Chapter 7

Hinata went back to his team and together, they left the court. They went towards the washroom to wipe their sweat and wash their faces. He could tell his teammates were dejected by their downcast expressions. Even if he did tell them to not worry about losing.. losing never felt good.

"Stop with those expressions. It's okay. I know you're sad we lost but we tried our best and that's good enough for me. You don't have to feel bad."

"It's not that. We never stood a chance against a top team. It's just.. we feel useless. You scored all the points yourself.. we could help at all." Kōji said.

"Volleyball is a team sport. If you didn't get the ball up, or if Izumi didn't set the ball.. how could I have scored all those points? You have nothing to feel bad about, because I couldn't even play if you guys didn't agree to help me out."

That visibly lifted their moods. They went to the washroom and freshened up. He then told them they could go home.. he'd hang around for a while. With that.. they left, after agreeing to meet at school on monday.

He didn't want to leave just yet. He wanted to watch the other teams play and try to learn whatever he could from their plays. While he had the memories.. first hand experience was always better and he didn't want to always rely to them. That'd make him lazy. Besides.. he'd always make use of any opportunity he could to learn.

He then changed his outfit. He didn't want to wear sweaty clothes the entire time. He quickly changed into a white t-shirt and black track pants. He also put on a black jacket but left it open. After packing everything, he left the washroom with his bag.

It was about 11:30 a.m. now and he still had quite some time left before he'd head home, so he started going around the place and watch the teams play.

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After finishing his lunch, Hinata started moving towards another hall. The venue had different playing areas and that particular hall was where Kitagawa Daiichi were playing their second game of the day against some school he didn't recognise.

When he arrived, he noticed that there were other people present there too, including different teams. Kitagawa Daiichi being one of the favourites naturally dew a crowd of both players and spectators. His eyes went towards the part with relatively few people and he started walking towards it. It was there that he noticed 'them'.

There were 4 people there. Four very familiar people. Three of them he clearly recognised as they were present during his match too. It was the fourth one that surprised him. One he didn't expect to be present today.

Daichi, Tanaka, and Sugawara were standing there talking about something, with Tanaka animatedly moving his arms around, while explaining something, and with them was a very familiar girl.

She was around 168 cm tall, with silky black hair that fell down the middle of her back. She had beautiful big black eyes, paired with an attractive face and an incredible body, with feminine curves at just the right places. She also had big breasts with an amazing ass. She wore glasses and the small beauty spot on face only further enhanced her beauty. It was Kiyoko Shimizu. The Karasuno volleyball club's manager.

Hinata's heart skipped a beat when he looked at her. He already knew how she looked but it didn't even come close to the real deal. His face was flushed and his heartbeat quickened. The change in his personality was evident by the fact that he didn't outright start steaming at the sight of her. He didn't know why she was here but he wasn't complaining.

She stood out even without trying to.. as was evident by the glances the guys present kept sending her way from time to time. She did an incredibly good job at ignoring it.

He managed to calm himself down. He wanted to approach them and try to have a conversation. He'd been itching to meet them ever since he got those memories. He wasn't going to shy away now. Those were his future teammates and friends. He would not let his first real encounter with them end in embarrassment!

He composed himself and started walking towards them. Tanaka was the first to notice him when he got near them.

Tanaka's eyes widened at the sight of him. He pointed his finger at him and spoke excitedly.

"That's him! That's the Chibi #1 we were talking about."

The others turned to towards him and Daichi and Sugawara's eyes widened as well. 'He's even smaller up close!' they thought. Shimizu only looked at him curiously.

Daichi was the first to recover. "Oi Tanaka! That's rude and stop pointing." he reprimanded.

"Sorry about that. We watched your match against Kitagawa Daiichi. In fact.. we were just talking about it right now. That's why he got excited seeing you. My name is Sawamura Daichi. That's Sugawara Kōshi and Tanaka Ryūnosuke. And this is Kyoko Shimizu." he said while introducing everyone else.

"Hello. My name is Hinata Shoyo and there's no need to apologise. I saw the three of you in the audience. I actually came here to ask something."

"What do you want to ask?"

"Are all you from Karasuno High School?" he decided to ask directly.

"Yes.. we are. How did you know?" Tanaka asked in surprise.

"It says Karasuno High, Volleyball Club, at the back of your jackets.. and I also wanted to go to Karasuno next year so when I noticed you were from Karasuno.. I decided to come and greet everyone as I'm going to apply for the volleyball club next year."

Their eyes widened at that. They were just talking about him and he showed up and said he wanted to join Karasuno next year. What were the odds?! Daichi already had a big smile on his face when he heard that. They needed strong players. Things were slowly starting to look good this year as Tanaka and Nishinoya joined but it wouldn't be enough. He was worried they won't get any good players next year as.. after all.. they weren't a well known team or a powerhouse anymore. That's why, he couldn't help but ask..

"Can I ask why you want to join Karasuno? After all.. there are other schools with better teams than us."

"Yes.. I know there are other schools with better teams than Karasuno but I've always wanted to go to there. You see.. I once watched Karasuno play at the nationals on Tv. There was a short player on the team they called 'The Little Giant'. Watching him play got me into volleyball in the first place, so it's only fitting that I join Karasuno. That is the main reason, but that's not all of it. There is another reason I want to join Karasuno." he said, then continued with a smirk, "I really like the uniform."

They were all silent for a while before they burst into laughter. Even Shimizu started giggling. He knew the reason but he still asked..

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No.. It's just that I never thought I'd meet another person who wanted to join a school for their uniform" Daichi managed to reply between his laughs.

"Man.. I have to tell Nishinoya. He'll flip out when he hears this" Tanaka replied, wiping his tears.

"If you're sure about joining Karasuno.. then we'll gladly welcome you. I hope to see you next year." Daichi said before presenting his hand for a handshake. Hinata shook it with a smile. It felt really good to finally talk to them.

"That line shot was really insane.. I don't know how you hit that. You were so fast on the court and I have no idea how you can jump that high!" this time it was Sugawara who exclaimed

"I saw a wall in front of me and it blocked my view of the court. I didn't like that. I checked and found no other opening. The only thing visible was the white line. So I just made sure to hit the ball towards that line. That's all." he replied with a simple shrug.

It sounded anything but simple. 'He did that all in the split second he got?!' was the unanimous thought.

"Hey.. do you mind showing me your jump? I really wanted to see it up close" Tanaka asked.

"Sure." he just smiled and put his bag down. He started going back and when the distance was enough, he started running towards them.

'He's Fast!'

Hinata then jumped when he was near enough. His form was similar to how he looked while he spiked. Up close.. it looked even more amazing. Everyone gasped, including Shimizu. How could he jump that high? When she heard them talking about it.. she couldn't exactly picture it because she didn't know how it looked like. Now though.. she knew exactly how it looked.

'Beautiful' was the only word that came to to her mind. There was no other way to describe it.

He then landed and looked towards them. "I'm not as tall as everyone, so if want to fight them on equal grounds, my only option is to jump. I don't have the luxury of any other choice."

"After what we just saw.. what you have is enough. Besides.. you're still growing. Don't count yourself out until then." Sugawara replied kindly.

Then match soon began and they proceeded to watch the match. Kitagawa Daiichi won pretty easily. Their opponents didn't even put up much of a fight after they realised they didn't stand a chance. It was quick and brutal.

After the match, he talked to them for a while before they had to leave. After quick a farewell.. he decided to go home and rest. He had a lot to think about and he needed to find a way to improve as fast as he could.

But before he left.. his eyes fell on something. It was a handkerchief and had flower designs. He picked it up and a sweet flowery scent greeted his nose. A familiar scent. One he naturally inhaled when Shimizu walked past him. He smiled and put it in his pocket, before he left the venue and headed home.

The day couldn't have ended on a 'sweeter' note.