章節 7: Chapter 7 - The Festival

Hinata could be seen training inside the gym before practice started. He began with stretches, followed by a series of vertical jumps and some running exercises around the court when he was interrupted by the gym door opening and the rest of the members arriving for practice.

"Again, you're showing up way before practice time... if you keep doing this, it'll make it look like we're not giving it our all," said Sekimukai.

"Or maybe we should arrive earlier too. If our best player is working the hardest, we mere mortals should train twice as much!" said Izumi with determination.

"I think you might be right," Sekimukai agreed with a sigh.

"Anyway, we have good news, Hinata," Sekimukai continued.

"What is it?" asked the boy, his curiosity piqued.

"We found a way to gain even more experience beyond practicing with the girls' team!" he said excitedly.

"Okay, go on..."

"This weekend, in two days, there's going to be a volleyball festival here in Miyagi Prefecture, and lots of teams with players our age will be there! It's the perfect opportunity to keep testing ourselves," Sekimukai finished.

"And how do we participate in this festival?" Hinata asked.

"From what we saw, we just need to register online through a website, putting our team name and members, by tomorrow," Izumi explained.

"Interesting, what name are we going to use?" the boy asked everyone present.

"How about just Yukigaoka Junior High?" Mori suggested.

"Too simple," Sekimukai refused.

"What do you think about Green Team to match our uniforms?" Suzuki suggested.

"That's terrible, and nobody's going to wear the school's official uniforms!" Sekimukai refused again.

"Give some suggestions, don't just keep refusing ideas during the brainstorm," Hinata protested.

"We'll be the Super Rookies," the boy said radiantly while smiling.

"You think we have enough credibility to carry a name like that when we're just unknowns who'll get destroyed if we face a strong team?" Izumi retorted.

"What kind of mentality is that? If you're going to participate thinking you'll lose, you might as well not go... or maybe you should quit volleyball and try to get better," Sekimukai stated.

"I have to agree with him. We train because we believe we can become great players. I think this name is perfect!" Hinata affirmed.

"Well, after that speech, I won't be the one backing down," said Izumi.

"And what about the rest of you, any objections?" Sekimukai asked, seeing all other teammates shaking their heads.

"Then it's settled!" said Sekimukai.

Right after confirming the registration, practice began.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in Miyagi Prefecture, a group of students could be seen practicing volleyball and taking a water break.

"WHAT? Why would I go to this festival? There probably won't be any worthy opponents, and you'll just play around without taking it seriously," said an irritated boy with black hair.

"If you don't want to go, you don't have to. We can use any other setter from our team, and we'll still win," said a boy with parted hair.

"Exactly, you need to relax sometimes. Being serious all the time is exactly what makes people call you the King of the Court," said another boy who was the tallest among them. "Wait, the captain said we need a team name... how about The Kings? It suits us pretty well, don't you think?" said the same boy, laughing.

"TSK," grunted the boy with short black hair.

"Hey, Kageyama, are you going to participate or not?" asked one of them who seemed to be the team captain.

"Whatever," said Kageyama.

"I have a feeling there might be at least someone interesting," he thought.

Two days passed, and the festival moment had arrived. Hinata and his group, while walking down the street, came across a large banner reading: Miyagi Volleyball Festival, with several outdoor volleyball courts in the background, most with an audience.

"Hadn't we agreed to all wear white?" asked Izumi while looking at Sekimukai, who was wearing a yellow shirt with white details.

"I already told you, I don't have an entirely white shirt, damn it!" Sekimukai retorted.

"Okay, there's no need to fight. Let's just continue as we are," said Hinata, who led the rest of the group to a location where the event organizer's desk appeared to be.

"Good morning, came to play? What's your team name?"

"Super Rookies," Hinata stated.

"Alright, your game will start shortly on court three," said the man, pointing in the direction.

They headed to court three, and when they arrived, they could observe a group of boys warming up on the other side of the court.

"Looks like they're who we're facing," said Hinata.

"The name is Royal Team, based on what's showing on the scoreboard along with ours," said Izumi.

"They look weak. None of them is anywhere near Hinata's or even Daisuke's height." "But their two wing spikers are taller than our entire team despite not reaching 180cm," Izumi observed.

The game started with a serve from an opposing wing spiker who tried to hit the back of the court but was received by Suzuki, who passed to Izumi for the set.

"I think we should start with our best," he thought as he made a long set looking for Hinata in position four, who made a powerful jump and hit the ball with all his strength, exploding it on the opponent's court floor.

"That was a nice pass," Hinata said to Izumi.

"Thanks," the boy said, proud of himself.

1-0 Super Rookies

It was Kawashima's turn to serve, making his safety serve that was again received by the opposing team who tried a set to one of their wing spikers who faced the block of Daisuke, Sekimukai, and Izumi. Observing that the other two had a considerably lower block, with just their palms above the net, the wing spiker tried to face the two's block by attacking the ball that ended up hitting Izumi's hand and flew to the back of the court, but Hinata runs at full speed and dives, hitting the ball with his fist and sending it back up into play.

Izumi observes the ball coming in his direction, he tries the set to Sekimukai who jumps and faces a double block.

"Take that!" He shouted while hitting the side of the block, making the ball deflect off the block and go out.

2-0 Super Rookies

"Good work," said Daisuke while helping Hinata get up.

"Phew, if that wing spiker was more skilled or a bit taller, he could have ignored our block," said Izumi while walking towards them.

"But that's what we trained for, keeping the ball in play with our receives," he said.

After this, there were more plays, and the game was tied; 5-5 (Tied)

And Hinata was going for the serve and thought:

"Well, this time I can go all out"

The boy raised the ball high and jumped, delivering a powerful serve that landed at the back of the court without giving any chance to the opposing team.

"Thank God he's on our team!" thought Sekimukai while remembering how difficult it was to receive Hinata's serves during practice.

"Let's secure some more points, HEHE," said the orange-haired boy after making a sequence of serves securing seven points in a row, and when he was about to make the eighth, he served into the net and lost his sequence.

"Damn! But eight points in a row, not bad!" he thought, praising himself.

13-5 (Super Rookies)

The game continued in the same way, with Hinata being the main source of scoring and the team having difficulties blocking when Hinata wasn't at the net, depending on getting receptions after the opponent's attack, ending this way:

25-16 (Super Rookies)

Hinata- 16 Points

Daisuke – 7 Points

Sekimukai- 2 Points

"Damn... I only managed to score two points..." said Sekimukai, breathless and tired from the match.

"Sorry, I should have set more balls to you too..." said Izumi.

"Don't say that. I know we have a much better chance of scoring when Hinata gets most of the balls. If I had a higher volume, we might not have won, which is what matters," said the boy. "Let's stay alert, they'll soon announce who our next opponent is. Let's rest in the meantime," said Hinata while grabbing a water bottle.

A few minutes passed:

"Guys, they just said we're going to face a team called 'The Kings,'" said Izumi.

"Are they any good?" Sekimukai wondered.

"Looks like they won their first match 25-4," said Hinata.

"Holy shit, who are these guys?" said Sekimukai, impressed.

"Well, we'll find out soon," Hinata affirmed.