Prologue

She hated bleacher seats. She often thought that whoever built these massive gymnasiums sat in every bleacher seat possible and picked the most uncomfortable ones to install. She could never sit right. The back was too small and the seat made her butt go numb. She didn't want to be here, she never wanted to come to these games. It was too loud and there were always too many people, especially at tournaments. Her grandfather would nag her, lecture her about how her brother needed her support. He needed the families support. However since their grandfather had been put in a wheel chair last year, he hadn't been able to go to any of his games and her oldest sister always worked during the games so she was left alone to find ways to entertain herself while her brother played this silly game. Normally she would find a quiet spot around the school away from the noise of the gymnasium where she could find a spot to sit and draw. But this was different, this was a tournament. That meant there was no where to escape. So she did what she had to do, she got as comfortable as she could, pulled out her sketch book and began to draw.

She wasn't athletic like her brother. In fact she was the biggest clutz she knew. She had zero coordination and a loose sense of balance. That and she didn't like the idea of being watched so closely. Just imagining everyone in the stands with their eyes on her made her skin crawl. She knew the game, Tobio made her practice with him almost everyday. However, she didn't like the attention of being on the court. With drawing, she could make masterpieces in secret and keep them to herself. She liked to draw people, places, things she could see in front of her. She liked to capture and express things the way she saw them.

Right now she was working on a piece of her brother. She had drawn him on the court, his back to her in his volleyball uniform. He was jumping up for a setter dump, she had used bright colors eliminating him against the background. In the background, his teammates as well as the people in the stands she had drawn in all black outlines. Her brother was the backbone of the team. An incredibly gifted and talented player. She knew it they all knew it. But it didn't excuse his big head and bad attitude. His teammates hated him, most people at school did too. He didn't care. The only thing Tobio cared about was volleyball. Sometimes she wished she was like that as well. She wished she could ignore the rumors and bullies that crowded the halls. High school was going to be different. New faces, new places, new opinions. She couldn't wait to go to high school, though she didn't know which one they would be going too. Whatever team Tobio got accepted to, she would follow. She had no choice. She would always live in Tobio's shadow. She put the finishing touches on her drawing then moved on to the next blank page.

"What to draw?" she thought. She looked up at the crowd. She was sitting in the first row of bleachers on the terrace. It wasn't as loud up here. Not many people were on this side of the bleachers. She was sitting at the end of the court, she could see her brother's team on the other side of the net. They were playing against a small town team, they didn't have many players, not enough for rotations. That was going to tire them out extremely quickly. Kitagawa First would definitely beat them, however she was surprised at the ball of energy the little red headed player displayed. She looked around the audience, most people were either into the game, hanging out with their friends, or even other teams getting ready for the next match.

"Kitagawa First huh?" she heard a deep voice approach from the walkway.

"Their setter is known as the King of the Court," another voice answered.

"Must have some talent to be called that," another voice also replied. Into her view walked three upper classmen in black track suits. They walked down the walkway to the railing in front of her. They all towered over her blocking her view of the game, not that she cared, she wasn't paying attention anyway. They weren't bad on the eyes either. "Did all high school boys look this amazing?" she thought. One had pure white skin, longer grey hair and blue eyes. She noticed easily his kind smile and lax posture with his hands in his jacket pockets. Another had tan skin, buzzed brown hair and brown eyes. He looked more serious, as he watched the game leaning his elbows on the railing. Then the third... The third man that walked into view, she couldn't take her eyes off of. His tan skin, wide shoulders, sharp jawline, his short wavy brown hair, deep brown eyes. Even through the track suit she could tell his arm muscles were easily the side of her head. He looked down at the court watching the game intrigued and held his head with a comforting seriousness.

She tried not to stare, but it was hard. The back of their tracksuits read "Karasuno High Volleyball Club" in big white letters. Each suit looked comfortable, but hugged their massive muscular bodies as well. She herself wasn't all that short, she considered herself average height at five foot five inches. However, these three upperclassmen would probably tower over her even when standing.

"Who's the little guy?" The guy with the buzzed hair cut asked.

"I'm not sure," the guy with short brown hair asked. He was the one who had the pleasing deep voice.

"What team is that? Yukigaoka Middle School?" the grey haired one asked. "I didn't know they even had a volleyball team."

"From the looks of it they probably didn't until this year." the short brown haired one asked. "I mean they don't even have enough to switch out."

"It's not looking to good for them." The one with the buzzed hair cut responded.

From the looks of it, they seemed like they were scouting players for their own volleyball club. Karasuno High. That was in the Miyagi prefecture. It wasn't the closest school to them, but it also wasn't the farthest. She wondered if she would get to see them play. Just their demeanor told her they were probably a force to be reckoned with. She listened to them comment about the game, without actually watching the game. She liked listening to the brown haired one's voice. There was just something so pleasing about it.

Before she knew it her hand was moving without even looking at the pencil and paper. She tried to draw as quickly as possible while trying to capture his powerful essence on the thin sheet of paper. His face she had drawn from side profile leaving him as mysterious as he seemed. With his back to her, she sketched his broad shoulders in the same way. It was a quick sketch, nothing too serious. Before she started erasing unnecessary lines and darkening certain areas, she heard the final whistle and the match had ended. This was her brother's last match of the day so she had to hurry and meet him on the court. She shoved her sketchbook into her bag and threw the bag over her shoulders standing up and scurrying to the aisle. If she wasn't down there soon Tobio was going to get really mad. However, she didn't secure her bag as good as she thought she did and when she threw her bag over her shoulder, her sketchbook fell out and onto the floor.

"Hey wait!" Tanaka called.

Daichi knelt down to pick up the book as the girl scurried away. He had noticed her when they first walked down the terrace. Her long straight black hair covering most of her face as it was buried deep in this book. "Who was she?" he thought. She was a cute girl, maybe another players sister? But who?

"Lady!" Tanaka called again but it was too loud in the gymnasium for her to hear him and before Daichi could chase after her, she was lost in the crowd.

"She's gone," Sugawara said. "Is there a name in the book?"

"I dunno," Daichi answered then opened the book looking for a name. The first page he opened it to he was amazed. A girl sat against a tree in short grass, one knee up, the other laying on the ground and a book rested on her knee. The girl's long blond hair covered her face, but the top of her head was lost in a dark black and purple cloud that homed stars and outlines of people, ships, and other worlds. It was a beautiful and complicated drawing. At the bottom were the initials T.K. scribbled in the corner.

"Woah," Tanaka said. "This chick is talented."

"All the more reason to find her and get her book back." Daichi said.

~

"You're late," Tobio muttered as she reached his side in the hall just outside the gym.

"I'm sorry, there was a lot of people in the way." she responded.

"So push them, you have to learn to be more aggressive or people are going to push you around." he lectured.

She stayed quiet not really wanting to argue.

"Well, at least we won," Tobio said interlocking his fingers behind his head. The two made their way down the hall, she nervously fiddled with the ends of her jean shorts. She wasn't looking forward to the long bus ride home. It was always awkward and silent. None of the players every talked to her and it was hard to draw on the bus.

"Where were you? I didn't see you," he asked.

"I was on the terrace," she answered. "There were some guys that were scouting, I heard them talking about you."

"What school were they from?" he asked. She opened her mouth to answer but he cut her off. "Not that it matters, if they're not from Shiratorizawa it doesn't really matter."

"No it wasn't them," she said holding her elbows.

"Oh well, I'll show them all up at tryouts." he said.

"Well, have you ever considered a different school?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I don't know, maybe just in case you don't make the team?" she asked.

Tobio scoffed. "That's not gonna happen."

"Still its a good idea to keep your options open." she said.

"There's no need if I know I'm going to get the position." he answered and she rolled her eyes. The two walked back to the bus and sure enough an awkward silence filled the bus. She sat in the back with her brother and laid her backpack over her lap. However when she did so she noticed it felt really light. She opened the flap curiously to find her sketch book missing.

"What!? How could this happen?!" she thought. She made sure she had put her sketch book into her bag. It had to have fallen out! She had to go back and find it.

"Tobio we have to stop the bus," she tugged at his arm.

"What why?" he asked annoyed laying his head on the head rest and closing his eyes.

"Because I can't find my sketch book, I dropped it." she said.

"So? Get another one." he said.

"I can't just get another one Tobio it has all of my drawings all of my private thoughts." tears welled in her eyes at the thought of someone else looking at her sketch book.

"We can't just stop the bus because you were too irresponsible with your stuff," he said.

"Tobio please," she begged.

"Temari we can't," he said. "When we go back tomorrow we'll look in the lost and found, someone would've turned it in by then."

She sat back in the seat desperately trying to hold in the tears that wanted to escape her eyes.

"Stop acting like a baby, you're embarrassing me," he said. She didn't say anything but sniffed and wiped her tears away.

Tobio turned and looked at her. They were twins and looked a lot alike. However, he didn't understand her brain. Why was she crying over some stupid drawing book? Since their parents passed that's all she did, stick her nose in that stupid book and draw. They used to be really close. Now.... they both had their own paths to follow.

"Temari," he breathed. "I'm sorry," She wiped her tears one more time then looked at him with the same big blue eyes he had. "If we can't find it tomorrow, I'll buy you another one. A better one okay?"

"That's not the point Tobio," she whispered. "I never wanted anyone to see what was in that book and now a stranger is probably going through it looking at everything."

"Is that so bad? You're an amazing artist. People should see what you're capable of." he said.

She just shrugged and he sighed.

"Okay, first thing tomorrow morning we'll go to lost and found and look for it and if its not there, then we'll search the whole gymnasium if we have to okay?" he asked.

"Okay," she finally responded.

"Good, now get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day." he said.