Haikyuu - Chapter 355 (Patreon)

Everyone was still caught up in the moment when Goshiki, the resident mood-breaker, suddenly burst into tears.

He had already been miserable about losing the match, but no one had scolded him. Not only had they not blamed him, they'd comforted him instead. Then the moment they returned to school, they were greeted by all of this.

Goshiki couldn't hold it in anymore.

He started bawling.

Ryosuke flinched at the sudden outburst. When he turned around, Goshiki's face was already covered in tears and snot, and he was trying to throw himself at Ryosuke for comfort.

Ryosuke immediately took two wary steps backward.

They were friends, yes.

That did not mean Goshiki was allowed to wipe snot on him.

"Waaah! I'm so touched! We didn't even win the championship, but everyone's still cheering for us like this! I'm so touched!"

All the emotions Goshiki had been holding back finally spilled out at once.

Shirabu stared at him as though he'd discovered some rare and exotic creature.

How could a person cry this badly?

It was genuinely ugly.

Fortunately, Shirabu kept that thought to himself. Otherwise, Goshiki probably would've cried twice as loudly.

Seeing how miserable he looked, the others couldn't help laughing at his expense.

Cry all you want now.

Once Coach Washijō finished with his work, there would be plenty more opportunities to cry.

Everyone was avoiding Goshiki, so Reon pulled out a tissue and scrubbed it over his face. Goshiki made a strange noise and tried to wipe his nose on him, only for Reon to dodge instantly.

Ushijima saw Reon abandoning his luggage and simply pushed the suitcase along after him.

Eita Semi, meanwhile, was hanging off Shirabu as though he had no bones in his body. No matter how you looked at the pairing, it was strange.

Yamagata watched everyone fooling around with an amused smile.

Ryosuke trailed at the very back of the group.

He looked up at the petals still drifting through the air and the banners fluttering in the wind, smiled quietly, then turned and followed his teammates.

...

Everyone received the final news from the IH soon afterward.

As expected, Itachiyama lost.

The dark horse that had suddenly burst onto the scene put every major school on alert. Nobody had expected this year's champion, but competitive sports never lacked rising stars.

Once the tournament ended, schools everywhere intensified their training.

Every year, someone won.

Every year, someone lost.

That was competition. Joy mixed with disappointment, and all the sweat and tears had to be swallowed and carried forward.

After this year's tournament, though, Volleyball Weekly stayed busy for quite a while.

A surprising number of players ended up in the magazine.

"Ryosuke, Ryosuke! Look! You're in the magazine!"

Ryosuke had been dozing off at his desk when someone suddenly shook him awake.

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Goshiki's enlarged face, warm and carrying that unmistakable puppy-like energy.

Ryosuke immediately planted one hand on his face and pushed him back.

Then he took the magazine from Goshiki and looked at it properly.

The page featured a candid shot of Ryosuke preparing to serve.

The boy held a volleyball in one hand, lake-colored eyes turned toward the camera, his gaze steady and determined. The arena lights seemed especially fond of pretty children, laying a soft veil of light over his face until he looked almost as though he were standing alone on a stage.

Not bad.

Ryosuke's inner cat immediately became smug.

This was actually a really good photo.

He eagerly moved on to the interview column.

"...Next is Ryosuke Hanyu of Shiratorizawa. Making the starting roster as a first-year already speaks volumes about his foundations and ability. His serves and attacks continue Shiratorizawa's tradition of overwhelming strength. During the match, he turned the momentum around by scoring five consecutive points.

"According to an unnamed coach, Ryosuke was invited to train with the national team after the tournament, but declined because he wished to focus on his studies. Truly, exceptional talent can appear at any age..."

In short, the entire article praised Ryosuke from beginning to end.

As for that national-team invitation, the truth was that Hibarida had spent ages pestering Coach Washijō.

He wanted Ryosuke to go to Tokyo and train alongside the senior national-team players who were nearing retirement. Ryosuke could learn a tremendous amount from them, and once those older players retired, he could naturally step into their place.

A genius trained by the nation's best.

His future would be limitless.

Coach Washijō wasn't buying it.

Hibarida's argument was tempting, but Coach Washijō's hopes for Ryosuke were no longer limited to becoming stronger or winning championships.

More than anything, he wanted Ryosuke to have room to breathe during his three years of high school.

From what Coach Washijō could see, Ryosuke already trained secretly every day outside of regular team practice.

After school, he'd sneak off somewhere to play pickup volleyball with who knew who, then come home every night dusty and exhausted.

Whenever Coach Washijō asked about it, Ryosuke would stammer and dodge the question like a cat caught stealing food.

Eventually, Coach Washijō stopped asking.

As long as the kid was happy.

More than once, he'd seen Ryosuke finish showering, collapse straight onto the couch, and fall asleep.

He never said anything.

But he worried.

Nobody was forcing this child.

He was already excellent, yet he still pushed himself this hard.

If Coach Washijō sent him to Hibarida, who knew what kind of monster Ryosuke would train himself into?

Better to keep the kid where he could see him.

After everyone returned to Miyagi, every school learned that there would now be two qualifying spots from the prefecture.

The teams that had spent years trapped under Shiratorizawa's shadow finally saw hope.

Many of them cried hard that night.

The next morning, they showed up to practice with swollen eyes and trained as though nothing had happened.

Karasuno received the news too.

Every one of them looked fired up.

Ukai might not get along with Coach Washijō, but a good deed shouldn't go uncredited.

So he quietly let the truth slip.

Soon everyone knew that Coach Washijō had been the one pushing things forward behind the scenes.

Even people who usually clashed with him began to see him differently.

At the very least, meeting him no longer felt quite so awkward.

Little by little, Coach Washijō's reputation within Miyagi's volleyball community improved.

Everything was moving in the direction they had hoped.

...

Time passed quickly.

By late July, the summer festival everyone had been looking forward to finally arrived.

School ended unusually early that evening. Almost nobody lingered on campus. Everyone flooded into the streets to watch the float procession.

At midnight, fireworks would be launched on schedule to mark the end of summer.

At that moment, everyone was still at home getting changed.

Well, not everyone.

Ushijima, Reon, and a few others thought festival clothes were too troublesome. No matter what anyone said, they refused to bother and simply put on their training clothes before heading out.

Ryosuke, meanwhile, was still at home fighting for his life against a yukata.

"I'm not wearing that!"

He stared at Grandma Terano, who was approaching with the clothes, his entire face filled with resistance.

A yukata was already troublesome enough.

Why did it have to be bright red?

It made him look like a girl.

"Come on, wear it. Grandma made it herself."

Terano Washijō smiled warmly, speaking in exactly the tone someone would use to coax a small child.

Ryosuke stared at the bright red yukata in her hands and felt his scalp go numb.

His pleading gaze drifted toward Coach Washijō, who was standing off to the side enjoying the show.

Coach Washijō noticed his grandson's desperate cry for help.

Under Ryosuke's hopeful stare, he cleared his throat.

Then calmly looked away.

Making you wear a yukata is nothing.

Back in my day, even I got forced into things like this.

Tsk, tsk.

Can't save you.

In the end, Ryosuke's resistance failed.

Coach Washijō abandoned him.

Terano Washijō advanced step by step.

And Ryosuke the cat finally bowed his head to fate.

Life was hard.

The cat sighed.

When Ryosuke finally emerged from the room, Terano Washijō's eyes lit up.

"Oh my, you look wonderful! You've even got a little of the old man's charm from when he was young."

The inner layer was dark red, while the sash and lower half were a brighter crimson.

Small rolling kittens had been embroidered across the fabric, while along the hem, tiny cats chased butterflies among black decorative patterns.

The sash drew attention to Ryosuke's slim, straight waist.

Nobody looking at him would have guessed how much explosive power that slender body could produce.

Terano Washijō had at least shown some restraint.

She'd given him a black outer robe.

Golden thread formed patterns across it, matching the gold embroidery on the kittens.

Ryosuke stared at himself in the mirror and felt uncomfortable everywhere.

If refusing Terano Washijō had been possible, he would never have worn this.

It was troublesome.

And far too flashy.

"Little Ryosuke, come here."

Terano Washijō held up a length of red cord and beckoned him over.

Ryosuke obediently sat down.

Her rough hands gently combed through his hair, gathering the long strands into a small braid.

She wrapped the red cord around it one loop at a time until the braid hung neatly behind his head.

The red string and dark hair looked almost like a tail.

Curious, Ryosuke kept turning his head from side to side, trying to see it.

Terano Washijō burst out laughing.

Ryosuke rewarded her with a resentful glare.

"Go on, go on. I won't keep you. Remember to have fun."

Her eyes curved warmly.

The child really had grown up.

Once upon a time, she could trick him into obediently wearing little dresses.

Now he wasn't nearly so easy to fool.

Ryosuke had been waiting forever to leave.

Like a cat finally let loose, he rushed downstairs, grabbed a shoulder bag, and hurried back down the steps.

His geta clacked rapidly against the stairs.

"Grandpa, Grandma, I'm leaving! I'll bring you some little goldfish tonight!"

His cheerful voice drifted back after him.

"That kid. Goldfish, he says."

Coach Washijō chuckled.

But watching Ryosuke run down the stairs had left him strangely dazed.

That tiny child had simply kept running and running...

Until somehow, he'd grown up.

For the first time, Coach Washijō felt old.

He didn't know how many more years he would be able to stay beside Ryosuke.

The thought settled quietly in his chest.

...

The streets were brilliantly lit, filled with lively boys and girls weaving through the crowds.

"I'm here!"

Just as everyone was getting bored from waiting, Ryosuke's voice finally reached them.

The entire group turned around together.

To Ryosuke's surprise, everyone from Aobajosai was there too.

Quite a few people were wearing yukata.

That immediately made him feel much better about his own outfit.

"Whoa, little Ryosuke. You dressed up this nicely today?"

Oikawa, wearing a green yukata and looking like a peacock with its tail spread wide, immediately came over and began examining Ryosuke from head to toe.

Then the praise started pouring out.

"You look amazing! Great King Oikawa is officially surrendering the title of Miyagi's most handsome man to you today."

"Whose handsome little prince is this?"

Under Oikawa's relentless barrage of compliments, Ryosuke's chin gradually lifted.

His imaginary cat tail rose too, swishing proudly behind him.

All his earlier resentment about wearing the yukata vanished.

Seeing Ryosuke's eyes grow brighter by the second, Oikawa couldn't help laughing under his breath.

Even Ushijima's expressionless face softened at the corners.

Still a kid.

Goshiki suddenly came charging over like a gust of wind.

He located Ryosuke in the crowd with perfect accuracy, grabbed him, and immediately started dragging him away.

"Ryosuke! There's a haunted house over there! Let's go!"

Ever since that one time he'd gotten scared, Goshiki seemed to have unlocked some strange new interest.

He now loved that kind of thrill.

Unfortunately, he was still too scared to go alone.

So Ryosuke had to come with him.

Ryosuke's eyes lit up too.

He cheered and ran after him.

Cat and dog, deployed!

Everyone else watched the two disappear into the crowd, then followed.

They also ran into Karasuno.

Hinata, Nishinoya, Goshiki, and Ryosuke quickly gathered together.

The four whispered among themselves for a while, then scattered through the festival like a pack of small animals.

Their laughter could still be heard from far away.

Goldfish.

Candied apples.

Summer.

Yukata.

Friendship.

Everything felt almost unbelievably good.

By the time everyone had exhausted themselves playing, midnight was approaching.

Ushijima bought ginger ale for everyone.

Together, they gathered along a seaside road somewhere in Miyagi and waited for the fireworks.

"Ah, this is nice."

Oikawa suddenly spoke.

"Ushijima, I've realized I don't hate you quite as much anymore."

Ushijima gave him a strange look.

Perhaps he was only just learning that Oikawa had hated him in the first place.

"Ryosuke, I've been training really hard! Our monster quick is different now too!"

Hinata's voice carried over.

"We'll definitely win the next practice match! Right, Kageyama?!"

"Hmph. Idiot. Of course we're going to win."

The prickly edges around that awkward boy named Kageyama had slowly begun to soften through time spent with his teammates.

"Ahahaha! Seriously?!"

Nishinoya's booming laughter erupted nearby.

Nobody knew what Daichi had said to make him laugh that hard.

"The fireworks are starting, everyone!"

Reon glanced at his watch and shouted.

Everyone looked up together.

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"BOOM————!"

As the boys counted down together, fireworks burst across the night sky.

The smell of gunpowder mixed with the sharp, spicy scent of ginger ale at the very end of summer.

Only then did Ryosuke realize that one summer of his life had truly come to an end.

That was all right.

There would be many more summers with everyone.

And so summer faded behind them beneath the brilliant fireworks.

They had answered the season with sweat, tears, pain, and laughter.

They had met while cherry blossoms drifted through the air, fought side by side, and helped one another become better than they had been before.

Perhaps only the sincerity of youth could burn so brightly.

But, my dears, this is not our last summer.

We will meet again.

Perhaps next summer.

Perhaps through an unexpected glance on some ordinary day.

Or perhaps when the scent of flowers once again drifts through the streets.

We are waiting for the next summer, an even more passionate one.

These scorching days may feel endless, but they burn like banners in the wind, disappearing into the flames only to blaze to life again.

The End.