"This year's summer training camp location has been decided…"
Inside Aoba Johsai's volleyball club room, first-years Akashi Asuka, Ryuhei Sanashita, Yutaro Kindaichi, and Akira Kunimi stood in a row. Not far from them were second-years Yahaba Shigeru, Shinji Watari, and Kentarou Kyotani.
Further back stood the third-years, Oikawa Tooru, Hajime Iwaizumi, and the rest.
That's right.
The third-years had ultimately decided not to retire early.
Sure, part of it was their reluctance to part with the team. But the main reason?
The emotional rallying cry Akashi Asuka had fired off the night before.
After that, none of them could sit still.
As soon as Coach Nobuteru Irihata mentioned the training camp, all eyes, first-years and third-years alike, locked onto him, holding their breath in anticipation.
Then, he finished his sentence:
"We're going to the seaside!"
"HELL YEAH!!!"
"No way! We're really not doing the usual boring school training this year?"
"Beach, ocean, and maybe… flirting~!"
"Looks like I've got some prepping to do before we go!"
The moment Irihata said the word "seaside–" the whole club erupted in excitement.
But then,
"Don't get too carried away just yet–" Irihata added, raising his voice. "This year's summer camp will be much longer than in previous years, about a full month. So once you get home today, make sure you clearly explain the situation to your parents. Got it?"
Suddenly,
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Everyone's excited faces froze mid-celebration, shifting into expressions of shock.
A whole month of summer camp?
Let's put that into perspective:
This year's camp was going to be longer than the combined training camps from the third-years' first and second years. Not to mention, the quality would be on a whole different level.
Keep in mind:
For clubs like theirs, the school typically provides partial funding for training camps. But a whole month at a beachside facility?
That's going to cost a fortune.
"Uh… Coach, are you sure about the duration?" someone asked nervously. "You're not mixing it up for one week, are you?"
"Don't worry, I'm sure of it–" Irihata replied firmly. "Actually, the reason we're able to go at all this year is thanks to all of you. Because we beat Shiratorizawa, made it to Nationals, and placed in the Top 8, the school approved two weeks' worth of special funding."
"Wait, two weeks?"
Some quick mental math spread through the group: the school covered two weeks, and their own participation fees might stretch things to three weeks… but that still left one whole week unaccounted for.
"Hold on, if we're only funded for three weeks, where's the money for the fourth week coming from?"
"That–" Irihata said, glancing helplessly toward a certain someone, "you'll have to thank a generous benefactor for…"
All heads turned in unison,
And landed squarely on Akashi Asuka.
"No way…"
"Wait, you're telling me Akashi paid for it?!"
"Misaka, don't tell me he's secretly a rich kid?"
Ryuhei shook his head. He looked just as stunned as the rest.
From what he knew, Akashi's family was just your typical middle-class dual-income household. Comfortable, sure, but not wealthy. Certainly not the type to casually drop hundreds of thousands of yen.
Especially for free, as a donation to the volleyball club? Unless he was a trust-fund kid, who even does that?
"Alright, alright, enough guessing–" Akashi finally said, noticing all the weird looks. He sighed and shook his head. "I'm not some rich heir or anything."
Just as everyone was about to press him further, he added:
"I'm just an ordinary first-generation rich guy."
Everyone: "???"
Akashi rubbed his nose sheepishly. "Remember when I mentioned I'd written a novel a while back? It accidentally got picked up by a publisher, and then accidentally started selling… decently well. So now I've got a little extra spending money."
He made a small gesture with his thumb and forefinger, barely an inch apart.
Everyone: "?????"
The club members racked their brains, and… yeah. Now that he mentioned it, he had talked about writing a novel once, but no one took him seriously back then.
"Mind if I ask, what's the title of your book?" Kunimi asked quietly.
"Ahem. Actually… it's the one you were reading today."
"Cautious Hero?"
"Yep!"
"Huh?" That wasn't Kunimi this time, both Yahaba and Hanamaki cried out in unison: "THAT was you?! Are you serious?!"
"Is it that good?" Iwaizumi asked, glancing at Hanamaki's stunned expression.
"Dude, it's amazing. Super funny, super creative, and it's been flying off bookstore shelves lately. Every shop is pushing it hard. Great story, and the updates come fast, too!"
Hanamaki had been obsessed with the novel recently and had even been wondering who the mysterious new author was… only to find out the guy was standing right next to him the entire time?
"So, uh… just how much have you made off it?" someone asked cautiously.
"Not much. Just a few million yen–" Akashi replied modestly, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
That wasn't a joke either, June's royalties had already come in, and added to May's, his earnings were sitting somewhere around 8 to 9 million yen. So yes, "a few million" was technically accurate.
"...'Not much'???"
Everyone, including Coach Irihata and assistant coach Sadayuki Mizoguchi, fell silent.
A few million yen.
And you're calling that "not much"?
Let's not forget, this kid is still a high school student!
Irihata was especially shaken.
As the coach, he made less than 3 million yen a year. And now some teenage novelist was tossing around funding like spare change? He felt like a complete joke by comparison.
When Akashi first came to him offering to cover the remaining camp costs, Irihata had nearly choked. If Akashi hadn't brought proof, his royalty breakdown for May, Irihata never would've believed it.
Convincing the school board to approve the donation had taken some serious effort, too, but that's a story for another time.
────────── ✦ ──────────
Clap clap clap,
"Alright, let's wrap up the budget discussion–" Irihata said, clapping his hands for attention,
"There's one more important matter to talk about, final exams."
The mood instantly shifted.
"You all know the deal, if you fail your finals, you'll have to attend summer makeup classes."
"Even though this year's camp runs longer than usual, if too many of you flunk, we'll be forced to delay participation by one or even two weeks. And if that happens…"
Oikawa: "…"
Kyotani:"Smile fading slowly... JPG"
==========
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