Haikyuu: I Grind To Beat My Genius Twin Brother

April 12th, Tuesday. Aoba Johsai's Third Gymnasium.

Yuma Kikuzawa sat expressionless on the bench, flanked by the smiling Coach Irihata and Coach Mizoguchi.

Coach Irihata: "How's your wrist feeling today, Yuma-kun?"

Yuma Kikuzawa: "My wrist is basically fine now. It's just that my waist still hurts a bit from where Oikawa-san elbowed me yesterday."

Yesterday, when Tooru Oikawa was knocked over by a cat and fell onto Yuma Kikuzawa, his elbow accidentally delivered a critical hit to Yuma's kidney area.

In the end, Oikawa sprained his right ankle while Yuma sprained his left wrist and injured his kidney.

Both had visited the infirmary yesterday - nothing serious. Some ointment and a night's rest had mostly taken care of it.

But since Oikawa injured his foot, Coach Irihata had him rest for the afternoon.

Watching Yuuki sweating profusely on the court, Yuma gritted his teeth while clutching his side.

Looks like he wouldn't be able to outwork Yuuki in today's training.

Coach Irihata: "Yuma-kun, can you still play in this afternoon's practice match against Karasuno?"

"I can, coach. Absolutely no problem."

Yuma gave an OK sign with his left hand.

Yes, today Aoba Johsai had arranged a practice match with Karasuno.

This was actually Oikawa's suggestion. Normally, Karasuno at their current level wouldn't be able to schedule practice matches with Aoba Johsai, one of the top four teams in the prefecture. But Oikawa had a talented junior, Tobio Kageyama, who had joined Karasuno, and he was curious about Kageyama's current abilities.

Coach Irihata also thought it was time to give the first-years some experience, so he agreed to the practice match.

The call was made at noon. Oikawa and Yuma got injured in the afternoon.

Sitting on the bench, Yuma felt time crawl by painfully slow.

For the first time, he realized time could pass so sluggishly.

Normally, casually practicing would make an afternoon fly by in the blink of an eye. But today, he'd already counted the 42 light bulbs on the gym ceiling back and forth 27 times.

"Uh, Yuma, Yahaba-senpai and I are going to the school building to get something. You look bored - want to come with us?"

As Kindaichi passed the rest area, he noticed the mushroom-growing Yuma and kindly extended the invitation.

"Let's go!"

Yuma instantly revived, springing up like a carp leaping from water.

...

At Aoba Johsai's front gate, a bus slowly pulled over, and a group of students in black uniforms filed out.

"I'm so sorry...! Tanaka-senpai! I'm really, really sorry!"

Shouyou Hinata kept bowing to Ryuunosuke Tanaka in apology. This was his first official match since middle school - albeit a practice match - but Hinata had gotten so nervous he vomited on Tanaka's pants halfway through the trip.

Tanaka had packed the soiled pants in a plastic bag and was now only wearing a pair of slightly short black athletic shorts.

"Alright alright, never mind me - are you okay?" Tanaka patted Hinata's shoulder.

"Yeah, after resting midway, I felt better after getting off the bus."

Hinata still looked a bit pale, but much improved from his half-dead state earlier.

"Is that so! Good then!" Tanaka laughed heartily, patting Hinata's shoulder again. "Because today's match is all riding on you! Just like during the three-on-three, draw the opponents' attention!"

Hearing his senpai's words, Hinata - who had been calming down - tensed up again, his fluffy orange hair practically standing on end.

"Tanaka...! Don't pressure Hinata...!"

Koushi Sugawara quickly intervened.

Tanaka looked clueless: "Huh? What's wrong?"

"...I-I'll t-try my... uh... I need to use the bathroom!" Hinata dashed off.

Seeing this, Tobio Kageyama rolled up his sleeves to chase after him: "That idiot's at it again! So embarrassing - I'll knock some sense into him!"

Sugawara grabbed Kageyama in alarm: "Hey Kageyama what are you doing?! That approach doesn't work on Hinata!"

Kageyama: "Won't know until we try!"

Sugawara: "Tanaka! Stop this single-celled organism!"

Chaos erupted at the school entrance, completely unnoticed by the Aoba Johsai team inside.

...

Near the school building, Yuma Kikuzawa, Kindaichi, and Yahaba walked slowly.

Yahaba: "Speaking of which, that person's at Karasuno High who's coming today, right? 'The King of the Court' - wasn't he from your middle school, Kindaichi?"

"Oh, Kageyama? That guy's nothing special. Sure, his individual skills are outstanding, but he's completely unsuited for teamwork." Kindaichi's expression darkened. "Because he's so full of himself."

Yahaba rubbed the back of his head: "Is that so? Well, he did end up at Karasuno. They used to be strong, but nowadays when I think of Karasuno, I just remember they have a beautiful and rather sexy manager."

Yuma: "Yahaba-senpai, you sound like a creep."

"Huh? Do I?! Do I really sound that creepy?!"

"Absolutely, like some greasy guy who can't get a girlfriend - wahh!"

Yuma nearly fainted when a bald guy with fierce eyes suddenly appeared around the corner.

"Well well well—"

Ryuunosuke Tanaka wore a classic delinquent expression, his face twisted in exaggerated disdain.

"I could've sworn I heard someone gossiping about our beloved volleyball club manager."

A group clad in black emerged, all standing behind Tanaka, presenting an intimidating sea of darkness.

Tanaka lifted his chin, glaring down at the trio: "Don't talk shit behind people's backs unless you want to get torn apart."

His demeanor perfectly matched those street thugs who prowled at night, looking ready to shove a baseball bat in someone's face at any moment. Needless to say, the three Aoba Johsai students had never encountered such intensity before, huddling together trembling.

"Don't scare them like that, Tanaka~ Look how you've frightened these veteran players into such pitiful states..."

Kei Tsukishima waved his hand with a mocking smile, his tone faux-concerned but face full of derision.

Kindaichi: "W-we're not scared...!"

Yuma: I should've just rotted in the gym.

"You guys! The moment I take my eyes off you...! My deepest apologies!"

Karasuno's captain Daichi Sawamura appeared as if by magic, forcing Tanaka's head into a 90-degree bow with a sliding tackle motion.

Yahaba: "Ah... it's fine..."

Yuma also bowed, his face radiating Buddha-like serenity: "Sorry for gossiping about you..."

Sawamura marched off with his troublesome junior in tow, the rest of Karasuno following.

As Tobio Kageyama passed by, Kindaichi clicked his tongue and spoke in a harsh tone: "Long time no see, 'King'."

Kageyama stopped.

"I'm curious what kind of dictatorship you've established over there."

Tension thickened the air again. Kageyama remained silent for a moment before lifting his head, his expression calm - no anger at the provocation, no sadness at his former teammate's disdain.

"Yeah."

He simply acknowledged flatly before walking away.

Kageyama rejoined the Karasuno group, immediately receiving simultaneous smacks to the back of his head from Tanaka and Sugawara.

Kindaichi stared incredulously at Kageyama harmoniously blending in with the Karasuno players: "What's with him? Acting all docile now..."

"Karasuno's atmosphere seems really nice..." Yuma gave Kindaichi's shoulder a firm pat.

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