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He didn't return to the volleyball club. The season was technically over anyway. He was sure that the team must have thought he was hiding from them. That they had finally broken away from him for good.
And, in a way, they did.
But that wasn't the reason he didn't go to the club. Even if they all hated him, even if they talked about him or completely ignored his existence, he still wanted to be in the gym. Practicing. Getting better.
But he couldn't.
He had attended school as usual the day after the last game. And, yes, he admitted that he had skipped practice. Like every year, it would be a party celebrating the third years last game.
They wouldn't want him there anyway.
It was that night that it happened. He had been watching a game when he suddenly felt as if his leg was on fire. He cried out helplessly and grasped at his knee. Through his tears he stared down at his knee in horror. It was already swollen and purple.
What the hell happened?!
The intense pain faded as quickly as it had appeared into a dull throb, something that had been described in the booklets he read. The pain he initially felt was whatever pain his soulmate was currently feeling. Tobio would just feel a dull throb until his soulmate's injury was completely healed. And, by the looks of his swollen knee, whatever had happened was serious. Very serious.
He wondered if his soulmate was going to be able to play volleyball.
He wondered if this was the end for him as well.
He skipped the next two days of classes. The dull throbbing was still present and his knee had turned a sickly shade of blue-green. It hurt but he didn't think that his slight limp was that noticeable. Not enough that anyone would really notice. No one paid him that much attention anyway. Though he was wondering if he was making it worse by putting pressure on it. Even if it wasn't his injury, was he still able to irritate it?
He got his answer later that night.
What the hell are you doing?! The Doctors said to stay down!
I am! What are you doing?!
Don't lie to me!
I'm not!
I'm not arguing about this.
Just stay down!
Well, apparently he shouldn't have gone to class.
Luckily enough for him, it seemed that the two were cleared to go back to class the next week, though the one that was actually injured was regulated to crutches. But the other person was fine to walk around, as long as they were careful, so Tobio figured it was okay for him too.
Things seemed to improve slowly and Tobio was careful when he practiced on his own. He mostly just worked on his sets and didn't attempt to do anything that would harm the injury any further. Like jump serves. As much as he wanted to practice so he could try and match Oikawa, to prove him wrong, he knew he couldn't.
Not yet.
He spent the rest of break that way. His mother seemed to somehow know that he wouldn't be in the house during the day because each week he would return to the house to find the weekly allowance sitting on the table. He briefly wondered why she didn't just leave enough for the month so she wouldn't have to stop by each week. It wasn't as if she ever came when he was there anyway.
He hadn't seen her since that conversation before his third year.
It had been a year now.
He had only spoken to her twice during that time. Both were short conversations about his school marks and future plans and both ended with his mother hanging up the phone on him in anger.
Soon enough, it was time for Tobio to start Karasuno. His knee had finally stopped aching and he figured that meant he was now free to go full out during practice. The writing he saw somewhat confirmed that as the two seemed to be talking about all the things they were planning for their first practice. Apparently, the one with the pretty writing was captain of his team. And the one with the messy writing was the vice captain.
Tobio wished he knew what school they attended.
It wasn't as if anyone would miss him if he suddenly decided to move to Tokyo. Or anywhere else, for that matter.
But here he was, starting at Karasuno. He just needed to get to Nationals. His soulmates were planning on making it there this year, so said the pretty one, so he needed to as well. After all, this was most likely his one chance before the two of them graduated and began with the rest of their lives.
He wanted to meet them before then.
He was scared that if he didn't, he never would.
And it terrified him.
He found himself in the gym on the first day. First years weren't supposed to start club activities until the following week but Tobio needed to step on the court again. He needed to be there, to forget the last time he was on the court. To forget about his team, his friends, turning away from him. From feeling as if volleyball itself had somehow forsaken him.
He needed to be on the court.
Even if he was the only one there.
He changed into his practice clothes quickly, making sure the sleeves of his shirt were pulled down, and hurried into the gym. As soon as he stepped foot inside he felt his entire body relax. He hadn't realized how tense he was until this moment. He strode over to the ball bin quickly before making his way toward the net. He was finally able to work on his serve.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He could see Oikawa serving. Could see the way he threw the ball up and the exact angle he jumped at. But could he actually do it? Could he do it without Oikawa explaining it to him? He let his eyes open slowly and threw the ball into the air. Slightly too high but he could try it. He moved forward to jump and lost focus as loud screaming broke through his concentration. He landed hard, stumbling slightly as he turned his eyes to the person that had distracted him.
There was a…kid?... standing there. A very familiar kid.
The one that could jump.
He remembered him.
Oh, he should probably listen.
Why was this kid yelling at him again?
"How can I defeat you if we're on the same team? Shouldn't you be at some other school with strong players? Why didn't you go there?" The kid demanded.
Because none of them wanted me. Tobio looked away from the kid before he could see the thought crossing his face. "The strongest schools in the prefecture…rejected me," Tobio muttered. He wasn't sure why he was admitting this to this kid but whatever. It wasn't like they weren't going to find out eventually.
"You didn't make it?" The kid asked with a confused frown plastered across his face. "Even though you're the King of the Court?"
Everything in his body seemed to recoil as that name passed the kids lips. "Don't… call me that!" He snarled, inwardly flinching at the tone of his voice. That wasn't him. That was his mother.
He didn't want to be like his mother.
"The first setter of Kitagawa is on our team?" a voice said, making Tobio turn around instantly. "But that guy's totally cocky."
Great. Apparently his reputation was well known.
He had hoped this school was off the mark enough that they wouldn't have heard the rumors.
"Don't try to intimidate him, okay?" another voice asked.
Intimidate? I went to school with Oikawa.
"I-I wouldn't do something like that."
Tobio forgot about shorty as he turned to face the three upperclassman that walked into the gym. The one in the middle had dark hair and a powerful build. The one to left was slim with light hair and a smile. Then there was the one on the right. He was bald and, obviously, the one that was going to intimidate him. It was the bald one that moved forward first. "Hey, hey, hey. Who said you guys could…" he was cut off as the guy in the middle grabbed the back of the bald guys jacket and hauled him backwards.
"You're Kageyama?" The middle guy asked.
"Yes."
"Glad you're here."
"You're tall," the man with grey hair commented.
The bald one moved forward once again. "He needs an initiation, Suga-san! Let's give him a reason to be intimidated!"
Tobio vaguely noticed the bald one once again trying to 'intimidate' him but his attention was caught by the short kid once again. He seemed to be even closer to the ground and he was sneaking around the backs of the seniors. Was he not supposed to be here or something?
He tilted his head slightly as the kid suddenly stood up straight and smiled happily.
Was this kid insane?
"How tall are you?" the guy in the middle questioned and Tobio turned his attention away from the kid.
"180 cm," he replied as the kid began to talk.
"You're cocky!" Bald guy commented loudly. Tobio frowned. How was he cocky? They had asked him a question and he answered it. Was he supposed to lie?
"Hello!"
Oh. Shorty was yelling again.
And then baldy was yelling as well.
"Oh! You! Shorty number one!"
The one in the middle lifted some papers in surprise. "So the other applicant here, Hinata, is…you?" he questioned. "I'm a little surprised. So both of you are here at Karasuno."
Both of us?
"We saw your match last year," the grey haired one explained.
But baldy was more telling. "You're way short and sucked bad! But you have guts."
"Thanks!" the kid yelled out. What was his name again? Hinata?
"Your jumps were awesome, too," that was the grey haired one again. At least this was a comment Tobio could agree with.
"But you haven't grown much since!" Baldy chimed in.
Well, that's something else I can agree with.
Shorty yelled out something about being able to jump. And then he claimed that one day he would be the ace. Tobio clenched his jaw at the words. He had seen this kid play volleyball last year. He had seen how…horrible he was. This kid couldn't be his ace. He would never get to Nationals that way.
If he didn't get to Nationals, he wouldn't meet them.
He had to meet them.
"If you want to be the ace, I hope you've improved," Tobio said harshly. He knew it probably wasn't right but he couldn't let anyone come between him and Nationals. "If you goof around, you'll waste another three years."
Well, okay. The kid had a glare on him. "What did you say?" He turned around fully and stared into Tobio's eyes furiously. Tobio stood his ground. He wasn't going to back down. This kid had nothing on the people he had dealt with in the past. "I played with all my might. Don't tell me that everything I've done is a waste!"
"Guys," the dark haired guy tried to break in. "You know, you're not enemies anymore, right? Volleyball is about teamwork-"
"I'll challenge you!" Hinata (that was his name, right?) shouted. Apparently he hadn't heard a thing the other guy was saying.
"Hey, Daichi-san was talking!" Baldy shouted.
So the dark haired guy was Daichi?
"Challenge me to what?" Tobio asked. The other three weren't important. Not at the moment.
"Volleyball, what else?"
Right. "How do you expect to challenge me one on one?"
Apparently Hinata hadn't thought that far. "L-like a passing contest!"
Idiot.
"How do you compete at passing?" Tobio asked sarcastically. He thought he heard shouting but he was too focused on the other kid to really register what was going on. He might have heard someone else entering the gym but it wasn't important.
"Serve! I'll return them all! I was only able to get one of your serves last year. But I've been training with all kinds of people. I'm not the same person I was last year."
Didn't he receive my serve with his face?
"Not the same as last year, huh?" Tobio questioned. Good. He picked up the nearest volleyball. "I'm not the same as last year, either." He moved quickly to the other side of the gym. Finally, he was able to get some practice in. "Here it goes!"
He threw the ball up and jumped, hitting the ball with all that he had. He watched the ball fly across the court and Hinata dived out of the way as the ball slammed to the ground. Yes! Not as good as Oikawa's but it's a start. "How is that different from last year?"
"One more!" the kid yelled out as he stood and glared at Tobio.
Tobio served once more, aiming for the corner of the court. Let the little guy try to get that-
He blinked in surprise as Hinata was suddenly in front of the ball. Well, he has quick reflexes. Then he watched in horror as Hinata moved into the wrong position. The ball bounced off of his arms, into his face, and then over toward the people standing by the door.
When did that old guy get here?
Said bald guy was the person unfortunate enough to receive a ball to the face. Tobio's mouth dropped open in shock as the man's toupee flew off of his head and landed on a shocked looking Daichi. Tobio moved forward slowly, the horror in his stomach growing more and more the closer he got. He knew that man. Wasn't that the vice principal?
"He was wearing a wig?" Tobio couldn't help but ask.
"You just noticed?" Hinata answered with a smirk. "Everyone as the entrance ceremony could tell."
"You guys! Shut up!" The bald one said. He looked like he was going to start laughing at any moment.
"Tanaka, you shut up too!" Grey haired boy hissed. Ah. Well, at least he knew most of their names now.
Daichi was called outside and Tobio crossed his arms over his chest as he swallowed hard. Would they be in trouble? It was an accident!
Not that an accident ever stopped his mother from being angry. But maybe the vice principal would be different?
Or not.
Daichi walked back in with a strict look plastered across his face. Tobio moved quickly and stood next to the two seniors and the shorty. Daichi stood in front of them with his arms crossed. "Fortunately, he's not punishing us." Tobio felt his entire body lighten at those words. "Provided you all agree that you saw nothing." Tobio didn't think he was the only one that felt surprised at the words. He turned to Hinata just to see if the other boy had heard the same thing and by the shocked look the other boy was giving him, he supposed he did. "But you guys," Daichi continued darkly.
"All because you couldn't hit a serve! You suck!" Tobio snapped out as he turned to face Hinata. "What's so different than last year?"
"You suck!"
"Hey!" Daichi yelled out. Tobio turned to the captain in surprise. "I want you to listen to me! I don't know what your motive was for attending Karasuno. But I'm sure you came here with victory on your mind."
"Yes!"
Tobio was surprised to find that his left hand was gripping his right forearm where there had been a good luck message there this morning. Apparently it was the first day of the new term for his soulmates as well. "Of course!"
"Karasuno was one of the top teams in the prefecture till a few years ago." Daichi told them. "It happened only once, but we even went to nationals. Now we rank, at best, in the prefectures top eight. We're neither weak nor strong. Other schools call us things. Things like "fallen rivals" and the "crows that can't fly". I remember well when Karasuno competed in spring nationals. Students from my neighborhood, I'd pass by high school students that competed against the countries best teams in a huge gymnasium in Tokyo. It gave me goose bumps. We're going to go there again!"
Tobio stared at his new captain in shock. This was it. This was what he wanted. To go to Nationals. And to find others that wanted the same thing he did. People that would work as hard as he was to make it.
He was right to come here.
But still… "There are many schools dreaming of going to Nationals," he said flatly.
"Don't worry. I mean what I say." Tobio fought to keep a smile off of his face. That was what he wanted to hear. "For us to make that happen, our team has to be unified. And we can't have the vice principal keeping an eye on us. I'm not telling you guys to become buddies," Daichi commented, slowly moving forward. Tobio tensed. What was happening? "Even if you were enemies on opposite sides of the net in junior high, I need you to understand that now, you're on the same side. Do you get it?"
Tobio shivered at the look on the captain's face. He didn't like it. At all.
Even Oikawa had never glared at him like that.
"No matter how outstanding you are," Daichi started, slapping a hand down on Tobio's shoulder. He flinched. "No matter how willing you are to give it your all," a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "If you fail to get along and hinder our teammates," they were moving. "You're not welcome!" Daichi snapped. Tobio froze as his sign up form was thrown in his face.
This couldn't be happening.
"Until you realize that you're both teammates," Daichi snapped, "you won't be participating in this club!" The door slammed in their faces.
Tobio stared at the closed door. No. No, this couldn't happen. He couldn't have just been kicked out of the volleyball club. He couldn't have destroyed his one chance on the first day of high school. No.
"What does it mean to realize we're teammates?" Hinata questioned in shock. "How do you do it?"
"I have no idea!"
"Please let me in! Please let me play volleyball! I'll get along with Kageyama, too!"
Tobio clenched his fists as no answer came. "I apologize! I swear I'll get along with this guy! Please let me participate in this club!" Tobio jumped back in surprise as the door slid open and an eye peered at him through the small crack.
Well, that's creepy.
"Are you sure you meant that?"
Did he? Could he? Probably not. But did he want to play? "If I had to cooperate with that guy in a match, I'd rather receive, spike, and toss all by myself."
"How could you say that?" Hinata yelled out in indignation.
But Daichi was laughing. Was that a good thing? "I can't believe you just told me your true feelings. But I think that's a good thing. Still, in volleyball, you can't drop the ball, you can't hold the ball, and one player can't touch the ball twice. How do you plan to play by yourself?"
Tobio scowled as Daichi slid the doors closed once more.
Apparently it wasn't a good thing.
"Let me ask you something," came an eerie voice behind him. "Are you actually stupid?"
Tobio flinched at the words but managed to hide it quickly. They weren't anything new, after all. He had heard them often enough. He sank down on the steps, ignoring the group of guys that came to the gym only a few minutes later. He had to find a way to get back in that gym. What would he have to do? He couldn't leave and transfer. Not now. Not that he already started.
"The court and ball are in front of my eyes," Hinata muttered. Tobio looked up to see the kid somehow hanging from the windowsill. "And it sucks that I'm not allowed in…"
"Dammit! I have no time to waste like this!" Tobio yelled out as he jumped to his feet. "I'm going to make them let me in!"
"You realize we're teammates now?"
Dumbass.
"I'm a force to be reckoned with! That's enough reason for me to be allowed on the team!"
"Just what I would expect from the King-" Tobio glared as Hinata clapped a hand over his mouth. "What are you going to do?"
"I'll challenge them," Tobio said decisively. "To a two on two match. If we win, they have to let us in. If we team up then we'll appear friendly not matter how we feel. That will speed things up."
Hinata's mouth dropped open. "We're going to challenge our senpais? What if we lose?!"
I can't lose. I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't!
"We won't lose. You have me on your side. You just need to do the best you can to not get in my way." He didn't have time for this. They needed to get back in that gym so he could start practicing. So they could make it to Nationals.
He listened in surprise as Hinata went on to explain that the only match he had participated in during junior high was the one against Tobio. Bad luck. And then he heard the boy mention practicing in random areas. Like hallways.
How odd.
"What are we going to do?" Tobio finally asked, "if we don't go in together, they'll slam the door."
"If I can play volleyball," Hinata started, "I can endure anything for a little while! No matter how obnoxious you are! I'll do my best to keep from seeing you!"
Tobio snarled, "That's my line, you idiot!"
The argument was broken up as a girl came in between them. Apparently, she wanted in the gym. Tobio figured that she must be the volleyball manager. He was proven right as that bald guy, what was his name again?, ran up and began to speak with her. Tobio rolled his eyes. The bald one was able to be in the club. Why was he wasting his practice time talking to some girl?
He fumed as the grey haired one moved forward and closed the door in their faces once more. "We're getting back in that gym."
"Agreed!"