"can i do my laundry in your house?"
"those guys are really short."
"is their player already tired?"
"why can't you guys pose normally?"
"hey... can you maybe stop trying to hit the ball... just for now?"
name
surname: jinja
name: makoto
— "shintō temple"
— "sincerity" or "truth"
age; sixteen
gender; cis male
sexuality; bisexual
future occupation; he will someday be a national, professional volleyball player representing france where he moves when he grows older.
current occupation; he works at a tea shop at night and on the weekends-- his school permits work, and he does so to earn some extra money.
appearance; makoto is six foot tall— yet he is still growing, or so he claims. he often complains about growing pains from his knees or ankles especially. his hair is a pale, practically white color. his skin is especially pale, almost a pure white. he has beautiful cornflower blue eyes, that almost have a grey shade to them. his eyes are proportionally large and slightly widely-spaced. he has pale pink lips that are not very wide, but quite full. his facial structure is particularly stunning, leading many others to notice him as being quite beautiful aesthetically. makoto's hair extends past his ears slightly and would extend past a high collar. he has a long neck and long legs, almost a ballerina-type build. he has bangs, but typically wears a headband underneath them to keep them from his eyes. around makoto's under eyes and nose, there is a reddish/pinkish tint as compared to the rest of his face. he has white braces on his teeth which are slightly crooked. his nails are perfectly clean and trimmed, and he has two piercings in each of his ears. makoto's skin is clear and pale, yet susceptible to sunburn when he runs— therefore he always wears sunscreen no matter the season or weather, and always wears a hat outside.
ethnicity: half japanese/white (his father was english, although they are not in contact any longer)
nationality: japanese
languages:
japanese
english (only speaking and not writing)
birthday; february ninth (he gets embarrassed when people remember or attempt to celebrate his birthday)
🏐🏐🏐
(i did make up the high school for personal ease fitting an original character into the haikyuu universe! hopefully all the information below is okay).
high school; shinrinyoku sports academy
high school skill level; powerhouse
high school academics level: relatively lax for those in lower classes, but in higher classes, one may be prepared for college. you can still spot makoto squinting at his homework in the club room at times.
Second year, libero: Higa "Toshi" Toshiaki 5'10"
First year, benched setter: Niigaki Ayumu 6'1"
Third year, wing spiker: Oshiro "Shiro" Hayate 6'4"
Third year, middle blocker: Miura Yuto 6'0"
First year, benched spiker: Shimabukuro Ken 5'11"
Third year, setter, Captain: Chiba Shōta 6'2"
Second year, ace: Jinja Makoto 6'0"
Second year, pinch server: Makino Kohaku 5'11"
Third year, middle blocker: Kamada Kaoru 6'3"
First year, wing spiker: Arisawa Mikiya 5'11.5"
high school mascot: the pirahnas
number of teammates: ten
coach: tsukumo hayate, 39– extremely strict, short temper, sharp tongue. looks out for the boys though. they know that his heart is always in the right place and that he is never trying to hurt them on purpose. still, at times his angry comments make them wince on the court. he brings them out for food after victories. at times, he can accidentally bring their mood down.
manager: kurosawa megumi, 16.
year: second
team number: eleven
position: ace / wing striker
experience: he has been playing since the first grade.
( 100 indicates an extremely prolific high school level, not a professional level )
Jumping (91/100) he has an eleven foot jump, due to his tall height, long limbs, and frequent practice at jumping. their coach requires all of the members to practice jumping in sand so that jumping on the court will be easier, leading him to have developed very good jumping skills.
Power (95/100) i'm not sure how to elaborate much further, other than to state that any player tasked with defending against his strikes ought to ensure that they are very far from catching the ball in the face. he can strike the ball past most blockers, which also makes him a talented and good server.
Stamina (89/100) his stamina is approximately average for someone on his team, he does not fall on the incredibly high or the incredibly low side. he can play for as long as a normal game lasts, but in the event of a deuce with long rallies, he can get tired.
Game Sense (80/100) he's quite good. not as good as a setter should be, especially since he doesn't do much of any defense unless it is extremely needed, and even then, he is quite bad at that aspect of the game. he has a good visual of the proper places and openings to strike, but he has a lot of self-confidence and tends to be biased towards himself in terms of who should get the ball.
Speed (66/100) this piece is complicated. while i can objectively say that he is slow, he is only slow due to his body mass being a bit larger than some of the average high school players, from his muscular build. he doesn't weave through the other players and the court as easily-- he can move quickly to the ball to strike, especially with good communication and notice, but if he has to move or dive for the ball, there is barely a chance that he can get to it in time, around the other large players.
Technique (90/100) his technique is good, yet needs sharpening, as he is still reliant on his power and jump to make his shots, instead of having perfect technique with his strikes. if he had better technique, he would be able to aim much better, instead of relying on blockers and defensive teams not being able to defend the ball at those speeds.
Cooperation (50/100) i'm sorry. he's a little selfish and really wants to control the ball at all times. he gets extremely frustrated if his teammates miss a ball he feels like he could have scored a point with, which leads him to ask to hog the ball quite frequently. they are trying to get him to stop this, and he's working on increasing his awareness, but he is not particularly cooperative at this moment.
Attractiveness (81/100) i give him points for his ability to model clothing well, pose in a flattering manner for photos, and for his unblemished skin. he has good facial structure too.
likes
volleyball. the ocean. swimming. winning. being better than those on his own team. new tennis shoes. making friends. practicing at night. warm weather. his cat. his family. karasano players. helping others with english. the number eleven (it's his lucky number). daichi. the view of the beach. hot tea. his uniform jacket. american television shows.
dislikes
practicing outside. too many spectators. cold weather. snow. disappointing his teammates. school subjects. final exams. very sunny days. big books. difficult school questions. math class. big dogs. running in the rain. his job. wearing glasses. being chased. being scolded. nosebleeds. being caught crying. running uphill. people gossiping about him.
hobbies
— running and working out for volleyball
-- beach volleyball, merely as a fun activity, not seriously
— his job at the tea shop
phobias
— frogs. when he was a child, he was read a story about frogs giving people warts. he was effectively traumatized and runs from frogs when he sees them now.
— ducks. once, a duck chased him, and it terrifies him now.
— a serious phobia of heights. their team went on an airplane once for a practice game in the mainland, and makoto ended up throwing up multiple times during the flight and almost fainting as the plane rocked. he hadn't known how terrified he was— but now that he knows, he's even more afraid.
personality
makoto is not cold, but rather, cool. he has a calm personality even when facing difficult or surprising situations. it is rare for him to be alone, as he puts in effort to maintain his friendships and enjoys following his friends around, and thus does, quite frequently. his voice is rather quiet and specifically used for gossiping usually, especially at competitions and practice camps. he's an observant person. while he does not get intimidated easily due to his high self-confidence, he is curious about the abilities of other people. he is also difficult to impress, but when he is impressed, he has a much higher respect for the other person. while he doesn't have an icy exterior, it is certainly at least a little chilly. he is very polite and formal at times, by cultural standards, since he would hate to appear disrespectful. the common interpretation of makoto tends to be impressed, due to his reputation for being a future professional player, and an extremely talented volleyball player at this moment in time. he does have a few girls at his school who some jokingly call his fan-club (a few other members do too, and theirs are typically larger than his), due to his appearance and his talent at the game. while he is talented, he is a perfctionist to a fault to where it might actually harm his game. he is a busy person, having a job, schoolwork, and volleyball to juggle. he doesn't balance this stress or schedule as well as he possibly could, and fears failing at one of those aspects. makoto warms up when he knows someone to a degree, but he will never become particularly talkative or casual. he laughs easily when he likes someone, and he also is an oddly outwardly affectionate person. he loves to hold hands or hug someone when he's talking to them or encouraging them. however, makoto can be difficult to impress. his own self-confidence builds during the match. however, his confidence in his team is high, which can also render his frustration high. he has a bit of a conceited attitude he is working on, where he can feel as though his team holds him back-- although that is not true and he intellectually knows that. he doesn't get impressed unless someone does something very good— but he could be surprised, sad, angry, or happy otherwise. it takes a lot to convince him certain actions aren't flukes. makoto is a very polite, friendly person who appears quite cool-- not icy, but approaching that direction. when he knows someone well, conversations are never hard to keep up. he can talk about the most random of topics and make them seem exciting. he laughs at everything, since he has a low threshold for humor. makoto is a very independent person. he is not reliant on anyone else, as he even lives alone. he is responsible and takes care of himself in every way at the moment. without his team, this would quickly grow lonely-- and so they've changed his life in that sense.
backstory
jinja makoto was born in okinawa to two parents who were still newlyweds. they were both salary workers who had gone to college, however, they were not high-earners and did not make very much money, keeping their family in the lower middle class. makoto went to elementary school when he was younger, and there he started to struggle in school in every class but gym-- his teacher recommended that he try to play volleyball, which was a popular school sport. he tried out for the team in the first grade, and made it. that was a casual experience, but it became his first love of volleyball, since he had been looking for a talent like everyone else in school had. the kid who sat next to him in english class was fluent. the boy at his table in math would grow up to be a prodigy. makoto felt like he was nothing until he did his first vertical jump to score-- and then he finally felt like he was someone. when he went to middle school, he was a starter on the team there. he was also being tutored in elementary school, specifically for math and for english. he kept in touch with his friends from elementary school, one of whom was very wealthy (and who he still talks with to this day) and took his friends on a trip to tokyo disney for fun. makoto loved it and wished his parents could do the same. he was a star in middle school, especially as he started working harder, but he was never much noticed beyond his middle school. that was, until he started high school. however, one unfortunate part of high school was that makoto's parents had to move to tokyo in the summer before first year. he was independent, and as this was not too much out of the ordinary for their family dynamic and boundaries, as well as culture, he had an apartment on his own going into first year. he got a job in the second semester at a local tea shop. makoto had decided to apply to shinrinyoku after he noticed that the high schools that were closer were not powerhouse schools and in fact, didn't even have a particularly strong team. he applied and was accepted, and from that point on, he really motivated himself to improve his volleyball and to become a better player so that he could go to that school. while makoto struggles with his schoolwork and is tutored at school, he has stayed on the team all these years. he was a starter his first year, but was still learning the advanced high school techniques and adapting to a new, difficult team. however, despite having to grow and learn how to be on a more cohesive team where everyone was talented, makoto still scored many points his first year (and completely failed at serving, but that's beyond the point). that summer, he improved his serving greatly through controlling his power, and he became the ace when he returned for his second year. ever since then, there has been whispering about his ranking among aces in volleyball, as he is quite talented and a very noticed player overall who has attended several practice camps and such, as well as having performed well in tournaments. he does not talk about this a lot, even with his teammates although they do know, but his parents are currently in the process of a messy divorce.
family
— mother, alive
— father, alive
friends
— oikawa, hinata, kenma.
best friend: hinata. he fancies himself an older brother of sorts and spends his time fretting over him and ensuring that he's okay. he tries to teach him some of the tricks he knows in volleyball too, since makoto is an ace and that is what hinata desires to be. he sees hinata like a little brother of sorts.
AND
yui michimiya. he has also helped their team with their volleyball pursuits once in a while when he visits, and he continuously contacts her through email. he gives her good advice and likes to listen to their team and sit in on practice when he has the time.
pets
a stray tabby cat he rescued named chibi who is a significantly large cat.
medical
— he has a severe allergy to soy and has an epi-pen for this reason.
-- for an unknown reason, he suffers from nosebleeds frequently. when he is surprised, his nose bleeds. when he is upset, his nose bleeds. when he is doing nothing whatsoever, his nose bleeds. thankfully the bleeding ceases quickly.
— he has an older back injury that sometimes causes pain or soreness, and can also cause limited range of motion if he doesn't stretch well. he likes heating pads a lot for this reason.
trivia
—his high school is quite far from his home, so he wakes up extremely early to be at practice each morning.
— he struggles with most of his schoolwork and is tutored at school.
— makoto often falls asleep in odd places, at random times of the day. he likes to fall asleep in the club room, but sometimes on top of storage containers or somewhere unusual like that. he says it helps him sleep better.
— his build has visible muscle mass, which makes it unsurprising he can hit the ball with so much power.
-- his special talent is catching fish from the water with his bare hands. he puts them back, but it is oddly impressive anyways. fish find his hands alluring.
— he tends to eat the same thing every day.
— current concern: he was told that they're going to have to fly to a practice tournament. can't they use a boat? or learn to swim long distances? or practically anything else? coach says no.
-- other current concern: someone called him tall, but did they mean disproportionate? or ugly?
-- other other current concern: at his work, a tourist complained about the price of tea, and he didn't know how to respond, since he doesn't set the prices or particularly care what they are. also, a girl who likes him at his school visits him at work frequently and it irritates him a lot.
-- other other other current concern-- why is his apartment so small?