Damn it! We're gonna lose at this rate! It was the Inter High preliminaries for middle school. At that time, I was Kitagawa Daiichi's setter.
"Woaa--Hey! Kageyama, your tosses are too reckless!" My teammate, Kindaichi scolded.
"Move faster and match your toss with me!!! That's the only way we're gonna win!" I retorted, scowling fiercely at him.
At that time, I could see hatred present on their faces. But I didn't mind it.
However, when I tossed, no one was there to spike it. It wasn't an accident. My teammates built a wall between me and them.
"We're tired of following your orders!" Kindaichi shouted angrily,then spoke to our coach. "Coach, our team is better off without Kageyama! Can you please do something about it?"
"Kageyama," the coach called. "go and sit at the bench."
Those words struck me hard. I sat at the bench, pushing down my anger. I want to play longer, I want to stay in this court longer.
***
RING!! RINGG!! The alarm clock woke me up. It's 6 a.m. in the morning. It's been a while since I last dreamt about that match back in middle school .
"Damn it!!!" I shouted. "If it's not one, it's the other!! What the hell!"
I calmed myself down, then prepared to go to school. I walked to the bus station and saw Sakurai-san sitting on a chair. She was busy looking at some papers to the point that she didn't notice me sitting beside her.
"Mornin', Sakurai-san." I greeted her.
She turned her face and stared at me for a while, before a smile formed itself on her lips.
"Good morning, Kageyama-kun." she greeted back.
"What are those papers for?" I asked.
"These papers?" she replied. "They are suggestions on the places we're visiting for our school trip. Oh, the bus is coming, let's get on."
We got on the bus and sat next to each other, but we didn't speak a single word. Sakurai-san is too busy with her papers and I don't want to interrupt her. Come to think of it, it's the first time she went to school this late, I thought. I stared at her for a while but she scanned the papers without even noticing me. I'll just ask her next time.
We arrived at school, said our goodbyes, and I headed straight to the gymnasium. Hinata and Tanaka-san was waiting inside. We warmed up while waiting for the other team to arrive.
When Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and the other senpais arrived, Daichi-san joined the other team. Then, the game starts.
***
"Come on, Your Majesty. Isn't it time for you to get serious?" Tsukishima provoked me. The game had already reached halfway of the first set, and Tsukishima's team is on the lead.
"Hey! Stop messing with him!!" Hinata shouted. "And what's with this royal set or whatsoever, why does it even matter?"
"Hey, do you even know why he's called a King?" Tsukishima asked Hinata.
"Well, because he's a super-amazing elite player." Hinata answered. "People at other schools start calling him that because he intimidates them right?"
"Well, there are also people who thinks like that." Tsukishima said.
"However..." Tsukishima began as he sneered, facing me. "the people who started calling him 'King', is his teammates from Kitagawa Daiichi itself. They call him... the self-centered King. A tyranical dictator who always had to have his way."
Tch. I frowned, looking down. I subconciously recalled my experience in middle school. The worst experience I ever had. Damn it!
"And thanks to that game, you're terrified to even attempt a quick set." Tsukishima continued.
"You know, I'm getting reaaall tired of hearin' you talk." Tanaka-san said, annoyed.
"Yeah, I am." I began. "The idea of no one who'll be there when I toss the ball up... scares me down to the bottom of my soul."
Everyone got silent. But then...
"But that was all back in middle school right?" Hinata broke the awkward silence. "If there's someone who'll set the ball for me, I'll go after it everytime--so that doesn't matter anymore."
Hinata's words filled me with hope. For the first time since the match in middle school, I felt a glimmer of light in my pitch-black heart. Words that can fill my heart with hope, is coming out of Hinata's mouth.
"Right now, the bigger problem is how to get pass you!" Hinata continued, pointing at Tsukishima. "We're gonna beat Tsukishima and join the team for real!!!"
I couldn't say anything. I just kept quiet.
"You know," Tsukishima started, looking at Hinata. "Your pure, earnest, and straightforward attitude makes me sick."
We resumed the game. Tanaka-san received a free ball, and the ball goes towards me. Who should I give it to? Hinata still can't face Tsukishima one-on-one. Tanaka-san is a better bet.
"Tanaka-sa--" I called out to Tanaka-san, but got cut off by Hinata.
"KAGEYAMA!!" Hinata called me out, as he jumped in a spiking position. He was in the position where no one was there to spike the ball I set up in middle school. "I'm hereeee!!!"
I twisted my legs, and tossed the ball to him. Hinata almost failed to spike it, bu the ball fell down in the other side of the court.
"What the heck was that, all of a sudden?!" I scolded him.
"The ball came, Kageyama! It was there!" Hinata shouted, facing me. "I don't know what it was like in middle school for you okay?! All I know is that I'm super grateful for any ball that you'll toss to me! I'll jump to wherever it is! And I'll hit it no matter what kind of set it is!"
Everyone put their attention at him, including me.
"That's why... " he continued. "Whenever you get the ball... toss it to me!!! "
Light enters Kageyama's dark life. A new hope.
"You don't win alone, that's just how it is." - Kageyama Tobio.
YOU ARE READING
I Love You, Kageyama-kun!!
Fanfiction[KAGEYAMA X OC] Kageyama Tobio, known as the "King of the Upper Court", is a high schooler in Karasuno High School, Miyagi Prefecture. Kageyama particularly exceeds in volleyball. However, he was hated by his previous middle school teammates due to...
