July.
The sweltering heat carried with it the full flavor of summer.
"Yo~ What're you looking at?"
In Class 1-A of Aoba Johsai High, Akashi Asuka strolled up to Ryuhei Sanashita and glanced at the item on his desk. It was a freshly released issue of Volleyball Monthly.
The headline on the cover was no surprise, it was all about the recently concluded National Tournament.
[Quarterfinal Heartbreak: Aoba Johsai Falls to Future Champions in Thrilling Match!]
Asuka read the bold print and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Hah! So all these national newspapers are the same, huh? A straight 2-0 loss gets spun as a 'narrow defeat'? Man, they're really buttering us up."
Misaka shot him a look of disdain and didn't bother replying.
Why shouldn't it be called a narrow defeat?
This year's Nationals… if the organizers hadn't screwed them over by matching them with one of the tournament's top three powerhouses, Itachiyama Institute, in the quarterfinals, who knows how far Aoba Johsai could've gone?
After all,
Itachiyama ended up as the champions.
Which meant that Aoba Johsai got eliminated only because they had to face the eventual winners earlier than they should have.
Turning to the next page,
Right there on the cover was none other than Akashi Asuka himself.
His solo photo practically dominated the entire front page, and above it was a bold, eye-catching headline:
[A New Ace Is Born, Japan's Sixth Super Ace!]
It was clear that Asuka's performance in the Nationals had earned him a spot among the nation's top-tier players, right alongside the likes of Kotaro Bokuto.
No question about it,
Akashi Asuka had made a name for himself.
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Later that afternoon, after school,
Asuka and Ryuhei headed to the volleyball club. The gym was quiet, none of the usual echoes of spike drills or rally practice. With Nationals now over, Coach Nobuteru Irihata had given everyone a short break.
When they stepped into the clubroom, most of the third-years were still absent. Only Kentarou, Kunimi, and Kindaichi were there.
Kindaichi was mid-change into his practice uniform, while Kunimi sat quietly in a corner, thoroughly absorbed in a book.
"What're you reading, Kunimi?" Ryuhei asked, curious.
"A novel."
"What kind?"
"It's called Cautious Hero. It's pretty fun, kinda different from the usual hero tropes. The bookstore owner recommended it. Said it's been selling like crazy lately."
"Oh? Sounds interesting. I might pick up a copy after school then."
As they chatted, Ryuhei casually stuffed his uniform into his locker.
Meanwhile, Asuka stood silently to the side.
To be honest, he hadn't realized it before, but now, he found it a little strange, even awkward, hearing Kunimi and Misaka discuss his novel in front of him like that.
That's right, he was the author of Cautious Hero.
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"By the way–" Kunimi suddenly brought up, "I heard from Yahaba-senpai that the third-years might be retiring this summer. Have you guys heard anything?"
"Huh?!"
Ryuhei and Kindaichi both jolted in surprise.
"No way! For real? Who'd you hear that from?"
Kunimi, still expressionless, flipped to the next page and said, "Apparently it's a pretty normal thing. Even though Spring Nationals was moved up to January, most third-years with plans to go to college retire early to start preparing."
"And for our third-years, beating Shiratorizawa and making it to Nationals were their biggest goals. Now that they've achieved both… it wouldn't be strange if they started stepping back, right?"
The room fell into an uneasy silence.
Neither Kindaichi nor Ryuhei could argue with his logic. For most high school athletes, making it to Nationals was already a dream come true.
So shifting their focus to entrance exams after that wasn't exactly a surprise.
"Relax–" Asuka said suddenly, a strange gleam in his eyes. "Those guys won't retire that easily…"
"They love volleyball too much to just walk away like that."
"Besides, just because we reached Nationals this year doesn't mean the dream ends there. Human ambition is a greedy thing, after all."
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While the first-years were still speculating in the clubroom about the third-years' possible retirement,
Elsewhere, in the third-year wing of the school building, Oikawa Tooru had just tracked down Hajime Iwaizumi.
"Heeey~ Iwa-chan! So have you decided about retiring yet? I already made up my mind, I'm staying!"
"Tch."
Iwaizumi scoffed. "With grades like yours, you seriously think you can get into college without volleyball?"
"…That was uncalled for."
"That hurt, Iwa-chan. That really hurt. You stabbed me right in the heart. I demand emotional compensation!"
Iwaizumi's eye twitched. "(▼へ▼メ)"
His fists clenched.
It had only been a few days, and Oikawa was already back to being insufferable.
"Heh~ No compensation, but I do have plenty of punches stored up. You'll get to sample those later."
"So that means… you're staying too, right?" Oikawa grinned.
Iwaizumi didn't answer, but that silence was enough.
The truth was,
Iwaizumi had planned to retire. Not because he felt satisfied with reaching Nationals, but because he wanted to give the younger players more court time.
But last night, something changed.
He'd received an email from a certain someone. (Yes, that someone, yours truly, Akashi.)
It contained just eight bold characters:
"Spring Tournament, Take the National Title!"
That was all.
Yet those eight words were enough to jolt Iwaizumi out of bed at 12:30 a.m.. His heart raced, blood pumped, adrenaline surged.
Take the national title.
What kind of high schooler could resist that kind of call?
And the more Iwaizumi thought about it, the more he realized,
With the current roster Aoba Johsai had…
It was actually possible.
The moment that thought struck him,
All that talk about "giving juniors more opportunity" got thrown straight out the window.
Retire?
Retire your ass.
==========
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