April.
The season of cherry blossoms.
The young Kageyama Tobio, having narrowly missed the top-ranked volleyball powerhouse Shiratorizawa due to a slight deficit in his entrance exam score, chose to attend the once-strong but now-declining Karasuno High.
On the first day of school, while everyone else was busy making new friends, familiarizing themselves with the new environment, and joining new clubs, Kageyama Tobio had already gone ahead to the gymnasium to start his training.
Since his defeat against Senkoku in his final middle school match, Kageyama Tobio had spent most of his time strengthening his serve, in addition to reflecting on his own shortcomings.
It was precisely because of this focus that he achieved his historically lowest score on the entrance exam.
Just as Kageyama Tobio was halfway through his solo serving practice, a small figure suddenly burst in, completely interrupting his rhythm.
Yes, this person was none other than him. It was him, it was definitely him.
Our little sun, the man destined to cross paths with Kageyama Tobio—Hinata Shoyo.
This first meeting between these two vastly different teammates, yet bound by fate, was guaranteed to be anything but calm.
After a series of events—mutual dislike... provoking Sawamura Daichi, the volleyball club Captain... hitting the Vice Principal's toupee flying with a spike... and being banished from the gymnasium door—the situation dramatically evolved into a Rookie Showdown.
It was at this moment that three other new volleyball club members walked into the gymnasium.
Of the three, one was tall, with short blonde hair and black-rimmed glasses. His height of nearly 190 \text{ cm} made him stand out conspicuously among the trio.
One had an ordinary appearance, with a few freckles on his face, the kind of person you wouldn't recognize if he were lost in a crowd.
The last one was slender and had handsome features, but his presence was inexplicably subtle.
When Kageyama Tobio saw the last of the three, his initially impatient eyes suddenly sharpened.
"It's you?"
The person Kageyama Tobio was staring at stiffened, then slapped his forehead, his face slowly adopting a look of sheer agony.
"Why are you here?"
"I should be asking you the same thing! With your skill, you should have joined Shiratorizawa."
Ota Miki's mouth twitched slightly. He never expected to run into this headache-inducing person here.
He had chosen Karasuno High for two reasons. Aside from it being his older brother's alma mater, the more important reason was that the Karasuno volleyball club had been in decline in recent years.
A club with medium-to-low strength like this was perfect for satisfying his interest in volleyball while also allowing him to reasonably and appropriately slack off and take it easy.
Coupled with the fact that Karasuno's specialized academic classes had a decent university acceptance rate.
Combining the two, this was supposed to be the ideal academic high school for Ota Miki to enjoy his high school life.
But why?
Why was this guy here too?
In that moment, Ota Miki felt a sudden, profound sense of unease about his future high school life.
"I didn't pass the exam for Shiratorizawa." While Kageyama Tobio had felt embarrassed when he told Hinata Shoyo this before, his response to Ota Miki now suddenly sounded self-justified.
Ota Miki felt a sense of powerlessness, saying, "That's right. Shiratorizawa is also a highly-ranked academic school in the prefecture; it's genuinely difficult to get in based on grades. And their volleyball style doesn't match yours, so they probably didn't offer you a sports scholarship either."
"Hey, Kageyama, who is this guy? Do you know him?"
Seeing Kageyama Tobio, who usually argued constantly with him, suddenly engage in a heated conversation with a man he had just met, Hinata Shoyo became impatient and whispered the interruption.
"Huh? You don't even know him, little guy? This is the Opposite Hitter for Senkoku Middle School back in the day. Oh, yes, that's the Senkoku Middle School that defeated the Kitagawa Daiichi led by the 'King' standing next to you."
Before Kageyama Tobio could speak, the tall, blonde boy next to Ota Miki—Tsukishima Kei—spoke up with a tone full of sarcasm.
The moment the word 'King' was uttered, Kageyama Tobio's expression immediately darkened.
Ota Miki turned his head to look at Tsukishima Kei: "You know, I had a feeling earlier. You seem to have a pretty nasty personality."
"Is that so? Well, thank you very much for the compliment, 'Champion'!"
Ota Miki: "..."
Ah, I'm so exhausted.
Although it was only their first meeting, Ota Miki already felt so worn out that he had an urge to quit the Karasuno volleyball club. He felt that if he continued to stay with these people, his high school life might be quite "exciting."
"Ch-Ch-Ch-Champion!" Hearing Tsukishima Kei's title for Ota Miki, Hinata Shoyo's eyes instantly lit up. He jumped up and down excitedly: "That's amazing! I didn't know a Champion joined our volleyball club too!"
Ota Miki glanced at him.
Yep!
I confirmed the look in his eyes. Another highly energetic person.
Ota Miki silently took two steps back, planning to use his subtle presence to sneak out of this place that was making him feel a sudden burst of unwanted fervor.
However, before he could make it out the door, he suddenly heard Kageyama Tobio's voice from behind: "Hey! Which school is that guy at now?"
Although he didn't mention him by name, Ota Miki naturally knew who Kageyama Tobio was referring to. After a moment's thought, Ota Miki turned and said, "Him? He's currently at..."
...
...
"W-w-w-why is he here?"
Next to a vending machine, Kindaichi Yutaro and Kunimi Akira each bought a box of juice. Before they could take two sips, Kindaichi Yutaro suddenly looked like he had seen something unbelievable, his eyes widening abruptly, nearly spitting out the juice in his mouth.
Kunimi Akira looked over at the sound, then a trace of surprise also appeared on his face: "So, they came to Seijoh too?"
Right in front of their line of sight, a handsome, elegant, dashing, and highly talented young man was walking toward the vending machine with an ordinary-looking male companion.
As they approached, the two people from a distance seemed to notice Kindaichi Yutaro and Kunimi Akira. The handsome, elegant, dashing, and highly talented young man offered a slight, attractive smile and proactively greeted them: "Yo! We meet again, gentlemen. It looks like we'll be Playing side-by-side!"