Chapter Text
A ball being slammed on the ground was heard, followed by a long, suffering sigh. A ball of orange hair was sitting outside his high school's gym, afraid to enter. A thousand thoughts were running rampant in his head, anxiety making its way to the top. With that being said, he took a deep breath, exhaled, and puffed out his chest. Finally, he dared to enter, trying to seem cool and unaffected.
His plan failed the second he opened the door by tripping over his shoelace and falling to the ground with a loud thud. His face turned beet red putting an actual tomato to shame.
All the heads in the gym turned to see the cause of the loud sound, multiple guys rushing to the teen on the floor. Someone with grey hair and warm brown eyes offered a hand to help the one on the floor stand. He chuckled and cleared his throat.
“Hello there, I’m guessing you’re Hinata Shoyo?” he laughed, ruffling the orange hair.
‘An angel?’ thought Shoyo as he was helped up. Realizing what his senpai said, he turned bright red once again. Can he make this any more embarrassing for himself?
“Uh-, wait- shit. I mean- sorry.” The boy, Shoyo, was crying on the inside. Great, just great. Human interactions were amazing, weren’t they? Wonderful. Mirific. He was not about to piss his pants talking to this kind of a human being, no, absolutely not.
Another man, taller than the grey-haired one, laughed as well and patted the shortest on the shoulder. Are they all this tall and intimidating? What in the bleeding hell do they eat????? Hinata was about to cry.
“Sorry, Hinata-Kun, did we scare you?” He smiled sweetly. Shoyo shook his head, not wanting to admit anything of the sort.
“No, um, it’s fine, I was assigned by Ukai to be the new manager?” He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and looked to the side….. oh fuck no. The blueberry head was there and they made eye contact. Awesome, he’ll go die now. Fuck Ukai’s orders.
The one in question aka blueberry head aka Kageyama Tobio aka the so-called “King of The Court” was dumbfounded by the tangerine’s sudden appearance. Was he not a player? Since when did he want to become a manager?
“What the fuck are you doing here?” His mouth spoke without his permission (brain-to-mouth filter gone….or did it ever exist with him??). Oh well, the bird’s out of the cage now plus he was curious. This human tangerine was making him curious about this “manager” business. Did he come to spy for an enemy school?
The tangerine turned around and puffed out his cheeks. Everyone in the gym was watching them intently. How could he have known that this annoying dummy was also in this school? They didn’t have any classes together and he’s been here a week already. He now realized why Ukai didn’t tell him about the players. (Shoyo did not condone murder but he was seriously thinking about it).
“Keep your pants on, dude.” His whole demeanor changed since seeing the other teen with blue hair. He had a reputation to uphold (you fell in front of him but whatever…technical details).
“My my, king, you know this tangerine?” a blonde dude said (damn he was tall, thought Hinata). A vein popped on Hinata’s forehead.
“Sorry, Hinata-Kun?” Gaining Shoyo’s attention, the grey-haired male said. “Sorry for not introducing myself, I’m Sugawara Koushi, a third-year, and the vice-captain.” Suga was curious as to why the shorter’s attitude changed when seeing the first-year setter. Hinata smiled at Sugawara, such a kind human, he thought. He bowed at his senpai and smiled brightly once again.
“Hello! You already know me it seems.” He said with a little chuckle. “I am the new manager but you can think of me as the right hand of your coach.” Suga thought he was going to need sunglasses if this ray of sunshine will be attending their practices from now on.
“What?!” Kageyama screamed and Hinata looked at him menacingly. (dude needs anger management classes, am I right)
“Man, calm down. It was not my choice to help you guys.”
“Then why in the name of fuck are you here?” Kageyama crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.
“Uh, Kags? How do you know him?” a green-haired teenager joined the conversation. Hinata looked at him and scanned him up and down (no, he was not checking out Yamaguchi).
“Are you a Pinch Server or Middle Blocker?” asked Hinata, surprising the boy.
“Uh- both.” He rubbed his neck, avoiding eye contact with the new manager.
“That’s awesome! Anyway, to answer your question- I played against your setter last year. My middle school went up against his team, he almost lost but I injured myself in the game and ended up benched so like, here I am, a damn manager, instead of a player.” He laughed somewhat bitterly. Kageyama’s face softened (only a bit, you needed to pay close attention if you wanted to see it.)
“You’re not allowed to play anymore?” He asked, his voice quieter than before. Hinata looked at him with his eyes a bit glossy and shook his head.
“Nope, I guess that’s part of the risk.”
“Sorry to hear that, Hinata-kun.” Sugawara commented. The brown-haired next to him nodded to the vice-captain.
“Hinata, let us introduce ourselves. Everyone’s not here yet, it’s just us and the first years.” Hinata nodded.
“I’m Daichi Sawamura, the captain and -”
“Wing Spiker?” Hinata grinned from ear to ear, he loved to guess the positions of players, and most of the time, he was right.
“I- how?”
“A magician never reveals his secrets, captain.” he finished with a wink. Hinata was relieved, these people were not so bad, he could be himself and not be afraid of any judgment coming from them.
Daichi closed his eyes and laughed quietly, this kid was quite the mystery.
“Ok, ok, I admit, you’re good, Hinata.“ He ruffled his kouhais hair and the younger one brightened up visibly. (Sunglasses were a must-have now) Daichi softened and quickly took a liking to this kid, he was very adorable. He won’t admit it but he might have a new favorite first year.
“Thanks, senpai but it’s not as impressive as it seems. I just purely guess.” Shoyo shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, you guessed right two times in a row so that must be a gift!” Suga joined the conversation and bumped shoulders with the tangerine.
“Yes yes, can we go back to practicing?” The blonde one- who Hinata later found out is called Tsukishima Kei, a middle blocker - asked with an arrogant look on his face. Hinata half-smiled, this dude will be a pain, that’s a given. Kageyama nodded at what his teammate said.
“Ah yes, ok guys! Go stretch and wait for the coach to arrive!”
“Hai!”
Not even 10 minutes after their stretching ended, Ukai and Takeda entered followed by the missing teammates. They were looking sheepish with a red tint on their cheeks, showing their embarrassment.
“I-, what did they do?” Suga whispered to Daichi to which he shrugged, an annoyed expression on the captain’s face. Hinata chuckled at his face and decided he should come to this guy’s rescue, even though he didn’t even know them properly.
“Wait, guys, check this out,” he said to his senpais and went to Ukai and Takeda and grinned at them happily. The adults seemed to forget about the other’s doings and, in a second, their attention was on the short first year.
“Hey, kid! I didn’t think you’d come!” said Ukai.
“Well, here I am plus I’m mad at you.”
“DAMN”
“DUDE’S GOT BALLS”
Two guys that were behind Ukai shouted, one with spiky hair and the other had a buzzcut. They got to shut up by another guy who was with them with short chocolate hair who smacked them on the head. In total there were six guys behind him, and one of them was the definition of height + scary. He looked anxious though so Hinata didn’t seem so scared of him.
“Kid, look, you’d have never joined if I told you who’d be here. They’re all chaotic”
“You don’t know that”
“Uh- Shoyo? Before you two begin fighting, can you introduce yourselves to the team?” Takeda said and gestured at the ones behind him, who were watching Hinata closely. The carrot top nodded.
“Hello! My name is Hinata Shoyo, from this day on, I will be your manager. I hope we all get along.” He bowed respectfully, understanding that the ones who came later are his senpais and it was only right to show respect. The two loud ones from before started sobbing loudly and jumped to hug their kouhai.
‘Three managers?! AWESOME!’ thought the whole team.
“WAHHH!! Shoyoooo!!! You’re so cute!!!” The shorter one said. Wait, was he shorter than Hinata? Oh my god, he was blessed. A person is shorter than him! (doing happy dance)
“See!! This is how you show respect to your senpais! Not like you three!” The buzzcut male said and pointed accusingly at the first years who were watching them with an unfazed expression.
Ukai was irked and grabbed both of the boys sticking to Hinata by their shirts.
“You guys still need to receive a punishment” He glared at all of them.
“What did they even do?” asked Daichi, crossing his arms. The tall and scary one replied, looking at the floor.
“Uh- well, Noya wanted to see the new student, you know?” The man, Asahi apparently, looked at Hinata and smiled shyly to which Hinata grinned.
“IT WAS NOT THAT BAD!” The short one, Nishinoya, screamed and huffed, annoyed. He was smacked on the head again by his teammate from before.
“You hid in the teacher’s lounge!”
“And you dragged us with you to keep an eye out!” Another one, a sandy blonde guy, contributed to the discussion.
“After that, you dragged Asahi and Tanaka in your shit as well!” Another buzzcut man said.
“HEY! In my defense, it was Tanaka’s idea too!” He pouted. (So the shorter buzz cut was Tanaka, got it.)
“Noya-san, you make me question if you even have a brain cell,” Tsukishima commented, he was hit by Suga on the arm. Hinata realized this club included a lot of smacking people on the arm, head, etc. They were chaotic af. Not that he was complaining, it was funny, but it was shocking to see how carefree they acted with a stranger in their gym.
“Show some respect for your senpai!” Tanaka came in Noya’s defense, even though the shorter one threw him under the bus just a few minutes ago. Tsukishima rolled his eyes.
“Do they not realize I’m here?” Hinata talked with Suga as the culprits were talking about how they were trying to find the new student. The new student - him. Suga Sighed and leaned against the wall.
“Sorry, Hinata-Kun, they’re always like this.”
“Ah, I see. No need to say sorry, Suga-senpai. It’s kind of amusing.”
‘Suga-senpai?! Ah, I can die happily now
“No need to always use honorifics, Shoyo” Sugawara giggled at him and ruffled his hair as it was addicting to pet the soft ginger hair.
“They will get their asses handed to them by Ukai if they don’t stop fighting soon.” Daichi joined the conversation. Hinata gravitated towards the captains of the volleyball team, they were emitting calming vibes and Hinata felt the most relaxed around them.
“Hinata?” A voice was heard. Shoyo turned his head and saw Kageyama. He raised an eyebrow at him.
“Yes, Kageyama-Kun?”
“I, okay, I just wanted to..” He was looking everywhere but at Hinata, the orange-headed sighed, he was so nervous.
“You can say, Kageyama. I’m sure Hinata won’t mind whatever you say.” Daichi encouraged him.
“I wanted to say sorry!”
“I - wait, what?” Hinata cocked his head to the side like a confused puppy.
“I know we haven’t, um, began on the right foot and I-, uh - “ Sugawara was about to cry. Was this Kageyama? The same person that joined their club a month ago? He was starting to think the younger setter was starting to have a fever. Nevertheless, he was proud of Kageyama’s initiative.
“Kageyama, dude, chill, everything’s fine.” Hinata patted him on the shoulder. He did need to tiptoe to manage to do that. He was cringing on the inside, he never knew how to comfort others when it came to emotions instead of losing a volleyball game.
Kageyama gulped audibly and calmed his breaths, trying to achieve a more normal talking pace. “Can I….can I toss to you?” He asked with stars in his eyes, he even did a respectful bow. Hinata was dumbfounded.
As for the others, they were shell-shocked, the emotionless, short-tempered, Kageyama Tobio, was asking their new manager, Hinata Shoyo, to spike one of his tosses.
“AHHHH KAGEYAMA!!! YOU’RE NOT EMOTIONALLY CONSTIPATED ANYMORE” screamed the shortest second year, Nishinoya. Tanaka and he were teasing the setter, the blueberry boy's cheeks go red in flames. Daichi and Sugawara sighed, no wonder these dudes got in trouble, Hinata thought. They were all pure chaos.
“Do you even know how to spell ‘emotionally’?” Tsukishima asked in his dead voice. Were Tsukishima and Kageyama robots? They both had dead-like voices most of the time. Yamaguchi snickered behind him, whispering - ‘good one, Tsuki.’ The blonde smirked.
Nishinoya’s face got redder and redder. “HEY! HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR YOUR SENPAI” Hinata laughed, Ukai was right, they were extremely chaotic. Ukai was wrong about one thing, he would’ve joined quicker if he knew how much trouble they can cause. Who says he can’t join them in their troublesome plans?
An irk mark appeared on Daichi's forehead. He smiled menacingly at his kouhais and they all shut up. Suga spoke up immediately after they fell silent.
“Let’s continue this fight outside, shall we?”
“SUGA!” screamed Ukai from the other side of the gym.
“Oops, haha, my bad.” Sugawara snickered evilly.
“Damn you, Suga….Guys, not right now, ignore this idiot, let Hinata speak,” said Daichi with a commanding tone.
“Sorry, captain.” was heard from all the volleyball players.
“So, um, Hinata, can I toss to you?”
“Of course!”
“Arigato!” Kageyama was buzzing on the inside. (this dude’s a ray of sunshine too but internally and you can’t prove me wrong.)
“I’ll have you know I’m a bit rusty though, I haven’t played in a bit.”
“Are you sure you’ll be able to play then?” asked Ennoshita, the chocolate-haired man who first smacked Tanaka and Nishinoya. Hinata smiled reassuringly. The concern coming from this guy was nice.
“I’ll be fine, Ennoshita-san, I can still jump and spike a ball. I just can’t overwork myself.”
“Good luck, Shoyo!” Screamed Nishinoya.
“Yes, good luck, our kouhai,” added Tanaka.
Hinata was discussing with Kageyama how the toss should be. At one moment, they stopped and they seemed like they were having a staredown.
“I wonder why Hinata stopped playing…” Kinoshita, the sandy blonde guy said.
“Yeah, he’s able to spike and he might recover soon.” Narita agreed, the other buzzcut man.
“Let’s not pry into Hinata’s private stuff, guys. That’s not nice.” Takeda said to them, watching Hinata and Kageyama intently.
Hinata was staring into Kageyama’s eyes, intimidating the taller. He looked bloodthirsty to be on the court, to be able to play volleyball. Kageyama was the same, he wanted to play with Hinata. Only by this cold glare he received, it determined the younger to do better.
“This is giving me shivers, I don’t need another volleyball idiot,” Tsukishima whispered to Sugawara. His senpai laughed.
“But… if you think about it, didn’t Hinata almost beat Kageyama in middle school?” He asked, scratching his head in thought.
“He would be a good addition to the team, wouldn’t he?” asked Ukai, suddenly joining their conversation. He was watching the two crows, studying their every move.
“Is that your plan, coach?” asked Suga, smirking.
“You’ll see….”
Kageyama set the ball for the tangerine. Hinata jumped, leaving everyone gasping at how high he can jump. The gym fell silent watching the two. They were sure they heard crows croaking, cheering them on.
After that, everything happened in the span of a few seconds. The ball ended up right in Hinata’s palm and a loud “bam” was heard from the impact.
“HUH?!”
“A QUICK?”
“Fuck no, not another volleyball idiot.”
“You’re just jealous, Tsuki.”
Hinata and Kageyama were staring at their palms. Hinata missed the feeling of playing the game he adored and Kageyama missed the feeling of having fun while playing. They both found something they missed in each other.
“H-Hinata's eyes were closed just now,” Daichi said, looking mortified.
“WHAT?!” Everyone screamed, including Ukai and Kageyama.
“Kid, who the hell closes their eyes while spiking?!”
“I could’ve hit you!”
Both Kageyama and Ukai were shouting at Hinata and the orange head only chuckled in response.
“Relax, I’m fine. Plus, Kageyama, I’ve seen you play, you’re good, freakishly good but you find it hard to trust someone because no one trusts you. So, I thought, I am the first one who is going to trust you to the fullest and look at the results!” He explained, running a hand through his hair.
“I already know why you brought me here Ukai and after playing, I think I wanna play too.”
“YESS!” was the response coming from the team. Ukai was also overjoyed but Takeda was worried.
“Shoyo, you’re still injured.”
“I know, I know... But I’m healing quickly!”
“What was that about not being able to play anymore?” Kageyama asked.
“I was scared to play I guess? I didn’t want to injure myself again.”
“In that case, Hinata Shoyo, welcome to the team!” screamed Ukai, hugging the oldest first year. Numerous shouts erupted from his teammates. (Hinata finally had a team again!)
“YES, SHOYO YOU’RE ON OUR TEAM!”
“NOYA, DUMBASS, GET OFF HIM”
“I don’t want to deal with this.”