Yukioka Middle School – New Indoor Gymnasium
P.E. Teacher No. 1 was a middle-aged woman of average build.
Though her face bore the traces of time, it was clear she must have been quite pretty in her youth.
Without much small talk, she calmly and naturally got straight to the point.
"Well, I don't really know much about volleyball. But based on how things were back when I was in middle school, let's start with a vertical jump test today."
"First, it'll go on the tournament registration forms. Second, the setter needs to know everyone's spike reach height."
"Also, I heard you've got four new members? Let's start with introductions."
Since Hinata Shoyo's two childhood friends were busy with their own clubs and preparing for the inter-school sports tournament, only seven people had gathered in the gym that day.
The new members were Mori, Kawashima, Suzuki, and Hoshino Masaru.
The three new first-years introduced themselves first:
"H-Hello everyone! I'm Mori. My height is... uh, I didn't join any sports clubs in elementary school. I'm not really good at anything, but I love playing Go! Please take care of me!"
"Hi, I'm Kawashima. I played basketball in elementary school, but I want to try a new sport in middle school!"
"I'm Suzuki. I'm not good at sports, so I joined a club in middle school to improve my fitness!"
Hinata Shoyo struck a pose he thought made him look like a cool upperclassman, preparing to show off his seniority to the new recruits.
"Ohh! You're all fired up! I—"
"Hinata! There's still one more person left to introduce themselves. Don't interrupt."
Just as Hinata was about to launch into a speech, Ichinose Guren dragged him back.
"Huh? Who else is there? That's not funny—kind of a lame joke. I'm not that easy to fool."
Muttering under his breath with a disgruntled look, Hinata suddenly heard a quiet voice from right behind him:
"Um, sorry... but there is still one more... me~"
Thud.
The moment Hinata heard the voice behind him, his heart skipped a beat.
A chill ran up from the base of his spine to the top of his head, and his whole body froze.
With a pale face and a dumbfounded expression, he turned his head—jerkily—toward the source of the sound.
When he saw an unfamiliar blue-haired boy in a team uniform behind him, he let out a shriek and bolted behind Guren, only peeking his head out after a moment.
"It's real!!!"
"The missing seventh player!!"
"The ghost story about the volleyball team is TRUE!!"
After shouting dramatically, Hinata began to realize something was off.
Everyone else was staring at him in silence, clearly unimpressed.
The blue-haired boy just smiled awkwardly and said:
"I'm really sorry. I've always had a weak presence, so I tend to scare people without meaning to."
Team:
"Yeah... I almost forgot we had seven people too."
"Same. I thought we'd start practice after the three of us introduced ourselves."
"But Hoshino-senpai is a third-year, right? Is he a transfer student?"
The three newbies began whispering to each other about Hoshino Masaru.
Clap clap!
Ichinose Guren clapped his hands with a polite smile, but his tone left no room for argument.
"Everyone, let's save the chatter until Hoshino finishes his introduction."
Startled by Guren's upperclassman aura, the three first-years quickly bowed and apologized.
"Ah! Sorry!"
Guren gave Hoshino the signal to continue.
Though Hoshino seemed shy, his delivery was unexpectedly clear and confident.
"Hello, I'm Hoshino Masaru. I'm 171cm tall. I played volleyball in both elementary and middle school. My position is libero."
He paused briefly, then said with firm conviction:
"I specialize in receiving. I'll keep being the most reliable support for my teammates!"
Scattered applause followed.
Ichinose Guren stepped forward.
"Excellent. First off, welcome to all four new members."
"We've officially entered this year's Inter-School General Sports Tournament."
"This will be our first time competing, but we have only one goal—"
The teacher gestured to a vertical jump measuring device standing nearby.
She pulled out a pen and notebook, ready to record the jump results, and asked Hyakuzawa Yudai to stand by the apparatus to read the measurements.
Though she appeared calm on the outside, deep down she was clearly annoyed, with a tinge of scorn.
"The school board made us teachers rotate through to guide and supervise these clubs... but wasn't the boys' volleyball team always just a hobby club?"
"Why the hell did someone build a gym and activity building just for this?"
"My girls' basketball team is doing great—we might even make nationals this year!"
"And this near-defunct club suddenly wants to go all-out? Tch."
Still, she caught herself before her thoughts ran too far.
"Well, they're just kids. Not really their fault. Nothing to complain about."
"Heck, even in my middle school days, we shouted about winning nationals too."
"Still, vertical reach matters in volleyball... Let's see what these kids can do."
"There's a tall one, right? Doesn't look like he can jump that well though."
She had no strong dislike toward them anymore, but she was still clearly expecting a joke—something to roll her eyes at.
"One jump each. The result will be final."
[Mori: 301 cm]
"Meh. That's about average. My center's taller—and she's a girl."
[Kawashima: 310 cm]
"Some sports background. But still pretty average for a boys' team."
[Suzuki: 278 cm]
"Definitely just filling the roster. These three won't help in a real match."
"They're not even wearing volleyball shoes—just generic trainers."
"And yet we don't get a new gym for the girls' team? Ridiculous."
While the teacher muttered to herself, the three rookies finished their jump tests.
Kawashima, the tallest of the three at 175cm, took over for Hyakuzawa as the spotter.
Ichinose Guren looked at the eager Hinata and calm Hyakuzawa, tilted his head slightly, and called out:
"Yudai, you go first."
"Got it, Guren!"
Hyakuzawa lightly stretched his ankles and knees, waking up his joints before jumping.
Though they'd already warmed up, activating the joints just before a high-intensity motion was smart.
As he took the first step—
"Good. Feels like I'm in top form today."
The force flowed smoothly through his body—from the ground, through his ankles, knees, thighs, and hips.
Hyakuzawa could clearly feel how much he'd improved in the past few months training under Guren's system.
He started accelerating.
There was no explosive sprint, no showy burst—but his steps radiated a steady, powerful agility.
Even though his cadence was slow, his stride was massive—each step was worth two of Hinata's.
At 196cm tall, Hyakuzawa wasn't slow at all.
Kawashima, spotting by the jump marker, suddenly felt like a wild beast was charging him.
"It's like a grizzly bear in a forest locked onto me…"
Frozen with fear, he turned just in time to see Hyakuzawa leap.
He lowered his center of gravity, then sprang upward with a powerful jump.
A rush of air hit Kawashima's face like a wave.
Thick arms swept upward, cleanly knocking several markers from the measuring rod.
"Hyakuzawa-senpai is amazing!"
Kawashima called out the result.
"337 cm!"
The P.E. teacher's eyes widened in shock.
"!!!"
"He's just a third-year? If he grows a bit more—say, over 210cm—and gets elite training…"
"He might become a national basketball player."
"That level of agility is rare in someone this big!"
She coughed to hide her surprise and calmly recorded the result.
"Next up... Hinata Shoyo."
"Here I go!!"
(End of Chapter)
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