In her first year, one year after she moved to Tokyo with her brother and his wife, she was told to sit by Hinata Shouyo once again. They recognized each other quicky. Stepping into the same routine as last year, her listening to him and adding her own comments occasionally. He asked her to come with him to the volleyball club when school was out, with Marie Eiko quietly accepting.
Marie was out of School for about a week, visiting her parents and sister in America. They ended up staying there a few days longer because of bad weather.
Marie calmly followed Hinata to the gym, internally nervous about all the people that she doesn't know, she stopped moving the moment Hinata did, watching as the single sword on his inner left forearm became 2 swords crossing each other behind a shield. Her eyes opened wide in surprise, knowing that was his soulmark, she closed her eyes and opened them again calmly looking forward and on the other side of the hallway a boy a bit shorter than Hinata stopped moving as well with another person behind him with wide eyes staring at the other boys mark as well. She moved forward a step and tapped Hinata's shoulder. He looked up about to say something about his now completed mark but noticed her pointing forward. "Look," she said quietly, "The smaller boy.." she finished, staring at Hinata now.
He nodded and looked forward, noting that Tanaka was standing beside the nameless boy. He looked back at Marie, who nodded and walked forward, straight to Tanaka. "Tanaka-kun." She said, making Hinata remember her saying they were neighbors. "Come with me." she said simply, he looked at her and nodded, slightly surprised to find her with Hinata of all people. Tanaka walked toward he and grabbed her hand and took her toward the gym.
"You didn't tell me you knew Hinata!" Tanaka exclaimed when they were in the gym.
"You never asked." She said calmly, moving her other hand forward and pinching the skin of his hand with her nails, making him yelp and let go of her. She calmly looked up and her eyes widened, she felt herself tense, finding breathing harder for her. They are all staring at me, make it stop please. Tanaka, who noticed her tensed posture, grabbed her shoulders and turned her to look at him. She looked forward, panic clear in her eyes. He slowly dropped her to the floor, pulling the smaller girl into his lap. His eyes moved quickly, looking for Suga or Takeda-sensei. "S-s-stop, m-make i-i-it s-stop!" She whispered, making him look at her, remembering the first time he met her.
Tanaka was walking home, a slightly crowded park marked his path moving forward on his set path he saw a girl about a year younger than him, a Yukigaoka Junior High School uniform adorning her body. He panicked, seeing her fall to the ground he quickly moved forward, dropping to his knees in front of her. "H-hey! Are you okay?!" He questions her, looking for any injuries. The girl begins to tremble, breathes coming out erratically. Panic attack his mind supplies. "Ok," he takes a deep breath to calm himself. "Can you breathe for me? Breathe in and hold it... Ok, now breathe out. Com'mon now let's do it again." He and the strange girl continued the exercise until she was calm.
"Thank you," she said, pausing not knowing who the boy in front of her is.
"Tanaka Ryuunosuke!" He said.
"Marie Eiko."
"Hey, Eiko, you're having a panic attack." He stated, "Can you close your eyes for me? Let's breathe in, just like last time, yeah?" He said, making senseless conversation with her. "Remember the game I told you about Saturday? I beat the level I was having trouble with and—" He continued talking to her, calming her nerves until she relaxed and was able to open her eyes again and stand.
"Thank you again, Ryuu." She said, looking at him with a small smile. He nodded at her, understanding exactly what she meant. The two stood up and looked toward the other people in the room, looking completely lost on what was going on. Sugawara understood she was having a panic attack but not understanding why.
Tanaka who was looking at him and Daichi explained to them. "She has a social anxiety disorder." He said, looking at her. She nodded, acknowledging that he was right.
Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had looks of realization on their faces, knowing what would have been if they had never met. He smiled and waved at her, the empty field on his arm being presented to her. Marie's lips turned up slightly and she waved back to him. Her soulmark was a game, it looked similar to a POP, but it had no buttons, only an empty screen.
After calming herself completely, she looked at the people in it who went back to practice. She made Eye contact with Sugawara and Sawamura who were introduced to her by Tanaka. The two walked over to her and Tanaka, Sawamura ready to speak. Sugawar had a look of confusion, only now noticing the missing presence of the two smaller boys. "Where are Noya and Hinata? Didn't you say you were bringing him to the gym today?" Sugawara asked Tanaka.
"Ah, yeah- well—" Tanaka began stuttering to get out the words. Marie sighed and shook her head, pointing to the door of the gym.
"Why are they outside of the gym and not inside?" Sawamura asked, make a face.
"Soulmates." The younger girl says simply. Tanaka nodded and went to explain what happened while they were outside.
"Noya and I were headed to the gym, and Hinata was aslo going to the gym talking with Eiko," He motioned to her. "They went to the same Junior High. We were just across the hall from each other and Noya stopped moving and rolled up his left sleeve really fast. I knew Eiko couldn't have been his soulmate because her mark is a game and his is a shield." Eiko nodded, showing them her soulmark.
"It was the same with Hinata-kun." She said quietly, still leaning against Tanaka.
Hinata and Nishinoya come in at that moment, Shimizu trailing behind them quietly, talking animatedly to each other about Volleyball. They didn't even notice the four people standing by the door.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, I'm Sugawara Koushi, you can call me Suga." Sugawara said kindly. He motioned to Sawamura, "And this is Sawamura Daichi, call him Daichi if you want." Sawamura nodded to her, showing a warm expression.
"My name is Marie Eiko." she said politely, bowing slightly.
Nishinoya comes up to them, Hinata and Kageyama following him, and just then notices Marie, who he saw briefly in the hall. "Why are leaning on Ryuu?" Nishinoya asked her bluntly, making Tanaka chuckle and Marie smile a bit. "Why are you laughing?!" He yells out, annoyed, only to make Tanaka full out laugh. Marie smiled slightly wider and tapped Tanaka's arm, letting him know that she's fine now.
"Nishinoya-san, Hinata-kun, congratulations for finding your soulmate." Marie said, then bowed her head toward Nishinoya, "My name is Marie Eiko. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Nishinoya Yuu!" The shorter boy exclaimed brightly, but he remembered why her came over originally. "Where's Asahi-san? Has he come back?" Sugawara and Sawamura mumbled out something that sounded like a no, looking away. Nishinoya's expression was full of anger and another that Marie didn't understand. "That Wimp!"
"Hey, Noya! Don't talk like that about your senpai!" Tanaka said, standing up for his soulmate.
"Shut up! A wimp is a wimp. If Asahi-san's not coming back neither am I." He said, walking away, only barely noticing Shimizu standing by the door.
"Hey, Noya!" Tanaka shouted, ready to run after him only to have the sleeve of his jacket pulled on lightly. He looked toward Marie, who was holding his sleeve. She shook her head, signalling for him to let it go. Hinata and Kageyama only looked toward the door of the gym, with determination burning in their eyes.
Hinata follows Nishinoya out of the gym and into the courtyard. "U-um.." Hinata mumbled, getting Nishinoya's attention. "Nishiya-san, you're a libero, right?" Hinata questioned him. "You're a defender." He stated.
"That's 'Nishinoya.' " The shorter boy corrected as he sat down. "And what makes you think I'm a libero? Because I'm short?" He finished, annoyed at the thought of being called short.
"Huh? No..." Hinata began, wanting to make his soulmate feel a bit better. "Because you're a good receiver." He stated, getting Nishinoya's attention. "Libero is a position for good receivers, right?" He questioned, his eyes widening, "That's right, isn't it?" He finished, panicking slightly.
Nishinoya smiled slightly, "You know what you're talking about." he said.
"Plus the captain also called you the Guardian Deity." Hinata stated, his face scrunched up, "And your soulmark is a shield... It goes perfect together!" He said, smiling and clenching his fists in excitement, completely embarrassing Nishinoya.
"G-guardian?! What the heck is that?" He said, a blush adorning his cheeks. He lifted his right hand up in a waving motion. "He's exaggerating. I'm not all that..." He finished, using his other arm to shield himself from more embarrassment. "He really said that..?" Nishinoya finally questioned after a moment of silence. Hinata's head bobbed up and down quickly. "But I don't care if he called me a really cool name! I won't change my mind. Stupid Daichi-san..." he said.
"I'm still lousy at reciving.." Hinata said, looking down. "Ma-chan tried to help me but i couldn't get much better.." He mumbled, "Even though it's the most important thing in volleyball. So please teach me how, Nishi... Nishinoya-senpai!" Hinata said, bowing toward his soulmate, shocking him.
Nishinoya stood up and grabbed Hinata's shoulder. "I'll buy you ice cream after practice." Nishinoya said in a serious voice. "Because I am... Your senpai!!" he said pointing to himself and blushing.
Hinata smiled widely, gasping, "Does that mean—"
"That doesn't mean I'm going back to that club." He stated, "I'm going to teach you how to receive and that's it." He finishes.
Hinata bows, "Thanks!"
Sugawara, Daichi, and Tanaka simultaneously sigh in relief, eavesdropping on the duo's conversation. Marie sighs in exasperation and goes back to the game on her phone, finding it more interesting than the conversation. "You know, it's rude to eavesdrop." she said dully, leaning against Tanaka's back.
After practice, while everyone is cleaning up, Nishinoya is teaching Hinata and Tsukishima how to receive. Kageyama, Tanaka, and Yamaguchi are listening to the explanation. "You go zip, then go whoop, and pow. Like that." Marie sighed, wondering how anyone would understand that. Hinata and Tsukishima tilt their heads in confusion.
"He can't explain it because he moves purely on instinct." Tanaka explained to Kageyama and Marie, who sighed.
"Really? I sort of understood what he was saying." Kageyama said to the two.
"Because you belong to his species." Tanaka deadpanned. "When you explain something, all you say is 'pow' and 'woah' and stuff." Tanaka exclaimed. "Nobody else understands you." Tanaka finished. As an afterthought he said, "Eiko can explain it right."
Eiko hummed, knowing he was right, but went right back to the game on her phone.
On her left, where she sat against the wall, stood Sawamura and Takeda-sensei watching as Nishinoya taught the others how to receive. "Libero is a special position, isn't it?" Takeda-sensei asked Daichi.
"Yes," he said, "The libero specializes exclusively in defense. They're not allowed to make offensive plays, like serving or spiking. They switch places with the rearguards to solidify defense." Daichi explained.
"So that's the Guardian Deity of Karasuno." Takeda-sensei said, "How Awesome."
"It would give us a real shot in the arm if he came back." Sawamura stated. "He has a very strong presence, notwithstanding his short stature. He inspires confidence."
"In any case, Nishinoya hasn't lost his touch at all." Sugawara said, coming up to the trio with Tanaka following behind him, moving to stand by Marie.
"He said he continued training even after he got suspended." Tanaka said, looking down to watch Eiko move to lean against his legs. "Said he mingled with the girls team." Tanaka finished, eliciting a laugh from Sugawara.
"That sounds like Hinata." Sugawara said, making Marie nod.
"That's how we met," Marie said softly, "He was loud." The younger girl said, shaking her head. The four males above her laughed at the final statement.
"Nishinoya-senpai." Hinata said. Nishinoya hummed in acknowledgement. "You were talking about 'Asahi-san.' Who's he?" The younger of the two asked.
Marie winced, knowing that he is a sore spot for the team. Tanaka spoke to Hinata in an irked tone, "Moron, don't say that name carelessly!" Marie knocked the back of her head against his knee, wordlessly telling him to calm down.
"He's Karasuno's ace, for what it's worth." Nishinoya said in a serious voice.
"Ace?" Hinata questioned, So there is an ace here..
"Why are you spacing out?" Nishinoya asked him.
"I... want to be the ace." Hinata said. Nishinoya made a spund of surprise and confusion.
"Ace? With your height?" Nishinoya questioned incredulously, making Hinata deflate. Nishinoya grabbed his bicep, "I like you. Right? You want it because it's awesome, right? Good, good. Do it, do it. Become the ace. You'd be far more impressive than our current ace." Nishinoya said as he laughed. He turned away and crossed his arms, "But then again, it's the ace that inspires you." Before Tanaka could move or speak, Marie reached behind herself and pinched a tendon in the back of his knee, making him flinch. You shouldn't say something like that about your best friend's soulmate.
"Yes! Aces are awesome!" Hinata exclaimed.
"The word 'ace' has an awesome ring to it" Nishinoya said in an unnoticeably mocking tone, still bitter toward Asahi. " 'Setter' and 'libero' sound boring." Kageyama growled when he said that, and Marie being who she is, pinched the skin of his leg, making him cringe.
"It's alright." Sugawara said to Kageyama, patting his back.
"But... in a match, when the crowd is going crazy... even more than an amazing spike, is when there is a super receive! In the battle of height that is volleyball, libero is one of the few positions in which a short player can survive. But I'm not a libero because of my height. I'd be a libero even if I was two meters tall." Hinata had a look of realization on his face. "Even if your side misses the spike, even if your side can't block... as long as the ball doesn't hit the court... in volleyball, that means you haven't lost. And the one best suited to do that... is the libero!"
Marie blinks, knowing all that he said was true. She grabs her earbuds from the school bag beside her and hooks them into her mp3 player and starts listening to music. Closing her eyes and leaning against Tanaka.
She wakes up later on from some jostling, opening her eyes seeing Hinata in front of her. Pulling out her earbuds she waited for him to repeat what he said. "You fell asleep, so Tanaka-senpai brought you into a more comfortable place and let you nap till we were ready to leave." He said. Marie nodded and got up, noticing that Tanaka placed his jacket over her. Tanaka walked into the room, both of there bags in hand.
"Com'mon Eiko, it's late." He said, she nodded and calmly waved at Hinata who waved back excitedly.
—~~~~—
"Hey Eiko, Take-chan got us a join training camp with Nekoma!" Tanaka ran into her rroom yelling out. Marie grinned at him, happy at the excitement in his voice.
"When is it?" She asked him, putting her controller down. He moved to sit on her bed across from her.
"This weekend." He tells her, but he looks over at her tv questioning what game she's playing.
"It's an American game called 'Call of Duty,' I borrowed it from my brother." Marie turned to look at him, "It's multiplayer." Tanaka's eyes lit up from excitement. "Would you like to play it with me?" He nodded quickly.
—~~~~—
The day of the training camp comes quickly Marie packs up for the trip and heads toward Tanaka's house. She knocks and goes to open the door, only to find that it is locked. She went to the open window of Tanaka's room and entered through it, to find it Ryuu-less. Hearing the shower running, she quietly sits on the bed and starts playing music through her phone. Closing her eyes and laying on her back, she fell asleep.
Tanaka comes in to his room, towel laying across his shoulders. Intent on grabbing a shirt and his school jacket, he fails to notice the extra pair of shoes in front of his bedroom door and promptly trips over them.
Marie woke up when a loud THUMP is heard she opened her eyes and looks on the floor in front of the previously closed door and broke into giggles. Tanaka tripped over my shoes. She got up and reached a hand out to him. "Are you ok, Ryuu?" Her words received a moan from him, making her giggle some more. "Put on a shirt, morning practice starts soon,"
School breezed by rather quickly and the team plus Marie were headed off to the training camp.
—~~~~—
The next day, after laughing at some very manly screams. Marie decided to go on a run with Hinata and Kageyama, which ended up Hinata and herself being separated from Kageyama. "I regret my decision." Marie said quietly but bluntly to Hinata.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to get us both lost!" Hinata exclaimed, continuing to walk forward, but he paused when he saw a boy in a red Jersey sitting at the curb, playing on his phone.
"Hinata-kun, there's a person over there." Marie said to him, beginning to walk forward again.
"What are you doing?" Hinata asked the boy. He's obviously running a marathon, what does it look like?
The boy with the dyed blonde hair looked up at Hinata, slightly alarmed. "Um... I'm lost.."
"You're from out of town?" The mini ball of energy questions the other boy.
"Yeah."
Hinata finally noticed the phone in his hand and bounced forward to krouch down in front of the boy. "Is that thing fun?" He asked, "Ma-chan has one but in white! I made her leave it in the room so she would pay attention to me today." He motioned toward her and started motioning for her to come to stand with him. Marie walked forward, and stood behind Hinata.
"Just to pass the time." The unnamed boy said to Hinata, not looking at Marie and giving a quick glance to the other.
Hinata hums and quickly jumps back, making the other boy jump, and Marie barely avoid being hit by a flying Hinata. "Are you a volleyball player?!" Kenma looks up at him, watching as Hinata points into his bag at his shoes. "Those are volleyball shoes." Marie sighs loudly, exhausted by Hinata's energy.
"Oh, Yeah."
"I'm in a volleyball club too! My name is Hinata Shoyo. And this," he turns to point at Marie who was not paying attention, to focused on beating the level to notice him pointing. "is Marie Eiko!" Marie looked up from her phone at her own name, making eye contact with the boy who is still unnamed. She felt a tingling in her left forearm, soulmark. She watched as it filled with buttons and in the screen held a pixelated heart. She looked up to find Hinata staring at her, questioning why she was staring at her arm. Lifting her arm and opening it to the view of both boys, she looked at the second boy, watching as his eyes widened and he moved his sleeve to look at his own soulmark.
"Kozume." He stated. His name..
"Kozume? That's your name?" Hinata asked.
"Kozume..." he glanced up at Hinata and Marie, "Kenma." he finishes.
"So you're Kenma? Are you in high school?"
"Yeah."
"What year? We're first years." Hinata points at himself and Marie.
"I'm a second year." He said quietly.
"Crap. You're older than me! Sorry!" He said to Kozume in a panic.
"Don't worry. I don't really like that kind of status stuff in athletics." Kozume said to Hinata.
"Is that so?" Hinata said quietly, "Um... do you like volleyball?"
"Not particularly.. I kind of just do it. I don't dislike it, but I don't like getting tired. But my friends play, and they probably can't do it without me."
"I think it'll be more fun if you like it!" Hinata said, after he went to lean on the chain-link fence. Marie hummed in agreement and sat on the ground in front of the two boys.
"I don't care. It's only while I'm in high school."
"What position do you play?"
"Setter."
Hinata made a sound of surprise, "You're different from our setter."
"He is very intense.." Marie added quietly, barely loud enough to be heard.
Hinata nodded quickly. "I'm middle blocker."
"Wow.."
"Do you think it's kind of weird? It's a position for tall guys."
"I guess... but I don't think that. I get told stuff a lot when I go to matches. They say: 'The setter position is for the moat talented player... so why him?' Because I'm not very athletic to begin with."
"Oh... Is your team good?"
"Well, I heard we were good a long time ago. But we fell into decline. Recently though..." He paused, turning to look Hinata in the eye, "I think we're pretty good."
"What's your school?" Hinata asked.
"Kenma!" A tall guy with messy black hair comes up behind Marie, making her breath hitch and start to come out erratically. Again, why does it always happen with strangers. She curled herself into a fetal position, knowing she was having a panic attack. Marie worked to calm her breathing, remembering what Tanaka always did when she had panic attacks.
After a few minutes of listening to the three boys panic about what to do as she worked herself through a panic attack. She calmed her breathing, uncurling herself from the tight position.
"Ma-chan! What happened?!" Hinata said in a panic.
"I'm fine.." she whispered to him.
"I don't think that's what people call fine." The guy said to the two crouching on the ground in front of him.
Hinata looked up at the stranger, "She was having a panic attack." He told the two, "She has a Social Anxiety Disorder, I don't know much about it but these aren't rare for her. She had them sometimes in Junior High."
A look of understanding dawned on the tallest boy's face, "Ah, I've never seen that happen before!" He began to say something else but was interrupted.
"Kuro.." Kozume said, getting the attention of 'Kuro.' He showed his now complete soulmark to the other person.
Eyes widening in surprise, 'Kuro' looked at Hinata's arm, finding crossing swords behind a shield. He turned to the previously panicking girl who made eye contact with Hinata and nodded. Marie pulled her arm up to show the staring guy her soulmark that matched Kozume's.
"Kuro... we should go.." Kozume stated, making 'Kuro' nod. He turned to the two first years and waved, "Bye, See you soon."
"Don't go wandering off by yourself." The taller man chastised.
"Sorry."
"We're strangers to this place, you have to be careful."
Marie stood up from her spot on the ground just as Sugawara walked onto the street. He turned from right to left and saw Hinata staring forward and Marie stumbling off the ground. "Hinata, Marie," Sugawara said when he saw them. "Man, I was looking all over."
"Sorry," the two said as they went to Sugawara.
"Hinata wasn't paying attention and I was following him." Marie explained plainly. As they got back on track, Marie stopped paying attention to them. Instead focusing on the beautiful scenery. Keeping on the same path brought the three back to the building. Marie immediately went to change. Grabbing her crimson POP and phone, she headed out to the gym.
—~~~~—
"Don't you think their setter is kind of small?" Sakd a person that Marie didn't bother to remember the name of. Ah, they are talking about Kozume.
"Yeah, and he's kind of unsteady." Said the other guy.
"Maybe he's a backup setter." Stated the final.
"I've never heard of this school." Said first. Kenma dropped yo the ground after a jump and looked in the direction of the judgemental group.
"That unsteady shrimp you guys are talking about, is the backbone of Nekoma.. He's our brain." 'Kuro' said, in a harsh tone, holding a menacing expression. "And our heart." Marie blinked, realising how true that is for a setter.
—~~~~—
After practice, the teams were found in the cafeteria for dinner. Marie sat with the other first years, knowing Hinata would ask her to either way. "Thanks for the food!" The group said in unison.
"Where does that appetite come from?" Tsukishima asked himself.
"The black hole in their stomachs.." Marie mumbled, only heard by Tsukishima and Kageyama, the latter giving her a quick glare before going back to his food.
Tsukishima snorted and nodded to her. Nishinoya appeared between Tsukishima and Yamaguchi and said, "Hey, eat. Eat even if you can't eat any more! It's midsummer. Just look at you guys. You'll shrivel up and croak if you don't eat!" Nishinoya said to the first years.
"Yamaguchi, you gonna eat that?" Hinata said, making Marie sigh.
"Hey! Let Yamaguchi eat his own food!"
—~~~~—
The next morning, Marie found herself sitting in the gym with her phone as the team worked on strategy. "For the Nekoma battle, this will be our starting order. It's a configuration you're barely used to, so I'm not expecting you to synchronize right away. We now have an amazing libero, and the ace has returned, but don't rely on those facts or think victory is assured. Victory goes to the team that connects. Let's see how this configuration works in the battle against Karasuno's long-standing rival, Nekoma!" Coach Ukai said to the team.
"Yeah!" They all said together. Marie quietly moved to the opposite corner of the gym and stuck her earbuds in her ears. Marie stayed in her own little world of Set It Off, her favorite American band, until the end of practice.