After Akashi Kana's fierce behavior, Akashi Asuka finally experienced firsthand what it means when people say, "There's no gender difference between real siblings."
Akashi Asuka's parents, perhaps knowing that the whole family would be together, surprisingly didn't have to work overtime, a rare occurrence.
"My proud son! Come see what your dad bought for you!"
Just as Akashi Asuka and Akashi Kana were preparing dinner, a very "flashy" voice came from the entrance. Hearing it, Asuka froze for a moment, then sighed inwardly.
What kind of ridiculous nonsense is this?
Walking to the entrance, Asuka saw a middle-aged man smiling widely, carrying a watermelon while changing his slippers.
"Huh? A watermelon? Dad, is there something special going on at home today?"
Kana also walked over, and when she saw the watermelon in their father Akashi Hisanobu's hands, she looked pleasantly surprised.
Because of the island nation's geography and environment, fruit production is very limited, and most fruits have to be imported, making them quite expensive.
Especially watermelons, they're almost considered a luxury fruit.
Summer had already been going on for quite a while since Asuka's reincarnation, but he had never once eaten watermelon.
Hisanobu laughed heartily, clearly in a good mood, about to say something, when the front door opened again. Then a woman in professional white-collar attire walked in, carrying another watermelon.
It was Hisanobu's wife, Akashi Kyoko, Asuka and Kana's mother.
"Asuka, come quick, look what Mom bought for you, "
Kyoko stopped mid-sentence when she noticed the watermelon in Hisanobu's hand. Their eyes met, and the atmosphere instantly grew tense and silent.
"Here, Asuka, you've been working hard at club activities lately. Eat more beef to build yourself up."
"Asuka, this watermelon is from Dad, eat more of it."
At the dinner table, Kyoko and Hisanobu kept piling food and fruit onto Asuka's plate, smiling nonstop, while Kana sat silently off to the side like an outsider.
Even though there were four family members, she might as well have been invisible.
Finally, Kana couldn't take it anymore.
"Dad, I want some watermelon too." she said, looking at Hisanobu, trying to be sweet.
"Oh? If you want some, just get it yourself. You're not a kid anymore, do you want me to feed you?" Hisanobu said without turning his head.
"Don't mind her. With such poor final results, she still has the nerve to eat? Can't she learn from Asuka and improve her grades? Maybe come back ranked second in the grade?" Kyoko rolled her eyes.
"Alright, stop it." Hisanobu said, patting Kyoko's hand reassuringly. "Maybe she's just not gifted in academics? I heard from her teachers that Kana's been doing well in her club activities. Didn't she recently participate in a competition and get a pretty good ranking?"
Hearing this, Kana's eyes filled with tears.
Dad really does love me.
Just as Kana was debating whether to give her dad a loving hug, Kyoko shot Hisanobu a sharp look.
"Are you kidding? Their club didn't even make the top eight. But Asuka, as the school volleyball team's main player, already tied the club's historical record last time and is about to lead the team to a national championship..."
Hisanobu's tone immediately faltered. He glanced at his tearful daughter and sighed, speechless.
Kana felt like she'd been struck by lightning.
At this moment, she began doubting reality, how could just two months away from home make her family feel so unfamiliar?
Especially her brother, in her memory, this younger brother was only good-looking and had no other strengths.
Leading the club to challenge the nation?
Has she lost her memory?
Meanwhile, Akashi Asuka, surrounded again by Hisanobu and Kyoko, felt a bit helpless.
Seeing their expressions, he knew they must have found out about his performance at school, probably during the training camp, otherwise, why would they only be acting this way now?
To be honest, Asuka thought he should feel happy, but instead, he felt a bit awkward.
After all, while the accomplishments were his own, Hisanobu and Kyoko were really praising the original Asuka, leaving him caught in the middle, unsure whether to step up or down.
Fortunately, dinner ended quickly.
As usual, Asuka got up early for morning training.
Just after finishing his warm-up, a system notification sounded in his mind, instantly boosting his spirits.
[Congratulations, host! For secretly training, long-distance running, during the precious summer vacation, you exceeded your teammates' training volume by twice and completed a minor internal competition.]
[Gained Stamina · 'Involution Value' +0.1.]
It's back, it's back.
Indeed, vacation is the best time for "involution."
Even those sneaky teammates who train secretly wouldn't push themselves hard during summer break.
Open the scroll, open the scroll!
In his sleep, Nishimori Tomohiko suddenly sneezed, rubbing his nose drowsily before drifting back to sleep.
With one month left in summer vacation, Asuka's training plan remained the same: strengthening his strengths while simultaneously addressing weaknesses.
With his "cheats." he could easily do both.
Besides that, Asuka planned to start learning advanced skills, focusing mainly on advanced spiking and serving techniques.
Since advanced training requires real gameplay, Asuka was already prepared for that.
After finishing basic training in the morning, Asuka relaxed by reading for a while in the afternoon.
At dusk, he grabbed a volleyball and headed to the nearest comprehensive gymnasium.
Once there, Asuka sat down in the rest area, volleyball in hand.
Volleyball wasn't especially popular, at least compared to volleyball in this island nation, so even though the gym had quite a few people, it was common to be short on players for games.
After only a few minutes, Asuka heard someone call from a volleyball court, "Hey, you over there! Want to play volleyball?"
Asuka looked up and grinned, "Sure!"
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