves out.
Although they promised Hayato they would not spread the story, whenever the second-years saw his face during afternoon practice, they could not help laughing. Everyone else found it strange that the second-years were acting so oddly. Hayato ground his teeth in secret, but there was nothing he could do about their snickering except try his best to ignore it.
After taking Hinata to Coach Ukai's house for training, the day passed just like that amid embarrassment and laughter.
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