Cheering to Boost Morale

Wearing a white t-shirt with a chibi bird print, denim shorts, and a backpack, a pink-haired girl with a ponytail stood on the second floor of the gymnasium, looking down. Beside her, a blonde girl in a white skirt and blue chiffon blouse was being led by the hand with a helpless expression.

"Kohane, you don't need to run so fast. The court is only this big."

Yes, these two girls were Hatoya Kohane, who had met Hayato before, and her good friend Sarutobi Yuki. They had come specifically to cheer for Karasuno, but they had been delayed and by the time they arrived, Karasuno had already finished their match against Sennan.

"But we're late! The receptionist said Karasuno already finished one round, and their next opponent is..."

"Kakugawa."

Seeing that her friend couldn't remember the name of the opposing school, the blonde girl, Sarutobi Yuki, reminded her with a helpless expression.

"Right, right, that's the one. Ah, Yuki, that's Karasuno's banner! And there are girls in volleyball club uniforms over there."

Spotting Karasuno's banner, Hatoya Kohane pulled her friend along and ran towards them.

"Hey, hey, is this Karasuno's cheering section?"

Kohane eagerly asked Hitoka when she reached her.

"Oh, yes, yes it is. Who are you two?"

Facing two cute girls, Hitoka wasn't as nervous and instead looked at them with some curiosity.

"Ah, hello, hello! My name is Hatoya Kohane, and this is my good friend Sarutobi Yuki. We're also students at Karasuno, in class 2-3. We came specifically to cheer for the volleyball club today!"

With a friendly personality similar to Hinata's, Kohane introduced herself energetically. Her friend beside her also nodded at Hitoka.

"Second year, so you're seniors! Excuse me! I, I am Yachi Hitoka, class 1-5. I'm the other manager for the volleyball club. Please take care of me!"

As soon as she heard they were second-years, Hitoka quickly introduced herself and bowed. Kohane, however, waved her hand dismissively.

"No need to be so formal! So, has Karasuno's second match started yet?"

Hatoya Kohane stood next to Hitoka, resting her hands on the railing and looking into the court. She found it easily and then loudly cheered towards the Karasuno Volleyball Club members below.

"Karasuno~~ Go~~~!"

Her loud voice made everyone in Karasuno look up at her location. Upon realizing it was Hatoya Kohane, the second-years who were warming up all smiled. Nishinoya even walked over and nudged Hayato's waist.

"Hayato, your fan is here to cheer for you."

It wasn't wrong to say that. In the letter Kohane had given Hayato before, she mentioned being moved by his skills, so calling her a fan was quite reasonable.

Although he didn't understand why she was here, Hayato waved at her. He also saw his friend who was with her earlier and nodded as a greeting.

"Don't talk nonsense. She's here to cheer for Karasuno."

Looking seriously at Nishinoya and the other second-years who were watching the spectacle, Hayato answered without guilt. Then he heard Kohane cheering specifically for him.

"Kuroba-kun, go!!!"

Goodness, to have such a cute girl shouting your name in the gymnasium, Hayato instantly felt the envious gazes of other men. Fortunately, Kiyoko already knew about this, and her gaze was relatively calm.

Hearing this cheer, the second-years watching the scene smiled even more broadly. However, before they could laugh enough.

"Nishinoya-kun, go!!!"

This time, Tanaka couldn't stand it and came over to lock Nishinoya in a chokehold.

"Why is there a special cheer for you too?"

"How should I know? Isn't it because we're classmates?"

Struggling and patting Tanaka's arm, Nishinoya explained. Tanaka then let go of him and Nishinoya patted Tanaka's shoulder.

"Ryu, see? As long as we play well this game, cute girls will cheer for us."

"What! Nishinoya, you're right!"

Following Nishinoya's gaze, Tanaka looked behind Karasuno's banner and found the blonde girl next to Kohane. She looked very cute too.

Although Kiyoko's guardian angels were only Kiyoko, this didn't conflict with wanting to be popular with cute girls.

Just as it was Tanaka's turn to spike, Tanaka executed a spike with a self-satisfied pose and narcissistically looked towards Kohane. As a result, he was reprimanded by the captain, Daichi.

"Tanaka, focus on warming up!"

Daichi's authority immediately deflated Tanaka. Nishinoya on the other side was also pulled back by Ennoshita, which made Hayato gloat. Then Daichi's eyes swept over, and Hayato also quieted down.

Karasuno's warm-up continued in the court. On the second-floor stands, Kohane's friend Yuki covered her eyes with her hands helplessly.

"Kohane, cheering for Karasuno is enough. Why did you also call out Nishinoya-kun's name?"

"Eh, because besides Kuroba-kun, I only know Nishinoya-kun."

Kohane answered matter-of-factly. Hitoka beside her was restless because after Kohane's shout, people's attention immediately focused on them, which made her very uncomfortable.

The elementary school students who had come with the old man also learned to cheer for Karasuno.

Kohane, who was good at mingling with people, quickly became familiar with the elementary school students. The group chatted while waiting for the match to begin.

The old man not far away didn't pay attention to the children's play. He looked at the giant on the court with a solemn expression.

The match quickly began. This time, Hayato voluntarily requested to be in the front row, intending to face the two-meter-tall player. The front row consisted of Hinata, Hayato, and Kageyama from left to right. The back row had Sawamura, Tanaka, Tsukishima, with Nishinoya and Tsukishima rotating.

The serve was with Karasuno. Tsukishima served, and the ball flew over the net, where it was steadily received by a Kakugawa player. The setter standing at the net lifted the ball and passed it to the giant.

Hayato, Hinata, and Kageyama formed a three-person block, ready to jump and intercept at any time. The opposing Kakugawa libero called out "three-person block," but he wasn't worried at all because he felt Karasuno couldn't block this ball.

The giant responsible for the spike, Momozawa Yudai, thought the same thing, so he didn't put much force into this spike at all. But just as he spiked, he found a pair of hands appearing in the path of his shot.

The block successfully stopped the spike. No one had expected this outcome, so no one on Kakugawa had time to save the ball. The volleyball fell into Kakugawa's court.

"Ooooh!"

Everyone on Karasuno cheered excitedly after scoring with the successful block.

"Don't think you can score so easily against us, kora."

"Nice one, Kuroba."

Daichi breathed a sigh of relief, as did everyone else. Facing a 2-meter tall player had put a lot of pressure on them due to his physique, but Hayato's clean and decisive block gave everyone a much-needed boost, raising their morale once again.

"Hayato-senpai! So cool!"

"Hey, Shoyo, hey, Tobio."

Although Hayato had blocked it himself, he still extended his hands to celebrate with Hinata and Kageyama beside him.

"Wow, that guy is so tall and jumps so high, but Kuroba-kun actually blocked him. That's amazing."

Hatoya Kohane, watching from the second-floor stands, also saw this and exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

"Is that for real? He blocked that?"

"Is that guy a monster? That was a spike from a 2-meter player."

The onlookers who witnessed the spike being blocked also let out gasps of astonishment.

Hitoka, who had been nervous, relaxed immediately when she saw the spike being blocked.

At this moment, Hatoya Kohane next to her took her hand.

The two girls exchanged a glance, then Hatoya Kohane counted "one, two," and with her friend Sarutobi Yuki beside her, the three girls shouted together.

"Go, Karasuno!"

The girls' cheers boosted Karasuno's morale even further.

"Serve a good one!"

Tsukishima served the ball again. Kakugawa, after their recent failure, became completely focused. Momozawa Yudai, who had been blocked, jumped again. This time, he put all his strength into it, jumping even higher than before.

"Tch, so that guy wasn't using his full strength on that jump earlier."

Hayato's fingers just barely reached the ball, and he called out "touch," thankfully, their pillar in the backcourt, Daichi-senpai, was there.

Daichi received the ball in a half-kneeling position.

"Free ball!"

"Tobio!"

Hayato called for the ball from the setter, and Kageyama passed it to him.

"Hayato-senpai, please."