"Thank you all for responding to our call, especially so soon after the end of Nationals."
Standing before the assembled group of players—each one carefully selected from schools across the country—was Coach Hibarida Fuki of the Japan n's National Volleyball Team.
"Today, through this full-team practice, I hope to deepen your camaraderie and also test out so new signals."
"What an incredible lineup. These guys are practically the future national team already..." Whispers floated in from staff mbers of the Japan Volleyball Association stationed at the sidelines.
"Every player here is a core mber of their own team. It's a real sha that so of them will end up on the bench."
"During this one-week camp, I want you to focus on doing what you can do."
Coach Hibarida swept his gaze across the group of athletes, their expressions varied and complex.
"Receiving, setting, positioning—those basic skills must be executed precisely. On top of that, you'll need to sync up with teammates you've never worked with before. It's not easy."
"But I believe in you—you've been selected from across the country because I know you can do these things."
"In this one week, I want you to show everything you've learned about volleyball up to this point."
"I look forward to seeing what answers you'll give on the final day."
"Yes, sir!"
Team A:Outside Hitter Kaedehara Taichi, Outside Hitter Sanada Shunpei, Outside Hitter Sarukui Fūto, Middle Blocker Kai Suzuharu, Middle Blocker Aone Takanobu, Setter Miya Atsumu, Libero Moriyama Makoto
Team B:Outside Hitter Sakusa Kiyoomi, Outside Hitter Hakuba Gao, Outside Hitter Miya Osamu, Middle Blocker Hirugami Sachirō, Middle Blocker Chigaya Eikichi, Setter Shirakawa Kaito, Libero Nakamori Daiki
Team C:Outside Hitter Hoshiumi Kōrai, Outside Hitter Hyakuzawa Yūdai, Outside Hitter Kunimi Akira, Middle Blocker Suna Rintarō, Middle Blocker Akiha Kazuma, Setter Kageyama Tobio, Libero Komori Motoya
"Lots of familiar faces here," Kaedehara Taichi muttered.
Still, he felt it was a sha no one from Nekoma had made it. With how large the selection pool was, he'd thought a few more old acquaintances might show up—like Yamamoto Taketora or Akaashi Keiji.
And since they didn't make it to Nationals, even talented guys like Nishinoya Yū or Goshiki Tsutomu didn't get noticed.
"Each day, the teams will be shuffled and face off in AB, AC, and BC formations. Every team will play four sets a day. The rest of your ti is yours to use as you wish."
"Yes, sir!"
-----
Practice began.
Sakusa Kiyoomi launched a powerful jump serve. Kaedehara Taichi received it cleanly.
"Cover!"
Sarukui Fūto quickly moved in and passed the ball stably toward the front row. Sanada Shunpei jumped for the spike.
That guy's more agile than I thought, Taichi mused.
And he's playing nice as a teammate too.
He'd half expected Sarukui to still carry that arrogant air, even in a setting like this. Looked like Nationals had humbled him.
"Triple block!" Miya Osamu, Hakuba Gao, and Chigaya Eikichi jumped together.
BAM!!
The ball pierced the gap between Chigaya and Hakuba.
"Your spacing on the block is too wide! And the timing's off!" Sakusa barked darkly.
Smack!
Sakusa received the next ball. Nakamori Daiki jumped from the back row and set it.
"Give the ball!"
Sakusa leapt for a back-row spike.
Whoosh—!
The ball soared high to the left. Miya Osamu went up.
"Double block!" Aone and Atsumu jumped to block.
BOOM!
The ball slipped past Atsumu's right side and landed squarely inside Team A's court.
Point to Miya Osamu.
"Hey, why didn't you give the ball to when I called for it?" Sakusa turned a sharp glare toward Nakamori.
"Huh? What's the problem?" Nakamori replied, unimpressed. "We scored, didn't we?"
"I'm asking why you didn't set to . You impolite little brat from Aoba Johsai."
"And you're the one who's being rude!" Nakamori shot back. "Why the hell should I let soone talk to like that?"
"If you want to lead the offense, then you'd better know how to support your ace."
"Oi, Sakusa, nobody said you were the ace of this team," Miya Osamu interjected, stepping beside Nakamori.
I just scored the point, he thought. And yet you're acting like it was wrong for the little guy to set to .
Sakusa's eyes swept over Osamu and Hakuba before he let out a cold snort.
"Hmph. Didn't you lose to us? What's your deal? You think you're so kind of ace now?" Hakuba joined the fray.
"Hahahaha, they sure are fired up!" Kaedehara Taichi laughed.
"Let's jump in too, Taichi!" Atsumu said, practically bouncing with anticipation.
Sanada placed a hand to his forehead. "Stop laughing. We should be breaking them up right now."
"This bunch is seriously combustible..." muttered Suna Rintarō from the sidelines.
"Coach, are you sure this is okay? They all seem to still be holding grudges from Nationals..."
Coach Hibarida, however, looked delighted.
"This is just another form of getting to know each other. Let them blow off so steam on the first day. Bottling it up won't help anyone."
-----
"Hakuba-senpai, could you teach how to block?"
During self-practice ti, Hyakuzawa Yūdai approached Hakuba Gao.
Both stood at 2 ters tall, and both had only started volleyball in high school. They had a surprising amount in common.
Hyakuzawa had long been hoping for an opportunity like this—he'd wanted to ask Hakuba so questions for a while.
Hakuba's eyes lit up. Back at Kamodai, Hoshiumi was always picking on him for his "sloppy technique," and Hirugami was half his teacher. So having soone look at him so sincerely was a rare treat.
"Sure thing!" Hakuba answered readily. "Hang on, I'll grab Sachirō and Kōrai too!"
At that mont, the U.S. national team had yet to arrive in Japan. Watching this group of players—the ones who would carry the future of Japanese volleyball—the association staff were full of confidence.
"Who says Asian athletes are physically inferior to those Western monsters? This year, we've got two guys over two ters tall."
"And their technique's been honed, too. What a luxury of a squad. I seriously can't wait to see what they'll do when they face the Arican team."
-----
BOOM!
Sakusa's spike landed cleanly in the far corner of the court and bounced high off the floor.
"Your setting's still as accurate as ever. It's a sha we didn't get to face off at Nationals."
"Your spiking has gotten even crisper than during our last training camp, Sakusa-senpai," Kageyama Tobio replied blankly.
"You're not retiring after Inter High, are you? If not, that ans we still have a shot at a real match."
"Is that so?"
Sakusa Kiyoomi once again rushed to the net and leapt into the air. At just the right mont, the volleyball appeared in front of him.
BANG!—
The ball dropped nearly brushing the net as it fell.
That was a rare kind of set, Sakusa couldn't help but praise inwardly.
With Aoba Johsai in Miyagi, the number of qualifying slots for Nationals was naturally reduced by one. Sakusa had never watched Date Tech's matches before, but the fact that they'd fought Inarizaki to the bitter end in a third set suggested they weren't an easy opponent.
Rather than pondering whether Inarizaki and Karasuno might clash at Nationals, it made more sense to first consider whether Karasuno could even break through Miyagi.
"You guys should focus on getting Miyagi's last remaining ticket first," Sakusa said bluntly.
"Last remaining ticket?" Kageyama Tobio seed not to catch Sakusa's implied aning. "If Aoba Johsai wins the Inter-High, Miyagi will still get two spots."
Sakusa: "…"
"What he ans," ca Suna Rintarō's lazy voice from nearby, "is that one of those spots is already as good as Aoba Johsai's. It's got nothing to do with the rest of us."
He'd been trying to avoid both the Miya twins and Aoba Johsai's players, but sohow he had ended up over here instead.
"Hello, Suna-senpai," Kageyama greeted him with a polite bow.
"But why is it 'as good as confird' for Aoba Johsai?" Kageyama tilted his head, still as stubborn as ever. "We're going to beat them."
Suna Rintarō: "…"
His mind drifted to that terrifyingly silent guy from Date Tech who only ever responded with "Yeah." His attempt to talk to Kunimi from Aoba Johsai earlier had ended in failure, too.
It felt like all of Miyagi was filled with incomprehensible weirdos.
"Miya-senpai, could you set the ball for for a while?" Kaedehara Taichi asked with a cheerful smile. "There's sothing I want to try."
"…Aren't you worried I'll learn all your habits?" Miya Atsumu asked. "Don't get cocky just 'cause you beat us twice."
"I don't mind. I'm not going to lose anyway."
"Then tell all your preferences. Where you want the ball set, how you're going to spike it."
"Sure."
Taichi's easy agreent made Atsumu pause for a mont. Was this guy always this open?
Taichi smiled and began naturally explaining the details of his spiking form.
"Amazing…These two look like they're getting along?" People around them murmured in disbelief. It was shocking to see Kaedehara Taichi and Miya Atsumu not fighting for once.
Since Aoba Johsai had entered Nationals, the two teams had t three consecutive tis. If anything could be called fate, this was it.
-----
Fifteen minutes later…
"Do you have to be this detailed? You really don't care about losing to us?" Atsumu asked with a serious face.
Taichi had told him everything—his approach patterns, coded signals for different spike types, and even the height and velocity he needed for each type of shot.
"First," Taichi said, "I honestly don't think it'll help you stop anyway."
"And second…Miya-senpai, you're not going to tell you think the Arican team is going to be easy to handle, are you?"
He looked Atsumu straight in the eyes.
"I asked Daiki about it. Over there, they take sports way more seriously than we do. They don't have tall, athletic guys like Hakuba-senpai or Hyakuzawa Yūdai who only start training in high school."
"These guys with ridiculous physical abilities are trained with a professional mindset from a young age. Club systems, youth academies, pro contracts—it's all normal for them."
"I bet the ones coming to play us now may be called 'high schoolers,' but in reality, they've already been pros for a year or two."
"Unlike the others, you could see it in Coach Hibarida and Vice President Katase's faces. They don't think we can win this match."
"With opponents like that, of course I'm going to be fully prepared."
Atsumu fell silent. He knew exactly how strong the Aricans could be, and he understood the fear Taichi was trying to hide under his calm surface.
From the international gas so far, the only areas where they might be evenly matched were the setter and libero positions—since those roles didn't rely as heavily on raw physical dominance.
"…You afraid of losing?" Atsumu asked quietly.
"Afraid? No." Taichi's eyes shone bright. "I'm excited."
Then, in a voice only he could hear, he muttered to himself:
"Ending my high school volleyball career with a match like this…I couldn't ask for anything better."
-----
July 18th.
"I heard Japan's bringing out their very best for us," said Aaron Russell. "Maybe this match won't be so boring after all."
"You're giving them too much credit, Russell." Taylor Averill lounged on the sofa, legs crossed. "I've been totally disappointed in Japanese volleyball. Even their college guys were trash—how can you still expect anything from their high schoolers?"
"That was just a normal university team, probably good enough to bully kids back ho, but their bodies are useless against us."
"If you ask ," said Thomas Jaeschke, "we shouldn't even be playing them today. They were supposed to be practice dummies to help us warm up, but it's just a waste of ti."
It was the third day of Team USA's visit to Japan. After giving the players two days to enjoy themselves, Coach Karch Kiraly had arranged a friendly with a university team in Kyoto.
No one had wanted the match.
To face a bunch of kids who had never even stepped onto a pro court? The players were unanimous—it wasn't worth taking seriously. Worse, it was eating into their "sightseeing vacation."
And yes, the team had been thoroughly enjoying their stay.
But after a stern lecture from Coach Kiraly, they still played the match.
[USA National Team 25 - 8 Kyoto University]
[USA National Team 25 - 12 Kyoto University]
All it took was a half-serious block, and the opponents couldn't even score.
Their effortless win shocked the staff mbers from the Japanese Volleyball Association.
They had originally hoped to gather so intelligence, but by the end, their faces were pale, silently praying that Japan wouldn't lose too badly in the real match.
Coach Kiraly didn't bother restraining his players after the match either. Truthfully, he hadn't taken Team Japan very seriously. Even so, if they were going to compete internationally—they could not afford to lose.
And so, Team USA continued their "sightseeing tour."
anwhile, the Japanese high schoolers of Team Japan were still deep in their gruelling schedule of nonstop training and scrimmages.
There were just four days left until the Japan–USA exhibition match…
_________
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