Chapter Text
A fifteen-year-old girl with short, brown hair and round, excited brown eyes straightened her skirt and stepped on to the campus of Karasuno High School. Eyes shining, she gripped the straps of her backpack and hungrily took in all the new sights. The white school building, the silver gymnasiums, the soccer field and running track, and the numerous bike racks. She skipped into the main building and headed toward the principal’s office to get her schedule.
After dodging other excited students and staying out of the way of some rowdy boys, she made it to the principal’s office.
“Hello? I’m here to get my schedule?” she asked, entering the office and closing the door behind her. A short man in a wig sat behind the desk and rolled his eyes.
“First-year girls are always so cheerful. It’s obnoxious. What’s your name, young lady?” he asked, his voice sounding bored.
“Michimiya Yui, sir. How did you know I was a first-year?”
“You look like one. Here’s your schedule. Make sure to sign up for a club sometime this week,” the man handed her a piece of paper with a yawn. “I’m the vice-principal, by the way.”
“Oh, thank you, sir! Have a good day!” Yui said with a respectful bow before she walked out the door, examining her new schedule. At the bottom of each day, there was an empty square labeled “club activities”. I’m gonna go sign up for the volleyball club! thought Yui, remembering being the captain of the girls’ volleyball team in junior high. Being captain was scary, but since I’m a first year, I definitely won’t have to do it this year! I wonder who the captain is! I’ve heard a lot about Karasuno’s boys’ volleyball team from Daichi, but he never mentioned the girls’ volleyball team… do they even have one? Yui felt a sudden shiver of fear.
She walked by hundreds of students, many of them advertising clubs.
“Would you like to join the literature club?” asked a cheery-looking girl. Yui respectfully shook her head and continued walking.
“Wanna join the girls’ baseball team?” asked another girl, wearing a ponytail. Yui shook her head again.
“Come join the art club!”
“History club is still looking for members!”
“You look like you’d be a good fit for the swim team!”
“Join the computer club!”
“You interested in playing for the girls’ volleyball team?” asked a girl’s voice. Yui gasped and turned around, searching for the source of the voice.
“Over here.” said the voice again, and Yui found a tall girl with short black hair leaning against the window.
“You’re on the volleyball team?” asked Yui with a smile.
“Yeah. I’m the captain. Name’s Saito Kaida. You play volleyball?” the girl said, holding up the club sign-up sheet.
“Heck yeah, I do! May I sign up?” Yui asked.
“Go ahead.” Kaida handed Yui the paper and pen, and Yui noticed there were no other names in the first-years’ column. As she wrote down her name and homeroom number, she asked,
“Um, Saito-senpai…”
“Just Saito is fine.”
“Uh, Saito, why aren’t there any other first-years on this list?”
“‘Cause Karasuno’s girls’ volleyball team is nothing. Almost nobody even knows we exist. We share a gym with the boys’ basketball team, so we don’t do very many full-court practices, so we kinda suck. The boys’ team is way more popular, and us girls… we just kinda live in their shadow. Why would someone want to join us?” Kaida sighed in defeat, taking back the sign-up sheet. “We’re not flying crows. We can’t even get off the ground.”
“O-oh…” Yui looked down, hunching her shoulders up. During the break, her and Daichi had played volleyball every day, and when they took breaks, they talked excitedly about their plans for high school.
“I’m glad we’re both going to Karasuno, Michimiya!” Daichi said, wiping his sweaty forehead and taking a drink of water. “We can play volleyball together!”
“But you’ll be on the boys’ team and I’ll be on the girls’ team, you silly!” Yui laughed, picking up her own water bottle.
“But we might have joint practices sometime, or something. Karasuno boys’ volleyball team was really strong a couple years ago, and even though people don’t talk about them much, I’m sure they still have the potential to fly again!” Daichi said with a determined smile.
“Hah, I’ll bet the girls’ team is even better!” Yui elbowed him jokingly, and added, “How come you never tell me about them? Too scared to admit they’re cooler than your boys’ team? You worship them like gods!”
“Huh? What, no! I just- well, I…” Daichi stuttered, unsure what to say. Yui tilted her head, confused. Daichi never got confused. He never stuttered. He always knew exactly what to say and how to say it. What was wrong now?
“Daichi?” she asked.
“Hm? Oh, right, the girls’ team. Uh, how about you do some research on them yourself? I don’t really know much about them, sorry,” he said, scratching his head.
“Fine.”
Now she knew why Daichi had been so nervous. He didn’t want to shatter her hopes and dreams of playing on a strong team. Karasuno High’s girls’ volleyball team was nothing but a group of girls who liked passing a ball back and forth every now and then. They were nothing special. Definitely not a powerhouse team.
“You still wanna play with us?” asked Kaida. “We will go to Nationals this year. Trust me on that, Michimiya.” Kaida’s eyes glimmered and Yui’s own eyes widened. The third-year captain had some sort of… aura around her. An aura of determination and strength. Just like Daichi, thought Yui.
“Heck yeah! ‘Course I still want to play! I love volleyball.” Yui straightened her shoulders and stood up straight. “I’ll do anything.”
“Sounds good.” Kaida said with a confident smile. “What position do you play?”
“Outside hitter,” replied Yui.
“Cool. I’m a middle blocker. Go to gym number 1 today after school to meet the rest of the team.” Kaida put a hand on Yui’s shoulder, and Yui could tell that she was a strong girl. I can’t wait! I get to play volleyball! she thought.
“Will do!”
Day one of the Interhigh Qualifiers. Karasuno had played against Niiyama, the best girls’ team in the whole prefecture, and lost their last set 25-10. The girls walked back to the bus stop, heads down, completely silent. Kaida turned around to face them as the bus pulled in to the stop and said in what sounded like her regular confident voice, “There’s always next year, right, ladies?”
The other girls made no reply. They boarded the bus and sat down, and three first-year girls sat next to each other.
“Yui-chan,” one of them started, “e-everything’s o-oka-”
“Don’t say everything is okay, Mao. You know very well it’s not.” Yui turned her head away from her friend and looked out the window. It was sunny and warm. Nothing should be bright or happy today, thought Yui. We lost. Saito-san will never go to Nationals, and this was her last year of high school. We let her down.
“We-we could have trained so much more, we could have taken practice more seriously, we could have worked so much harder… we could have done so much more…”
Mao, who was pretty tall for a first-year, nodded her head solemnly, her dirty blonde ponytail bouncing a little bit. “Yeah, but… we didn’t.”
“W-well, Saito-san said there’s still next year, r-right?” asked the shorter girl next to Mao, a brunette named Chizuru Sasaki.
“Aya, maybe now isn’t the best time-” Mao put her hand on Chizuru’s shoulder.
“It’s fine. She’s right. Saito-san and the other third-years may be gone, but we’re still here. We haven’t lost completely. We’ll win next year.” Yui wiped a tear from her cheek. “We’ll win for Saito-san.”
The bus arrived at Karasuno, and the team slowly and silently stepped off and walked to the gym, where they put down their bags and went to clean out the clubroom. Kaida took down the net and went to the supply closet to put it away, and didn’t come back for a while.
“I-I’m gonna go check on Saito-san,” Yui said quietly to Mao and Chizuru, standing up and leaving the clubroom.
The door of the supply closet was slightly open, letting a single sliver of light inside. Yui tiptoed over and heard a noise. It sounded like choking- no, like crying. She peeked in through the door, and saw Kaida down on her knees, her shaking hands clenched around the volleyball net, tears making a puddle on the floor. She sobbed, her hair falling over onto her cheeks and sticking.
“W-we h-had so much t-t-time…” she whimpered. “We-we could have t-trained s-so much more… we could have d-done so much m-more…” her voice broke and she broke down into sobbing again. Yui bit her lip, unsure if she should try to say something. She blinked, fresh tears dripping onto her cheeks. There was nothing she could say. Nothing she could do.
Yui’s second year came. The new captain was Himari Suzuki, a short setter with brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. She did an okay job at recruiting new members, and three new girls joined the team - Rinko Sudou, Moe Kikuchi, and Aoki Manami. Yui and Mao came to every practice, and although Chizuru skipped a few that year, the three second-year girls probably worked the hardest out of all the team members. Himari was friends with the captain of the boys’ basketball team, so they were able to negotiate times when the girls could use the full court to practice. They didn’t have as many practice games as they did when Kaida was the captain, but they still got to play against schools like Shirato and Johzenji. They got so used to losing that some of the third-years decided to leave the club. By the time the Interhigh Qualifiers rolled around again, the only third-years left were Himari and her friend Atsuko.
“This year, we’re going to Nationals, everyone!” Himari said, zipping up her jacket on the first day of the Interhigh Qualifiers. “You hear me? We’re gonna WIN!”
“Yeah!” the girls cheered, but deep inside, they knew it wasn’t true. They could never win. The only thing that kept them going was their love for volleyball, not the belief that they could ever win. The second- and third-years had memories they never told anyone else, because they didn’t want anyone else to know just how weak their team was. They didn’t want anyone to know they never won.
The end of that day came. They won their first game, against the girls from Ohgi Minami, but they lost their second game, against Aoba Johsai. Himari was biting her lip to keep from crying as she shook hands with Seijoh’s captain after the game, and the other Karasuno girls only zipped up their jackets, picked up their bags, and got ready to leave. As soon as they arrived back at school, Yui ran to the clubroom and cried into her jersey. This is hopeless. Why do I even keep trying?
“Hey, Michimiya-san,” came a voice. Yui hastily wiped her eyes and turned around. It was Rinko, the first-year girl with short black hair who always got confused with Moe, who looked almost exactly the same.
“Rinko,” Yui muttered.
“I-I’m sorry. Th-that last pass, i-it should’ve been mine. I told you to get it, but I should have just g-gone for it…” Rinko stuttered, bowing her head. “We lost because of me.”
“N-no, it’s fine, don’t worry. W-we still have next year.” Yui straightened just like she had done every day since her first day of high school. Whenever she lost, or something happened and she felt discouraged, she would throw her shoulders back, straighten her back, lift her chin up, and say that everything would be okay. It was kind of like a post-game routine for her, but whenever she said everything would be fine, she didn’t always really believe that.
“Right. S-sorry for disturbing you.” Rinko turned around and left.
Yui walked into the gym on the first day of her third year, already changed into her white t-shirt and maroon shorts.
“Hey, Yui!” Mao came behind her and waved.
“Mao! Hey, d’you have any idea who’s gonna be the captain this year?” Yui asked.
“Pretty sure it’s you. Didn’t Aoki tell you?”
“What?! No! Mao, I can’t do this! I can’t be the captain! You know I’m not cut out for that!” Yui argued, dropping her bag. “You would definitely do better!”
“Yui, you can’t argue. We all voted, and you were the number one choice. You were the only one that voted for me.” Mao said, picking up Yui’s bag and handing it to her. “Good luck, captain.”
“Mao…” Yui gasped. Shaking her head, she placed her bag on the floor by the door and put on her kneepads and volleyball shoes, inhaling the smell of the gym. I want to say we’ll win this year, but that’s what Kaida and Himari said, and we lost. We failed. I can’t lead these girls! I’m not strong enough to be the captain. I’m not strong enough for anything!
Pretty soon, Chizuru, Rinko, Moe, and Aoki entered the gym, and put their bags down before going to the clubroom to change. Nobody said anything. They didn’t expect this year to be any different from previous years.
“Captain! Should we set up the net?” Rinko asked as she ran in from the clubroom, carrying her school uniform in her bag.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure,” Yui said, still unaccustomed to being called “captain”. Rinko jogged towards the supply closet, where they kept the net. Suddenly, a group of tall boys burst into the gym and shoved Yui aside.
“Hey!” she yelped, as the boys ran into the supply closet and came out carrying basketballs, and Rinko was left pushed against the wall, clutching the volleyball net. “HEY!” Yui yelled. The boys stopped in their tracks.
“Hah! Those girls still do practices here? They haven’t won in years!” the tallest one guffawed, nearly dropping his four basketballs.
“H-hey, that’s not true, we won a couple games last year!” Yui squeaked, intimidated by the tall boys. The one who had laughed stepped forward and forced her back to the wall.
“Who’s your captain, girl?”
“C-captain?” Yui squeaked again. Who’s the captain? Wait, it’s me! I’m the captain! I have to do something!
“You’re talking to ‘er.” Yui crossed her arms over her chest, putting on a confident front. Inside, she was terrified.
“You’re the captain?!” the boy laughed. “You’re that girl that couldn’t even receive a serve last year! All you could do was hit the ball over, and even then, you always got blocked! You can’t play volleyball, much less be the captain!” he spit on the floor, turning around and saying to the other boys,“Let’s leave the girls’ volleyball team to their practice!” they all laughed, running off to shoot some hoops.
“Hey! What’s your name?” called Yui.
“Me?” asked the tall boy, surprised.
“Yeah, you!”
“Yamato Raiden. Class 3-2.”
“I’m Michimiya Yui, from Class 3-1. Nice to meet you.”
“Hah.” Raiden laughed, catching a basketball and dribbling towards the basket. Yui let out a breath and ran to the supply closet to help Rinko carry out the poles and net.
“Why can’t the boys get their own gym?” Rinko whispered as they tightened the net.
“The school doesn’t have money for another gym, so we just do what we can. It’s fine, we can deal with it!” Yui said cheerfully.
The other girls came down from the clubroom and helped carry out the volleyballs so they could start practice.
“Hey, girls, um, gather round,” Yui called, and they all dropped the balls and came to the corner of the gym. They could hear the boys laughing and talking about something they couldn’t quite make out.
“How come there’s no first-years here?” asked Moe Kikuchi, sitting down next to Rinko.
“Um, we actually did get one sign-up, she should be here soon…” Yui said, scratching her neck and hoping she looked more confident than she felt.
“Well, captain, anything to say before we start practice?” Mao asked with a grin. Yui looked over at her, and she showed Yui her clenched fist. I’ve got Mao to encourage me. What could go wrong?
“Well, um,” Yui started, feeling sweat starting to form on her forehead. What do I say?!
“Excuse me?” said a quiet, high-pitched voice. “Is this the girls’ volleyball team’s gym?”
Everyone turned toward the door, including the boys, and they saw a short girl with short, brown hair and freckles.
“Nozomi-chan! Yeah, that’s here! Glad to have you!” Yui walked over and put her arm around the girl’s shoulder and led her towards the girls’ side of the gym.
“Um, why are there boys here? And why are they playing with basketballs?” Nozomi asked in a whisper.
“Because we have to share a gym with them,” Yui replied, whispering, too. “They’re not that bad.”
“Hey, watch out! Yui!” Aoki shrieked, and Yui’s head whipped around. A basketball was hurtling towards her at full speed. Yui prepared to shove Nozomi aside to protect her, but the short girl already had her hands out and caught the ball, letting it rest in her now slightly red palms.
“You’re fast,” Yui breathed, staring at the new first-year. Her eyebrows were drawn, and the corners of her mouth tilted downwards as she walked forward, carrying the ball. She extended her arms, offering the ball back to the boys.
“I think this is yours,” she said.
“I think this gym is ours,” Raiden retorted, harshly grabbing the ball from her. “Get lost, baby girl.”
“I’m not a baby.” Nozomi calmly said, but Yui could see her fists clenching at her sides.
“The only person acting like a baby here is you, Yamato. You don’t own this gym, so get over it!” Yui ran over and swung her leg up into Raiden’s gut. The boy yelped and clenched his stomach, wheezing, “Screw you, you stupid girl…”
“Just because we’re not a really strong team doesn’t mean you can act like we’re nothing! Just ‘cause we’re girls doesn’t mean you can just push us around like this!” Yui exclaimed, raising her clenched fists. Nozomi ran to the corner of the gym with the other girls, scared.
“Hey, you got some sort of problem?” another boy growled, throwing his basketball at Yui. His aim was a bit low, and instead of hitting her in the stomach like he meant to, it slammed into her thighs and pushed her to the ground.
“Sheesh…” she whispered, pushing herself back up.
“Not so fast, missy,” the boy dove at the ground and grabbed Yui’s kneepads, pulling her back down. “We’re not gonna let you take over our gym. Our basketball team has a four-year winning streak, even with the crap we had to deal with last year and the year before, when you girls used our gym and got in our way. But we’re sick of you, you know? We don’t want you here, okay? You’re useless, and weak, too. You never win!”
“Ugh! Get off me!” Yui shoved the boy’s head back, but he still held on to her ankles. She managed to release one of her feet and kick him back, and he fell backwards, a thin stream of blood running from his nose.
“Sorry ‘bout that,” she gasped as she started to run toward the other girls.
“Yui! Get behind me!” Mao yelled, jumping in front of Yui and used her arms to shield her friend. The angry boys were running towards them, and some of the girls were cowering behind Yui and Mao.
“Get out of our gym!” Raiden roared, leading the pack of boys.
“You say that one more time…” Mao gritted her teeth and started to roll up her sleeves, ready for a fight.
“Hey, wait! Both of you, stop!” Yui jumped forward between Raiden and Mao. “I have an idea. How about we just solve this d-diplomatically?” she stuttered a little, but regained her bravery. “A quick volleyball match. Boys against girls. We play to 25 points, three sets, just like a normal practice match. Normal rules. Who wants to ref?”
“Volleyball?! Why can’t we play basketball?” whined one of the shorter boys, who was quickly shushed by Raiden.
“So if we beat you, we can kick you out of the gym. If you girls - haha - win, you can kick us out.” Raiden said.
“Yep.” Yui nodded, already feeling the adrenaline rushing through her body. “So?”
“You’re on, little girls,” Raiden said with a wicked grin, taking Yui’s hand and shaking it. Gosh, why is my hand so sweaty? I’m too scared! These guys are terrifying!
“Ten minutes to warm up!” Yui yelled, and drew the girls into a huddle.
“Yui, are you crazy? We can’t beat them!” Chizuru whined.
“Did you see how tall and scary they are?” Moe whimpered.
“I think their captain is double my height!” added Nozomi. “We don’t stand any chance against them.”
“Hey, hey, don’t get all depressed! We’re a volleyball team, for goodness’ sake! What do we do?” Yui interrupted.
“Um, we play volleyball?” suggested Aoki.
“Exactly! I know this is our first day playing as a team for some of you,” Yui looked at Nozomi and pulled her tighter into the circle, “but we can do this! We’ll show them that we can’t be pushed around. This match decides whether or not we’ll be able to practice at all for the rest of the year! So remember - today, we play for our future!”
“Yeah!” Mao cheered.
“Alright, girls! On three - one, two, three, Karasuno…” Yui said,
“FIGHT!” the girls cheered.
“Alright, we have seven more minutes to warm up. Nozomi-chan, what’s your position?” Yui asked.
“Libero,” replied the timid first-year girl with freckles.
“Awesome! So, um, how about you start on the sidelines, so you can watch us play and figure out how we do it. Once we reach five points, we’ll sub you in. Sound good to you?” Yui asked.
“Uh, sure. Oh, and, um, Michimiya-senpai-”
“Just Michimiya.”
“Okay, um, Michimiya, well… are your legs okay? That basketball from earlier looked like it hit you hard,” Nozomi said.
“Oh, I’m fine!” Yui shook it off with a laugh. Her thighs were still a bit red and stinging from the basketball, but Yui didn’t mind.
“Your thighs must be pretty sturdy to be able to take a hit like that!” Aoki added. “Um, sorry if that sounded weird!”
“Huh? N-no, it’s okay! You should all be stretching right now, anyway!” Yui said hastily, bending down to adjust her shoelaces and hide her reddening cheeks. The other girls started their stretching routines, and Yui sat down to stretch her legs.
“Yui, you know we always do nothing but lose, right?” Chizuru said, sitting down beside her. “We don’t stand a chance.”
“But we can still try, right?” Yui reached for her toes, still feeling more confident than she had in years. “These idiots don’t know anything about volleyball. We… we might have a chance.”
“Well, if we lose,” Chizuru sighed sadly, “don’t kill us, okay?”
“I’d never kill you!”
“Four more minutes, little girls!” Raiden hollered across the gym.
“Great!” Mao yelled back, still angry.
“Uh, Michimiya-san, what’s the starting rotation?” Aoki came over to ask.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, starting rotation…” Yui realized she had no idea. “Um, how about we start with Mao, Rinko, and me up front, and Aoki, Moe, and Aya in the back. Aoki’ll serve first, and we’ll have most of our taller players up front to block and attack. That way we can start off well.” Yui answered. Where am I getting this confidence from? She asked herself. Why do I all of a sudden, feel like we can do this?
“Yui, look!” exclaimed five-year-old Daichi Sawamura. “I can pass the ball to myself!”
“That’s so awesome!” yelled little Yui, running over to her friend. “Teach me!”
“Okay! So first you put your hands like this,” Daichi showed her how to fold her hands and straighten her arms. “And then you bend your knees like this.” He continued to demonstrate.
“Toss me the ball!” Yui exclaimed. Daichi did so, and Yui swung her arms up - and missed. The ball hit the ground by her feet.
“Oops,” she giggled, picking the ball up and tossing it back to Daichi.
“It’s okay, you’ll get it next time! My coach from class says we need to try over and over until we get it right!” he encouraged her.
“I know that!” Yui answered, straightening her arms and bending her knees. “Toss it again!”
Daichi threw the ball again, and Yui missed again. They kept tossing and playing with the ball until a couple hours later, Yui felt the ball go smack! On her arms and bounce off towards Daichi, who caught it in his hands.
“I DID IT! I DID IT, DAI-CHAN!” Yui screamed, pulling her friend into a tight hug. “I PASSED THE BALL!”
“Good job!” replied Daichi. “Wanna practice some more?”
“Yeah! Volleyball is fun!” Yui answered.
“Mine!” exclaimed a girl with short black hair, and she passed the ball to the team’s setter. The setter, a tall girl with brown hair in two pigtails, jumped up and set the ball up.
“Yui, get the last hit!” she said.
“‘Kay!” Thirteen-year-old Yui made her approach and jumped up, pulling her arm back and preparing to swing. The ball floated up, and she swung. She felt the ball fitting perfectly in her hand as she smacked it above the net. She heard another sound soon after - the sound of hands slapping the ball and the ball bouncing on the wood floor of the gym as Yui’s feet hit the ground.
The pigtailed setter and the black-haired girl both dove to the ground, but they were too late. The referee’s whistle blew, and Yui realized the other team had just scored their 25th point. The set was over, and it was the last set of the match. Izumitate Junior High Girls’ Volleyball Team had lost against Kitagawa First, and they would not be advancing in the tournament. Yui stared in horror as the opposing team’s girls hugged each other happily, cheering. The image of those blue and white jerseys on the girls’ strong bodies, all crammed together in a celebratory huddle, would be forever imprinted in Yui’s mind.
As the Izumitate team left the gym, Yui was greeted by Daichi and Ikejiri. Instead of saying they were sorry or telling her there was always next time, the boys held out their hands for high-fives. As Yui sadly placed her hands against theirs, Daichi looked her in the eyes and asked, “Michimiya, do you love volleyball?”
“Of course I do!” Yui answered adamantly.
“So are you going to keep playing, even though you lost this match?”
“Yeah, of course I am!” she replied.
“Good.” Daichi placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. “Keep fighting, Michimiya.”
“Mmf!” Yui slapped her cheeks and lowered her hands, revealing her pink cheeks. “We can’t give up before the game’s even started! Let’s fight with everything we’ve got and prove we have the right to this gym!” she called to the other girls. Some of them still looked unsure, but Yui felt confident they’d show their true strength once they started playing.
“Warm-up time’s up, ladies. Who serves first?” asked Raiden from the other side of the net.
“If you don’t mind, we’d like to go first.” Yui answered.
“Have it your way then, captain,” Raiden chuckled mockingly. If they receive first, we’ll be able to see if they’re any good before we try to attack, Yui thought. Let them taunt us all they want. We’re stronger than they think! We won’t lose again, not when our whole team’s future is at stake here!
“I’ll ref,” offered a skinny brown-haired boy from the basketball team, picking up a whistle he found in the supply closet and standing beside the net pole. “My sister plays volleyball at her school, so I know most of the rules. My name’s Eiji, by the way.”
Everyone agreed, and they went to their positions. Yui picked up a ball and tossed it to Aoki, saying, “Give us a nice serve, Aoki!”
“I’ll try, captain,” Aoki replied.
“Just do it!” Mao said, tying her hair up in a ponytail. “These boys are seriously getting on my nerves!”
Aoki nodded, gripping the ball and walking behind the serve line. Eiji blew his whistle and signaled for her to serve. Taking a deep breath, Aoki tossed the ball up into the air and swung as hard as she could.
Please let it go over, let it go over, make it go over! We have to win this! Yui prayed, standing up by the net, ready to block. The red-white-and-green volleyball flew over her head and-
It hit the white tape at the top of the net. No no no no NO NO NO NO! Yui began freaking out. The net bent under the ball and the ball bounced over onto the other side and the girls exhaled. Aoki ran in and got into position.
“Argh!” Raiden barely managed to pass the ball up to another boy, who set the ball to a tall, strong-looking boy up front, with short black hair and freckles. He made an approach - that’s not a volleyball approach, it looks like a basketball layup! Yui thought with some amusement - and jumped.
“Now!” Yui yelled, and she jumped up with Mao and Rinko, hands up. The boy swung his arm and Yui heard his hand slam into the ball. SMACK! The ball hit Mao’s hands, but her block wasn’t strong enough and the ball flew up into the air towards the ceiling.
“One touch!” yelled Mao, her ponytail bouncing as her feet landed on the floor.
“Mine!” Moe exclaimed, running forward to pass the ball. Her arms were not completely straight, though, and the ball bounced off towards the right. Aoki ran after it and put up a messy set. Eiji didn’t call a double hit or any other type of violation, so the ball was still in play and Yui watched it fly up in an arc.
“Yui, hit it over! We’ll cover you!” Mao said, moving back from the net. Yui kept her eyes on the ball and made her approach, springing into the air on her third step.
“Three blockers!” Moe exclaimed. She was right - the boys jumped up with their hands in the air, blocking Yui’s view of the other side of the court. They’re so tall, and they jump much higher than us… I’ll be completely stuffed! But I can’t just let the ball drop! I have to do something! Yui thought frantically. Panicking, she swung at the ball, hoping the boys’ block would drop.
It didn’t.
Yui stuck out her hand, bouncing the ball up a few inches. Mao stuck her arms out straight and tried to pass it to Rinko, but her fingers slipped, causing the platform she had made with her arms to tilt. The ball bounced to the back, straight at Sasaki.
“Aya!” Aoki gasped.
“I got it!” she exclaimed, jumping up and pulling her arm back to hit it. Swinging forward, she hit the ball and it zoomed over the net.
“They can do that from the back?” asked one of the boys, a lanky guy with brown glasses and band-aids on his elbows.
“Duh! Now keep your eyes on the ball!” said the boy next to him, who ran forward to try and pass the ball. His arms bent and his fingers slipped, though, and the ball veered off to the left.
“Sorry! Somebody get that!” he exclaimed. Raiden jumped for it, sticking his arm out and swinging backwards. The ball flew over the net and Moe and Sasaki scrambled.
“Mine!” Sasaki cried.
“Oops, sorry-” Moe tripped over Chizuru’s foot, falling to the floor. The third-year girl stumbled, falling down as well.
“Are you girls okay?” Aoki gasped, running over.
“Focus on the ball!” Nozomi yelled from the sideline. Yui threw her arms out in front of her and dove, sliding on the floor. The ball hit the white line at the back of the court with a thump, and Yui pulled her hands back and let her head drop forward. Eiji blew the whistle, and Nozomi ran over to the scoreboard the boys had been using to keep track of their baskets. She flipped over a one on the left side, signifying the point the boys had scored.
“Haha, take that, girls!” the boys yelled, rotating positions. “Our turn to serve now!”
“You alright?” Yui extended her hands to Moe and Chizuru.
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Moe said with a sigh, taking Yui’s hand and pulling herself up. Chizuru, though, clutched her ankle and bit her lip.
“Ouch… I-I don’t feel so good…” she whimpered. Yui gasped and put her friend’s arm around her shoulders and pulled her up to her feet. Sasaki stumbled, but thankfully, Yui was there to catch her.
“I-I think I should sit out for a few points,” the shorter third-year said. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, we’ll just sub in Nozomi,” Yui said, hiding her fear behind a brave voice. She helped Sasaki walk to the bench, and beckoned to Nozomi.
“Am I going in?” asked the first-year libero, her voice trembling slightly.
“Yep. Do your best!” Yui high-fived her, trying to regain her sudden burst of confidence from a few minutes earlier.
“I’ll try not to let you down, captain,” Nozomi said shakily, taking her position between Aoki and Moe.
“Give us a good serve, bro!” Raiden yelled as the boy with glasses picked up the volleyball and walked behind the serve line.
“How do I do this?” he asked with a laugh.
“Just- well, do it underhand like they showed us in PE last year!” Raiden replied.
“‘Kay,” the boy answered, and Eiji whistled and signaled for him to serve. The boy held the ball with his left hand and swung with his right hand, letting his palm contact with the ball and propel it upwards. It floated over the net and Nozomi called out, “I got it!”
She bent her knees and straightened her arms, but the ball ended up being higher than she expected. She switched to a set, but she didn’t push through hard enough and the ball just bounced off her fingertips and went straight up.
“Sorry, my bad!” Nozomi exclaimed. “Somebody connect!”
“Got it!” Aoki shifted her feet and reached her arms out, the ball hitting her forearms. Instead of going to Mao in the center front like she intended, it went to Yui on the right.
“Yui!” the setter called. “It’s yours!”
“I’m on it!” Yui called back, taking a step out of the court and starting her approach from there. One, two, three, and jump, she thought as she took her steps.
“They’re putting up three blockers again!” she heard Moe gasp. Yui blocked out her teammates’ voices and focused on the ball as she slammed her hand into it, pushing it upwards a bit, hoping to hit it over the block. Their hands are way above me; I can’t see the other side! I’ll be stuffed for sure, she thought.
“My finger touched it!” yelled Raiden as he landed. It worked! Yui thought happily. She followed the ball with her eyes and noticed it was heading toward the back of the boys’ court.
“Mine!” the boy with glasses called, setting it to the front.
“SMASH IT!” Raiden roared as he bumped the ball to the shorter boy in their front row. He took a few steps and jumped, swinging his arm forward.
“NOW!” Mao yelled, and she jumped up with Yui and Rinko, sticking their hands up and over the top of the net. The short boy couldn’t jump as high as his taller teammates, and Rinko’s hands stopped the volleyball as soon as it left his hand. He wasn’t quick to react to the block, and the ball thumped on the floor on the boys’ side.
FWEEP! Eiji blew the whistle and the girls ran to each other in a huge group hug.
“We scored!” Nozomi squealed.
“Sorry I messed you guys up…” Moe apologized again, but Yui patted her back and said, “It’s okay! Let’s show these boys just what we’re made of.”
“Yeah! Karasuno… FIGHT!” they all cheered.
“Give us a nice serve, Yui!” Mao said as she rolled the volleyball to Yui, who stood behind the serve line.
“Hit it hard, girls. Bring it!” shouted the short boy from the basketball team. Yui shut her eyes and took a deep breath. You can do this, Michimiya. You can do this. Come on. She slowly opened her eyes again as Eiji blew the whistle, and she extended her arm, holding out the ball. Remember - toss the ball straight up and in front of you, and make sure you swing through hard and fast, and step into it with your foot. You got this.
As she released the ball with her left hand, she watched it float swiftly up, up, up… and behind her. Crap, I didn’t toss it straight! This whole serve will be botched! She still swung at it with her right arm, hoping to hit it anyway. SLAP! Her hand hit the ball and Yui pushed through as hard as she could, and watched the ball zoom at the net. It passed over the white stripe about an inch above it, and Yui exhaled in relief. The boys managed to receive it, and it got to the boy with glasses, who set it forward. Raiden swung his arms back and jumped up at the ball.
“Come on!” Moe called to the other girls in the front row, and they jumped up to block. Raiden smacked the ball and it slammed against Rinko’s fingers - and kept going.
“Ow- one touch!” Rinko cried out as she landed, clutching her fingers.
“Someone cover!” Mao yelled.
“I got it!” Nozomi took a few steps, but the ball ended up being shorter than she expected, and she had to reach for it. The ball bounced off her arms and headed out.
“Urgh-” Yui grunted, running after it. BAM! The ball hit the floor outside the line, and Eiji whistled and held his hand up. Out. Sasaki limped over to the scoreboard and flipped over another flap on the boys’ side. The score was 2-1, for the boys.
“Yeah!” they hollered, pumping their fists in the air. Yui walked back to her position on the court and apologized, “Sorry, I wasn’t fast enough.”
“It’s okay, Yui. It’s… it’s just a game, right?” Aoki replied. Yui bit her lip. What is volleyball to me? Is it just a game? Am I willing to dedicate myself to this sport, or will it forever be just a game? I… I really don’t know. I don’t know!
Eiji’s whistle blew.
“Sorry!” Chizuru exclaimed as her pass flew out of bounds. My ankle still hurts, but Nozomi isn’t allowed to play in the front row, so I have to go. Ugh, I wish I could stay sitting out! I don’t get why Yui is so set on us doing this. It’s just a club activity! she thought.
“Don’t worry,” Rinko told her as Eiji blew the whistle again and Nozomi flipped over the 25 on the scoreboard. The girls had won the first set, but the boys had won the second.
Chizuru wiped her forehead with her hand and panted.
“I-I’m so tired! Can’t we have, like, a time-out or something?” she asked Yui.
“Oh, um, sure… but we don’t have much time left of practice…” Yui hesitated.
“You girls too tired to keep playing?” taunted Raiden.
“Maybe, maybe not!” Mao yelled back. Raiden only rolled his eyes and smirked.
“Come on, Yui, please!” Sasaki begged. “My ankle still hurts, and I think we all need to get a drink of water.”
“Oh… okay.” Yui sighed and called out to Eiji, “We’re taking a time-out.”
“So, do you still think we can win?” Mao asked Yui as she gulped down cold water.
“Um…”
“You’ve got to be crazy if you think we have a chance! Yui, you’ve seen how strong they are! Even though their approaches suck, they still jump higher than we do and their spikes are way stronger! Our blocks are completely useless against them, and we can’t really receive anything they send over the net! Can’t we just give up or something?” Mao argued, putting her water bottle down.
“No! I don’t know about you, but I want to play volleyball! And we can’t do that without a gym!” Yui said, putting her hands on her hips. “Time to get back out there!”
“Just give up already!” yelled the boy with glasses from the other side of the court. Yui covered her face with her hands, not wanting to see anything or be seen by anybody. Sasaki took a drink of water and whimpered, “I’m tired!”
“I know, me too, but let’s keep trying!” Yui argued, wiping her forehead with her shirt, making the boys snicker.
“Fine,” Mao said, fixing her ponytail and stepping back onto the court. The other girls followed suit, and soon they were all ready to receive the boys’ serves. Nozomi had been subbed in to replace Chizuru again, but even the libero was tired and wanted to give up. The boys picked up the ball and handed it to their server with a cheer of, “Come on, smash it hard, bruh!”
“Alright!” yelled their server, and Eiji blew the whistle. The boy hit the ball, and it flew over the net.
“Mine!” yelled Yui, shuffling over a few steps and passing the ball up. It worked! She thought with delight. Aoki, the setter, put her hands up to set it, but the ball bounced off her fingertips again and it didn’t go very far.
“Sorry!” she exclaimed, breathing fast.
“I’ll get it!” Mao jumped up and hit the ball through the space between the boys’ arms. The ball flew past the block and landed in the center of the court with a BAM!
“Nice kill, Mao!” Chizuru squealed from the sideline and flipped over a 1 on the girls’ side of the scoreboard. The ponytailed girl smiled in response, but she bent over and tried to catch her breath. This is too hard! I can’t do this! I’m not an athlete! Volleyball is just a game, a hobby! We’re not like the boys’ team - we just play to have fun! It’s not like a battle for us… why does Yui act like it is? she wondered.
“Yui’s up to serve again!” Chizuru said. “Good luck, Yui!”
“Thanks,” muttered Yui, picking up the ball. Make this one count, she told herself. Slowly inhaling and exhaling as the whistle blew, she tossed the ball up in the air and her eyes shone with satisfaction. It flew straight up and in front of her, perfectly easy to hit. She stepped forward and swung hard, and with a SMACK!, the ball flew forward right at the net.
Fwap. It hit the top of the net and landed on the floor, rolling over to the boys’ side. Chizuru flipped over another 1 on the scoreboard - the boys had scored. Yui panted as her teammates told her, “Don’t worry about it! No big deal, right?”
“Y-y-yeah, I-I guess…” Yui said between breaths. But, is that really what I think? Is it a big deal or not? How big of a deal is volleyball to me? I’m not like Daichi - to him, volleyball is everything. I’m not like that… am I? No. I’m definitely not. I can’t even start to compare myself to Daichi - he’s infinitely superior! I’m just Dai-chan’s little friend. That’s all. Yui ignored the sweat starting to drip down her face and focused on the volleyball coming toward her and tried to forget everything else.
“Aww, look, they’re trying to play volleyball!” Daichi’s aunt said, sitting on a bench at the park with her sister, the little boy’s mother.
“Yeah, he loves to pass the ball - either to himself or with a partner. He’ll do anything as long as he can play with that ball more!” Mrs. Sawamura replied.
“He’s so talented - and only five years old! My neighbor has a boy about his age, and he still can’t even toss a ball straight up! You must be very proud of him.”
“Of course! I’m glad he’s learned to do things like this on his own, and already found a hobby!”
As the two women talked, the little boy they were talking about was a few meters away, tossing and passing a lightweight volleyball with his friend, Yui, a girl who lived just down the street. When Daichi tossed the ball, Yui would try to pass it back to him. Sometimes she succeeded, sometimes she didn’t, but she kept trying.
“Dai-chan, toss me another!” she exclaimed.
“Aren’t you tired yet?” Daichi asked, holding on to the volleyball.
“A little… but I want to play more!” Yui answered.
“Okay.” Daichi tossed her the ball, and the two children resumed their play as Daichi’s mother and aunt looked on.
“Do you think he’ll play on a team when he’s older?” asked his aunt.
“If he wants to, I’m sure he will.” Mrs. Sawamura replied. They continued discussing the little boy with dark hair, wide eyes, and chubby arms and legs, who loved to play volleyball. They took no notice of the shorter girl with short, brown hair and shining eyes who would fall down over and over and trip when she tried to get the ball, but would get up again over and over, despite the scratches on her knees and the hot sun beating down on her.
“Daichi, it’s time to go back home!” his mom eventually called.
“Okay! Bye, Yui-chan!” Daichi said with a smile, picking up his volleyball and giving the girl a high-five.
“Bye, Dai-chan! See you tomorrow!” Yui said, pink-cheeked and grinning. “I can’t wait to play more volleyball!”
“Aww, Dai-chan’s little friend is so cute! She’s such a sweetie to play volleyball with him.” Daichi’s aunt said, taking her nephew’s hand.
“She likes volleyball!” Daichi said as he looked up at her. “I want to play on a team with her one day!”
“Honey, boys and girls play on separate teams,” his aunt said with a smile. “And your little friend might not want to play volleyball when she gets older.”
“She will! She’ll play with me!” Daichi argued. His mom and aunt laughed. Yui sat down on the grass and picked a dandelion, thinking.
“I like volleyball,” she whispered. “And I like Dai-chan. But I can’t play on a team with him, because he’s a boy and I’m a girl. Maybe I can play with girls instead!”
As Daichi walked away with his family, his aunt asked his mom,
“Hey, what’s her name again? Dai-chan’s little friend, I mean.”
“Oh, her. I think it’s Yui.” Mrs. Sawamura responded.
“Yep!” Daichi added. “She’s awesome!”
As Yui grew older, she still passed the ball back and forth with Daichi, since they lived on the same street. When she turned 14, though - her second year of middle school - Daichi’s father got a new job a few blocks away, and they moved. They still rode their bikes to school together sometimes, but Daichi hung out with the boys on his volleyball team more, and Yui didn’t have any other friends that lived nearby.
On Daichi’s birthday, Yui decided to ride over to his house and give him a present - a brand-new pair of volleyball kneepads she had bought at a sports store. He needed new ones, since his old ones were getting so worn out from all the practice he did, and Yui thought, what better time than his birthday to get him some? So she put them in a box, wrapped it, and held it under her arm as she hopped on her bike.
The streets were covered in snow and Yui’s bare hands were freezing. Shivering as she pedaled on her bike, she turned the corner toward Daichi’s house. Her bike wobbled and slipped on a patch of ice, and before she could react, Yui was lying on the ground, her pants soaked with melting snow and a scratch on her face.
“Ow…” she whispered, untangling her feet from her bike and picking it up. “It’s okay, I’ll just get back on and ride the rest of the way,” she said as she picked up the (now wet and covered in snow) present and tucked it under her arm again.
“Hey, isn’t that Daichi’s friend?” a boy said as he walked by with his friend. “The one he always talks to in the halls.”
“Yeah, I think so. But doesn’t Daichi like volleyball? You’d think he’d be into, you know, stronger-looking girls.” his friend laughed. Yui felt her cheeks heating up, so she turned away and got back on her bike. I’m not just “Daichi’s friend!" She thought angrily. And do I really look that weak?
The Izumitate Junior High Girls’ Volleyball Team walked into the gym on the first day of their tournament. Their second-year outside hitter, Yui Michimiya, wore the number 6 jersey and adjusted her kneepads. This was their second match, and Yui was determined to win this one just as they had won their previous game. As the team bowed to their opponents, two third-year girls watched from the bleachers.
“Hey, that number 3 is a great setter!” one of them said. “She always puts up balls that are easy for the other girls to hit, and no matter how bad the pass is, she always finds a way to make it work. She’s got real talent!”
The setter they were speaking of had just put up another set, to Yui. The second-year girl hit the ball and scored, causing the Izumitate team to erupt in cheers.
“Oh, that girl who just scored - who is she?” asked the second of the two third-year girls watching the game.
“How should I know? I think she’s Daichi’s friend. You know, the opposite on the boys’ team. I hear rumors he’s slated to be the next captain!” replied her companion.
“If only his talent would rub off on his friend, though. She’s nowhere near his skill level.”
“That’s true. The other girls on the team definitely have more power and they pay attention to the ball much better than she does.”
Little did these girls know, “Daichi’s friend” had heard everything they said, and it wasn’t helping her performance. She wasn’t very good at ignoring what others said about her, and she felt a sting as she realized that nobody cared who she was. She was just Daichi’s friend, who sucked at volleyball and could never be close to the level he was on. Why did she even try?
The girls laid down on the gym’s wood floor, closing their eyes and breathing heavily. They had beat the boys, but just barely. The score for the last set was 25-23, and their last point had been scored by pure luck. Raiden had been up to serve, and he got so fired up thinking he could serve an ace that he put too much power into his serve and the ball flew out of bounds.
“I-I-I can’t b-believe we… we won!” Yui said, breathing heavily. “We did it! We-we can keep our gym!”
“I-I don’t think I ever… ever want to pl-play volleyball… ever again!” Chizuru whined, collapsing exhaustedly onto the ground next to Mao, whose ponytail had come undone and the band was nowhere to be found.
“That was… way harder than I- than I would ever have expected volleyball to be,” replied the tall girl with dirty blonde hair.
“It was kinda fun, though…” the libero, Nozomi, added timidly.
“No, it wasn’t! It was hard and now I’m tired!” Moe complained, leaning on Rinko’s shoulder as they slumped down on the bench.
“I suck at receiving so badly,” Aoki covered her face with her hands. “I hope the serve never comes to me again!”
“We-we did okay,” Yui said, out of breath. She picked up her water bottle and took a huge gulp of the refreshing water. We won! she thought ecstatically. We beat the boys! Kaida and Himari would’ve been so proud of us! And- and Daichi, too. We haven’t won something in so long!
“Hey, girls,” Raiden walked over with his basketball team. “You weren’t that bad.” he extended a hand to Yui.
“But you were still bad,” snickered the boy with glasses.
“So, um, maybe we could work out a compromise? Like, we can use the full court on some days, you can have it on other days, and sometimes we can each use half?” Raiden continued.
Yui ignored Raiden’s outstretched hand and picked herself up on her own, walking over to Sasaki and Mao and pulling them to their feet.
“That sounds good,” she then told the basketball club’s captain. “But you guys are gonna have to stick with it.”
“Of course we will!” Raiden exclaimed. “As long as you girls do the same.”
Yui stared at him, a small flame seeming to ignite in her eyes.
“We will.”