The weather on this Friday was sunny, yet not a single student was gazing out the window. The classroom was silent, save for the faint scratch of mechanical pencils on paper, the occasional cough, and the sporadic thud of an eraser falling to the floor.
The end-of-term exams were underway—and nearing their conclusion.
Even at Aoba Johsai, a school known for its high promotion rate, exams remained a source of unease for its students.
The clock's hands pointed to 11:30 a.m., and the bell rang out loudly to signal the end of the session.
"This exam is over. Please stop writing and wait for your papers to be collected."
Kindaichi Yūtarō slumped onto his desk, his mechanical pencil slipping weakly from his grasp.
"That was so hard…Am I going to need remedial classes…?"
The problem wasn't the remedial classes themselves, but that they would cut into practice time. Since their return from Nationals, after a few days of rest, everyone's focus had shifted to the Spring High School Volleyball Tournament.
Kindaichi also wanted to shine on the Nationals stage.
He glanced back diagonally toward Kaedehara Taichi, who was still asleep at his desk.
During the first half of the exam period, the supervising teacher coughed twice and tapped the lectern, saying, "Stay focused, everyone. Don't fall asleep during the exam—keep an eye on the time."
Half the class had turned to look at Taichi, only to see him raise his head, shift positions, and fall asleep again—his arm from earlier likely numb from being used as a pillow.
The supervising teacher could only sigh softly. Students did exist, and there wasn't much else they could do besides issue a reminder.
When the exam finally ended, the teacher collected the papers, and the students began leaving the classroom one by one. The cool breeze flowing through the open doors and windows gently rustled the curtains inside.
Taichi finally woke up.
For the past few days, he'd been working on planning the training schedule for the summer break. There were many areas that needed improvement, but the time was limited to just a few months, making it a challenging task.
"Taichi, how…did you do on the exam?" Kindaichi asked nervously.
Oh? Kindaichi must've done well if he has time to worry about me, Taichi thought, responding casually,
"Of course, it was easy. End-of-term exams are simpler than the usual ones. It's nice to have extra time to rest."
Kindaichi sighed. Back in junior high, Kunimi Akira had a similar attitude, though not as exaggerated as Taichi's.
But at least back then, their club also had Kageyama Tobio, who was consistently at the bottom of the academic rankings. The contrast hadn't felt as stark as it did now.
The two chatted as they headed to the third gymnasium. Today, Coach Irihata would present the overall training plans for the summer break. Afterwards, the players would have the afternoon off, but formal summer training would begin the next day.
For students in sports clubs, summer break wasn't a simple period of rest. It was a valuable time for self-improvement—especially for those with dreams of making their mark in the Spring Tournament.
Taichi knew of four high school volleyball alliances: the Itachiyama Alliance, the Inarizaki Alliance, the Fukurodani Alliance, and the Shiratorizawa Alliance.
Establishing such alliances wasn't an easy task. From structuring the organization to recruiting and integrating different schools, considerations like funding, venues, and equipment had to be addressed.
Shiratorizawa, often described by Ushijima Wakatoshi as having "fertile soil," symbolized abundant school resources, facilities, and connections.
Within the prefecture, both Date Tech and Jousaiji High School had coaches who were Shiratorizawa alumni, so Shiratorizawa usually led training camps that the other schools joined. Unlike Tokyo's Fukurodani Alliance, where hosting duties rotated among member schools, Shiratorizawa handled accommodations centrally.
For powerhouse schools like Aoba Johsai and Date Tech, invitations from Shiratorizawa were an annual occurrence. Additional participants often depended on personal connections or the interest of Coach Washijo in particular players.
This year, the confirmed participants were Shiratorizawa, Aoba Johsai, Date Tech, Jousaiji, and Kakugawa Academy.
The camp would last one week (July 8–14), with matches as the primary focus. Considering the disparity in skill levels between teams, the schedule also included shuffled-team matches.
Without familiar teammates to cover for them, players' weaknesses would be fully exposed in such scenarios.
During this one-week training camp, every player needed to identify their areas for improvement in both skills and physical fitness. After the camp concluded, school-specific training could then focus on targeted exercises to address individual weaknesses.
The schedule was planned until August 11th, when the Harukou or Spring High preliminaries would begin.
The first round of the Miyagi Prefecture qualifiers would take place then, but the top eight teams from the Inter-High preliminaries wouldn't need to participate, advancing directly to the next round.
Coach Irihata's plan covered the period up to the start of the Spring High preliminaries. Afterwards, until the end of August, the players would transition to self-directed training.
This was especially necessary for the third-year students who had to balance their volleyball commitments with the pressures of preparing for university entrance exams.
"Is there something special about this Kakugawa Academy?" Kindaichi asked after listening to the coach's plan.
"I heard they have a first-year player who's 2 meters tall, the kind of player Coach Washijo admires," replied Maneger-Coach Sadayuki Mizoguchi.
"Two meters?!" Aoba Johsai's players were shocked.
"That's ten centimetres taller than Kindaichi…" Kunimi Akira glanced at Kindaichi.
At Nationals, the tallest opponents they'd encountered were Mujinazaka's Twin Towers, which had caused significant problems for Aoba Johsai's offence.
Kunimi wasn't skilled at dealing with such players. Against power-based opponents, Coach Irihata often chose to substitute in Kindaichi.
"Yeah, but I heard he only started playing volleyball after entering high school. He's probably still a rookie," Mizoguchi added, flipping through the player reports. "From a team-wide perspective, they aren't that intimidating."
"What a pity…" Taichi remarked as if he had already anticipated this. "But I can wait for him to get stronger. You seniors probably won't have the chance to play against him."
For once, Oikawa Tōru didn't retort. His high school volleyball career was down to its final tournament, and this realization had been on his mind repeatedly in recent days.
"By the way, isn't Karasuno on the list?" Iwaizumi Hajime suddenly asked. Since they'd defeated Date Tech, Shiratorizawa should have taken note of them.
"Oh, they're attending the Fukurodani Alliance training camp, which also starts tomorrow," Taichi said casually.
Sadayuki Mizoguchi glanced at Taichi, slightly taken aback. This kid knows more than I do.
"Karasuno contacted the Fukurodani Alliance a month ago, so they missed out on this one."
"Karasuno's enthusiasm is impressive!" Oikawa couldn't help but think of his adorable underclassmen. However, after seeing players like Miya Atsumu at Nationals, his obsession with Kageyama Tobio had diminished slightly.
Of course, it also helped that Aoba Johsai had directly defeated Karasuno during the Inter-High prefectural preliminaries.
"Date Tech's third-years have retired, but their first-years are quite strong. They just lack experience, so never underestimate them," Coach Irihata reminded.
"There are also schools with third-years still in play, like Karasuno, Wakunan, and Shiratorizawa. Each team is formidable…"
"We'll get even stronger!"
Taichi muttered, his gaze drifting toward the top of the gymnasium.
The other players followed his line of sight. The wind seemed to stir the banner hanging above them, its words bold and resolute:
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