Chapter 20: Daily Training

The next day during practice, Yamagata heard Tsutomu Goshiki and Ryosuke chattering loudly from afar.

When he moved closer, he finally caught what they were saying.

“Goshiki, there really are ghosts in the gym at night!”

“R-really…?”

“Really! A red-haired kappa! It was super scary!”

“Ryosuke, don’t scare me like that…”

Even the usually energetic Goshiki was visibly unsettled by all this talk of spirits and monsters.

Tendo noticed the big cat animatedly recounting last night’s gym encounter and curled his lips into a mischievous smile.

He picked up Ryosuke’s volleyball bag and walked over.
“Hey, Ryosuke-kun—why did you run away when you saw me last night?”

Ryosuke, who had been in the middle of talking with Goshiki, looked at Tendo in confusion.
Did I even see Tendo-senpai last night…?

Seeing his reaction, Tendo pulled an eerie grin and held the bag out in front of him.
“You left your bag with me yesterday, you know.”

The moment Ryosuke saw the bag in Tendo’s hand, his body shuddered, last night’s kappa flashing through his mind.

“H—!”

He sucked in a sharp breath and stared at Tendo in horror.
“Tendo-senpai… y-you… a kappa?!”

Tendo burst out laughing wildly.
“Ahahahaha! That’s right! I’m the Miracle Child Kappa!”

Goshiki glanced left and right, then finally let out a sigh of relief.
Oh… it’s just Tendo-senpai. Scared me to death—I thought it was real.

Yamagata watched Tendo with a helpless smile.
“Hey, Satori, knock it off already.”

“Heh heh, who told Ryosuke-kun to be so easily scared?” Tendo said smugly, carefully leaving out the part where he’d also been startled last night.

Ryosuke stared at Tendo with watery eyes, embarrassment turning into anger as he protested,
“Tendo-senpai! That was way too much!”

He turned on his heel and stormed straight into the gym without looking back, leaving the others standing there, exchanging confused looks.

Goshiki was the first to react.
“S-senpai, I’ll go practice too! Ryosuke, wait for me!”

He took off in a hurry, like a dog being chased.

Yamagata looked at Tendo with a complicated expression. No matter how you looked at it, this felt exactly like a childish argument between teammates.

 …I must be practicing volleyball too much. I’m hallucinating.

Shaking his head, he patted Tendo on the shoulder.
“Satori, the underclassman’s got thin skin.”

Tendo sighed in regret.
“I’m done for. The big cat’s mad.”

Yamagata: “?”

During the rest of practice, everyone clearly noticed that the two who were usually inseparable seemed to have fallen out.

The atmosphere was incredibly awkward.

When practicing serve receive, Ryosuke didn’t pair up with Tendo at all.

Eita Semi went to ask Goshiki, who repeated everything Ryosuke had told him earlier.

Semi laughed gleefully, mercilessly teasing Tendo about it.

Tendo wilted completely. He couldn’t exactly tell Ryosuke that he’d scared himself too—that would be way too humiliating for the so-called Miracle Child, Satori Tendo.

Seeing Tendo not respond to him at all, Ryosuke let out a sharp, annoyed snort.

By the afternoon, Reon and Kawanishi discovered—tragically—that Ryosuke’s receives had become even fiercer, leaving them zero chances to score.

Off to the side, Semi clutched his stomach in pain. This was awful—balls you just couldn’t score off at all.

To keep the seniors from completely losing their composure, Goshiki dragged Ryosuke away to practice spikes instead.

One ball after another, Ryosuke slammed them down with a bang, the force so heavy it felt like he was about to punch a hole through the floor.

Tendo had already wandered past Ryosuke seven times. Seeing that Ryosuke still wasn’t paying him any attention, he sighed and went off to practice on his own.

What should I do…? Ah, I really messed this up.
No, Ryosuke-kun is probably just waiting for me to talk to him. Such an unhonest kid…

Ryosuke, meanwhile, kept sneaking glances at Tendo. Whenever he got caught, he’d hurriedly turn his head away, like covering his ears after being discovered.

He bounced the ball lightly in his hands.
Maybe I should just forgive Tendo-senpai… It is my fault for being such a scaredy-cat. I can’t really blame him…

But Ryosuke didn’t dare go over.
What if Tendo-senpai scolded him?

The cat sighed.

Looking at the lively gym, Ryosuke hugged his volleyball and quietly slipped away to Building 2.

Lately, he’d been practicing a hook serve. Last night, he’d gone to the gym intending to practice it alone—only to get scared half to death by Tendo-senpai.

Now that everyone else was busy, he could finally train by himself.

The hook serve was relatively difficult among serves, and receiving it was just as hard. It placed heavy demands on core strength.

Ryosuke pinched his soft stomach and sighed.
Looks like serve practice starts with building muscle…

Coach Washijō definitely wouldn’t let him practice this openly. Ryosuke’s playing style was already stable, and sneaking in new techniques could temporarily throw him off.

If the coach wouldn’t let him practice, then he’d just have to do it himself.

Tendo had followed Ryosuke the moment he slipped away.

At first, he’d been worried Ryosuke was still upset, but when he saw Ryosuke practicing serves alone, he finally relaxed.

Without making a sound, Tendo walked into the gym in Building 2, found a seat, and rested his chin on his hand as he watched.

Ryosuke, completely focused on practice, really seemed to glow—sparkling all over, even his sweat catching the light.

Only after finishing did Ryosuke notice Tendo watching him. He scratched awkwardly at the volleyball, his gaze drifting everywhere except toward Tendo.

Tendo walked over and saw Ryosuke still standing there, unmoving.

Relieved, he casually hooked an arm around Ryosuke’s shoulders.

Tendo gave Ryosuke’s head a quick, careless pat.

Ryosuke’s face instantly turned a vivid chili-red.

Eyes darting, he spoke softly,
“I-I’m sorry too, Tendo-senpai. I went too far today.
But… please don’t scare me again. I’m really timid.”

Only then did Tendo realize that not everyone could be teased so casually.

Ah—but Ryosuke was unexpectedly easy to calm down. Tendo ruffled his wonderfully soft hair.
“There, there. I’m not mad at all.
And if you’re not mad either, then we’re good now, right?”

No matter what, the big cat had to be soothed first.

Ryosuke, his neck still red, answered obediently,
“O-Okay, senpai!”

So childish… Why did I even get upset with senpai over a joke?

With this heavy worry finally resolved, Tendo let out a long sigh of relief.

I really can’t scare Ryosuke like that again. He’s timid and thin-skinned—if he actually stopped talking to me next time, that’d be a disaster.