It's been a week since Hinata's dad taught him about availability and taking care of himself both physically and mentally. It offered him a new perspective outside of volleyball. He was walking through the streets of Rio, he was wearing a pair of pink to orange gradiant tropical shorts, a light and breathable orange t-shirt. He had a pair of asics running shoes on.
As he roamed the streets, he reflected on how different it felt walking through the alleyways he'd usually zoom past on his bike. The bustling market nearby, filled with stalls offering the regions local delights. From fresh fruits like passion fruit and cupuaçu, the assortment of grilled meat dishes to the trinkets made from sea shells and so on.
While perusing the market, Hinata felt 2 heavy bodies tackle him onto a nearby patch of grass. He OOF'd as he was slightly winded. He then looked up to see Luca standing above him while Jessica and James were piled on top of him.
James had a smile but tears coming down his cheeks, while Jessica had a very, very, very faint expression of sadness on her face. It was clear as day to everyone who knew her though.
"VOCÊ ESTÁ DEIXANDO O SHOYO?! POR QUE? VOCÊ ESTÁ ME DEIXANDO COM LUCA? ELE É MUITO MADURO!"
["YOU'RE LEAVING SHOYO?! WHY? YOU'RE LEAVING ME WITH LUCA? HE'S TOO MATURE!"]
James cried, recieving a laugh from Hinata and a glare from Luca.
"Hahaha sim, estou, mas não se preocupe, só irei por mais um ou dois meses. Podemos sair depois da escola ou depois do treino."
["Hahaha yes I am, dont worry though, I'm not going for another month or two. We can hang out after school or after practice."]
Hinata replied, James nodded, satisfied with that answer. Hinata then nodded to Jessica, who was happy with the answer too. He then looked to Luca, who sighed.
"Vamos então, estamos perdendo tempo. Vamos gastá-lo com sabedoria."
["Come on then, we're wasting time. Lets spend it wisely."]
Luca said as he began to walk away, with the 3 others following behind him.
The group spent the entire day together:
1. Went to eat food in a nearby restaurant. (where Hinata shocked his friends, eating his food in borderline world record time.)
2. Posing with the Christ the Redeemer statue.
(the picture they took has one of the few captured moments where Jessica smiled, mainly because the 3 boys turned into a human totem pole. With Luca at the bottom, then James, then Hinata with Jessica in front of them. Safe to say, it wasn't Luca's idea. The look on his face was all you needed to know.)
3. Building sand castles.
(And then the destruction of said sandcastles due to a rogue beach volleyball crashing into them. A heart breaking event.)
And finally, perusing the night market. Hinata looked around the stalls before noticing a stall selling custom made and engraved chains/necklaces. An idea popped into Hinata's mind as he ran back and dragged his friends over to the stall.
"Vamos fazer um momento para lembrar da nossa amizade, onde quer que estejamos no mundo."
["Let's make a momento, to remember our friendship, wherever we are in the world."]
Hinata said as he looked to his friends. James began to cry again. Jessica nodded, giving a thumbs up while Luca followed suit, smiling at the idea. Hinata asked for 4 chains that had a piece at the end where when they were connected, they make a circle with a volleyball engraving on it. On the other blank side, it had the capital H or J or L depending on the wearer's name. Hinata had H and so on.
Costing around 300 reals, it wasn't cheap, but the memories it holds are priceless. The group held out their chains.
"Com essas correntes estamos conectados na vida, nosso vínculo, nossa conexão, continuará forte"
["With these chains, we are connected in life, our bond, our connection, will stay strong"]
Luca said with pride, he was always the best with speeches.
"SIM!"
["AYE!"]
The other teens replied, their bond solidified.
/
As the weeks went on, Hinata ironed out his routine. It was flexible enough to accommodate a teen's lifestyle.
Before school, he'd wake up early to make himself a healthy breakfast before meditating for 20 minutes.
After school on school days, he'd spend two 40 minute blocks studying, his parents hammered home the fact that education isn't to be taken for granted. He wasn't an exceptional academic student, but he averaged 50-60 on most tests, which were enough for his parents.
Then on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, beach volleyball practice was on. So he'd spend that time honing his serves, reads, jumping and positioning.
On Tuesday and Friday, Hinata would start practicing in a proper indoor court. The local gym held recreational volleyball games where anyone could join. Hinata learned the hard way how hard the floor felt as he tried to dig the fast spikes, slamming onto the ground like a rock. Lets just say the bruises he got that day stayed for 2 weeks. But he understood that he was starting from nothing, he needed to be patient.
Sunday was his day free, where he could hang out with friends or family. Its his break from overworking himself.
Hinata's weeks pretty much went like that. As for his development, he learned 2 new ways of helping his teams. He started practicing a new top spin serve. Hinata loved the skyball, it was definitely his most effective and fun serve to do. However, the height required to pull even a decent one off isn't common in most indoor gyms, so he decided to start learning how to hit a jump top spin serve for a serve he could use indoors. His success rate with the serve is around 60-70% compared to the skyball which had a solid 90%.
The second thing Hinata began to hone was his setting. He'd practice some basic setting drills, a few indoor and some on the beach with the aid of Luca. He understood Luca had a innate talent for setting but his technique was refined enough for him to get the fundamentals down. Luca was also great at explaining his thought process to Hinata, tellng him to stay calm before the set, to always adapt to the pass and do your best to set the best ball for your spiker.
As he developed a solid stationary set, he began to ask his recievers to give him poor but high passes indoors. Hinata knew that his teammates would do try to pass him an 'A' Pass, but precise and perfect recieves come few and far between. So Hinata decided to split the difference, using his agility and reflexes, he'd try to get under a high recieve and set/pass it to a specific area of the court.
Hinata's stamina was immense, but this setting training began to test his limits. Hinata had to work both his mind and body, taking into account the opponents position, the spikers position, the pass itself, what the ideal attacking scenario would be, the area where he should set and the spikers mood. In all the practice scenarios he ran with a few of the new acquaintances from the indoor recreational volleyball, his setting success rate was 60% in all the times he had to. It was definitely a work in progress.
/
Before he knew it, Hinata was at the airport. The last few weeks had flown by for him. He stood at the entrance terminal, where Luca, James, Jessica and their respective families had gathered to wish them farewell. The adults chatted with the adults, Natsu was sitting on her ladybug scooter suitcase and talking with Luca and Jessica's younger siblings.
James was the first to break the silence, walking over to Hinata and hugging him tightly. Hinata returned the embrace as he could feel the tears dropping from James.
"Prometa... que você voltará para nos visitar, ok? Por favor, Luca vai tirar a diversão da VIDA!"
["Promise... you'll come back to visit okay? Please, Luca will remove the fun out of LIFE!"]
James said, overexaggerating his reaction. Hinata chuckled a little, ignoring the glare Luca was giving the two boys.
"Não se preocupe, voltarei para visitá-lo um dia, James, vou trazer ímãs de geladeira também"
["Don't worry, I'll be back to visit one day James, I'll bring back fridge magnets too"]
Hinata replied as James let go, walking to the side as Jessica was up next. She walked up the boy and ruffled his hair.
"Vou sentir falta do puf fofo de laranja. Certifique-se de comer de forma saudável."
["I'll miss the fluffy poof of orange. Make sure you eat healthy."]
She said concisely, but it was enough to drive James crazy, put Luca in shock and completely immobilise Hinata. She sighed at their reactions and walked over to where James was as Luca went to Hinata.
Luca reached his fist out.
"Conquistar- não... dominar a quadra Shoyo"
["Conquer- no... dominate the court Shoyo."]
Hinata paused for the moment before returning the fist bump, his other fist on his chest.
"Da mesma forma, prodígio, é melhor ver você no cenário internacional algum dia."
["Likewise prodigy, I better see you on the international stage someday."]
Luca smirked as he released from the fist bump.
"Você sabe disso, Shoyo"
["You know it Shoyo"]
/
*CUE GEARS BY YUKI HAYASHI*
And so the final farewells were given to the rest of the Hinata family and they went on their way to their gate, the next chapter of their lives ahead of them. Hinata looked outside of the massive windows beside their departure gate. With a deep breath in, he watched as the sun began to rise on the horizon.
Hinata smiled to himself as the orange rays of light shone through the partly cloudy sky of Rio. He stood a little straighter as he could feel the excitement begin to flow, the future was in front of him. It was open...
...bright...
...beautiful...
and it beckoned him with tales of excitement just waiting to be discovered.
