Chapter 59: Training Camp 22

That whole scene had completely ruined Yamagata’s appetite. His eyes kept darting back and forth between Reon and Tendo, restless and confused.

Only Ushijima seemed entirely unaffected by the strange atmosphere, calmly drinking his miso soup as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

After a while, Tendo left with his tray still more than half full. His back looked oddly lonely as he walked away.

Once Tendo was finally gone, Yamagata couldn’t hold it in anymore and asked Reon,

“What’s going on? Tendo hasn’t said a single word today. This is so awkward.”

Reon gave Yamagata a look that was half-smile, half-sigh. Honestly… this kid.

When Reon didn’t answer, Yamagata stuck to him relentlessly, pestering him all the way through the end of the meal and even trailing after him once they stood up.

After dinner, Tsutomu Goshiki went to find Kōrai Hoshiumi. Yunohama followed Eita Semi to the convenience store to buy snacks. Everyone else headed back to the dorm together.

On the way back, Yamagata clung to Reon like glue, his mouth running nonstop.

“What did you guys say at the table, anyway?!”

Kawanishi walked behind them with a gentle smile. “We didn’t say anything.”

Yamagata spun around and shook Kawanishi by the shoulders.

“You think I didn’t see what you were saying with your eyes?!”

Kawanishi sighed and hooked an arm around Yamagata’s neck.

“Come here. I’ll tell you quietly.”

After Kawanishi muttered a few words into Yamagata’s ear, Yamagata’s eyes instantly went vacant.

“Kawanishi, what did you say to him?” Shirabu asked, curious.

“Nothing special,” Kawanishi replied calmly. “Just the truth.”

Reon glanced back at the scene and rubbed his forehead. Every single day, they were corrupting Yamagata.

Poor kid. This innocent child was about to lose his innocence.

Yamagata himself felt like he’d just swallowed a massive piece of gossip—struck by lightning, his worldview cracking open to reveal a whole new world.

He stood there in a daze for several seconds. Just as Reon thought he’d finally processed it—

“Holy—!”

The shout exploded out of him. Reon whipped his head around as Kawanishi immediately clamped a hand over Yamagata’s mouth.

“No swearing,” Kawanishi said pleasantly, his smile carrying a clear threat. Coach Washijō hated foul language more than anything.

With his mouth covered, Yamagata let out a series of muffled protests.

Kawanishi pinched the bridge of his nose. “No. You’re overthinking it.”

More frantic muffled noises followed.

“Don’t go telling anyone.”

Even more muffled noises.

“Aren’t you afraid Tendo will block you into the ground?”

Reon tilted his head, genuinely puzzled. How were these two communicating so smoothly like this?

Yamagata, completely restrained, felt like crying.

Deep down, he’d already decided to treasure his life and stay far, far away from Tendo.

Reon looked worried. Look at how scared the kid was—he’d even started swearing.

Yamagata stayed dazed the entire way back. It wasn’t until they were nearly at the dorms, when he saw Ushijima still wearing that eternally unbothered expression, that he finally couldn’t help asking,

“So… you knew?”

Ushijima looked confused. “Knew what?”

Yamagata stammered, his face flushing suspiciously red.

“Well… Tendo… he… you know… that thing…”

Ushijima actually understood. He nodded.

“I know.”

“So I was the only one who didn’t know?!”

Shirabu let out a scoff. “Anyone with eyes could tell. Among the first-years, only Tsutomu Goshiki and Ryosuke are completely clueless.”

Yamagata felt personally attacked, but at the same time… Shirabu wasn’t wrong.

Kawanishi wrapped an arm around Yamagata’s shoulders affectionately. Poor kid—way too pure.

“When Ryosuke first came to Shiratorizawa, Tendo was already acting strange,” Reon said calmly. “See it, but don’t say it. Just keep your mouth shut.”

After thinking for a moment, still worried about Yamagata’s loose lips, Reon added,

“No one is allowed to talk about this. Tendo won’t care if we know, but Ryosuke absolutely must not find out. If anyone leaks it, I’ll personally take care of you.”

Yamagata immediately remembered the terror of his early days at Shiratorizawa, when Reon had ruled his life with four or five hundred balls a day.

He shuddered and nodded frantically.

Only then did Reon feel satisfied. There were barely any normal kids on this team—he couldn’t let these people lead Ryosuke and Tsutomu Goshiki, the two genuinely upright kids, astray.

…

Ryosuke knew nothing about the conversations on the way back. Right now, he was in a great mood, carrying a volleyball as he headed off to find sakusa.

He made his way smoothly to the Itachiyama dorms. Everyone from Itachiyama was gathered in Iizuna’s room.

When Ryosuke walked in, he saw them sitting in a circle. The lights were off, and a creepy children’s rhyme was playing.

Komori was muttering rapidly, too fast for Ryosuke to make out even from the doorway—like he was performing some kind of ritual.

Kunihiko was clinging tightly to Iizuna’s arm, squeezing so hard it was almost turning purple. Sakusa sat off to the side, utterly bored, staring into space.

He genuinely did not understand why he’d agreed to join such a pointless activity.

Araki swallowed hard, his hand over his ears trembling.

“And then the wild-eyed, black-haired killer, clutching his own head, knocked on the door again and again, chanting—
Have you seen my head… AAAAAAH—!!”

Ryosuke pushed the door open.

A piercing scream ripped through the room, making everyone flinch.

Seeing Komori was one thing. Hearing Komori scream was a whole different level of terrifying.

Komori saw a dark figure pushing the door open, holding a round object in its hands. Goosebumps exploded all over his body.

His most honest reaction was to scream.

That thing was holding its own head—what the hell?!

Iizuna and Kunihiko were sitting with their backs to the door, so when Ryosuke opened it, they took a direct hit.

The old dorm door creaked loudly, the sound ringing clearly in their ears.

Iizuna was so scared he couldn’t even speak. Just as he was about to shout, Komori’s scream went off.

“AAAAAH! Iizuna, there’s a ghost behind you!! It’s holding its head!!”

Ryosuke screamed too.

“AAAAH! Where’s the ghost?!”

The volleyball slipped from his hands and hit the floor. In his panic, Kunihiko felt around and grabbed something round.

He immediately burst into tearful screams.

“I—I touched its head!! AAAAAH!!”

The scene descended into absolute chaos.

Sakusa had noticed something was wrong the moment Ryosuke opened the door. When Komori started screaming, his eyelids twitched violently. He was about to speak when he heard a painfully familiar scream.

As Ryosuke’s childhood friend, Sakusa knew exactly how terrifying Ryosuke’s sonic attacks were.

Back when Ryosuke was little and learning how to ride a bike, his screams alone could shake the house. Now that he was genuinely scared? Even worse.

The overlapping screams grew louder and louder, echoing back and forth, nearly shaking the building. Sakusa’s head buzzed, his temples pounding.

In the hallway, someone from Nekoma opened the door to check what was going on. Kenma stuck his head out.

All he heard were ear-splitting screams.

His pudding-shaped hair practically stood on end.

With a pained expression, he shrank back. Were these people grinding monsters or something?

Annoyed by the noise, he slammed the door shut.

Kuroo looked up curiously.

“What happened, Kenma?”

Kenma rubbed his ears weakly.

“Nothing… probably saw a ghost.”

In a way, Kenma wasn’t wrong.

Sakusa covered his ears in agony and fumbled along the wall until he found the light switch.

Click.

The lights came on.

Ah… peace at last.

“AAAAH—… huh?”

Komori was still screaming with his eyes tightly shut. When he realized the noise had stopped, he cautiously opened one eye and saw everyone staring at him.

His scream cut off instantly.

Kunihiko stared at the volleyball in his hands, trembling as he tried to calm himself down.

Ryosuke, still dazed, was quickly pulled into the room by Sakusa, who immediately started wiping his hands.

Iizuna glanced at Ryosuke, then at the volleyball in Kuroda’s hands. That explained everything. He covered his face and lowered his head—it was just too embarrassing.

Ryosuke had also been badly startled by Komori’s scream. It took Sakusa a while to calm him down.

Fuming, Iizuna grabbed a pillow and hurled it at Komori.

“This is all your fault! Why were you telling ghost stories in the middle of the night?!”

Komori picked up a pillow and shot back,

“This is all Ryos— Kuroda’s fault! That was clearly a volleyball! Why were you screaming?!”

Komori had almost blamed Ryosuke, but when he caught his cousin’s icy glare, the words spun around in his mouth and came out with a different name instead.