“Ah la la~~ Do the little first years need their seniors to come and help them?” Oikawa walked towards Asuto, speaking in a teasing tone.
However, the moment he finished speaking, a fist had already smashed down onto his head from behind.
“Don’t go around provoking the newcomers on purpose, childish Oikawa.”
It was Hajime Iwaizumi.
Bang!
“Ow, that hurts!”
Oikawa instantly clutched his forehead. His smug expression disappeared, replaced by a pitiful look.
“(〒︿〒)~~ Iwaizumi-chan, aren’t you being way too nice to the newcomers?”
“(▼ヘ▼#)~~ You’ve got it wrong, dumbass Oikawa. It’s not that I’m nice to the newcomers; I’m just unfriendly to you.”
It was as though a sharp blade had pierced straight through Oikawa’s heart. He froze to the spot instantly.
A gust of wind blew by.
The stone statue crumbled into dust and scattered, while Iwaizumi casually waved his hand to disperse the ashes before walking over to Asuto and helping him pick up the volleyballs.
Oikawa Tooru: ‘…’
······
“Were you practicing just now?” Iwaizumi asked.
“Yeah. Since there was still a bit of time left, I practiced a few serves,” Asahi replied.
“You train a lot. Make sure you pay attention to your physical condition.”
“Thank you for your concern, Senpai. But I’ve been training at this intensity ever since junior high. Maybe my body’s just sturdier than normal; I haven’t had any problems so far.”
“I see.”
Iwaizumi nodded and said no more.
Their conversation ended there.
Without the sound of the two of them talking, the atmosphere inside the volleyball gym suddenly became quiet.
Come to think of it…
Neither Asuto nor Iwaizumi were particularly talkative. One was quite skilled at tactical taunting, while the other was extremely good at beating up Oikawa Tooru.
But when it came to social interactions, they were both pretty ordinary.
Fortunately, the silence didn’t last long before a certain ‘social butterfly’ decided to speak up.
“By the way, Akashi Chan, didn’t you already turn down the coach’s invitation? So why did you eventually decide to come to Aoba Johsai?” Oikawa poked his head over and asked.
‘Akashi Chan?’
The corner of Asuto’s mouth twitched slightly upon hearing that.
“Because Aoba Johsai offered me the highest scholarship.”
“Scholarship?” Oikawa blinked in confusion, then turned towards Iwaizumi. “Iwaizumi-chan, when did our club start offering scholarships for special recruits?”
“How could that possibly exist, dumbass Oikawa… He’s probably talking about the school scholarship, not the volleyball club.”
“The school scholarship? But don’t only the top hundred students in the prefecture-wide entrance exams qualify for that?”
“Mm. I got pretty lucky in the entrance exam this time and came twenty-ninth.” Asuto said.
Oikawa Tooru: “…”
Iwaizumi Hajime: “…”
The moment Asuto said those words, both Iwaizumi and Oikawa fell silent.
……
……
After cleaning up the gym equipment, Asuto returned to Sanhe Manor, the house he rents.
When he arrived home, the landlady, Akashi Kana, and the other two tenants, Horiguchi Tomoko and Kudo Koichi, were already eating dinner. Only Koyanagi Mizuki had not finished work yet.
After all, the term ‘corporate slave’ wasn’t coined for nothing.
“I’m home!”
Asuto greeted everyone politely after entering the house.
“Welcome back.”
Akashi Kana replied with a smile, saying, “Your dinner’s already prepared. Go and wash up quickly, then come and eat.”
“Okay!”
Asuto answered before swiftly returning to his room. After washing up at lightning speed, he headed back to the dining room.
He was really hungry now.
The moment he sat down at the table, he didn’t waste any time. He picked up his rice bowl and immediately started devouring his meal in huge mouthfuls.
In the next few seconds…
Everyone at the dining table witnessed what true ‘eating’ looked like.
A bowl of rice and a few side dishes were gone in just three mouthfuls.
The entire group was dumbfounded.
Even the well-traveled landlady covered her mouth in shock.
“Sis, did you finish preparing the beef I asked you about earlier?”
“Ah?”
Akashi Kana froze for a moment before quickly snapping back to reality.
“Y-Yeah… It’s already prepared. I’ll bring it over now.”
As she spoke, she headed towards the kitchen. A short while later, she returned carrying a large plate of simply grilled pork. Judging by the amount, there must have been at least one kilo of it.
“Thanks!”
Asuto thanked her before tearing into the pork with large bites.
The pork had been grilled thoroughly. Although there wasn’t much seasoning, the meat itself was tasty enough to make it delicious.
Before long, the full one kilo had disappeared into Asuto’s stomach.
Yet even at this point, he still wasn’t full.
“Has my appetite increased again?” Asuto muttered inwardly, feeling somewhat troubled.
Without a doubt, now that his training at school had become more intense, his appetite had grown even more than before.
The dining room fell completely silent.
Watching her younger brother devour one kilo of pork and several bowls of rice, Akashi Kana was utterly stunned.
Kudo Koichi held a piece of fried chicken in his chopsticks, staring at Asuto in mild horror and feeling an inexplicable sense of pressure.
Meanwhile, Horiguchi Tomoko looked at Asuto’s flat stomach with sparkling eyes, wondering how he managed to eat so much without gaining weight.
The landlady had been stunned at first, too, but her face quickly filled with a warm smile.
“Akashi-kun, are you full? If not, would you like me to get you some more rice?”
“Oh! Then I’ll trouble you, Granny.”
“It’s no trouble at all, no trouble at all!”
The landlady cheerfully walked toward the kitchen.
If Asuto could see “favorability points” right now, he would probably see a constant stream of numbers floating above the landlady’s head saying: Favorability +1, Favorability +1…
In the hearts of many older people, there was always the belief that “being able to eat is a blessing.” Sometimes, “a child who eats well” was practically synonymous with “a good child.”
After finishing a hearty dinner… Asuto returned to his room and continued revising, deleting, and rewriting parts of his novel.
······
Time passed.
In the blink of an eye…
Saturday arrived.
Location: Karasuno High School.
Because of everything that had happened at the start of the school year, the freshmen at Karasuno also held a unique welcoming match. However, unlike Aoba Johsai High School, where it was seniors versus freshmen, this one was freshmen versus freshmen.
And as one of the freshmen, Oda Miki was unwillingly dragged in as forced labor…
(End of Chapter)