Losing is Winning

Chapter 3

Hinata had said they would meet at ten on the hill which meant Tobio should have left the house at least ten minutes ago. However, he was still sitting on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

He was fully dressed for practice, his fingers fiddling with the volleyball on his lap. He wanted to go, every fiber in his body wanted to go. But he hesitated. He told himself it was because of his mother's footsteps he had heard outside his room just when he had wanted to leave. But the corridor had been silent for a long time now, and Tobio was still sitting there.

It was like playing a match against himself. He needed to get up and out. Hinata would be waiting for him. But should he really go? He wanted to go, and he needed to go if he really planned to become a professional player. Ditching Hinata now, right after they started to grow a partnership, might be the one factor that would decide Tobio's future. But what was the point in practicing with Hinata, if he would ruin it anyway in a few months? Wouldn't that just make everything harder? Wasn't it smarter to try and finally memorize the stupid English grammar rules inside his head? At least that would make one person happy in the end—if she even cared, once he would get the grades his mother wished him to have.

Sighing heavily, he turned his head to look at the old picture of him and his grandfather above his bed. Miwa had taken it right in the middle of them playing volleyball. It was skewed and the ball was a blurred something right above Tobio's hands. He still remembered clearly how his grandfather had explained the importance of the setter's position that day. This moment had been the starting point of his love for the position. Ever since, he had cherished this photograph, even going as far as to steal it from the box of old things Miwa had wanted to throw away once she moved out.

From that day on, it had been a constant reminder of his goal, what he worked for and what he wanted to achieve. His grandfather had said that a setter, more than any other player, would be faced with greater challenges each game. "But I am convinced that you will overcome them all, Tobio-chan." He remembered those words so clearly, as if he was watching an old recording instead of just a photograph. The dark but warm voice, slightly husky from all the shouting of instructions for the teams he had been coaching.

You will overcome them all. Tobio knew he had been talking about another kind of challenge, but his grandfather had believed Tobio would reach his goal one day, hadn't he?

Making a decision, Tobio pushed himself off the bed. I'm gonna push through. So please don't be wrong and let me regret this, he prayed in hopes his grandfather was listening.

Tobio was late. Of course he was, after all the time he had spent sitting on his bed. But Hinata seemed to be convinced that Tobio didn't already know that.

"What has taken you so long?" Hinata jumped off the swing, catching the ball he had just tossed into the air. "I said ten, since when are you late for practices?" he inquired, flailing his free arm through the air. "I've been waiting for forever, Lazyyama!"

"I got caught up."

"You got caught up? What's more important than volleyball?"

Tobio turned his gaze away. "Don't know," he mumbled. "Just let me get warmed up, then we can start."

Hinata hummed, visibly unhappy with Tobio's response, but he let it go. Without taking another glance at him, Tobio walked past him and towards the climbing scaffold where he placed his bag down.

Despite being a nice day, with only a few clouds sprinkled through the sky, the spring wind was still chilly, and Tobio rubbed his fingers in an attempt to get rid of the stiffness.