13 Aftermath

The players thanked each other for the game and did their cool down exercises. Next, they proceeded to commence their cleaning duties. After they finished restoring the order of the gym, the visitors bade farewell with wide grins on their faces. The team had a small meeting thereafter.

Coach Soma: "You have lost. But on the bright side, we got a good look of Kurokumogi's new line-up. I must say, despite the defeat, the game was still worth it. So get over it and reflect on your errors. I'm sure you all picked up a thing or two from that match."

The siblings bickered for a while because apparently, Kouha wore the jacket that was actually Kouen's.

"Quit talking, we're just the same size!" Kouha argued.

"What's Peter's is Peter's." Kouen successfully pulled off the jacket from his brother. And so Kouha got no choice but to look for his jacket which he might have misplaced somewhere. Maki stood there and stared at them, so Kouen didn't say another rude thing to keep the trouble at bay.

This behavior lifted the heavy atmosphere that was surrounding the gym. With them being like this, the normal feel of the team returned. However, a certain someone is still dwelling over the fact that their team wasn't strong enough to defeat the powerhouse from Kanagawa.

Soon later, the members of Shiroshikata went home one by one.

Hiro arrived at their house in a grumpy mood. "I'm home."

"Welcome back. How was your game?" His mother greeted him and asked about his day.

"We lost."

"That's okay, it's just a practice game. Losing is part of sports."

"Yeah, they said."

His mother crossed her arms and clicked her tongue for her son's behavior. "Now go change, and come down later for dinner."

Hiro went to his room and plopped down on his bed. He got exhausted from that game, and worse, they it wasn't even worth it for him. There was no satisfaction from winning. He picked up his phone after he heard a 'ping' – someone just sent him a message.

"Stop whining and get over it." The message was from their manager.

He tossed the phone and ignored the message, and closed his eyes to take some rest. The next thing he knew, his mother threw him a towel and barked at him. "Take a bath and go down for dinner!"

--

The following Monday at school, Hiro met the Ginozas as he made his way towards his classroom. Kouha looked excited over something. "Oi, Hiro. Did ya see Maki's message in the LINE Group?"

He shook his head, prompting the third year to continue. "We're going to Tokyo!"

"Tokyo? Why?" He asked the elder Ginoza.

"For Golden Week camp next weekend. Just before the start of the Inter-High Qualifiers! Our team got the invite for Kansai Region rep. Aren't we awesome? Yeah?"

"Kouha, ya sound like a child. Ya regressed like, five years. Pipe it down." His brother said, munching an onigiri on his mouth.

"How about ya swallow that first, huh?"

Hiro willed his eardrums to close to drown out the stupidity going on in front of him. Instead, he focused his thoughts on the news that Kouha just relayed to him.

Now that's unusual. Usually, the most common team to get invites in Kansai Region from volleyball training camps in the capital is Inarizizaki High School of Hyogo Prefecture. Yet here they are, getting the opportunity to meet with various teams from the different regions. The thought alone made him excited. But maybe, there are other teams who got invited too.

"Who else is going?" he asked.

Kouha: "Ya mean from Kansai? Only us. They only invited one team per region."

"No, I mean, do you know which other teams got the invite from the other regions?"

Kouen: "Nah. But I heard the host team will be Itachiyama, so they'll probably be there. Other than them, no idea."

'Itachiyama, huh?' Hiro thought. 'I'm looking forward to go at it against that Sakusa again.'

Kouha: "Now that'cha mentioned those weasels, what really comes to mind is that Sakusa, right? Safe to say now that he's the current top 1 ace of Japan, don't ya agree?"

Kouen: "Not official yet, but I think Monthly Volleyball will feature their new Top 5 picks on their next issue that's coming out next week. Where do ya think they base their data in creating their list?"

Kouha: "Probably the Spring Cup results. Pretty sure that Little Giant from Nagano will make it to the cut."

Hiro cut off their conversation by saying something that was rarely profound. "There are amazing spikers in every team. There are amazing blockers in every team. There are lots of other amazing players out there. But no matter how strong that someone is, it will never compare to the strength of a well-developed team. At the end of the day, an individual is still just one guy."

The siblings were silenced by that unexpected remark from their lazy middle blocker. Then, a familiar voice sounded from behind them.

"Yeah, says the guy who whines when he loses." It was their libero, Gaito, who was actually trailing behind them.

"Ah, Gaito-san, you're so tiny I didn't see you there." Hiro nonchalantly said. The siblings chuckled a little.

"Hiro, bakayaro!" Gai kicked him from the back, throwing him forwards. Hiro got a hold of the stag bust that was displayed for décor in the corridors to keep himself from falling headfirst to the floor. But his momentum only carried it with him. As a result, the bust broke. 'Uh – oh.' Hiro looked at the libero, who only whistled and looked away from the consequences of his actions. Meanwhile, the siblings only laughed.

Little did they know, the vice-principal of their school witnessed the damage to property and act of violence that ensued in the corridors of his school. He recognized the four boys as the infamous members of the school's men's volleyball team. And so he made a mental note to talk to their team captain about their behavior later. After all, he needs to maintain order inside the Shiroshikata Gakuen's premises.