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“And that point was scored by Karasuno’s own Tiny Giant!”
“Look at the height that number 10 got on that block! He has such power for a middle blocker.”
Those words coming from the TV in front of the local electronic store in Miyagi stopped Shoyo Hinata, age 12, in his path as he’d been biking home from elementary school.
’WOW! That could be me!’ Shoyo thought to himself as he watched the replay while it played a few more times. ’I am gonna be even greater than him one day, I just know it!’
From the many hours spent practicing by himself and sometimes with the girl’s team in middle school, he developed his basic skills. As their third year of middle school was coming to an end, Shoyo convinced his friends along with some other classmates they had a team and even a game scheduled. Their rag tag team unfortunately had been no match for the other one. The whole game Shoyo found himself focused on the setter for the opposing team.
’He’s going to be your greatest rival from this day forward…’ A voice inside his head prodded. ’In order to be the best, the next Tiny Giant, you need to surpass his level. You only get to stay on the court longer if your talent is greater than his.’
“Hey, Setter-san!” Shoyo called out after the game, “one day I’m going to surpass you and stay on the court longer.”
“I’ll be waiting to see that when you do!” The opposing dark haired setter sneered back, “but I seriously doubt that is likely…”
“Just you wait!” Shoyo flashed him a big grin. “I’ll see you on the other side of that net.”
“Yeah…yeah…”
Shoyo walked off with the rest of his team already thinking about how next spring he’d be attending the same school that the Tiny Giant did. That made his whole body feel electric with anticipation. Could spring come sooner? That is all that Shoyo longed for.
————————————————————
The sakura blossoms were falling softly to the ground while the breeze spun them. Shoyo’s eyes grew wide as he stepped through the gate to Karasuno and surveyed the school grounds.
‘This is the same ground that the Tiny Giant walked! The same school he went to! My story to be the next Tiny Giant begins today!’
Shoyo nodded to his own thoughts as he immediately looked for the gymnasium and where to find a club application form even before finding his classroom for homeroom period. As he turned the corner, another dark haired boy stood by the gym drinking a milk drink from the vending machine. It took Shoyo a minute until his brain recognized the boy.
“Hey! It’s you, Setter-san!” He beamed walking up to the other. “I thought that we were gonna see each other on the other side of the net instead of the same side.”
The darker haired boy side eyed the tangerine haired boy who was a little too close for the dark haired boy’s liking.
“I’ve got a name, you know.” He muttered throwing out his milk box in the trashcan.”It’s Kageyama Tobio. Not ‘Setter-san’. Are you stupid or something?”
“No…” Shoyo’s friendly smile faded slightly at how rude the other seemed to be. “I’m Hinata Shoyo, and I’m gonna be the next Tiny Giant. I wanna be the ace of Karasuno.” He spoke each word passionately holding his hand against his chest.
“You? The ace?” Kageyama laughed. “You do realize that you are a first year, and that you have to be accepted onto the team before you can even think about being the ace. And if your skills are just as poor as that game where I played against you, you are far from being an ace. Do you even know what an ace does?”
“Or course I do! They are the one who gets the ball the most, and scores the most points, and stays on the court the longest.” Shoyo looks at Kageyama with a pouty glare.
“Good luck with that.” Kageyama rolls his eyes at Shoyo crossing his arms as he signals that he is done with this conversation.
The two continued to wait in silence for the gym to open. Time continues to pass until a gruff voice is heard by the two of them from a window in a classroom overlooking the gymnasium.
“Hey! You two, idiots! Get to class, now!”
“Yes sir!” They said in unison and scurried off to their classroom.
When the final bell rang, Shoyo sprinted to the gym already finding Kageyama there still waiting with his form in hand. Five minutes passed before the doors to the gym finally opened. The two both got stuck in the doorway as they both tried pushing through at the same time.
“Hey, stupid! Stop pushing. I was walking through the door first.”
“No, Bakayama. I was but you just had to block me from trying to get in.”
The two continued to bicker, getting no further into the gym because neither would budge. The rest of the team that had started warm ups just eyed the display with wide eyes while they tried not to snicker.
“Looks like they are a lively bunch, eh, Daichi?” A silver haired third year nudged a darker haired third year with a winking giggle.
The darker haired third year shook his head, sighing, rubbing his forehead before stepping forward to the two that were making a ruckus.
“Oi! You two! Cut it out!” He called to the two, noticing that the two stopped struggling at the door. “If you two want to join the volleyball club, a little rivalry is healthy, but it’s even more important to come together with each person’s strengths as a team. Until you both learn this, the gym is closed to the both of you and consider your club application denied.”
“Whoa, Daichi isn’t playin’…”
“I heard that, Tanaka.”
“Sorry, sir.”
“You better be.” He looked over his shoulder at a second year that had his hair nearly buzzed to the scalp. Then Daichi turned to the two hopeful first years with a smile and shut the doors in front of them. “Come back when you have learned what I said.”
“You ruined everything!” Kageyama clenched his fists at his side, spitting his words at Shoyo.
“No, you did, Bakayama!” Shoyo replied leaning in closer to Kageyama. “Now how are we gonna get into a club that we just got kicked out of?”
“Sneak in?”
“No, that’s not gonna work. That captain guy would just kick us out.”
“Yeah probably…”
“I mean, it’s not much different than middle school. I practiced by myself back then too.”
“You need a team to be able to play volleyball, dummy. It’s called a ‘team sport’ for a reason.” Kageyama shook his head, pushing his hands into his gym track pants.
“I’m not gonna practice with you, that's for sure.”
“Good! Because I just would grow stupider practicing with you.”
“Then I guess I’ll just go home and practice there then.”
“Sure, whatever.” Kageyama shrugged, watching Shoyo as the tangerine haired boy left.
Shoyo kicked a rock he saw on the ground in front of him until he reached his bike. Shoyo was so upset. This was his chance to get be apart of something he’d always wanted but that stupid Bakayama had to ruin it for him. He continued to stew about this as he parked his bike and entered his home.
“Welcome home, Onii-san.” A smiling face greeted him at the door before blinking confused at him. “Didn’t you say that you were returning late because you were going to have club activities?”
“Yeah but that dumb Kageyama got me rejected from the club…” he muttered.
“Onii-san!” Her mouth opened wide as she heard her brother’s evident frustrations. “How about you teach me how to play out back?” She asked tugging on his arm to lead him through the house to the place she’d seen him practicing throughout the past few years. She grabbed the ball and tossed it to him. “Show me what you got!” She flashed a big beaming smile that happened to be missing a few of her front teeth.
Shoyo beamed back at her, mood definitely improved. He bumped the ball by himself, trying to see how long he could maintain keeping the ball aloft and off the ground.
“You know Onii-san, is that Kageyama kid as bad as you truly say he is? I mean no one is as good as you, but perhaps you two can be something great together. Try getting along instead of fighting.” She added eyes watching as Shoyo kept the ball aloft.
“I’ll try…but only for you, Natsu. Definitely not for that Bakeyama! He thinks that I am beneath him.” Shoyo scowled as he missed the ball and it rolled over to where Natsu stood.
Natsu picked up the ball and tossed it to her brother.
“Then show him just how wrong he is about you. Show him how cool you are. You are so fast that you are like Wizz and Zoom and Woosh. I don’t see how all eyes can’t be on you, Onii-san.’
Shoyo kept the ball aloft for a few more hits before catching it and joining Natsu in where she stood by their back porch.
“Natsu-chan, has anyone told you just how smart you are?”
“Yeah, but it’s still nice to hear.”
“Now don’t be getting a big head.” He added while one of his nads goes to ruffle her hair.
“I won’t if you promise not to mess up my hair anymore!” Turning to him with a pout on her lips.
“Alright , deal. Let’s get inside before mom gets upset at us for being outside after dark.”
—————————————————————
Weeks passed by and the doors to the gym were still off limits to Shoyo. He looked over at the cause of his ban with a glare. Kageyama was simply practicing his sets against the gym wall and not even choosing to talk to Shoyo, or even seeming to acknowledge Shoyo’s presence. A scowl darkened both boys’ faces.
“Hey…Bakayama, set for me. It’s not like that wall is gonna spike it back for you.”
“What makes you think that you can hit my sets?”
“Because, I can!”
“Fine…” Kageyama sighed and tossed the ball to Hinata. “Give me a good ball to set and then show me if you can hit one of my sets.”
Hinata quaked his stance up ready for the ball to come to him as soon as he tossed the ball. His eyes watching the ball as it arched before landing neatly on the platform of Kageyama’s fingers.
Whoosh! The ball is up and coming back to him. Time slowed as it seemed ages for the ball to coles the distance.
“NOW!” The voice in his head called. Hinata jumped high in the air and swing his right arm back, bringing it forward to make contact with the ball. Once he felt the ball just graze his palm, Hinata swung through and the ball soared just passed Kageyama’s head. The dark hair moving slightly due to the air from the spike. Kageyama’s eyes widened, trying to process what just happened. This talentless kid had managed to hit his set back to him, and he was unable to react to it? No, that wasn’t true…
A loud whoop was heard from within the gym.
“Dang that kid can jump!”
Hinata turned to the windows of the gym not realizing that he’d had an audience the whole time. He’d been busy doing just what he” told Natsu he’d do; show Kageyama his value. Based on the shock on the dark haired setter’s face, it was safe to say that it had worked.
The gym doors opened, and the broad shouldered captain filled out with the silver haired third year behind him and soon the rest of the team. Howling out a hand to Hinata and then to Kageyama.
“Welcome, Hinata Shoyo, and Kageyama Tobio, to the Karasuno Volleyball club. I accept both of your requests to join. I will be you captain, Sawamura Daichi. If for some reason I’m not here, Suga here,” pausing to point to the silver haired third year, “is in charge. Though I hope that it never comes to that…”
“Hey! You don’t mean that, Daichi..” Suga chimed in, giggling as he lightly chopped the captain in the side with his hand.
“I meant every word of it and you know it, Suga.” Daichi replied, rubbing his side feigning being in more pain than the light chop had been.
“Fine!” Suga huffed pouting with arms crossed across his chest. “If Asahi hadn’t left the team, he would’ve been vice captain wouldn’t he have?”
“We can discuss this another time…perhaps not around new members.” Daichi eyed Suga with a knowing look.
Suga did not reply to that and just simply walked back to the gym.
Daichi shook his head with a sigh and turned back to Kageyama and Hinata. A polite smile on his lips.
“Don’t mind him. Suga just misses one of our friends who decided to leave the team. I don’t have any doubts that Asahi will be able to stay away long. The three of us shared the same dream when we joined this same club in our first year, to go to nationals. This will be our year. I can feel it!”
“Good! That is our dream too!” The voice inside Hinata’s subconscious added.
————————————————————-
Shoyo barely knew that he was halfway through his first term at Karasuno. The activity with the volleyball club was where he spent his time after school. While his skills were still unpolished (in the new coach’s words), Shoyo could hold his own with the other’s and was even named a middle blocker.
Almost as if Daichi could tell the future, Asahi, the ace of Karasuno, did return. He was much different than Shoyo had imagined the tall manbunned third year. The third year looked like he was some delinquent that would beat you up if you so much as said a word to him, but the guy was actually an anxiety ridden teddy bear who wouldn’t hurt anyone.
Around the same time, a very energetic second year returned as well. Shoyo considered Noya and Asahi both person’s he could learn a lot from. He also wanted to be named the Ace when Asahi graduated, so he tended to shadow Asahi. Shoyo could tell that this made Asahi a bit uncomfortable at first. Shoyo backed off and chose to give the ace his space to adjust to being back with his old teammates. Then Shoyo would ask him how he performed such cool spikes. This was knowledge that Shoyo must know in order to stay on the court longer.
“Azumane-senpai! You have got to show me how you make your spikes go all zoom and woosh! I bet they have a tough time blocking you! I mean it helps that you are so tall…” Shoyo came up to Asahi during a water break with eyes shining with enthusiasm and admiration.
“I…um…just hit the ball. I haven’t really thought much about technique.” Asahi held the water bottle in one hand and the other hand nervously fiddled with his bun. “I just sort of see an opening for a brief second before hitting the ball and aim for that spot. It’s nothing special…” Asahi shrugged, taking a sip of water, but nearly choked on it as Noya came up behind him and gave him a firm clap on the back.
“But it is special, buddy! Especially for me who is watching in the back row!” Noya grinned up at Asahi before winking at Shoyo. “C’mon! It’s okay to have an adoring fan or two, Asahi!”
“Noya-senpai, please teach me your Rolling Thunder!” Shoyo jumped up and down with excitement, seeing Noya come over to the sidelines.
“But if I teach you all of my secrets, then I won’t have a spot on the team..”
“NO! Noya-senpai we still need you! You just are sooooo cool! I want you to teach it all to me!”
“Alright, alright. I’ll show you.”
————————————————————-
The first term was wrapping up and Shoyo was buzzing with excitement. Daichi had told them that the team was to have a training camp of sorts complete with some practice matches scattered throughout the week with some local Sendai based teams. Their facility supervisor, Takeda-sensei, had even tried to secure them a few matches with Nekoma, one of the Tokyo schools that Karasuno had good relationships with back when old man Ukai was coach. They had been interested if they hadn’t already been booked for an all Tokyo volleyball club training camp. Coach Nekomata did leave the opportunity open for them to come to the next training camp they hosted in about six months time.
Shoyo didn’t care or know who any of these teams were just that having them here meant actually volley matches with people that were not his teammates. And that made him extremely excited.
“New opponents…yes…very good…” The voice almost purred from behind the part of Shoyo’s subconscious where it rested.
The few days before the practice matches sped by and before Shoyo knew it, unknown players were entering the Karasuno gym with dismissive looks. The other teams all had seen how Karasuno had fallen from the powerhouse that they had been years ago. Most of the other teams whisper loudly about how their matches against the flightless crows would be a waste of time.
Shoyo glared at one such loud person in particular. This player appeared to be an upperclassman with brown hair wearing the white and green colors of Date Tech. A white haired taller player glared down at the teammate making the comment and then turned his gaze to Shoyo. The tangerine hired boy turned his gaze away from the other’s intense one.
Man, that guy is definitely scarier than Azumane-sempai… Shoyo thought to himself and he joined his teammates awaiting the pregame speech from Daichi and their coach, who happened to be the grandson of the older Ukai from Karasuno’s glory days. Coach highlighted that today’s game would be against the defensive powerhouse, Date Tech. They are a team known for stopping many spikes with their powerful blocks.
Shoyo looked over and noticed Asahi looking particularly nervous about this game. Not had told Shoyo after they had met and Asahi had rejoined the team that a game against Date Tech in the playoffs was the reason Asahi had chosen to leave the team. Shoyo grinned to Asahi with a thumbs up when he turn Shoyo’s way.
The game passed by in a blur with Karasuno facing quite a handy defeat, but Shoyo’s keen eyes had caught on to why the blockers focused their attention on Asahi and the whole game he tried to divert it by getting lost in the crowd. Shoyo whizzed around the court that when Kageyama finally set him a pass, he didn't even register that he’d hit it. Apparently, Shoyo had hit it so fast that the Date Tech blocker’s were too slow to react. Blinking on the other side of the net was the player who had bad mouth Karasuno at the start with mouth slightly agape. That look alone was enough for Shoyo to grin from ear to ear when his feet landed on the ground.
As both teams shook hands at the end of the game, Shoyo found himself met with a much larger hand than his own. Staring up at its owner, he was met with the same intense stare as before.
“I look forward to meeting you in a real match.”
“Woah, Aone, you spoke!” The brown haired teammate’s eyes wide again as if this was an unusual occurrence.
“Yeah! I’ll see you on the court and slam another spike past you!”
And with that Aone nodded and followed his team back to their bus. Shoyo’s eyes followed the tall white haired player as he exited with the voice chiming in.
“Aone, huh? Another new foe to make us stronger. We need to keep adding to this list if we are to be the last ones on the court just like Tiny Giant that had come before us…”
—————————————————————
A few days later, just as the break between terms was coming to an end, the Karasuno Crows had one last match to prove that they were a different team than in past years. That's what Coach Ukai stressed in their team meeting before the game. This game Shoyo noticed Kageyama with a permanent scowl on his face as the opposing team was warming up. Today, they will be facing none other than the runner up to represent Miyagi prefecture, Seijoh Academy.
Shoyo found it had to tell exactly whom Kageyama was scowling at as there were a few first years glaring back at Kageyama when they were done with whatever warm-up drill they were working on. Shoyo thought that they looked a little familiar to him, but he shrugged and walked over to Kageyama.
“So we're gonna do the thing, right? Where you set it so me with a whoosh and I hit it hard making it go slam on the floor of the court? Pleeeeease, Kageyama!” Shoyo pulled on the setter’s arm as he begged for the ball with a childish whining tone.
“Cut it out, Hinata.” He said angrily as he shook Shoyo off of his arm and walked away to talk with Asahi about how best to set the ball for the ace.
“Well, look at you. Is Kagaeyama deeming you unworthy to hit his sets or something, hmmmm? Tsk, that is no way to be a setter.” A voice called to Hinata from the other side of the net. None other than the captain of Seijoh himself, Tooru Oikawa, was speaking with Shoyo.
“That’s not true! Kageyama tosses plenty of passes for me to hit.” Hinata glares with a sad pout at Oikawa through his side of the net.
“I’m going to show you what a true setter looks like as it appears that Kageyama has quite a bit of growing up to do before he can reach MY level. Just keep your eyes on me during this game, Shrimpy, and you'll get a true show.”
Oikawa was completely right about how the game went. Karasuno was lost when it came to trying to stop his jump serve. When it came to his sets, Oikawa seemed to know just where to toss the ball so that the spiker could hit it just outside of where Karasuno could cover. Shoyo found himself watching Oikawa the whole game. He knew this was the senpai who had trained Kageyama in middle school. Perhaps one day he’d find someone to train him.
Where the match at the beginning of the week had focused on trying to beat a solid defense, today’s game was definitely focused on stopping a top tier offense. Karasuno held their own as best as they could, but still the match ended with Seijoh coming out on top.
————————————————————-
Shoyo held back a yawn as he stood waiting to board the van that would take all of them to Tokyo for the first time. Their facility advisor, Takeda Ikettsu, had reached out to the head coach of Nekoma and Karasuno earned an invite to their all Tokyo team training camp week. This was the last training time before Nationals.
The bus pulled into Nekoma and Shoyo stared wide eyed at all that was around him. A line of other volleyball clubs were waiting for their arrival. He only heard of some of their names from the upperclassmen, but he hoped to get to know all of them better. He knew that the Tokyo teams had consistently gotten to Nationals for many years now.
As he stepped off the bus a few individuals stuck out to Shoyo. One was a dark haired taller guy that looks like he has permanent bed head, and next to him was a shorter individual playing on his Nintendo Switch that had bleached hair but the roots were dark. Both appeared to be on the same team.
“Hey, hey, HEY!” A booming voice called out and rushed right for Asahi giving the Karasuno ace a big hug that picked Asahi off the ground before turning to Daichi and Suga hugging them together in his big arms. “You know that you guys should keep in touch more!”
A man with dark hair placed a hand on Bokuto’s shoulder. “Bokuto, they just had a long journey. That may be too much energy for right now.”
Those wide shoulders drooped on the third year with white hair and dark roots that were spiked up high. A slight pout came to his lips.
“But Akaaji…” he paused, upper lip quivering.
Akaashi just gave the other another gentle squeeze and a knowing smile.
“Let them get settled and then I know they’ll come talk to you. For now, let’s give them a little space.”
Daichi steps up to grab Bokuto’s other shoulder, somewhat familiar with the Ace’s mood swings.
“It has been a while, Bokuto. I am sorry I haven’t kept in touch as much as I should’ve. Now that we are here, how about you show us where our team will be staying and you can tell us what you’ve been up to?”
The shoulders set a bit higher at Daichi’s words with pout now gone. The third years followed Daichi and Bokuto into the school. Shoyo watched the whole exchange not sure what to make of it. He finally turned to Noya to ask who that was.
“You call yourself a volleyball nut and you don’t know who Bokuto Kotaru is?! He’s one of the top 3 aces in all of Japan! Well at least of the high school level players…”
“Ohhhhh!” Shoyo replies with eyes wide and mouth slightly agape as he walks. His eyes never lost Bokuto walking at the front.
‘A top tier ace?! I’ve gotta talk to him!’
“Yes, you definitely need him! You won’t be the next Tiny Giant without him.”
The week passed was more grueling than Shoyo could’ve imagined, but despite the back to back games and all the penalty laps the team had to run, Shoyo could feel himself buzzing with anticipation that something big was going to come out of it. While he did land a few of his signature quick attacks against the others, Shoyo found himself distracted watching Bokuto work.
He didn’t know the name of the Fukurodani setter at first but the darker haired man knew just how to keep the ace on his A game. Each cross or line shot Bokuto landed was almost an instant point for Fukurodani. As the week went on, Noya was able to pick up a few of them leading to some returns to the other side of the court.
At the ast night, Shoyo finally felt like he had the time to run up to Bokuto. Eyes shining Shoyo approached Bokuto.
“Bokuto-sempai! You are just so…COOL! Teach me how to be an ace like you! Wanna be the next Karasuno ace so I can stay on the court the longest.”
Bokuto turned around with a wide friendly smile. It wasn’t everyday when he got someone to volunteer to be his pupil. Hands on his hips he looked down at the shorter orange haired boy.
“You want me to teach you how to be an ace? Well lucky for you! I’m happy to take you on as a pupil! The training may be hard. It may be rigorous, but the results will speak for themselves. Get ready for Bokuto’s boot camp!” He chuckled with a wide toothy grin. His teammates could be seen rolling their eyes behind him, but neither Bokuto nor Shoyo noticed.
“Come see me after dinner in the practice gym, and we’ll get to work, pupil.” He said with a satisfied nod before turning around to his team, clapping two on the back and walking away with them.
Shoyo stood frozen eyes wide as he wasn’t quite sure what tonight’s special practice would be, but it would make him an ace! That’s what he told himself anyway as he skipped out to find his teammates.
“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Kageyama turned to Shoyo, noticing the boy was bouncing in his seat, unable to stay still. “We lost every game so far at this camp…”
“Shows what you know, Bakayama.” Shoyo narrowed his eyes at the first year setter sitting beside him.
“It’s not like I’m making it up. It’s a recorded fact actually.”
“No! I’m talking about something better! I got a private practice after dinner with that really cool ace from that really cool team!”
Asahi who was sitting further down the table happened to overhear Shoyo’s words as they were practically shouted. The Karasuno Ace’s lips pulled tightly together as he reached a hand up to scratch the back of his head. Daich looked up from his food to take notice of Asahi’s change in demeanor.
“Asahi, don’t let Shoyo’s words cause a spiral. I don’t want anyone but you to be our ace.”
“You are our ace!” Suga chimes in.
Nishinoya, who was sitting beside Asahi, elbowed the brunette in the side.
“What did we tell you about that negativity?”
“Okay…okay…I get it guys.” Asahi smiled sheepishly at all of the guys looking over at him.
Shoyo, oblivious to what was occurring down the table, ignored Kageyama and the other first year’s comments about his super special awesome practice, and instead focused on eating so that he could meet Bokuto in the gym.
When he did finish his meal, he got up without so much of a word to the others and headed off to the gym. Stopping at the doorway, he peeked around it looking into the room checking to see if Bokuto had gotten there yet. Just as his eyes looked up into the gym, the dark haired setter had just set the ball and Bokuto was in the air with his arm cocked back. Shoyo’s eyes viewed the shot like it was in slow motion. Bokuto’s arm swung forward and made contact with the ball and the ball went a route court landing at the back corner.
“Bokuto-san, your cross shots are looking great.” The setter replied with a nod.
“Keep tossin’ them, Akaaji! I can do this all night!”
“WOAH! SEMPAI, THAT WAS SO COOL! YOU WENT ALL WHOOSH AND SWOOSH AND WHAM!”
“Oh pupil! Right on time! I was pretty cool wasn’t I?!” He replied pointing to his chest.
“So for tonight’s agenda, you are gonna learn cross shots. Akaaji will set the balls for you. If he can set for me, he can definitely set for you.”
Bokuto reaches out to Shoyo and moves Shoyo through the motions of his arm in order to perform a cross shot spike.
“So it’s just like this…” Bokuto comments before nodding to Akaashi. “The best way to learn is by doing. Go on!” Bokuto claps Shoyo on the back.
Shoyo nods before turning to Akaashi, waiting for the ball to be tossed up to him. Shoyo felt his feet pressing against the floor then exploding to rise into the air. His arm swung up like and then swung through…
…only to miss the ball. The bounce of the ball on the floor could be heard in the silence.
Bokuto and Akaashi stared, unable to speak. Bokuto was the one to finally break the silence with a clap on Shoyo’s back.
“That’s okay! You’ll get the next one!”
Shoyo tried and tried, finally landing a hit on the fifteenth one. The ball made a small thud past the mid court line. Not as far as Bokuto’s shot, but it at least made it over the net. They continued to practice together until the Fukurodani manager came in with Kiyoko and told all of them it was time to get some much needed rest.
Shoyo had one last thought before his eyes fluttered shut. Or rather a voice in his head that called to him.
“Good! That was someone that will influence us for many years to come. We must use that ace to climb even higher.”
————————————————————
Karasuno left the training camp that next day and goodbye’s were said. The teams had other thoughts to move onto. Friendships
were formed over this week. Yet thoughts that perhaps they might be facing each other in Nationals was definitely in the back of all of their minds as they shook hands and hugged each other.
Time passed in a blur as if they were all on a train taking them to the ultimate goal…Nationals. Karasuno had managed to secure a spot for themselves as the Miyagi prefecture representative. The gymnasium in Tokyo was large, like 2 to 3 of Karasuno’s practice gym, with bright lights illuminating the courts.
Shoyo stood wide eyed with mouth agape as they stepped into the gym.
“GUYS! GUYS! THIS IS WHERE THE LITTLE GIANT PLAYED!!”
Shoyo shouted, excitedly pulling on the arm nearest to him, which happened to be Kageyama. The dark haired setter glared at Shoyo, but decided to keep his mouth shut as Daichi gave the two a look. The coaches were ahead of the team looking at the big schedule posted at the entrance. Finally finding Karasuno, Keishin Ukai sighed. Of course in Karasuno's first year back, they were paired with the team that came in second at last year’s Nationals, Inarizaki High.
The team was known for the power duo of twins Atsumu and Osamu Miya. The former was a setter that was being considered for the youth National Team. Aside from his setting, Atsumu was also known for his versatile serving that could either be a normal jump serve or a jump float one. The latter, though not a ranked middle spike nor even then team’s ace, he almost seemed to read Atsumu on a level any normal person couldn’t comprehend.
“Alright, guys! We had a pretty tough first draw. For those of you who follow Nationals the previous years, you will know who Inarizaki is. For those of you who don’t, they were the runner up last year. Not only is Ojiro Aran a powerful ace, but the Miya brothers also are a 1-2 punch if you don’t watch ‘em.” Ukai paused looking around at the team. “However, I know that we can take ‘em. We have tenacity and the dynamic duo of the quick attack.”
“It’s our time to fly,” Takeda Ikketsu chimed in.“We are no longer flightless crows as they called us in the past. We will show all of them that we can take to the skies together.”
The whole team nodded at that with determination in all of their faces. The third years looked like they had a specific fire burning behind their eyes. Shoyo just felt like he had too much energy and nowhere to use it up at. He bounced on his feet just wanting to be on the court. Finally, Karasuno’s time to warm up came, but they were careful to not reveal their tricks hiding up their sleeves for Inarizaki to see. The crows of Karasuno would act like they were helpless and couldn’t fly, but when the time was right, they would soar high above the foxes of Inarizaki.
The buzzer sounded signaling that the warm up period for the two had come to an end. Shoyo’s whole body tensed up and became tight as he stood at the line greeting the other team at the net. His eyes locked with a taller male with bleach blonde hair on the other side of the net. That was one of the Miya brothers, but which one? Shoyo struggled to remember what Coach had said when the voice spoke to him again.
“That man is a powerful setter and a player to rival your current setter. Pay special attention to him, because one day he’ll set for you. Just like one day you’ll be playing alongside that ace from Fukurodani.”
Shoyo nodded to himself not realizing that the blonde had locked eyes with him. The two knew hardly anything about the other, but they would over the next few hours of the match.
The voice was right. The blonde, whom Shoyo now had heard was Atsumu, was trouble, but in all of the best ways just as the coach had said. Karasuno had given up quite a few points to his service aces at the beginning of the match as Atsumu started with jump floats and once Noya finally received one, the blonde switched to a powerful jump serve that rivaled Oikawa’s. The Karasuno crows were left looking wide eyed and wondering if they were supposed to be in this match.
However as the match continued, the Crows began to receive a few more serves and even had some periods while they were able to score a point. The first set still went to Inarizaki. The teams switched sides of the court and Asahi was given the ball to serve. Noya yelled loud words of encouragement over the booing that rang out from the Inarizaki fans. The words of encouragement must have worked because Asahi slammed his serve into the back corner before the opposing team could react.
That was the momentum that Karasuno needed to take the second set. When they did, the gymnasium went silent as this unknown team had managed to tie up the sets forcing a third set against last year’s number 2 team. However in all of the previous two sets, Kageyama and Hinata weren’t able to connect with their super quick. It was almost like they weren’t in sync. Shoyo stared at Kageyama, able to tell that the other was stuck thinking about something. Kageyama had his ‘thinking face’ on where his brow was furrowed and a dark expression on his face. Shoyo ran up to him during the break between sets.
“Hey Bakeyama! Remember, you’re supposed to pass me the ball. I don’t know why you have to think so hard about it…”
Shoyo nudged Kageyama in the side with his elbow as he turned to return to the team. Shoyo was so upset that he had not realized he was glaring across the net at Atsumu. Atsumu’s eyes widened as he caught the smaller little blocker glaring at him. The blonde setter was unsure just what was wrong or if this was just how the tangerine haired blocker got into the zone before a game. Whatever it was, Atsumu was slightly bothered by the look.
The teams got set up and it was time for Atsumu to serve.
What will it be..? A jump float or regular serve? Let’s just smash it! Those dumb crows can’t hit it anyway.
Atsumu followed his whole pre-serve routine and smashed the ball across the net into Karasuno’s court. Just as it was sailing to the back corner the ball made contact with…Shoyo’s face. The ball landed in Kageyama’s fingers briefly before setting the ball up high.
Astumu watched the ball and time appeared to stop as he did, remaining in the air longer than he anticipated. Then in a flash, the blinding lights of the gymnasium were eclipsed by a body that was also aloft. The arm cocked back ready to swing down and guide the ball down into Inarizaki’s court. Before Atsumu could even move the ball had already landed close to the end line opposite of where it had been hit.
“Hey Bakayama! Did you see? I did that WHOOSH shot that Bokuto-san taught me!”
“Yeah, yeah…cool…” the darker haired setter commented.
“Just set the ball like that, okay?”
“Alright.”
A few more of these same quick attacks happen and Atsumu looked in awe as if each time watching in slow motion. On the 4th one, his eyes followed not the ball but Shoyo himself. And the setter just had one thought in the split second between the ball being in the air and then landing on their court with a thud.
“I’m going to set for him someday…”
Just like that, Karasuno had made a comeback and won the overall match 2-1. The teams bowed to their fans and then met at the net with a handshake. When Atsumu reached Shoyo and their hands met, he squeezed it firmly enough for Shoyo to widen his eyes slightly at the hand shake.
“Hey orange top, remember this and remember it really good. One day, I’m gonna set for ‘ya!”
Atsumu said loudly, causing a certain Kageyama to scowl at the remark. Atsumu just stuck his tongue out at Kageyama before heading to the locker room. Shoyo, on the other hand, stood with eye wide and mouth slightly agape. The great Atsumu Miya had just talked to him. And even more shocking, the man had said he’d set for Shoyo someday.
I wonder when ‘someday’ will come… Shoyo thought to himself as the team exited the court.
“It may be sooner than you think…” the voice replied back.
—————————————————————
Tokyo, Japan-2020
“And now announcing the starting lineup for the Japanese National team in their first match of the Olympics against Canada!”
The announcer was drowned out by the wild cheers from the crowd. Shoyo stood waiting to walk out with the team from the locker room, still smaller than the rest of his teammates aside from maybe the libero. In this time, he’d played with so many talented players, not just from Karasuno. Beach volleyball with Oikawa. Aone taught him to block like any man two heads taller than him. Bokuto and Atsumu became his teammates on the MSBY Jackals and now are teammates on the Japanese national team. It had all played out as the voice had said it would.
Stepping onto the court with the bright lights beaming down on Shoyo, the middle blocker hears the voice speak one last time to him.
“Congratulations! You are now the tiny giant with these powerful people and experiences beside you. Don’t lose heart because they will guide and support you.”