"Why the hell are you here?"
"Hmm?"
Ushijima Wakatoshi turned around, surprised to see Oikawa Tooru as well. But he quickly regained his composure and answered simply, "Training."
"Huh?"
Oikawa gawked at him, his mouth agape. "Obviously I know you're here to train. I'm asking why you're training here?"
Expressionless, Ushijima replied, "I don't know. Coach arranged it."
Oikawa's raised finger twitched slightly. This guy is seriously haunting me...!
With a dramatic huff, Oikawa turned and stormed off, determined not to be seen together with Ushijima for even a second longer.
But to his growing frustration, no matter how fast he walked, that guy just kept following right behind him. It wasn't until Oikawa arrived at Aoba Johsai's training base that Ushijima finally stopped, right in front of a guest house next door.
"Oh! Wakatoshi, you're here!"
"Oh! Oikawa, you're here too!"
As if perfectly timed, Hajime Iwaizumi and Tendo Satori both opened their respective doors, poking their heads out just as Oikawa and Ushijima reached the entrances.
Then both of them froze.
"Eh??"
"Eh??"
"Wait, why are you here?!"
"Wait, why are you here?!"
Their eyes met.
For a moment, the whole world seemed to fall into silence.
────────── ✦ ──────────
Five minutes later.
Inside the Aoba Johsai training base, players from both Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa stood in two opposing lines, staring at each other in total silence.
Even coaches Irihata Nobuteru and Tanji Washijo stood off to the side, wearing the exact same dumbfounded expressions.
"This is way too much of a coincidence!"
Looking at the familiar yet out-of-place faces across from them, the same thought flashed through the minds of both teams:
There's no way Coach Irihata and Coach Washijo planned this together... right?
But the truth was…
Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa were rivals in the same district. While they did occasionally have joint practices, they generally kept their daily training separate, especially since it involved each team's core strategies and routines.
No one ever imagined they'd run into each other in a place like this. Let alone… end up as next-door neighbors.
Talk about fate, or maybe a cosmic joke.
"Ahem… Well, what a coincidence, Coach Washijo. Since we've already bumped into each other, why not play a practice match?" Coach Irihata cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence.
"Hmm. That works. I've been meaning to see how your team's coming along–" Washijo nodded in agreement.
Everyone else: "......"
Uh, shouldn't someone have asked us first?!
────────── ✦ ──────────
Ten minutes later.
Players from both teams, now in full training uniforms, had finished warming up. Just like that, an unexpected practice match was underway.
"Looks like I came at just the right time. Finished cram school and now I get to beat little Ushiwaka into the ground–" Oikawa grinned, wrapping his wrist brace with flair.
Ushijima frowned. "Cram school? Did you fail your exams, Oikawa?"
Oikawa: "(д;)…"
"Tch. Enough talking. I'm gonna crush you today–" Oikawa snapped, flustered.
Tweet!
The referee blew the whistle.
Both teams took their positions, the match officially began.
Aoba Johsai was serving first, with Oikawa opening the game.
"Alright! Time to take the first point!"
Oikawa's energy when it came to dealing with Ushijima off the court? Zero.
His energy when playing against Ushijima? Through the roof.
Unfortunately, volleyball isn't won with spirit alone.
Thud.
Oikawa's serve smacked the edge of the net. While it just barely made it over into Shiratorizawa's side, it lost all momentum.
"I got it, I got it!"
Shiratorizawa's libero dove with a shout, managing to save the ball with a clean receive.
"Ushijima-senpai!"
Shirabu Kenjirou received the ball and quickly set it for Ushijima.
With a three-step approach, Ushijima launched into the air.
Across the net, Akashi Asuka, Iwaizumi, and Kindaichi closed in and jumped in unison.
"Ready, jump!"
The moment Akashi called out, all three blockers sprang upward like coiled springs.
Instantly,
Coach Washijo on the sidelines, Oikawa and Ushijima on the court, all their eyes widened.
Even Akashi, Iwaizumi, and Kindaichi were shocked by their own leap.
So light… so high?!
For the past three days, the Aoba Johsai players had been training on sand. This was their first time back on an indoor court.
And the second their feet left the floor, they could feel the difference.
The hard surface gave their legs a much stronger rebound. With that sudden release, it was as if springs had been attached to their shoes. Not only did they jump higher, they felt lighter than ever.
No one sensed it more clearly than Akashi Asuka.
Thanks to his naturally high vertical, combined with three days of sand training (which had been steadily increasing his [Vertical · Training Buff]), the sudden release of those constraints launched him to a shocking height, high enough to surprise even Ushijima.
Wham!
Smack!
Two sharp sounds rang out in quick succession.
The first was Ushijima's spike.
The second was the ball hitting Akashi's hand as he blocked.
The ball didn't get stuffed, but it was deflected high into the air above Aoba Johsai's court…
"First contact!"
Still in mid-air, Akashi shouted down.
"I've got it!"
From the back row, Watari Shinji responded and dashed toward the ball's landing spot. But the moment he pushed off for a dive,
His body launched forward, like a loose arrow from a bow, sliding several meters in an instant.
"Eh?"
"Huh?"
"Oh?"
One by one, the players, Coach Washijo, Oikawa, and the rest of Shiratorizawa, turned toward him, all blinking in disbelief.
Especially Oikawa, who was now thoroughly stunned.
Weird… it's only been three days. So how the heck are these guys moving so much faster?!
Thud!
Due to Watari's unexpected overshot, the ball hit the floor and bounced a few times.
But no one was paying attention to the ball anymore. All eyes were on Watari, because his "mistake" revealed something more important.
Coach Irihata watched from the sidelines, squinting with a satisfied smile.
That "mistake" wasn't something to blame, it was proof.
The results of their special training had begun to show.
==========
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