Chapter 6:
Yachi went to the faculty room the next day as fast as she could to meet Takeda-sensei. With the outline of the poster in her hand, she took a deep breather before she went in and meet the club's advisor.
"Excuse me, Takeda-sensei." Yachi calls him out politely.
"Ah, Yachi-san. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Um, I overheard that we might not have enough money for the away games, may I talk to you about that?"
She was able to gain the permission and several information that she can use for the poster. Yachi was filled with determination after knowing that she can continue on the next step.
After school she asked for Hinata and Kageyama for help to spike a ball while she shoots it for the poster. Hinata and Kageyama were very curious so they agreed right away, changing into the official club's uniform and did several high spikes. Yachi took several shots with her camera carefully to make sure that each angle and lightning of the positions were right.
Several days later, the result of the poster could be seen throughout the entire streets of their area. Hinata stops his cycling when he spotted one of the posters on the window pane of an electronic shop downtown.
With immense emotions, he looked at the poster with amazement. There it was, Hinata's body that flies in the air in a spiking motion as Kageyama passing a toss towards his way. The shades and color were so bold and vibrant that it made his eyes stuck on the poster for such a long time.
THE CROWS HEAD BACK INTO THE NATIONAL SKIES
THE LITTLE GIANT RETURNS!
"Amazing…" He mutters under his breath.
He remembers his moments with Yachi when he first met her. She was changing drastically from the past few weeks they introduced themselves. Her nervous expressions, her curious eyes, her bright smiles and lately her confidence when she voices her opinions in helping him and Kageyama.
'You did it, Yachi Hitoka.' Hinata couldn't help but feel pride surging in his chest when he sees the poster. For the anxious girl who was unsure of herself had become so bold through her creation like this poster. He thought that a picture does speak a thousand words because Hinata was so immersed in the poster that he didn't notice he had been staring at it for such a long time.
The poster made by Yachi had caught several attentions throughout the neighborhood. Daichi, Sugawara and Asahi saw the poster at a bookstore near the school, Nishinoya saw it at a bus stop, Kiyoko, Ennoshita, Ryuu and the rest saw it at Sakanoshita store when coach Ukai proudly patted the freshly put poster he received by Yachi.
Additionally, Yachi's poster also caught several attention of other people throughout Miyagi. When Takeda-sensei posted it online, her posters were shared and seen by many throughout the area.
Kageyama stares at the poster near a vending machine at the street. A small smile pulled on his lips when he sees it.
"You can do it after all, Yachi-san."
Yachi Hitoka officially became part of the team right after the end of the finals. At the gym, the team gathered around her while wearing the Karasuno's volleyball official jersey despite the hot weather they were having that day.
"So, we've finished our exams and starting today - Yachi will become part of our team as manager." Daichi announced next to Yachi.
Kiyoko walked towards Yachi to give her her own set of freshly washed jersey. Yachi accepted it gratefully as she stares the the jacket in her hand with a merry expression.
"Welcome to the Karasuno High School volleyball club!" The entire team turned to showcase their backs to show the name of the school club as they stroke a pose, pointing towards the letters on their backs.
Yachi was overwhelmingly joyful as she laughs lightly then she smiles brightly at them. "It's a pleasure to work with you!"
However, fate likes to play around with people who are too happy in their own time. Once they forgot momentarily about what they should be focusing on, reality come to struck them like a brick to the head.
Yachi stares in shock as she felt like crying at the scores shown in the exam sheets that she was holding. Meanwhile Tsukishima was laughing way too much. Hinata and Kageyama both displayed an awfully depressed expression in front of Yachi, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi in the hallway.
"H…how…." Words seem to be stuck in her throat as she reads their test answers again. "The answers were all there…"
"Fufu! So now you both have to take the makeup test because you failed? Hahahaha!" Tsukishima retorted.
Yachi turned to glare at Tsukishima with that witty comment. "D-don't laugh! They worked so hard at it."
"Your only option is to plead your case to the vice principal. Though that won't actually work." Tsukishima's entire face has turned smug, he was certainly basking in the failures of the two boys in front of him.
Yamaguchi spoke up as he tries to cool down the atmosphere, "Well, I'm sure there should be another chance to – huh? Where did they go?"
Gone in a flash, the previous bodies of Hinata and Kageyama disappeared from sight when Yamaguchi, Tsukishima and Yachi looked up from the exam papers.
"They're gone." Yachi muttered in confusion.
Tsukishima sighed loudly before pushing back his glasses, "Don't tell me they took my words seriously to plead to the vice principal."
"That…sounds exactly what they would do." Yamaguchi replied in concern, "Let's just hope that they are able to do their remedial and join us to Tokyo."
"I don't know if they can make it since we only have one bus that provides us to the Tokyo away games. But if they have a personal driver, I guess it'll be a different outcome." Tsukishima added.
Yachi looked at the exam papers in her hand and breathes in. "So Kageyama failed in literature and Hinata in English. We…might be able to help them make it through the remedial if we do last minute crammings for it."
"I'm not good in English so I'm probably going to help Kageyama with literature." Yamaguchi offered.
To this offer, Yachi nodded in agreement. "Then I will help Hinata with English."
To this topic, Tsukishima turned towards both of them with a look of irritation on his face. "You already helped the two idiots with their studies from before, why are you helping them again when they can review it on their own?"
"It doesn't look like they can do it on their own when we saw their test results, Tsukki." Yamaguchi replied with a sheepish smile.
Tsukishima didn't say anything when he stares at Yamaguchi, probably wondering why the freckled cheek boy was also helping out the two troublemakers. He then turned to Yachi, "What about you? Why are you trying so hard to help them? Didn't you help them the past weeks and even had them come over to your place, Yachi-san?"
Yachi blinked, looking back to the papers in her hand while she bit her bottom lip. She already helped them with their studies but she knew that Hinata and Kageyama still needed a little push in understanding the subjects more so that they can pass the average score.
The recent moments of her spending time with the gloomy black haired boy and the sunny orange haired boy appeared in her mind. Reminding her of the times she watches them work hard through the subjects. Their clear visions from their conversations about going to Tokyo and becoming stronger to enter the national stage – she wanted to be part of the team where she can help them achieve their goals.
"I want them to go to Tokyo. They worked really hard so that they can become strong and I…I want their goals to come true." Yachi replied as she looked up to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi who were staring at her with bewilderment when she replied with a tone of confidence in her voice. "Besides, it would be troubling if the freak combo duo is missing during practice matches against powerhouses, right?"
Yachi's glowing brown eyes shines with hope that it caught both Yamaguchi and Tsukishima off guard by her enthusiasm. Yamaguchi was a little perplexed by his own reaction when he caught himself smiling after Yachi displayed a cute expression of hope towards them.
On the other hand, Tsukishima's eyes glinted as he cocked his head to the side. "You spoil them too much, Yachi-san."
Yachi didn't understand why the blond haired boy tells that her wanting to help Hinata and Kageyama would be called 'spoiling them'.
She answered briefly, "I don't think I'm spoiling them though but isn't it common to help amongst friends who are in need of help?"
At this expression, Yachi's eyes turned round that resembled of a puppy's face with a golden fur due to the impression of her hair. Her cheeks slightly pink and puffed with air as her pink lips puckered in an adorable small pout.
'What is this…ah - she's so cute!' Yamaguchi's internal monologue was screaming inside his brain, feeling his neck and cheeks getting warmer due to her display of expression.
Meanwhile Tsukishima faltered a little from her expression. 'I won't…shake even by that expression.' He thought over his head many times before he cleared his throat and pushed his glasses in place.
"I already helped them enough before the finals. You both can do whatever you want."
With this, Tsukishima walked away from them. Yamaguchi merely sighs, "Don't mind about Tsukki, Yachi-san. He might seem cold but he actually cares about his teammates."
Yachi hummed, "If you say so. I still can't really tell what Tsukishima is thinking. Ah – let's just hope that we can help Hinata and Kageyama-kun ace their remedial for Saturday."
She did a little fish pump to the air, trying to encourage Yamaguchi who was on the same boat as her. Yamaguchi couldn't help but laughed a little, finding himself falling for Yachi's little cute actions and pumped his fists as well.
"Let's do our best!"
Later in the evening, almost all members of the volleyball team were present at Sakanoshita's store where Hinata and Kageyama tried a mock-up test under the eyes of Ennoshita. Yachi was watching with keen eyes as both of the boys stress their answers in the test when they finally gave the answer sheet to Ennoshita to mark it up.
However, the result was way worse than their actual final exam scores.
"You guys…why did you get worse now than you did on the actual tests?" Ennoshita said it in a disappointed tone.
Both Hinata and Kageyama wears a gloomy cloud over their heads in shame as well.
Kageyama spoke up first. "Somehow…as soon as the test was over - all the stuff I memorized just disappeared."
"I forcibly crammed the knowledge into my brain, so it was leaking out my ears by the second." Hinata added in a similar tone.
Yachi felt the dread from the two boys were overwhelming them and she sympathized with them because she had been in a similar situation before. The moment when your all didn't even give out the best result was the most heart-wrenching thing one person can handle.
There must be something that she can help with so Yachi ponders over this as she fidgeted with her hands for an idea before something popped up in her mind as she exclaimed. "I've got it!"
All heads turned towards Yachi who started explaining, "I'm sure the reason I got into the advanced classes was this sort of situation. I'll train you guys until you both got over 80 points!"
Hinata and Kageyama went wide eyed and gaped at the blonde haired girl. "Yachi-san..."
On the other hand, Tsukishima who was watching the entire thing stood behind Hinata's back as he fixed his bag on his shoulder. "Will you be able to do it? These two are certified idiots." He says with smug looking expression.
"What was that?!" Kageyama scowled at Tsukishima while Hinata hissed the shared sentiment.
"I – I want to go to Tokyo with Hinata and Kageyama-kun for the away games too, so I'll do my best!" Yachi responded with a spirited expression. "They have been looking forward to go to Tokyo all this time so it would be depressing if they can't make it."
Hinata and Kageyama sees the bright halo appeared behind Yachi as she looked at them with such hopeful expression. They were so touched that Hinata even started tearing up his eyes.
"Yachi-san!" Hinata bawled up, touched by her support.
Kageyama trembled in gratefulness that he shouts back, "Thank you very much!" passionately.
Yamaguchi slipped in and speaks up, "I'll help out as much as I can too." He offered gently. "It would be troubling for Yachi-san if she helps you two on her own."
Yachi smiled brightly at the freckled boy's support, beaming at him as he returned with his own smile to her.
"Thank you, Yamaguchi!" Hinata expressed his gratefulness as well in happy tone.
Nishinoya laughs by the whole spectacle as he stepped in. "Whoa now! I can't let only my juniors take the spotlight. The second years are gonna help out to. Ain't that right Chikara!" He turns the attention towards the second year boy.
Ennoshita could only smile tiredly as he shook his head by the libero's boastfulness. "Well, the third years have to study for their own tests. Leave this these guys to the first and second years." He said it towards the third years who were watching next to him.
"Sounds good. I'm counting on you." Daichi says it with a face full of pride, happy to see his juniors getting along and supporting each other.
"Seems like an uphill battle though." Sugawara commented.
"I probably won't take any entrance exams but I don't really have the confidence to be a teacher." Asahi added.
As they were discussing this, Tsukishima was about to leave the store on his own. "I'll be leaving first, excuse me." He felt the stares of Hinata and Kageyama pierced his back, "I'm not lifting a finger. I told you I would only help you until the tests but give your best shot now. Goodbye."
The whole team watches him leave the store with ease. Some of them were wishing that Tsukishima would stay around for a bit longer to help them but the case was not like that at all in reality.
"Damn you, stingyshima!" Hinaya cursed under his breath.
Ennoshita then perked his head up when he noticed something. "Wait a minute, where is Tanaka?"
"He said he had something to do first so he went home earlier." Nishinoya replied.
"I see. Well, let's see what else we can do to help you both out." Ennoshita turned to Hinata and Kageyama. "I've marked up all the wrong answers on your sheets so I really hope you both try to understand and learn again what went wrong with your answers."
Both of the boys grumbled as they stared intensely at their answer sheets as if staring it hard enough would make it easier for them to know what they did wrong with their answers.
A clap took the whole team's attention to the sound when Daichi smiled at them all with ease. "So, since it's getting late we should all be heading home. Hinata, Kageyama – pour all your efforts to study on your own at home, okay."
"Yes, captain." Both of the boys replied solemnly.
With this, the whole team of the volleyball club were cleaning up and prepared to go home from Sakanoshita's store. During their walk out of the store, Yachi was digging into her bag to take out her orange folder which was heavily decorated by star stickers, pulling out two exam sheets from it.
"Hinata, Kageyama-kun." She calls them as she runs out to them outside of the store.
The two boys looked back to her, finally notices the papers she was holding out towards them.
"This is my answer sheet from my English test," She hands it to Hinata, "- and this is my answer sheet from literature test. You can review my answers from the test and ah – do you both still keep the question papers from the exams?"
Both of the boys nodded, allowing Yachi to continue, "That's a relief. Then when you review it at home tonight, please compare your answers with mine so you can figure out where you made mistakes. If you have any questions, you can message me as always."
"Yo-you're an angel, Yachi-san!" Hinata bawled into tears as he took Yachi's hands in his and shook it with his expression of gratitude.
Meanwhile Kageyama's eyes brightened up as he kept bowing to her repeatedly. "Thank you! Thank you!"
Yachi who was in the midst of being shaken by Hinata and embarrassingly bowed by Kageyama many times choked out, "I-it's fine! P-please calm down…"
Both of the boys stopped their embarrassing actions, now looking at Yachi with a new light.
'She isn't just an angel, she's a super kind and smart angel!' Both of the boys looked at Yachi in awe as the halo they envisioned behind Yachi shone brighter than before and the imaginative flower petals fall around Yachi's head.
Yachi's cheeks flushed in pretty pink, embarrassed by the previous behavior of the two boys but she was a little touched by their feelings. "Let's gather for another review at lunch time tomorrow at my class. Is that fine with you, Yamaguchi-san?"
Yamaguchi who was staring the whole thing with amusement in his eyes nodded. "I'm fine with that."
"You both are the best! Yosh, I'm going to do my best too!" Hinata pumped his fists up to the night sky.
During the late night, Yachi accompanied Hinata and Kageyama through her phone as they kept texting each other messages to work on their studies. Through sleepy eyes after the boys ends their reviewing session, Yachi didn't miss the messages that Hinata and Kageyama sent to her.
From Hinata Shoyo:
Sent 23:07pm
Thank you for your help, Yachi-san (o) I'll see you tomorrow! Have a good night sleep!
From Kageyama Tobio
Sent 23:16pm
I'm sorry for making you sleep so late but I really appreciate your help, Yachi-san. Sweet dreams :)
However, Yachi was too sleepy to give a reply as she held the phone in her hand. Her eyes closed swiftly and her tiredness lulled her to dreamland for the night.