The Hinata twins sped through their breakfast that morning, getting ready in record time before running out the door with rushed goodbyes. A thirty-minute bike ride awaited them, and the competitive siblings were racing to the school with the promise of the winner getting free ice cream.
However, the race was momentarily forgotten as they paused at the top of the last hill. The view was beautiful, yes, but what truly caught their attention was the cluster of buildings to the right of them.
Karasuno High School.
Shōyō snapped out of it first as he sped down the hill, laughing at his sister that yelled indignantly as she followed him.
"Not my fault you're so slow, Sora!" He teased, but the smile was wiped from his face as his sister cut a corner and took the lead.
In the end it was a tie, but by the time they arrived they were too focused on the amount of students already there to argue about the winner.
"Hey, I see the volleyball club-" Sora started to say, cutting herself off when she noticed her brother already running in the opposite direction of the club fair.
She shook her head with a fond smile before she made her way through the crowd towards the third-year girl holding a sign labeled 'Volleyball'.
"Hi there! My name is Michimiya Yui, Class 3-1. Are looking to join the girl's volleyball club?" Yui asked hopefully, holding out an application.
"Yes, I am! You're the captain, right? I looked up the team and applied directly with the coach before coming. My name is Hinata Sora, Class 1-4." Sora replied, bowing respectfully at her upperclassman.
"Oh, that's great! We don't have practice until next week, but if you have any questions I can help you now." Yui said as her enthusiasm ebbed at the mention of practice.
"There's no practice this whole week? How much practice do you guys do in a week?" Sora asked apprehensively, noticing the shift in energy.
Yui looked dejected then, a sad smile on her face as she leaned back against her chair, "Twice a week, but most members don't show up anymore. We had a good discussion about this team over the break, and they've promised to start coming to more of them. I'm afraid it still won't be enough, we always get eliminated in the first round. I had hopes that some good first years would join us.."
This startled Sora, who looked over at Yui with wide eyes. If she weren't so upset about this, she would laugh. Sora and Hinata came from a school well-known for it's female volleyball team but no boy's team, and they transfer to a school with practically no girl's team but a boy's team that went to nationals.
It was fair, she supposed. She'd been steadily getting more and more fame for being a prodigy while her brother supported her from the sidelines. Now, she would have to do the same for him. She couldn't possibly imagine going to separate schools.
Could she?
"I'm very sorry for the trouble, but I think this was a mistake." Sora said shakily as she took her application from the table, before bowing and practically running away.
The whole summer she and Shōyō trained diligently to earn regular spots on their teams, but she wouldn't even have a team. For a moment she considered joining the girl's team after all, but the thought only brought a bad taste in her mouth. For what? To get eliminated in the first round because she was the only one who practiced everyday? You can't win on your own, volleyball is a team sport, after all.
Sora felt terrible when she saw the disappointment on Yui's face, but she felt as if she deserved a little better than a half-assed team -if she could even call it that- that didn't bother showing up most days.
