Chapter Text
“You’re here too?” I hear someone shout as I turn my head towards the gym doors. My eyes widen slightly as I realize it’s the orange-haired kid that our middle school team beat a year ago.
Tobio falters in his spike, the ball falling to the ground as he also turns to look at the kid. Geez this is going to be an interesting day. I glance between the both of them as they just stare at each other for a while.
“We met last year. I forgot your name.” Tobio finally breaks the silence but I can’t help the sigh that escapes me from how blunt he just sounded. He’s always been like that since we were little. He was blunt and serious while I was the snarky and sassy one.
A quick reply comes from the orange-haired kid. “My name is Shoyo Hinata okay?” Though the shocked expression never left his face. “But I’m sure you don’t even remember who I am.” He adds on afterwards.
“He remembers who you are.” I chirp in from my seat on one of the indoor bleachers against the wall. Tobio scowls slightly before agreeing. Tobio wouldn’t shut up about him for days after the tournament. Analyzing everything he remembered Hinata doing during the match.
It’s rare to see volleyball players that play in a similar fashion as Hinata, especially if you add in his height. Even I was shocked when I saw him play that day. “Huh? What’s with the silent treatment? You want to fight or something?” I watch him put his hands up as if he’s ready to fight as Tobio just continues to stare him down.
“Oh don’t be a dumb ass.” Tobio snaps as I sigh. Hinata immediately jumps in shock before responding back. “Don’t make fun of me. I might have lost really bad the first time we met but never again.”
I can’t help but snicker slightly as I hear him say that. “Good luck beating him if you both end up on this team.” Tobio’s scowl deepens as Hinata’s mind starts to race with ideas to get around this unexpected situation.
“There are so many better schools, why didn’t you go to one of those?” My lips form a fine line as soon as those words leave Hinata’s mouth, my eyes darting to Tobio.
He stares at Hinata for a moment with the same scowl. “I applied to the school with the best team. But I didn’t make it.” I open my mouth to say something but Hinata is faster.
“You didn’t?” He asks with a tilt of his head. “They rejected the king of the court?” I bite the inside of my cheek at the nickname getting ready to stand up and go closer to Tobio but I quickly stay put as he snarls out in response.
“Never call me that ever.” Tobio’s harsh tone takes Hinata back, making him flinch slightly in surprise. I finally stood up, making my way to his side. “Alright let’s just chill out alright?” The two of us share a look before all three of us hear voices approaching the gym.
Three upperclassmen walk in and Tobio greets them as Hinata and I stand quietly. One of them has a buzz cut and is trying to make an intimidating face while the other two just politely smile.
“Well well well, what do we have here?” The student with the buzz cut says loudly as he approaches the three of us closer before getting pulled back by the guy next to him.
I glance between all three of them, deciding the one that just pulled that guy back is most likely the captain. His demeanor just gives me the vibe that he’s in charge.
“Are you Kageyama?” My thought is confirmed when he asks that. He walks up closer to Tobio after he confirms and I stay next to him. My eyes watch Hinata as he starts to circle around all of us, staying put behind the three upperclassmen.
The third person comments on his height while the buzz cut one tries to make another intimidating face. “Stop it Tanaka. You look stupid.” A small smile forms on my lips as I try not to laugh.
“Hey guys.” Hinata finally stays, standing up as tall as he can but gets ignored as the captain asks Tobio how tall he is. “Six feet.” He responds quickly. Hinata continues to try and get their attention as they compliment his height.
Then the captain looks towards me. “And you must be his sister? I nod my head slightly. “Did you all do a background check on all the new applicants' family members or something?” I joke with a small smile.
“Honestly? We’ve heard more about you than Kageyama,” the captain says with a grin. “You’ve got a bit of a reputation.” My smile falters ever so slightly.
“Is my reputation for being the better twin? If so then the rumors are true.” A smirk takes the place of my faltering smile as I redirect the conversation a little bit away from what he was hinting at.
Finally fed up from being ignored Hinata yells a strong “hey” to get their attention causing Tanaka to make a confused “huh” in response before pointing at him. “Hey it’s you. You’re the shortie.”
As Tanaka mentions his height the captain immediately glances down at the papers in his hands, putting the bottom one on the top to read. “The other applicant's name is Shoyo Hinata. I guess that’s you?” He asks.
He nods enthusiastically as they begin to comment on how impressed they were with some of his natural abilities last year. It seems like everyone in that gym was surprised and impressed with him. The rest of his team weren’t great but they also looked like they barely understood how the game worked.
Hinata makes his way back next to Tobio as I create a little bit of distance away from them. I only came to the tryout with him so I didn’t have to walk home alone. I have a feeling tryouts are going to be longer than they should with these two.
“I may be small but I’ve got talent. I’ll be Karasuno’s next ace before you know it.” Hearing that perks my attention back to their conversation after zoning out a little bit as I see Tobio’s eyes widen as well.
“Hot damn. You’ve got your eyeballs on the ace position do you? You’ve got some guts..” Tanaka says impressed with his determination but makes another weird face at him.
My eyes stay on Tobio as I see an angry expression on his face. Yup. Today’s going to be a long day. “Okay then. Now that you’ve sworn to become the ace you better be prepared to back it up.” Hinata turns around to face him as he continues. “If you’re not careful you’ll waste another three years.”
I elbow Tobio lightly, shooting him a look just as Hinata’s expression shifts. His playful energy being replaced with something sharper.. “Excuse me?” He snaps out with a strong tone.
The captain and I sigh in sync as he says, “Was that really necessary Kageyama?” He asks flatly as I shake my head in response. Whispering under my breath. “Nope. Not necessary at all.”
“I did everything I could.” Hinata defends himself before pausing for a moment. “Look I’ve done a lot so stop putting me down.” After they both begin to glare at each other making me slightly uncomfortable.
“Relax you two. You know you’re not enemies anymore right?” The captain tries to ease the tension between them. “Volleyball is supposed to bring people together.” He smiles while saying this.
Unfortunately though, Hinata talks over him making his last sentence become lost towards the two of them. “I want you to play me right now.” Tanaka tries to break them up by intimidating them but Tobio and Hinata are just completely ignoring everyone.
“What are we going to play?” Tobio asks, raising an eyebrow. I know exactly where this is going. Tobio’s going to have a snarky remark about how volleyball can’t be played with only two people. “Volleyball. What the heck else is there?” Hinata retorts back.
“How do you plan to play volleyball one-on-one?” He says as I mimic him, using my hand to open and close it as if it were a mouth speaking. He’s never the sassy one unless someone really riles him up. Usually I’m the person to rile him up.
Hinata is quick with a response. “Like passes and stuff.” I see the captain’s face drop as soon as he hears that and Tobio is quick to counter once more. “How is anyone supposed to win at that?” Unfortunately, fueling the fire Tanaka makes a comment agreeing with Tobio.
“What’s all the noise in here?” I facepalm immediately once I see the Vice Principal walk in. “Are you boys fighting in here?” Alright. Guess I’m just invisible then. Probably better in this scenario though.
The captain quickly responds trying to fix the situation. “Nope. We’re just working as hard as always, Vice Principal.” His voice comes out slightly strained, he must not like lying. “Right?” He gives Tobio and Hinata a look.
“We gotta watch ourselves around the Vice Principal. That guy’s always waiting for us to slip up.” Tanaka whispers a little too loudly in my opinion but Hinata continues to ignore him, talking to Tobio again. “Serve it to me. I can handle whatever you send.”
I continue to shuffle farther away from the group, making my way back to my seat. “Listen jerk. I only received one serve from you last year. Granted it was with my face.” Hinata says the last part a bit quieter as I sit down. “But since then I’ve practiced with everyone I could. I am not the same person I was.”
“Hm. Not the same person huh?” Tobio remarks before walking away to grab a ball. “Well I’ve improved a bit in the past year too.” He holds the ball out towards Hinata with a giant smirk on his face.
The captain’s expression grows increasingly worried as they continue. “Alright alright that’s enough smack talk you two.” He says, trying anything to get their attention before all hell breaks loose.
“They’re both first years aren’t they?” The Vice Principal asks unimpressed. All hope is lost as Hinata gets in a receiving position. I sit back and get more comfortable taking a sip out of my water bottle from my backpack.
We all watch as Tobio bounces the ball up and down a few times before throwing it up in the air for a serve. Hinata’s eyes widen as he realizes Tobio is going for a jump serve.
I choke slightly on my water as I watch Tobio put all his possible strength into that serve. What the hell. Hinata barely dodges it as it bounces off the wall behind him and- oh god. It feels as I watch the ball slam right into the Vice Principal's face in slow motion.
I cover my mouth with my free hand as his toupee flies right off of his head. Oh they’re screwed. The whole team is screwed at this rate. For a mothers just silence, the ball bouncing on the floor being the only audible noise in the gym.
As all the guys crowd around the Vice Principal Tobio breaks the silence. Oh man… that was a toupee?” I groan from my seat as Hinata snickers in response. “You just now figured that out? I noticed it at the entrance ceremony.”
Tanaka begins to laugh out loud, trying his best to contain his laughter as the Vice Principal turns to the captain asking him to step outside for a word. They’re so screwed. I should have just walked home alone then I wouldn’t be in this mess. Then again, I wouldn’t have been able to experience this hilarious situation if I did walk home.