Chapter 19 "No one touched the ball"

After meeting with Kageyama Tobio, Haruka Ishikawa went home and fell on her bed.

She lay flat on the bed with her whole body spread out. As expected of an athletic boy who trains every day, she has great physical strength!

Just the practice of the past few days and the one hour this morning made her almost unable to feel the existence of her limbs.

After finishing practice, Toru Ishikawa returned home, took a shower, and just walked out of the bathroom after wiping his hair, he was bumped into by Haruka Ishikawa who happened to walk out of the bedroom.

She glanced up and down at the boy who was still energetic, and thought of the boy who insisted on his own way. She sighed: "You creatures who were born for volleyball are really as stubborn as bulls."

Whether it was the one in front of her or the one this morning, they all carried out their persistence to the end. Her brother always wanted to surpass the genius with his mortal body, and he once collapsed; Kageyama wanted to take a lonely and brave path with the body of a genius, and he didn't know when he would experience collapse.

Ikawa Toru rubbed his watery eyes with one hand and said casually, "What are you talking about, all of a sudden."

Ikawa Haruka looked at his brother who had returned home without any defenses and had warm eyes, and he couldn't help laughing: "Nothing." That's all. Although they both have a stubborn side, it is undeniable that they both have a temperament that makes people indulge.

Ikawa Haruka said that he would go to watch Kageyama Tobio's game. Two weeks later, Kageyama Tobio's semi-finals would be held. Ikawa Haruka happened to be free that day, so he went to the gym early in the afternoon to choose a good seat.

When Ikawa Haruka arrived at the audience, Kageyama Tobio was talking to the coach.

"You can't go on like this. Some people have told me that they can't play with you." The coach frowned and said seriously.

Kageyama Tobio's face was tense: "I know."

From Ikawa Haruka's perspective, she could only see the boy's chin, which was as sharp as a knife, floating slightly. She guessed that he probably squeezed out a few words from his throat.

Haruka Ishikawa rubbed his fingers subconsciously. The stubborn boy seemed to be at odds with his coach.

Just as Haruka Ishikawa worried, the ball that Kageyama Tobio gave was still the kind that required the attacker to try his best to just reach it. Haruka Ishikawa looked at his coach after he dribbled the ball. The coach kept clenching his hands, watching every move on the court with a deep look in his eyes.

"Tsk! Another difficult dribbling!"

"Don't mind it."

Kindaichi and Kunimi encouraged each other, and Kageyama Tobio stood in front of them. The three people on the court seemed to be separated by a clear line in the middle, as if Kageyama should stand on the opposite side of the net. They were teammates who should work together, but they were more like opponents.

When Kageyama Tobio dribbled the ball, the people on the court were bored and impatient. With more and more mistakes caused by this dribbling, the game began to become tense. Haruka Ishikawa looked down at her watch from time to time. She always felt that time was getting slower and slower, but the pointer was spinning around the dial at a high speed.

14:13, 14:17, 16:20...

The score gap began to widen, and the turning of the score page made Haruka Ishikawa want to look at the watch again. At the moment she looked down, the pointer of the watch suddenly stopped, and she heard the sound of a ball falling to the ground - snap!

Haruka Ishikawa looked up and saw the boy behind her and an "untouched ball". It was not the kind of ball that no one touched when serving, but the ball that no teammates were willing to receive.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly and murmured, "It's broken." Her watch and the boy on the court were broken.

At the same time, the coach waved his hand lightly, and a boy held up a sign to replace Tobio Kageyama.

Tobio Kageyama put a towel on his head, and he supported his thighs with his hands and hunched his body. Haruka Ishikawa could not see Kageyama's expression through the towel. The drooping towel left a shadow on Kageyama's chin. They

really look alike. Kageyama, who is now sitting on the bench, and Toru, who was replaced by the coach before, overlap in Haruka Ichikawa's eyes.

No matter Toru or Kageyama, the only thing the coach did after they had problems was to ruthlessly replace them.

In addition, whether it was Toru's excessive training and collapse or Kageyama's conflicts with his teammates that led to darkness, the coach did nothing.

Is the coach really not responsible for their becoming like this? Haruka Ichikawa looked deeply at the coach who had always remained indifferent.

No matter Toru or Kageyama, she seemed unable to help them in volleyball. But as their coach, she believed that he would definitely be able to help them!

Toru Ichikawa met good coaches and teammates in high school, and he was accompanied by Iwaizumi Ichi. Now he has walked out of the shadow of junior high school.

Kageyama Tobio's high school is still unknown, and there is no one around him. How can he walk out of this dark third year of junior high school? Haruka Ichikawa couldn't help asking himself.

"Beep!" The whistle announced the end of the game. After replacing Kageyama, Kitagawa Daiichi won the game without any danger.

All the students of Kitagawa No.1 cheered loudly. Compared with their victorious posture, Kageyama, with dim eyes and stiff body, was the loser among the victors.

Although Kageyama still maintained his hard and expressionless face, in the eyes of Haruka Ishikawa, the king who was known as the tyrant of the court, his cape was still tattered and his eyes were already desolate. 

Kageyama Tobio listened to the laughter of his teammates, and his mind recalled the question that Haruka Ishikawa had asked him. Did the senior sister have expected his situation today, so she asked him that question? What did he say at that time? Probably there was still a volleyball. 

But the moment the volleyball in his hand fell to the ground, he seemed to be plunged into darkness. Even the volleyball had fallen to the ground alone, just like him who was isolated by his teammates. 

When he was confused and didn't know how to leave here, a soft and warm hand firmly pulled his arm and led him to the exit. 

Kageyama tried to refocus his blurred eyes on the person who was holding his hand. The person holding his hand was Senior Ikawa, who had a clean breath like the first snow and long, smooth flaxen hair. The person holding his hand was Senior Ikawa. 

The warm orange sky outside the hall was bright, and Ikawa Haruka's hair was shining in the sunset. She stared at him with deep eyes, and her voice was warm and gentle: "Long time no see." 

She didn't wait for his answer and continued to talk to herself: "Today's evening reminds me of the game you mentioned. You should continue to get stronger. Maybe in the near future you will meet an attacker like Yuki no Oka No. 1 who can keep up with you and has outstanding skills." 

She listened to what Kageyama Tobio said that day and specially watched the preliminary game. The orange-haired child and Kageyama are the same kind of people. They are the kind of people who will be very happy when they see volleyball. 

Kageyama Tobio's eyes were surprisingly bright under the sunset in the sky. Senior always saw his embarrassed side, but always appeared by his side. 

"If you still believe in your belief, then believe that you will meet someone who can resonate with you in the future." Iikawa Haruka thought a lot when Kageyama Tobio was packing his backpack. If she couldn't help them, she might as well support them. At the very least, it would let this lonely child know that he is not alone. 

Kageyama Tobio chewed on Iikawa Haruka's words over and over again. After thinking for a long time, he said, "I want to go to Shiratorizawa." Shiratorizawa gathers the strongest people in the county, so can he find someone who can resonate with him and keep up with him there?

Iikawa Haruka was left in tears and laughter by his nonsensical words: "Then you must study hard, the entrance exam for Shiratorizawa is quite difficult."

"Grandpa said that I should be able to get a special recruitment spot for Shiratorizawa."

"That's great, I'll wait for you in Shiratorizawa."

The two of them went home together. Iikawa Haruka saw that he should be fine.

However, the problems between teammates will eventually become scars for each other. This kind of scar will not fade away with time. On the contrary, they will think of today every time they meet in the future.

[Author has something to say]

Shiratorizawa didn't make it and ended up going to Karasuno, hahahahahahahaha!