[VOLU V]
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July, Irvine, California.
"Whoa, whoa, no way…"
Iwaizumi Haji stared at the guy in front of him in complete surprise. "How is this even possible?!"
"It is indeed unexpected," Ushijima Wakatoshi said calmly.
"You really don't look surprised at all."
Relieved to see a familiar face in a foreign country, Iwaizumi asked, "So what are you doing here?"
"Looking for a teammate."
"..."
That's it?
Iwaizumi was left speechless by the vague answer and, unable to think of how to continue the conversation with Ushijima, shifted the topic to himself.
"I ca here to visit a Japanese coach. Back in high school, I used to train by following his book," Iwaizumi explained while pulling out a copy of the book he'd brought along, hoping to get it autographed. "You ever heard of a guy nad Utsui Takashi?"
"…Of course," Ushijima replied, pausing slightly before speaking.
"I've always wanted to talk to him face-to-face," Iwaizumi said eagerly. "He said he had ti today, so I rushed over—"
"I see." Ushijima nodded. "Utsui Takashi is my father."
"Oh, cool—" Iwaizumi answered casually.
Wait a minute…
Sothing felt off.
"HUH?!"
Iwaizumi's eyes widened in disbelief. This was even more shocking than running into an old high school rival in a foreign country! If it had been Oikawa in front of him, Iwaizumi wouldn't have hesitated to assu it was so kind of twisted prank—and likely would've punched him on the spot.
But this was Ushijima Wakatoshi standing before him.
"EH?!?!"
Iwaizumi's brain finally caught up. "You said…he's—?"
"My father," Ushijima repeated, even more concisely.
"But your surnas…don't match!"
"'Ushijima' is my mother's surna."
"You've got to be kidding !"
"I'm not."
-----
And so, it took Iwaizumi a while to digest this bombshell of a revelation. After that, the two of them went together to et Utsui Takashi, and Iwaizumi finally got the autograph he had dread of.
-----
"Taichi's in Argentina now, too," Iwaizumi said with a grin. "He's on the sa team as Oikawa again."
"Mm. I've heard." Ushijima's expression didn't change.
"Hey, Ushiwaka," Iwaizumi hesitated, "since we bumped into each other today…there's sothing I've been aning to say. I'm not sure if I should, though."
"There's nothing that can't be said," Ushijima replied seriously.
"Alright."
Iwaizumi took a deep breath.
"After you left AD, I've caught a few of your matches in the overseas leagues," he began cautiously. "How should I put this…the impression you give now is…pretty average, I guess?"
"…Mm." Ushijima didn't deny it.
"Well, I an, the 'world' is strong. Even soone like you can't bulldoze your way through opponents like you did back in high school."
"True," Ushijima nodded. On the world stage, his height and power were no longer rare weapons.
"Still," Iwaizumi continued, "as soone who used to be your defeated rival back in high school—no wait, as a formidable rival—I really don't want the rest of the world to look at 'Ushiwaka' and think you're just so average player."
"…Mm." Ushijima nodded again, looking surprisingly docile.
"Back then, your raw power was in a league of its own among our peers. Maybe because there weren't many who could stop you, you subconsciously thought that area was already strong enough, and so you started focusing more on refining your technique…"
"That makes sense."
"In international matches, even 190cm is considered small—and I'm not even 180," Iwaizumi said with a sigh. "If we want to keep growing stronger, we've got to keep experinting and making mistakes."
"For example, this guy—he's soone I've been watching videos of constantly."
Iwaizumi pulled out his phone and played a video. Ushijima leaned in.
"Ah!"
"What is it?"
"…I an, I'm sure your club has more systematic, advanced training than this," Iwaizumi said, a bit sheepishly. "Maybe I'm being presumptuous."
"No. I've been discussing making so changes with my coach too. Your suggestion is helpful," Ushijima replied seriously. "Besides, I genuinely enjoy conversations like this."
"You enjoy them…?"
Iwaizumi smiled politely, though he honestly couldn't tell from Ushijima's completely blank expression.
-----
The entire afternoon passed in the blink of an eye.
"Seriously, thank you so much for today," Iwaizumi Haji said. "Thanks to you, I got to have such a great conversation with Coach Utsui. I must be really lucky."
"Mm. Sa here," Ushijima Wakatoshi nodded.
"Thanks, Iwaizumi. I really do have good luck. Let's et again soti."
"Eh?" Iwaizumi was montarily stunned, but then smiled. "Yeah, see you next ti!"
"Oh—one more thing." Iwaizumi suddenly grinned mischievously. "Let take a photo to send to Oikawa!"
-----
One month later, in a park in Paris, Tendō Satori ca to a stop while scrolling through sports news.
—"Polish League: Japan's 'Left-Handed Canon' Falters; Offence Falls Silent in Back-to-Back Gas!"
"Ahhhh~"
Without a second thought, Tendō imdiately called Ushijima Wakatoshi.
At the Lublin club's dormitory in Poland, Ushijima was stretching in his room when he noticed the incoming call. The display showed a familiar icon: Tendō, his old teammate from high school.
"Tendō? It's been a while." Ushijima paused his movent.
"Yahhooo—Wakatooshiiii~!"
Tendō's overly energetic voice burst through the speaker.
"How've you been? Already in bed? Or still up? I just saw the news—your performance hasn't been so great lately, huh!"
"Yes. I've been trying to adjust my movents, but I haven't figured it out yet," Ushijima said seriously.
"Eh? But honestly, I think last year's approach suited you better."
"…That might be true. Even during matches, I sotis feel unsure, like maybe I should've just stuck with what I had."
"Oh? Uncertainty, huh?" Tendō was genuinely surprised. "That's rare coming from you. Did sothing get to you?"
"Yeah." Ushijima shared a doubt he hadn't voiced to anyone else.
"There was a match where a Japanese fan ca up to with her kid and asked for my autograph. But then I heard the kid say volleyball was boring, and he didn't like it."
"Did you ask him why?"
"I did. I smiled—the best smile I could manage after so much practice—and asked him. But he just said watching it was boring."
"Pfffft—HAHAHAHA!!"
Tendō's laughter was so loud Ushijima had to pull the phone away from his ear.
"I see, I see. Well, that makes perfect sense!" Tendō chuckled. "It's because you're weak now!"
"…Hm?"
Ushijima made a questioning sound—not because he disagreed with Tendō calling him weak, but because he didn't understand how that related to the kid finding volleyball boring.
"Unless you get stronger, there's no way you'll catch a kid's attention," Tendō said. "Because honestly, that's just not cool at all~"
"'Hard work' alone doesn't excite anyone."
"But once you're strong—really strong—everything changes! Beating those tall foreign players with nothing but your skill and strength…that's the kind of superstar people want to see!"
After listening to Tendō's words, Ushijima fell silent for a few monts.
"If that's all it takes…then I think I can do it," he said seriously after a mont of thought.
"Ohoho~ That's such a 'Wakatoshi' thing to say!" Tendō laughed. "Very on brand!"
"Mm. I know it won't be easy. But at the very least, it's not so impossible pipe dream."
"Ahaha…You're the real deal, Wakatoshi."
With a laugh and a few teasing words, Tendō casually lifted the weight of doubt from his friend's shoulders.
"Well then—I'll be looking forward to your coback!"
"Mm." Ushijima responded with quiet determination.
-----
Three months later, at the Polish League finals.
That sa child who once said he didn't like volleyball was now in the crowd, excitedly cheering—wearing Ushijima Wakatoshi's jersey.
_________
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