BUT AT LEAST after the lecture ended, Shiratorizawa resumed their usual training.

As Kobayashi Aotori calmly spiked the volleyball, he couldn't help but feel a bit relieved.

In his previous life's department, regardless of the size of the match, as long as they won, the schedule would become rest, rest, and more rest.

Kobayashi Aotori had to stiffen his neck and go to the city gymnasium for his daily training.

T.N.: 梗着脖子 (gěng zhe bó zi): Literally "stiffen the neck." This phrase can imply reluctance, stubbornness, or a sense of being forced to do something.

Today, he thought that since Shiratorizawa had won a significant championship, they would probably take a break. He had even planned to head home and do today's training at the exclusive training ground in the backyard of his small building.

Fortunately, he could train together with his teammates at Shiratorizawa.

With a loud "bang," the ball was spiked down, andYamagata Hayato bit his lip hard but still missed the ball. Without exception, Coach Washijo's scolding echoed in his ears, and he quickly pulled himself together.

However...Kobayashi Aotori couldn't shake the feeling that the current state of the team members wasn't great.

Of course, this "members" doesn't include the invincible Ushijima Wakatoshi.

Just like Yamagata Hayato moments ago, although it was challenging to receive Kobayashi Aotori's spikes, he had endured months of "torment" and "bullying" from Kobayashi Aotori. As a result, he had developed a certain level of familiarity with his teammates' spiking habits.

Moreover, it seemed that just now, that spike wasn't even particularly serious because Kobayashi Aotori seemed to be thinking about other things, not fully focused.

—But Yamagata Hayato still didn't manage to receive it.

Not just Yamagata Hayato, Kobayashi Aotori noticed that even Shirabu Kenjirou's eyes seemed to be getting vacant.

He let out a big yawn, thinking the coach hadn't noticed, but criticism followed immediately. He lowered his head, choosing to be a quail for now.

Kobayashi Aotori turned around and looked at the people around him. Semi Eita seemed to be in slightly better condition, probably because he hadn't been on the court much, unlike Shirabu Kenjiro, who had a higher level of activity.

As for Goshiki Tsutomu, he still looked spirited...

That shouldn't be, considering he has also been running the whole day.

Sure enough, idiots have unlimited energy.

Seeing the obviously drooping Shirabu and Yamagata, Kobayashi Aotori regretted saying, "It's great to train with my teammates at Shiratorizawa."

It was because, facing the visibly fatigued Shirabu and Yamagata, as well as the exhausted Ohira Reon beside them, who had been busy receiving and digging the ball for Ushijima. Kobayashi Aotori admitted —

——He seemed a bit tired too.

Indeed, yawning and drowsiness are the most contagious things.

Damn it...!

He complained about how the advisor and Coach Washijou could demand everyone to continue playing intense 3v3 matches after a full day of competition.

This guy... is clearly testing the players' willpower! Although the three on our side still have relatively enough energy, the three on the other side are completely not up to it!

He now envied the carefree Goshiki Tsutomu and the independently trained Tendou Satori and Ushijima Wakatoshi.

Did these two behave so spiritedly earlier because they already knew that something like this was going to happen, and deliberately requested to train alone?!

No matter how you looked at it, it was entirely Tendou's fault for taking Ushijima away!

Tendou Satori: Nyaa nyaa nyaa?

Kobayashi Aotori felt that at this moment, he was in a state where he might be sleepy or might not be. And the determining factor for this state was —

Whether Shirabu could stop looking at him with dead fish eyes and stop radiating that unbeatable fatigue.

I give up. I truly give up.

—————

THE NEXT MORNING, Kobayashi Aotori lazily walked through the academy gates, one hand carrying his backpack, the other holding Shiratorizawa's uniform jacket.

They say the plan for the day lies in the morning, but the morning is Kobayashi Aotori's weakest period.

Yesterday, he ultimately withstood the "nightmare assault" of Shirabu and the others. At least he was scolded the least by Coach Washijo.

But if it came down to competing endurance in the morning, Kobayashi Aotori would surrender in no time.

Besides... final exams were approaching, and the semester's worth of content made his specialty of reviewing a daunting task.

Just as his soul was still alive, but his body was ascending to heaven, a cheerful girl's voice sounded from behind:

"Aotori-kun—!!"

His hazel eyes flashed with a barely perceptible confusion. The next moment, he turned woodenly, and before him suddenly appeared a short but bouncing purple-white figure.

It was Tomoko Ito.

Being called by his name in public, a name that was both familiar and unfamiliar to many.

After all, most people had only heard of this famous figure but had no idea what he actually looked like. Upon hearing the name, they quickly turned their heads, eyes wandering, then immediately fixed on Kobayashi Aotori. Whispers ensued.

"Hey! Is that Kobayashi Aotori?"

"He does look handsome indeed... just looks a bit fierce though..."

"Yeah, like a delinquent."

At this moment, under the scrutiny of passersby and the dual impact of just waking up, Kobayashi Aotori suddenly became alert.

Tomoko Ito! Can't you, the social cow, consider the feelings of those of us with social anxiety sometimes!

"Congratulations! For defeating Aoba Johsai!" Tomoko Ito at this moment was not shy anymore. Her gray-purple eyes sparkled, radiating a shining brilliance.

On the way to the classroom, he listened to Tomoko Ito describing how exciting his match was from the audience's perspective. She even mentioned the gasps from Shiratorizawa when he was hit by the ball—both boys and girls.

However... Kobayashi Aotori just listened to her words casually.

In his eyes, Ito's words were the result of "familiarity bias," and he wasn't that dazzling, nor could he get that much attention.

But since it was his friend's good intention, Kobayashi Aotori wasn't the type to easily reject someone's face.

However...sometimes he would fantasize. What if he really became the person she described? What would it be like to occupy that protagonist-only status?

...He imagined an increase in the audience because of him, maybe some spontaneously cheering female fans, thunderous applause echoing through the stadium after scoring, and sympathetic sighs from the audience in case of defeat.

Caught in his own fantasies, Kobayashi Aotori was unaware that this was a perfect depiction of yesterday's scene.

—————

IN THE EVENING, as usual, Kobayashi Aotori encountered NPC Shoyo Hinata on the "Protagonist Street."

Yeah, "Protagonist Street" was the nickname Kobayashi Aotori gave to this path in his mind. After all, it's the road where protagonists often appear, this name can be said to perfectly capture its nature.

The attribute was probably encountering a randomly selected protagonist's storyline during his nightly run.

"Tokyo training camp? Sounds interesting." Kobayashi Aotori listened as Hinata pushed his bicycle, excitedly recounting what Takeda-sensei had told them today.

However, the excitement lasted less than half a minute before Hinata's ahoge drooped, and he immediately became listless, like an orange about to wither and lose all its moisture.

A peculiar metaphor from Kobayashi Aotori.

Intuition told him that NPCs usually exhibited such behavior before issuing side quests.

"What's wrong?" Despite inwardly mocking his theatrics, Kobayashi Aotori appeared reliable on the surface, calmly asking Hinata Shoyo.

But just to be safe, he refrained from uttering the yasashii words, "Whatever difficulties you have, we'll solve them together."

T.N.: This sentence borrowed the term "亚萨西" (yasashii) from Japanese, meaning "kind" or "gentle."

"But Takesa-sensei said that because the third-year seniors are about to graduate... the school doesn't want to delay their grades, so it was decided that only those who pass next month's final exams will have the opportunity to go to the Tokyo training camp."

Hinata Shoyo's words made Kobayashi Aotori gradually recall this part of the storyline. He blinked, and if he remembered correctly, this was when the "Four Idiots" of Karasuno were supposed to "show off their might."

Kobayashi Aotori didn't know how to comfort him, as his own emotions were also in turmoil.

Because... he too would soon leave Miyagi. In a few days, he would head to participate in the nationwide competition for the Interhigh.

He completely didn't remember this part of the plot; he could only blame himself for focusing all his attention on Karasuno back then.

But one thing was certain, Shiratorizawa most likely lost to Inarizaki and thus didn't advance to the next competition.

...Anyway, what the original Shiratorizawa couldn't achieve, I surely can't either.

MEANWHILE, Hinata was thinking about something else—

He recalled the conversation among them in the Karasuno volleyball club when discussing next month's final exams–

After managing to pull Hinata and the others out of the abyss of despair about the training camp, Sugawara wiped the sweat off his forehead, wearing a somewhat wry smile:

"To be honest... this is really a problem we have to face now."

"Failing means not being able to go to the Tokyo training camp, missing out on seeing other strong teams' performances." He rubbed his temples. He wasn't worried himself, but these four...

Watching the already blank-faced Kageyama and the three others about to start despairing again after hearing Sugawara's words, Daichi tapped the floor helplessly, gesturing everyone to calm down.

"We still have a month! We mustn't give up easily! We have to do everything we can to ensure that all of us can go to Tokyo together, not leaving anyone behind!"

Daichi's steady voice relieved the anxious mood of the group.

"But speaking of which, Kageyama's grades actually can't pass?" Azumane Asahi, standing nearby, was somewhat puzzled. He clearly has the face of someone in the top ten of the grade...

However, when Kageyama heard Asahi's words, his face turned pale. The next moment, a soul-like entity floated out of his mouth, hands clasped together in a pious manner, as if entering heaven——

Asahi was startled, quickly grabbing Kageyama to bring him back to his senses. Despite his tough appearance, he uttered words of extreme vulnerability, "Don't die, Kageyama! Please, don't die, sobs!"

"Ahaha... understandable! After all, it's difficult to maintain good grades and have high volleyball skills at the same time!" Sugawara immediately intervened, trying to smooth things over.

"Huh?" Takeda-sensei seemed to be reminded by Sugawara. "You reminded me. I remember Kobayashi Aotori's grades are excellent, right?"

Kageyama took an arrow to the knee, knelt on the ground, and turned to stone.

And Takeda-sensei, because of Sugawara's frantic signals, awkwardly touched the back of his head and tried to make up for it loudly:

"Ah! But someone like Kobayashi-san is truly unprecedented! Normally, it doesn't happen like this, hahaha..."

Unfortunately, by then, Kageyama was no longer able to hear any words.

"Takeda-sensei! Did you just say Mr. Dynamite has good grades?!" Suddenly, Hinata Shoyo rushed over, looking at Takeda-sensei with curiosity, his eyes shining brightly.

"Mr. Dynamite was so cool in today's match! He blew up the entire court!"

Next to him, Nishinoya Yuu nodded with interest. "Exactly! I really want to receive one of his serves!"

Azumane Asahi mumbled softly, "...Weren't you just saying yesterday afternoon that you were starting to dislike Kobayashi?"

Sadly, no one paid him any attention.

Seeing Hinata's keen interest, Takeda-sensei, driven by his teacherly instinct to enlighten students, enthusiastically explained:

"Yes! That's the truth. During middle school, Kobayashi Aotori refused to participate in the upcoming national competition. On the other hand, it was... ahem."

At this, he was reminded by Coach Ukai's stern look and promptly swallowed the unfinished words. Nonchalantly, he continued, "On the other hand, it was for exam preparation!"

"As far as I know, Kobayashi wasn't admitted to Shiratorizawa through sports special admission, but was officially accepted by passing the written exams with high scores, and now he's an excellent full-time academic student! It has been confirmed by media reports on the internet." Takeda-sensei confidently stated with a finger raised.

Everyone in Karasuno looked at each other, all with astonishment on their faces.

"...So cool! No wonder he's Mr. Dynamite!" Hinata, with his natural starlit eyes, said excitedly, spurred by Kobayashi's story, completely forgetting about the looming terror of final exams.

—END OF FLASHBACK—

SO, in Kobayashi Aotori's perspective, Hinata suddenly fell silent, as if he had glitched for a moment. He looked curiously at him.

But in the next moment, Hinata's eyes suddenly burst with intense light—

Suddenly, Kobayashi Aotori felt his arm being forcefully grabbed—

"Please tutor me! Mr. Dynamite!!"

"...Huh??"