Rigid Crow

I Am Ready

     "So those are the new first years over there?" Yamaguchi inquires as I stand with him and Tsukishima. We watch three boys chat and laugh nervously, huddled into the corner as they look at the gym around them, occasionally casting glances at us.
     "Looks like it," Tsukishima says, shifting his headphones back to his ears.
     I remember my first day in this gym. I was bitter over not getting into Shiratorizawa. I was going to make the most of what I could do here.
     Then he walked in. He shouted at me and pointed at me, and I felt myself blow up with anger and annoyance. He had to be here? Of all my luck...
     But we grew on each other. He matched my skills. He didn't turn away like everyone else had. He worked to improve himself, and in doing that, he improved my skills too. I don't know how we went from archenemies to best friends, but it happened.
     "Do you think they're nervous?" Yamaguchi asks. "I was terrified on my first day."
     "EYYYYYYYYYY!" New voices invade our senses as the four older boys run into the room, the fifth chasing them, trying to keep them in check. "THIRD YEARS!" Kinoshita, Narita, Tanaka, and Nishinoya scream, jumping up and down as they stampede into the gym. Their loud voices bounce and echo off the walls.
     "Keep it down!" our captain, Ennoshita reprimands them. "You're going to scare away our new club members."
     "ACE!" Tanaka screams, ignoring Ennoshita. He jumps into the air and mimes hitting a ball.
     "NICE KILL!" Nishinoya howls back.
     "ONE MORE!" Kinoshita and Narita shout in unison.
     "Be quiet!" Ennoshita tried to get them to settle down.
     Yamaguchi chuckles to himself. "I forgot how much I missed them. Do you think that'll be us next year?"
     Tsukishima says, "No way. I'm not making an idiot of myself. You morons can go ahead, though."
     "Maybe we should go introduce ourselves," Yamaguchi suggests. "You know if Hinata was here, he would've done that and been chatting away with them by this point."
     "I'm not sure if he would intimidate or annoy the heck out of them," I wonder aloud.
     "I think they'd like him," Yamaguchi decides. "Who doesn't like Hinata? He's literally friends with everyone on every team."
     "You have a point," I say.
     We make our way over to the new first years.  "Hi!" Yamaguchi calls out with a shy little wave. "You guys have joined the volleyball club?"
     The boys nod and mumble their 'yeah's.
     I nod my head in greeting first. "I'm Kageyama Tobio, setter."
     One boy's eyes sparkle and he smiles in excitement. "That's incredible! You're incredible! I've watched all of your guys' matches! It's such a pleasure to meet you!" He bows low, then stands back up. "I'm Miyamoto Norio. I played wing spiker in middle school." He grins widely. He has short strawberry blonde hair, and faint freckles splash across his face.
     "Sanada Atsushi," the next boy introduces himself, bowing. His mop of black hair is tied back, and the tips of it are dyed indigo. "I'm a libero, but I'm still training to get better and better." He says this with a straight face, unlike Miyamoto's excited smile.
     "I'm Handa Youta," the third boy introduces himself. He's got wavy brown hair and his skin is a dark caramel tone. "I've played pretty much any position I've been needed in. I'm happy to be joining the Karasuno team."
     "Nice to meet you," Yamaguchi says with a kind smile. "I'm Yamaguchi Tadashi. I've mostly been working as a pinch server."
     Miyamoto's eyes light up. "Your jump floats are amazing! Do you think you could teach me?
     Yamaguchi's face contorts into a surprised grin. "I- Yeah!"
     "Tsukishima Kei," Tsukishima briefly introduces himself. "Middle blocker."
     "And you blocked Ushijima's hit last year! You are so cool! And tall!"
     Tsukishima pushes up his glasses and smirks. He's enjoying the attention.
     I turn back to Handa. "You have an accent. Is it... American?"
     Handa rubs the back of his neck, suddenly shy. "Ah, yeah. I try to keep my Japanese as natural-sounding as possible."
     "No, that's incredible," I insist. "How is your Japanese so good?"
     "Oh, thanks. I studied a lot before I applied to be an exchange student. My great-grandfather is from Japan, so that's where the interest came from. So Handa is actually my surname. I just took on Youta, though, because the Japanese can't pronounce Nathan, which is my given name. I've been here for two years so far."
     "That's so cool!" Yamaguchi gushes. "Well, welcome to the team, you guys! I'm sure our captain will be over to say hi in just a minute."
     "Who's the new captain?" Sanada asks, showing interest for the first time.
     "Hello, guys!" Ennoshita strolls over.
     "Speak of the devil," Tsukishima mutters.
     "I'm Ennoshita Chikara."
     "I know!" Miyamoto gushes excitedly.
     Ennoshita smiles kindly. "I'm the captain for this year's Karasuno team. I can't wait to get to know you three and see what you guys can do! Why don't we get started with some stretches, and you guys can pepper?"
     He walks back to the other boys, Handa and Sanada at his heels. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi also follow. For some reason, Miyamoto doesn't go yet.
     "Aren't you gonna go too?" I ask him, confused.
     "In a minute," he says, growing uncharacteristically serious. "I want to ask you about Hinata Shōyō."
     "You- You do?"
     "Yes. I remember watching the recorded match of his injury. And I saw the good news of his recovery on television just the other week. He's so talented. I remember watching him in your games and being like, 'Wow, I wanna be as amazing as him.' I was just wondering, is he really alright? Will he be able to come back and play?"
     "I don't know about him being good to play, at least not right now, but he's doing as okay as he can be. You should come and meet him. He'd be so excited to hear someone say that about him."
     Miyamoto stands up straighter, eagerness lighting his expression. "Really? You mean it?"
     "Sure. We can go after practice if you want."
     His eyes bug. "Today?"
     "Sure thing. He can't really talk back at the moment, but he's still Hinata. It would do him good to meet someone who loves the sport as much as he does. And it'll thrill him to met a fan. Someone he inspired, no less."
     "Thank you, Kageyama-senpai! I can't wait to be playing with you!" Miyamoto grins and races off to join the others.
     His energy dumbfounds me. He really reminds me of Hinata.
     "Kageyama! You ready?" Nishinoya calla out from across the court.
     "Yeah!" I yell back. And for the first time in quite a while, I am ready. I've been equipped to be ready for anything, after all I've been through.