It was the weekend, and Karasuno's gym rang with the sound of balls hitting the floor.
During the practice match with Aoba Jōsai, Kageyama had witnessed with his own eyes how Shirogane Jin's powerful jump serves completely controlled the tempo of the game. Compared to Jin's serve, his own jump serve still felt weak.
'If setting is about controlling the attack,' he thought, 'then serving is where everything begins.'
"Damn it, my ball control still sucks."
Grinding his teeth, Kageyama steadied himself, tossed the ball high, and jumped again. The sharp smack against his palm felt good, almost perfect.
"This time it's going in!" he muttered, eyes locked on the ball's flight.
But before it touched the ground, a short figure darted across the court. Hinata lunged in recklessly, arms flailing. He didn't receive cleanly, in fact, he lost his balance and landed on his butt.
"How was that? Did I get it?" Hinata asked, looking up hopefully.
Kageyama's face twitched. He pointed a finger toward where the ball had actually landed, way outside. "You call that a receive?! That was practically a home run! Don't just pop out of nowhere like that, I was about to finally getting the feel!"
Hinata sulked off to the side, giving Kageyama space to keep practicing. Just then, another boy entered the gym, slim, small-framed, yet moving with confidence.
Kageyama's next serve snapped through the air.
The newcomer tossed aside his jacket and dashed toward the landing spot. His movement was sharp and perfectly timed, almost impossible unless he had an instinct for the ball's trajectory.
Bam, solid touch.
The spin and power of the serve were neutralized, and the ball was cleanly directed right to the setter's position.
"A perfect receive…" Kageyama muttered in disbelief. His eyes widened. Someone had just read his serve like it was nothing.
Hinata stared at the boy, his eyes sparkling. He walked up nervously and blurted out the most important question.
"Uh… how tall are you?"
The boy puffed his chest with pride and gave a thumbs-up. "One-fifty-nine."
Hinata froze. "Ohhh… you're only one-fifty." He looked like he was about to cry.
The newcomer frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Hinata's lips trembled as he broke into tears of joy. "I—I've never once looked down on someone in volleyball before… this is the first time! I'm so happy!"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" the boy roared, tossing his uniform again.
At that moment, the gym doors slid open.
"Yo! Nishinoya!" Tanaka shouted, rushing in with Daichi and Sugawara.
"Yo, Ryuu!" Nishinoya Yū grinned, ignoring Hinata's nonsense entirely.
Daichi smiled with relief. "Finally back. You two should've heard about him already, Hinata, Kageyama, this is Nishinoya, our libero."
Hinata and Kageyama bowed at once. "Nice to meet you!"
"Wow, your serves are strong for a first-year," Nishinoya told Kageyama approvingly. "Seriously impressive."
Sugawara glanced around. "Strange… where's Jin? Doesn't he always show up earlier than everyone else? Skipped training today?"
"Who's Jin? Another first-year?" Nishinoya asked, tilting his head curiously.
Before anyone could answer, the sound of a ball smacking the floor echoed from the other side of the court.
They all turned.
Shirogane Jin, silver hair catching the light, stood at the service line with his bag slung over one shoulder. He watched Nishinoya with a grin.
"The guardian of Karasuno, huh? Finally back. How about testing yourself against my serve?"
Jin dropped his bag and tugged open his jacket, his confident smile daring Nishinoya to step forward.