The next day, after going to watch the final round of the First Preliminary, the players had another day of practice, and as agreed, Hinata was helping Tsukishima improve his blocking skills.
"Send it over, Suga-san!" shouted Hinata to Sugawara, who was now on the same team as Hinata, while Kageyama was on Tsukishima's team.
"It's yours, Hinata!" said Sugawara as he set the ball for Hinata, who, after seeing the ball in the air, jumped and, unable to contain his own impulse, decided to spike the ball with his left hand. He didn't manage to put much power into the attack and ended up unintentionally performing a sort of feint, as he didn't hit the ball cleanly, causing it to go over the block.
"What's your problem? If you're going to attack like that, you don't need to help!" complained Tsukishima, who had been expecting a strong right-handed spike.
"Stop complaining! It's not just you who has things to work on. I also need to improve my left hand with the wipe shot. Besides, all good players have feints as part of their arsenal. If you're not paying attention or don't consider them, it's going to become a problem!" Hinata argued, feeling unfairly criticized.
"Tsk! You're not wrong..." grumbled Tsukishima, unable to disagree with Hinata's last point.
"Alright! Now it's your turn to attack!" said Hinata, tossing the ball over the net toward Tanaka, who received it and directed the pass to Kageyama. Kageyama prepared and set the ball for Tsukishima, who spiked it toward the back of the court.
"I've got it!" said Hinata, who, after tossing the ball over the net, had already started moving back to attempt the receive when he heard a voice coming from his side.
"ROLLING THUNDER!" shouted Nishinoya, who rushed onto the court, diving toward the ball and hitting it with his hand while colliding with Hinata, who instantly fell to the ground along with Nishinoya.
"ARE YOU GUYS OKAY?" asked Sugawara as he approached.
"I'M FINE, AND I STILL MANAGED THE RECEIVE!" said Nishinoya proudly and triumphantly as he got up.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!? WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" asked Hinata, slightly dazed.
"I couldn't help myself!" Nishinoya replied, laughing.
"MY GOD! IF YOU HURT OUR BEST PLAYER, WE'RE SCREWED!" shouted Daichi as he approached.
"Sorry... sorry, but there's no need for all the fuss, Daichi-san. He's fine!" Nishinoya defended himself.
"Wait... where's your shoe?" observed Asahi, looking at Hinata's right foot, which was only wearing a sock, with no shoe in sight.
"No way..." said Hinata, shocked, as he looked toward the ball cart, where his shoe was impaled and punctured on the slightly pointed metal edge.
"THERE GOES YOUR SHOE!" said Tanaka, laughing along with other members of Karasuno, who were trying to hold back their laughter.
"Darn it! I'll have to buy a new one... Well, it's not like that one wasn't already old!" said Hinata, slightly annoyed.
"Well, since practice is almost over... I think it'd be best if you went to take care of that. Nishinoya, you go with him!" ordered Daichi.
After Takeda found a shoe for Hinata to wear so he could move around, the two boys headed to the nearest sports shoe store to buy a new pair.
"Lucky I saved some money just for situations like this," thought Hinata as he entered the store, which had a variety of shoes from different brands.
"Can I help you?" asked a man who looked a bit older, with some white streaks in his short hair.
"I need some size 29 volleyball shoes," requested Hinata as he looked at the clerk.
"That's a pretty big size... but you seem tall, so it makes sense. I'll grab yours and the other customer's!" said the older man politely.
"Oh, are you also buying volleyball shoes?" said Nishinoya as he walked away from Hinata and headed toward someone sitting on another bench in the store.
"Hey! Don't go bothering others... Wait..." said Hinata, turning around and heading toward the two to listen to the conversation. As he got closer, he recognized the figure of someone familiar.
"SO, YOU'RE A LIBERO!?... HEY, DID YOU HEAR THAT, HINATA?" said Nishinoya excitedly.
"It's the college guy who played against Shiratorizawa!" said Hinata, surprised to run into Heiwajima again.
"I remember you too, that first-year who jumps really high!" commented Heiwajima with a playful smile.
"Nishinoya-san, he's the college libero I told you about, the one who's really skilled..." Hinata explained.
"Amazing! And you're not even as short as me!" commented Nishinoya.
"Well, I'm still the shortest on my team, but like most liberos... I'd be a libero regardless of my height!" said Heiwajima with confidence.
"So, I imagine you must be practicing with some other high school team to be around here, right?" asked Hinata.
"Yeah! We came to train a bit with a school called Aoba Johsai," he said, scratching his beard.
"Hey! Could you give me some tips on how to become a better libero?" asked Nishinoya, unable to hold back and asking outright.
"I'm not that great, kid, but I can help, especially since I enjoyed playing with your friend!" agreed Heiwajima.
After buying the shoes, they headed back to Karasuno, now accompanied by Heiwajima, who surprised all the members of Karasuno, who luckily hadn't left yet.
"Wow! Not even Hinata could score a serve against him!" said Kinoshita as he watched the Karasuno players taking turns serving at Heiwajima, who stopped every one with ease while Nishinoya watched intently.
"It seems he agreed to help because he liked Hinata..." said Takeda with a smile on his face.
"He's just a college student, but there's no denying he's at a professional level... Maybe we should ask for a practice match... If they agreed to play Seijoh, why not us?" suggested Ukai.
"Leave it to me!" said Takeda, who got Heiwajima's contact after the interaction between him and Karasuno, during which he even gave Nishinoya some personal tips and some general receiving advice for the team.