The team from Wakunan was packing up, getting ready to leave soon, when Takeshi Nakajima ran over to find Taichi Kaedehara alone.
"Hey, first-year, are you a fan of the 'Little Giant' too?"
"I'm not a fan — he's my teacher. The 'Little Giant' is my mentor," Taichi Kaedehara said with a modest air. He had, after all, learned from Coach Unai, so it wasn't a lie. "I learned my spiking from him recently."
"Really?!" Nakajima's face was full of disbelief. "No wonder you're so strong! Can I have your teacher's email?"
Takeshi Nakajima was practically a fanatic when it came to the "Little Giant." When he first started becoming self-conscious about his height, he happened to see the Little Giant's performance at Nationals on TV. That match had shown him there was still a path for shorter players in volleyball.
"Probably, but I'll need to ask my teacher's permission first," Kaedehara replied. "For now, how about we exchange emails?"
"Sure!"
It seemed legit — Nakajima was visibly thrilled by this unexpected windfall, his excitement making him tremble slightly.
"Senpai, was that the only reason you came over?" Kaedehara asked curiously. Truth be told, he had something he wanted to tell Nakajima too.
Nakajima suddenly remembered that he had actually come over to say something defiant — something like, "Next time, we'll win for sure!"
But now that he'd just received something good, it felt kind of inappropriate to say that.
"Nah, just wanted to ask about earlier," Nakajima said, trying to brush it off.
"Oh, well I've got something to tell you too, senpai," Kaedehara said. He wasn't really concerned about Nakajima's original purpose. "Karasuno also has a 'Little Giant.' I thought you'd be interested."
"Karasuno's 'Little Giant'?" Nakajima looked surprised. From Karasuno again?
"Yeah. We just played a practice match with them a while back. He's around 160 cm tall, name's Shoyo Hinata. His style is different from yours, but he's really strong."
"160 cm? And a different style?" Nakajima's curiosity was piqued. He wished he could go see this Hinata kid at Karasuno right now.
"Yeah, I'd love to see who the real 'Little Giant' is between you two!" Kaedehara said with excitement.
Shoyo, you better thank me. I just found you a great rival.
"You're not going to compete for the 'Little Giant' title? Wasn't the former Little Giant your teacher?" Nakajima asked, puzzled.
Kaedehara looked at himself, then at Nakajima. "But I'm not exactly little, am I?"
...
Nakajima got the hint the moment Kaedehara motioned to his height and wordlessly turned back to his team.
Oikawa Tooru, who had witnessed the entire conversation from nearby, nodded to himself. Now he was sure — Taichi Kaedehara was full of mischief. He even casually sold out Hinata's intel to the other team.
"Hey, who's this 'Little Giant' you guys were talking about?" Oikawa asked. The nickname sounded familiar.
"Oh, he's a senior who once led Karasuno to Nationals. I met him a while back."
"Oh yeah, rings a bell." Oikawa fixed his eyes on Kaedehara. "So, you meet a strong senior and now you don't respect the senpais on your own team anymore?"
"That's not true. I do respect you," Kaedehara said, glancing sideways at Oikawa.
"There! You just gave me the side-eye again!"
"No I didn't."
"Yes you did!"
And so Aoba Johsai's training ended with their usual bickering.
That Night
After dinner, Taichi Kaedehara sent a message to Tenma Unai.
"Unai-senpai, we had a practice match today and met one of your admirers. He wants your email. Would that be okay?"
Before he even put his phone down, Unai's reply came in.
"I was just about to message you! Our manga Zombie Swordsman Zobishuu just started serialization in Weekly Shonen BYE! Also, what admirer are you talking about?"
"He's a third-year from Wakunan, named Takeshi Nakajima. He saw you at Nationals back in the day and was really inspired."
Unai-senpai sure leaves a trail of consequences, Kaedehara thought to himself with a wry smile.
"Sure, give him my email. Also — did you miss what I said? OUR MANGA ZOMBIE SWORDSMAN ZOBISHUU IS NOW IN WEEKLY SHONEN BYE!!"
He even repeated it. Kaedehara couldn't help but chuckle. Alright, alright. Cancel it now and I'll write you a copy of Demon Slayer instead.
"Got it, Unai-senpai. Let's talk more about the manga when I visit Tokyo next."
"(≧∇≦) OK!"
Kaedehara hadn't expected a manga artist to reply with an emoji. So that's what a real mangaka is like...
He didn't reply any further. Instead, he sent Unai's email to Nakajima. Then, after a moment of thought, he messaged Shoyo Hinata.
"Today, I played a match against the player in the prefecture who's most like the 'Little Giant!'"
A while later, his phone lit up with two messages.
"THANK YOU!!!!!!" — from Takeshi Nakajima. Kaedehara silently wished him luck in chasing his idol.
"Was it Takeshi Nakajima-senpai from Wakunan? Coach just talked about him today!" — from Shoyo Hinata.
"Didn't expect you to know already."
"How was he? How'd the match go?" Hinata's reply came fast.
"Nakajima-senpai is really strong — way stronger than any of us. But Aoba Johsai still won."
Lying at home, Shoyo Hinata jolted up as if struck by lightning when he saw that message.
He typed, "Our team has a really strong ace and libero now, next time we won't lose!" But before he hit send, he paused. Then deleted the whole thing — that was team intel. If Kageyama found out, he'd call him an idiot again.
"I told Nakajima-senpai that Karasuno also has a really strong 'Little Giant.' He's looking forward to meeting you."
"I wonder how strong you are now. I'm looking forward to it too."
Those two messages made Shoyo Hinata light up with excitement. He clenched his fists without realizing, his knuckles turning slightly white. Someone thinks I'm strong. Someone is expecting great things from me!
Hinata couldn't sit still anymore. Even though he'd just taken a shower, he changed into a fresh outfit and ran outside into the yard to practice receiving.
"Shoyo! What are you doing out there?" his mom called from inside.
"I'm just practicing volleyball for a bit!" Even late at night, Hinata was full of energy.
"You just had a bath! Stop messing around! You've got school tomorrow!"
"Just a little while! I can't sleep yet!"
Hinata truly couldn't sleep. That loss against Aoba Johsai still haunted him. While the return of Asahi-senpai and Nishinoya-senpai had strengthened the team, he himself didn't feel like he'd improved much.
He had wanted to practice new moves with Kageyama, but was rejected. They hadn't spoken in nearly a week because of it.
"Bro, if you don't go to bed, mom's gonna come out and whack you," his little sister Natsu called from the hallway.
"Okay, okay."
Reluctantly, and under his mother's pressure, Hinata went back to his room holding the volleyball.
Tomorrow, I have to start doing something. I can't just wait around anymore.
With that resolution in mind, Shoyo Hinata finally drifted off to sleep.