The setting sun slanted through the high windows of the gym, turning the dust in the air golden. The smell of rubber scorched by friction on the floor mingled with sweat—a scent unique to sports clubs.
Lu Ren sat on the bench by the court, clutching a water bottle and staring intently at the center of the gym. He was trying to make sense of an advanced skills lesson—if you didn't count the "NPC" whose language system had apparently glitched and who was flailing around.
"Listen up! It's that kind of feeling!"
Nishinoya Yū crouched low, his center of gravity lowered, both hands spread wide like a beast poised to pounce.
"When the ball comes, first you go 'whoosh'!" Nishinoya suddenly stepped to the left, moving so fast he kicked up a gust of wind.
"Then your arms have to go 'swish'!" He brought his arms together and struck a perfect receiving posture.
"Finally, the instant you make contact with the ball, you go 'bam'! Send the ball flying!"
Nishinoya straightened up, put his hands on his hips, and gave them a confident look that said, "Surely you get it now." His eyes shone as he looked at Hinata Shoyo. "How's that? Pretty simple, right? It's whoosh, swish, bam! Got it?"
Hinata Shoyo's mouth fell open. Three enormous question marks seemed to materialize above his orange head. He blinked once, then again, and finally shook his head honestly.
Lu Ren clutched his forehead in anguish.
Just as he'd thought.
He'd known it. Trying to learn any theoretical knowledge from this instinct-driven creature was like searching for a needle in the ocean. This wasn't teaching; it was an encrypted phone call.
"I can't understand a word!" Lu Ren couldn't help complaining. "What kind of teaching is this? An onomatopoeia lecture? Could you write the skill instructions in something that sounds a little more like human language?"
He'd been hoping to pick up a couple of advanced receiving techniques from this "Guardian Deity," and at least upgrade his defense from "made of paper" to "wooden board." But it looked like he'd be better off asking Sawamura Daichi. The captain's lessons might be a little dull, but at least his logic was something a human could understand.
"That's no good, Tani." Tanaka Ryūnosuke walked by carrying a mop, looking as if he'd seen it all before. "Ordinary people can't understand what a guy who plays through spinal reflexes is saying. Is there a converter missing between your brain and your language center?"
"Huh?" Nishinoya raised an eyebrow in displeasure. "I was perfectly clear! It's all about the rhythm!"
"Is that so?"
A cool voice cut in. Kageyama Tobio held a volleyball and nodded thoughtfully. "I think I kind of get it. It does feel smoother to go 'whoosh' when shifting your center of gravity."
The mop nearly fell out of Tanaka's hands.
"Huh? You understood him?" Tanaka stared at Kageyama as if he were a monster.
"Because they're the same species." Lu Ren unscrewed his bottle and took a drink, expressionless. "The brainwaves of single-celled organisms are on the same wavelength. Just think about how Kageyama usually teaches Hinata. 'Smack!' He runs over. 'Waaah!' He jumps. Those two are running the same operating system."
After saying that, Lu Ren set down his water bottle, walked over to Hinata, who was still staring blankly, and poked him in the back of the head.
"Hey, Hinata."
"What?" Hinata turned around, covering his head.
"Something doesn't add up." Lu Ren looked the little orange-haired guy up and down. "You're also a wild animal who plays by instinct and intuition, so in theory you should be able to pick up on Nishinoya-senpai's signals. Did I get you wrong? Are you secretly a theory buff? Are those crazy runs of yours actually based on precise calculations?"
"What are you talking about, Lu Ren?" Hinata jumped up in frustration. "There's no way I'm a theory buff! I want to understand, too! But what's the difference between 'whoosh' and 'swish'?"
"Probably the wind speed," Lu Ren said offhandedly, making it up as he went.
The group joked around as they picked up the volleyballs scattered across the floor. Hinata picked up a ball, then suddenly paused. He looked at Nishinoya, who was fighting Tanaka for the right to use the mop, a hint of hesitation in his eyes.
"Um... Nishinoya-senpai."
"Hmm?" Nishinoya stopped and tucked the mop under his arm. "What is it?"
Hinata swallowed, as if summoning up his courage. "Earlier... when you mentioned Asahi-senpai, who exactly is that?"
The air in the gym seemed to freeze for a moment.
Sugawara Kōshi stiffened as he wiped off his sweat, and Sawamura Daichi stopped packing up the net. Lu Ren raised an eyebrow, thinking that the kid really knew how to bring up the wrong subject and hit a nerve.
Tanaka started to rush over to cover Hinata's mouth. "Hey! You idiot! Don't just go saying that name—"
"More or less, yeah."
Nishinoya's voice interrupted Tanaka. The grin faded from his face a little as he looked toward the gym's tightly shut doors. There was something complicated in his tone.
"More or less, he's Karasuno's ace."
"The ace?!"
Those two words were like a burst of high-voltage electricity, shooting straight through Hinata Shoyo's nervous system. His eyes went wide, and two flames seemed to ignite in his pupils.
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