Chapter 61: Training Camp 24

Ryosuke’s eyes lit up as he looked around the gym. Several of the people there were players he could name on sight—people he genuinely admired. The good mood he’d been in all day peaked right then.
Yaku enthusiastically dragged Ryosuke all over the place, introducing him to liberos from other schools.
Today could officially be counted as Ryosuke’s greatest friendship achievement to date.

There was Aikichi Suwa, who was amazing at serve receive; Haruki Komi, who loved fried shrimp and complained every day about never having time for naps. He even spotted Yamagata-senpai mixed in with the group, waving at him.
There was also Keiichiro Kamihayashi, who liked competing with his own middle blocker over who could dig more balls; Fukurōdani’s Akinori Konoha; and Yamato Sarukui, who always seemed to have a naturally upturned smile.

Ryosuke’s presence instantly energized the atmosphere.

Friendships between liberos really did form this fast. Even though Ryosuke wasn’t a libero himself, everyone thought highly of him—so much so that some of them seriously suggested that after his second year, he should knock Komori off the top libero spot.
After all, not just anyone could solo-defend against Bokuto and Ushijima. That alone made Ryosuke and Komori stand out as something special.

Before long, everyone was clamoring to teach him their techniques.

Yaku grabbed Ryosuke and said, “What are you even talking about?! He’s my best friend—of course I’m the one teaching him!”
Komori kicked him aside. “Don’t joke around. No matter how you look at it, the number one libero should be the one doing the coaching.”

Yamagata threw an arm around Ryosuke, clearly annoyed.
“Hey, hey, hey! Am I invisible or what?! Ryosuke is from Shiratorizawa, I’m telling you—don’t you #*#&#!”

In Yamagata’s eyes right now, Ryosuke was like a spotless little white flower that absolutely had to be protected.

Ryosuke’s eyes went wide. Hearing Yamagata-senpai swear so suddenly was a serious shock.

Konoha also really wanted to get close to the pretty junior, but Ryosuke was already surrounded by a ferocious-looking Yaku and Haruki Komi, who had somehow slipped in without anyone noticing.

Konoha crouched in a corner, bitterly chewing on a handkerchief and radiating resentment.
Yamato Sarukui stood there at a loss, watching his teammate spiral into despair.

On Ryosuke’s side, things were getting chaotic. No one could agree on who would teach him, and he ended up surrounded by a circle of small, delicate liberos, looking completely innocent.

In the end, Keiichiro Kamihayashi stepped in and brought things under control. He suggested everyone add Ryosuke on LINE, then used the excuse of having practice matches the next day to stop them from acting on their barely restrained urge to drag Ryosuke away with them.
Keiichiro Kamihayashi rubbed his forehead helplessly. He understood the satisfaction of personally mentoring a talented junior—but wasn’t this a bit much?

Eventually, everyone wore themselves out and sat together chatting about all kinds of random things.
Any slight stiffness Ryosuke had felt when he first arrived had long since disappeared in this atmosphere.

Yaku and Komori sat on either side of Ryosuke, while Yamagata—face dark and expression awkward—could only sit stiffly across from him.

They gathered in a circle, complaining about their captains and coaches, then moved on to venting about how much they didn’t want to go to school.

Konoha clutched his head and wailed along with them.
“You have no idea how childish our captain is! The moment he does something dumb, he forgets how to play volleyball. Seriously, I could cry!”

That completely stunned Ryosuke. Could someone really forget how to play just because they messed up? Was that some kind of biological limit…?

Haruki Komi stepped in, half-laughing, half-exasperated, to explain.
“Our captain’s basically a kid. When he’s in good form, he’s full of energy, but once his mentality collapses, he forgets how to hit cross shots and straight shots.
A couple of days ago during practice matches, Bokuto wasn’t feeling it, so Konoha had to carry several games on his own.”

After hearing that, Komori and Ryosuke leaned together and whispered excitedly.
“Bokuto’s really like that?” Ryosuke said honestly. “When he plays, he totally feels like a superstar.”

Komori burst out laughing.
“You don’t know the half of it. Bokuto’s got a kid’s mindset and a pro player’s skillset. Never underestimate him.”

Ryosuke nodded thoughtfully.

Haruki Komi then turned to Keiichiro Kamihayashi with curiosity.
“Keiichiro, now that I think about it… we still don’t know who Kamomedai’s captain is, do we?”

Keiichiro Kamihayashi, who had been listening to all the gossip with great interest, froze and started stammering.
“Well… uh… our captain is… kind of… special.”

Ryosuke: ?
Haruki Komi: ?

“What do you mean by that?”

Everyone’s attention snapped to Keiichiro Kamihayashi, their eyes shining with anticipation.

Under the pressure of so many stares, Keiichiro Kamihayashi scratched his head and reluctantly explained.
“Our captain is Reo Yinbu. He’s… a strange person. He didn’t come to this training camp, and even if he did, he wouldn’t talk to anyone.”

That only made everyone more curious, and they urged him to keep going.
“Our captain doesn’t like talking, and he doesn’t like crowded places.”

“Huh?!”

Everyone gasped in unison.

“Then… will we see your captain at IH?”

Keiichiro Kamihayashi rubbed the back of his head.
“You’ll see him, but don’t talk to him. If anyone talks to our captain, he shuts down.”

Komori stroked his chin.
“What a bizarre setup.”

He elbowed Ryosuke.
“So what about your captain?”

All eyes instantly shifted to Ryosuke.

Ryosuke fidgeted, pinching his fingers together as he tried to figure out how to explain Ushijima-senpai without damaging his image.

Yamagata beat him to it.
“Our captain is Wakatoshi Ushijima. Don’t let his deadpan face fool you—he talks like he’s trying to piss people off, but really he’s just a natural airhead who says whatever he’s thinking.”

“No way.”
“That’s impossible, isn’t it?”
“Yamagata, are you joking?”

This time, it was everyone else who was shocked.

Yamagata lifted his chin proudly.
“I’m not joking. Our captain’s a volleyball idiot. Every day it’s either volleyball or thinking about what to eat for dinner. And his luck is absolutely terrible.”

Ryosuke, who hadn’t said a word, covered his face.
It’s over. I’m sorry, Ushijima-senpai. I couldn’t stop Yamagata. Your lifelong reputation is ruined.

Yaku eagerly raised his hand.
“Speaking of weird ones, our captain’s pretty strange too. Before every match, he has to shout this super embarrassing slogan.”

With that, Yaku jumped up, ran his fingers through his hair, and crooked his mouth into a grin.
“We are blood! To keep the brain functioning properly, we must keep flowing forward, delivering oxygen—”

“Ugh—” Haruki Komi shuddered, rubbing at imaginary goosebumps. “That’s so chuuni. That’s way too awkward. So that’s what Kuroo’s like, huh.”

Yaku nodded furiously.

From there, things only escalated. Everyone got more and more worked up, and the situation slowly spiraled out of control.

They started shouting about whose captain was the strongest.

“My captain can hit ultra-tight cross shots!” Haruki Komi shouted proudly.

Yaku shot to his feet.
“Kuroo’s blocking is insane!”

Yamagata wasn’t about to lose.
“My captain’s a left-handed cannon!”

“Our captain runs ten kilometers a day!” Haruki Komi yelled, standing up.
“Our captain eats three bowls of rice in one meal!” Yamagata bellowed, veins standing out on his neck.
“Our captain’s grip strength is amazing!”

Haruki Komi went all in.
“Our captain dares to eat **!”

Yaku strained his voice, face red as he shouted back.
“Our captain dares to eat ten pounds of **!”

“I DON’T DARE!!!”

Yaku turned around blankly, his brain deprived of oxygen from yelling. Standing at the gym entrance was Kuroo, face dark, while Kenma stood beside him with his hands in his pockets, looking at Kuroo with a strange expression.

Yaku let out an awkward laugh.

That earth-shattering shout from Yaku and Haruki Komi had been deafening. Even students walking outside the gym heard it and crowded around the windows, trying to see just what kind of captain could inspire that level of confidence.

Kuroo clenched his fist, grabbed Yaku by the collar, and dragged him away.

Even as they disappeared into the distance, Kenma’s voice could still be heard.
“Kuroo, you really…”
“Kenma!”
“I won’t look down on you…”
“…………”