Beeeep, beep beep beep beep~~~~!
With the long blow of the whistle, the match between Sengoku and Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High finally ended, the scoreboard reading 25–20.
Although Kitagawa's substitute setter performed decently after Tobio Kageyama was taken off the court, managing to coordinate fairly well with the rest of the team, sometimes raw talent simply defies logic.
When Kageyama was on the court, even if he treated his teammates as mere tools for spiking and barked out orders like a "King." Kitagawa's offense and defense stood peerless in all of Miyagi Prefecture's junior high division.
But after losing Kageyama, Kitagawa remained a strong team, just no longer a super-level one.
In this situation, Sengoku was still able to break through their defense. Meanwhile, Kitagawa found it increasingly difficult to penetrate the front-row blocks of Asuka Akashi.
And so, when the final whistle blew…
Silence fell on Kitagawa's side of the court.
For a moment, the Sengoku players seemed stunned, as if they couldn't quite believe it. But then, an overwhelming wave of cheers erupted.
"We did it! We finally beat Kitagawa!"
"One more match! Just one more!"
"Nationals… we actually have a shot at going to nationals now!"
The Sengoku team rushed to surround Asuka Akashi, a mass of sweaty arms and gleeful shouts.
Even Mitsuto Shimokawa came running up from the stands, his face flushed with excitement. Though he'd believed Sengoku had a chance to win, it had only been a chance. Now that they'd actually done it, even as a man in his thirties, he was grinning like a kid.
Not long after, the referee called for the teams to line up for the post-match bow.
Tobio Kageyama returned from the bench, but his dazed expression made it clear, he was still in a mental fog.
After the teams bowed, both sides exited the court through the player tunnels.
The Sengoku players, despite being physically exhausted, were visibly energized. Instead of leaving right away, they headed up into the stands to watch the other semifinal: Kousen Academy vs. Yurisei Junior High.
That match stretched all the way to the third set, with Kousen Academy emerging victorious.
The final for the regional preliminaries was scheduled for the following week.
…
On Monday, when the team returned to school, everyone in the volleyball club was buzzing with excitement, but they were still holding back a bit, knowing there was one last game ahead.
What they hadn't expected, however, was that the rest of the school was even more excited than they were.
From the moment news of Sengoku reaching the prelim finals spread across campus, Akashi and the others could hear the chorus club rehearsing from their usual practice rooms, clearly preparing a cheer performance for the upcoming match, or even for nationals.
During classes, teachers from all subjects would casually check in on Akashi and Oomae Masato, asking how they were feeling.
And among the student body, it went without saying, all week long, no matter where Akashi went, whether to the restroom or to the cafeteria, he couldn't escape the constant chatter surrounding him. Every conversation seemed to revolve around "nationals" or "how cool he is."
It was then that Asuka Akashi finally realized he'd underestimated just how seriously schools take national tournaments at the junior high level.
And that wasn't all.
For nearly the entire week, every morning or evening when he opened his shoe locker, Akashi would find a different envelope, each one decorated with hearts.
Strangely enough, even though volleyball was a team sport, the other members of the volleyball club almost never received any.
"This is… really something else," he muttered.
It was Friday evening, school had just ended. Akashi opened his locker, ready to change into his outdoor shoes and head home. There was no practice today because of the finals tomorrow.
But as soon as he opened it, three envelopes with pink hearts tumbled out.
"Kids these days are so bold." he muttered. "Back when I was their age, if you liked someone, you just kept it to yourself and prayed your parents wouldn't find out... Seriously, I'm running out of space at home for all of these."
Next to him, Masato Oomae stared blankly.
Are you hearing yourself right now!?
Watching Akashi sigh as he tried to figure out what to do with yet another batch of love letters, Masato retrieved his own shoes from his completely empty locker, quietly wondering what type of fuel he'd need to set something on fire tonight.
The two left the school building.
As students from various clubs ran past them, mostly younger ones from the athletic teams, Masato found himself momentarily aimless.
After all, Sengoku Junior High always ended classes early. If you didn't have club activities, there wasn't really anywhere to go at this hour.
And before they knew it…
The two of them had somehow wandered back to the volleyball gym.
The doors were locked, clearly, Coach Shimokawa was worried someone might sneak in for extra practice and risk messing up their condition before the big game.
Akashi scoffed at his coach's caution.
Sneak in for extra training?
What a joke. What kind of decent Junior Higher would do something like that?
Then they rounded the corner…
And saw the entire volleyball team scattered across the grass next to the gym.
"Hahaha! Told you they'd show up too! You two lost the bet, tonight's energy bars are on you!" Jujiro Kazama burst out laughing when he saw them.
"Tch."
Neko Kurata and Oda Miki clicked their tongues, clearly annoyed they'd lost a bet.
"Hey, what are you guys planning to do in high school?"
The seven third-years from the volleyball team were lying on the grass in a loose circle, watching the drifting clouds in the blue sky when Oda Miki suddenly spoke.
"I think Sanashita and I are heading to Kakugawa High. We're planning to switch over to volleyball. I heard their team made it to Koshien before." Masato was the first to answer.
No one was surprised. If anything, that was the normal path for most Junior Highers.
Not everyone can become a professional athlete.
For most students, club activities are about interest and passion. That's why it's common to join different clubs in junior high, high school, and university, to explore various hobbies and broaden one's experiences.
There was another reason, too.
Given Masato's current academic performance, his options for high schools were already pretty limited.
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