Sora ni koete – Beyond the sky
Chapter 2 – Welcome to Karasuno
[Good morning darling.] I wrote.
[Daiki I thought I told you to stop calling me that.] he answered.
[Oh come on Akira.]
[Anything else you wanted to tell me?]
[Only that I love you.]
[I see. Well, I wish you a good day.] were Akira's last words of the morning. I love it when he acts that shy, he's the cutest boyfriend one could wish for.
"Ugh, I wanna puke already." a voice said.
"I wish you a very pleasant morning too, my dear Hana." I said to Hana.
"Do you really need to be so lovey-dovey in the morning? I can barely look at it." she was as grumpy as ever.
"You don't like it?" I asked.
"No, not if Daiki is texting his boyfriend first thing in the morning."
"Wow you talked about me in the third person, you really must be pissed. Didn't sleep enough?"
"No I did not, I had work that had to be done, remember?"
"Ah right." I didn't really remember, I just played along. You don't want to get on Hana's bad side, not when she's angry. And certainly not when she's angrier than normally.
"Can we go now?" Hana asked as she opened the door and sat down in the car. When our classes started at the same time I'd drive her to the university, that's what best friends are for was her reason behind it, although she never did something in return for me.
"Sure, let's go! So, how was your morning?" I tried to start some kind of small talk.
"Not delightful."
"Awww, why?" I started driving.
"Basically, you are the second idiot full of energy that I met today." she said. I knew she meant it in the 'friendly' kind of way.
"Was Sora being… how do you call it? Was he being 'disgustingly cheerful' again?"
"Yeah, just like you some moments ago." she knew how to brighten one's day. Isn't she lovely?
"Well I'm sorry that my love life is as bright as blossoming cherry trees whereas yours looks like a withering weeping willow." I said to her with a smirk on my face.
"Tch."
"Ah! Ouch, H-Hana, don't pull at my h-haAAIr-ouch!" she was being suicidal, considering that I was driving. She really didn't sleep this night.
"Look where you're driving, you wanna kill us?"
"Excuse me for being bothered by your pulling at my hair."
"Weakling."
"Now you ruined my hairstyle."
"What style?" she said with a slight smile.
"Hey. It took me 15 minutes to style my hair and-"
"15 minutes?! For that? Oh lord, you need to take lessons." she started laughing.
"Are you laughing at me?!" my plan worked.
"No, only at your failed attempt of styling your hair." she said as she kept on laughing more and more.
"Well at least it made you laugh." I said smiling.
"Oh gosh, you're right. Your dumbness is infectious. I'm done for, right?"
"You're an idiot, do you know that?" I said.
"I'm learning from the one and only master, Daiki-sensei." she said and we both started laughing. Suddenly I heard a noise.
"Hana, you're phone's ringing." I said to her while calming down.
"Oh, you're right." she said as she took her phone out of her bag.
"Who's it?"
"Sora."
"Weird. What does he want?"
"I don't know." she said as she answered the call. Apparently Sora was telling her something, she was only listening.
"WHAT?!" she yelled into her phone. I startled. What had happened?
"Ah, don't yell at me, it's not my fault that mom put your lunch box into my bag and now you don't have one." I said to my sister while holding the phone away from my ear.
"How do you suppose I'll survive today?" she said.
"I'm sorry?" I didn't know what I was supposed to say.
"Oh you better be! Also-not now Daiki, this is important and-"
"Oh, Daiki's there? HELLO DAIKI!" I yelled into my phone.
"SORA!" Hana yelled back.
"I'm sorry."
"Sora, gimme your phone for a while." Akira said to me and I did as he asked.
"Hello, Hana-san? Would you let me talk to Daiki please? Yes. Yes. Thank you." Akira was now talking to Hana through my phone.
"Hi. Daiki? Buy lunch for Hana, okay? Yes. Yes. Okay. Thank you, love you too. Bye." were Akira's last words before he hung up and handed my phone back to me.
"Fascinating." I said.
"I know right? Akira knows how to handle his boyfriend." Akane said.
"Enough of it, can we get to school already? We're gonna be late." Akira said while he started walking again. And thus the three of us continued our walk towards school, like every morning.
"Ahhh, I am so excited, aren't you guys excited as well?" Akane asked out of the blue.
"Excited? Why?" Akira answered.
"To meet new people! New team mates maybe! New friends! New rivals! New things! New experiences! New strategies! New-"
"What do you think, Sora?" Akira ignored his sister's listing of new things and turned towards me.
"I… uhm… yes, I think I'm excited, kind of. I'm curious, but it's nothing special." I told him.
"I see."
"You know, I always ask myself how far we'll reach." I said as I looked skywards.
"How far?"
"Yes! Like, how far will we go in our Karasuno career? How far will we reach? Will we reach our parents' level? Or will we even surpass that level? Maybe we'll surpass even the Small Giant's level, maybe we'll fly even higher than that, farther than that. Fly to somewhere beyond the sky. All those questions are swirling in my head all the time, that's why I'm curious about how things will go in this new year. That's it, I guess." I said, still gazing at the sky.
"That's a nice way of putting it, I like it." Akira said smiling.
"Or maybe even new chalk in the classrooms!" Akane was still listing possible new things.
"Chalk?" I asked her.
"Yes!" she exclaimed.
"Okay." I said.
"I think we should hurry, we're almost late." Akira said as he looked at his watch.
"Oh no, you're right. Let's run!" I said.
"Okay!" and Akane was the first one running and dashing away. That girl had way too much energy in the morning.
"Haha, your sister is as cheerful as ever." both Akira and I started running as well.
"I sometimes wish she wouldn't be so much like my father, but I guess I can't change that fact." Akira sighed.
"Well, at least it's never boring when she's around, right?" I started laughing.
"I guess you're right, haha." Akira said while laughing as well. We continued running, we didn't want to be late on our first day in the new year. And as we did, a small breeze started blowing and cherry petals were flying around in the air. It seemed as if it was snowing pink blossoms, just like you'd see it in a manga.
I started jumping while running and was suddenly filled with energy as well, I was ready to tackle this new year.
"Woohoo! Let's go Akira! To beyond the sky!" I said as I passed Akira and looked back to him.
"Sora! Look out, there's a street la-" but I noticed too late and jumped right against it.
"…lamp." were the last words I heard before I passed out. The next thing I remembered was waking up in the school's infirmary, lying in a bed. The first thing I saw was how Aoi was sitting next to me.
"Aoi? What… what happened?" I asked her, my forehead was hurting.
"Airhead!" Aoi yelled at me while punching me in the chest.
"Okay, end of homeroom. Mayuri-san?" the teacher looked at me.
"Y-yes." I said nervously as I stood up. I was in a new class and I got the task of class duty on the very first day.
"Uhm… stand. Bow. Sit." I said and the class did as I said.
"Thank you, until tomorrow." the teacher said as she left the classroom. And as soon as she left, the students started standing up again and started chatting to each other. It was break time.
"Hey, Mayuri. Well done." Yuri said as he approached my desk, he got the seat right behind of me. When I noticed that we were in the same class I already got nervous, but when I saw that he would be sitting right behind of me I felt like screaming and crying at the same time.
"Th-thanks, Yuri." I said while blushing a bit. Yuri complimented me. I was happy.
"Lucky us that we got seats right next to the window, right?" he said.
"Yes, although it can become bothersome if the sun shines too much." I answered him.
"It could, yes." Yuri smiled.
"Oh, Mayuri-san?" suddenly the teacher's voice resounded through the room.
"Y-yes?" I stood up.
"Can you go check on Kageyama-kun in the infirmary? And bring him back if he's okay again? Thank you." and as sudden as she appeared she disappeared again.
"Ohh, right. Sora is still in there…" Akira said while leaning back on his chair and looking at me upside down.. He got the seat right in front of me.
"Why is he even there to begin with?" I asked Akira.
"Weeeell…" he stood up and joined Yuri and me who were sitting on the windowsill.
"We were kind of late and so we decided to start running and Sora didn't really look to where he was running and jumped right into a street lamp and then he passed out." Akira told us. Both Yuri and I had to start laughing out loud.
"Yeah, well, you wouldn't find it that funny if you were the one carrying him on your back all the way to school. And still arriving late." Akira said, he was laughing as well though.
"Oh lord, I can imagine Sora doing that." Yuri said.
"Totally." I said.
"Mayuri?" Akira was talking again.
"Hmm?"
"Shouldn't you go and look how he's doing?"
"Oh! Right! Be right back guys!" I said as I hopped down the windowsill and rushed out of the classroom. After a minute or so I reached the infirmary.
"Excuse the intrusiooooon…" I said as I entered the room.
"S-Sora? Are you here?" I whispered. I didn't want to wake up any sleeping person in the room.
"Mayuri, is that you? I'm here." I heard Sora's voice and followed it. And there he was.
"Hello there, how you doing Mr street lamp?" I asked the patient.
"Very funny, I'm okay. The pain in my head is gone. But now my chest hurts." he answered.
"Your chest?"
"Yes. Aoi punched me."
"Why did she punch you?"
"Because she's Aoi."
"Figures."
"Anyway, why're you here?" he finally asked me.
"Oh, right! You good to come back to class? Minamoto-sensei asked me to go check on you." I told him.
"Oh, she did? Well, I guess I can bear with it and-wait, we're in the same class?"
"Yup, together with Yuri and Akira."
"Awesome, let's go then!" he said and got up from the bed.
"Thank you for taking care of me." he said to the school nurse while we left the room. We returned to the classroom and when we entered it, Yuri and Akira approached us.
"Hey, you okay Mr street lamp?" Akira asked.
"Okay, did you guys agree upon this, or…?" Sora said and I started laughing.
"What's wrong Mayuri?" Yuri asked me.
"Nothing, everything's fine. Come on, next lesson is about to start." I said as I walked back to my desk.
"Hey, where's my seat?" Sora asked.
"Right next to mine." I said.
"Awesome!" he said as he sat down and soon after the teacher entered the classroom. I stood up again.
"Stand. Bow. Sit." I said again.
"Thank you Mayuri-san, let's start with the lesson then." Kunigawa-sensei said as he opened his textbook.
My chest was still hurting shortly before practice started. Just how strong is Aoi? But I had to bear with it, I couldn't miss the first practice of the year, we were all looking forward to it and were hoping for new first years. Right after classes had ended, Mayuri, Yuri and me headed to the sports hall, we were the last ones to arrive. All the others were already there.
"Ossu!" we three said at the same time as we entered.
"You're late, Sora!" Konoe said as soon as we entered.
"H-hello." Akihiko said.
"Hey, long time no see, Sora. You too, Mayuri, Yuri." Nobu said.
"Good day you three." Misaki said while stretching.
"Hey, where's Akira?" Akane asked finally?
"He'll bring the new first years." I answered.
"Awesoooooooooome!" was her answer. After that we all started warming up until Akira finally arrived with two new people.
"Okay everyone, I brought them here. Shinichi-kun, Mei-san, could you please introduce yourselves?" Akira said while looking at the new first years.
"H-he-hello. I'm Mei Sawamura, I'm 15 years old and I'd like to join the volleyball club. B-but not as a player, I'm not that good at sports, so I wanted to see if you could need another ma-manager. It's a pleasure to meet you all." she said as she bowed down, and when she did her hat fell down on the floor. She seemed to be pretty nervous and her hat falling down didn't help, but the guy standing next to her bowed down, took the hat into his hands and handed it back to her. After that he started speaking.
"Ossu! My name's Shinichi Yamaguchi, also 15 years old and I'm here to join the great team of Karasuno! It was always my dream to join this team, so let's have a good time! It's nice to meet you, please take care of me!" he said as he bowed down. He was quite the energetic fellow, not bad.
"Okay guys! Time for us to introduce ourselves as well, huh? Aoi! Kazuya! Stop your practice for a sec and come here, we have new team mates." Nobu yelled through the hall and soon after Aoi and Kazuya appeared and we all lined up.
"Well then, hi there. I'm Nobu Azumane, third year, 17 years old, Wing Spiker and current Captain of the Karasuno Volleyball Team." Nobu started.
"Hi, Aoi Kageyama is my name, third year too, 18 years old, Libero. That's it." my was actually the oldest one of us.
"Kazuya Tsukishima. Third. 18. Middle Blocker. Ace." he was a person of few words.
"Helloooo, I'm Misaki Sawamura! Third year, 17. I'm more of an all-rounder, so I don't have a specific position. Let's get along!" she was as cheerful as ever.
"Ossu, call me Konoe Tanaka-senpai. Second year, 16, Wing Spiker. Let's have some fun!" Konoe said with a scary smile, she really should stop doing that.
"Hellooooooooooo, I'm Akane Bokutoooo, nice to meet youuuu! I'm a second year, 17 years old and a Middle Blocker. Let's be friends!" she yelled at the new first years.
"H-h-h-he-heee…" was Akihiko's attempt on communicating with the new team, but he failed.
"In three, two, one… Konoe, Sora, now!" Nobu said instinctively and both Konoe and me caught the falling Akihiko. He lost consciousness because he was so nervous. He couldn't cope with new people, he needed his time. Mei and Shinichi seemed slightly shocked.
"Don't worry, that's just how he is, he'll be okay in a bit." Nobu said.
"Konoe, take him to… I don't know, somewhere he can lie down for a bit." he continued.
"Ossu, Nobu-senpai." Konoe said while carrying Akihiko like a prince would carry a princess, only that the roles were reversed. A surreal scene we all grew accustomed to. The new first years would too, eventually.
"Let's continue. Sora?" Nobu looked at me.
"Uhm, ossu! I'm Sora Kageyama. Second year. 16 years old, First Setter. Nice to meet you." I said with a smile. Mayuri was next.
"Hello, I'm Mayuri Kuroo. Also second year, 16 years old. Second Setter. Nice to meet you." she said.
"Hi, second year Yuri Haiba, nice to meet you. I'm 16 years old and I'm a Libero. Let's work hard together." he said as he bowed down.
"And I guess you already know Akira, but still. Akira, your turn." Nobu said.
"Well then. Akira Bokuto. Second year, 17 years old. Currently Karasuno's Manager. It's a pleasure to meet you two." he said and with that the introduction of everyone was done.
"Okay guys, let's start practice. Shinichi, join us. Akira, I'll leave Mei in your care, okay?" Nobu said full of energy.
"Okay Nobu-senpai." Akira answered.
"Wh-what? Just like that? No entrance test or something?" Shinichi was confused.
"Hmm? Test? What test? Let's play a game and see how you do in there, shall we Shinichi?" Nobu asked with a smile.
"O-okay!" Shinichi answered with a smile.
"Well then, in three, two, one… go!" Nobu counted down.
"Welcome to Karasuno!" we all yelled at the same time and Shinichi's and Mei's eyes started glowing brightly.