Chapter 18: Daily Life 2

The advisor waved the board in his hand and cleared his throat.
“Don’t look at me like that. Your positions are basically settled—you’re not getting away from them.”

Ryosuke smiled awkwardly. Out of the three, he was the thinnest-skinned.

“Alright. Compared to your practice match, there are still some differences in positioning.
Tsutomu Goshiki, you’ll play middle blocker. Ushijima, you’ll take him under your wing.”

Tsutomu Goshiki turned to look at Ushijima in disbelief. If he had a tail, it would’ve been spinning like a propeller by now.

Ushijima met his gaze and gave a calm, expressionless nod.

“Yunohama, your position for now is pinch server. Don’t think that means you won’t get playing time—we currently only have one pinch server at Shiratorizawa, and that’s you.
Eita Semi, guide him a bit.”

“Okay—”
Eita Semi replied lazily, dragging out the word in a drawn-out tone.

Yunohama lowered his head, his expression dark. He’d wanted to play middle blocker too, but he simply couldn’t compete with the natural talent of his other two new teammates.

Still… pinch server wasn’t bad. If even a pinch server wasn’t needed, then there really wouldn’t be a place for him here.

He pressed down that small sense of disappointment and lifted his head. “Okay.”

The advisor nodded silently. Yunohama’s mindset and the seriousness with which he treated volleyball meant he could accept the pinch server role wholeheartedly. In the future, he was bound to amount to something.

Then his gaze shifted to Ryosuke.
This one was a headache—his first time being troubled because a player was too good.

“Ryosuke will temporarily cover both opposite hitter and middle blocker. But keep training your receives properly—we’ll go into more detail during later practices.
If Yamagata runs into any issues during matches, you’ll be assigned to cover his position. After the third-years retire, we’ll think about which position you want to settle into.”

The advisor scratched his head.
“Satori, I’ll leave Ryosuke to you. Don’t bully the freshman.”

He shot Tendo a warning look.

Tendo walked over with a grin, casually hooking an arm around Ryosuke.
“Relax. How could I bully a freshman who just joined?”

His teasing voice was close enough to make Ryosuke uncomfortable, his ears turning red in embarrassment.

Once the advisor finished speaking, he put the board away and yielded the floor to Coach Washijō.

The moment Coach Washijō stepped forward, everyone straightened their backs, especially the six who had just played. They were fully prepared to face death valiantly—
(strike that, not really).

Reon tensed up completely. I’m definitely getting yelled at.
Sure enough, the first one Coach Washijō tore into was Reon.

“Look at the way you’re spiking right now! Five balls for one point—what are you trying to do?! Add one hundred extra spikes to your daily training! Have Ryosuke practice with you! You can stop when your spikes get so strong that Ryosuke can’t receive them anymore!”

Ryosuke, who had been named out of nowhere, lifted his head in confusion and stared blankly at Coach Washijō.
? …Did someone just call me??

Seeing Ryosuke still completely out of it, Coach Washijō’s mouth twitched. He tried to hold it back—but failed—and immediately unleashed a barrage on him.

“And you’re standing there confused? Look at the stupid thing you did today! You’re a libero and you ran off to spike the ball! I’m telling you right now—next time you’re playing middle blocker in an official match, if you rush forward to receive like that, you’re dead!”

Ryosuke shrank under the scolding, lowering his head guiltily and pretending not to see anything. The words went in one ear and out the other—whether he actually took them in was anyone’s guess.

Coach Washijō looked at him with a mix of frustration and disappointment, then turned his murderous gaze on the rest of the team, ripping into each of them in turn before finally letting them go.

Aside from the newly joined freshmen, everyone was already used to the old man’s style. As long as you scored—cleanly and fair—Coach Washijō wouldn’t say a word.

The meeting ended just like that. Coach Washijō left first, leaving the rest to clean up the gym.

Tsutomu Goshiki had already drifted over to Ushijima, but Shirabu—who had been trailing Ushijima the whole time—noticed immediately.

The two ended up in a completely mismatched standoff. Shirabu glared angrily at the freshman.

Damn it! You just got here and you already want to steal my spot next to Ushijima-senpai?! I won’t let that happen!

So annoying! Why is this guy always glued to senpai?! How am I supposed to challenge him like this?!

They stared each other down, eyes clashing fiercely, sparks practically crackling in the air.

Ushijima stood off to the side, completely spacing out.
What should I eat for lunch… ramen, or onigiri?

From a distance, noticing the intense scene, Kawanishi gave a sly smile and nudged Eita Semi with his elbow.
“Look over there. I’ve got a feeling things are going to get pretty lively around here from now on.”

Eita Semi tugged at the corner of his mouth.
“I’ll pass. One overly enthusiastic junior is already more than enough trouble. I still think Yunohama is easier to deal with.”

Kawanishi rubbed his chin. “What about Tendo’s side?”

“Tendo? Ah—there shouldn’t be anything to worry about there. Ryosuke looks like a pretty well-behaved kid,” Eita Semi said casually.

If future Eita Semi ever heard himself say that about Ryosuke, he’d probably want to slap his past self a few times.

Cats might look well-behaved—but their ability to cause trouble is top-tier.

Ryosuke was tidying up the ball cart when he suddenly sneezed.
? Why does it feel like someone’s badmouthing me…?
Cat radar activated.

In some ways, cat radar was actually pretty useful.

Tendo was secretly observing from the sidelines. In a crowd, he could spot that dazed big cat at a glance.
How delightful~

Watching the scene, Tendo felt an odd sense of amusement rise in his chest.

Tendo narrowed his eyes slightly. He wasn’t even sure if Ryosuke remembered him—after all, this scatterbrained big cat hadn’t recognized him at first glance.