18 Memory from the NYTC
[This is actually a filler chapter, but read it nonetheless hahaha. The latter part of this chapter is actually based from my favourite chapter in Haikyuu-Bu! Spin-off manga. Its chapter 38 so if you have time, you can also check that out. This will be told in Hiro's perspective since this happened at the Tokyo National Youth Training Camp.]
Hiro
*
We were led inside the all too familiar gym where I once practiced my spikes and blocks. Three teams were present inside, including the host team. For this afternoon, we will play one-set matches against another team. The rest of the time will be for our team's usual drill practices.
For tomorrow's schedule, the mornings will be spent on a seminar while the afternoon will be for more team trainings and another practice match. This is only a 2D1N camp, so the games for tomorrow afternoon will cap off the Golden Week training.
After an hour or so, the three remaining teams have arrived, and we were all set for the practice match.
"WOAH! THIS IS SO COOL! MAKI-SENPAI! KOUHA-SENPAI! THIS IS MY FIRST EVER TRAINING CAMP UWAAAAH!" The squirt from our group said loudly when the last team made their entrance, making everyone else turn their attention towards him. I eyed him as he bounced up and down like a mad volleyball in play. Honestly, at first, I didn't see him as a valuable component of our team, not until he hit that awkward toss by Kouen last time. That play made me wonder if the might actuay prove to be useful on court.
--
Here are the participants for this Golden Week Training Camp:
KANTO Region / Tokyo – Itachiyama Gakuen
KANSAI Region / Nara – Shiroshikata Gakuen
KYUSHUU Region / Miyazaki – Mirayuki High School
TOHOKU Region / Miyagi – Shiratorizawa Gakuen
CHUBU Region / Aichi – Haganezuka Technical High School
CHUGOKU Region / Tottori – Iwatobi High School
[Based on canon chapter 394, Itachiyama and Shiratorizawa train in the same camp. Other school names are made up, like Haganezuka (steel, because Aichi is the industrial and tech capital of Japan) and Mirayuki (future, because Miyazaki is a leading factory area of the nation). I also used the name of the school from Free! Anime, Iwatobi, because that school is in the Tottori prefecture.)]
--
The lots were drawn and it was determined that we will be facing off against Shiratorizawa for our first one-set game today. I shot a look at Shinya and he shared the same expression as me.
'Too bad we can't murder each other right off the bat.'
However, I noticed that something seems to be missing in their team, rather, someone seems to be missing. Their ace – Sakusa Kiyoomi. I walked towards Shinya to ask him where the hell Sakusa-san is.
"He's sick."
"….."
"He's sick, don't look at me like I'm lying." He repeated.
Sakusa Kiyoomi – the last person whom I thought will get sick, is out for this camp because he got a stupid flu. It's an occurrence even rarer than a blue moon.
Ever since middle school, he's always been a clean freak. He never goes out without a mask on, he always brings sanitizing things with him, and he absolutely despises crowds. So I had to wonder how he got sick.
"He's not around, so be ready for your team's thrashing then, Shinya."
"I could say the same to your team, Hiro. Sakusa-san isn't all there is to our strength. MIA or not, we'll crush your spirits tomorrow. Well, that's if we get to play vs each other at the final practice match." His smirk never disappeared from his face as he said that.
It's a shame our team can't possibly get a rematch against Itachiyama with Sakusa-san around, but whatever. I can even vividly recall from my memory the hard evidence on how far Sakusa-san will go in order to attain cleanliness – and the length of his patience and tolerance for filth.
*Memory from the National Youth Training Camp, December 2012*
--
I am still pissed by what that 'Little Giant' did to me earlier. He humiliated me multiple times during the drills earlier when he kept on scoring from my blocks. He's always successful in wiping it.
'If the blocker's so good they're easier to manipulate!'
"Tch." I muttered in frustration, remembering that spiker' words.
"Yer killin' me, yer all killin' me!" My roommate groaned from the noise I just made. Of all people, it had to be the annoying setter from Hyogo who claims to be the number 1 in his playing position.
"What do you think about Hoshiumi Kourai, Miya?"
"Ya mean the midget with crazy jumps? Hmmm he's annoying."
For once I agreed with the pisshead. After a while, we heard someone knock our door. I opened it since I got the lower bunk, and the last person whom I thought to knock on someone else's door was right before me.
Its the germaphobe, Sakusa Kiyoomi. Well, they say he's also Japan's number 1 ace or something.
"Eh? Who's that? Omi-kun?" Miya Atsumu said.
"Good evening." Sakusa greeted us. Then what happened next surprised both Miya and I. He suddenly got a clean towel out of nowhere, unfolded it, and laid it on the floor where he knelt right in front of us.
"What the heck, man?!" I asked him.
"Pardon me for the intrusion, Miya and Arakata, but I got a problem and I need your help." Sakusa pleaded.
"What's this about, Omi-kun? Ya seem quite distressed." The jerk next to me asked. And Sakusa indeed seems to look awfully stressed.
"I need your help." He repeated.
"Yep, we heard you the first time." I said.
"There's something in my room that needs to be taken out."
"Can't ya do it yerself?"
"That's the problem. I can't."
We eyed him, but he just motioned for us to follow him, and we did, coz we were curious. He led us to his room which he shared with his teammate, the libero with the thick eyebrows. Sakusa shivered before he opened his door. "I hope it isn't there."
Nothing was unusual, from what I saw. Sakusa's things were neatly piled on his table - his air salonpas, sanitizers, deodorant, vitamins, you name it. I heard a sigh of relief from the ace. "Not here, good."
"What is it, man?"
He inhaled before he answered. "It's horrifying to even say it but.... there was a cockroach here earlier. Please get rid of it."
My jaw dropped and Miya Atsumu laughed like crazy. "That's it! Yer sayin' that yer problem was just about a bug who survived against bombs before?! Yer killin' me, yer all killin' me!" he was holding his guts from his laughter.
"You seem so worried I thought you murdered your roommate." I told him, jokingly.
"Of course not, my hands will get dirty. But well, I thought about that a few times."
"WHAAAT." Miya and I both said.
"Always leaving the sink area a mess, without any consideration for the next users, leaving crumbs everywhere. Like here, Komori's left-over instant ramen cup was left earlier on his bed. I took it and disposed of it when I went to the kitchen. But when he left it earlier, it must've attracted those bugs and here they are."
"Oya, what's happening here? Eh? Miya? Arakata?" Just then, Sakusa's roommate, Komori Motoya arrived.
"Speak of the devil." He muttered.
"Eh?"
"Please get rid of it, no matter what you need to do." But this time, he directed his gaze at Komori, who shivered at the murder intent. I was about to step out from the room but Sakusa blocked the door.
"Hey let me out, there's nothing here."
"Oi, wait, I saw something!" Miya Atsumu suddenly exclaimed, "It's there near ya Omi-kun!"
The cockroach flew around, feeling like a butterfly, and landed on Sakusa's shoulder. The guy shuddered from his spot, looking so pale, and let out an ear-shattering "AAAHHHHH!!" He ran outside their room.
Miya and I were rolling on the floor laughing but Komori just ran after his roommate. The cockroach was nowhere to be seen now. "This is stupid." I said while still laughing.
"It's not there anymore, why did you bother to bring those two there?" We heard Komori from the hallway. Minutes later, Sakusa was back at the door. He hurriedly opened his bag and got a bottle of Lysol. I wonder what else is inside his bag. He then sprayed the disinfectant all over the room and placed it together with his other things on the table.
"Omi-kun, why didja think that Hiro-kun and I will help ya with this cockroach issue?" Miya said while trying so hard to hold back his laughter.
"Because you came from the mountains and countryside. These things might be common for you."
"Hey don't insult my prefecture like that!" Miya spat at him.
While it's true that bugs are common in Nara, the way he said it just doesn't ring right with me. He could've asked nicely. "Why didn't you ask that Kageyama from Miyagi then? And the guy he hangs out with? That Chigaya from Saitama? That place is full of bugs." I tried to go along with Miya.
"I don't like Kageyama and I'm afraid.... no, I'm sure that blocker from Saitama has some pests living in his hair. Have you seen how broccoli-ish it is? That looked like a bug's nest." Sakusa replied.
The pisshead decided to open his stupid mouth right then. "Pffffft! At home my brother always eats in our room, so cockroaches are so common there I just kill them. There's no end to 'em"
"What do you do?" Sakusa asked.
"I step on them! Hit 'em hard with anything I can grab on! 'Samu does the same! They have disgusting guts!"
With that statement, a look of horror appeared in Sakusa's face and he grabbed again the Lysol to spray it all over Miya. "You are roommates with a cockroach! You - You are dirty!"
Seriously, this guy is way too much to handle. Then Komori commented, "If there is one cockroach to be seen, then it means there are others. Let us commence this operati- ah!"
The cockroach flew overhead and is seen in Komori's field of vision. Sakusa screamed. The rest of us scampered around. What an overreaction. The pest landed on top of his air salonpas.
"Komori, wh-what were you saying?" Sakusa nervously asked.
"Eh - what?"
"The one about there being more of these filthy germ-carriers?"
"Ah yes. Mom always tells me that the one you see isn't the only one of them."
"Well then, this place is fucked." The idiot Sakusa then pulled out something from his pocket - a lighter. I immediately knew that he's right. We are fucked and it's not because of the roach, but because of his idiocy.
"We'll burn this place." A mad look appeared in Sakusa's face as he lit it up.
Komori, Miya and I all realized that Sakusa plans to throw the lighter to his air salonpas, which is highly flammable. The three of us grabbed him to stop him from doing it. Going this far to kill a pest?! WTF dude!
"The hell are you doing?!" I yelled at his face, which disgusted him more.
"I'm saving everyone from all the germs it carries." NO STUPID WHAT THE FUCK.
"The pests and the rest of the shit will blow up!" Miya panicked.
"There has to be another way!" Komori said.
"The - the police?" Sakusa asked.
"Don't bother them just coz of roaches!" I exclaimed.
Just then, Kageyama opened the door with a dumbfounded look on his face. He has an empty instant ramen cup with its lid closed and chopsticks in his hands. He probably had a midnight snack with Broccoli. "What's going on? What's all this noise about?"
"Sakusa wants ter blow up the place because of the cockroach on his air salonpas!" As if the situation isn't crazy enough, Miya made it even sound crazier. Honestly, this room is full of s-t-u-p-i-d. And I think I'm the only rational one around.
"Help us, Kageyama!" Komori pleaded since Sakusa's lighter is still lit.
The setter's eyes locked on the cockroach which is taking its sweet time on Sakusa's air salonpas. Then Kageyama went over there, used his chopsticks to pick up the pest, and trapped it inside his empty ramen cup.
Every one of us became silent as we stared at the setter who did just that and walked out of the room as if no major arson was just thwarted because of his actions.
Before he was out of earshot, Miya said something. "Tobio-kun, yer good with handling pests."
"It's a small, quick and scampering thing, and quite orange in the head. I'm used to dealing with that sort of thing." Kageyama replied, looking as if he's imagining something else.
Sakusa exhaled in relief and said, calmly, this time, "Get out of here, everyone. I'm going to sanitize this place."
--
What is with me remembering all this shit? I'm going crazy. Anyway, it's almost time for our game vs Shiratorizawa – the mighty Eagles of Miyagi.
