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“······”
The gymnasium was filled with noise and chatter, yet complete silence had fallen on the volleyball court where Asuto stood.
This was especially true of the members of Kyotani’s team.
They all stared blankly at him with their mouths wide open, unable to say a word for several seconds.
A few moments later…
“Pffft~”
No one knew who on the Red Team had laughed first, but immediately afterwards, the entire team burst into laughter, and the court was filled with cheer.
“Hahahaha… Nakazawa, the guy you brought over really is full of energy!” Chiba laughed the loudest.
Kyotani’s face turned red for once.
Meanwhile, the Blue Team’s setter, also called Nakazawa, looked a little dark-faced.
Still, he wasn’t actually angry.
Firstly, as a college student, losing his temper at a high school student would look childish.
Secondly, as a setter, he had encountered all kinds of spikers over the years. Although this kid’s personality was pretty terrible, it was still within his understanding.
“Sorry. I haven’t played volleyball for a long time, so I couldn’t control myself.”
Kyotani actually apologized to the Blue Team setter proactively.
Seeing this, the Blue Team setter found it even harder to get angry.
Watching the scene, Asuto couldn’t help but laugh quietly to himself.
He was starting to understand Kyotani’s personality. Overall, there was no doubt that he had a bad temper. But he only lost his temper with people who were poor at volleyball, even if they happened to be his seniors.
On the other hand…
If someone was good at volleyball, whether a teammate or an opponent, Kyotani might still be unconvinced. Aside from that, though, his attitude was actually manageable.
Because Kyotani had given away the final point, the first set was won by the Red Team.
During the break, Chiba Tobira handed him a bottle of sports drink.
Asuto accepted it and said, “Thanks, Chiba-senpai.”
“No need to be polite.”
Chiba Tobira smiled slightly.
He had a very favorable impression of Asuto, or rather, in places like multi-purpose sports complexes, people with good skills generally earned others’ goodwill more easily unless someone’s personality was truly awful.
“Hey! You, what school are you from? How come I’ve never seen you in any official matches before?”
Just as Asuto was chatting with Chiba Tobira, a voice suddenly interrupted them.
Asuto looked up.
Sure enough, the only person present capable of speaking in such a rough tone was Kyotani.
“Sengoku Junior High.”
“Sengoku Junior High?” Kyotani froze for a moment. “What kind of school is that? I don’t think Miyagi Prefecture has a high school with that name.”
“Sengoku Junior High isn’t a high school. It’s a middle school. I’m a third-year student there.”
“PFFFFT~~~”
Asuto had barely finished speaking when Chiba and several other Red Team college students instantly sprayed out their drinks before Kyotani could even react.
“Cough cough cough… W-What? You said you’re a middle schooler?”
Chiba Tobira was coughing so hard that tears were coming out of his eyes, but he clearly didn’t care about that right now.
If they had merely been shocked by Asuto’s skill level earlier, then now, the Red Team college students all looked as though they had just seen a ghost.
“No way! It’s absolutely impossible. Akashi-kun, this joke really isn’t funny. You shouldn’t make jokes like this again.” Chiba Tobira shook his head frantically.
“I’m not joking. I really am still in middle school.”
Chiba Tobira: “…”
Kyotani: “…”
At this point, it wasn’t just Chiba Tobira who was speechless.
Even Kyotani had been left speechless.
Kyotani had originally come over intending to challenge a ‘senior.’
But in the blink of an eye, that ‘senior’ had suddenly become a ‘junior,’ leaving him completely unsure how to react.
After all, given his personality, he never feared challenging strong opponents or defeating those above him. However, asking him to bully a middle school student by virtue of his age and experience was another matter.
Even the ‘Mad Dog’ had some pride.
For a moment… The atmosphere became unbearably awkward.
Kyotani didn’t know how to continue the conversation, while Chiba and the others began to question their entire lives.
“What exactly did I practice during my three years of high school?”
Thinking back on his three years of volleyball experience and comparing it to Asuto’s skill level, Chiba suddenly felt like those years might as well have been wasted.
Sure enough, people simply can’t be compared equally.
· · · · ·
Over the course of the afternoon, the two teams played a total of five sets.
The Red Team, where Asuto played, won three and lost two.
One reason for the losses was that Asuto practiced serves and spikes during the games, resulting in them giving away some points. Otherwise, they probably could have scored even more.
Nevertheless, Asuto’s volleyball skills had already earned him recognition from everyone.
After exchanging contact details and agreeing to play together again, everyone went their separate ways.
After returning home, Asuto read for a while and reviewed some high school material.
Asuto read for a while and reviewed some high school material.
Since transmigrating into this world, he had spent much less time on his phone.
But don’t misunderstand, it wasn’t because he had quit using phones.
It was simply that Japan’s electronics industry was… difficult to describe, to say the least.
At exactly 9.30pm, Asuto went to sleep on schedule.
· · · · ·
Meanwhile, while Asuto was resting…
Elsewhere:
After finishing his bath, Kyotani didn’t go to sleep immediately.
Instead, he sat cross-legged on the tatami mats, intently watching a video tutorial on how to serve, which was playing on the television.
· · · · ·
The next day, Asuto spent the morning training in physical conditioning and basic techniques as usual.
No matter what sport you play, fundamental physical fitness and technical basics are the essential “foundation.”
Without a solid foundation, it was very difficult for an athlete to succeed.
In the afternoon, he practiced serves.
The Sendai City First Multi-purpose Sports Complex was too far from Asuto’s home for him to go there every day to train. Too much time would be wasted on traveling alone.
Playing roughly one match every three to five days, Asuto steadily improved according to the training plan he had created for himself.
Day after day, time continued to pass.
Soon, the final semester of middle school was about to begin.
On the day before school started, the group of good friends from the Sengoku Junior High School Volleyball Club, who hadn’t contacted Asuto once over the summer after training camp ended, suddenly sent him warm greetings at the same time, as if they had planned it together.
Along with requests to borrow his summer homework.
Asuto had no choice but to take pictures of the homework with his phone and create a dedicated group chat because there were simply too many people.
And then, a miracle happened.
There were only seven third-year members in Sengoku Junior High School’s volleyball club, including both starters and substitutes.
Yet, less than an hour after creating the group chat, Asuto helplessly watched the number of members climb from seven to one hundred and twenty-three…
(End of Chapter)
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