Chapter 16: The Game Crisis Continues
The cicadas chirped on the summer night, and the lush green leaves outside the venue swayed gently. Even after a day of scorching sun, it was still not cool, and the chirping of insects made people feel irritable.
Hyuga Shoyo, unusually, didn't drag Tsuna to stay on the field for independent practice after training. Upon hearing the dismissal whistle, the group immediately stood up and headed towards the dormitory building, remaining silent but clearly eager to move.
It's as if the words "I have a problem" are firmly welded onto his forehead.
Summer camps rarely schedule activities in the evenings; this time is usually reserved for students to handle their own coursework.
After a quick shower, Sawada Tsunayoshi, still wet from taking a workbook, quietly opened the door in his pajamas, peeked out and looked around, and found that the others were also visiting each other's rooms.
He breathed a sigh of relief and made a gesture towards the back of the door, indicating that everything was normal and they could launch an attack.
Then, Hinata appeared at the door, wearing the same style of pajamas as Tsunayoshi but a different type, stiffly holding a book.
At this hour, no one is asleep yet, so blending into the crowd to Akaashi's dorm won't seem out of place. With homework in my arms, I can just say I'm going to ask them a question!
"Sho, relax a bit. You look suspicious." Sawada Tsunayoshi took a step back and stood next to Hyuga.
The short distance from opening his own dorm room door to knocking on the door of Kujo Ikeya's dorm room made Hinata tense, as he was about to set the world on fire.
The dormitory air conditioning wasn't too cold; it felt a bit warm a few days ago, but now Hinata felt so cold that she got goosebumps all over.
He kept muttering to himself, "I came here to do my homework, I came here to do my homework..."
With a creak, the door was opened by Kujo Ike, startling Hinata so much that he almost threw his book at Kujo's face.
Kujo's lips twitched uncontrollably. "What are you doing here?"
Hinata closed his eyes, stood at attention, and answered loudly, "We're here to play!"
Sawada Tsunayoshi covered Hyuga's mouth to mute him; this guy was overreacting! He looked at Kujo Ikeya, whose soul had nearly been scared away by Hyuga, and gave the correct answer.
"Um, we're here to do our homework."
Although the process of obtaining the code was a bit complicated, Kujo Ike nodded and said, "Then come in."
Let's hurry up and go inside. Can't you see the other people in the hallway are looking at them with suspicion?
Tsuna quickly pulled Hinata into their dorm room, then Kujo Ike started ranting about how unreliable Hinata was, while Matsukawa Saki poked his head out from the bathroom.
"Can I come out now?"
Akaashi sat at her desk with a pen in her hand, but the clean pages of her book revealed that she hadn't been studying at all.
Hinata finally returned to normal, hiding behind Tsunayoshi to express how nervous he was.
They watched as Kujo Ike also took out a backpack from deep inside the cabinet and fumbled around to pull out a handheld game console.
"This is cheaper, so I won't mind if the coach takes it," Kujo explained.
The others nodded in agreement, then became completely absorbed in the game. Akaashi, retaining only a sliver of reason, said...
"It's 7:30 now. You must leave before 9:00. The coach will come to check on you after lights out at 9:30."
The group nodded and hummed in agreement, seemingly oblivious to what was being said. They quickly decided the order of play by playing rock-paper-scissors.
Matsukawa's good luck continued; he got the first right to use the game console, and several people took over Kujo Ikeya's bed, snuggling up next to Matsukawa to watch him play games.
"Press the attack button!"
"We definitely need to retreat and recover at this point!"
"Hey, are you guys going to fight or am I going to fight?!"
At first, they were careful to keep their voices down, but later they completely let loose and didn't even know where they had put the homework notebooks that Tsuna and the others had brought.
Once they started playing the game, they became completely absorbed in it, and the group grew increasingly engrossed.
Akaashi originally planned to play a few rounds by herself and keep watch for the others to prevent the coach from conducting surprise checks. But she got so engrossed in the game that she forgot everything, and even became the one with the highest score among them because of her nimble fingers.
The clock hanging high on the wall ticked away, and the hour hand had unknowingly moved two marks. My hair, which hadn't been dried before, was now completely dry.
"Bang—!"
The door suddenly clicked open, and the group snapped out of their daze. It was Kujo Ike's turn. He immediately threw the game console under the bed with a loud bang.
Kyoji Akaashi glanced around, grabbed a book from the bedside table, and shoved it at Tsunayoshi Sawada. Tsunayoshi gave Hyuga Shoyo and Matsukawa Saki, who were playing so much they were completely out of it, a hard slap to bring them back to their senses.
They didn't have time to examine the books that were handed to them. They hurriedly spread them out on their laps, and within seconds, the five of them immediately pretended to be eager to learn and ask for guidance.
After finishing all that, they casually looked up at the two coaches who had barged in, their eyes filled with utter bewilderment.
Coach Kujo breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the group huddled together, then pointed weakly at the children with his burly frame.
"What are you guys doing out of your dorms when it's time to sleep? Huh?"
Sawada Tsunayoshi nervously curled his fingers, but still held onto Hyuga's hand in case the guy said something shocking again. The only one who remained calm was Akaashi Kyoji, who explained...
"We are learning."
"Ha." Suzuki laughed in exasperation.
Suzuki scoffed, "Hyuga and Sawada? They stay up all night studying in your dorm? You're kidding me."
Hiyori weakly retorted, "That's why I came to Kyōji for help because I'm not doing well in my studies."
Sawada Tsunayoshi also opened his big, clear eyes, which made people subconsciously choose to believe him.
But if Suzuki and Kujou Hayate really believed that, then all those years of their lives would have been wasted.
"Oh, you guys are pretty hardworking, your eyes are bloodshot." Kujou Hayate saw the way Hyuga and the others were glancing around and knew something was definitely up.
"Oh, let me see what you've learned: building construction and safety passages," Kujou Sa said, enunciating each word clearly.
Sawada Tsunayoshi's vision went black, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the books he and Hinata had brought were lying alone on the ground, their covers labeled "Mathematics," as if mocking their impending doom.
"Studying this so late at night, you guys are quite safety conscious, huh?"
Kujochi shrank back, his hair standing on end. Usually, when his father said that, it was a sign that he was very angry.
Suzuki probably felt that continuing the commotion late at night wouldn't work, so he simply asked the question directly.
"Confess sooner rather than later and you'll get a lighter sentence. If we find out something, things won't be so simple."
The two coaches remained expressionless. This was the first time Akaashi Kyoji had ever seen a coach treat him so seriously. He opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing.
The atmosphere in the dormitory gradually became stagnant. Matsukawa Saki felt that this couldn't go on; at the very least, he had to protect Kujo Ikeya's game console.
So he gritted his teeth and pinched Hinata's thigh hard under the covers. Hinata almost cried out, and although he held back, tears still welled up in his eyes.
"Coach!" Matsukawa cried out hoarsely.
Kujou and Suzuki crossed their arms, curious to see what kind of trouble these kids could cause.
"Because they've been under so much pressure these past few days!"
Hinata Shoyo looked at Matsukawa Saki, who was pointing at him, in shock, his teary eyes concealing his astonishment.
Am I under a lot of pressure?
Sawada Tsunayoshi could even feel Hyuga's doubts materializing, leaving him utterly bewildered.
However, the group was desperate and wanted to see how this guy would explain himself.
"They've been playing other positions for the past few days, and they can't receive the ball well or pass it properly. Ike and Shoyo are going crazy!"
As he spoke, he pulled Hinata over to show the coaches. The coaches were skeptical, but were shocked when they saw the tears in Hinata's eyes.
Is it really that painful to just play a different position?
Matsukawa Saki was still talking, "We noticed he wasn't acting right today, so we thought we'd ask him what happened tonight."
"Xiangyang said he's been wanting to spike the ball, but he hasn't been able to spike it at all these past few days, which is very painful."
He spoke with tears welling up in his eyes, "We all understand, it's really hard not being able to play your own position."
As if he could truly empathize, Suzuki quickly began to recall whether he had neglected his disciples' feelings these past few days, and then he realized something was wrong.
"Haven't you been playing as a free agent these past few days? What's wrong with you?"
Matsukawa Saki looked even more sorrowful, leaving the others around him stunned. "Although I'm a libero, I actually have a heart that wants to be a spiker, to be able to fly high and spike like Shoyo!"
These words really saddened Hinata. The tears that had been welling up because the pain had subsided reappeared, this time because they were truly crying from sadness.
He whimpered and hugged the still-unresponsive Sawada Tsunayoshi, "Tsuna, I really want to spike the ball! I'll never say your passes are bad again, I'll accept anything as long as I can spike, sob sob..."
Sawada Tsunayoshi noticed his friend was genuinely sad, and, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, patted Shoyo on the shoulder.
"Okay, okay, I'll pass the ball to you tomorrow, ah, don't cry."
"Waaaaah..."
Akaashi Kyoji silently handed him some tissues to wipe his tears. Kujo Ike, who was also unaware of the situation, added...
"Shoyo, do you really like spiking? Then I'll pass you the ball too!"
Hinata Shoyo was twitching, and upon hearing this, he immediately refused, "Let's forget about Ikeya's pass."
"Hey—I'm going to cry too!" Kujo Ike, who was being disliked, also cried out.
Kujou Hayate and Suzuki stared in shock at the chaotic scene before them. "No way, they're really crying because of something like this?!"
Suzuki was at a loss. "Hey, don't cry, okay? Tomorrow you'll be back in your original position, and Hinata can spike again, okay?"
As he spoke, his tone became slightly conciliatory. Hinata probably realized he was acting, and looked at Suzuki with misty eyes.
"Really?"
Kujou Hayate nodded quickly, "Really, really!"
After saying that, he thought of Matsukawa Saki standing to the side and changed his mind, saying, "But Matsukawa can play other positions if he wants, there will be opportunities later."
"Never mind then," Matsukawa Saki thought to himself, but he still looked touched and said that this was really great.
Suzuki said, "Sawada and Akaashi, you two comfort them and go back to sleep once they've calmed down."
"Click—"
The two coaches left, bewildered and shocked.
A note from the author:
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hnt: Was I really under a lot of pressure? [question mark]
It's basically like, well, they sabotage each other, what a loving little group!
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