Chapter 27 Quarterfinals 1 The members of the Sound Horse team look fierce and menacing…
"Wow, so cool!" Matsukawa Saki was full of positive energy and moved closer to Sawada Tsunayoshi and Hinata to take a closer look.
"Ikeya wasn't wrong, black really suits Shohoku." Orange hair with an orange headband—Matsukawa couldn't imagine the scene.
Hinata Shoyo tilted his head back, revealing the front of the headband on his forehead, "Saki, look, there's a fly on it!"
The black fabric was embroidered with gold thread, forming the English word for "fly." A glimpse of black hair peeked through the orange strands. Matsukawa Saki gave a thumbs-up in affirmation, "Fly! Wow, this headband is truly tailor-made for you, Shoyo!"
"Right, right!" Hinata exclaimed, jumping up and down.
"Just like this, fly!"
Kyoji Akaashi brushed aside the hair on Tsuna's forehead.
"Tsuna chose... blue?"
He hesitated for a moment. It wasn't the pure blue of the three primary colors. The color of the hair on Sawada Tsunayoshi's head was lighter, like the color of the sky.
"The boss said it was sky blue."
Sawada Tsunayoshi wasn't quite used to it yet; he couldn't quite accept the feeling of the headband digging into his forehead. So he reached out and adjusted the headband, rotating it at a certain angle. The sharp-eyed young athletes immediately noticed the orange-gold lettering.
“y?” Kujo Ike was standing far away, and when he first saw the word “y,” he thought it was the same word as Hinata Shoyo.
Aoyama Kaede, who was nearby, shook his head. "It's Sky."
After saying that, he asked in confusion, "What does that mean?"
"It's 'sky,' which translates to 'sky'," Matsukawa Saki explained, then sighed, hands on his hips. "We learned this word in first grade, right? Can someone with this vocabulary of 'Maple' really pass an exam?"
Although his own grades weren't much better, he could at least remember a few words.
Aoyama Kaede shrank into the corner, trying to minimize his presence.
Even if you hide away, you can't neglect your studies!
Sawada Tsunayoshi was indeed a bit short. Akaashi Kyoji didn't remove his hand from the ends of the other's hair. His second-year cousin was about the same height as Sawada Tsunayoshi.
Although he was thinking some rather presumptuous things, Akaashi ruffled Tsuna's hair a few times, raising an eyebrow.
"It looks great."
Sawada Tsunayoshi tilted his head obediently, his eyes filled with laughter as he heard these words. His fair skin and sky blue color complemented each other, creating a fairytale atmosphere around him.
Seeing the other person's clear smile, Akaashi Kyoji couldn't resist ruffling the top of their head several times, leaving the others bewildered. Kojima Shiro opened his mouth, but with a match the day after tomorrow, he wasn't sure if interrupting his own setter at this moment was a good decision.
Ultimately, Ai's teammate prevailed, asking, "Why does Akaashi-senpai keep ruffling Sawada-kun's hair?"
Kyoji Akaashi withdrew his hand, his expression calm. "Because it's comfortable."
"Then I want to rub it too!" Kujo Ikeya and Matsukawa Saki immediately took a big step forward, placing their hands on Sawada Tsunayoshi's fluffy hair one after the other, teasing their junior while giving serious evaluations.
"It feels really good! Kojima and Kaede, why don't you try it too?"
"Xiangyang? Forget about Xiangyang, it's too difficult for him to reach out."
"Hey! I'm about the same height as Xiaogang!" The short mushroom, puffing out his cheeks, tried to push away the hand that was messing with his friend's head.
"If you keep rubbing Xiaogang like that, he won't grow tall!"
Sawada Tsunayoshi was disoriented, surrounded by people all around him, completely obscuring him. In the end, it was Hyuga who made his move from the lower-lying Matsukawazaki area, successfully rescuing Tsunayoshi from the place with too many Titan elements.
"Pfft, hahaha!" Kujo Ike also looked at their masterpiece and couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Sawada Tsunayoshi knew without a doubt what his hair looked like. Hinata kindly stroked his hair, trying to smooth it out.
"Your hair looks like a bird's nest."
Even his hairband was askew; heaven knows how much force they had used. Sawada Tsunayoshi reluctantly took off the hairband and began to tidy his messy hair.
"If I don't grow taller, none of you will escape." He made a weak but intimidating threat.
Matsukawa Saki patted his chest, showing no remorse whatsoever.
"It's okay, I'll saw off Chi Ye's leg and put it on you."
"Ugh! This is so cruel!"
Kujo Ike was even more indignant, "Why did you saw off my leg but not your own?"
Wait a minute, shouldn't we be focusing on the "leg sawing" part? Why are we discussing who was sawed off?
Matsukawa Saki remained defiant, saying, "Because I'm short too, I don't have enough legs for Tsuna."
Kujo Ike was speechless, and ultimately the match was ended because his opponent was too sincere.
Finally, he changed his tune, "There's still Qingshan, we can saw him down too."
Long, mushroom-shaped green hill: ?
"What does it have to do with me!"
Kyoji Akaashi said coolly, "How about this, one for Tsunayoshi and one for Shoyo."
Matsukawa Saki was inspired, "That's great! If you give me a little bit of the island's legs, then we'll both be tall!"
The innocently slandered Kojima Shiro pondered, "But doctors can't just give their legs to others, can they?"
Sawada Tsunayoshi finally covered his ears in anguish, "Stop talking, or I'll have nightmares tonight!"
Kujo and Matsukawa burst into laughter, "Hahaha, come find us if you have nightmares, we'll make sure you're not scared!"
"No, it's because I found you that I'm scared!" Tsuna's face scrunched up.
Before going to bed that night, Aoyama Kaede watched as Kojima Shiro took out his smartphone and searched for the phrase "Can I have surgery to amputate my own leg and give it to someone else?"
He once again marveled at how amazing humans truly are.
"Idiot, they were obviously joking during the day!"
"Huh?"
"What are you yelling at me for?!"
The next day, Saturday, they played against Soundhorse on Sunday, which meant they had one more day to train. The coaches wanted to let them see what a strong defensive team looked like, so they had them form teams to play three vs. three.
Kojima Castle: Sawada Tsunayoshi and Hyuga form one group, while Akaashi Kyoji, along with Aoyama Kaede and Kujo Ike, form another group.
Yes, Sawada Tsunayoshi is going to play setter again. Apart from the fact that he is an amateur setter, the other personnel are assigned normally, with one outside hitter and one middle blocker in each group.
The backup setter is fine too, why choose him? Tsuna's eyes were resentful, he also wanted to rest on the side with Saki.
Coach Suzuki stood on the sidelines with his arms crossed, thinking to himself, "You guys will still be on the court tomorrow. If I don't let you practice your teamwork today, when will I? Is the game over yet?"
The consequence of this grouping was that Kujo Ike and Aoyama Kaede felt like they had been skinned alive. If the spikes weren't a bit tricky, they wouldn't even land, not to mention that they couldn't produce any complicated spikes at the moment.
Kujoike also went berserk, "Kojima, how can you be so agile, you're such a tall guy!"
Kojima politely answered his senior's question, "Because I played as a free agent for a period of time before."
Damn it, I'm even angrier now!
On the other hand, Sawada Tsunayoshi and Hyuga cooperated very well. Apart from Kyoji's decent reception, the other players were very rough. Hyuga spiked the ball accurately every time and even passed the ball to Tsunayoshi a few times to get the opponent involved in the attack.
They were having a great time, but Kujo and the others couldn't laugh anymore. A dense net covered the opposite field, and the methods that usually allowed them to score easily were ineffective against Tsuna and his friends.
He collapsed heavily to the ground, his eyes glazed over. "I'm exhausted."
Matsukawa kicked the other man's shin, "Get up and stretch, rough guy."
His status suddenly plummeted from ace to roughneck, Sawada Tsunayoshi thought with pity.
Kujou Hayate: "You can't even break through Tsuna's defenses, so how can you compare to Otokoma and the others?"
Kujo Ike also covered her face and wept, "With my skill level, how did I win those previous matches? Waaah, did they hold back on defense?"
Matsukawa Saki pulled Tsuna to squat down next to Kujo Ikeya's "corpse," poking his hair and speaking in a kind and gentle tone.
"That's because Xiaogang and I caught the ball, you idiot."
“Ah, Ike is also in tears.” Sawada Tsunayoshi said, pointing at the other’s face.
“Those were tears of emotion,” Matsukawa Saki nodded.
Moved to tears, Kujo Ike also used her core strength to open her arms and tightly embrace the two people squatting beside her.
"You two absolutely have to compete with me, waaaaaah!"
"Ouch! Let go of me, you bastard!"
Not daring to truly break their ace's mentality, Suzuki interrupted the friendly conversation between his teammates to ease the tension.
"That's right, our team has pretty good ball-receiving skills too. Besides, there's no need to compare ourselves to others in terms of strengths, is there?"
“We still don’t know how the members of Yinju are doing this year. The members who participated in the league last year should have all moved up to junior high school this year. They didn’t play on the bench before. You could say we’re crossing the river blindfolded right now.”
Coach Suzuki really knows how to keep things hidden; he hasn't revealed a single clue. Their old coach even went over there before to show off his own promising young players.
"But one thing is certain: their receiving is absolutely excellent. You all know that from watching the high school competitions every year, right?"
"I'm not saying this to make you catch the ball as well as others right now, but just to remind you. We played very well in last week's game. Don't let the difficulty in scoring tomorrow affect your mentality. These are all normal. Attack according to the rhythm of your usual training. The opponent can't catch every ball."
Honestly, their receiving and spiking skills would still be considered subpar by middle and high school standards. Their bodies are still developing, and their technique won't really be that strong.
However, Otoko is different in one way: their defense is systematic.
A well-coordinated defense would be very threatening even on an elementary school field.
He was worried that the often erratic Kujo Ikeya and the sensitive and fragile Aoyama Kaede would not be able to perform to their full potential, even though Ikeya had already competed against Otokoma last year.
However, Suzuki and Kujou weren't too worried about the remaining kids. Akaashi Kyoji was stable, Kojima seemed to have no common sense at all, and as for Hyuga, he was fine as long as he could play volleyball.
As for Sawada Tsunayoshi, the last time he had such a big emotional outburst was when he was frightened by a large dog brought by a pet owner. Suzuki had never seen Tsunayoshi jump that high before.
During the summer vacation, Matsukawa Saki was still timid and hesitant, but with Sawada Tsunayoshi sharing the burden, he is much more relaxed during the competition now.
After training, Kujou Hayate warned the group of teenagers.
"Go to the hotel right now, take a shower, and go to sleep. If I catch you playing truth or dare and running around outside meowing like cats again, I guarantee Coach Suzuki will kill you all."
Kujo Ike, the one who proposed the game, also turned away guiltily. Sawada Tsunayoshi, the poor bastard who was forced to meow like a cat, silently lowered his head.
He's so unlucky, sob sob.
However, Hinata Shoyo did not act as he promised, remaining calm during the match. Sawada Tsunayoshi put their water bottles away, greeted Akaashi Kyoji, and took Hinata to the restroom.
Hinata's face was as pale as it had been during last week's match. Sawada Tsunayoshi felt a pang of heartache. In other words, it was truly remarkable that Sho could perform so well in this condition.
He didn't really want to go to the toilet; he was just afraid that something might happen to Hinata in this worrying situation, so he stood outside the toilet obediently in his stance.
The intersection was bustling with people, and Tsuna even overheard people talking about them.
"The quarterfinals are between Ootani and Nekoma. Were they set up by investors?"
"They're both seeded teams for the championship, isn't there any way to make them advance together?!"
"That's right, which team do you support again?"
“I went to the music school in high school, so of course I support my own school.”
"Tsk, I'm from Xiaogu."
Sawada Tsunayoshi quietly watched the dramatic love story unfold as the couple turned against each other because of their home team. Well, this was no longer a regular match; it was a full-blown rivalry between two schools.
"Hey, is that Fukutani's team uniform?"
A voice came from behind him. Tsuna thought to himself that they must have watched their match. The couple who had been talking about their team didn't even know what their team's uniform looked like. They were really just talking about love.
He looked back and could only see a broad, open chest. He raised his neck in sorrow, thinking that the other person's height seemed to be about the same as Chi's.
Wow, what a weird hairstyle!
The newcomer was not only tall, but even the tips of his hair stubbornly defied gravity, pointing straight to the sky.
Wow, how did you do that!
In just a few seconds, the opponent had a tremendous impact on Sawada Tsunayoshi.
"Your eyes betray your thoughts," Kuroo reminded the dazed member of the team.
"Ah, I'm sorry," Tsuna instinctively bowed and apologized, then tilted his head in confusion. The unfamiliar team uniform, and the other person was also a player today—so the only person here at this time could be…
"Otoko?!"
Kuro watched as the short man's expression shifted several times, finally settling on surprise. He then raised one corner of his mouth in a slight smile.
"Yeah, little guy Xiao Gu, don't let us beat you to tears today." He bent down in a menacing tone, like a delinquent gangster besieging the kind-hearted student in class.
Sawada Tsunayoshi quickly jumped back a few steps, his face showing even more fear.
How terrifying, this person!
Even his smile is so wicked!
"Kuro, I'm done." The sound of flushing water saved the bewildered Tsunayoshi. He ran to the other side of the wall and stood as far away from the treacherous guy as possible.
The boy who came out had an indifferent expression. He nodded to him, and Kurowei straightened up and waved his hand.
"See you later, Xiao Gu's little backup."
Sawada Tsunayoshi breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the two men, whose backs also exuded an aura of menacing men, walk out of the passageway. Were their opponents today really this fierce and menacing?
Outside the passageway,
"Were you just threatening that backup?" Kozume asked, wiping the water off his hands as he pointed out his childhood friend's childish behavior.
"No, I was just having a normal pre-match discussion," Kuroo said, his hands behind his head, his smile so wicked that Tsuna would jump up in anger.
"Besides, didn't you cooperate with me in the grinding process?"
Kozume Kenmo said he wasn't that naive, "I just simply don't know how to chat with strangers."
"Well, say what you will. Their off-court support looks quite interesting, a completely different style from their playing style." Kuroo withdrew his hand, rubbing his chin and muttering to himself.
"Indeed, the members of the Fukutani team are all very interesting."
Grinding thought about the orange-haired boy he had met twice and echoed his childhood friend.
Achoo—!
"Are you alright, Sho?" Sawada Tsunayoshi asked worriedly, looking at his friend who was sneezing as soon as he came out of the bathroom.
Hinata Shoyo shook his head. "It's nothing, I just suddenly felt a little cold."
Sawada Tsunayoshi rubbed the goosebumps on his skin and agreed, "It really does feel chilly."
"Oh yeah, I just ran into that cat-like person I met at the last competition!"
Hinata Shoyo dried his hands and shared his thoughts with Tsunayoshi as they walked.
Sawada Tsunayoshi pondered, "His hairstyle is indeed strange. If it's because Sho is nervous about the opponent's match, it's understandable."
"Huh? What?"
Tsuna didn't answer. He clutched his stomach, wondering what to do. He was starting to get nervous too.
The evil black-tailed cat's plan to intimidate its opponent has succeeded.
When they entered the arena to warm up, Hinata was shocked to discover that...
"So, Kenma is Otoko's! Tsuna, aren't you surprised at all!"
Sawada Tsunayoshi: "Besides us, Otokoma is probably the only one wearing a competition uniform today, right?"
Hinata remained silent. Kozume Kenma, who was opposite him, was startled and turned to give Tsuna and Hinata a quick, small nod before immediately slipping into a corner.
With so many people around, please don't suddenly shout out names.
Grinding is like being an unlucky kid whose name is shouted out by a mischievous friend in a crowd after school; it doesn't have any specific impact, it's just embarrassing.
"Grinding?" Suzuki looked at Hinata with a puzzled expression. "You know him?"
The coach, who had tried his best but failed to obtain information about the opponent, was spurred on.
Hinata honestly confessed, "I only ran into him twice in the restroom."
"You called me by name after only meeting me twice?!" Aoyama Kaede walked over in shock, then left in shock.
He thought that since he had fought with Tsuna a few times, calling him by his name already made him seem very familiar with him.
Sawada Tsunayoshi thought to himself, "That's more than that. They called Hyuga 'Tsuna' the very first day they met. Anyone who didn't know them would think they'd known each other for ages."
Suzuki looked regretful. They had only just met, so there was no way he could get information about the opponent. He shook his head and left. He knew he had to take it one step at a time.
Tsuna peered across the room, and by sheer coincidence, his eyes met those of that treacherous guy again. Kuro also gave him a sinister smile.
Alas!
Sawada Tsunayoshi darted behind Kujo Ikeya, who was standing next to him. That guy is really scary!
Kujo Ike couldn't tolerate his teammate being bullied, so he immediately bared his teeth and retaliated. Before the match even started, the atmosphere between the two sides was already on the verge of exploding.
As Shoichi Irie ran towards the stadium, the commentary's voice came through his earpiece at just the right moment.
"Both teams on our field are very motivated today! They both seem really looking forward to today's game."
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Author's Note: A slightly mischievous cat (pointing and gesturing), once it gets to know Little Black better, it won't be able to use this trick to scare the rabbit anymore [cat emoji]
The editor said it's best to update earlier these few days, so tomorrow's update will probably be around the same time. The day after tomorrow, the deadline will be set, so updates might be delayed until after 11 PM. Once these few days are over, we can update normally again!
This person is exhausted after writing so much in two days; they haven't even had time to reply to everyone's comments. They'll reread these comments after they're done with these busy days. [heart emoji]
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