JSWGAS Chapter 120

Chapter 120 120.

Chapter 120 120.

120.

The Spring High School Volleyball League, collectively known as Spring High, is a large-scale event on par with the IH. The Spring High preliminary tournament usually starts in October, with different time arrangements for each region, but generally ends in November. The official competition is scheduled for March—which means it will clash with the university entrance exam.

Therefore, after the IH ends, most high school seniors choose to retire from their clubs and focus on their studies. Huang Sheng and Saijo are no exception. Compared to the former’s highly infectious way of bringing the tough guys to tears in front of everyone, the latter’s farewell was short and unrestrained.

“Win Spring High back for me.”

He didn’t mean to ask for opinions at all when he said this. His eyes swept over the faces of the first-year students and finally landed on the first-year student whose eyebrows and eyes were more energetic. Other than that, he didn’t seem to have anything else to say. But whether it was Wenda, who was pulling Huang Sheng and crying with tears all over his face, or Oikawa, who raised his smile upon hearing this, their expressions when they looked up were uniformly firm.

“Yes! Thank you very much for these three years!”

Due to his hand injury, Kokonoe Taka was mercilessly removed from the daily training team and became an incompatible idler. Seeing this, Coach Irubatake simply grabbed him to talk about tactics and, by the way, helped him correct some mistakes in his posture. After the coach finished his private tutoring, he started picking up balls everywhere on the court—it was at this time that Saijo, who appeared beside him at some point, spoke softly.

“…I feel sorry.”

“Huh?”

Of the retired students, only Huang Sheng still came over from time to time, ostensibly because he couldn’t let go. At this time, he was also acting as a friendly sparring partner. Saijo was here for the first time since retiring. His eyes fell on the court, and he sighed in annoyance, “It’s just before the preliminary tournament… didn’t I say ‘you haven’t been injured in sports’? Now that I think about it, that might be a death flag… what kind of expression is that on your face?”

Kokonoe Taka forcibly suppressed the corners of his mouth that were too arrogant, “You still believe in this?”

“I’m reflecting on myself, please understand.” Saijo said with a blank face, “First Nanhi, then you, I’m going to have psychological trauma about the competition.”

“Saijo-senpai, do you want to know what my first impression of you was?”

Saijo had a bad feeling, “What is it?”

“Should I say meddlesome… or presumptuous.”

Saijo was already regretting that he had asked this question, “Even though you’ve been using honorifics, this is your true feeling, right?”

Kokonoe Taka shrugged, quickly catching a volleyball flying out of bounds with his left hand, and casually spinning it, “Isn’t it? Otherwise, I can’t figure out why you would think that way.”

“It’s only natural to feel cursed when such a low-probability event of teammates getting injured in the competition happens for two consecutive years, right?”

Kokonoe Taka remained noncommittal, “Do you remember the first question you asked me? Why I came to play volleyball instead of basketball.”

He seemed tired of spinning the ball, and casually threw the volleyball accurately into the ball basket, then repeated what he had said at the beginning.

“I want to know, why volleyball makes people feel interesting.” He deliberately left a blank of two seconds, “I already know the answer to this question.”

“So whether it was Nanhi at the beginning, or me at that time, we were just doing what we should do.” He smiled, “That’s all.”

Life continued as usual. The only thing that could be called a disturbance was probably one day when Kokonoe Taka was stopped by the basketball team at school. Judging by their appearance, they had been planning this for a long time. But unlike what he had imagined, the other party didn’t come to pick a fight—on the contrary, Ibuki, the leader, tearfully hoped that he would abandon the volleyball team and join the basketball team’s embrace. The sincerity of his words was comparable to the irresponsible drawing of big cakes by unscrupulous HR during recruitment.

The only regret was that they didn’t choose the right time. It just so happened that Iwaizumi and Oikawa came to call him. The latter was already on edge because of Ushijima Wakatoshi’s elusive invitation. After hearing Ibuki’s invitation, he rolled up his sleeves and went forward to argue with the crowd. Even the Chinese teacher would have doubted whether he had marked Oikawa Tōru’s barely passing Chinese score incorrectly. In the end, the group of people from the basketball team were confused by him, and Ibuki, the leader, shouted with hatred, “I’ll be back!” and hurried off with a look of grief and indignation.

Oikawa Tōru, who had won a battle, turned his head refreshed, only to find that Kokonoe Taka behind him was skillfully playing with the basketball that Ibuki had forgotten on the scene. He casually invited Iwaizumi to take him to play street basketball whenever he was free, “That’s more fun. There aren’t any rules to pay attention to, and it’s quite easy to get started.”

Iwaizumi agreed immediately, “I can do it anytime once your hand is okay.”

Oikawa, “…” Did you guys forget about me!

There was another commotion.

It is said that every high school coach has their own unique network, and Coach Irubatake is no exception. For Aoba Johsai now, in addition to daily training, extra-curricular exchange matches are also essential. The choice of corresponding opponents should ideally ensure the diversification of the team’s style, so that the players can be exposed to new things and grow faster.

Therefore, Coach Irubatake has been extremely busy during this period. In addition to supervising the team’s daily training, he also has to run around contacting various connections, and even began to complain to his wife that his face had thinned, “Have you decided on a suitable school?” his wife asked with a gentle smile.

Coach Irubatake stroked his chin, “I should say it’s a very good school.”

——Rikkaidai Affiliated High School and Namikawa High School in Kanagawa Prefecture, and Nekoma in Tokyo.

“Isn’t Rikkaidai the runner-up in last year’s IH!” Gujiang’s eyes lit up when the coach announced the news, “There was a particularly amazing libero in their third year last year! I remember there was also a middle blocker who went directly to play professionally after graduating from high school!”

“I’ve seen their games. Are you talking about Tachibana Kota?” Matsukawa was also excited, “The middle blocker who now works for VC Kanagawa, said to have a very strong defense.”

“But their main players last year were all in their third year at the time, so they should have graduated. I don’t know what the situation is now.”

“The coach’s network is a mystery…”

Coach Irubatake coughed lightly, interrupting the heated discussion.

“The training camp will be at Rikkaidai. The time is scheduled after the Tokyo regional preliminary tournament and after the final exams.” He said slowly, pretending not to notice the sudden silence around him, “That is to say, if anyone fails the exam, they will have to participate in the remedial classes arranged by the school during the summer vacation…”

“I’ve worked hard for a long time to find these good schools.” He said meaningfully, “There shouldn’t be any absences, right?”

Everyone, “…”

Miyano tremblingly raised his hand, “If there’s only one failing grade…”

Coach Mizoguchi looked at him, “–You’ll still have to stay for remedial classes.”

Miyano, “…”

Coach Mizoguchi saw his twisted expression and couldn’t help but remain silent for a moment, “Miyano, you’ll pass, right?”

Gu Jiang whispered to Kokonoe next to him in what he thought was a very small voice, “Don’t look at Miyano now as the captain, but in fact, he struggles with Chinese and math every year to barely pass.”

Kokonoe asked him, “He clearly looks like he uses his brain when playing volleyball?”

Gu Jiang affirmed, “He clearly looks like he uses his brain when playing volleyball.”

Oikawa couldn’t hold back, “…Pfft.”

Although the others were also holding back their laughter, they weren’t as obvious as Oikawa. Miyano held his head and wailed, “How am I supposed to know what those roundabout sentences in modern literature that make you delve into the author’s heart mean?! And you don’t need to solve math problems when playing volleyball!”

Gu Jiang spread his hands, “That’s how it is.”

Coach Mizoguchi couldn’t bear to look at Miyano, who had completely lost his image, and turned to look at the others, “You guys should be okay, right?”

Hanamaki, “…Actually, I often fall asleep during morning classes.”

Matsukawa, “My history is a bit weak, but I’m okay with the other subjects.”

“I’m fine.” This was Iwaizumi, “I should be able to help Hanamaki and Matsukawa with tutoring.”

“I’m okay too, I can definitely pass if I cram.” Oikawa turned his head, “Aka, you’re okay too, right? I remember you were in the top ten in the grade on the last quiz?”

“I dropped to the top twenty.” Kokonoe Taka corrected him, frowning, “The training volume was a bit too high before, and I didn’t review for a few days, so I didn’t do very well.”

Wenda’s pupils trembled, “You can still get such good grades while completing volleyball club training?! How do you do it?”

“The test isn’t difficult, just review the content in the book and you’ll be fine.”

“Don’t believe what he says!” Oikawa puffed out his cheeks, “The last time I borrowed Aka’s homework to look at, I found that the answers this guy wrote were either just numbers, or he used formulas that we haven’t learned yet.”

“It’s just a formula that we’ll learn next year, it’s more convenient to use.”

Several people who always barely passed the exams looked at him hopefully, like they had found a savior. Miyano was the most eager, “What about the first-year courses…”

Kokonoe Taka couldn’t help but recall the students he had taught so far when he met their gazes. The end result of being good at academics is tutoring the idiots on the team. He even desperately realized that he had gotten used to it. Anyway, it’s impossible to meet a bigger idiot than Aomine back then.

“What subjects?” He sighed deeply, “Let’s make it clear first, if anyone can’t learn it, I’ll use physical means to help.”

“…What physical means?”

Kokonoe Taka kindly raised his fist.

“This.”

“…Ha, haha.”

No matter how desperate the process was, the volleyball team eventually passed all the exams and got very good grades.

“This is the first time I’ve gotten an excellent grade.” Miyano murmured, “I’m going to frame this test paper.”

“For commemoration?”

“For the experience of being knocked on the head in my dreams during this period.”

“…I feel sorry for you.”