Chapter 60: Training Camp 23

The group had a false alarm. Araki clutched his chest, letting out a shaky breath.

He’d been startled speechless for a moment—almost scared into passing out.

Sakusa glanced around at the roomful of people with clear impatience. He wiped Ryosuke’s fingers irritably, using a bit too much force and leaving them slightly red.

Still annoyed, Iizuna grabbed another pillow and smacked Komori square on the head.

“This is all your fault! Why were you telling ghost stories?!”

Komori scratched his head awkwardly and let out a dry laugh.

“I—I didn’t know someone would suddenly come in… Besides, he was holding a volleyball…”

Noticing Sakusa’s increasingly sharp gaze, Komori lowered his voice.

“Ryosuke, weren’t you planning to check out the libero gathering later?”

He suddenly remembered Sakusa mentioning it a few days ago.

Ryosuke snapped his head around. “Yeah! I wanna go—really!”

Komori stood up and patted Ryosuke’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. Come with me later. We’ll go see what the libero meetup is like.”

Ryosuke’s eyes immediately lit up.

Sakusa snorted softly. “It’s still early. If you’re bored, you could go next door and play games with Kenma.”

As Sakusa’s self-proclaimed level-ten translator, Ryosuke caught the faintly sour tone hidden in those words. It felt a little strange—though not unfamiliar.

Grinning, he sat down beside Sakusa.

“Nope. We haven’t really had time to talk these past few days.”

Araki, whose presence was usually minimal, witnessed the scene, silently covered his eyes, and slipped out of the room.

On his way out, he dragged Kuroda along with him, inwardly judging Iizuna and Komori. Those two really had no sense of timing.

After messing around for a while, Komori started laughing and gaming with Iizuna. Ryosuke rested against Sakusa’s side as the two spoke quietly.

Sakusa absentmindedly squeezed Ryosuke’s hand once or twice.

In that relaxed atmosphere, Ryosuke gradually grew drowsy. He’d been overwhelmed with training lately—early morning runs followed by evening practices. Dark circles had formed beneath his pale eyes.

Before long, he fell asleep.

Sakusa noticed Ryosuke had fallen asleep. He glanced over briefly, then looked away.

After a moment, he pulled his hand back.

He idly traced the edge of Ryosuke’s hand, then stopped himself.

Komori checked the time on his phone and turned around, spotting Ryosuke asleep against Sakusa.

For a moment, he hesitated.

Sakusa shot him a look, then reluctantly gave Ryosuke a gentle shake.

He knew how much Ryosuke had been looking forward to the libero exchange—he’d talked about it constantly. If Sakusa didn’t wake him now, Ryosuke would probably regret it later.

Ryosuke stirred, still half-asleep. He’d dozed off leaning against Sakusa; the faint scent of disinfectant felt oddly reassuring.

“Get up. If you don’t go now, the liberōs will be gone.”

The cool voice sounded close by. Ryosuke rubbed his ear and nodded.

“Then I’ll head out.”

Waving goodbye, he happily hooked an arm around Komori’s shoulder and left with him.

Once everyone was gone, Sakusa shifted to the spot where Ryosuke had been sleeping and lay down.

He covered his eyes with one hand. Honestly… that guy really noticed nothing.

Sakusa had known since childhood that Ryosuke was important to him.

He wasn’t sure when that sense of familiarity had started—but Ryosuke had always stood out.

He rubbed his fingers together unconsciously. The feeling of rough calluses still lingered faintly.

Too many people paid attention to Ryosuke. Sakusa frowned slightly, feeling inexplicably annoyed. If Ryosuke ever figured things out on his own, it would probably take a long time.

He sighed, grabbed the disinfectant from the bedside table, and sprayed it irritably.

...

On the way to the second gym, Ryosuke was brimming with energy, practically bouncing with excitement. Komori, meanwhile, quietly observed the person who had clearly left an impression on his cousin.

Eventually, he couldn’t help asking.

“Ryosuke, you and Sakusa are childhood friends—so why don’t I remember you?”

Komori explained that, due to family circumstances, he’d spent most of his childhood around Sakusa. In his memories, Sakusa had only been close to one girl.

Ryosuke turned around in surprise.

“Huh?? You don’t remember me? I used to fall a lot when I was sick. Sakusa always complained and never helped me up—you were the one who did.”

Komori froze.

“That’s… weird. I thought it was a girl…”

Then again—maybe he wasn’t so sure.

“Huh?!”

Komori stared at him. Ryo-chan was a boy?!

Ryosuke smiled and nodded. “That was me. Grandpa said my luck was bad when I was little, so I dressed as a girl back then.”

Komori smacked his forehead. “Ah—sorry! I really thought you were a girl…”

He internally mourned his long-lost childhood crush for a brief moment before pulling himself together.

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to forget you. Let’s add each other on LINE.”

Far away in the dorm, Sakusa suddenly felt a chill and frowned.

After clearing up the misunderstanding, Ryosuke and Komori quickly became closer. Ryosuke admired Komori deeply—the appeal of a top libero was hard to resist.

When they reached the second gym, Ryosuke noticed quite a crowd—liberōs and other strong defensive players alike.

Komori led him inside.

Morisuke Yaku, passing with Haruki Komi nearby, spotted Ryosuke and immediately tossed the ball aside.

He ran over and jumped onto Ryosuke’s back.

“Yo! Ryosuke’s here! Wanna practice together?!”

Ryosuke winced. For someone so light, Yaku’s grip was unexpectedly strong.

“Yaku-senpai… could you get down first?”

Yaku laughed and hopped off, then clapped Komori on the shoulder.

“Nice one, Komori! You brought him!”

Komori rubbed his shoulder and kicked Yaku lightly in response.