[Chapter 1]
The sound of voices yelling filled the narrow hallway, only amplified and not dampened by the huge crowd of students blockading any movement.
"Sign up here for the boy's soccer club! Unleash your inner Messi!"
"Be part of the art club! You could be the next Picasso!"
Nishinoya ducked and weaved between and under outstretched arms to try and find the only sheet she had her sights set on.
The summer had been a cocktail of regret, self-loathing, and constant snapping at everyone around her, but she'd decided to finally take the opportunity to visit her mother in America. It had been nice, and apart from a single game of beach volleyball, which had ended with a complete breakdown and a hurried exit, she had managed to avoid most of her problems.
There had been a period of time, maybe the first few weeks or so, where she'd debated whether to quit volleyball entirely. To disappear from the circuits and leave her teammates wondering where she'd gone. Of course, after that, came the realization. It would never happen. Volleyball had come before her teammates, and it was too big a part of her life for her to say for sure she wouldn't lose her will the moment she touched a volleyball again.
Certainly, this had been before the message from Kuroo; short, and definitely not sweet. He had said to her in simple terms that either she would apply to a different school far far away from Nekoma, or they would.
Which was why she was currently at Karasuno High, cursing at someone as they accidentally elbowed her in the cheek.
The hall was stuffy to the point of being unbearable, and Nishinoya wished she could've waited until it had emptied out, but unfortunately she had no wish to make the same mistake as her first year at Shiroyama. After the whole fiasco with the sign up sheet being completely filled out, she was lucky she'd even been allowed to try out.
Actually it wouldn't have made a difference, she realized as she reached the sign ups for the Karasuno High boys volleyball club, complete in all its glory with a total of exactly 3 names on it, and a short note saying the first practice was today after school.
Shaking her head in confusion, she looked around. Wasn't Karasuno supposedly a powerhouse? Sure, she hadn't paid that much attention to most of the high schools apart from Nekoma and Itachiyama, but she remembered seeing them playing at Nationals on TV years ago. Groaning in her mind, since she could definitely have gone later and skipped her currently disheveled state of clothing and hair, she decided to not worry about it, and hurried to her first class.
The day seemed to fly by, with all the teachers following a standardized routine of introducing themselves, making the class do introductions, and assigning some basic homework. And the entire time, that slight worry at the back of Nishinoya's mind had been growing. Okay, so maybe there had been too many names on the list that they had to post a new one by the time she arrived, but that didn't explain why not a single person in any of her classes had recognized her during introductions, with the exception of that one blond kid with glasses who'd scoffed. She was famous, goddamnit.
Before she knew it, the final bell had been ringing, and the entire class had stuffed their workbooks and supplies into their backpacks before rushing out the door.
Outside, the weather was beautiful, with clear blue skies, and only the slightest hint of a cool breeze which showed fall was coming. Seeing a small stretch of green out of the corner of her eyes, Nishinoya skipped towards it, allowing a small smile onto her face from the sheer joy of everything around her being so happy. Really, it was quite impossible to have any kind of sour mood on a day like this.
Exploring the tiny park in the corner of the school grounds, she decided it wouldn't matter that much if she was a few minutes late to the practice. After a day of no one knowing her name, she needed some attention anyways.
Nishinoya smiled to herself as she sat down on a small bench she had found hidden behind an old cherry blossom tree. She couldn't wait for spring to come, when the flowers would finally bloom and the green grass would be covered in pink cherry blossoms.
Sighing wistfully, she closed her eyes for a moment to enjoy herself.
Which of course, as fate would have it, turned out to be a lot longer than a moment.
She woke with a start, swearing loudly and realizing the sun was definitely lower than before. Sprinting in the general direction of where she remembered hearing her guide say the gyms were, she mentally kicked herself. She'd come back from America just two days ago, so of course she would still be feeling the effects of jet lag and different time zones.
Running through the open door of a gymnasium, Nishinoya quickly realized it was the wrong one, based on the loud sounds and vibrations of players bouncing basketballs against the ground. She nearly tripped rushing back down the steps, and went to check the next one, which turned out to be full of badminton players.
Crossing her fingers that the last one would be volleyball, since the rest of the gyms were nowhere in sight, she didn't pay attention to her surroundings and crashed painfully into a standing figure, almost sending both of them tumbling to the ground if not for her quick reflexes.
She quickly apologized and looked up, seeing a much older male with a goatee. Was he a teacher or something?
"Hi. I'm so sorry, but is this the gym for the boy's volleyball club?"
The guy nodded, still trying to regain his senses.
Nishinoya didn't bother to converse after that, and with another quick 'sorry', ran into the gym, taking the steps three at a time.
Asahi stared curiously after the young girl, wishing, but not having the courage, that it was him running headfirst into the open gym.
Inside the gym, the first thing Nishinoya noticed was that there really weren't many players there. Despite the fact that she must have been the last one to arrive, she only counted five people in the gym, with three standing off the one side and two on either side of the court.
She stood in the shadowed alcove of the door, not quite daring to enter yet as she watched the two boys standing on the court argue with one another.
"I'll receive any serve you hit," an orange-haired figure exclaimed loudly.
The black haired boy across from him glared back, grabbing a striped volleyball from the basket. "Tch, as if."
Nishinoya felt a faint sense of recognition as she watched him make his way back to the serving line and toss the ball up in the air. He made his run-up and she finally recognized what it was. He was like a smaller, darker version of Oikawa. She wondered if the two had ever met before.
The unnamed black haired boy hit the ball with a powerful swing and it whistled towards the side of the court nearest to her. The orange haired boy was moving too, shuffling towards the ball and Nishinoya was actually impressed when he managed to get his body behind it in time.
This respect was of course destroyed when he completely shagged the ball, sending it spinning sharply towards her.
Instinctively Nishinoya ducked, hearing the ball contact the wall right above her head.
As she stood up and groaned a bit from the sudden shock, she saw everyone's eyes on her. There was silence for a moment before it was broken by one of the boys on the sidelines.
"Um, hi? Are you uh," the silver-haired student watching looked down at a paper in his hands, "Nishinoya-san?"
Nishinoya smiled at the three older males who had been watching the happenings on the court. "That's me!"
"You!" The black-haired boy who had just served yelled, pointing at her accusatively.
"My name is Sugawara Koushi, and this is our captain Daichi Sawamura and second-year Tanaka Ryuunosuke," Sugawara said, gesturing to the two beside him.
"I'm Hinata Shoyo," a voice piped up from behind her, and Nishinoya turned to see the orange-haired boy who had originally been trying to receive the jump serve. "Sorry for almost hitting you in the head because of Stupidyama's serve."
"Stupidyama?"
"Well actually he says it's Kageyama, but he's stupid so you can just call him Stupidyama."
The dark haired boy who had been serving had by now moved to stand on the same side of the court as them. He glared at her with blue eyes, almost causing her to shiver from his intense look. "You're from Shiroyama."
Nishinoya simply nodded as she heard one of the others behind her make a small noise of surprise.
"Shiroyama," Hinata whispered. "Didn't they win the last three years of Nationals?"
"It's not just Shiroyama. More like the 'Generation of Miracles'. Am I right, Nishinoya-san?" Kageyama spat bitterly.
Nishinoya frowned. "Have I met you before?"
"Kitagawa Daiichi."
"Um, did we beat you guys at Nationals or something?"
Kageyama scoffed, turning his head away without an answer, and ducking back under the net with another volleyball in his hands.
Wordlessly, he made his way back to the baseline and tossed the ball up in the air.
Daichi said something in protest that Nishinoya couldn't quite catch. All her attention was focused on the ball as Kageyama finished his run-up and jumped into the air.
The style of jump-serve the dark-haired boy executed was meant to be powerful, it was meant to come so fast that it was impossible to receive. However, what the user gained in speed and force, they lost in unpredictability. The spin of a jump-serve like Kageyama's practically guaranteed where it was heading, unlike the sudden shifts of movement a jump-float serve could have.
For Nishinoya's practiced eyes, it was easy to determine where the serve would land, and where the best spot for her to intercept it was. Shifting her weight she shuffled across the court, still tracking the volleyball's trajectory.
Suddenly, a weight came crashing into her and she fell backwards. Hinata rushed past, determined to receive the serve. As the ball hurtled over the net, the orange-haired boy managed to get his arms under it, although not as cleanly as Nishinoya would have. The ball was shagged just as the last one had been, sent spinning off of Hinata's platform at a new angle.
It hit an older man firmly in the face, knocking his fake hair right off his head. Nishinoya blinked incredulously for a moment before swearing under her breath when she recognized the man as the dean.
There was complete silence for a moment in the gym, as the volleyball dropped lifelessly onto the floor from the dean's face.
"What is the meaning of this, Daichi-san?! Control your members!" The dean shouted, a warm red colour tingeing his cheeks as he picked his wig off the floor.
Daichi hastily ran over to where the dean stood by the doorway of the large space, apologizing all the way. "I am so sorry, sir. It will never happen again!"
Hinata snickered a bit under his breath, and Nishinoya found herself joining in. She felt a bit sore from the boy pushing her over, but she really hadn't noticed exactly how bald the dean was before.
Daichi turned on the three younger students, fire in his eyes.
"You three! Get out! Now!"
*Just keep the ball off the ground*
"Thank you, Kiyoko-san" Takeda said, bowing his head formally as he accepted a piece of paper from the raven-haired girl.
As she gently smiled, the black-haired teacher scanned the list, looking at all the names.
"5 students this year! That's actually pretty good, considering what Daichi-san told me of the turnout last year."
Kiyoko nodded. "Since our 'fall' we have at least been slowly climbing higher. Last year we even made it a decent distance at inter-highs, losing to Date-Tech, which everyone knows is a powerhouse."
Takeda nodded encouragingly. "I heard! I'm very excited to be the team's faculty advisor this year."
"Yes, thank you very much for taking up our offer," Kiyoko acknowledged. "I was afraid that if we didn't have a team advisor, the school council would disband the club due to the lack of members and low popularity compared to other clubs such as Boys Basketball and Baseball."
The teacher sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. "Well I'm glad to at least be of some help, I'm afraid I've never really done this before. Am I doing something wrong? I tried arranging practice matches with three different schools yesterday but all of them turned me down."
Kiyoko smiled, with a slight tinge of bitterness. "Don't worry, it's not your fault. Ever since our 'fall' almost every school has been turning down out requests. You're doing a great job, and anyways, us third years have already promised ourselves that we'll show them how wrong they are when we win the inter-highs."
Takeda grinned back at her. "I won't take it personally, but I promise you that I will get the team a practice match soon, even if I have to go down on my hands and knees and beg. A practice match would be a perfect first challenge for Karasuno's baby crows, and soon they'll take their first steps and spread their wings, learning through trial and error how to fly!"
A moment of silence followed his words, and it grew slightly awkward.
The black-haired teacher laughed nervously. "Oh I'm sorry, that was a bit cheesy wasn't it? I have a habit to sometimes speak way too deeply like that."
Kiyoko laughed, while shaking her head. "No, that was perfect Takeda-sensei, and I completely agree! Not only that, I think Karasuno has a better chance than ever to go to nationals, thanks to the first years joining the club soon.
"Hmm, why is that? Shouldn't Karasuno's chance lie mostly on the more experienced second and third years?"
Having stopped laughing, Kiyoko seemed to gain a look of pride in her eyes, not too different from the look a mother would have as she boasted of her child's accomplishments. "Look at the fifth student, Takeda-sensei" she said softly.
He looked back down at the paper with the names of the new club members, counting with his finger.
"Let's see. We have Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shoyo, Yamaguchi Tadashi, Tsukihima Kei, and… Nishinoya Yuu?"
Kiyoko's eyes gleamed a little, as she smiled. "That's right. And she's from Shiroyama Junior High."
Takeda frowned a bit, looked over at the third-year student. "Where is Shiroyama Junior High?" he asked.
"It's not where it is, Takeda-sensei, it's the fact that Nishinoya-chan came from there. In fact, I think I've heard her name before. She's one of the nicknamed 'Generation of Miracles'."
Takeda frowned even more. "Her? What are you talking about, Kiyoko-san. Isn't it the Boy's Volleyball Club?"
Kiyoko looked at him. "There's no rule against girls playing on the boys team at the highschool level" she said, sounding slightly offended as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Takeda laughed slightly. "Sorry, sorry, Kiyoko-san, I didn't mean to offend you. We'd all welcome anyone to the club, no matter the gender. Anyways, from what you say, it sounds like she's a good player!"
The raven-haired third year seemed to relax a little and uncrossed her arms. "Yes, I apologize for my rudeness. Anyways, you know that all I want is to help the third years achieve their dream to go to nationals. And it's the last possible year for them, so it's important more than ever to have some fresh new faces on the team. I think Nishinoya-chan, despite being a girl, is exactly what they need."
Takeda chewed his lip pensively. "You mentioned earlier that she was part of something called the 'Generation of Miracles'. Is that why you think Nishinoya-san will be what the team needs?"
Kiyoko nodded, with a look of a teacher about to give a lesson. "Precisely. The Generation of Miracles is actually not an entire generation, but instead a name given to the regular players of the Shiroyama Junior-High Volleyball Club. A total of six students, all of which specialize in certain aspects of volleyball, and together ranked first for all their years of Junior-High. Each of them has talent that's found possibly only once in a decade, and it's incredible that fate put all of them in the same country, not to mention the same school. However, after winning all three National championships in Junior-High, and making sure that the entire volleyball circuit knew their names, they decided to split up, looking for a larger challenge that they would only find with each other," she explained.
"That sounds… frightening," Takeda said unsurely.
"Rumour has it that there's even a strong rivalry and hatred between some members because of some incident in their final year, and the schools that each of them have chosen to go to are all everyone who knows anything about volleyball is talking about," Kiyoko continued. "It's an amazing opportunity for Karasuno that one of the members of the Generation of Miracles has chosen to come here, even though I don't think anyone was previously informed of this. At least I wasn't. It was quite a surprise to see Nishinoya-chan's name on the list."
Almost to herself, she asked, "I wonder if she told anyone she was coming to Karasuno?"
Then a look of realization. "Probably not, in which case we should probably keep it on the down low. What a surprise it will be to our opponents when they suddenly see her wearing the Karasuno volleyball uniform!" Kiyoko said with a bit of glee, having partially lost her calm and demure attitude, as excitement crept into her voice.
Now it was Takeda's turn to laugh. "Well that was quite the bundle of information. I still don't quite understand, Kiyoko-san, but I'll just take your word for it. I'm excited to see what our team can do either way, so I'll get back to arranging a practice match as I promised earlier."
Kiyoko bowed formally. "Thank you, Takeda-sensei."
*The only time you are truly alone is when you serve*
Cries of outrage were heard all across the school as the three first-year looked down at the notices they had been given.
"We're kicked out of the gym? Are you kidding?! I didn't even do anything wrong!" Nishinoya complained loudly.
Kageyama glared at her. "What are you talking about, this is obviously all your fault. I mean, why were you at the boy's volleyball gym anyway? Did you get lost trying to find the girl's one?" He sneered.
Now Nishinoya glared back. "Are you kidding? I'm obviously here to join the boy's team. I need to defeat my teammates from Shiroyama. How would I do that if I was on the girl's team?!"
Hinata held up his arms placatingly. "Hey, hey, let's all calm down. We need to find some way for them to let us back in."
The three were silent for a few moments, contemplating.
Without a word Kageyama marched up to the door of the gym and rapped it loudly with a knuckle.
"Hey," he yelled through the closed opening. "Can you let me back in?"
The door was cracked open an inch. "Do you know what you did wrong? Why I kicked you out of the gym?" Daichi asked the setter.
"Because I served too hard, and the dumbasses shanked the ball and it hit the dean," Kageyama answered without hesitation.
The door was closed in his face instantly.
"Incorrect," the captain told him sternly. "You were all kicked out because you can't work together."
Nishinoya had to bristle at that a little, since she really hadn't done much except save herself from being killed by Hinata's shank.
On the doorstep though, Kageyama growled deeply. "What if I don't want to work with Nishinoya?"
"Eh?" HInata questioned, confused. "What's wrong with Nishinoya-chan?"
The black haired boy scowled. "You wouldn't know. You've never played against her team before."
The other boy shrugged. "She doesn't seem bad."
"Right here guys," Nishinoya reminded them.
From behind the door came the voice of Daichi again. "None of you will be allowed to play for the Karasuno team until you prove you can work together," he said decisively.
"What about me?" Nishinoya asked, speaking up.
"What about you," the captain scoffed. "Just because you were some hotshot at your old school doesn't mean you're an instant celebrity here."
Shocked, Nishinoya just stared at the door. Did the captain have something against her? She was pretty sure she hadn't done anything yet to deserve this.
"Alright," Hinata yelled optimistically. "We'll defeat any of you in a three-on-three match!"
Both Kageyama and Nishinoya glared at the orange-haired boy, neither having agreed to this. Hinata just smiled back.
"It'll be easy if you guys are as good as they say you are," he said easily, and for the life of her Nishinoya wasn't quite sure if his tone was snarky or if he meant it as a genuine compliment.
Kageyama huffed, but didn't protest.
"Very well," Daichi agreed. "You have until two days from now."
*As soon as you start doubting yourself you've lost*
The weather was still warm enough to sit outside, despite it being quite late in the evening. Nishinoya sighed and let herself lie down fully on the grass field. There was just so much nature in this region, a stark contrast from the urban setting of Tokyo she had grown up in.
She gazed up at the sky, where stars could be seen. There was barely any pollution here as well. It was nice, she thought serenely.
Today hadn't been the best, with her somehow having gained the dislike of both Daichi and Kageyama. It was a refreshing change of pace from the intensity of Shiroyama though.
Nishinoya was broken out of her thoughts by the ringing of her cellphone.
She flipped it open and checked the caller ID. Unknown caller. It wasn't surprising considering she'd just changed her number recently.
Taking a chance, she answered the call.
There was silence for a moment, before a smooth voice came through the connection.
"Nishi-chan?"
It was Oikawa.
"Oikawa," she greeted cordially, not much warmth in her voice. The last time she had talked to him, afterall, had been in the changerooms after the finals.
"Sakusa gave me your number," he said, answering her unspoken question. Not that Nishinoya had given her number to the team captain, but Sakusa had a way of knowing things he had no way of learning.
A short pause during which neither of them said a word.
"Why did you call me?" Nishinoya asked coldly.
"I went all the way to Nekoma today to see you but you weren't there," Oikawa responded, and she felt a slight twinge in her heart at the fact that he had travelled so far just to see her. The feeling vanished almost instantly.
"Understandably, Kuroo and Kenma didn't want me to go there after the final match last year. I transferred schools last minute."
"Where," Oikawa demanded.
Nishinoya didn't respond for a moment, but finally took a deep breath. "Karasuno."
A/N: Catch Kiyoko fangirling over Nishinoya lmao. I thought it would be a nice change from the anime, where Nishinoya fangirls over Kiyoko.