Chapter 3: Yona

Sadai Yona watched the lights of the city go by in the window of the tiny cab, which was driving towards her new home.

Home… Who would have ever thought that she would call Japan her home again? When her grandfather left the country to follow his son and the family to Europe, she had severed all ties to this country – only to come crawling back to it in times of need. Life had a funny humor, she decided.

But she had to admit, it wasn't that bad in Sedai. She missed her grandfather greatly, but at least she had the company of her brother. And she had one thing which she lost in England: Hope. Looking down on her right hand, she sighed. Plaster. Again.

"No movement for three solid weeks. You don't want to endanger the healing process, right?", she recalled the doctor's serious face right before she left the clinic an hour ago. No, she wouldn't endanger anything with her hand. No movement. Not a single one. Not even a twitch. As if she could move it while it was encased in this white prison. And as if she would want to move it- it still hurt like crazy, as did her hip. But that was to be expected.

The cab turned into the street in which her brother's apartment – their apartment – was located. Thank the heavens, she needed to lie down again. Surgery on not only one, but two parts of your body was not an easy ride.

The driver pulled to a stop in front of the apartment building. "Please, Miss, stay seated!", he told her and got out of the car. Seconds later he opened the door on her side of the car. "Your brother already payed me generously and told me to help you as much as I can. Is there anything I can do? Maybe I can carry your bag up to your flat?"

Yona shook her head no. She smiled at the elderly cabdriver; he was a nice man. During the hour long drive, he had told her tales about his children and grandchildren. It made her miss her own granddad even more. „No, thank you. My brother got most of my things yesterday, I only have my little carryon-bag. But thank you for the ride!" She gave a little bow – as much as her hip let her, that is, and she was quite sure that it didn't look very polite, but what could she do about it? – and made her way to the door of the building. It took her quite a while to get the key into the lock of the building with her left hand and it was the same with the door to her new home.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned on the lights of the hallway and squinted into the harsh light. When she took her jacket off, her gaze fell upon the framed pictures her brother had hung up on the wall. One of their father and him, one of the whole family, their granddad and both of them, and lastly, one of Yona on court. Once upon a time, she had loved this picture dearly, now she couldn't stand it. When she had arrived in this flat for the first time, she wanted it gone. But Tomoya had freaked out and told her to keep this in front of her eyes until she could enjoy the view from the top again.

Yona, not wanting to cause an argument, had retreated to her room. Neither her brother nor she had picked up that subject again.

It hurt to see the past like her hand hurt three days post surgery. For a short moment she thought about putting it down for the time of his absence, but her conscience warned her against it. Well, her brother was away. She would hang it up again before he was back. She raised a hand to touch the silver frame when the lights went out.

"Okay, that's a joke, right?", she asked herself loudly and reached for the lightswitch again. She pushed it one time, then two times, then several times. Finally, she swore and fumbled her way into the living room. At least, the lights were still working in this room, so it was probably the lightbulb which was the problem, not the electricity itself. Nice. How should she change a lightbulb with only one – and nondominant – hand?

She hobbled her way into the kitchen, where her brother had left her a whole page with several instructions what she had to do… well, not do. Apparently, Tomoya wanted her to stay in bed for the next days. As if… Only in the last lines he had hidden a helpful message:

If something happens and you need a hand, call the Sakanoshita Market. The owner is a friend, he knows about your health and will help you.

"He knows about your health," Yona muttered, "he makes it sound like I was terminally ill. It's just a broken hand, for god's sake!"

At least, the owner of the store would help her. But not today, as it was already late and she was in pain. Opening the fridge – only to find several boxes with prepared food ("Terminally ill, Tomoya, huh?") – she took out a banana and munched on it without seating herself. Then she swallowed her meds and went to bed. Brushing her teeth needed to wait until she could stand again– her hip asked to have some peace.


Yona slept like the dead. Waking up at ten in the morning was highly unusual for her, and she was still dead on her feet when she opened her eyes. Her phone showed ten missed calls during the last three hours – all from her brother. With a loud sigh, she sat up and took the phone from her little nightstand. "Will call you right back, give me 5 minutes!", she send to her brother.

Getting out of bad wasn't easy, and she was quite happy that no one was near to hear her swearing. Heavens, she needed those pills. Now.

Stumbling into the kitchen, she ignored the red light at the flat's telephone and hurriedly swallowed the pills, ate another banana – at least she was eating health stuff! – and stumbled back to her room.

Her brother answered after the first ring. "Yona-chan? Are you all right? I've tried calling you for hours! Why haven't you answered your phone?"

She winced. Her brother seemed terribly anxious. "Sorry, brother. I was asleep- the pain meds knocked me out."

Tomoya took a deep breath. "So you're taking your meds? Is it that bad? Do you need me to come home? I'll cancel the trip and call my boss right away!"

Yona started to pick at a loose thread of the blanket on the bed. Tomoya was anxious for sure. The business trip was important.

"No, you don't need to come home. I was tired yesterday and thanks to the traffic jam, I got home late. I took the meds, went to bed, and they knocked my already tired body out. Everything is okay."

Her brother paused for a few seconds. "Are you sure? You are more important to me, I can always look for a new job!"

"No!" Taking a deep breath, she altered her voice to a sound more cheerful. "After a good night's sleep, I'm feeling a lot better. I'm not even sure I will need the pills today!" She crossed her fingers with that lie. Her grandpa would have her head for lying.

"Are you lying to me?", asked Tomoya.

"No! No lying!" Grandpa would have her head on a silver plate for sure… She needed a distraction… "I think I will head down to that market you told me about? Sakanoshita Market? The lightbulb in the hallway went out last night."

"Uh, yeah, go and ask for help! The store should also have the right lightbulb. There's some money…" Yona rolled her eyes. Distraction: check.

"… in my wallet. I will pay for it. Don't argue with me. Also, I need to use the bathroom. Text you later, big brother?"

Saying her goodbyes, she ended the call and went to the bathroom. Getting through her morning routine took some time, thanks to her hand. But at least she felt human again after brushing her teeth and washing her face.

Her second breakfast consisted of two cereal bars. Again, quite healthy. If you didn't count the chocolate. Then she decided to head to the store. She had no other plans for the day… And sleep had to wait, she could give no guarantee to wake up again during the opening hours of the store, if she went to bed again.

Also, she needed fresh air.

But not that much air: She needed to walk slow – thanks to her silly hip – so getting to the supermarket took quite long. She would've run that in a few minutes, but not now. Her mood got darker with every extra minute she needed.

Finally, the store. Yona, you're in Japan now. People are polite. Be polite, too!, she reminded herself and opened the door.

"Good Morning," she said upon entering the store. Three man stood at the shop counter: An old man, his hair was already grey and he stood slightly hunched over. Nonetheless, his face seemed full of life and he gave her a very friendly smile. Another man was young, maybe Tomoyas age? His hair was black, and he was wearing brown glasses. The other man… was the blond haired guy she had seen in the gym during volleyball practice.

He seemed to be the owner of the market, because it was him who started talking. "Hello! Can I help you?"

"Excuse me"; she bowed, grimassing slightly when her hip protested. "My brother told me to come to this store to ask for help – I'm…"

"Ah!" the black haired guy intererrupted her speech. "You must be Tomoya's little sister! He told us about you. Nice to meet you, my name is Shimada Makoto!" He bowed.

Yona bowed again. "Thank you! My name is Sadai Yona!"

The blond haired man furrowed his brow. "Weren't you with Hitoka-San at the gym last week?"

Yona blushed. "Ah, yes, she was showing me the school. Sorry, I needed to get home last week, It was my first day and my brother was waiting." Another lie. Head on a silver plate…

"What can we do to help, Sadai-San?" Shimada-San seemed like a really friendly guy. His face was open and easy to like – was he a friend of Tomoya's?

"Sorry for asking, but would you be so kind to change the light bulb in the hallway of our flat? Tomoya is away and I …" Helplessly, she raised her plastered arm.

"Of course!", Shimada-San said. "I could come over to change it after my shift to the store!"

The old man shook his head. "Nonsense. I will accompany this young lady and change it right away."

The blond man wanted to say something, but the old man raised his hand. "Nonsense, Keishin. I may be old, but I am capable of changing a single light bulb."

The blond man sighed. "I can't stop you, right? All right. My name is Ukai Ikkei. Sadai-san, do you need a light bulb?"

She nodded and started to get her wallet out.

"It's on the house. Consider it a welcome-gift. Just… take care of my grandfather, will ya? My old man can behave quite recklessly…"

She wanted to say something nice to that – after all, the "old man" was her knight in shining armour! – but the man started to laugh at the words of his grandson. He took the lightbulb Keishin had put on the counter and walked to the door.

Soon, both of them were on their way back to Yona's home. Slowly… Well, who was moving like an old human, huh?

"I'm sorry, I can't walk faster, Sir." She apologized.

He hummed some noises. "Doesn't matter. I like the fresh and clean air. Also, I have time. So, you moved recently?"

"Ah, yes." Yona nodded. "My brother moved two years ago, I just followed him."

"And you broke your hand right after moving, huh?"

Ukai-San was quite easy to talk to. "No. It happened last year. This… is an attempt to get it working again."

"Hmm." Another bunch of humming sounds. "Is it?"

Yona stared at him. "Huh? Sorry?"

"Is it working, your attempt to get it back to health?"

She looked down. "I don't know yet. It's… They… They used a piece of bone from my hip and put it where the badly damaged bone was. Now it's just wait and see."

The old Ukai watched her closely. This wasn't any attempt to get it working again, he was sure. Also, now he knew why she moved in with her brother. The Sedai-hospital had quite the good surgeon for these injuries. He had seen some bad injuries during his time as coach. And he had seen some miraculous healings thanks to the courage and persistence of this surgeon.

To say he wasn't surprised to see a picture of her in mid-air on a volleyball court hung up on the wall in her home was an understatement.

So when he had changed the light bulb and was saying goodbye, he waited until she raised from her bow and looked at him. "Sadai-San…"

"Yes, Ukai-San?"

"Sometimes, life gives us challenges. They are hard and it seems like fate is against us. But good things come from that. Never give up hope. Raise again, like a phoenix from the ashes. But if all seems lost: You will find another way. A girl of your age, moving countries to get back to health and on the court: I have seen grown up men do worse in your situation. I can see you fly again in the future."

Yona was dumbstruck. Tears sprang into her eyes. "How…", she whispered.

He inclined his head so that he pointed to the photograph on the wall.

"Oh." She swallowed hard.

"Take your time to heal. And then: If you ever need help – come and find the old coach of Karasuno's volleyball boys. I'd like to help you find your wings again. I wish you a speedy recovery. Goodbye, Sadai-san."

She was left speechless.

Only when he was already gone, she whispered a faint "Goodbye.", and closed the door.


Hello again!

I know, this time, there isn't much to read about a certain young captain. But I promise you: There are nice and fluffy chapters coming. But I think it was quite important to get to know more about the protagonist of this story.

So, see ya next chapter!
Kate