"Hahaha! That's great!"
Under the leadership of Ukai Keishin, as soon as everyone walked out of the court, they heard the excited shouts of Bokuto Kōtarō and the others from outside.
"Congratulations on making it to the third round!"
"Haha! It was only a matter of time before you advanced!"
After winning the game, it was clear that Daichi and the others were in a great mood.
"Bokuto-senpai, are you going to start warming up?"
Hinata asked excitedly.
"I'll come cheer for you guys later!"
"Bokuto-senpai! We'll all be there in a moment!"
Akira said with a smile.
"We want to learn your spike technique!"
"Aha!"
Bokuto placed his hands on his hips and laughed loudly, thrilled.
"Don't worry!"
"I'm going to win this match beautifully!"
Seeing this, Akaashi, Konoha, and the others glanced at Akira and Hinata with gratitude.
Thanks to those words from the two of them, there was no need to worry about Bokuto-senpai's condition anymore!
Then again, Bokuto really is a complete single-celled organism.
Just a few words are enough to keep him happy all day.
"Let's go warm up first!"
"See you soon!"
"See you soon!"
After bidding farewell to everyone from Fukurōdani, Kuroo Tetsurō turned his head.
"Nice match!"
"Now, Nohebi's group of bastards should be panicking!"
"They might even be too scared to win their next match!"
"That would be awesome!"
"Huh?"
Daichi was slightly confused.
"Nohebi?"
"Were they watching our game just now?"
"Haha! You don't know?"
Yaku Morisuke walked up and patted Daichi and Sugawara's shoulders.
"Almost all the teams that just finished their matches were watching yours!"
"After all…"
"The momentum from your match was huge!"
"Really?"
Daichi scratched his head.
"I didn't think it was anything special. Just a normal match."
"Ugh!"
Asahi's expression changed beside him.
"If that's the case, doesn't that mean we're being studied by other teams?!"
"What if they come up with ways to counter us?!"
Smack!
Just as his voice fell, a hand landed on his shoulder.
"Asahi-senpai!"
"How can you be so dense!!"
It was Nishinoya Yū behind him.
"Isn't it a huge honor to be studied by other teams?"
As he said that, he gave a thumbs-up and pointed toward Hinata and Kageyama in the back.
"Aha!"
"I didn't expect even we'd be studied!"
"Top teams from across the country are analyzing us?"
"That's so exciting!"
The group started dancing and cheering.
"Um…"
Watching them, Asahi looked a little embarrassed.
"He's right!"
Sugawara Kōshi walked over with a helpless smile.
"Does being studied by other teams reduce our strength?"
"Teams like Itachiyama, Nekoma, and Inarizaki are studied every year by tons of teams."
"But even if you study them, can you beat them?"
"If that were the case, how does Itachiyama still win championships?!"
"So! Asahi!"
He gave Asahi a firm pat on the shoulder.
"Don't overthink it so much!"
"I…"
Asahi opened his mouth with a bitter look but was immediately cut off by Sugawara.
"You're such a strong guy physically—who knew your heart would be this fragile?"
"What am I going to do with you?"
"Sigh…"
Asahi still sighed. It was clear he wasn't completely reassured about being analyzed by others.
"Come on, Sugawara, don't tease him too hard."
Daichi added with a grin from the side.
"I've known this guy almost three years. When have you ever seen him without stress on his shoulders?"
"Let's go!"
At that moment, Kuroo turned to everyone.
"The rest of today's matches are about to start. Why don't we go watch together?"
"Sure!"
"But is there anything worth watching in the second round?"
As they walked toward the spectator stands, Daichi asked.
"Matches worth watching?"
Kuroo clearly had a good grasp on the schedule.
"There's an Inarizaki match at the next court over!"
"But it's almost over—by the time we get there, it might be finished."
"There's also Fukurōdani's third-round match, and then…"
"Itachiyama's game is in the final slot of the morning."
"Also, several of the seeded teams from Group C play in the afternoon…"
"Ugh!"
"In that case, there are a ton of great matches to catch this afternoon!"
Sugawara scratched his head and sighed.
"Hey, hey!"
Yaku laughed mischievously.
"Better enjoy this last relaxing day!"
"Tomorrow, it won't be like this!"
"Morning and afternoon—two matches in one day!"
"That's definitely not going to be easy!"
"Yeah."
Kuroo nodded.
"The intensity of Nationals is usually higher than the local qualifiers."
"Most teams go three full sets against their opponents!"
"If you don't get enough rest in between, something could easily go wrong after a day like that."
"Hmm…"
Daichi looked a bit uncertain.
Yaku added again.
"But the semifinals and finals will be held on separate days!"
"Provided you can make it that far!"
"Is that so…"
Everyone from Karasuno looked at each other, seeing the same solemn expression reflected in one another's eyes.
During the Miyagi Prefecture qualifiers, they had also played two matches a day.
But Karasuno had never been pushed to a third set.
They had always won 2-0.
But if they were to drop a set in tomorrow morning's match…
Then Karasuno would be forced into a third set.
And that's something they've never experienced before.
"I hope we can hold strong in tomorrow's match…"
Just as everyone arrived at the stands, the second batch of matches for the day began.
It had to be said—teams that make it to the second round of Nationals aren't weak by any means!
The competition was incredibly fierce today. Three of the matches were almost dead-even!
Only one match showed a significant gap in strength between the two teams.
"These teams are so strong!"
Watching from the stands, Yaku let out a sigh of amazement.
"If we were up there, I doubt we'd gain any advantage at all!"
"After Nationals, the Spring High tryouts are only a few months away!"
"When the time comes, we've got to come back and give it a shot!"
A look of longing flashed in Kuroo's eyes.
Yaku laughed heartily.
"Haha! It's a deal then!"