Golden Week, the last short holiday before the national high school sports league preliminaries. During this crucial period, almost every school's sports club holds intensive training camps to prepare for the upcoming competition.

Karasuno was no exception.

Aoba Johsai wasn't either.

However, at this critical moment, one person from Aoba Johsai who would never normally take a day off actually did.

Yes.

It was him. It had to be him.

Our training maniac, Akashi Asuka.

There was no other choice.

Akashi Asuka didn't want to skip training at a time like this, but today just happened to be the release day for his new book.

Since signing the contract, after nearly a month of preparation, Asuka's book had finally been printed and was now on sale at major bookstores.

Physical book sales, much like web novel subscriptions in his previous life, are the very measure of a book's success or failure.

So it wasn't unreasonable for Asuka to take a day off for this.

And what was Asuka doing during the break?

Actually, he barely did anything. Most of the work was done by his beautiful editor, Kika Wakayama.

The two of them spent the entire day going back and forth among bookstores throughout the Aoba district.

Mostly, Kika was discreetly watching reader reactions, being a recent college graduate, she was full of energy and enthusiasm.

The next day, Asuka returned to Aoba Johsai's training dormitory.

No sooner had he arrived than a group of teammates surrounded him, asking where he had been yesterday.

Asuka honestly explained he was out with his editor, checking on the sales of his newly published novel.

The result?

Not a single person believed him.

Well, it seems nowadays everyone likes to lie a little.

Truth just isn't something many people are willing to accept!

Unlike Karasuno, Aoba Johsai's Golden Week training wasn't focused on playing matches. They already had plenty of game experience.

Instead, the main goal was to speed up the chemistry between the first-year newcomers and the third-year players.

During their previous match against Kitagawa, Aoba Johsai had made quite a few mistakes.

The main reason? Not enough time had been spent working together between the new first-years and the seniors, so the team hadn't fully gelled to show their true strength.

There was, however, one exception.

No surprises here.

It was again Akashi Asuka.

Their regular training didn't change much, but during the camp, after everyone else finished, coach Nobuteru Irie arranged daily 2v2 matches between Akashi Asuka and Hajime Iwaizumi.

Their teammates rotated frequently, but these two never swapped their positions as ace spikers.

This arrangement didn't go unnoticed by the sharper players.

Yet nobody said a word.

Not even Iwaizumi himself.

This rivalry continued until the last day of Golden Week.

Before that day's match, Irie specifically called Iwaizumi aside.

"Iwaizumi, you understand, right? This match might be your last chance."

Iwaizumi's expression was calm as he nodded.

"Yeah, I get it."

Then he turned and stepped onto the court.

Toru Oikawa naturally followed behind, apparently intending to be Iwaizumi's partner that match, until Irie stopped him.

"Oikawa, sit this one out. You won't get a chance to play today."

Oikawa was stunned.

He started to protest, but Irie ignored him and turned to shout at Hideyoshi Yagami.

"Yagami, you're partnering with Iwaizumi today."

"Yes, coach!"

Yagami, who had just been drinking water, was caught off guard but quickly recovered and ran onto the court.

Unnoticed, all of Aoba Johsai's main players gathered around to watch.

After days of matches between the two, everyone had begun to understand the coach's plan.

Still, no one spoke up, though Oikawa did try a few sneaky moves here and there, he never openly challenged Irie's decision.

Because emotionally, the senior players wanted Iwaizumi to remain their ace.

But they also knew that to advance further, changes had to be made.

And after seeing the recent duels, the gap between Akashi Asuka and Iwaizumi was clearer than ever.

Asuka stepped up to serve, gently flexing his wrist, and said calmly, "I won't go easy on you, Iwaizumi-senpai."

Iwaizumi met his gaze with steady eyes.

"Then let me see if you really have what it takes to lead this team forward."

"Alright, the match is officially starting."

"The pairings: Iwaizumi and Yagami versus Akashi and Sanashita. Akashi's team will serve first."

Beep!

The referee's whistle sounded as Akashi stepped behind the baseline, ball in hand.

The gym fell silent.

But inside, Akashi's mind was even calmer.

To be honest,

Akashi knew his strength meant he would eventually become the team's ace.

Still, he hadn't expected that day to come so soon.

But now that the chance was here, he had no reason to hold back.

In this country's near-extreme club system, overturning the established order was incredibly difficult.

Though Aoba Johsai wasn't as strict as most, if Akashi wanted everyone to accept him as the new ace, he had to prove it with absolute skill, by defeating Iwaizumi.

"Haah..."

"Sorry, Iwaizumi-senpai. This is one thing I will never back down from."

Suddenly, Sanashita, standing ahead, felt a flicker of unease.

He glanced back at Akashi, and their eyes locked, dark and still as deep water.

Sanashita's eyelid twitched.

"This feeling... no way, is he about to get in the zone now?"

A bad premonition crept over him.

He barely suppressed a twitch in the corner of his mouth and quickly ducked away from the court.

"Hmm?"

Iwaizumi and Yagami watched Sanashita's sudden move in confusion.

They were used to covering their heads and stepping aside when Akashi served, but Sanashita's reaction today was over the top.

It was just a two-person match, and he was nearly backing off the court!

Both men exchanged puzzled looks.

Then, in the next instant, a ball slammed down on the floor behind them, and the sound of a spike immediately followed.

Their eyes widened sharply.

==========

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