Haikyuu! Reaching New heights

The air still buzzed with energy from our first victory.

Izumi and Kōji wouldn't stop grinning. Kenji pretended to be unimpressed, but I caught him smirking. Even Matsuda-sensei had a rare look of approval on his face.

And me?

I was ready for more.

Winning that match proved we had potential. But potential meant nothing if we didn't push ourselves harder.

Because this?

This was only the beginning.

..

The next day, I gathered my team in the dusty old gym Matsuda-sensei had finally let us use.

We stood in a circle, a single volleyball resting in my hands.

I took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's be real. We won that match… but we barely scraped by."

Kenji scoffed. "Tch. We still won."

I nodded. "Yeah, but if we played them again, we might lose. Why?"

Kōji scratched his head. "Uh… because they were better than us?"

Izumi groaned. "Dude. Have some confidence."

I sighed. "No, Kōji's right. They were better. We just outplayed them in the moment. But what if we face a team that adapts faster? What if we go against a real volleyball club?"

Silence.

Kenji muttered, "We'd get wrecked."

I nodded. "Exactly. That's why we're gonna train our asses off."

I clapped my hands together. "Alright! Here's the plan."

Phase 1 – Foundation Training

✔ Jump Training – If we can't spike over blockers, we're useless.

✔ Stamina & Speed – Volleyball is non-stop movement.

✔ Ball Control & Passing – If we can't receive properly, we can't play.

✔ Team Coordination – No more random, sloppy plays.

Kenji groaned. "Let me guess. This means hellish workouts, right?"

I smirked. "Absolutely."

Izumi looked skeptical. "Are we really gonna do all this?"

I bounced the ball lightly and grinned. "If we don't, we might as well quit now."

Silence.

Then—one by one, they nodded.

We were all in.

..

Day 1 of training.

"Alright! First up—jump training!"

Izumi groaned. "Why do we have to jump so much?"

Kenji shot him a look. "Because volleyball, genius."

I grinned. "The more we jump, the better our stamina and leg strength get."

Kōji frowned. "Wait, stamina? I thought jumping was just for, you know, jumping higher?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Volleyball is about repetition. We don't just jump once. We jump hundreds of times per game. If we run out of energy, we lose."

They all looked… horrified.

And when I made them do 100 jump squats?

Izumi collapsed. "Hinata, you're a monster."

Kenji panted. "I… hate… volleyball…"

I laughed. "You'll love it soon."

..

After two hours of conditioning, we started practicing ball control.

Kenji set. Izumi and Kōji received. I spiked.

At first? It was a disaster.

Kōji flinched every time the ball came near him.

Izumi's receives were still shaky.

Kenji kept over-setting or under-setting.

Frustration started creeping in.

Kōji muttered, "Maybe I'm just not cut out for this…"

I slammed the ball against the ground. "Wrong. You just haven't trained enough. We keep going."

Kenji scoffed. "Tch. You're way too intense."

I looked him dead in the eyes. "And that's exactly why we'll get stronger."

Kenji stared for a moment… then smirked.

"Fine. Let's go again."

..

By the end of practice, we were exhausted.

But something had changed.

Izumi's receives? A little more controlled.

Kōji's tips? More confident.

Kenji's sets? Cleaner.

We weren't good yet.

But we were getting better.

I looked around at my team—tired, sweaty, but determined.

And I smiled.

'Yeah. This is what a real team looks like.'

....

The gym was buzzing with energy. My team stood on one side of the net, nervous but ready.

Our first real match was finally happening.

But the opponents standing across from us weren't a boys' team from another school.

No.

We were playing against the Yukigaoka Girls' Volleyball Team.

Kenji frowned. "Wait. We have a girls' volleyball team?"

Izumi scratched his head. "I thought they only played for fun."

Kōji muttered, "We're seriously playing against them?"

Before I could answer, a sharp voice cut through the gym.

"You got a problem with that?"

We all turned.

Standing at the front of the opposing team was Shimizu Mayu, the girls' team captain.

She was slightly shorter than me, with short black hair tied back in a ponytail, sharp brown eyes, and an intimidating aura despite her size.

I gulped.

'Crap. She looks serious.'

She crossed her arms. "You guys just started playing volleyball. We've been practicing for years. Don't expect an easy match."

I grinned. "Good. We wouldn't want it to be easy."

She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Then let's see what you've got."

The ref blew the whistle.

Game on.

We served first.

Kenji tossed the ball up and launched a powerful serve.

It sped toward the backcourt, aimed at one of the shorter players.

Kenji smirked. "This should be easy—"

BAM.

The ball was received perfectly and sent straight to the setter.

Kenji's smirk vanished. "Wait, what?"

I watched as their setter, a short girl with light brown hair and quick hands, flicked the ball up.

And then—

BOOM.

Mayu spiked the ball down so hard it smacked into the floor before anyone could react.

Point: Them.

Our entire team froze.

Kōji whispered, "What the hell just happened?"

Izumi paled. "They're… good."

Kenji blinked. "Did she just spike like a dude?"

Mayu dusted off her hands and smirked. "Told you. We're not here to play around."

I clenched my fists.

'Okay. This is gonna be a real challenge.'

The next serve came fast and controlled.

Izumi managed to receive it—barely.

Kenji rushed forward and set the ball up. It was a little low, but I could work with it.

I sprinted, jumped high, and swung hard.

'This'll get through!'

BAM!

My spike flew toward the back corner—but one of their defenders slid into position and dug it up like it was nothing.

Kenji's jaw dropped. "They saved that?!"

Their setter flicked the ball up again.

Mayu jumped—but this time, she tipped it lightly over the block.

Our team scrambled to react—too slow.

Point: Them.

Score: 0-2.

Kōji groaned. "We can't keep up."

Izumi sighed. "They're too coordinated."

Kenji muttered, "This is what an actual volleyball team looks like…"

I took a deep breath.

'Alright. Think. How do we fight back?'

The girls' team had one clear advantage:

They knew how to play as a unit.

Their defense was solid. Their attacks were fast but controlled. They had way better fundamentals than us.

But… no team was perfect.

I watched their movement carefully.

Then I saw it.

They were predictable.

They played textbook volleyball.

And that meant… we could disrupt their rhythm.

I turned to Kenji. "Start setting to Kōji more."

Kōji turned pale. "Wait, what?! Why me?!"

Kenji smirked. "Yeah, I like this plan."

Kenji received the next serve, popping the ball into the air.

I pretended to rush in for a spike.

Immediately, Mayu and two blockers jumped up.

But at the last second—Kenji set the ball to Kōji instead.

Kōji panicked but managed to tap the ball lightly over the net.

Mayu's blockers were still in the air.

The ball landed untouched.

Point: Us.

For the first time, Mayu looked surprised.

Then, she smirked. "Huh. So you're not just a one-trick pony."

I grinned. "You haven't seen anything yet."

Kenji fist-bumped me. "Alright, let's mess with them."

Score: 1-2

Now that we had disrupted their rhythm, they weren't as comfortable.

The next serve came in.

Izumi received it—better this time.

Kenji set it to me.

Mayu's blockers jumped again, fully expecting a spike.

I soft-tipped the ball over instead.

Mayu's libero barely managed to save it.

But the ball went over in a high, easy arc.

Kenji grinned. "Mine."

He set it up.

I sprinted, jumped, and this time—

BAM!

I spiked the ball through their defense.

Point: Us.

Score: 2-2.

Kenji smirked. "Now we're in this."

Mayu cracked her knuckles. "Good. Then we won't hold back anymore."

Izumi gulped. "Uh… what does that mean?"

I grinned.

"It means things are about to get intense."