Chapter 48: Training Camp 11

The match between Itachiyama and Kamomedai wouldn’t be starting for a while, so everyone went off to handle their own business.

Seeing that Ryosuke was about to leave, Morisuke Yaku finally couldn’t hold himself back anymore and stepped forward, wanting to get to know him. He’d already heard from the coach that after Ryosuke retired in three years, he would be taking over the libero position.

With receives that good—and a future libero at that—Yaku simply couldn’t resist going over to exchange pointers.

Ryosuke was still organizing his backpack and didn’t notice Yaku quietly approaching from behind at all. When he turned around and suddenly saw someone standing there, his body jerked instinctively.

Realizing he’d startled him, Yaku hurriedly spoke up.

“Y–hello, I’m from Nekoma—”

Before he could finish, Ryosuke cut in first. He patted his chest where his heart was still racing, eyes wide as he stared at the person in front of him, his voice bursting with excitement.

“I know you! You’re Nekoma’s libero! I watched your match against Fukurodani—your out-of-bounds save in the middle of the court was insanely cool! Hi, my name’s Ryosuke Hanyu!

“The ball just shot up, and you dashed out of bounds in a flash!
Then—bam—you caught it, and that roll when you landed was seriously awesome!”

Usually quiet, Ryosuke rattled on nonstop, his eyes full of admiration and joy for his senior.

Yaku didn’t even get the chance to respond before Ryosuke’s barrage of praise left him dizzy, his eyes practically spinning. Snapping back to his senses, Yaku grabbed Ryosuke’s hand tightly.

“Right?! Right?! I keep saying that roll during the save was super cool! My teammates all said it wasn’t! They’ve got no taste at all!

“My name’s Morisuke Yaku—Nekoma’s super libero! Pretty cool, huh?!”

“That’s insanely cool, senpai! I want a title like that too!”

Ryosuke and Yaku locked eyes, mutual appreciation shining in both of them.

“My kindred spirit! You’re the only one who understands me!”

“Senpai! You’re the real deal—so cool!”

In just a few short minutes, the two had formed a deep, revolutionary friendship, like brothers from different parents. It was almost painful to watch.

Their bond quickly escalated from simple conversation to going to the cafeteria together.
After all, going to the cafeteria together was something you only did with really close friends.

All things considered, Ryosuke and Yaku could basically be called best friends now.

So Yaku extended an invitation.

“The match on Itachiyama’s side won’t start for a bit. Didn’t you say you like games? Our setter at Nekoma is insanely good at gaming.
Want to come over and check it out?”

Ryosuke practically had an invisible tail wagging behind him, nearly shaking itself off.

“Yes!”

Not long after, the Nekoma team watched their libero come back with Shiratorizawa’s pretty impressive middle blocker in tow, arm slung over his shoulder, calling him “best friend” every other sentence.

They were all stunned.

Tetsurō Kuroo silently gave a thumbs-up in his heart. As expected of you, Morisuke Yaku.

Kuroo had originally planned to go talk to Ryosuke about blocking techniques too, but Kenma Kozume had dragged him into gaming, leaving him unable to get away.

Sitting on the bunk, Kuroo greeted Ryosuke first.

“Yo. I’m Tetsurō Kuroo. Just call me Kuroo.”

“Cockscomb?!”

“It’s not a cockscomb! I just slept on it!”

Kuroo slung an arm around Kenma’s shoulders. “This is our precious setter, Kenma Kozume. Just call him Kenma.”

Kenma lifted his head from his game console and gave Ryosuke a small nod in greeting.

“This is Sō Inuoka, our middle. That quiet one’s Shōhei Fukunaga. And the monk haircut—just call him Fukunaga.”

“Huh? Monk haircut?”

Ryosuke looked around at the room full of strange people and thought to himself, There are so many cats here…

Fukunaga and Kenma had a strangely cat-like presence.

He clenched his hands lightly and smiled.

“My name’s Ryosuke Hanyu. I’m a first-year. Nice to meet you all.”

Kuroo waved him over.
“Forget formalities—let’s play a game. You know how?”

Ryosuke paused for a moment. “Oh—yeah, I play.”

He walked over and sat down on a cushion next to Kuroo, ending up right behind Kenma.

“Survival Rules?”

Kenma turned around immediately, his face lighting up with interest.

“You play that? Want to team up?”

Sure! Ryosuke happily pulled out his phone. Before training camp, he’d been playing games nonstop—mostly Zelda—but during camp he’d trained every day and hadn’t logged in once.

“Oh! You play games too!” Inuoka leaned in to stare at Ryosuke. Fukunaga leaned in as well.

The two exchanged a look, as if opening a private chat channel with just their eyes.

They really look like cats, don’t they?

Fukunaga squinted and nodded, his hand itching to grab a handful of Ryosuke’s thick black hair.

Kenma was also watching Ryosuke.

Ah… he really does look like a cat.

Kenma had thought that while watching Ryosuke play before. On the court, Ryosuke was like a big cat—silent, precise, blocking at just the right moment, his movements smooth and fluid.

Looking at him up close, he seemed even more cat-like. The kind of cat that would be ridiculously expensive.

Ryosuke had large, cat-like eyes with a diamond shape, beautiful emerald-green irises like gemstones, and hair that looked thick and soft.

Ryosuke had no idea everyone was staring at him, curiously examining the newcomer like cats sizing up a new companion.

In the end, Fukunaga couldn’t resist and reached out, giving Ryosuke’s hair a gentle rub.

Ryosuke: ?

Seeing Fukunaga-senpai curiously examining his hair, Ryosuke didn’t say anything. He was used to it—Kiyoomi Sakusa liked ruffling his hair too.

He pulled out his phone and logged into the game. It had been over a week since he’d last been online.

The moment he logged in, notifications started going off nonstop.

“Kenma, can you invite me?”

Kenma nodded, then froze when he saw the ID.

“Cat Hero?”

His pupils shrank, breathing turning uneven.

“Yeah, that’s me,” Ryosuke nodded, confused.

Kenma suddenly grabbed Ryosuke’s hand, visibly excited.

“The Cat Hero who soloed the boss last season?!”

Ryosuke looked even more confused. “If you mean that knight, then… yeah, that’s me.”

“Then add me on LINE!”

Ryosuke had no idea what was happening but added him anyway.

When he saw Kenma’s online ID, realization finally hit.

“Kenma?! Kenma?! Ah—I remember now! You’re the one who solo-killed that boss!”

The two immediately started chatting excitedly about the game, logging in together with perfect coordination.

Yaku wiped at the corner of his eye where there definitely weren’t any tears.

“Who would’ve thought Kenma could make a normal friend… Ryosuke really is a good kid.”

Inuoka and Fukunaga nodded in unison.

Kuroo bristled. “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Kenma, hurry! There’s a crate in the grass!”

Kenma guided his cat-eared character over and calmly looted it.

Man, having a strong teammate feels amazing. Kenma felt refreshed from the top of his head to the tips of his toes.

“Ryosuke, someone’s coming up behind you!”

Ryosuke whipped his head around and locked eyes with Fukunaga.

“I meant in the game!”

Kenma covered his face hard.

“GAME OVER” flashed brightly across his screen.

He was wrong. Completely wrong. Kenma decided to retract his earlier thought that the new partner was pretty decent.

A noisy group gathered in Nekoma’s dorm, gaming together in chaos.

Outside, Tsutomu Goshiki and Yunohama were running all over looking for Ryosuke. He’d disappeared in the middle of packing, and since neither of them wanted to walk all the way back to get their phones, they could only search aimlessly.

Back at Nekoma, Ryosuke and Kenma played several rounds in a row before finally stopping. Ryosuke checked the time—the Itachiyama match was about to start. He needed to go watch Sakusa.

He slowly stood up and stretched.

“I’m heading out. Let’s play again next time.”

Ryosuke said goodbye to the Nekoma group, who all looked reluctant to see him go.

Fukunaga stared wide-eyed, clearly not understanding why the new friend was leaving so soon.

Kenma lay lazily beside Kuroo, weakly lifting a hand to wave.

Only then did Ryosuke leave. Nekoma really was… enthusiastic.

Back inside, Fukunaga stood there for a moment, then clicked his tongue quietly. Hm… that kid left fast. What a waste. He puffed out his cheeks, clearly annoyed.

He walked over and stared at Kuroo without saying a word. Even without speaking, Kuroo instantly understood.

“That’s impossible, no matter how you think about it!”

Kuroo’s temple throbbed. After being teammates for so long, everyone knew Fukunaga’s personality—even without words.

Quiet, fond of dry jokes, always like a frequency-warped cat trying to communicate via brainwaves.

That unblinking stare meant he was asking Kuroo for help.

Kenma let out a small snort. “I think it could work. Ryosuke doesn’t feel like a Shiratorizawa kid at all. He actually fits our cat team really well.”

“…Should I talk to Coach Nekomata? Maybe try poaching him,” Kuroo finally muttered after a long pause.

Ryosuke, meanwhile, had absolutely no idea anyone was plotting to steal him.

He took out his phone to message Goshiki and Yunohama, but neither replied.

With a sigh, he shoved his phone back into his pocket and headed alone to the second gym to watch the match.

On the way, he ran into Kōtarō Bokuto and Keiji Akaashi from Fukurodani.

Akaashi, wearing his usual serious expression on his strikingly handsome face, nodded politely to Ryosuke.

Bokuto barreled over like an excited puppy.

“Yeah,” Ryosuke nodded with a smile.

“Let’s go together! Ryosuke-kun, I’ve seen your receives—our libero wouldn’t stop bragging about you!”

Akaashi sighed and corrected him. “Bokuto-san, it’s ‘praising,’ not ‘bragging.’”

Then he apologized to Ryosuke. “Sorry about that.”

Ryosuke waved his hands quickly. For some reason, Bokuto’s personality felt strangely familiar.

The three of them headed to the gym together.

The gym was already buzzing with warm-ups.

After greeting Bokuto and Akaashi, Ryosuke started looking around. The match was about to begin—why hadn’t his two friends arrived yet?

With a sigh, he jogged over to Itachiyama’s court and saw Sakusa lying on the floor, twisting his wrist at an unnaturally flexible angle.

Ryosuke didn’t say anything, standing at a careful distance and watching Sakusa warm up.

It really was something that Sakusa was willing to warm up lying on the floor. Who knew if he’d disinfect the entire floor again before the next match.

Sensing someone watching him, Sakusa turned around and spotted a familiar cat-like head peeking out—Ryosuke.

His eyes lit up. He crooked a finger, beckoning.

Ryosuke immediately trotted over. Sakusa stood up and pulled him in close, resting an arm around his shoulders.

Sakusa thought his childhood friend really did give off warmth—like standing near a heater after coming in from the cold. He leaned in briefly, confirming Ryosuke was clean, then straightened up again.

The faint scent of disinfectant lingered. Satisfied, Sakusa decided that all those days of making Ryosuke disinfect properly hadn’t been a waste.

Off to the side, Tsukasa Iizuna and Motoya Komori watched with mixed emotions.

“Ugh, I can’t even look. All that clinginess… did Sakusa’s cleanliness get eaten by a dog or what?” Iizuna said bitterly, squeezing his bottle.

“Sakusa has a childhood friend, but I don’t—waaah.”

Komori kicked him lightly, half amused.
“Alright, get ready. We’re about to go on.”

Sakusa finally let go, wiping Ryosuke’s fingers carefully with a tissue.

“I’m heading out first. Wait for me after the match—I’ll take you to the cafeteria.”

Ryosuke lowered his eyes obediently, letting him clean his fingers.

“Even though you played against us before, you still have to cheer properly.”

Sakusa gave an awkward smile, his usually furrowed brow relaxing for once. He patted Ryosuke’s head and headed onto the court.

Ryosuke stood there, watching his back—just like he had so many times before.

Pulling himself together, Ryosuke looked around and spotted Wakatoshi Ushijima and Reon in the stands. He jogged over.

“Oh, Ryosuke’s here,” Ushijima said, shifting over to make space.

Ryosuke paused before sitting next to Ushijima instead of Reon.

As Ushijima moved his bag, Ryosuke caught a glimpse of a bottle of shōchū inside. His eyes lit up. Ushijima nodded solemnly. A strange, silent agreement was reached.

The two sat side by side, secretly messaging each other.

Cat Hero: Drinking tonight?
Ushijima: Midnight.
Cat Hero: ?
Ushijima: Reon will notice.
Cat Hero: 😠👍.jpg

Three people sat together, but only two were talking.

Ever since they’d secretly drunk together last time, it felt like a whole new world had opened up. But Reon kept too close an eye on them.

With no chance to drink openly, they could only plan a midnight sneak.

Reon watched them tapping away on their phones and felt a twinge of unease.
…Are these two dating?

Sighing with the strange feeling of a parent watching kids grow up, he leaned back.

Each of the three was lost in their own thoughts, the moment oddly quiet.

Ryosuke put his phone away and looked around. After a while, he finally spotted Goshiki dragging Yunohama in, both of them out of breath.

He nodded to Ushijima, slipped down from the stands, and ran over.

Goshiki was still complaining.

“This is weird. We searched the whole school and couldn’t find him.”

Ryosuke walked up just in time to hear it.

“Then why didn’t you call me?”

Goshiki laughed awkwardly.

Yunohama scoffed. “Because someone didn’t want to go back to the dorm to get his phone and dragged me all over the place.”

The accusatory glare made Goshiki hang his head. He snorted.
“It’s all Ryosuke’s fault! If he hadn’t wandered off, we wouldn’t be looking for him!”

Ryosuke immediately took a step back.

“Don’t say it like that. I didn’t drag you all over the school.”

Flustered and embarrassed, Goshiki turned red, grabbed Ryosuke and Yunohama, and started walking.

“Alright, alright, I get it! Next time I’ll bring my phone everywhere—now hurry up, let’s go watch the match!”