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The first time Natsu meets Kanoka Amanai, she is nine years old.
She stands beside her brother in the corner of the bleachers, it’s crowded, but close to the court, further away from all the distraction.
He pulls her close, as he always does in crowded places, it’s his job to protect her after all.
“Do you see that girl over there?” He points to a girl standing at the end of the court, getting ready to serve. Short hair, white uniform, number six.
She nods
“That’s Kanoka-san” he tells her “Niiyama’s ace, keep a close eye on her”
And she does, there isn’t a second where Natsu doesn’t keep her eye off of Kanoka, how easily she glides across the court, the full strength she uses in her spikes, the silent affirmation he gives her teammates as they go for a play.
It goes like this for a while, some kids her age are getting bored, tugging at their mother’s pant leg and asking when they can go home.
But Natsu stays until the very last second, when the ball hits the floor and the final buzzer sounds.
Kanoka yells in victory, Natsu’s eyes begin to shine, and Shoyo flashes her a quick grin before rushing to exit the stadium for his next match.
Natsu Hinata is seventeen years old, riding high on her win at nationals the previous year, and her big brother is preparing to stand at the national stage, shining brighter than ever before.
Four years without her big brother was an adjustment, he had always been by her side, always been the one to protect her and take care of her, not that she isn’t capable of doing that herself of course.
It had been him who first taught her how to fly, who ignited her love of volleyball, who introduced her to her current idol, and she’s a little ashamed to admit how many posters she has of Kanoka-san in her room.
So, to spend four years without his guidance had been a little difficult for her in the beginning.
Yet, she persevered. She trained as hard as he did, took some advice from his meal planning journal he left behind, and became a well-respected teammate and captain among her peers.
She’s confident in herself, in her abilities as a setter, a captain, a teammate.
So, at a third year's sleepover, when her friends start discussing recruiters at their games, she freezes.
“Nacchan over here has the best bet of getting recruited” her vice-captain, Kumagi laughs “she’s like the golden child of Niiyama”
“You say that like you aren’t our star spiker” Natsu grins
“And you say that like you aren’t our team captain and you don’t have the setter of the year award hung up beside your Kanoka shrine” Kumagi retorts
“It’s not a shrine”
“It’s a shrine, Nacchan. As I was saying, you’re basically a freak of nature on the court, I have no doubt you’re going to get recruited.”
She can’t really argue against that, she’s on one of the top teams in the nation for crying out loud! She's in the spotlight for recruitment at this point.
Tobio had been recruited during nationals, Natsu remembers hearing the absolute pride in Shoyo’s voice as he told her, how he was both jealous of him and proud of him at the same time, how willing he was to keep that promise he made him.
She wants Shoyo to feel that same pride for her, she wants to feel the excitement and thrill Tobio felt upon being recruited, she wants to be able to soar even higher.
Soon enough, she will.
“How’s nationals prep going?” Shoyo asks through the phone, it’s later at night and she sits out on the patio so as to not wake their mother.
“Good, I’ve been trying Tobio’s new serve routine recently, I think I’ve got the hang of it, but It needs some improvement”
There’s a loud howl from the other end of the phone, then a hushed “sorry, Tobio!” before he starts talking again
“Geez, Nacchan!” He cackles “he just showed you that routine last week ”
She wonders if he can hear her eye roll through the screen
“Well, Nii-chan , my apologies for trying to seem less predictable on court” she laughs “I think it’d be nice to change things up a bit, catch them off guard, you know?”
“Just like a decoy, right?”
“Exactly.” She smiles
The qualifying match almost ends in a tie.
It’s intense, back-breaking, sweat-inducing, and Natsu’s head continues to pound relentlessly as she moves across the court. She loves matches like these, but she just wants this match to end already.
At this point, a tie could be called, but she won’t let that happen, it wouldn’t be a fair match.
She darts her eyes towards Kumagi, who shoots her a nod and moves closer towards the ball.
From the way she’s moving, it looks like she’s about to go for a spike, their teammates are probably thinking that too, but the both of them know otherwise.
Kumagi moves her body forward and quickly grabs the ball, the opposing team starts to panic, Natsu jumps up and reaches for the ball as fast as she can.
The blockers are too late to move to the other side, Natsu slams the ball into the court with as much force as she can muster, as exhausted as she is.
The whistle blows, the crowd cheers, and the team erupts in a roar, each of her teammates piling on top of her, a wave of relief comes down her shoulders.
“What the actual fuck was that?” Her teammate yells, Natsu can barely catch her breath.
“Had to catch them off guard, you know?”
“could have at least warned me, asshole” she laughs “you’re a monster, Nacchan”
“A monster who just scored us nationals” Natsu grins
“Hinata-san, could you join me outside for a quick second?”
It’s not that Natsu is terrified of her coach, it’s more that the tone she says things in can sound more worrying than it actually is.
She quickly shuffles behind coach as they make their way through the afterparty, her heart beating faster with every second, if only her coach would stop saying things so ominously all the time.
They exit the room, and Natsu’s breath hitches as she realizes why coach pulled her out here.
She knows the woman standing in front of her, she’s been following the team for years now, It isn’t hard to spot the coach of a professional volleyball team.
Natsu isn’t sure if she should run in fear,
stay frozen in shock, or dig up a hole and just lie there.
“Hinata-san, I’m sure you know who Yasuda-san is” Coach says, and Natsu takes a quick bow
“Nice to meet you, ma’m” She says, she sounds like she’s keeping her cool, but on the inside she feels like she’s about to explode.
“We’ve been watching you for a while” Yasuda-san smiles, without context, it sounds more terrifying than rewarding. “And we’ve been very impressed with your skills over the years, You’ve especially caught the eye of our captain”
Kanoka.
She’s talking about Kanoka.
Kanoka, her idol, the one she’s been obsessively fangirling over for the past seven years, has been watching her.
It takes all her strength not to let out a scream.
“I’ve been making sure to train extra hard for nationals this year, since it’s my final one.” She nods “I thought i’d change things up in my serve routines too, catch them off guard a little bit”
Yasuda-san laughs, easing the tension in Natsu’s shoulders, she doesn’t seem as terrifying as she looks on TV.
“We want you on our team, Hinata-san” she says, and Natsu feels her eyes well up “You’ve shown us that you have the talent to go pro, and we’d be fools if we didn’t offer you the chance to play with us once your high school career is over”
“I- Yes, I would be honored”
She isn’t sure what to feel at this point. Pride? Excitement? Nervousness? Fear?
All she knows is that the second she goes home, she’s telling her big brother.
When she returns home, after a long night of celebration and laughter, It’s almost midnight.
She kicks off her shoes on the mat beside the door, gently places her duffel bag on the floor, and immediately sprints outside.
It’s midnight, Shoyo and Tobio are probably fast asleep, but Natsu doesn’t care, she needs to tell him.
She fumbles with her phone, pressing the call button as hard as she can. Shoyo picks up before the first ring, as expected.
“Niichan” She tries to catch her breath, still processing what just happened in the last couple of hours “Shoyo, holy shit ”
Shoyo sounds exhausted, but his voice still perks up
“Natsu, what happened?”
“You know Kanoka’s team? The Hikari Red Rabbits? Yeah, well, I met their coach today”
“Holy shit, Natsu! That’s awesome”
“And—“ she breathes “she offered me a spot on the team, I’m meeting them next weekend, I’m going to be on a professional team Shoyo”
There’s a beat of silence, and then a loud whooping sound.
“I— Natsu, holy shit”
“I know”
“I’m so proud of you Nacchan, that’s— you worked so hard for this, and now you’re going to be on top of the world stage”
“I’ll make you and Tobio proud, Shou” she says “I promise”
“I know you will, Nacchan. Now get some sleep, okay?”
“I will, Shouyou, goodnight”
A lot has changed since she was a little girl.
Her big brother has changed, too. He’s still the same dork he’s always been, but he’s matured into his own person, he has a better grasp on volleyball than he did when he first started, and he continues to improve every single day.
Soon enough, there will be two Hinata’s on the world stage. Both aiming for something higher than their reach.
The future is bright, and Natsu cant wait to get started.