At dusk, after practice, Ryosuke stayed behind in the gym with Iwaizumi and Oikawa, chatting quietly about tomorrow's match against Date Tech High.
Oikawa shot a disdainful look at Ryosuke, who was sitting on the railing and swinging his legs.
"Since you comforted me today, I'll reluctantly tell you about Date Tech High. Their most famous weapon is their block. Compared to them, your blocking is like precision interception, while theirs is indiscriminate interception."
Iwaizumi bounced a ball as he spoke. "We scheduled a match with Date Tech High before. Their standard setup is at least a three-man block—Aone, Futakuchi, and their new setter, Koganegawa. That's the base configuration."
Ryosuke's eyes widened. "Whoa… that intense?"
Oikawa nodded. "Of course. Their blockers are all big and solid—not skinny like you, little chick."
Ryosuke puffed out his cheeks and glared at Oikawa. It had absolutely no intimidation factor.
"Enough, you talk too much," Iwaizumi warned, raising his fist at Oikawa.
"They also have two first-year blockers—Jingo Fukiage and Yutaka Obara. Both over 186 cm. You guys are in for a fight tomorrow."
Ryosuke's thoughts immediately shifted to strategy. "Then… maybe I'll talk to Coach Washijō tomorrow. Maybe I should block too?"
Oikawa clapped his palm. "Sure! Then we'll definitely come watch!"
"Hey! I didn't say I was going to—"
Iwaizumi looked at Ryosuke's sparkling eyes and coughed lightly. "Well… going to watch wouldn't hurt."
Ryosuke let out a small cheer, grabbed the railing, and jumped down. His jacket fluttered like butterfly wings as he slung his backpack over his shoulder and grinned.
"You said it—no backing out. I'm heading home!"
He skipped out of the gym.
Oikawa watched his retreating figure and muttered, "At his age, still carrying a backpack like a little kid. Embarrassing."
Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. "Why do you care? If I remember right, Ryosuke used to train alone."
"Huh? Alone?"
"Yeah. So what are you so shocked about?"
Oikawa felt faint. Getting all his serves received by some brat who never even had formal training? That was humiliating.
Ryosuke, meanwhile, happily went home.
The moment he saw boiled vegetables and chicken breast on the dinner table, his smile vanished. He wrapped himself around Mrs. Washijō's arm and complained, "Why are we eating this again? My control period is already over~"
Like they said, birds of a feather flock together. Mrs. Washijō had once been a famous nutritionist who specialized in athletes' diets.
She flicked Ryosuke's forehead. "Don't think I don't know what you stole last night."
Ryosuke froze. Busted?!
He immediately let go and shuffled away guiltily.
The night before, he'd dreamed about sweets and woken up craving them. In the middle of the night, he snuck downstairs and finished off Coach Washijō's little cakes from the fridge.
The evidence—crumb wrappers—had been hidden under his pillow. Mrs. Washijō found them while cleaning his room.
She didn't know whether to laugh or scold him. Still sneaking food like a child.
And those little cakes? No one in the house liked them except Ryosuke. Obviously Coach Washijō had bought them secretly in case Ryosuke got cravings. The two of them were unbelievable.
Ryosuke finished dinner with a long face and slipped upstairs.
He flopped onto his bed and started chatting with Sakusa through messages. Ever since training camp ended, he hadn't seen him.
Watching the loading circle spin on his screen, Ryosuke sighed and rolled around hugging his pillow.
"Ding."
His phone buzzed. He picked it up eagerly—just a notification. He was about to put it down when the headline caught his eye.
"Childhood friends stay together the longest."
Ryosuke blinked and slowly sat up on his bed.
The post claimed that people who grew up together often remained close for many years. The so-called probability sounded impressively high.
Ryosuke stared at the screen for a moment.
So… does that mean Sakusa and I will stay close for a long time?
He thought about it briefly, then bookmarked the post without much fuss.
Just then, Sakusa's reply came through. Ryosuke quickly started typing back.
After chatting for a bit, he put down his phone.
After the practice match, I'll go see Sakusa. He said he missed hanging out too.
With that thought in mind, he finally drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Goshiki immediately noticed that his best friend was in an unusually good mood.
Tendo draped himself over Ryosuke's shoulders like a boneless accessory, trailing after him wherever he went. Ryosuke, completely unbothered, just let him hang there.
Kawanishi covered his face. Ryosuke was far too innocent, and Tendo had absolutely no sense of boundaries.
Tendo suddenly felt a chill and sneezed, then tightened his grip around Ryosuke's shoulders.
"Ryosuke, do you like me?"
"Huh? Of course I like you. I like Goshiki, I like Yunohama, I like Ushijima-senpai… and of course I like Sakusa too!"
Ryosuke counted them one by one on his fingers.
Tendo let out a long sigh. Ryosuke must've traded all his emotional awareness for volleyball talent. He really didn't get it.
He rested his chin lightly on Ryosuke's shoulder, still hanging on lazily.
Ryosuke blinked.
Tendo-senpai was seriously too clingy.
"Goshiki! I heard from Oikawa-senpai yesterday about Date Tech High—"
The moment Ryosuke spotted Goshiki, he bolted over like an excited puppy.
Tendo stared at his suddenly empty arms and ground his teeth. If looks could kill, Goshiki would've been riddled with holes.
Kawanishi walked over and patted his shoulder. "Tone it down. If you scare him, Coach Washijō won't let you off."
Tendo let out a heavy huff, then instantly switched back to his usual playful grin and skipped after Ryosuke.
Kawanishi watched like a front-row spectator, whistling happily as he walked away.
That afternoon, everyone gathered in the gym waiting for Date Tech High to arrive.
Ryosuke hadn't slept well because of that post. Now he was hiding behind Ushijima, half-asleep.
Ushijima felt Ryosuke's head repeatedly bumping into his back. He sighed and shifted slightly so Ryosuke could lean more comfortably.
Ryosuke nestled against Ushijima's back, still thinking about Sakusa.
Eventually, he drifted off to sleep.
...
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