Disclaimer: Haikyuu does not belong to me. It is property of Haruichi Furudate, Weekly Shōnen Jump and Shueisha.
Chapter 11 – Tough Love from Daichi-senpai.
Wham!
The volleyball that Kageyama-san had served connected with Hinata's forearms cleanly and I gasped out happily. He got it this time…! Looking at Hinata's eyes light up happily at getting the ball, I didn't notice, or rather I didn't pay attention to the direction the ball flew in.
But in hearing a strangled yelp of surprise to my side I realised the ball hadn't gone up like it had meant to…
My head whipped around in time to see the vice-principal stumble back in shock, and a toupee drop on top of Daichi-senpai's head. I felt a chill, suddenly getting a bad feeling as the entire gym went quiet…
…Ah… so that hair was fake after all. It'd thought something had seemed off about the vice principal since he came in, but… this might be bad, right?
Kageyama-san walked over, looking surprised, 'So it was a toupee after all…' he murmured.
Hinata shorted, and stage-whispered to him, 'You didn't notice? Everyone had been saying about it.' He said to Kageyama-san, his animosity towards the setter seemingly vanishing.
Tanaka-senpai was trying his best to hide his laughter, telling the two first years to shut up quickly. Suga-senpai scolded him that he wasn't much better as I quietly went over to Hinata's side, looking uncertainly towards our now bare-scalped vice-principal who was turning away from us.
'Sawamura… Can I have a moment?' he asked, surprisingly calm despite this embarrassing situation.
Daichi-senpai flinched noticeably, but agreed and followed the vice-principal out of the gym. After a moment of watching after the two in an awkward silence, we finally sighed out, still feeling uneasy about what had happened.
I turned to Hinata, exasperatedly putting my hands on my hips, 'Hinata-kun, what was all of that about, huh?' I asked him and he jumped, taken aback, 'What if your competitive nature ends up getting you in big trouble? They might stop you from playing volleyball you know!' I scolded him but my insides were churning at the thought of doing it. I didn't like doing this, but I needed to say it.
Hinata lowered his gaze, and hung his head, 'S-Sorry… but he was being a huge jerk…!' he grumbled a little.
'Ahh? What was that?' Kageyama-san glared at him a bit.
Suga-senpai waved his hands soothingly, although his tone was a bit more urgently, 'Settle down already. Don't cause any more trouble, now.' He told the boys.
'Yeah, listen to your senpai already! Jeez…' Tanaka-senpai shook his head at us.
I sighed out, and smiled a little, 'But thank you… in a way, you were sticking up for me a bit weren't you, Hinata-kun?' I asked him and he turned red, looking away.
'Th-that is…' he mumbled and Tanaka-senpai, Suga-senpai and Kageyama-san all looked at the two of us curiously.
'Oi, oi, what is this? Are the two of you dating or something?' Tanaka-senpai asked and I started blushing too.
'N-NO!' we gasped out together, before looking at each other in surprise, our faces pink.
'U-Um, that is, we're just really good friends is all.' I corrected Tanaka-senpai, feeling a little foolish for raising my voice so much. It wasn't like me at all. But senpai was clearly wrong to assume such a thing. We're only 15 after all!
'I-It's just… when I started at Yukigaoka and tried joining the volleyball team there, I learnt I'd be the only member and it was more like a fan-club… I had no choice to practice alone until a bit into our second year Mogami-san offered to help me out. It's thanks to her that I've gotten as far as I have so far!' Hinata explained.
Suga-senpai smiled, 'I see, so you have that kind of bond! Like a mentor and student.' he nodded.
'We're best friends!' Hinata corrected, and Suga-senpai nodded indulgingly.
'But you're no different from when I faced off against you last year. I can't see any improvements.' Kageyama-san frowned. Hinata looked like he wanted to say something to that, but I stepped in between the two, speaking to the black-haired Setter.
'Now that's not true. There's an improvement that you can't see because it wasn't shown during your match! Hinata-kun's receives have become way more consistent than before, you couldn't see that because he was the main attacker during that match and everyone else was focusing on receiving. He may have missed your first serve, but that's because you caught him and all of us by surprise by doing that jump serve. But he caught the second one, didn't he?' I said, and smiled.
'He couldn't control the direction of the ball-' Kageyama-san began.
'Hinata-kun is someone who's got the drive to continuously improve. He'll get even better, now that a team that can support him surrounds him. And that includes you, whether you like it or not, Kageyama-san.' I interrupted him.
'Yeah! Nicely put!' Tanaka-senpai grinned, giving me a thumbs up.
'I agree with Mogami-san,' Suga-senpai nodded to me; 'The two of you will need to put your past rivalry aside and work together.' He said.
Kageyama-san and Hinata glanced at each other for a moment, before tsking and looking aside. Hinata's cheeks were still a little red.
It was then that Daichi-senpai returned from his talk with the vice-principal, stepping back into the gym. We all tensed up, nervously awaiting any news about the situation from the captain.
He let out a light sigh, facing us with folded arms,
'Fortunately, we have the benefit of the doubt. No apologies are needed. As long as we keep to ourselves what we learnt about the vice-principal's… ahem!' Daichi-senpai awkwardly cleared out his throat, and we all understood what he was getting at. He got ready to talk again, 'But the two of you—'
'It's your fault for not receiving it properly you dumbass! Improved on your receiving… I'm not seeing it!' Kageyama-san rudely cut off his senpai, scolding Hinata and my head whipped round to look at them in shock.
No, no, no! That's not what you need to say right now, you're supposed to respectfully listen to your captain till he's finished talking! What is Kageyama-san's problem?!
'You're such a let down, you klutzy dumbass!' Kageyama-san added.
'You always say one word too many!' Hinata complained.
'Hey!' Daichi-senpai called, breaking it up. Everyone looked at him worriedly- he looked pretty annoyed, 'I'd like you to listen to me. I don't know what motivated you to come to Karasuno. But you came here to win, didn't you?' he asked them.
Hinata and Kageyama-san stood to attention, saying 'Yes!' and 'Of course,' respectively.
Daichi-senpai continued,
'Karasuno's team could compete with the best until several years ago. It only happened once, but they went to Nationals. But now, we're 8th in the prefecture. We are neither weak nor strong. Other schools call us the fallen champs. The un-flying crows.
I remember when Karasuno was in the Spring High School National Tournament. I was a student from a nearby school who just happened to be passing by. But to see them fighting the fierce rivals in a gigantic gymnasium in Tokyo… it gave me goosebumps. We're going there again!' Daichi-senpai explained to us.
I could tell what he was saying to us was important to him. Glancing at Suga-senpai and Tanaka-senpai I could see it was important to them as well.
'There are plenty of high schools that treat going to the nationals as a tentative dream.' Kageyama said in response and Tanaka turned to him.
'Wha—you bastard…!' he started.
Daichi-senpai continued, unruffled, 'There's no need to worry.' He said and we looked at him. The expression of stone cold determination on his face made me jump a little. 'I'm serious about going.' He said and Kageyama-san flinched.
'We need a united team to accomplish this. And that's also a reason why we don't want to be in the Vice-Principal's bad books. Look,' Daichi-senpai began walking towards Hinata and Kageyama-san and I started feeling a little anxious.
I didn't like the way this looked like it was going…!
'It isn't as though I'm telling the two of you to become friends. In middle-school you may have been enemies on the court, but I want you to get it in your heads that you'll both be on the same side of the net this time… that's all I'm saying.' He said, and though I couldn't see his face right now, I know it had to be pretty scary because Hinata and Kageyama-san looked afraid right now.
'I don't care how talented you are,' he put a hand on Kageyama-san's shoulder, 'Or how willing you are to give it your all.' He added, putting a hand on Hinata's shoulder as well.
He began to lead them towards the gym doors, his hands not leading their shoulders. I gasped, and took a few steps to follow them, but Suga-senpai stopped me by putting his hand on my shoulder, and giving it a light squeeze. I looked at him to see him giving me a reassuring look, but I wasn't reassured at all…
'Anyone who makes trouble for the team with some petty rivalry, or a need to defend someone from mere words…' Daichi-senpai said as he pushed the two out through the gym doors, and took their applications and handed them back to Hinata and Kageyama-san, '…aren't needed!' he finished harshly, 'I will not allow you to participate in club activities until you can demonstrate some team awareness!' he finished, and closed the gym doors with a slam.
It took only a few moments for the two boys' cries of shock, confusion and desperation to begin. They were muffled behind the gym doors but I could tell they were panicking.
I pulled away from Suga-senpai's grip on my shoulder, 'Daichi-senpai, excuse me, but I think that was way too harsh…!' I cried at him.
Daichi-senpai sighed out, and rubbed the back of his head, 'I'm sorry, but I'm not going back on my decision until the two of them work things out. Think of it as a little tough love, Mogami-san.' He said, looking at me apologetically. He wasn't budging from this, I could tell. Daichi-senpai seemed like a really determined person.
I couldn't help the feeling of despair for Hinata building up in me. This was his dream team to join, the same one that the Small Giant had played on. And because Kageyama-san couldn't stop riling him up with his words, he might not even get to play volleyball like he'd always wanted to…!
'Don't worry so much, Mogami-san!' Suga-senpai said with a light laugh, 'All they have to do is show Daichi that they can work together and they'll be able to join practice. Like Daichi said, this is just a way to force them to see that and give them the motivation to try.' He said, and sighed, and turned to Daichi-senpai.
'But are you sure about this, Daichi? We do need new members. And only time can build teamwork.' He said to his friend.
'I know that! However…' he paused when we heard a particularly loud noise outside, and Kageyama-san's voice became clear amongst the shouting.
'Excuse me! I'm sorry for my behavior! I'll play along with him! Please let me be on the team!' Kageyama-san said desperately. Daichi-senpai turned and opened the gym doors slightly to look at him.
'Really…? Be honest.' Daichi-senpai drawled out, disbelieving.
And then Kageyama-san said something unbelievable, after much fidgeting, 'If I'm stuck working with him during a match… I'd much rather do every receive, spike and toss by myself.' He said begrudgingly.
Is such a thing even possible..! I felt my jaw drop in disbelief.
Daichi-senpai however, started laughing, 'Why are you actually being honest with me? I like that honesty, but still… in volleyball, you can't drop, carry or touch the ball twice in a row. How do you plan to do all of that alone?' Daichi-senpai asked him, and closed the gym doors again.
As he walked away from the doors, I stood in place, struck by the things Kageyama-san had said. He was so confident in his own abilities, but didn't have much faith in other people's abilities…that's some ego. What Daichi-senpai said was totally right though.
Volleyball is a team-sport. Its entire foundation is communicating and working with your teammates to keep the ball in play. Kageyama-san must know this...!
But maybe there was more to Kageyama-san than met the eye, when it came to that. Hopefully, Daichi-senpai's plan could get him started off in the right direction.
I wanted to check up on Hinata, since he's probably really frustrated with this situation right now, but… the entire point of senpai's plan is to get those two to work things out on their own, so I can't really intrude on that. It'd be rude to senpai, and to Hinata and Kageyama-san.
So with a deep sigh, I turned away from the gym doors and looked around curiously. I caught Suga-senpai's attention, and he waved me over.
'You're looking a little lost there, Mogami-san. Worried about Hinata?' he asked me.
I nodded, 'Of course I am… But even though I want to help him with this, it's probably better that I let him figure it out on his own. But… really, I don't know what I should be doing right now, as an assistant manager. I was a player in middle-school, so I never gave much thought to the management side.' I said.
'It's not as hard as you're imagining it to be. Shimizu will come when she's finished with her other responsibilities, and she'll teach you everything you need to know. So what position were you in middle school?' he asked.
'Ah, a Setter like Kageyama-san. Um, and in third year I was the vice-captain along with my friend who was the captain.' I replied, and he grinned.
'Me too! I play Setter, as well. Hey, we've got more in common than we thought, Mogami-san.' He said with a laugh, and I smiled as well.
The gym doors on the other side of the gym to where Hinata and Kageyama-san had been pushed out opened up and Suga-senpai looked over. Three new boys had entered the gym in white shirts, black shorts and their shoes and knee-guards.
Suga-senpai called over the group of three tall boys and they came towards us.
'Guys, this is Mogami Moeka, she'll be an assistant manager starting today! Mogami-san, these are second years, Ennoshita Chikara…'
He gestured to the first boy who had his short black hair brushed to the side to reveal soft but stern brown eyes. He had a small smile on his face, and nodded to me in greeting.
'Kinoshita Hisashi...'
He then gestured to the second boy, who had short, spiked light-brown hair and sharp eyes. He nodded his head in greeting too.
'…And Narita Kazuhito.' Suga-senpai finished, finally gesturing to another shaved-head boy like Tanaka-senpai, although he didn't look as aggressive as Tanaka-senpai did. He nodded to greet me as well.
'Welcome to the club.' The three all said together and I bowed my head in thanks.
'Thank you, for having me - I'll be in your care…! Let's all get along, Ennoshita-senpai, Kinoshita-senpai, and Narita-senpai.' I said, and they gave a 'yeah' in response. Things moved quickly after that, and I was roped in to helping with setting up the volleyball net and wheeling out the baskets filled with volleyballs.
The boys quickly got started on spiking and receiving practice and I observed from the side. For a team ranked 8th they definitely worked harder, but I knew the absence of a coach really put a limit on what they could achieve. I asked Suga-senpai and he told me that they had a coach until a little under a half-year ago when he was admitted to hospital…
Eventually, the gym doors where Hinata and Kageyama-san had been forcefully ejected from to see Shimizu-senpai entering in a pale purple track suit. She was carrying a large blue sports bag. Tanaka-senpai quickly went over to greet her, like an excited puppy and I watched from where I was standing.
'Kiyoko-san! Thanks for all your hard work! I'll carry that for you!' he said.
'No, thanks. I'll carry it myself.' She said shortly, and walked by Tanaka-senpai; he didn't seem to be bothered by her dismissal, in fact, he seemed to... Like it?
'Kiyoko-san, you look lovely again today…!' Tanaka-senpai added, and Shimizu-senpai ignored him, turning over to me and walking over. Behind her, I could see Tanaka-senpai hugging himself again, 'I love it when she ignores me!' he said.
What the…
I saw Suga-senpai quickly closing up the gym doors again out of the corner of my eye, as Shimizu-senpai joined me.
'Hi, there. Sorry I couldn't stick with you before. I had quite a few things to finish off, concerning the club. I didn't mean to keep you waiting so long.' She said.
'Oh no, it's fine!' I shook my head, 'Um, so, I've played volleyball in middle-school but I don't really know a lot about the management side of it, s-so I was wondering if you could…show me the ropes, so to speak.' I said, scratching my cheek nervously.
Shimizu-senpai smiled sweetly and my heart skipped a beat, 'Of course! It's my duty as your senpai to teach you these things. And the fact that you already have knowledge in volleyball already places you in a better position than I was when I first came in as a manager. You'll be fine, so don't worry.' She told me, and brushed her hair behind her ear.
'So, shall we get started?' she asked.
I nodded, 'Yes, please.' I agreed eagerly.
From there, practice continued on and Shimizu-senpai began talking me through everything I needed to know. In a nutshell, our job was to essentially be there to assist with practice and support our players, like handing them drinks, taking scores in their practice games, helping with setting things up and tidying away after practice. The main point of it was to be a source of support and encouragement for the team.
Which was exactly the kind of role that I wanted to play.
Practice had flown over due to getting used to everything and helping everyone where I could, and as the skies darkened, practice came to an end. Shimizu-senpai and I had already handed out their drinks for them to quench their thirsts, and they were all putting on their black jerseys to avoid getting cold due to the sweat clinging to them from practice.
Tanaka gave a boisterous laugh, making conversation with Suga-senpai, 'Do you think they'll show up asking the club if they can beat us in a match?' he asked and Suga-senpai laughed a little bit.
'Possibly! All they have to do is clear their heads and demonstrate that they've learned the error of their ways.' Suga-senpai nodded.
Tanaka-senpai nodded as well, 'After all, it's not good to make a cute girl worry! Honestly those guys!' he said and I blushed, not used to getting compliments like that so often.
As if it was a cue or something, Hinata and Kageyama-san's voices chorused from outside of the door, calling 'Captain!' and causing Daichi-senpai to jump in surprise.
He went over to open up the door, and Suga-senpai and Tanaka-senpai joined him, having been stood next to the door in the first place. Excusing myself from Shimizu-senpai's side, I went over to have a look as well.
Hinata and Kageyama-san took a breath to collect their selves and then said loudly together, 'We challenge you to a two-on-two match!'
Their statement had Tanaka-senpai laughing, as Hinata continued, 'It'll be us versus you senpai.' He clarified and Tanaka-senpai cried out a 'for real?'
Looks like his prediction had actually been dead on. I smiled, a little relieved that it was so. Perhaps they'd worked something out together – this was good to hear.
'Ready… and…' Hinata and Kageyama-san muttered together under their breath, before continuing again at the same time, 'We will prove that we can play together as a team!' they said.
I chuckled a little, and Tanaka-senpai started another round of belly laughing. Suga-senpai even seemed to smiling at that as well.
'I heard a count-down…' he said.
Tanaka-senpai turned to Daichi-senpai and Suga-senpai, 'But I kinda like guys like them.' He added, still holding his belly, tears in the corner of his eyes.
Daichi-senpai however, was all business, taking their challenge serious; 'And if you lose the match?' he asked them.
'We'll accept any penalty!' Kageyama-san said boldly.
'Hmm? …This should work. Two other first years will be joining us tomorrow. We'll have the two of you play them, three-on-three. It's a game we hold every year for new members to see what they're made of.' Daichi-senpai explained.
Hinata looked confused, 'But, three-on-three…? Who will be playing on our side?' he asked Daichi-senpai.
'Tanaka, I want you to be on their side on game day.' Daichi-senpai said, looking to Tanaka-senpai who looked surprised.
'What? Me?' Tanaka-senpai asked.
'You did say that you kinda liked them, didn't you?' Daichi replied.
'Well yeah, but I don't want to get dragged into their mess!' Tanaka-senpai retorted.
'That's a shame,' Daichi-senpai sighed, 'I really thought you were the only one capable of wrangling these trouble-makers…' he said and Tanaka-senpai twitched. Ah. He got him.
Tanaka-senpai quickly put on a show of it, 'Well if you insist! I'll do it!' he said, and smirked, jumping down to join Kageyama-san and Hinata, patting the latter on the head roughly, 'Aren't you happy to hear that? Ha!' he said.
'So in the event that you lose the game,' Daichi-senpai said, attracting their full attention again; 'For the remainder of my time in high-school, Kageyama will not be allowed to be the Setter.' He said with a tone of finality to his words.
'Hah…?' Kageyama looked like he couldn't believe what he'd just heard.
'Is that all…?' Hinata asked, not getting why that was a punishment for them.
'A team can't win with a grand-standing, over-aggressive, ego-centric Setter.' Daichi-senpai explained, and I had to say I agreed with him totally. However, Kageyama-san just seemed angry to hear that. 'What's wrong? I'm not saying that your application will be rejected. I'm sure you can easily handle other positions.' He said.
Kageyama-san seemed to react violently to those implications, 'I am a Setter!' he shouted defiantly.
'Then all you have to do is win. You're here because you thought you could win without any help, right? The game is on Saturday morning!' Daichi-senpai told them.
Hinata noticed that once again all the attention was being put on Kageyama-san, and cried out, 'Hey, I'm here too!'
Tanaka-senpai hummed, 'Hey, you don't need to be afraid! Because, Tanaka-senpai is here to-Gakk!' he choked out as he was hauled back into the gym by force, and the gym doors were closed again with a slam.
I flinched at the sound of the doors slamming, and looked worriedly at the barrier between those inside the gym and those outside.
Nearby me, Tanaka-senpai complained about his sore neck, fiddling with his collar. Suga-senpai, also nearby, looked like he felt a little sorry for them, and me. He could probably sense my concern.
'You know… aren't you being a little too hard on them?' he asked.
Tanaka-senpai turned to Daichi-senpai too, 'You are being more strict than usual, Daichi-san.' He said.
'Um… is there a specific reason for why you're pushing them so hard?' I added in my own question, clenching my fists together in front of my chest as I looked to him. I heard Kageyama-san yelling outside a bit again, but I focused my attention on Daichi-senpai.
Daichi-senpai's response hadn't been one I was expecting, but it was one that he turned out to have put a lot of thought into which put me at ease.
Tanaka-senpai seemed to be acting a little strangely. I saw him obnoxiously clear his throat, standing by the windows, and looked over to watch him discreetly through my bangs.
'Aw, I guess we really gotta start morning practice at 7 am, right?' he said, not too subtly making his voice loud enough to be heard clearly through the window outside. I widened my eyes in semi-realisation…was he doing what I thought he was doing…?
Suga-senpai however seemed confused that he was asking something he should already know, 'What? Well, yeah. What's gotten into you?' he asked.
I smiled widely, watching as he shook off the questioning and trying to change the subject. After a few moments, I approached him and quietly spoke to him.
'Um… Tanaka-senpai…?' I asked him quietly and he jumped, looking to me with slightly pink cheeks.
'U-Um… yes?' he asked, just as shyly. Which was weird considering how boisterous he seemed.
I shook it off, and gave him a smile, 'Thank you very much for today!' I said to him, and gave him a bow, before going off to join Shimizu-senpai. We then left the stunned Tanaka-senpai to go and get changed out of our sports gear to go home.
'Hey, you don't need to be afraid! Because, Tanaka-senpai is here!'
I was glad that someone was on Hinata and Kageyama-san's side in this match - even if they did need a little ego-poking to get them going. Tanaka-senpai might be another one of my favourites…? I don't know for sure, but I know he's probably a great guy.
And I wasn't going to be shown up in my supporting role so quickly. Looks like tomorrow will be an early one, so I needed to get home and to bed as soon as I could!
Onigiriri: As promised, here's the second chapter of the week! At the very last second too, haha. Some real-life things and Yuri on Ice episode 7 distracted me this week! But here it is, nonetheless!
Pretty dialogue-heavy chapter this time, I hope you don't mind. I had a lot of character introductions and plot-things to get through.
