When he woke up, he was in the world of volleyball. High schooler Kota Kurose suddenly finds himself transported into the world of 'Haikyuu'. Unknown ceiling, unknown bed, and in front of him stands a giant of a man.
"You're going to be our temporary manager starting today."
He was told this at Shiratorizawa Academy. The strongest volleyball team, feared as the absolute champions. While searching for a way home, Kota ends up working as a makeshift manager. He has zero volleyball experience. Bu
Black Wings and the White Net - Court of Light, Remnants of Shadow
At 5:40 AM. On the desk in the analysis room sat a laptop and a bundle of documents in an envelope.
Outside the window, a pale blue still spread across the sky. The school building was quiet, and only the low hum of the air conditioning echoed through the room.
Kouta sat shallowly in the chair, repeatedly opening and closing the envelope's flap. Inside was everything they had gathered over the past three weeks—all the evidence.
Transcripts of audio data extracted from the bug. Conversations in which Seo Hayato promised to hand money to referees. Photos taken after removing the water cooler filter, showing white powder residue. A list of contradictions cross-referencing Seo's background with his actual behavioral records. And frame-by-frame printouts of the match where Ushijima Wakatoshi collapsed, marked with red lines—a sequence of decisive frames showing that tackle had been a deliberate play aimed at the knee.
(*Will this... reach him?*)
Kouta noticed their fingertips were trembling. They hadn't slept. Not properly, not since the day before yesterday. The backs of their eyes ached, and the core of their head felt heavy and dull.
(*What if the coach doesn't believe me?*)
Their chest tightened, hard. Even so, they couldn't stop here. Ushijima had been crushed, Ohira had been broken, and laxatives had been mixed into the team's meals. Both the ace and the captain were down. And yet, tomorrow was the prefectural qualifier.
(*This is my last hope.*)
Kouta clutched the envelope to their chest and stood up.
Tendou was waiting in front of the analysis room door.
He leaned his long legs against the wall, his narrow eyes slightly open. His shoe made a small *tap* against the dry floor. Tendou Satori tilted his head just a little and looked at Kouta's face.
"Your eyes are completely red. You haven't slept, have you?"
"...Yeah, well."
Kouta tried to smile, but couldn't quite manage it.
Tendou slowly fell into step beside Kouta. The morning air was cold. Pale light slanted through the hallway windows. Their two shadows stretched long across the floor.
"Let's go. The coach said he'd make time before morning practice. Second floor of the gymnasium—the coach's office."
Kouta nodded. Their voice wouldn't come out properly.
The walk to the first gymnasium felt impossibly long.
Every time their own footsteps echoed down the hallway, their heart jumped in a strange rhythm. Until a few days ago, they had just been an ordinary high school student. A plain sixteen-year-old passing empty days in the corner of a classroom, with no friends. Volleyball had only ever existed on the other side of a TV screen.
And now, here they were, fighting some shadowy organization to protect the members of Shiratorizawa.
(*Am I really... doing the right thing?*)
Walking half a step behind Tendou, Kouta asked themselves the same question over and over.
In front of the coach's office, Tendou knocked lightly on the door.
"Excuse uuus."
Tendou called out in his usual tone. A low voice answered from inside.
"Enter."
Tendou opened the door. Kouta took one deep breath.
The coach's office was smaller than expected. One entire wall was covered with photos of past matches and records of past achievements. A large wooden desk sat in the center. A man with neatly combed, gray-flecked short hair sat quietly alone. The Shiratorizawa volleyball coach. The man who had led the prefecture's undisputed champions. His eyes were calm, yet held a strong light deep within.
"I've heard the situation. Sit."
The coach gestured to the chairs in front of him.
Kouta and Tendou sat down side by side.
On Kouta's lap, the envelope made the faintest sound.
"Coach. There's something I absolutely need you to see today."
Kouta realized their voice was hoarser than they'd expected.
"...This is evidence of a plan to deliberately destroy the Shiratorizawa volleyball team. Ushijima-senpai's injury, Ohira-senpai's injury—neither was an accident. All of it was orchestrated."
Kouta pulled the documents from the envelope and laid them out in front of the coach.
The audio transcripts. The water cooler photos. The contradictions in Seo's background. The frame-by-frame match footage. All of it, one sheet at a time, carefully.
The coach, arms still crossed, silently began to look through the materials.
The room fell utterly silent.
The ticking of the clock. The photos on the wall. The weight of the air.
Kouta clenched their fingers on their knees. Their palms were damp with sweat. Their breathing grew shallow. All they could do was follow the movement of the coach's fingertips as he turned the pages.
(*Please. Believe me.*)
(*If this doesn't reach him, there's nothing left.*)
Beside them, Tendou said nothing. He just lightly swung his crossed leg. That silence, strangely, was a comfort to Kouta.
The coach stared at the last sheet—the frame-by-frame photos of the match footage.
A long, long silence.
Finally, the coach raised his head.
His eyes looked straight at Kouta.
"...You investigated all of this alone?"
Kouta felt their breath stop for a moment.
"Not alone. Tendou-senpai was with me the whole time."
"I see."
The coach nodded quietly.
"I believe what you're telling me."
His voice was low and brief.
But to Kouta's ears, those few words rang heavier than anything—like salvation.
(*Ah.*)
(*It got through.*)
Kouta's vision blurred with tears. They'd sworn not to cry, but the bridge of their nose stung sharply, and they couldn't breathe properly.
"You brought this to me on the eve of the prefectural qualifier. There isn't much time, but I'll do what can be done."
With that, the coach began gathering the documents.
"I'll contact the school and the association myself. You two proceed as planned today. Understood?"
"...Yes."
Kouta bowed deeply, deeply.
Beside them, Tendou also bowed, unusually quiet.
When they stepped out of the coach's office, the air in the hallway felt a little softer.
Tendou clapped Kouta on the shoulder.
"You did it, Kou-chan. The coach said it himself—he believes you. Your words really reached him."
Kouta smiled weakly.
"...It's not over yet. It's only just beginning."
"I know. But isn't it okay to be a little happy, just for a bit?"
Tendou's tone had returned to its usual lightness.
Kouta readjusted the envelope of documents against their chest.
"...I'm going to send the same evidence to the volleyball association anonymously. If the coach contacts the school and the association, they can move on their end too."
"Smart. Information gets buried if it only flows through one channel. Having insurance is the right call."
Tendou pointed a long finger toward the ceiling and laughed airily.
"But save that for the afternoon. Eat breakfast now, and get a little sleep. You're going to collapse."
"...Yeah."
Kouta decided to follow Tendou's advice.
Afternoon.
Sendai City Gymnasium.
The venue was busy with staff preparing for the prefectural qualifier. Large banners. Court lines. Rows of chairs. Everything being arranged for tomorrow's matches.
Kouta and Tendou stood on the second-floor spectator seating, a little apart from the crowd.
"...He'll come. Probably."
Tendou murmured quietly.
Kouta felt their heart turn cold.
Before long, a man appeared at the venue entrance.
Seo Hayato.
His dark brown hair was slicked back, and he walked with a straight spine. A small earpiece in his left ear. Over a black suit, he wore a jacket with a fitness trainer's name tag. The appearance of a trainer who had come to inspect the venue ahead of tomorrow's tournament operations.
Kouta watched him from above, feeling their own heartbeat quicken.
(*This is where it starts.*)
(*From here, I'll turn everything upside down.*)
Seo exchanged a few words with staff at reception. Then he proceeded deeper into the gymnasium.
But—
"Seo Hayato, I presume?"
Suddenly, two men in suits stood blocking Seo's path.
The air in the venue went taut in an instant.
"The association has some questions for you. Would you come with us?"
The other man continued in a low voice.
Seo stopped walking.
A thin smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.
"...Oh? What might this be about? I'm only here to prepare for tomorrow's tournament."
"We have questions regarding the exchange of money and goods with referees, and instructions to deliberately injure players."
A crowd began to gather around Seo.
Staff who had stopped working glanced over, watching the scene unfold.
Emotionless, lightless gray eyes slowly swept over the two men in suits.
"...I see. How elaborate. But surely you're joking? Do you have evidence?"
"Surveillance footage matches multiple reports. Details will be discussed once you come with us."
The man's voice left no room for argument.
Seo stared at the two men's faces for a long moment.
Then, slowly, he smiled.
A soundless, thin smile that lifted only the corners of his lips.
"...Well, this is a predicament. It seems someone young has been quite... diligent."
Seo's eyes slid smoothly toward the second-floor spectator seating.
His gaze met Kouta's.
There was no mistaking it—their eyes locked.
Kouta's heart nearly stopped, as if seized by ice.
Seo stared at Kouta. Fixedly.
That thin smile still on his face.
"This isn't over."
Those words were unmistakably directed at Kouta.
"We're taking you in."
The man in the suit took Seo by the arm.
Seo walked, unresisting.
Smiling, to the very end.
For a long while, Kouta couldn't move from that spot.
Cold sweat ran down their back. A chill spread slowly from the back of their neck down to their waist.
(*This isn't over.*)
(*That man is still planning something.*)
"Kou-chan."
Tendou's voice came from right beside them.
"You won. This round—you won completely. Hold your head high."
Tendou pulled Kouta's shoulder close, squeezing tightly.
His long fingers were warm against Kouta's trembling shoulder.
"...I saw his eyes, and my legs went weak."
Kouta admitted honestly.
"That's what real malice looks like. You faced it head-on, in a world you'd never known before, and you were afraid—and you still won. That's incredible. It's almost too interesting."
Tendou laughed, his voice hushed.
"Come on. Don't look back. Let's go."
Still holding Kouta's shoulder, Tendou headed toward the spectator exit.
Kouta's legs were still shaking.
But they walked.
3:00 PM.
Kouta and Tendou visited a large hospital in Sendai.
Disinfectant, ammonia, and the stale air of early afternoon.
The hospital corridor was cool. Fluorescent lights on the ceiling cast shadows at even intervals. A nurse hurried past the two of them.
Ushijima was in a private room.
Tendou opened the door without a moment's hesitation.
"Wakatoshi-kun, we're here to visit you~. Kou-chan and me, together."
Tendou's bright voice echoed, a little too deliberately.
The room was quiet.
A white bed near the window.
Ushijima Wakatoshi sat upright in it.
His left knee was firmly immobilized with a brace. His short black hair was slightly more disheveled than usual, and his massive frame in hospital sleepwear made the bed look small. Only those dark eyes, carrying a powerful will, fixed directly on the two of them.
"...You came."
Ushijima's voice was as low and brief as ever.
But there was no surprise on his face.
Kouta tensed up at the door.
(*This is Ushijima Wakatoshi, after surgery.*)
(*Because of me, he's here.*)
"How are you feeling? The knee hurts, right?"
Tendou plopped down on the round stool at the foot of the bed.
"It would be a lie to say it doesn't hurt."
Ushijima said flatly.
"I bet. Don't push yourself. A lot happened today, just for this."
Tendou turned his narrow eyes toward Ushijima.
"...What do you mean, 'a lot'?"
Ushijima's gaze shifted slightly.
Kouta held their breath.
"That man—the one who crushed you, Wakatoshi-kun—he was caught. Taken in at the tournament venue today. Just a little
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