On a scorching summer day, cicadas chirp constantly outside the window. In the bright and clean campus, in the tall teaching building, the students in the room are all drowsy.
There was a hot atmosphere in the air, and the students with twitching eyelids looked like they would fall asleep in the next second. In some places, they were even snoring slightly.
"...Kobayashi-san...please cheer up." Teacher Miyano reminded Kobayashi Aotori who was lying on the table in the back row for several times.
She sighed, "Don't forget that before the summer vacation, there’s still the big wall of the final exam in front of it.”
"If you don't pass the final exam, there will be a more challenging make-up exam."
"If you don't pass the make-up exam, your summer vacation will always be a delusion."
As soon as she finished speaking, there was another half-dead wailing sound in the classroom.
Kobayashi Aotori is the student she is most satisfied with. Not only is he a volleyball star, but he is also among the best in terms of academic performance and homework completion. If it weren't for the fact that his volleyball activities take up a lot of time, she really wants to arrange him to be a class study committee.
At this time, Aotori was lying on the table dejectedly. Only the hand holding the pen trembled slightly, which seemed to show his unyielding heart.
——Summer passed quietly day by day in Aotori suffering.
During this period, the Shiratorizawa organized several small training matches. In these games, due to the strength gap between the two sides, the score gap in several games was very large.
It is precisely because of these games that the team members gradually realized that maybe the reason why Kobayashi Aotori's last failed high-difficulty service in the training match against Aoba Josai was not just because of his impulse.
They found that once Kobayashi Aotori scored consecutive points in a crushing manner on his own during the service time, he would habitually shoot 'difficult failed service' when he scored more than five points in a row.
-Of course, there’s also a 'world-class' performance included as a bonus.
And coach Washijo's constant roar and additional individual service practice.
In the end, it turned into a routine with a repeated sequence:
A failed service.
Coach Washijo immediately shouted his name.
And finally, Aotori apologized and promised to practice 100 service.
Whether it was out of good intentions or misunderstood as a purely bad personality, Kobayashi Aotori left an indelible impression on the members of Shiratorizawa——
This devil who likes to torture people!!
————
Compared with running in the early morning, running at night is a habit that Kobayashi Aotori developed in his previous life.
On the one hand, running in the morning is in line with the psychology of teenagers, so he will meet many acquaintances, most of whom are 'protagonists' with the same characteristics. These protagonists always like to chat with him, a passerby, which makes him very distressed.
On the other hand, Aotori prefers to stay up late to study than to read in the morning, which makes him have zero acceptance of getting up early.
In short, with the habit day after day, Aotori's habit of going to bed late and getting up late has become stronger and stronger.
That evening, after the routine run, Aotori was walking home. Because this school uniform was supposed to be washed today, he simply went out for a run in his school uniform.
Suddenly, a faint voice of greeting came from behind. Aotori turned around as he was accustomed to, and what he saw was Kageyama Tobio, who was looking away with his head lowered.
"Hey, 'King', you came back quite late today, and you practised with Hinata again?"
Aotori raised his hand, put one hand in his pocket and walked side by side with him.
That's right, Aotori still calls him the King. The reason is not other than that he thinks this title is cool.
At first, Kageyama always had a black face, but after discovering that Kobayashi Aotori was highly immune to black faces and would not change his face despite repeated admonishment, he gave up the idea of correcting his name.
...After all, he understood that Kobayashi Aotori was different from those who mocked him with this title.
He thought so.
Although he don’t want to admit it...but whether this guy is joking or really thinks so, being called 'king' by such a genius who has a high sense of presence won't make anyone angry, including Kageyama.
Ahem...it's quite flattering.
He was carrying his schoolbag on one shoulder and responded to Kobayashi Aotori's question. The two of them remained silent as usual until Kageyama coughed unnaturally and whispered:
"And you?"
Aotori was confused by the out-of-the-blue questions and looked at him in confusion: "What?"
No wonder Aotori couldn't understand, it's just that the gap between these two sentences is a bit too big.
"I, let me ask you how was your training today?" Kageyama was annoyed, but he still repeated it and turned his head away from Aotori's questioning eyes.
"Me."
Kobayashi Aotori didn't care about Kageyama's attitude. After all, he had watched the anime and he could be said to have witnessed Kageyama's growth 'with his own eyes'. Naturally, he wouldn't be angry with him. He thought about it carefully:
"I played two 3V3 games and was fined 100 Services by Coach Washijo. I also practised on my own." Kobayashi Aotori stated the facts calmly.
Well, there is also some team training, there shouldn’t be much to say, after all, they are the most basic pieces of training.
Shirabu:? Do you call this intensity basic?!
Kageyama here paused slightly, trying not to lose his composure, but his heart was filled with turmoil:
Two games?!
100 services?!
And the independent practice under coach Washijo?!
Kageyama gritted his teeth, looked at Kobayqshi Aotori resentfully, and suddenly shouted: "I will not admit defeat!"
After saying that, he quickly ran away with a dark face. Looking at Kageyama who was inexplicably angry and turned into a gust of wind, leaving only a figure behind, Kobayashi Aotori blinked twice.
Well, he admitted that he still didn't understand the protagonist's mind.
He leaned against the telephone pole, with a leisurely expression and a sad heart. He took off his baseball cap, twirled it with one hand, dug into his coat pocket, and found two cherries. He bit off the stems of the cherries, spit out the cores and threw them away.
He knew that every day, Ito would secretly stuff some fruit into the pocket of his school uniform during his lunch break.
The common characteristics of these fruits are -
There is a lot of juice, and most of it is red juice.
This 'good buddy' who likes to play pranks always likes to see his head full of black lines.
The first time he discovered it came to his mind, the moment when he sat on his butt and destroyed the strawberry.
He closed his eyes. Just imagining it made him go crazy inside.
After thinking about the time for a moment, I put my hat back on and continued running.
After all, if Kageyama had just run away in shame, only to be caught up by Kobayashi Aotori who continued running...
Even if Kageyama could accept it, Kobayashi Aotori couldn't.
Just as he was returning to his running rhythm, a familiar shout suddenly came from the distance:
"Kobayashi Aotori!"
He paused slightly and subconsciously looked back -
Kageyama?! When was he there?!
Aotori's pupils shrank as if his normal expression was hiding his panic.
So who did I just meet?!!
Aotori didn't know that there was something called a 'trail' on such a remote road.
He turned his head blankly, and what he saw was Kageyama's suffocated expression. Aotori blinked as if he didn't know why he did this strange thing.
"Next time...next time during the competition."
Kageyama's expression was calm. He stretched out a finger and pointed at Kobayashi Aotori opposite, his eyes glaring fiercely:
"I'll beat you. In a proper match."
In an instant, the air froze.
The night breeze was slightly cool, and Kobayashi Aotori stood calmly. The breeze blew his short dark blue hair, and the hair strands danced slightly.
After a long time, a faint sound broke the silence——
"good."