"Blue! Hold on!" A desperate cry rang from inside the gymnasium. The volleyball players paused their practice, their attention turning toward the door where they had heard the urgent call. Shortly after, a rapid fire of knocks drew one of the players to walk to the door.
"Who's that?" the boy asked, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his practice jersey, which bore the number 3.
"They're probably the other first years we were supposed to get," another boy replied, wearing a jersey with the number 1 and a horizontal line beneath the number, his hands resting on his wrist. "They seem pretty gutsy," he added with a chuckle.
The door slid open as Blue stood tall on the other side with a boldness that met the boy who had opened the door for them. "Blue Aozora, here for the volleyball club!" Blue ended his declaration with a bow, and Masahijo Hirokai, his best friend, appeared from behind.
"You're late." The cold, deep, authoritative voice caused both Blue and Masahijo to freeze in place. Behind the source of that voice, another person stepped forward. "Welcome, fresh meat!"
The two of them walked into the gymnasium, scanning the space—lifted basketball hoops, high-quality flooring, newly painted lines. The gym seemed very well kept. "Well... let's introduce ourselves! My name is Hiro Hizaki; you can call me Zaki for short!" he said, giving a warm smile in the pause before continuing. "I'm the captain of this team and a 3rd-year." After concluding his introduction he swung his arm toward the person next to him, signaling for them to introduce themselves.
A slight, awkward pause filled the gym before Zaki gave a nudge with his elbow. "I'm Kou Endo." Kou's deep voice caused that familiar fear to trickle down Blue and Masahijo's backs. He received another nudge from Zaki—this one with more force—encouraging Kou to continue his introduction. "I'm a 3rd-year... the team's libero." Kou wouldn't allow any more nudging to extend his introduction.
"And... I am Jin Mashiro! My friends call me Jiniro, though!" The boy's purple eyes gleamed with innocence and excitement as they darted between the two new additions to the team. "I am a first year here! An outside hitter, and I'll give it my all!" He ended his introduction with an exaggerated bow.
Blue gave a shallow bow with his upper body; his eyes darted between the three players in front of him. Masahijo smiled awkwardly at Jin's bowing, but the moment was interrupted by Blue's question, "Where's everyone else?"
This question caused Jin to straighten up and look at Hiro, while Kou put his head down, hiding his expression, though his neutral, serious look did not change. Blue Aozora's blue eyes snapped to Hiro, eagerly waiting for the response to his question—one that alone changed the atmosphere.
"We have two more first years coming in a couple days. As for now, this is it—besides our coach, who's coming back from being sick soon." A slight pause followed, almost to give Blue time to think of his next question while Hiro answered, "All the other players but Kou and I from last year quit." He added a soft smile in response to Blue's question—a response that revealed the reality of the situation the boys' volleyball team was in.
It was barren, seemingly no fruit to reap from due to infertile land. Having a lack of experienced players alone makes building a strong team significantly difficult.
Masahijo stared at Blue, trying to read his expression after Hiro's answer. Masahijo knew why Blue had come to play high school volleyball, but with a team that had only two third-years and the rest first-years, Masahijo figured Blue would just quit as well—since a team like this surely couldn't sustain his goals.
"This school was never a powerhouse school before, right?" Blue asked calmly, almost tossing aside the previous answer.
Hiro kept his soft smile and nodded to signal that Blue was correct.
"Then all this means is that we're in the process of building a new powerhouse team, right?" Everybody looked at Blue, including Kou. Even Masahijo, who knew Blue best, hadn't expected Blue to say such a thing.
"You really are gutsy, huh!" Hiro laughed, placing his hands on his hips. "Well, if that's how you want to see it..." Hiro approached Blue and got face to face with him. "Then, as my junior, I'll whip you into shape." Hiro's hazel eyes stared deeply into Blue's, giving an intense feeling that made Blue uneasy—his words felt almost like a threat. However, noticing Blue's reaction, Hiro backed up and laughed again. "Well, until the rest of our team arrives, let's not waste time here!" He pointed his finger toward Masahijo and Blue. "Go grab them a jersey, Jiniro. Time for practice."