"Lately, Akashi and Oomae have been studying really hard."
"You haven't heard? Apparently, the volleyball club is holding a training camp over the sumr. But if you don't pass the final exams, you can't go."
"Huh? Seriously?"
"Of course it's true! I heard they tied the club's all-ti record, and this sumr camp is part of their plan to make a run at nationals."
"Wow~ Nationals? That's amazing!"
…
In Class 3-3, a few girls whispered among themselves, their eyes filled with admiration.
Whether it was a sumr training camp or competing on the national stage, both were dreams shared by nearly every student at Sengoku Junior High. Especially the latter, it was the ultimate goal that all Junior High athletes in the country aspired to.
Akashi Asuka, however, paid no attention to the murmurs around him. Or perhaps he didn't even hear them in the first place.
Lately, he'd been completely absorbed in his studies, unexpectedly so. It was almost like he'd beco addicted to learning, unable to pull himself away.
Next to him, Oomae Masato's ears quietly perked up.
Teenage emotions are fickle, strong one mont, gone the next. Just yesterday, Oomae had been sulking after losing a match, but now, hearing the girls praise the volleyball club, he was once again riding high.
For now, volleyball club activities had been put on hold.
With less than two weeks until finals, the priority wasn't training, it was making sure every mber actually qualified to attend the sumr camp.
Akashi, however, hadn't entirely stopped training. After all, this was a golden opportunity to "out-hustle" the others. While everyone else paused, each extra day he trained gave him an edge. How could he possibly pass up such a rare chance?
…
Ti flew by.
In the blink of an eye, the two weeks were over.
Since Sengoku Junior High only had around 300 students per grade, final exam scores were usually posted by the next day or the one after that.
As soon as the results went up on the bulletin board, the volleyball club mbers were the first to rush over.
"Yo! Oda, Sanashita, Kazama… you're all here! Long ti no see!" Oomae walked alongside Akashi, waving brightly.
"We literally saw you yesterday." Oda Miki said flatly.
"Eh… don't sweat the details. So, how'd you all do on the exams?"
Oda Miki: "So-so."
Ryuhei Sanashita: "I don't think I did too well this ti."
Jujiro Kazama: "Sa here. Had a stomachache during the test. What about you two?"
Akashi scratched his nose. "Hmm… I should've passed, at least."
"Hahaha… looks like I've got you all beat!"
Before Akashi could finish, Oomae puffed out his chest and declared proudly, "I was in top form this ti! You better watch out, I might even outscore all three of you!"
"Oh~ feeling confident, Oomae?" Sanashita asked, surprised.
"You bet! I haven't touched a video ga in two whole weeks, just for this camp!" Oomae gave a thumbs-up, his face brimming with pride.
Soon, the group arrived at the bulletin board.
Soone was already there ahead of them, it was Neko Kurata, the libero of the volleyball team.
"Wow, you're here early! How'd you do, Kurata?"
"Not bad. Pretty normal for ."
Kurata pointed to his na on the board. His results were clearly posted:
Neko Kurata: Total Score – 307/500, Rank – 135th
"Oooh, solid work. Let's see how I did…" Sanashita stepped forward to find his own na, and the others followed suit.
Soon, everyone's scores were in:
Jujiro Kazama: 311 points, Rank – 133rd
Ryuhei Sanashita: 345 points, Rank – 99th
Oda Miki: 386 points, Rank – 54th
"Whoa, Oda! You moved up in the rankings again!" Sanashita said, impressed.
"You too." Oda replied coolly. "This is our only sumr camp in all three years of Junior High. Of course we had to give it our best."
"True that." Sanashita nodded in agreent.
Then he suddenly rembered sothing and quickly added, "Right, how'd Akashi and Oomae do? If we want to beat Shiratorizawa, we'll need both of them at that camp."
"Oomae's results are here!"
Just as Sanashita finished speaking, Kurata waved from another part of the board. They looked where he was pointing and saw:
Oomae Masato: Total Score – 209/500, Rank – 261st
"Whoa~ Nice job! Scraping a pass in every subject, you're good to go for the camp!" Sanashita praised.
But then he realized there was no response.
Puzzled, Sanashita turned around, and saw that Oomae had turned to stone, his expression blank and gray like a weathered statue. Wind seed to blow around him in swirls of black lines as he muttered under his breath:
"No way… this can't be real… Why did I only get this many points? I studied so hard… this doesn't make sense… It doesn't make sense…"
The group: "..."
"…Welp, as long as he passed, that's what matters. Let's go check Akashi's score. He's our ace, we have to bring him to the training camp."
After sparing only a quarter-second of sympathy for the withered Oomae, the group decisively abandoned him and made their way to Akashi.
"How's it looking over there? All good?" Sanashita called out to Akashi and Kazama.
But Kazama didn't respond. He was staring blankly at the top of the board, as if he'd just seen sothing unbelievable.
Akashi turned to them and replied calmly, "All good. Pretty much as expected, I passed every subject."
Sanashita sighed in relief. "That's great! That ans we'll all be able to, "
Just as he was about to say "attend the training camp." his gaze caught the na in front of Akashi, and in the next instant, it was as if lightning had struck him on the spot.
There it was, second from the top on the entire board:
Akashi Asuka: Total Score – 459/500, Rank – 2nd
------------
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