My Eyes Twinkle with You

Chapter 2: The First Practice

As the boys ran to the gym, their hearts were racing. All they could think about was how Karasuno would be a new adventure for them. Middle school volleyball was fun and all, but high school is a completely different experience entirely.

Karasuno had been struggling for the past couple years, garnering the name "the clipped crows." Tanaka and Noya were here to change that, though, and help Karasuno return to the top. Both were determined to make a name for Karasuno once again.

Tanaka and Noya were so excited that they were not being wary of corners in the hallway and ran into each other.

*THWACK*

"Shit!" Tanaka yelled. "My bad! Wait... Nishinoya?"

"That's ME! And you're Tanaka!" exclaimed Noya. "I'm really excited to play with you!"

Both the boys' eyes twinkled as they imagined what their team could be like with combined skill on the same team. They had played each other multiple times at the middle school level and were very familiar of each other's play styles and capabilities.

They finished the short remainder of the walk to the gym together, while their excitement was at an all-time high.

"So, are you still going to be a libero?" Tanaka implored.

Nishinoya laughed and said, "What do you think?"

"I guess that's true. You're pretty amazing at it," Tanaka replied. "I really hope I can still be an Outside Hitter and play all the way around!"

"I'm sure you will," Noya said assuredly.

Growing up, Karasuno was one of the powerhouse schools. Anyone going to Karasuno dreamed of getting them back to the old Karasuno. Tanaka and Noya were no different in wanting this, but they were determined to making Karasuno a powerhouse again. 

Once practice started, Tanaka and Noya were shining stars with the rest of the team. They blended into the team dynamic perfectly, and all the older players were pleasantly surprised with their talent and cohesion.

Not only were they talented, but Tanaka and Noya immediately blended their playstyles together. They were both used to being the stars of their teams, but they shared the spotlight effortlessly and enjoyed it together.

At first, everybody thought that Tanaka and Noya had been childhood friends with the way that their energetic personalities reverberated and echoed throughout the gym. Each player was quite shocked to find out that they'd never had a conversation before this first practice.

Noya was not missing any digs, and he was getting every single spike up and playable, too. Every pass was perfect -- straight to Sugawara. Sugawara's job was made easier because of this, and he was getting beautiful sets to Tanaka. Tanaka was also in his element, and he got a kill on almost every ball he touched.

The Karasuno team was looking rather astonishing; all because of the two puzzle pieces that nobody knew would click together so easily. 

Tanaka looked over at Nishinoya, and after Noya got a dig, Tanaka swore that Noya winked at him. On second though, though, Tanaka believed there may have just been sweat in his eye that Noya was trying to blink out.

The rest of practice continued as normal, and everyone got along perfectly fine. Any fears that the boys had before practice had now subsided, and they were thoroughly surprised with how easy the transition to their high school club was. 

At the end of practice, Tanaka felt that he had a special connection with Noya. He had never really gotten along with someone so well in such a short amount of time.

Naturally, he is an extroverted, outgoing personality that has no problem making friends, or garnering attention, wherever he goes. For some reason, though, this connection with Noya just felt... different. 

After practice, when all of the boys were getting their stuff together, Noya went up to Tanaka, intrigued to say the least.

"Guess we play together pretty well!" Noya said with excitement.

Tanaka grinned, "Yeah, I guess so, haha!"

"Definitely," Noya said, looking at Tanaka. "Want to come over and hang out?"