Chapter Text
In theory, it should have been years since Kageyama last set up for club. But, with the way things went at Kitagawa Daiichi, Kageyama found himself setting up and taking down the equipment by himself more than he’d like to admit, even as a third year. Especially as a third year. Arriving early in the morning and leaving late at night so he could practice without the judgemental gaze of his peers when he messed up learning new things. Mostly working on his serve. It would be nice if someone stayed to spike his sets, but even after an awkward, pathetic apology, it was obvious they could never be any kind of team again.
That’s part of why Kageyama’s here at Karasuno, setting up the net in the second gym alone straight after classes. It’s the first years’ job to set up for the club anyway. He failed to get into Shiratorizawa on his volleyball or academics - the entrance exam was just nonsense, he could barely understand the questions, let alone get the answers - and there’s not a chance in Hell that he’d go to Aoba Johsai and face the team that rejected him.
And Oikawa. If he wants to surpass Oikawa, he has to beat him on court. He has to be somewhere else.
Not to mention the Miya twins are in Miyagi somewhere. After completely vanishing for a year and then a year of obscurity in Miyagi, there’s not enough information on where they’ve gone. Kageyama had cursed himself daily when trying to decide where to go for high school other than Shiratorizawa and Aoba Johsai. He’d met the Miya twins at the Inter-Middle - he’d seen Miya Atsumu, a nationally recognised setter, the only setter to be acknowledged as competition for Iizuna Tsukasa - and he’d been so distracted by that frustrating redhead kid with the jump and then the harsh telling off the twins have given him that he hadn’t been able to remember which school they went to!
Even if he did remember which school name was on the back of their jackets, he’s not sure if he wants to go to the same school as them or not. Much as Kageyama would love to learn from them, they didn’t seem to like him from the start. And to prove himself more than Atsumu, he needs to face him on court too.
‘I hope ya learn to set before we meet again, Tobio-kun,’ one of the twins had said as they left him standing there alone. It haunts his dreams. It echoed around his mind during his practices. He doesn’t understand. He doesn’t understand at all! He’s a great setter. His sets are perfect, they go exactly where he wants at the speed he wants and he can set from messy passes anywhere on the court. Why would the twins think he couldn’t set?!
Kageyama fastens the pads around the net’s posts and turns to the equipment room for the ball bin. Karasuno is a risk. Coach Ukai is rumoured to be coming back. They’re considered a top eight school in the prefecture, but are consistently referred to as fallen champions and known more for their supposedly sexy manager than their playing. Their recent top four finish is rumoured to be luck, especially following their abysmal performance in a local tournament in March. Consistency is not their strong point. But, they’d also got a few prefectural awards at the last Spring Tournament. Kageyama really doesn’t know if this is going to work but with him on their side, shouldn’t Karasuno be able to overcome anything in their path now?
If they can even accept him. His last team couldn’t, after all.
Kageyama quickly shakes off that thought, focusing on the ball in his hands. He has to focus. He can still focus on his serving. Even if no one will let him set for them, he’s been working hard on his serve. He’s pretty good for someone just coming up into high school. He just has to prove himself.
His serve slams down out of bounds and Kageyama clicks his tongue. He’s not got it down yet. It’s frustrating, but he remembers watching Oikawa struggling with his serve too. He remembers the coaches telling Oikawa it wasn’t a problem, to focus on power and confidence before trying to control it. He steps under the net and picks up the ball to try again. Even if he has to wait to be starting setter, he might at least be able to get some court time as a server. Powerful jump serves are pretty rare at prefectural level outside of powerhouse schools, after all.
He slams down another serve. This one is in. That’s an improvement.
There are voices outside, coming closer as Kageyama retrieves the ball once more. He briefly wonders if the club will mind him practicing before they arrive. It shouldn’t be a problem, right? He set everything up before practicing.
“Who’d have thought Kitagawa’s setter would choose us?”
“I bet he’s gonna be all snotty though.”
“You would say that. You never like anyone when you first meet them.”
“We had to basically pull the two of you apart every day at the start.”
“He started it,” two voices reply.
“You know, all the new applicants this year are Mornings.”
“We are?”
“No fraternising between them, at least.”
“Just between everyone else fawning over our city boys.”
Their voices are just outside the door and Kageyama frowns, stepping back from the net. If they’re talking about the applications, they’re probably third years. And there’s a first year with them?
The gym doors open and Kageyama’s jaw drops. Behind three generic club members are the Miya twins. The Miya twins are here. At Karasuno. He’s at the same school as Miya Atsumu. And the Miya’s blink at him, tilting their heads in unison.
“Huuuuh?” a bald student steps forward. “Who said you-”
“Enough, Takana,” another says pleasantly, pulling him back. “You’re Kageyama?”
“Yes,” Kageyama says stiffly.
“And, I think you’ve already met Hinata,” he chuckles.
Kageyama frowns only for a flash of orange to step out from behind the taller team members. His eyes widen. The kid from the first round last year. With the incredible jump and reflexes and athletic ability that was totally wasting them by dragging his feet and playing with a team who clearly didn’t practice at all! And he’s draped in a Karasuno warm up jacket around his shoulders.
“What are you doing here?!” he snaps. Kageyama scowls down at him. Why’s he being so aggressive? He hasn’t actually done anything to him but beat him. “I know you probably don’t remember me-”
“I remember you,” Kageyama says. the redhead straightens up, the jacket on his shoulders fluttering around him. It’s incredibly oversized. “I don’t know your name though.”
“Hinata,” he says. “Hinata Shouyou!”
Kageyama nods thoughtfully. “You were a klutzy piece of shit.”
The twins make an awful sound. He turns to them. One has doubled over, entirely vanishing behind the others, laughing madly. The other has his hand over his mouth, shoulders shaking. Hinata turns.
“You guys!” he cries. “Why are you laughing?! You’re supposed to be on my side!”
“Sorry, Shouyou-kun,” the one standing chuckles.
“Ya really did suck though, Shouyou-kun,” the other laughs.
“Guys?!” Hinata cries.
“Twins,” the silver haired member snaps. They straighten up and fall silent. Kageyama remembers him taming the twins at the Inter-Middle too. “Try to be a little more encouraging to first years, will you?”
“Sorry, Kou-senpai,” they mutter.
The silver haired senpai smiles and nods. And then Kageyama realises one of the twins isn’t wearing his jacket. He glances between Hinata and the twin. That’s why the jacket is so oversized and why a first year has a club jacket.
“Why are you here anyway?” Hinata snaps, turning back to Kageyama. “I can’t beat you if you’re on the same team as me. Shouldn’t you be at some team with super strong players-”
“Rude, Shouyou-kun,” one of the twins mutters.
“You just laughed at me!” he cries before turning back to Kageyama. “Why aren’t you at some powerhouse school?”
“Karasuno is a perfectly good school,” Kageyama grumbles.
The twins and smirking and Kageyama’s fists clench. It wasn’t just telling him he couldn’t set that made him work harder after the Inter-Middle. The twins telling him Shiratorizawa would never accept him made his blood boil. They had no reason to refuse him. He was a great setter. He’s sure he could have adjusted to Shiratorizawa with some coaching. He doesn’t get it at all! And that the twins could see it after watching one game and were right is even more infuriating!
“We are,” the one seemingly in charge says. “We had a top four finish last year. We’re on the rise again.”
“Top four?!” Hinata cries, turning to them.
“Didn’tcha watch our games, Shouyou-kun?” one of the twins sighs.
“No,” he says with an innocent smile. “I always knew I wanted to come to Karasuno, so it’s not like it would change my mind however you performed.”
“Even Sakusa came to watch us,” the twin huffs.
Kageyama blinks. Sakusa? Sakusa Kiyoomi? Was in Miyagi watching Karasuno play?
“He was watchin’ Ushiwaka,” the other says.
“Who we were playing,” he snaps. “And Sunarin was definitely watching us. He came all this way for ya.”
“Yer jealous ‘cause Sakusa wasn’t actually watchin’ ya, huh?”
“Ya fuckin-”
“Twins,” the silver haired boy sighs. “Let’s not freak out the first years on their first day.”
Hinata is just grinning along like the twins arguing doesn’t faze him at all. “I was busy practicing all the stuff you told me to do. I’ve been practicing really hard! I’m going to be Karasuno’s ace!”
“You’re just gonna burst in here and declare yourself the ace, huh?” the bald one laughs.
“Well, it’s good to be ambitious,” the silver haired boy laughs.
“I- I’ll do my best!”
“I hope whatever advice they gave you, you’ve taken it seriously,” Kageyama says. Hinata turns, eyes narrowed. “If you spend another three years goofing around, it’ll be another three years wasted.”
“What was that?” Hinata growls.
“If they fight, my money’s on the tiny scrappy one,” a twin stage whispers.
“Really?” baldy says.
“Has Noya-san taughtcha nothin’, Ryuu?” the other says.
“Always bet on the scrappy lil one.”
“Oooh,” Ryuu says. “You’re right.”
“You guys,” the silver haired boy sighs.
“I challenge you!” Hinata declares.
“You guys are no better,” he groans.
There’s too many conversations going on at once for Kageyama, so he focuses in on Hinata, which seems the most pressing issue. “Challenge me to what?”
“Volleyball, of course,” Hinata snaps. “You’re looking down on all my hard work and effort just because I didn’t get to go to some fancy volleyball school like you. We can’t all have everything handed to us, you know? Just because I failed doesn’t mean I didn’t try! I won’t let you look down on all my effort and the people who helped me!”
“How exactly do you expect to challenge me one on one at volleyball?” he says. “It’s a team sport.”
“Like passing or something!”
This guy really is an idiot.
“How do you compete at passing?”
Hinata clenches his fists, glancing back at the others, who still seem to be arguing among themselves, except for the silver haired boy and the one in charge. Probably the captain. And Kageyama’s starting to feel a bit odd at how late the coach is running.
“I think that’s enough,” the captain sighs.
“Serve!” Hinata declares. Kageyama glances down at him. “Serve at me and I’ll return it this time. I only received one of them last year. And I’ll do it properly. I’ll show you all the hard work I’ve put in.” He glances back at the twins, who’ve stopped arguing. “I’ll show you how seriously I took the advice you gave me!”
“There’s a lot of noise, volleyball club,” calls an older voice.
For a moment, Kageyama thinks it might be the coach, but when he turns, it’s the vice principal sauntering. And then the twins have moved between him and Hinata, forcing them apart, one with a hand discreetly over Hinata’s mouth, the other giving Kageyama a warning glare that he’s seen enough time from Iwaizumi directed at Oikawa to know means ‘shut up or else’. So he does. He clenches his jaw and allows himself to look over the Miya in his personal space in a way he hadn’t managed at the Inter-Middle. He’s grown up a lot since Kageyama last gazed down at them in magazines and watched videos on his laptop of their Nationals games. Taller, taller than Kageyama, wider and more mature. The big, searching eyes and round face are gone and now his face is mature and features defined. This twin’s hair is shorter and styled in flicks and waves compared to the one holding Hinata with his hair unstyled and a little longer. Kageyama thinks this one is Atsumu.
“I hope no one’s fighting,” the vice principal says, stopping in front of the group as the calmer members - Kageyama thinks they must be third years - move in front of them. “Such a troublesome group.”
“Nothing like that,” the captain laughs. “Just some first years excited to get going. Right?”
“He’s already banned our libero,” probably-Atsumu hisses, “so behave.”
“Right,” Kageyama says, nodding slightly. Then he bows, noting the other twin shoving Hinata into a bow by the scruff of the neck. “I’m sorry for any disturbance.”
“Sorry,” Hinata grinds out through his teeth. “We’ll keep it down.”
The vice principal looks over them, Kageyama thinks he’s looking just as suspiciously at the twins and baldy as them. They’re quiet and maybe-Osamu pulls Hinata up and keeps him behind him while Kageyama straightens up.
“Are you going to be less troublesome and more productive this year, Sawamura-kun?” the vice principal says.
“We’re aiming for the top this year,” Sawamura - Kageyama guesses - says with a nod. “The finals this year, and back to Nationals. We’re going there again.”
The vice principal looks them over. “Maybe just settle for more consistent results.”
There’s noise at the door and three other students in black are changing their shoes and coming in with excited greetings. The vice principal gives them another sour look before turning away and leaving them to it. They pull the doors closed and Hinata is finally released.
“We’re really going to Nationals?!” Hinata cries.
“We are,” Sawamura says.
“We’re going to play on the same stage as the Little Giant!” he cheers.
“There are plenty of teams who dream of going to Nationals,” Kageyama says. “Why assume you’re different?”
“I mean it,” Sawamura says. “We’re going to Nationals, right twins?”
“We’re going to beat Sunarin again,” maybe-Atsumu says. “And Hoshiumi and Hirugami.”
“And Aran-kun and Kita-san, of course,” maybe-Osamu says.
“D’ya think Kita-san’ll be on the court?”
“He’s capt’n now, right? Aran-kun said he cried an’ everythin’. And we weren’t even there to see it.”
“I’m not sure we could beat Kita-san anyway.”
“Huh?”
“Couldja play aggressively enough with him givin’ ya that look from the other side of the court?”
“To be honest, I’d probably play better. I mean, ya ever slacked off an’ been anythin’ but perfectly on point when Kita-san’s watchin’?”
“True. He’d come up to the net and critique our plays.”
Kageyama frowns at them. He doesn’t know who Kita is but he sounds terrifying if even the twins are wary of him. And they really mean it. They all really mean it. They think Karasuno can get to Nationals. They mean it and believe. The Miya twins have experience at a national level and they think they can make it, perhaps they can really do it. The Miyas know what it takes to get to the top, after all.
The new trio come over and Atsumu takes his jacket back from Hinata, pulling it on again with a grin. They look over him and Kageyama - Hinata is still glaring at Kageyama and that’s getting a little annoying but at least he’s a little settled.
“New first years?” one says. “The King and the springy shortie?”
Kageyama clenches his jaw. The King has followed him even here?
“Things got a bit out of hand,” Sawamura laughs. “It’s the twins and Tanaka all over again.” He turns to the pair of them. “We don’t usually have the first years starting until next week, but since you’re here, it’s fine for now. I’m the captain, Sawamura Daichi, Morning and opposite hitter.”
Kageyama frowns at them. Are they expected to tell them their moiety? He knows it goes on their applications and school files but they’ve never had to talk about it in clubs or school before.
“Because at middle school you were less likely to be thinking about relationships,” the silver haired boy says. Kageyama stiffens, Hinata goes red, and he laughs at them both. “It was written all over your faces; ‘why do I have to talk about my private life in club?’, right?”
Kageyama clicks his tongue and glances away.
“Don’t worry, it’s fine,” he says. “You’re among family here, Kageyama-kun. We only have… four Evenings on the team.”
“Only four?!” Hinata cries.
That is a really imbalanced team. Kageyama’s pretty sure Kitagawa wasn’t anywhere near so unbalanced - not that they talked about it often. It’s basically impossible to get a perfect fifty fifty split, and he’s heard about pro teams that are exclusive to one moiety, but that’s really skewed to have only four Evenings in a high school club. Team, maybe, but not the entire club. Unless this is all there is to the club? Ten people, plus however many new starters, doesn’t seem like enough for a club though.
But, the knowledge that he’s among so many of his own moiety does settle Kageyama a little, and even Hinata deflates a little at his side. Even without thinking, without knowing these people, the promise and comfort of other Mornings is enough. They’re with family. He glances at Hinata. He’s Morning too. They’d said so, hadn’t they? All the first years are Mornings.
“There we go. That’s why we talk about it. You’re looking more relaxed already. I’m vice captain Sugawara Koushi, Morning, setter and apparently twin handler.”
Twin handler? Well, Kageyama supposes he had been the one to get the twins under control at the Inter-Middle when they’d been telling Kageyama off. He glances at the twins. There’s no way Karasuno has Atsumu and isn’t playing him as setter, right? Unless Sugawara is somehow a phenomenal setter that’s somehow stayed under the radar.
“There’s another third year who you’ll meet later,” Sugawara says. “Hopefully.”
The twins snort in derision.
“Tanaka Ryuunosuke,” the bald one says. “Second year, Morning, outside hitter and best senpai you’re ever gonna have.”
“Ennoshita Chikara,” says a kind looking boy. “Evening, outside hitter, although currently playing middle. I’m not planning on staying there forever though.”
“Oi oi, Chikara,” Tanaka says, stepping closer. “You’re after my regular spot, huh?”
“If Asahi don’t come back there’s space for ya both to be spikers,” one of the twins mutters.
“Hush, Atsumu,” Sugawara scolds. “He’ll come back. The twins are Evenings. Miya Osamu, with the longer hair, is our libero. Miya Atsumu, with the shorter hair, is our ace.”
“Don’t worry if you can’t tell them apart,” Tanaka says as the twins wave. “It takes time to get used to them. We'll stick them in coloured bibs or something 'til you do.”
“The ace?!” Hinata cries, gazing up at Atsumu with stars in his eyes. “You’re Karasuno’s ace?!”
“Nominally,” Atsumu says.
Kageyama scowls. Atsumu is a setter and Osamu is his opposite. That’s what they are. That’s what they’re famous for. Atsumu is an award winning, national level setter. He’s known to be aggressive and a capable spiker, they twins can famously switch and replace each other, and he’s sure any school would be lucky to have him as their ace. But he’s not. He’s a setter. He’s the most amazing setter! Kageyama has looked up to him for years! How’s he supposed to be at the same school as him, where he can learn from him maybe even in a way he never could from Oikawa, only for him to not be playing setter anymore?!
“You’re tall for a libero,” Hinata says, staring up at Osamu.
“I’m a middle,” Osamu replies.
“You’re an opposite hitter,” Kageyama snaps.
“When the capt’n leaves I might go back to that,” he says. “For now, it’s better for the team for me to play middle.” He turns to Hinata. “Our regular libero has been banned for a month.”
“Liberos can’t be capt’ns,” Atsumu says. “And ‘Samu got the next best defensive plays on the team after them. So he’s steppin’ in ‘til Noya-san comes back.”
“You should meet Nishinoya in a few weeks,” Sawamura says. “He’s our other Evening.”
“Kinoshita Hisashi,” another says second year says. “Morning and outside hitter, although I’m really more of a pinch server.”
“Narita Kazuhito,” says the other with a shaved head, “Morning. I’m the other middle.”
“Is that everyone?” Kageyama says.
“There’s Asahi and Nishinoya,” Sawamura says. “You’ll meet them later. And there are two other first years. But, yes, that’s it.”
“It’s a small team,” he says.
“We are,” he says, “but we’re not weak. We finished in the top four at the Spring Tournament last year, losing to the reigning champions. The year before that, we were top eight. We have talented players, but we’ve struggled to make use of them without a coach to guide us. But, we’re on our way to the top again. We fully intend to make a good run for Nationals this year. We’re not going to go down without a fight.”
“So?” Sugawara says, smiling at them. “What about you two?”
Hinata steps forward. “I’m Hinata Shouyou from Yukigaoka Middle School! Morning and outside hitter! I saw the Little Giant play at Nationals and knew I had to come to Karasuno! I want to become a great ace like him even though I’m small. This is the first time I’ve had a proper team and a proper club, so I’m really excited to work hard with you all.”
They glance over at him and Kageyama glances away awkwardly. “Kageyama Tobio, from Kitagawa Daiichi. Morning. Setter.”
“The other two are Morning middles,” Sawamura says. “From Amemaru Middle. Tsukishima Kei and Yamaguchi Tadashi.” He smiles and picks up the discarded ball, tossing it to Kageyama. “Weren’t you going to serve, Kageyama-kun?”
Kageyama nods and takes the ball, ducking under the net. The seconds years spread out on the side of the court, stretching and chatting among themselves, and Kageyama shakes himself off. This isn’t the time to be dredging up old middle school infatuations and memories of staring at Iizuna and Atsumu splashed across pages towards the back of Volleyball Monthly as the greatest setters in middle school. This is no time to get freaked out by a setter and server of Oikawa’s quality watching him play. Or freaked out by someone who thinks he can’t set watching him.
“What happened to all that confidence, Kageyama-kun?” Sawamura says.
“Nothing at all,” Kageyama replies. “Just trying to focus.”
He steps back from the end line and takes a breath. No worrying about the Miyas or Oikawa or the future. Right now, all that matters is Hinata Shouyou, who wastes his natural talents, challenging him serves.
It’s freeing to finally be able to slam down the ball without the coaches telling him he’s trying too hard to be like Oikawa and if he’s not careful he’ll end up with a bad knee like him too. As if Kageyama doesn’t know that. He’d watched Oikawa work himself into an injury chasing that top setter and top server award, chasing Shiratorizawa. He’s always careful about his body.
Kageyama throws up his serve toss, powering into his new jump serve, sending it at Hinata as head on as he can.
Hinata’s eyes widen and then he jerks aside, hitting the ground with a yelp. Running away. How is that different-
“Out,” Hinata cries.
Kageyama’s eyebrow twitches. He’s annoyingly right and the ball slams down out of bounds. He clicks his tongue and Sawamura smiles, picking up the ball and tossing it back. Tanaka is laughing from the floor and the other second years are sniggering.
“You did that your first day too, ‘Tsumu,” Tanaka laughs.
Atsumu’s going red, shoulders pulling up to his ears and Kageyama is at least a little comforted by the fact that even Atsumu’s award winning serves aren’t perfect.
“It was a beautiful home run,” Osamu says.
“Shut it, both of ya!” Atsumu snaps.
“Try again,” Sawamura says. “We want to see how Hinata-kun receives.”
Kageyama nods and steps back again. It’s fine. He can do it. This time he’ll get it. He tosses up the ball again and launches into his serve once more. This time he focuses his aim on the far corner. It curves nicely and this time it’s definitely in.
Hinata is there in a blink of an eye and gets perfectly behind the ball. Kageyama’s eyes go wide. The force of the serve blows Hinata back but the ball goes up and back towards the setter’s position.
“Kou-senpai!”
“R-right!”
Sugawara runs onto the court and gets under the ball. Kageyama frowns at him. He doesn’t look like much special from his positioning. He’s fine, he’s not bad, but he doesn’t look like the sort of overwhelmingly good setter that would push Atsumu from setter to spiker. He throws up the set and it’s nothing special either. But Atsumu explodes upwards and Kageyama’s left staring helplessly at his form. He swallows thickly as Atsumu’s bright eyes fall on him. He only has a moment to realise what Atsumu’s about to do before the ball is smashed down towards him. He can't even think to move out the way or into a better receiving position.
The ball ricochets off his arms, that at least covered his face, and bounces off across the court.
He lifts his head to Atsumu and Sugawara giving each other high fives. Kageyama can only stare. He doesn’t remember the last time he celebrated with his team. They would celebrate, sure, but Kageyama never joined in. He doesn’t ever remember if he was never invited or just didn’t want to anymore, he just knows that by the end of middle school it was a given that they celebrated while he tried to fix their mistakes ready for the next round.
“Ah, lil’ wide though, Kou-senpai,” Atsumu says.
Sugawara smacks his arm. “Give me some warning next time then, you brat. You scared the hell out of me. You’re lucky it even went up.”
“I knew ya’d get it up though.” Atsumu laughs so warmly. Has Kageyama ever had a spiker laugh like that over a messed up set? But, has he ever reacted to making a bad - even a not perfect - set like that before? “‘Cause I trust ya as my setter.”
Miya Atsumu… trusts a setter who isn’t his brother? Enough to call him his?
“You…” Sugawara puffs up and smacks Atsumu’s arm again to warm laughter from Atsumu. He’s so happy. “You think you can just compliment me like that and get away with your antics? You’re not going to flatter me out of being mad at you, you know?”
“Lame,” Osamu mutters.
“Capt’n, I’m being bullied,” Atsumu whines through laughter as Sugawara bats at him playfully. “Help! Kou-senpai, I’m sorry!”
“Alright,” Sawamura says pleasantly, clapping his hands. “That’s enough of that.” He turns to Hinata. “Hinata-kun, nice receive… Are you ok?”
Hinata is staring up at Sugawara and Atsumu. “A real setter and ace in action. That’s so cool! Sugawara-san, you were like whoosh and got under the ball and the ball went booomph and fwooof and then Miya-san-”
“Atsumu is fine,” he says. “There’s two Miyas.”
“Right,” Hinata says, nodding quickly. “Miya-san was like boom and whoosh and then smash and bam! It was so cooooool!”
Kageyama blinks at Hinata as he continues rambling. He frowns and slowly turns his gaze on Atsumu and Sugawara. Slowly, the realisation comes to him. Sugawara isn’t anything special. He’s not Atsumu or Iizuna or even Oikawa. Sugawara is just a normal setter. Kageyama can compete with him. Nevermind setting for Ushijima at Shiratorizawa - Kageyama could set for Atsumu.
Kageyama could set for one of his heroes.
Maybe not now, maybe he’ll have to wait and learn and figure out why a seemingly average setter is the one chosen to be acknowledged by Atsumu. There must be something about him. And maybe he’ll figure out how to be a better setter and why his team rejected him and how to make sure it never happens again. He’ll watch and learn and maybe by the time the Spring Tournament comes around and the third years have retired, Kageyama will get his shot at starting setter and proving himself to Atsumu.
Something smacks into the back of his head and Kageyama grunts as he stumbles forward. He whips around, only to find Osamu picking up the ball that rolls to his feet. Shit. Osamu is definitely the scary twin. He’s the one who’d chewed him out at the Inter-Middle, he thinks. He definitely has that same overwhelming aura Kageyama remembers from the Inter-Middle. He’s terrifying.
“Yer thinkin’ so loud I can hear ya,” Osamu drawls, leaning into his space. Kageyama jerks back. “Sure, Kou-senpai ain’t much on first glance, but he’s our senpai. Don’t underestimate what that means.”
“I’m not,” Kageyama replies, glaring back.
“Oi, ‘Samu,” Atsumu calls. “Yer not bully Tobio-kun, are ya?”
“Why would I waste my time doing that?” he replies walking past. “I was just seeing if he’d learn to set yet.”
“You two are impossible,” Sugawara sighs.
“Alright, enough messing around,” Sawamura says. “Let’s actually get some practice in. Kageyama-kun, Hinata-kun. I hadn’t actually planned to be handling two new members today, so can you two play ball boys instead?”
Hinata nods quickly. “I wanna watch you guys play!”
Kageyama nods as well. It’s expected really. Even for a small team, first years have to do the menial work. He’s not been a ball boy since he was starting at Kitagawa but it’s not as if it’s hard. And he does get to watch the team practice and play. He joins Hinata at the far end of the court as the teams take off their sweatpants and jackets.
“You did improve a bit then?” Kageyama says as the team line up for spiking drills.
Hinata nods quickly. “Thanks to the advice the twins gave me.”
“Did such simple advice really help?” he says.
There’s a smack and Hinata makes a little yelp, dashing across the court to catch the ball when it bounces off the court. Kageyama blinks. His movements are far more smooth and confident than before. He grins at Kageyama and puts the ball in the empty bin.
“It was frustrating at first,” Hinata says. “I wasn’t sure how things like just grabbing the ball and handling it was going to help. And, I was pretty desperate to spike. I really hated staying on the back row and letting people serve and spike at me and just watching. Like this, actually. But it did help when I stopped fighting it.”
Tanaka smacks down a tight cross shot and Kageyama has to go chasing after it. He tosses it over to Hinata and Hinata bounces it into the bin. This is weird. He couldn’t stand him five minutes ago and now they’re talking civilly? Kageyama can’t even figure out why.
“I’ve been training with all sorts of people,” Hinata continues. “I ended up begging the girls’ team to let us practice with them. And the neighbourhood ladies team was lovely. I wish I could have found more guys teams though. Girls play really differently, I think. And the net's lower, which means it's sorta weird go be up at this height again.”
“Is that where you learnt that broad?”
“Huh?” Hinata grabs another ball and pauses. “Is that weird?”
“It’s not all that common in mens’ volleyball,” Kageyama replies. “It’s definitely more common in women's.”
“Huuuuuh.” Hinata seems to muse over that for a moment before nodding. “I guess that’s why I saw the girls doing it more. In our match I just sorta did it, but I’ve practiced it lots. I can do it on purpose now.”
His grin at doing such a simple thing is so utterly brilliant that Kageyama forgets to watch the drills until a ball smacks into his thigh. He jerks around, only mildly surprised to find Osamu stepping away from the net. What’s his problem?!
“Ah, and they gave me a place to practice properly too,” Hinata says as Kageyama picks up the offending ball. He glances up at Hinata questioningly. “They sent me to this Lil’ Tykes Volleyball Classroom. It’s for kids, but they said if I went on on Mondays, there was a Morning setter there who helped coach and he’d probably help me too if I told him they sent me and explained the situation to him. And he did. So, I took Natsu there and she learnt with the others and I got to learn too.”
“Who’s Natsu?”
“My little sister.”
Kageyama nods thoughtfully. “You don’t seem like an older brother.”
“Why do people always say that?” he huffs. Kageyama, despite himself, smiles. He really is an idiot. Hinata grins back. And then Hinata’s eyes widen. “Is serving the same?”
“The same?” Kageyama says.
“Umm, I’ve only ever seen one person spike serve in real life,” Hinata says, “but I’ve seen lots of awesome jump floats. The ladies team didn’t use spikes, just floats.”
Kageyama nods. “Women do tend to use more jump floats, and men tend to use spikes more, but it’s not anything set in stone. Whether because of physical differences or play style differences, that’s just how it is. Does that mean you can receive jump floats?”
“Yeah. I think I’m pretty good at it.”
“His jump floats are award winning,” Kageyama says, nodding at Atsumu. “National best server throughout middle school.”
“Huuuh?!”
“Everything ok over there?” Sawamura calls.
“You won best server for your jump floats?!” Hinata cries.
Atsumu laughs. “Sure. Long time ago.”
“Dude, you literally won it at last year’s Spring Tournament,” Tanaka says. Atsumu shrugs. “Why?”
“He says he’s better at receiving jump floats than spikes,” Kageyama says, pointing at Hinata, “because he played with girls’ teams.”
The team frowns at him. Then Sawamura tilts his head. “Can you do a jump float?”
“I’ve been working on,” Hinata says. “I’m not very consistent with it yet though. It’s sorta all over the place and too much spin but the ladies said that just needs practice and-”
“Let’s see what ya’ve got then,” Atsumu says with a grin and picks up a ball. “My jump floats rip the hands off lil liberos all the time, so-”
“No,” Sugawara says, taking the ball from him. “Leave his poor little hands alone.”
“Your serves traumatised poor Noya-san,” Tanaka says, nodding sagely.
“Haaah? I did no such thing,” Atsumu snaps. “He receives ‘em great.”
“Now,” Ennoshita sighs.
Sugawara grins and tosses the ball in his hand. “I’ll test you out, Hinata.”
“You?!” Hinata cries. “But you’re a third year?!”
“I am,” he laughs, “but the moms and ladies were older, right? Show me what you’ve got, ok?”
Hinata nods and Kageyama steps off the court so Hinata can receive. Perhaps it makes sense that Hinata is comfortable using techniques more common to women's leagues. He’s smaller, lighter and faster, after all. He’s not a typical men's power player.
“Ready?” Sugawara says.
Hinata grins and nods. “Bring it on!”
Sugawara grins and steps back from the end line. Hinata lets out a slow breath and drops closer to the ground, eyes wide and focused. And then Sugawara steps into the serve. It’s beautiful floater that comes low across the net, wobbling and rocking.
And Hinata steps forward into it, getting it up with a little hop and flick of his wrists, the ball goes up cleanly, back towards the setter’s position. Kageyama’s lips tug into a smile. Not the same as he was last year indeed.
Hinata bounces on his toes, cheering over his success as the team congratulates him. That’s going to be useful. Jump floats aren’t as common in men’s leagues, so lots of teams struggle to receive them, putting all their focus on powerful spike serves. That’s why a good jump float as a pinch server or regular could be devastatingly effective. There were very few of them at middle school level - when Kageyama watched the Inter-Middle Nationals, Atsumu must have been one of less than half a dozen with a jump float - so those that were there racked up points quickly and easily. And while they weren’t as rare at high school level, they definitely weren’t common. They were still an unexpected weapon. Especially at prefectural level.
“Not bad,” Sawamura says. “If you’re already working on a jump float, we’ll carry on with that, Hinata-kun.” Hinata’s eyes widen and he nods eagerly. “Everyone on the team has either a spike serve or jump float serve. You don’t get considered for playing time until you do.”
Hinata’s eyes widen and Kageyama tilts his head. That’s a pretty harsh rule. Especially for such a small team.
“Don’t get panicky,” Sugawara says. “It’s not a big deal. You don’t need to be perfect, you don’t have to hit the ball hard or have complete control and aim. You just need to have a usable higher level serve before we’ll let you on the bench.”
“Why?” Kageyama says.
“If ya don’t like it, leave,” Osamu says.
“We have to have a standard,” Atsumu says. “Just ‘cause we're small, ya think we just put anyone on the bench? The size of our team ain’t an excuse to think ya can get away with being a shitty player.”
Sugawara sighs and glances at the twins. “We would have told all four of you together on the first day, but since you're here it won't hurt. It’s just a minimum requirement to be considered for team. You can still be in the club, if you just want to play for fun, but if you want to compete, that’s our entry requirement.”
“We’ll teach you and help you learn, of course,” Sawamura says. “We're not expecting you to work on it yourself. If you’re willing to learn.”
“I am!” Hinata exclaims, nodding quickly. “I’ll learn everything you’re willing to teach me!”
“Why though?” Kageyama says again.
“We’re building a name for ourselves with our servers,” Sawamura says.
“And it’s a good way to see if you’re willing to put in the effort,” Sugawara says. “We don’t care how good or bad you are, it’s useless if you don’t care enough to put in effort.”
“I’d rather have a total newbie who’s willing to work than a top ace who thinks they’re too good to work,” Atsumu says.
“I’ll work hard!” Hinata cries. “I’ll get my float serve working, I promise!”
“Me too,” Kageyama says. “I’ll prove myself to you all.”
“They’ve got the right attitude for it,” Tanaka laughs.
Sugawara glances at Sawamura. “They’re already here, Daichi.”
“They are,” Sawamura sighs. Then he nods. “Alright. Hinata-kun, go with Atsumu and the jump float group. Kageyama-kun, come with us for spike serves.”
Kageyama nods and follows Sawamura to one side of the net. Tanaka and Ennoshita join them with Osamu, while Hinata joins Atsumu and Sugawara with Kinoshita and Narita. It’s a decent plan for them, to be known for their serves. Serving is an important weapon. Serve and block is also an acceptable strategy but Kageyama doesn’t know how good their blocking is.
“How didja learn to serve?” Osamu says. “Who taughtcha?”
“I taught myself,” Kageyama says. “I learnt watching Oikawa-san. The coaches didn’t really like me doing it. They thought I was too young to be doing serves like that, probably because Oikawa-san hurt himself doing it. But, I was always careful.”
Osamu’s eyes light up and he tilts his head. “We can work with that.”