Haikyuu - Chapter 293 (Patreon)

Everyone thought of Shinsuke Kita as calm and dependable, including Shinsuke Kita himself. So whenever his emotions occasionally wavered, even he rarely paid much attention to it.

But after hearing the whistle, Shinsuke Kita suddenly realized that he actually felt a little regretful and sad.

Then he smiled to himself.

This match had been so much fun.

There was some regret, of course, but opportunities for Shinsuke Kita to play in a proper match were few and far between.

“Samu, you did well. Make sure you give it 120 percent in the next match too.”

Shinsuke Kita tilted his head as he spoke to Osamu Miya.

Although he was disappointed about losing, he was still genuinely happy.

He had truly enjoyed this match.

Osamu Miya froze for a moment at Shinsuke Kita’s words, then smiled.

“Don’t worry. Next time, we’ll win.”

Atsumu Miya was still standing there in a daze.

It wasn’t until the whistle sounded a second time that he finally realized Inarizaki had lost.

He lowered his head and stared at his hands, unable to understand it.

How had they lost?

Just moments ago, everyone had still been organizing their attack, and then suddenly, the match was over.

The abruptness left Atsumu Miya feeling strangely hollow.

Aran sighed and walked over to drag Atsumu Miya away from where he stood frozen.

It was only one loss, yet the kid looked like the sky had fallen.

Then the commentator’s voice rang through the arena.

“In this quarterfinal match between Inarizaki and Shiratorizawa, the winner is... Shiratorizawa! With a 2–1 victory, Shiratorizawa decisively takes the match and advances to the semifinals, while Inarizaki unfortunately falls short! Let’s give both teams a round of applause for bringing us such an incredible match! Even though Inarizaki couldn’t win today, we believe they’ll come back with an even stronger performance at next year’s IH!”

Atsumu Miya finally snapped out of his daze.

He immediately pursed his lips, looking thoroughly dissatisfied as he walked away and muttered under his breath.

“So annoying. We lost, okay? Why’d he have to say it again?”

He was referring to the commentator bringing up Inarizaki’s defeat.

Atsumu Miya was already unhappy enough about losing. Hearing the commentator mention it again felt like rubbing salt into the wound.

His expression grew increasingly indignant.

Aran had originally been feeling a little down himself.

But when he saw how personally offended Atsumu Miya looked, he couldn’t help wanting to laugh.

For a moment, the disappointment of losing and the urge to laugh at Atsumu Miya pulled him in opposite directions.

The result was a terribly distorted expression.

Coach Kurosu had only just managed to recover somewhat from the disappointment of the loss.

Then he looked up and saw Aran approaching with his face twisted into an awful grimace.

Coach Kurosu fell silent.

Was losing one match really that devastating?

Look at the poor kid. His face had practically warped from the pain.

Apparently, everyone needed to work on their mental resilience.

Aran, whose “mental resilience was lacking”: ...... Coach, you’ve completely misunderstood.

When everyone returned, Coach Kurosu waved a hand and told Shinsuke Kita to lead the team in bowing to the spectators.

On Shiratorizawa’s side, Ushijima also led everyone toward the stands.

The audience was still incredibly noisy.

Everyone remained caught up in that final rally, and only when the whistle sounded had many of them suddenly realized that the match was actually over.

Shiratorizawa’s cheering section had already started blowing their trumpets as Ushijima led the team toward them.

The Shiratorizawa students who had traveled there by bus stood in the front rows singing the school song, making the atmosphere even livelier.

Ushijima and Shinsuke Kita led their respective teams beneath the stands.

They turned their heads, met each other’s eyes, and smiled.

Then both teams bowed together toward the audience.

“Thank you very much!!”

The young players bowed to the spectators who had come from all over the country to watch them compete.

They were sincerely grateful that so many people had come.

It was precisely because of that support that they had the motivation to keep moving forward.

“Wow, that was a great match. You don’t see games like that very often anymore. What a show.”

“That was so cool, Mom! I want to learn volleyball too! I want to be like that libero!”

“Ryosuke was amazing!”

“What an incredible match.”

After a brief moment of quiet, the stands erupted into noise once again.

The cameras behind the court captured the entire scene.

At tournaments like this, handing out awards and choosing outstanding teams was ultimately secondary.

The greatest value of these competitions was introducing volleyball to more people and drawing new blood into the sport.

Maybe someday, an outstanding player of the future would be asked why they started playing volleyball.

And perhaps, with nostalgia, they would answer,

“Ah, it all started with that year’s IH...”

After bowing to the audience, both teams began leaving the court.

The cameras stopped recording there.

The people watching from home reluctantly looked away as well, still wanting more.

...

Miyagi was in an uproar after the result of the match.

“Waaaaah! That was amazing! That last point was so cool! Ushiwaka just went bang and smashed the ball right through! They couldn’t even catch up to it, and it hit the floor for the point! That was awesome!”

Shoyo Hinata waved his arms wildly as he spoke, standing on a bench and getting so excited that he was practically spraying spit everywhere.

Kageyama, sitting beside Shoyo Hinata, wore such a dark expression that he looked ready to assassinate him at any moment.

Nishinoya trembled at the sight and desperately wanted to warn Shoyo Hinata to stop talking.

If he kept going, Kageyama might seriously commit violence against his own teammate.

The very next second, Kageyama sprang up from the bench like a coiled spring and grabbed Shoyo Hinata’s wildly moving head.

“Shoyo Hinata, you idiot! What are you so excited about?! You got spit all over my head! Idiot! Idiot!”

The moment Shoyo Hinata’s spit landed on him, Kageyama’s murderous impulse reached its peak.

Nishinoya shuddered.

Azumane silently picked up his little stool and moved farther away from Shoyo Hinata, distancing himself from the center of the storm.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere around Daichi Sawamura and Takeda-sensei was perfectly peaceful.

“That was really impressive. Shiratorizawa’s players are as strong as expected. I hope they can keep going and win the IH championship this year.”

Takeda-sensei pushed up his round glasses as he spoke.

Daichi Sawamura stood beside him, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“That’s hard to say. Every team in the semifinals is incredibly strong. The matches from here on are only going to get tougher. I hope Shiratorizawa can hold on.”

Koshi Sugawara walked over with a cheerful smile and slapped Daichi Sawamura hard on the waist.

“Smack!”

Daichi Sawamura’s face twisted instantly.

He felt like his waist was about to snap.

Tanaka, who had witnessed everything, silently pulled his neck in.

There it was.

Sugawara-senpai’s legendary soul-shattering palm.

One hit from that, and you wouldn’t be getting out of bed for the rest of the day.

“Daichi Sawamura, you’re not some little old man. Stop worrying about everything all day long. You’re going to age faster.”

Koshi Sugawara lectured him at length.

Daichi Sawamura used one hand to restrain Koshi Sugawara’s restless right hand and nodded with a sickly expression.

He genuinely couldn’t understand it.

Koshi Sugawara wasn’t especially powerful when spiking, so why was he terrifyingly strong when hitting people?

What was that supposed to be?

Some kind of buff?

Completely baffled, Daichi Sawamura could only gloomily force Koshi Sugawara’s hand back down.

By then, Shoyo Hinata had finally escaped Kageyama’s clutches.

He quietly crept over to Nishinoya and asked a question he had been wondering about for a long time.

“Nishinoya-senpai, Shiratorizawa is our opponent, right? Then why is everyone cheering for them so enthusiastically?”

In Shoyo Hinata’s mind, Shiratorizawa and Karasuno had always had a poor relationship.

In reality, that was mostly an illusion created by Coach Washijō and Coach Ukai.

Judging from the way the two coaches interacted, Shoyo Hinata had naturally assumed their schools didn’t get along.

Yet when the match started, everyone had gathered around the television to watch.

Nishinoya looked at Shoyo Hinata in surprise, then affectionately rubbed his head.

“It’s true that Shiratorizawa and Karasuno aren’t exactly close. And Coach Washijō does look pretty annoying, always walking around with that sour face like someone owes him a fortune. But that doesn’t mean our schools actually hate each other.”

Nishinoya explained it to Shoyo Hinata with complete confidence.

After all, Shoyo Hinata was one of the few people Nishinoya could actually lecture.

Most of the time, Nishinoya was the one getting lectured by everyone else.

Ennoshita heard their conversation and walked over as well.

“Besides, even if we didn’t watch the match here at school, you’d definitely sneak off and watch it yourself, wouldn’t you, Shoyo Hinata? Shiratorizawa went to the IH as Miyagi’s representative. They’re representing Miyagi, every school in Miyagi, us, and every player who couldn’t make it through the prefectural tournament.”

Ennoshita smiled gently at Shoyo Hinata.

Shoyo Hinata nodded, seeming to understand only part of it.

...

At the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, the two teams began leaving the court after bowing to the audience.

Everyone in the stands sighed with lingering excitement.

That match had been incredibly satisfying to watch.

Their hearts had been in their throats the entire time. There hadn’t been a single moment where they could truly relax.

“Man, that was amazing. Ushijima’s spikes were seriously incredible, and Atsumu Miya’s sets were great too. Tsk, what a shame about that last ball. If they’d managed to save it, who knows how long the match could’ve dragged on.”

Konoha clicked his tongue in admiration.

As expected, a clash between top-level players was intense from beginning to end.

The moment Keiji Akaashi saw the match was over, he stood up and prepared to leave with Bokuto.

“Huh? You’re leaving already? Aren’t you going to congratulate Shiratorizawa?”

Hoshiumi couldn’t understand why Keiji Akaashi and Bokuto were leaving so quickly.

The moment he asked, everyone turned toward the two who had been trying to slip away quietly.

Keiji Akaashi calmly accepted their stares and explained,

“Bokuto-senpai is hungry again. I’m taking him to the cafeteria for miso soup and tonkotsu ramen.”

Keiji Akaashi looked after Bokuto’s three meals a day as though he were raising a child.

At this rate, the only thing left was for him to personally spoon the food into Bokuto’s mouth.

After hearing that, Konoha stood up and decided to go eat with them.

He had the feeling Bokuto’s appetite had grown again recently.

Three meals a day were no longer enough to fill his stomach.

Konoha hadn’t eaten much at lunch either.

Otherwise, trying to keep up with Bokuto would probably leave him stuffed enough to roll his eyes.

Once Konoha and Keiji Akaashi left, the remaining Fukurōdani members looked at one another and eventually followed.

After Fukurōdani left, the others stayed behind.

They planned to wait until the arena cleared out a little before going to greet Shiratorizawa and Inarizaki.

Oikawa and Iwaizumi also stood up once the match ended.

Oikawa immediately took off at such a ridiculous pace that he looked like he was being chased by a dog.

Iwaizumi nearly failed to keep up.

“Why are you running so fast, you shitty Oikawa?!”

Unable to catch him, Iwaizumi shouted after him.

Oikawa went pale with fright.

He spun around, hurried back in a few long strides, slapped a hand over Iwaizumi’s mouth, and started dragging him away.

Iwaizumi’s eyes widened in confusion.

Then he began struggling furiously.

Yet somehow, he still couldn’t break free from Oikawa’s grip.

Apparently Oikawa was much stronger than he looked.

Oikawa didn’t care about any of that.

He absolutely did not want Ushijima finding out that he had come to watch the match.

How embarrassing would that be?

They were supposed to be bitter rivals, yet Oikawa had secretly come all this way to watch Ushijima play.

If Ushijima found out, he would definitely make fun of him.

Oikawa cared far too much about his pride to allow that.

So even at the risk of Iwaizumi beating him to death once he recovered from the surprise, Oikawa resolutely dragged him away.

Otherwise, Iwaizumi would definitely insist on going over to say hello.

Oikawa couldn’t bear the humiliation.

After bowing to the audience, both teams left the court.

On the way out, the two groups naturally ended up walking together.

The black-and-yellow uniforms and the white-and-purple uniforms mixed together, looking surprisingly harmonious.

“Good luck in the next match.”

Shinsuke Kita was walking beside Ushijima when he spoke.

Ushijima turned toward his friend.

As always, Shinsuke Kita wore a gentle smile.

For some reason, Ushijima felt that Shinsuke Kita was very happy right now.

He didn’t understand why.

Logically speaking, shouldn’t someone be upset after losing?

One of Ushijima’s strengths was that if he didn’t understand something, he simply asked.

So he did.

“Why are you so happy?”

“Hm?”

Shinsuke Kita turned toward Ushijima.

Then he immediately understood what Ushijima meant.

He thought for a moment before answering.

“Do I look happy? I suppose it’s because I got to step onto the court and play a proper match with everyone. I had teammates I trust beside me, our coach was watching from the sidelines, and across the net was one of my good friends, an opponent I respect. I don’t think there are many things in life happier than that. Even though we lost, I still think it was completely worth it.”

Ushijima stared at Shinsuke Kita in surprise.

He had never heard Shinsuke Kita say so much at once before.

“I’m happy too. I’m very glad we got to play this match against Inarizaki.”

The two captains smiled at each other.

The atmosphere lasted less than a second.

Then Atsumu Miya’s quiet voice came from behind them.

“Kita-senpai, hurry up.”

Shinsuke Kita had been about to say a few more words to Ushijima, but Atsumu Miya interrupted him.

He turned and gave Atsumu Miya an unreadable look.

Then he nodded to Ushijima with a smile and led Inarizaki ahead.

Ushijima watched them go, then led Shiratorizawa off the court as well.

“Ushijima-senpai, as cool as ever!”

Ryosuke saw Ushijima coming off the court and gave him a thumbs-up.

No matter how many times Ryosuke watched Ushijima spike, he still thought it was incredible.

That said, Ryosuke being capable of receiving Ushijima’s spikes was arguably even more intimidating.