The routine of the Karasuno players continued the same since they returned to Kanto, with almost daily training sessions varying between fundamental drills like serves, spikes, and receives, to 5v5 practice matches, usually ending with free 4v4 matches between Hinata and Tsukishima.
"Are you excited to play against the college players?" Hinata asked Kageyama, who was warming up with a focused expression.
"Yes, I remember their setter was skilled and made good tosses for that guy," Kageyama observed.
"For Tsuetate, he's in his last year of college and has played for professional volleyball teams... Actually, he's not much younger than Akaizawa. It's gonna be tough, right, Tsukishima?" Hinata commented.
"If he's as good as you say, I don't expect to block him directly," Tsukishima admitted, sitting on the floor.
"Right! They're here!" Daichi said, appearing at the gym entrance. Shortly after, the figures of older men entered the gym imposingly.
"Waji-san! Let's have a good match!" Nishinoya said energetically, approaching Heiwajima, who was now a reference for him.
"Absolutely!" Heiwajima agreed.
"Thank you for accepting our invitation, sir!" Takeda said, approaching a man in a sports jacket who seemed to be the team's coach.
"No problem, we always play friendlies against strong high school teams!" the man replied.
"Alright, as I always say—but I'll repeat—this is just a friendly, and you're not obligated to win against much older players, but try to give your all and use everything you've learned or are developing," Ukai said.
"YES!" everyone shouted in unison.
"Tsuetate said it was you, the talented kid who replaced me in one of our friendlies a while back," said a guy on the other side of the net with long hair similar to Asahi's.
"Yeah, Itsuki, we have to be careful with this kid, he's good!" Tsuetate warned.
"You overestimate me, but I hope I can score some points!" Hinata said, smiling.
The match started with the setter Onigashira preparing to serve.
"Is that kid staring at me?" Onigashira thought, confused, as he got ready to serve and noticed Kageyama's intense gaze. Then, he began the game by serving toward Karasuno's court.
"MINE!" Daichi said, moving to receive the ball and directing the pass to Kageyama, who positioned himself under it, watching as all of Karasuno's players moved in sync, already starting the match with a synchronized attack.
"A synchronized attack?" Tsuetate thought, standing at the net preparing to block.
"Tanaka-san!" Kageyama said, setting the ball to Tanaka.
"Here we go!" Tanaka shouted, running and jumping—only to face a triple block from Hiromi University.
"No way!" Tanaka realized, hitting the fingertips of the middle blocker Sakuragi, sending the ball back to Karasuno's side.
"My God! How are we supposed to beat them? They're so tall!" Yachi said, impressed.
"These college players really are tall," Takeda observed, looking at the two middle blockers and the wing spikers Tsuetate and Itsuki—none of them seemed shorter than 1.87m.
"ONE MORE!" Hinata yelled, barely waiting for the ball to return to Karasuno's side and into Kageyama's hands, already preparing to run.
"It's yours, Kageyama!" Nishinoya said, receiving the ball and passing to Kageyama, who was fully aware of Hinata's plan. In the blink of an eye, he set the ball to Hinata for a lightning-fast attack that completely caught Hiromi University off guard—they had barely left the ground.
1-0 Karasuno.
"There's no way to defend that attack the first time you see it!" Ukai said, smiling as he watched the confused expressions of Hiromi's players and their coach.
"Damn! They've got quite the attack! I couldn't react in time!" Heiwajima laughed.
"Yeah! We've gotta return the favor..." Tsuetate said, grinning.
After Karasuno's point with the super-quick attack, it was Tanaka's turn to serve toward Hiromi's court.
"I've got this!" said wing spiker Hoshino, receiving the ball smoothly and directing the pass to Onigashira, who prepared to set—still under Kageyama's intense stare.
"Tsuetate-san!" Onigashira said, setting the ball to Tsuetate, who jumped for the spike.
"I need to read this!" Tsukishima thought, watching Hiromi's attack.
"Now!" Tsukishima said, jumping alongside Kageyama and Hinata at the perfect moment to block Tsuetate, who, upon jumping, smashed the ball violently into Tsukishima's hands with enough force to send it flying out of bounds.
1-1 Tied.
"As expected from a pro player! His spike is even more powerful than Akaizawa's—which is worse because he doesn't seem as technically limited or unbalanced as Akaizawa," Hinata noted, impressed.
"Damn old guys with their physical advantage!" Tsukishima complained.
After Hiromi's point, it was Tsuetate's turn to serve. After bouncing the ball a few times, he delivered a powerful serve that flew toward Karasuno's court.
"MINE!" Nishinoya shouted, positioning himself in front of the serve—but the impact sent him falling backward. Still, he managed to receive it.
"NICE RECEIVE!" Kageyama said, moving under the ball as it landed slightly to the right. After a quick glance, he jumped and sent the ball diagonally across the court to Hinata in position four, who once again used the combo attack with Kageyama to beat the late block, spiking the ball to the opponent's floor.
"It won't just be my kouhai shining!" Heiwajima said, moving laterally across the defensive zone and reacting just in time to Hinata's spike, diving to make a difficult receive and directing the pass to Onigashira.
"Oh no! He got that?!" Sugawara commented from the bench.
"That guy's a demon!" Kinoshita added.
"Tsuetate-san!" Onigashira said, setting the ball again to Tsuetate, who jumped for another spike.
"Another cross shot?" Tsukishima thought, jumping to block—but this time, he saw Tsuetate fake and lightly tap the ball over the block, sending it toward Karasuno's floor where Nishinoya dove but couldn't reach it.
2-1 Hiromi.