Chapter 37: Meeting

Ryosuke got on the bus along with the upperclassmen. Goshiki, brimming with excitement, dragged his suitcase and tried to charge on first, only to have Yunohama—quick-eyed and quicker-handed—grab him by the back of the collar and stop him in his tracks.

Reon stayed at the very back of the line, watching everyone board to keep certain people from acting up—like Semi and Shirabu, who were still bickering as they walked over.

“You eat so much and still don’t grow taller~”

“...And eating that much hasn’t made you any smarter, either.”

Semi was about to fire back when Reon shot him a sharp look. He immediately shut his mouth.

Shirabu snorted coldly and boarded the bus without even glancing sideways.

Reon sighed. This whole group probably couldn’t scrape together an IQ of a hundred.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the logo on the bus.

“Hanyu Group...?”

Reon scratched his head, muttering in confusion, a question mark slowly forming in his mind. Before he could think it through, Kawanishi suddenly popped out from behind and dragged him onto the bus.

“What are you spacing out for? Get on already.”

Reon had no choice but to board, rubbing his chin as he did. The name felt oddly familiar.

Coach Washijō and the advisor were already seated on the bus. After boarding, Ryosuke walked straight over and sat down behind Coach Washijō.

Coach Washijō had his arms crossed and was dozing. Hearing movement, he lifted his eyelids and, upon seeing Ryosuke, let out an annoyed snort.

Ryosuke just smiled and said nothing.

Goshiki had originally wanted to sit with Ryosuke, but when he saw where Ryosuke was sitting, he quietly pulled his foot back and nudged Yunohama, heading toward the rear seats instead.

Yamagata boarded last and found there were no seats left. With some trepidation, he squeezed in next to Ryosuke, acutely aware of the low-pressure aura radiating from Coach Washijō in the seat ahead. He barely dared to breathe.

Ryosuke greeted Yamagata cheerfully, completely unfazed by Coach Washijō’s oppressive presence.

He had planned to take a nap, but the bus was far too noisy. Unable to sleep, he pulled out his phone and started fiddling with it.

Coach Washijō turned around, saw Ryosuke playing on his phone, and his temper flared instantly.

He spoke darkly,
“You stayed up playing games until the middle of the night yesterday. Don’t tell me you forgot.”

Ryosuke’s hand stiffened. He pretended not to hear.

Seeing that Ryosuke was ignoring him, Coach Washijō muttered to himself and turned back around.

Yamagata heard every bit of the grumbling.

“It’s all fate… I sleep on the couch, this brat plays games in the middle of the night!
And now I still have to keep an eye on him! I really need to find him something to do...”

Yamagata didn’t dare say a word, lying back in his seat and pretending to be dead.

Ryosuke suddenly felt someone tug at his hair. He turned around to see Goshiki pulling two curry buns out of his bag and offering them to him.

Ryosuke accepted them with teary-eyed gratitude. Goshiki really was a good guy.

Munching on the buns, he lowered his head and went back to his phone, sending a message to a certain clean freak far away in Tokyo.

Cat Hero: poke poke.jpg
Clean Freak: ?

Only then did Ryosuke remember—he’d sent a message last night and never checked it afterward. He hadn’t even seen the reply.

Cat Hero: Did you secretly go play volleyball without telling me?
Clean Freak: I didn’t do it secretly. You didn’t ask.

Ryosuke grew indignant and started hammering away at the keyboard.

Cat Hero: I thought we were friends, and you didn’t even tell me something this small! Our friendship is OVER!

Far away at Itachiyama, Sakusa frowned at his phone, completely unsure how to respond.

Motoya Komori noticed his cousin’s troubled expression and leaned over to take a look, curious about what could possibly stump his usually sharp cousin.

What he saw was a text exchange that looked exactly like an elementary school argument. Then he noticed who it was with.

Chuckling, he said,
“Oh? Isn’t this the heir of the Hanyu family? What, you didn’t tell him you’re still playing volleyball after starting middle school?”

Sakusa’s eyelid twitched.

“Is it really that bad that I didn’t tell him?”

Komori froze for a second, then burst out laughing. His cousin was great in every way—except communication. He’d finally made a friend, and honestly, it was impressive that the Hanyu family’s heir could put up with Sakusa’s personality.

“Of course it is. If you don’t tell him, he’s obviously going to be upset.”

Sakusa irritably poked at the keyboard for a long time, but couldn’t type anything out.

In the end, he sent a voice message instead.

On the bus, Ryosuke’s phone chimed.

He glanced down and saw a voice message from that proud clean freak.

Clean Freak: [voice message]
Clean Freak: apology cat.jpg

Ryosuke let out a small laugh. After listening to the voice message, he didn’t reply.

That cat sticker was one he’d stolen from Ryosuke in the first place—it didn’t suit Sakusa at all.

Seeing that Ryosuke didn’t respond, Sakusa fell into deep thought.

Was he really that angry?

Komori came over and called out,
“Let’s go, Sakusa. Shiratorizawa should be arriving soon. We’ll head to the gym first.”

Sakusa could only slip his phone into his pocket and head to the gym to assemble.

On Ryosuke’s side, after an hour and a half on the road, they finally arrived in Tokyo.

The bus came to a smooth stop in front of Fukurōdani Academy. Everyone grabbed their luggage and got off one by one.

Goshiki was still huffing and puffing as he hauled his suitcase. Ushijima sighed, and as he passed, gave Goshiki’s suitcase a steadying hand.

Goshiki’s eyes instantly sparkled.

Shirabu rolled his eyes as he walked past.

Ryosuke helped Coach Washijō down from the bus.

Fukurōdani’s coach, Takeyuki, came over to guide them. Seeing him, Coach Washijō greeted him with a broad smile.

“Oh my, it’s Fukurōdani again this year. Sorry about that.”

He was smiling politely, but there wasn’t a shred of apology in his heart—in fact, he looked rather pleased.

Coach Washijō didn’t bother responding. They’d known each other for years; Konoha knew exactly what kind of person he was and just smiled back.

Under Konoha’s lead, everyone headed inside.

For Ryosuke and Goshiki, this was their first time at Fukurōdani, and they looked around with bright, curious eyes.

Konoha smiled as he sized up Shiratorizawa’s new first-years. They all looked like promising kids.

He led the Shiratorizawa group into the gym, where members from three or four other schools had already arrived.

Fukurōdani, Itachiyama, and Nekoma were all present.

Bokuto from Fukurōdani was the first to notice Shiratorizawa’s arrival. He spread his arms wide, welcoming his friends from afar.

“Hey hey hey! Long time no see, Wakatoshi-kun!”

Ryosuke curiously examined this owl-like presence—black-and-white hair, an inverted-triangle build, and strong core muscles around the waist. He mentally slapped a label on him right away.

Ushijima gave a calm nod, while Tendo happily stepped forward to greet him.

“Oh my, Bokuto-kun! It’s been so long!”

“Oh! Satori!”

Bokuto lunged forward, but a hand reached out from behind with perfect timing and stopped him. Bokuto’s eyes turned into dots as he flailed his arms uselessly.

A sigh came from behind him.
“Bokuto-senpai, please don’t be so rude.”

Akaashi grabbed Bokuto by the collar while bowing apologetically toward Ushijima.

“Sorry, Ushijima-senpai.”

Ushijima replied earnestly,
“No need to apologize.”

Goshiki was still staring at Bokuto. He’d once overheard the coach calling him “little Bokuto,” and now he was finally seeing the real Kōtarō Bokuto in person.

The Itachiyama side also joined the excitement. Their libero, Iizuna, leaned against Komori.

“Wow, Shiratorizawa has a really good-looking freshman this year.”

Hearing that, Sakusa lifted his head and searched the crowd for Ushijima.

Suddenly, his gaze froze.

He stared toward Shiratorizawa in disbelief, his brows knitting together, as if trying to confirm what he was seeing.