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Chapter 1

It had all started as a joke.

Near the end of their first volleyball season together, the Karasuno first years had gotten together at the Hinata household (some more willingly than others). They had played volleyball, played video games, and eaten an unhealthy amount of junk food.

The night grew later and soon it was time to go to bed, so Shouyou had led the way to his bedroom. As the other boys laid down their temporary mats, Shouyou noticed Kageyama eyeing his walls. Hinata followed his teammate's gaze, looking at the many volleyball posters taped to the wall.

"These are some of my favorite players and games." Shouyou explained to Kageyama, causing Tsukishima and Yamaguchi to turn and look at the wall as well.

"Nice choices." Came Kageyama's response.

"It suits you, Hinata!" Yamaguchi chimed in. Tsukishima however kept staring at the wall, contemplating something. Shouyou wanted to ask the tall boy what was up, but was called away by his mother first. When he entered his bedroom again, the other boys were suspiciously quiet. They kept glancing at each other and then the floor, as if trying to not look at something. It was weird, but Shouyou didn't think too much about it. He got ready for bed and climbed under his covers. The boys all talked for a while, about school and volleyball mostly. It was a satisfying night, and his friends stopped acting so weird so Shouyou fell asleep peacefully, forgetting about his confusion.

The next morning Shouyou woke up earlier than all the other boys. He didn't want to trip over them and wake them up, so Shouyou decided to stay in bed. Stretching his arms, Shouyou's eyes fell onto the posters on his wall. A smile formed on his face as he looked at all those talented players, frozen in amazing plays. He hoped to be like them someday. There was the Brazilian team, who was all around amazing. Russia's impressive blockers, the United States' setter, and below that poster was...Nishinoya?! Shouyou blinked, but the image was still there.

On his wall was an image of Nishinoya diving for a ball. He appeared to be a little younger, which meant that it had probably been cut out of an old edition of Monthly Volleyball. But how had it gotten there?!

"So you finally noticed." came the smug voice of Tsukishima. Shouyou whirled around to face the other boy, who was now awake.

"Did you put that there?!" he demanded. Tsukishima nodded proudly.

"Had a couple editions of Monthly Volleyball buried in the bottom of my bag, and Nishinoya was featured in one." He explained.

"You said it was your "Favorites of Volleyball" wall, and figured Noya-san deserved a spot on there with how much you praise him." Yamaguchi chimed in with a teasing tone. Shouyou turned red and glared at his teammates.

"You-!" he spluttered, and moved to take the picture down. However, before his fingers could reach it, Kageyama's annoying voice interrupted.

"Oooh! What will Nishinoya-san think when he finds out Hinata doesn't like his playing style?" the boy said dramatically. Shouyou stopped and turned to hit Kageyama, glaring at the other boy.

"Shut up, Bakayama!!" he exclaimed. He huffed and stormed out of the room in embarrassment, followed by his laughing teammates.

When the first year showed up to practice the next Monday things were happening as normal. He practiced the freaky quick spike with Kageyama, and tried to block or deflect Asahi's spikes. Nishinoya even showed him how to improve his receiving form. Shouyou was feeling great, and even earned a proud high five from Nishinoya. This was when he looked over to see Tsukishima watching them, a smirk on his face. Shouyou then remembered that he had his upperclassman plastered to his bedroom wall. Not weird at all. The first year felt himself turn red, and glared at Tsukishima, who simply laughed. He would take that stupid picture down as soon as he got home from practice!