Chapter 90 Qingcheng 2 "Qingcheng was changed to something else before IH..."

"Qingcheng must have switched to a setter-centric style of play before the iH tournament, right?"

It was the same few spectators; they watched the grand spectacle from Qingcheng across the street, their feelings a mix of emotions.

"Yes, but if Qingcheng continues to play the same old style without any flexibility, they might not be able to beat Shiratorizawa in the IH. It's strange, how did their rigid coach suddenly come to this realization?"

"Oh, that's Toru Oikawa. If I were the coach, I would also follow the setter's wishes."

Another spectator with inside connections to the Qingcheng Yexi Volleyball Club shook his head, "While that's part of the reason, it's also related to that short guy, Karasuno."

"Karano No. 10? How is that related to him?"

The audience member with inside information continued, "I heard that Qingcheng's starting setter and Wuye's number 10 have a very good relationship. The two often play volleyball together in private. Once, during Qingcheng Yexi Volleyball Club's open day, the setter brought number 10 to Qingcheng, and they even organized an entertainment match that day."

"So Karasuno 10 is playing too?"

"Number 10 was only in junior high school back then, right? Would they really let him play?"

"Why wouldn't we want to? It was just that we were high school students exchanging ideas and playing games to attract new members. But Oikawa often mentioned to Aoki that he had a cute and hardworking junior. Everyone else was curious about what kind of person he was, so they just turned a blind eye and let Hinata go."

"Want to play in the competition? Then here's the arrangement: Oikawa, you'll team up with your junior and let the rest of us see the strength of you two." The third-year student from Qingcheng, who was the starting setter of that year, smiled as he assigned the teams.

Oikawa was only a first-year high school student at the time, but he didn't think he would lose, so he pulled Iwaizumi and a few other first-year high school students to form a team.

"Why are they all first-year students? Pick a few upperclassmen, don't let us dominate you and then say the seniors are bullying you." The main attacker said helplessly, "Being too temperamental is not good, don't make stupid decisions because of pride."

As they spoke, they turned to the other students who had visited that day, saying, "That's just how Oikawa is. He seems smart, but when it comes to volleyball, he's stubborn and inflexible. You can't reason with him no matter what you say."

The girls who came for Oikawa Tetsu's face paused for a moment, then hugged each other and screamed excitedly, "This kind of attribute makes us even more likable!"

Just like the setter, not every year there is a libero. Coincidentally, there wasn't one in Oikawa's year. Just as Ri was looking left and right, wondering whether he should raise his hand and say he could play libero, Oikawa Toru grabbed his hand, signaling him not to move.

Hinata Fukushi realized something in his mind, and he stood beside Oikawa, waiting for the new member to join.

The third-year student is a libero, but he is a starter, so it's impossible for him not to team up with his teammates.

During the quiet wait, some audience members couldn't bear to see Oikawa's side with no one coming and volunteered to go on stage, but Oikawa still refused.

Looking at the smiling expression on the other person's face, Hinata Shoyo couldn't figure out what the other person was thinking for the first time, but Tetsu-senpai's current behavior was probably just being willful, right?

He glanced again at Iwaizumi Hajime, who usually kept Oikawa Toru in check when he went crazy. This reliable senior simply looked at Oikawa in silence, his face expressionless, offering no support.

Just when he thought no one would step forward, a player from the second year of Qingcheng emerged. This player wasn't wearing a regular team uniform, and his voice wasn't very loud.

"If they need a free agent, could I play? But my skills aren't very good..."

"It's so great that Xiaocang came!"

Oikawa didn't let the other person continue his stammering self-deprecation. He quickly stepped forward and pushed the libero's thin body. The long yet short silence just now seemed to have never happened. The setter's smile was not gloomy, but only pure joy that the libero was willing to stand by his side.

"Doesn't that mean Oikawa's side is full of inexperienced guys? Can they win?"

"What's the rush? Aren't I saying this?"

“Not only did you guys not have high hopes, but the rest of us didn’t have high hopes for Oikawa’s side either. Although he was very talented, what good is talent? Could he carry five people at once?”

"Hey, this guy really gave us a surprise."

"He won?!"

"How could we possibly lose after I've said all that? Oikawa and his junior taught everyone a lesson. Everyone thought Oikawa was too stubborn and that little guy Hyuga was delusional, but these two, playing haphazardly, still won a match that none of us expected to win."

"Thank you so much, little one. You've been a huge help to me today." Oikawa put his left arm around Hinata's shoulder, his tone sweet and affectionate, just like a high school girl.

Hinata, looking shorter than Oikawa, had his stubborn hair standing on end. "I didn't help much, but..."

He found it very strange.

"I'm only in the second year of junior high school. Just now, I saw that our teammates on this side aren't particularly strong either, but Oikawa-senpai still led us to victory. This means that Aoba Johsai's starting setter isn't as good as Oikawa-senpai. Why didn't they let him start?"

Hinata, who immediately became close friends with Nishinoya and secured a starting position at Chidoriyama based on his eccentric but solid fundamentals, didn't understand.

Oikawa Tetsu pressed down on Hinata's unruly hair, flattening it. Hinata bore the force of the pressure from above, while Oikawa's light, sticky voice came from above her head.

"Because they're our seniors~"

Because he is a senior, even though Oikawa Tetsu has a level of skill that surpasses the starting setter, the coach will choose to let the third-year student continue to start for the sake of team relations.

"Oh dear, why is it like this?" Hinata sighed.

Oikawa found it amusing and let go of her hand, causing the tips of the fur that had been pressed down to curl up again.

"So what? When you came to Qingcheng, I was the most senior member of the team. King Jichuan would never suppress his juniors."

"Hey, are you coming or not? Are you coming or not?"

Hinata pushed away Oikawa's head that was leaning in, "No, I already made plans with Yunai-senpai to go to Karasuno."

"?"

"When did you make an appointment with that little giant?" Oikawa didn't think Hinata would lie to him, but he found it strange.

Hinata took out her phone. "I added Yunai-senpai as a friend when he graduated, and we made a promise that I would go to Karasuno!"

It was clear that Oikawa Tetsu wasn't the only one who wanted to lure Hyuga to the west of Aoba Castle. Their coach remained silent for a long time after watching the match. Iruen Shinji had already considered whether to have the third-year students retire early, and after today, his mind became even more determined.

Seeing that Hinata was about to pack up and go home, he called out to him.

"Hyuga, your name is Hinata, right?"

Hinata stood in front of him with her back to him, looking like an elementary school student on her way home from school, even though she was only in the second year of junior high.

"What's wrong, Coach?"

"You did a great job just now. Would you like to come to Qingye West to study in the future?"

So Hinata laid bare his sincere feelings for Karasuno to everyone, and finally, he tilted his head and said,

"But the reason I was able to perform so well is because Oikawa-senpai is so amazing. Oikawa-senpai is able to bring out my strongest abilities."

His tone still carried a hint of dissatisfaction that the other party hadn't immediately given Oikawa Toru a prominent role. Coach Iriyama smiled.

"You're amazing too. No matter how much you stir up a dry pond, you won't make a splash."

"Of course, Oikawa is also very good. He is a promising talent that I spent many days staking out in Kitagawa before finally managing to snatch him back."

Hearing this, Hinata was even more confused, "Then why doesn't the coach let Oikawa-senpai start?"

The coach, with his square face, watched Oikawa talking to his teammates. The libero who had just stood up to team up with Oikawa, Daira Sota, was a relatively introverted member of the team. Oikawa had only recently entered high school, and the fact that this introverted second-year student was willing to stand by Oikawa's side was a testament to Oikawa Tetsu's own charm.

“He is a junior, while the seniors have been in Qingcheng for three years and have led Qingcheng to win many games. I have to give these veterans some explanation, right? Similarly, if Jichuan wants to be a starter, he must convince everyone.”

Oikawa is clever; he chose today.

Normally, people don't see him in training matches, and he might not get a chance to play in competitions, but today is different. It's an open day, and everyone is watching him beat his seniors. So, Oikawa Tetsu is now the undisputed number one setter in Aoki.

No one can deny this, and the coach can rightfully promote him to the starting lineup.

Hinata understood, and once again refused Coach Iruma's invitation. He tiptoed out of the west of Aoba City, unaware that Kageyama, who was also there to visit, had witnessed everything behind him.

Iwaizumi Ichi handed Oikawa Toru a bottle of water. "Satisfied?"

"Of course, that's not enough."

Oikawa Tetsu opened the bottle cap. "It's just the first release. I need them all to listen to me."

"You should really show Hinata what you're like now. You were quite good at playing the victim in front of him just now."

"Tch, the little guy will figure it out when he gets back. He doesn't need you to tell him, Xiaoyan. And even so, the little guy won't be angry with Lord Oikawa."

"You really are a scumbag."

"After that match, Toru Oikawa successfully secured a starting position with Aoki, and Iwaizumi, a main attacker from the same year as him, also became a starter."

After hearing all this, the other two audience members were satisfied, but then suddenly realized something was wrong.

"How do you know so much? Don't you have someone on the inside? You must have seen the whole thing!"

The audience member smiled sheepishly, "I'm the second-year free agent I was talking about earlier, Daira Sota."

"ah??"

The graduate, now a free agent, glanced at the surprised group and landed on the field. As a senior, he was called "Little Cangtai" by Oikawa. Da Huang still felt extremely ashamed when he thought about that day.

But he didn't regret it; the shy free man naturally broke into a smile.

“Oikawa changed a lot of things. Of course, as a senior, isn’t it normal for me to watch a junior’s match?”

It's normal, but anyone would feel embarrassed to gossip in front of the people involved!

After this incident, Aoba Castle West's performance was consistently good, but they still couldn't beat Shiratorizawa.

Before the match, Hyuga briefly explained the situation to Sawada Tsunayoshi. The match was about to start, and if Daichi caught them chatting idly instead of warming up, they'd get scolded. Tsunayoshi listened thoughtfully.

“Oikawa-senpai may seem flamboyant, but he is actually very meticulous.”

But there's more to this story. Kageyama added, "In this respect, I really didn't do as well as my senior. Back then, he brought together several people who were completely unfamiliar with each other and turned them into an invincible team. He had been observing his teammates all along. Looking back, I think he probably already knew that the free agent senior would step up."

“No,” Hinata countered Kageyama’s final point. “I asked the king later, and he said he just felt that the free agent senior’s attitude was good, making it easier to approach him, but he had no idea whether he could succeed.”

“What kind of cruel thing to say is ‘easy to take action’?” Sawada Tsunayoshi retorted first, then asked, “Wouldn’t Oikawa-senpai be afraid? What if no one had stepped forward back then? You wouldn’t have been able to compete.”

"Hmm, it's hard to imagine that Your Majesty would make a mistake in judgment. But I think that even if Senior Dahuang hadn't stepped forward, it would have just been a missed opportunity for Your Majesty. Senior Che is very good at waiting."

Sawada Tsunayoshi's eyes were dazed. Although Xiao Xiang described Oikawa-senpai in that way, he himself was also good at waiting.

"Anyway, I think that given the King's personality, in that environment, there must have been more than just Senior Dahuang who was attracted to him. It's just that Senior Dahuang was the first to step forward."

"Hey you guys, line up and spike the ball!"

Over there, they started cheering for the next warm-up, and the reminiscing session came to an end. Hinata, still feeling unsatisfied, licked his dry lips. Honestly, he'd already made himself thirsty before the match even started.

Forget it, I'll wait until I warm up before drinking water.

"Bang—!" The spike was so powerful it felt like it was going to smash through the floor, as if that would break through the opposing libero's defense.

Let's go back to the present.

Hyuga's mouth was dry. Even though he had drunk water before the match, he had lost moisture quickly, and now his throat was parched. He glanced at the score.

1:2, Aoba Johsai leads by one point.

But soon, that one-point difference was made up by Hyuga's powerful shot.

Kageyama takes the serve.

While distracting the opponent's view, Hyuga whispered to Sawada Tsunayoshi, "Kageyama's serve is also copied from the Great King, but Tetsu-senpai has been unhappy about it ever since he found out."

"Ha, that serve is a long way from scoring against me!"

The ball didn't land, and Kageyama's serve was strong, but Aoba Josai was familiar with this kind of serve just like he was with Oikawa Tetsu. The libero received it, but the first pass wasn't good.

Iwaizumi yelled, "What are you so smug about? You didn't even catch the ball!"

These words did not dampen Oikawa's good mood. Wataru could not catch his ball, but he could catch Kageyama's ball. Very good, he won!

"I see." Even now, Oikawa-senpai still harbors resentment that Kageyama learned his serve from him!

Sawada Tsunayoshi saw Nishiya receive the ball and jump from the left side. He wasn't sure if Kageyama would pass the ball to him, but if he didn't jump, not only would it be impossible, but it would also completely cut off the setter's chance to pass the ball to him.

Perhaps Hinata jumped with the same feeling in mind.

Sawada Tsunayoshi stretched out his hand, and the setter passed the ball to him, removing the spin and force, making it a spike that Tsunayoshi could choose entirely on his own.

Well, he thought Kageyama would have higher expectations.

But this is fine too. Sawada Tsunayoshi glanced at the opposite side of the free agents and subtly gestured that he should move in that direction.

The free agent fell for it, his steps slightly tilted, his whole body poised to strike.

The next second, Sawada Tsunayoshi hooked his hand, bending it into an exaggerated arc, but the force did not diminish at all.

Watari Chikaharu cried out in alarm, but he changed direction at the last minute. He lost his balance, and the ball hit him above the arm and flew out of bounds.

Iwazumi rushed over to try and save him, but he was still just a little short.

He turned around and saw Sawada Tsunayoshi smile at Oikawa Toru.

"Senior Oikawa, is my eyesight alright?"

This was a response to Oikawa's earlier mockery of Hyuga for making his suggestive glances too obvious and being seen through. Oikawa hadn't expected this, so he straightened up and laughed along with him.

"Not bad, Tsuna! Let's do it again!"

Wataru lacked their passion. Looking at his own hands, then at Sawada Tsunayoshi's, he complained painfully, "Aren't you afraid of breaking your hands by bending them like that?!"

Upon hearing this, Sawada Tsunayoshi extended his hand and nodded to confirm that his agility had not decreased.

"It's alright, it's just a fracture, it will heal. It's just that a bone crack is more troublesome." He said in a low voice.

"?"

Watari Chikaji looked at Hinata next to the boy with a look of horror in his eyes. What was this guy saying?

Hinata jumped up and covered Sawada Tsunayoshi's mouth, but didn't aim properly and hit Tsunayoshi's chin instead.

You scared them!

"Huh?" Sawada Tsunayoshi turned around, apologized without thinking twice, and then explained to himself.

"I'm talking about my own hand. It's very troublesome to heal a fractured bone."

That doesn't sound much better either!

Oikawa Tetsu began to suspect that the biggest reason Sawada Tsunayoshi hadn't played volleyball for three years in middle school was because he had suffered a health accident and needed to recuperate.

But during the game, they don't have time to think about other things.

Kageyama once again stepped up to serve.

The two teams, Oikawa and Hinata, liked to arrange matches privately, and they even had many practice matches between the two schools, so they were very familiar with each other.

Kageyama's shot lacked power, and Watari Chikaharu seized the moment to receive the ball. Oikawa Toru then passed it to the attacker behind him.

Tsukishima paused in his blocking motion; the ball wasn't actually passed to Iwaizumi.

Who is that?

In the stands, the audience supporting Qingcheng gasped for breath.

Back row attack? How come Aoba Johsai is starting to act recklessly too! That ball looked like it would have been more appropriate to pass it to Iwaizumi, who was unmarked up front!

Before the question could be uttered, a ball, with force and spin, landed heavily on the Karasuno field, leaving no time to react.

Xi Gu Xi paused, looked over, and saw that the person who hit that ball was someone they had never seen before, but he looked so fierce that he didn't seem to be there to play volleyball, but rather to fight!

Wow, he's comparable to Hayato, whom I just met! Sawada Tsunayoshi subconsciously started comparing them, considering that the opposing attacker only spiked one ball, but Hayato completely overturned him, table and all.

Hayato is definitely fiercer.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Summer vacation is almost over, and my summer job is over too. I'll start catching up on my previous updates soon. [cat emoji]