Everyone then saw Bokuto standing at the court entrance and shouting,
"Everyone! Look at me!"
His voice was loud and unmistakable. The moment they heard him, everyone turned to look.
The Kamomedai players, the coaches, the spectators, even the staff and commentators all directed their attention toward him.
Seeing every eye fixed on him, Bokuto proudly raised his head. Then, under everyone's watchful gaze, he began doing somersaults.
Starting from the entrance, he somersaulted all the way around the court, shouting, "Hey, hey, hey!" as he went.
Keiji Akaashi's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Bokuto-senpai... what is he doing?
Konoha covered his face, unable to keep watching.
That certainly was a unique way to celebrate.
The spectators did not understand why Bokuto had called for their attention only to perform somersaults for them. Although they were confused, they still showed their support by applauding.
Coach Aaron had already been unhappy about losing the match, only for Takuro to make a few snide remarks afterward. Now, seeing Bokuto's antics and Takuro's face turn as black as charcoal, Aaron burst out laughing at his misfortune.
If Bokuto had not spent all three years at Fukurōdani, Aaron might genuinely have suspected that the boy was an undercover agent planted there by his own school.
Bokuto always found some strange and unusual way to make Fukurōdani famous.
Takuro's face alternated between dark and pale, changing so rapidly that it almost looked multicolored.
By the time Keiji Akaashi recovered from his shock, Bokuto had already somersaulted more than halfway around the court.
Rubbing his forehead, Keiji Akaashi muttered,
"Is no one going to stop Bokuto-senpai? Coach looks like he's about to eat us alive."
Hearing this, Washio and Konoha quietly glanced toward Takuro.
The sight of their coach wearing the darkest expression they had ever seen made both of them shudder. Neither dared look a second time.
Haruki Komi watched Bokuto somersault while the spectators continued cheering for him. His bewildered expression instantly transformed into starry-eyed admiration, and he looked eager to try it himself.
Keiji Akaashi silently appeared behind Haruki Komi.
"KOmimi-senpai..."
Komi trembled and obediently turned around to face him.
"All right, I understand."
Only then did Keiji Akaashi nod in satisfaction.
Meanwhile, Konoha and Washio had already approached Bokuto from either side, each taking one of his arms as they tried to drag him away.
Bokuto shook them off and asked excitedly,
"Well? Well? Wasn't that celebration really cool? When we win the championship, can we celebrate like that too?"
Washio always wore the same expressionless face, so the question was clearly not directed at him.
Konoha grimaced and tried to explain to Bokuto that they really did not like that kind of celebration. But the moment he saw Bokuto's sparkling eyes, every word died in his throat.
All he could do was sigh helplessly and coax Bokuto off the court.
They could discuss it later.
He only hoped Coach would show some restraint when punishing Bokuto. After all, Bokuto still had more matches to play.
Once both teams had left the court, the players from Shiratorizawa and Inarizaki also stood and thanked the two coaches for saving them seats.
"Is the next match Ryosuke and Tsum-Tsum's?"
After leaving the court, Bokuto kept circling around Ryosuke.
Takuro raised an eyebrow, apparently remembering that the next match was indeed between Shiratorizawa and Inarizaki.
"That's right."
Ryosuke nodded with a smile.
"Oh! Then I definitely have to stay and watch!"
Ryosuke nodded again.
Coach Takuro and Coach Aaron exchanged a glance.
The next match promised to be an exceptional one. They absolutely had to stay and watch.
Having made their decision, one of them looked up toward the stands in search of seats while the other called for his students to go eat first.
There was still some time before the match began, and it made no sense to sit there waiting.
"Hoshiumi, are you all right?"
Hirugami noticed Hoshiumi standing alone off to the side and walked over to him.
Hoshiumi looked at Hirugami and replied resentfully,
"I'm not all right at all. We lost..."
Hirugami said nothing more. He simply reached out and ruffled Hoshiumi's hair.
After wandering around the coaches for a while, Bokuto ran over to Hoshiumi.
Although Bokuto usually seemed carefree, he could be surprisingly sensitive at times.
"Hoshiumi~"
Hoshiumi rolled his eyes the moment he heard Bokuto's voice. That tone was making him physically uncomfortable.
"Talk normally!"
Hoshiumi stomped on Bokuto's foot.
Bokuto looked down at the small footprint left on his shoe, appearing somewhat aggrieved.
"Are you still mad?"
Bokuto could tell Hoshiumi was angry, but he mistakenly assumed Hoshiumi was angry with him.
Hoshiumi gave Bokuto a puzzled look.
He was indeed angry, but not at Bokuto. He was angry with himself.
Had he been just a little stronger, perhaps today's match would not have ended so abruptly.
"I'm not angry."
Hoshiumi sighed.
He was simply sad and frustrated.
Bokuto foolishly believed him.
But Hoshiumi was not truly angry. Whatever failed to break him would only make him stronger.
He would examine the reasons behind every defeat and eventually bring the perfect answer onto the court.
For Hoshiumi, every future victory would be built upon all his previous losses.
"Bokuto-senpai, Hoshiumi, it's time to go."
Hakuba and the rest of Fukurōdani stood by the entrance to the stands, waving toward them.
Hoshiumi and Bokuto exchanged a glance. Then Hoshiumi suddenly declared,
"Let's see who gets there first! The loser buys lunch!"
The moment he finished speaking, Hoshiumi shot off and disappeared.
Bokuto froze.
Then he immediately realized what had happened and began shouting in outrage.
"Damn it! You didn't even wait for me! Stop! Stop right there!"
The two ran off into the distance, bickering like children.
Hirugami and Suwa remained behind, caught between laughter and exasperation.
Suwa patted Hirugami on the shoulder.
"Don't worry too much. Plenty of people have been by Hoshiumi's side as he's grown. He'll become the person he wants to be."
Hirugami watched Hoshiumi's retreating back and sighed softly.
Hopefully.
Hopefully, by the time Hoshiumi reached his third year, he would have become a mature ace.
Coach Washijō rose from his chair and stretched his stiff joints.
The moment Aaron and Takuro saw him stand, they immediately stopped bickering.
The two of them might argue for fun when they had nothing better to do, but neither dared misbehave in front of Coach Washijō.
Among the coaches, Coach Washijō was like the head of the family.
Looking around, Coach Washijō saw that everyone from Shiratorizawa was present, and the Inarizaki players were there as well. That saved them the trouble of changing locations.
However, Inarizaki's coach still had not appeared. There was no telling where he had gone.
Coach Washijō glanced in their direction, then looked away.
He cleared his throat and shouted,
"Assemble!"
That single command made everyone from Shiratorizawa straighten their backs and line up. Even the Inarizaki players and the Kamomedai group who had not yet left tensed up, instinctively preparing to shout, "Yes!"
Their backs stiffened, and they desperately held their tongues. Otherwise, they really might have answered aloud.
Sure enough, coaches were the same everywhere. Their own coaches shouted "Assemble!" in exactly the same way.
When Aaron and Takuro saw Coach Washijō call everyone together, they wisely refrained from interrupting. Instead, they quickly began leading their own players away.
As Takuro was leaving, he noticed the Inarizaki group still standing nearby and asked out of concern,
"Aren't you leaving?"
Shinsuke Kita shook his head and answered politely,
"No. We'll go straight onto the court once the match begins. Thank you, Coach Takuro."
Takuro nodded cheerfully and started walking away.
After taking two steps, however, a sudden idea came to him.
Inarizaki's coach was not here right now anyway...
Takuro turned back toward Shinsuke Kita.
"Why don't you kids come warm up with us first? Otherwise, you might not have enough time to warm up before the match."
Takuro planned to use warming up as an excuse to lure the Inarizaki players away. He would call it a warm-up, but in reality, he wanted them to play a quick three-on-three game with Fukurōdani.
The next match was between Shiratorizawa and Inarizaki.
Fukurōdani was fairly familiar with Shiratorizawa, but Inarizaki's playing style was difficult to deal with.
Takuro wanted to study Inarizaki more closely in advance. Barring any surprises, Fukurōdani's opponent tomorrow would be either Shiratorizawa or Inarizaki.
After speaking, Takuro seemed to realize that he had been a little too forward, so he quickly added,
"Your coach really has no problem leaving you children here alone. If you were our Fukurōdani players, I'd be worried sick. Why don't you come sit with us for a while?"
Shinsuke Kita's gaze slowly became strange.
Just as Coach Takuro thought Shinsuke Kita might agree, a chilling voice came from behind him.
"There's no need to trouble Coach Takuro with that. I'm not dead yet."
Coach Kurosu had just finished dealing with something and come over to check on the Inarizaki players, especially to make sure the Miya twins had not caused any trouble.
He had never expected to overhear Takuro trying to poach his players.
Coach Kurosu immediately bristled with anger. He was not even dead yet, and someone was already trying to steal his team. That old fox Takuro certainly had nerve.
Caught red-handed, Takuro laughed awkwardly.
What a miscalculation. He had actually been caught by the person himself.
Washio and Keiji Akaashi, who had witnessed the entire exchange, sighed silently.
Coach Takuro and Bokuto were evenly matched when it came to causing trouble.
Coach Kurosu glared fiercely at Takuro before sweeping his gaze across the Inarizaki players.
"Why are you still standing there? Let's go. We need to warm up. Are you waiting for someone else to take you there?"
He might as well have called Takuro out by name.
Takuro laughed awkwardly again.
Shinsuke Kita gave Takuro an apologetic smile. He had wanted to warn Coach Takuro, but Coach Kurosu's murderous glare had stopped him from saying anything.
Coach Kurosu stormed away with the group, leaving Takuro standing there alone in embarrassment.
The moment Coach Kurosu was gone, Takuro immediately wiped the awkward expression from his face, as though the person who had just been humiliated had not been him.
He sighed.
He had completely disgraced himself.
Aaron stood nearby, struggling to hold back his laughter. There was no trace of the gloom he had felt after losing the match. He was suppressing his laughter so hard that his stomach hurt.
Takuro let out a long sigh.
Forget it. It had all been for the children.
Thankfully, his players had left quickly. Had they witnessed that scene, he would never have lived it down.
Coach Takuro thought this with a blank expression when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a black-and-white owl's head from the corner of his eye.
Takuro whipped his head around and found himself staring directly at Bokuto, who had returned to look for Ryosuke.
Bokuto froze in place.
He could neither continue forward nor turn around, so he could only greet Takuro awkwardly.
"Coach... I didn't hear anything!"
Before Takuro could speak, Bokuto blurted that out and immediately fled.
Takuro froze, then widened his eyes.
Bokuto saying that he had heard nothing meant he had heard everything.
If Bokuto spread the story around, how was Takuro supposed to show his face again?
Takuro immediately roared,
"Bokuto!"
Already some distance away, Bokuto flinched at the thunderous shout behind him, but he did not stop.
He had just overheard Coach Takuro's failed attempt to poach Inarizaki's players. Surely Coach was going to silence him now.
There was no way he was stopping.
With that thought, Bokuto ran even faster.
And so, Fukurōdani left in a noisy uproar.
The Shiratorizawa players watched the entire spectacle, caught between laughter and exasperation.
Fukurōdani really was full of interesting people.
When Coach Washijō noticed everyone staring in that direction, he cleared his throat twice and drew their attention back to him.
Only after everyone was looking at him did he speak.
"It is now 1:40 p.m. There is not much time left before your next match. You have twenty minutes of free time. At 2:00 p.m., everyone is to assemble at the same warm-up area as yesterday."
"Yes!"
Everyone answered in unison.
Coach Washijō nodded in satisfaction and walked away.
With Reon there, he had nothing to worry about.
Everyone had assumed that after watching the match, they would not be given any time to rest or move around freely. They had already prepared themselves to begin training at any moment.
No one had expected Coach Washijō to be so considerate this time and actually give them free time.
It was truly a rare sight.
"Anyone going back to the dorms, go with Ushijima. Anyone staying here, remain here."
Reon looked around as he spoke.
"Ryosuke, are you going back to the dorms?"
Tsutomu Goshiki asked while standing close beside him.
Ryosuke had been about to say that he was going back.
"I..."
"Ryosuke!"
Before Ryosuke could finish, Sakusa suddenly rushed out from the stands and interrupted him.
Sakusa had wanted to come down as soon as the match ended, but Coach Washijō had still been below, and Sakusa had not dared to approach.
He knew perfectly well that Coach Washijō had never liked him much.
Therefore, the moment Coach Washijō left, Sakusa rushed down from the stands.
Ryosuke's eyes immediately lit up.
Whenever he saw Sakusa, his eyes seemed to sparkle.
The words already on the tip of his tongue instantly changed.
"Of course I'm not going back to the dorms."
As soon as he said that, he sprinted toward Sakusa with enough enthusiasm to suggest that he was about to pull him into a bear hug.