Yukigaoka Middle. Faculty.
"HUH?!"
Shoyo exclaimed as he repeated what the teacher said.
"We'd be the only member..?"
Sakajima Sensei is our P.E. Teacher. He has short brown hair and a belly that screams 'dad bod'. Shoyo and I are in different classes. We were supposed to join the volleyball club right now, but it turns out that there is no volleyball club in this middle school.
"Yep, that club kept getting smaller by the year y'know. And it's a 'Boy's Volleyball Appreciation Club' not a full team." Sensei Added
"Oh."
"What will you do? Want to apply for a different club?"
For the first time in this convo, I said, "Are there no alternatives?"
After discovering he was the oldest of the two of us, Shoyo insisted that he would handle everything, but. Still, seeing him meekly talking with the teacher stuttering, I decided to take the initiative.
Shoyo made a sound but I ignored him.
"Well, you could join the Girls' Volleyball Club."
Shoyo was about to decline immediately but-
"That's not possible," I said not minding how loud my voice came out to be.
"Instead will it be alright to practice with the girls' volleyball club while being an independent club ourselves?" I asked, looking directly at the Sakajima Sensei's eyes.
"Wha-! What do you mean by that-?!" Shoyo exclaimed, but seeing how serious I was, he decided not to say anything more.
"I'll make sure we can manage the Club ourselves!" I bowed directly.
In all honesty, I was furious. Of all the middle schools I could get into, it had to be one without a volleyball club, he'd already been through this during elementary, he doesn't want a repeat of that. But even so, an opportunity is an opportunity.
It didn't matter how I would get stronger, what mattered was that by the time I was in high school, I would join an actual team, and would crush every other team. I swear on that.
"I like your spirit lad, fine, I'll talk to the Adviser of the Girls' Volleyball Club".
"!"
"Thank you!." I immediately thanked him and left the faculty with Shoyo with a smile.
**
"Hey, Yanyan, are we gonna practice with the Girls...?!" As the two of us walked away from the faculty, Shoyo whisper-shouted.
From the looks of it, he wasn't very pleased with how it turned out.
'Is he embarrassed?'
"Yonyon, this isn't the time to be conscious about such a thing.
We don't have the luxury to complain when we don't even have any members."
I paused in my steps and looked directly at Shoyo who was behind me. Shoyo looked a bit startled and lowered his head. I know he has, by now, understood.
"You have to remember one thing and one thing only,
Volleyball is a team sport. It's a sport in which you can only touch the ball once at a time. The scores depend on each individual's skills. Their serves, receives, defense, and offense system, in other words, no one can do it alone.
well unless people just suddenly have the ability to fly around the court, I wouldn't know about that." I jokingly added.
I continued walking and looked outside, by the window. Shoyo didn't say anything and just followed behind, I don't know what he's thinking right now.
'like a little chick following mama duck' I sometimes wonder how he got pulled into this world first.
"A team is stronger if all six players are strong. But since we lack that very team,
All we can do is improve ourselves further." I said loudly with a large smile. 'Yup, that's a wrap'.
"Yeah!" Shoyo nodded.
"Uwa, How admirable."
"?!?"
"I-Izumin!, Koji!" Shoyo immediately turned around and shouted as if we had not just come out of the faculty.
Izumi and Koji are our childhood friends, we've known each other since fourth grade. Izumi is a pale boy with slightly curly ash-brown hair and freckles from cheek to cheek. Koji on the other hand is tanned and has spiky black hair, I don't know if it's his personality that makes his hair look..normal (?) But anyway, the two of them are pretty lanky and a bit taller than us twins.
They're both cowardly too. I just had to add that, not like I'm upset about the fact that they're taller or anything remotely close to that reason, haha, Pshh.
Izumi is in the Basketball Club while Koji is in the Soccer Club.
"!, Idiot!, not so loud!" Koji shouted, equally as loud. He seems to be nervous about the passerby being one of them to be a teacher.
And as if in a queue, a female teacher with sharp glasses and her hair in a bun on top of her head glared at us. 'Ms. Fowl?' I mean they do have a resemblance.
Koji, Shoyo, and Izumi bowed to the teacher while I quietly sneaked out of this trouble.
***
Yukigaoka, Gym. Afternoon.
thump, thump, thump.
Squeak.
"pass it to me!"
"left!"
bam! thump!
"One touch!"
"mine!"
Right now boys' Basketball and girls' volleyball clubs are having a tryout. Although there are not many players in Yukigaoka Middle, they have enough members to put on the bench.
"Woahh..!!!"
"This is so 凸 cool!"
Shoyo and I enter the gym, to say we are excited is a real understatement. The two of us are out of our minds, this is the first time we have ever been inside a real court!
Although both of us can practice by ourselves on my makeshift court, that does not compare to a real wooden-floored-salonpas-smelling-big-ahh-court. Plus we now have training buddies! Plural!
This feels too real to pass up as a dream. So 凸 amazing.
"Are you the boys Sakajima Sensei talked about?" a voice behind us inquired.
I admit I was a bit startled but not as startled as Shoyo, who jumped like a cat who was presented with a cucumber.
Amari Sensei, the acting coach and adviser of the Girls' Volleyball Club. Amari Sensei observed Shoyo as he jumped half his height like it was no big deal with wide eyes.
Ameri sensei is a middle-aged woman with a rather, let's just say flat build, she has red dyed hair and minimal makeup. One could say she is pretty cute. She's rather short too, and is surprisingly only a few centimeters taller than us, She also has a ring on her left ring finger signifying she's married.
"...huh, well, you sure can jump.." Amari Sensei said, still taken aback.
"Y-Yes!!" Shoyo responded like a lieutenant in front of the major.
"Good afternoon, I'm Hinata Shoya, while this guy beside me is my twin-"
"Older!"
"-Brother, Hinata Shoyo, we'd like to join your practice" I introduced the two of us with Shoyo butting in on the middle with a smug face. I rolled my eyes at him and bowed to Ameri Sensei. It's called manners.
"I figured as much though no one told me you boys are twins," Ameri said as she wrote something on her hands.
"Alright, how about a little test?"
'oh, this is gonna be exciting' I can't wait already.