Volleyball: The Time of Resonance

When the Otoko volleyball team arrived at Fukudani Academy, it was the hottest time of the afternoon.

Yamamoto Taketora, who had been chattering incessantly the whole way, took a deep breath and loudly announced, "Alright! Today I'm going to have a few more rounds with Bokuto-senpai!"

"Are you sure?" Kuroo Tetsuro followed slowly behind Yamamoto Takeru, with two more people sticking to his back. He had that familiar smile of waiting to see a good show on his face. "When Bokuto gets into good shape, you can't stop him at all."

"So what? We have our own grinding equipment!"

"Oh right, grinding you—"

"Kuro." Kozume Kenma poked his head out from behind him, his voice weak and listless, "You're so noisy."

The cat, who wasn't very fond of sunbathing, felt like a ball of yarn that had been played with and messed up.

"I haven't finished yet," Kuroo Tetsuro said, drawing out his words with feigned grievance.

"But you've already started arguing."

"Hey, how could you do this?!"

Kuroo Tetsurou smiled and reached out to ruffle Kozume's hair, but the limited-time golden shaded cat nimbly dodged and moved behind the yawning big sheep.

Yinchuan Mian blinked his blue eyes, sensing Moyan approaching, and simply turned slightly to give him space. But then, his movements froze—

"oh--!!!"

A deafening roar came from the direction of the stadium.

"It's Otoko! Otoko's here!!!"

"!!!"

Yinchuan Mian also subconsciously shrank behind Heiwei Tielang.

"Here it comes, here it comes!" Kuroo Tetsuro laughed even more heartily. "This voice must belong to Bokuto."

As soon as he finished speaking, Kotaro Bokuto charged straight at Nekoma and the others like a cannonball.

It's worth noting that Otokoma's progress during the summer training camp was already astonishing, especially compared to one of Bokuto Kotaro's most promising rivals—Ginkawa Wataru.

"Mian-ya!!!"

Yinchuan Mian also shrank behind her childhood friend's broad back.

"Hey, Wood Rabbit looks really energetic!"

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Of course, I'm the ace!"

Wood Rabbit bypassed Blacktail Tessrou, who made no attempt to stop him, grabbed Sheep by the shoulder as he was about to run away, and shook him hard. "Long time no see, Sheep! I've learned a new move since the last training match! I'm going to show you it today! Are you ready! Are you ready!"

Yinchuan Mian was also dizzy from the shaking, and once again regretted giving Mutu a nice look during the last few days of the summer training camp.

Kuroo watched the show with his arms crossed, showing no intention of helping at all.

Children need to be interacted with more to become more outgoing.

Even more frightened than Yinchuan Mianye, Kozume Kenma silently moved further and further back in the line.

I'm sorry, Miya, he can't handle someone like Bokuto Kotaro either.

"Senior Wood Rabbit," another voice came from the gymnasium entrance, as calm as a bucket of cold water poured directly on the owl's head, "that will scare people."

"Ouch!!" The big owl let go and let out a pitiful cry.

Kyoji Akaashi stood at the door, his expression as calm as ever. He walked over and politely nodded to the group, "Welcome, you must be tired from your journey."

"Akaashi," Kuroo Tetsuro greeted with a smile, "I'm sure Bokuto has had a tough time."

"I'm used to it, Kuroo-senpai." Akaashi Kyoji's tone was filled with deep helplessness. "Please come in, the coach is inside."

After Kyoji Akaashi spoke, Kotaro Bokuto released the poor sheep, but his eyes remained glued to him. "Sheep! You'd better watch my spikes today! I'll show you who's the strongest!"

Yinchuan Mian also quietly straightened her collar, which had been shaken askew, and gave a very soft "hmm" before quickly catching up with the group, deliberately keeping a distance of two body lengths from Mutu.

To say that she disliked Kotaro Bokuto wasn't that much; Ginkawa Mina was just not used to or comfortable being around someone like him. He was too intense and would burn her to a crisp.

Kuroo Tetsuro walked slowly, occasionally glancing back at Makoto at the back of the group.

Otoko and Fukutani are old acquaintances, and their teammates are already familiar with each other. For Otoko, the name Kotaro Bokuto is almost synonymous with "lively".

His overly bright, overly enthusiastic, and overly straightforward personality is irresistible to most people—especially Kozume Kenma.

Yamamoto Taketora's personality does match that of Bokuto Kotaro, but they are a year apart. Bokuto Kotaro is Yamamoto Taketora's senior, so they are not particularly familiar with each other.

Seeing his cat's resistant expression, Yamamoto Taketora resolutely went up against him and started trash-talking with Bokuto Kotaro before the match.

Warm-up begins—

Familiar circles, familiar grinding that makes you want to crawl into the ground, familiar mysterious rituals.

Several pairs of hands of different skin tones clenched into fists and placed together, their owners shoulder to shoulder.

"We are the blood that flows continuously, ceaselessly, to ensure the proper functioning of the 'brain'!"

Because of Kotaro Bokuto, which had distracted him somewhat, Minagi Ginkawa couldn't help but let his gaze drift to Makoto Kozume.

His childhood friend was a very good and capable person...

After shouting the slogan, Kuroo Tetsurou put one hand on his hip, chuckled a few times, and then directed everyone to warm up.

Looking at the beautiful limited edition golden shaded sheep, something suddenly came to mind.

Yanmo's birthday is coming soon.

Recently, everyone's training schedule has been tight and intensive, and with the qualifiers in preparation, he hasn't had time to think things through.

Now that I think about it, there are only a few days left.

What kind of birthday gift should I give to Yanmo? Yanmo's birthday is in mid-October.

It's quite amazing, actually. The three of them have birthdays on October 16th, November 17th, and December 18th.

Because of this amazing thing, they remembered each other's birthdays perfectly by the second year of their relationship.

I think the grinding will like the new simulation management game.

After shouting encouragement, the people on the other side of the Owl Valley started warming up. They were already used to the brainwashing and mysterious slogans of the Otoko.

Bokuto was practicing his spikes. Akareshi tossed the ball, and Bokuto leaped to spike, his movements as graceful as a real owl soaring through the sky. The ball slammed into the court on Nekoma's side with astonishing speed, making a dull thud.

"Good shot!" Yamamoto Takeo couldn't help but shout.

Kotaro Bokuto landed and waved this way, "I'll show you something even better in the match later!"

"Alright, alright, everyone get moving!" Coach Nekomata's voice came from behind. "Make sure you warm up properly so you'll be energetic during the match!"

"yes--"

Yinchuan Mian was also drawn into the conversation, flexing her wrists while glancing at the person opposite her out of the corner of her eye.

After warming up, the cats gathered around the coach.

Coach Nekomata, with his hands behind his back, slowly began to speak, "Owl Valley is an old rival, I don't need to say much. They have a strong offense, but they're not without weaknesses. Today's goal is to do a good job on defense and then capitalize on their mistakes."

"yes!"

On the other side, Coach Anlu was also making final arrangements. "Otoko's defense is very sticky. Don't try to finish him off with one shot. Play more teamwork and move the ball around more. Also—" He glanced at Mokuto, "Mokuto and Nioh Sora trust you a lot."

Kotaro Bokuto paused for a moment, then nodded vigorously, "I know!"

When the ever-optimistic and confident ace said this, he didn't look at anyone.

He was overjoyed to become the captain and was super confident that he could do a good job. He was just a little unaccustomed to the sight of that departing figure.