Chapter 83: Gossip

Ever since he’d picked up Hinata on the road, Ryosuke somehow ended up adding practically the entire Karasuno team on LINE.

Oh—and apparently there was also a particularly tall middle blocker. Sharp-tongued, quiet, and most importantly, he wore glasses. If Ryosuke introduced him to Yunohama, those two would probably have plenty to talk about.

The Karasuno group even went out of their way to thank Ryosuke for everything. Looking at his phone, Ryosuke couldn’t help thinking that Karasuno’s members were really enthusiastic…

“So what happened after that?” Ushijima asked, standing beside Ryosuke after training, clearly in the mood for gossip.

Ryosuke squeezed his water bottle and chuckled.
“Then they were dragged back by Daichi-senpai and scolded. Daichi-senpai said that on the way back from Shiratorizawa, he even ran into Kageyama staring at someone’s meat buns. The vendor almost thought Kageyama was a thief.”

He continued,
“The punishment afterward was apparently no extra training at night, and during the practice match they were made to sit on the bench for several sets. That must’ve been like a bolt from the blue for them.”

“Mm.” Ushijima nodded solemnly, very clearly empathizing with the pain of being forbidden from extra practice and forced to sit on the bench.

Ryosuke fell silent for a moment when he saw Ushijima’s expression.
“Senpai, you’re Shiratorizawa’s ace. Please don’t project yourself into this. That kind of thing could never happen to you.”

Ushijima didn’t respond. He simply reached out and rubbed Ryosuke’s head hard. With that kind of strength, Ryosuke nearly worried his hair would get rubbed right off.

Just then, Tendō came charging in from outside the gym, yelling at the top of his lungs.

Reon frowned and spiked a volleyball straight at him.
“Talk properly. Don’t scream like a ghost.”

Tendō laughed as he rubbed his forehead.
“I just heard the advisor say we’ve got practice matches arranged!”

As soon as he said that, everyone dropped what they were doing and crowded over. Goshiki grabbed Tendō eagerly, eyes shining.

“Which team? When? Can I play?”

Tendō snorted and flicked Goshiki on the forehead.
“I’m not the coach—why are you asking me?”
After a pause, he added,
“If it’s within Miyagi, it should be Date Tech and Aobajosai. If it’s outside Miyagi, I don’t know. A lot of teams from other prefectures are busy with regional tournaments right now.”

“It should be Aobajosai,” Ushijima said, his gaze intense.

“Oikawa should come to Shiratorizawa,” everyone said in unison, finishing the sentence for him. Someone even rolled their eyes without caring about the captain’s dignity.

“Huh? Who’s Oikawa? Why would he come to Shiratorizawa?” Goshiki asked curiously.

Seeing Goshiki’s expression, Ryosuke couldn’t help thinking of Hinata. Even the way they talked was exactly the same, wasn’t it?

Ryosuke looked at Ushijima and said,
“Captain, saying things like that won’t make Oikawa-senpai come to Shiratorizawa. It’ll just make him angry.”

Ushijima looked genuinely confused.
“Why would he get angry?”

Ryosuke: “…………”

Semi burst out laughing.
“Little Ryosuke, even if you say that, Wakatoshi is still going to say it anyway.”

Ryosuke choked on his words and gave up on responding.

Everyone kept arguing about which team would actually be coming. Kawanishi suddenly asked from the side,
“Hey, didn’t Ryosuke and the others never participate in the Freshman Tournament?”

Ryosuke & Goshiki & Yunohama: “???”

Goshiki looked up blankly.
“What’s the Freshman Tournament?”

Yamagata rubbed his head as he explained,
“Ah, every year the prefecture holds a Freshman Tournament for newly selected first-years. Students from different schools get mixed into teams, but the awards are all individual—best player and stuff. Not very prestigious.”

“But there are a lot of well-known coaches there,” Kawanishi sighed.

Reon rolled his eyes.
“Coach Washijō wouldn’t let them go. Right now, all we need to do is focus on preparing for IH. Ever since our year, Shiratorizawa hasn’t participated in the Freshman Tournament anymore.”

“Why’s that?” Yunohama asked, curiosity piqued.

Ushijima spoke up.
“There was someone from our year—Yu-san. He was very talented, and Coach Washijō put a lot of effort into developing him. But after he went to the Freshman Tournament, a U16 coach poached him. Coach Washijō was furious.”

No one had expected to hear gossip like this.

Goshiki pressed on.
“Then what happened?”

Tendō raised his hand enthusiastically.
“I know! I know! That coach saw his ability and extended an offer, so he went. I, Reon, and Little Ushiwaka got offers too, but we didn’t go. In the end, that guy ran into problems during his development stage with the U16 team.”

“The coach didn’t pay him much attention, and he ended up sinking during that phase. Coach Washijō was livid—after all these years, someone actually dared to snatch a player from him.”

Ushijima nodded, confirming it.

Reon sighed.
“So don’t ever bring up the Freshman Tournament in front of Coach Washijō. Back then, that person was the one he valued most. Ever since, no class has participated again. Getting into U16 isn’t that impressive anyway.”

“There are too many people. At the very least, you’ll be warming the bench for two years.”

Yunohama nodded thoughtfully.
“It’s not just the U16 coach’s issue. That person had big ambitions too—wanted to reach the top in one leap.”

“So let’s drop it. Not participating is actually fine. We can treat them as secret weapons,” Yamagata said cheerfully.

“Give me a break. During the entrance practice matches and training camps, those three were already no secret at all,” Shirabu said flatly.

“Alright, get back to training. Stop clustering together—if we get seen, we’ll be punished again,” Reon waved them off.

Not long after, Coach Washijō arrived together with the advisor.

Everyone’s eyes immediately locked onto the small board in the advisor’s hands.

If there was one thing people at Shiratorizawa were most curious about, the advisor’s mysterious little board would definitely rank high. It was always filled with data and records, even information about matches from other schools.

The advisor smiled gently.
“I’ve arranged practice matches for the next couple of days—one against Aobajosai and one against Date Tech. We’ll start tomorrow afternoon, so make sure you perform well.”

“The lineup will be decided right before we take the court. Those who don’t play shouldn’t be discouraged. We’ll rotate people during the matches and try to give everyone a chance.”

After speaking, the advisor glanced at Coach Washijō and sighed. It was clearly the old man’s own decision, yet he insisted on having her say it. Such a sharp tongue but a soft heart—she really couldn’t understand him.

Coach Washijō scanned the group.
“What are you all staring at me for? Get back to training!”

In an instant, everyone scattered, bustling noisily back into practice.

Coach Washijō sat down, watching the team train, lost in thought.

Ryosuke glanced at Coach Washijō sitting there, his emotions complicated. After hearing that gossip earlier, he realized that the tall, stern figure of Tanji Washijō had truly grown old.

He sighed quietly, refocused, tossed the volleyball up, and slammed it down hard, the impact ringing sharply through the gym.

Coach Washijō glanced sideways and gave an almost imperceptible nod. Not bad—he’d improved. Though he didn’t know why, Ryosuke seemed unaffected by it all, and that was a good thing.

That evening, when Ryosuke went to Sendai Gymnasium to practice his serves, he ran into Oikawa and Iwaizumi again.

The three of them sat on the court chatting away. Strangely enough, Ryosuke had somehow gained a lot of friends lately without even realizing it, and now his eyes curved into happy crescents.

With so many good friends who loved volleyball, Ryosuke felt unbelievably lucky.