[Chapter 1]
"I don't think that effort and will alone will ever be able to win in the face of overwhelming strength… But I'll help them succeed anyways"
The sound of voices yelling echoed around her through the narrow hallway, as Nishinoya ducked and weaved between and under arms to get to the only list on the wall she wanted to see.
The signups for the Karasuno High Boys Volleyball club.
"I'm sorry" she yelled as she knocked a small girl over, even though it was probably pointless since there was no way the student could hear her over this clamor. Oh well, almost there anyways. Pushing her way past a few more people, Nishinoya finally reached the sheet she had been looking for and cast a glance over it.
An introduction to the captain of the team named Daichi Sawamura, some quick notes about various 'significant' victories the team had achieved in the past, and finally the only thing that stood out to Nishinoya:
The goal of the Boys Volleyball club is to qualify for, and compete in nationals -a prestigious honour which Karasuno High has only been chosen for once in the past. If any prospective members of the club feel uncertain about this objective, or do not wish to commit to the amount of extra-curricular time and pressure that will be associated with it, then we kindly advise you to consider joining another club.
Reading through it while she quickly signed her name with a blue ballpoint pen, she sighed. Only 4 other signups apart from her; maybe the 'goal' of the club had turned them off? She was relatively late too, so there was a low probability that more students would sign up. It seemed like volleyball wasn't a very popular sport here.
I just hope there's even enough students to form a legal team.
Nishinoya shook her head. What was she thinking? Of course there were enough. There were obviously going to at least be more than two seniors, and some of the first years had to have some talent.
It's fine. Everything will be fine. I just need to go to the school gym.
Now if only she knew where exactly said gym was.
"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. 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 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, a sweet and pretty chiming sound, 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.
"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. 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. I wonder if she told anyone she was coming to Karasuno? Oh, 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, seemingly 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, looking slightly embarrassed at her impromptu speech. "Thank you, Takeda-sensei."
Peering around the doorway of the gym, to where there was already a small group of students gathered, Nishinoya took a deep breath before smoothing out her uniform and walking into the large space.
She had finally found the gym after almost half an hour of searching, by asking a nearby brown-haired third year who had grimaced as he told her.
Azumane Asahi, that was his name.
Nishinoya sighed. Nevertheless, she had not expected the school grounds to be that hard to navigate. They weren't necessarily large, but with all the hedges and different cobbled paths, it became more and more like a labyrinth the longer you kept walking.
Blinking as she took in her surroundings, she found herself standing next to a few older students and a much older man with a toupee. All four were watching something and hadn't noticed her yet.
Squinting slightly, she realized that one of the students had silver hair, while the other two both looked quite normal, despite one's lack of hair at all.
Following their line of sight to a bit farther away, Nishinoya found a short boy with bright orange hair standing in the basic receiving position, and across the court from him, there was another taller black-haired boy who was about to…
Jump Serve?
Her brain was unusually slow today, muddled by the short amounts of sleep she had been getting the past week. But even so, volleyball instincts kicked in instantly. Right away, Nishinoya's eyes flashed, and she felt her adrenaline go up.
Suddenly the world had cleared up, and everything was focused on the ball that the black-haired boy had in his hand.
He's spinning the ball in his palms now, taking a deep breath with his nose almost touching it… Why does he remind me so much of Oikawa?
What's happening to me? Why did the sight of that boy suddenly trigger something in me. He doesn't even look anything like Oikawa. That boy has black hair and blue eyes. If anything, he looks more like Sakusa.
"I'll receive any serve you aim at me, Kageyama!" The orange haired boy closer to her yelled loudly.
Against herself, Nishinoya suddenly found herself grinning. As Kageyama took first one step, then another before almost flying into the air, she realized that they liked volleyball. That they hadn't lost whatever dedication her previous teammates had to the sport.
It seemed odd, almost like some made up scene in a story, but Nishinoya had seen the lights in the eyes of her previous teammates go out one by one, as they had all slowly started to hate volleyball.
Though maybe hate wasn't the right word. They had never truly hated volleyball, and they still didn't, but at some point during those three years, they had stopped enjoying playing the game. Had stopped looking forward to being on the court again. Perhaps she had too.
The loud sound of the ball smacking against flesh echoed through the gym before suddenly the striped ball was whistling towards the older males next to her.
Taking a few steps forward, Nishinoya found herself lowering her head at the same time that she raised her arms in a "X" shape.
I think… that I made the right choice coming here. It doesn't matter that Karasuno isn't some powerhouse academy.
The ball bounced off her arms, dropping lifelessly to the ground at the same time as the small group behind her slowly opened their eyes.
A bit of former light was reflected in Nishinoya's eyes, as she turned to the boy who had been called 'Kageyama' and loudly proclaimed to him.
"Serve to me too!"
All of the occupants of the gym immediately stopped and turned around to stare at her.
"Who are you? I'm Hinata Shoyo" the orange haired boy spoke up first.
"My name is Nishinoya Yuu" Nishinoya replied with a grin.
A chorus of other introductions rang out.
"Daichi Sawamura"
"Sugawara Koushi"
"Tanaka Ryuunosuke"
The only one who didn't respond was Kageyama, who Nishinoya had just asked to serve to her.
The black haired boy was studying her carefully, almost causing a shiver from his intense look.
Moments passed as he seemed to be trying to remember something. Nishinoya stared curiously back at him, had she heard the name Kageyama before?
All of sudden the blue eyed boy seemed to realize whatever he had been searching for. "You're from Shiroyama." he said coldly.
Nishinoya could hear the others gasp slightly as they realized who she was. She stared right back at Kageyama, golden and sapphire blue mixing.
"Shiroyama? Isn't that the powerhouse school who won the last three years of nationals?" Sugawara whispered to Daichi.
"No… It's not just Shiroyama… I think it's more the 'Generation of Miracles'"
"Wait, but it was all over the news that she was going to Nekoma wasn't it? Why is she here?" Sugawara responded.
"I didn't realize she was the Nishinoya." Tanaka said loudly, before covering his mouth with his hand, slightly embarrassed.
Hinata closed his eyes, whispering to himself. "The newspaper… They're the team... That defeated Kitagawa-Daiichi"
Nishinoya responded calmly with a nod. "I am. And you're Kageyama Tobio. Now that I think about it, I believe I faced your team back in junior high."
Silently, she tried to tell Kageyama with her eyes, that they were now teammates. That they would be on the same side of the court.
She grinned. "Your serves have gotten a lot better! I really want to try receiving them!"
Kageyama didn't respond however, simply narrowing his eyes at her. "I remember you too. You were a lot different in junior high, but I do remember you were the Libero"
"Yeah I was, does that mean you're too scared to try serving to me?"
Kageyama growled, roughly grabbing another volleyball from the cart. "Fine. Try receiving this."
Getting into serving position again, the blue eyed boy ignored the cries of his seniors and the orange haired boy he had been previously facing.
Nishinoya grinned even more as she watched Kageyama frown deeply and slowly exhale, throwing the ball up into the air and taking a running approach.
The adrenaline was back again, making the entire court clearly defined, and she could see as the ball hurtled towards the left and back side of the court.
Rushing to where it was heading, Nishinoya took a final two steps before diving. Tunnel vision had settled in now, and all that mattered was getting that ball back up into the air.
As her forearms reached the optimal position beneath the ball and cleanly received the impact, Nishinoya was almost disappointed for a moment, before she shook it out of her head.
I won't lie to myself, Oikawa's serves were on another level from Kageyama's. But it's already something, that he can even serve that well.
Another genius maybe? Either way, I already decided that I made the right choice. This team has potential.
The ball was sent spinning up, finally coming back down and landing down exactly where the setter would have been standing if this had been a match. Nishinoya smirked at Kageyama from across the court.
A perfect receive. My skills haven't degraded at all.
As Kageyama scowled darkly with a menacing aura, Hinata suddenly yelled out.
"That was so awesome, Noya-chan!" the orange haired boy cried, rushing onto the court. "I want to be able to receive like that! Send me another one too, Kageyama!"
Kageyama, still scowling at how well Nishinoya had received his serve -the one he had spent countless late nights practicing and perfecting- had almost instantly already served another volleyball, this time heading straight towards Hinata.
And within seconds the ball was firmly implanted on the Dean's face.
Everything was silent for a few moments before Nishinoya swore loudly. She had completely forgotten the older man was still watching, and goddamnit she should have expected that Hinata would completely botch his receive, considering the last one.
The orange haired boy in question, only had the time to whisper that this didn't look good, before all three of the first years were kicked out of the gym by Daichi, a paper sign taped to their foreheads.
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 just stared at the two of them, open mouthed in shock before he finally spoke up.
"You're a girl?"
Instantly to be hit on the head by two fists.
Sitting cross legged on the ground across from Hinata and Kageyama, Nishinoya clapped once.
"Okay. We need a plan of action" she declared.
Hinata had finally calmed down, and all three had signed some sort of mutual agreement that said they would get back into the gym together.
"I know! Let's challenge them to a duel" Hinata yelled.
"A duel?"
Kageyama looked at the orange haired boy weirdly. "Baka… how old fashioned are you? Calling it a duel."
"Hmm… We should challenge them to a three on three match." The black haired boy said to Nishinoya, completely bypassing Hinata.
Nishinoya nodded and grinned, agreeing to Kageyama's plan as she ignored Hinata's cries of outrage that having a match was exactly what he had suggested.
Quickly standing up from the gravel ground right outside the gym, Nishinoya quickly ran up the steps and knocked on the door. For extra measure she also added in a kick.
The sounds of volleyballs hitting the ground inside the gym stopped almost immediately, and the black-haired libero assumed that they were heading towards the door.
"Hey! We challenge you to a three on three match to show you that we can work together! Can you let us back in?!" she shouted.
Silence for a moment, before a dark chuckle was heard from the other side. Nishinoya shivered, was that the captain? His voice had completely changed.
"A three on three match you say? Very well, I gather that this is your attempt at teamwork. However there is one condition, if you lose then you won't be able to play as regulars for as long as us third years are still here."
Behind her, at the bottom of the steps, Kageyama growled.
"Are you saying you won't let me play setter?" The dark-haired setter said.
"Correct. And Nishinoya-san won't be able to play Libero."
Nishinoya's eyebrows rose. Excuse me? "Are you joking? You guys need me if you even want to stand a chance at winning! Especially with my teammates from Shiroyama added to the volleyball circuit" she exclaimed.
Sure it was cocky, but it was true. And fine, maybe just the tiniest bit of arrogance from her previous teammates had passed on to her.
A dismissive voice came from the other side of the closed gym door. "We don't need teammates who can't work together."
Nishinoya rolled her eyes, about to argue, before she was cut of by the third, orange-haired first year, who had remained silent for the duration of the conversation
Hinata finally spoke up. "It doesn't matter. We'll win!"
We better. If need be, I'll keep the ball from touching our side of the court until they finally score a point.
I need to be on the team.
Sitting on the lowest branch of a small apple tree, Nishinoya sighed.
After the entire incident at the boy's volleyball club gym, the school day had passed pretty quickly, all the teachers only giving the barest of introductions, before assigning some preliminary homework and waving them on to the next class.
Today was tiring. But it was nice, I haven't met people who love volleyball as much as those two for a long time. They remind me of how our team at Shiroyama used to be, before we all started changing.
Sliding her phone out of the back pocket of her uniform as she felt it vibrating, Nishinoya opened it.
It was a message from Hinata, promising her that they would win the match after school tomorrow, and reminding her that they had promised to meet early at the gym in the morning.
Nishinoya smiled softly, swinging her legs in the air as she typed in a response, messaging to Hinata that she wouldn't forget and that of course they would win.
Quickly turning her phone screen off, and watching as satisfaction as the pale light it gave turned into darkness, she slid it back into her pocket.
Sighing as she looked far into the horizon, where the sun was just about finished setting, illuminating the entire sky in fiery colours of red, orange, and yellow, Nishinoya blissfully closed her eyes.
I like Karasuno. They all… they all aren't normal. I just hope they won't start changing like the Shiroyama team did. I don't think I could handle it if the same thing happened again.
I promise that I won't let it happen to them.
For the second time in a few minutes, her phone started vibrating, this time along with a ringtone that signified it was an incoming call.
Assuming it was Hinata again, Nishinoya laughed quietly and quickly pulled out her device, answering the call.
Holding it next to her ear, her face instantly dropped the smile, as a voice that was most assuredly not Hinata's spoke through the link.
"Good evening, Nishi-chan"
Only one person calls me that stupid nickname.
"Oikawa."
Damn it, how? I switched phone numbers during the summer so that he wouldn't find me.
As if hearing her silent question, Oikawa spoke up again.
"Sakusa gave me your number, when I asked him where you had gone."
Nishinoya clenched her teeth
"Oh."
"I must say… I'm disappointed Nishi-chan. Why would you choose to go to Karasuno? It might have been a powerhouse a few years ago, but now it's just a dump; Flightless crows. I would have understood if you went to Nekoma as planned, they have a pretty good chance of making it to Inter-Highs, despite Itachiyama being in the same district. But Karasuno? Really?"
Her finger hovering over the end call button, Nishinoya spoke coolly.
"I doesn't matter which school I choose. Nekoma or Karasuno, I'll still defeat all of you, no matter what."
Oikawa laughed on the other side.
"You're such an idiot, Nishi-chan. As if you could do that at a no-name school like Karasuno. You should come join me at Aoba Johsai, then maybe we'd be able to defeat Tendou and Sakusa together." He said.
Nishinoya didn't say anything.
Oikawa scoffed before continuing. "You know… I'd get coach to give you a regular spot on the team if you came to Aoba Johsai. I know about how the captain at Karasuno is making you play a match to even see if you'll get to be Libero, not to mention if you'll even make it as a regular."
Nishinoya's eyes widened.
How the hell did he get that information. Does he have connections with someone at Karasuno?
"I'm not joining your school. It's too late for that, I made my choice already Oikawa. And stop belittling me, I'll defeat Shiratorizawa and Itachiyama without your help."
"Fine then, Nishi-chan. You know, I don't think I've ever been rejected by a girl before, I'm going to be crying myself to sleep tonight."
I've always wondered if Oikawa has a split personality, going like that from threatening to flirting in a second. Though maybe I do too; I'm normally a cheerful person. So why is it that I feel like someone completely different whenever I'm talking with one of them?
"Goodbye Oikawa"
Just leave. I don't want to talk to you now.
"Aww, how blunt. Oh well, I guess I'll see you soon anyways. Bye-bye Nishi-chan!"
Nishinoya ended the call, realizing that the sun had already gone down beyond the horizon and it was slowly getting darker.
I'll show them all. I'll help them find their passion for volleyball again, instead of that bleak and empty feeling of constant victory and no challenge.
Oikawa at Aoba Johsai
Terushima at Johzenji
Satori at Shiratorizawa
Bokuto at Fukurodani
Sakusa at Itachiyama
… And me at Karasuno
I'll defeat all of the others.