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Tobio was not a team player, he knew that very well, yet he could never bring himself to stop the harsh remarks whenever someone missed one of his tosses. He knew he was being cruel, and while the name hurt, the alias “King of the Court” which he had been dubbed seemed to rest with him as if it were a crown of thorns.
So he continued, constantly yelling at his fellow teammates for even the slightest mistake, aware of the growing tension, but not caring.
“Move faster, jump higher!” The words would fly from his mouth. He glared at his team, and they would glare back as the chasm between them widened.
I don’t need any other teammates, Tobio would find himself thinking, as he tosses would get missed time and time again, I can play on the court by himself
Then one day, no one was there to hit his toss. The ball hit the ground with a thud that would seem silent to anyone else, but to Tobio, that sound would haunt his nightmares for years to come.
The silent act of defiance from the other players was what widened the gap between them to no repair, and now Tobio was utterly and truly on his own. The ruler of a kingdom that only he resided.
And so, with that gap between his former friends, and the weight of a loss, Tobio graduated from middle school.
With the same dark fog that surrounded him in the past year, Tobio went to Karasuno. With the goal of working with the great Coach Ukai.
The old coach had been hospitalized, but what Tobio gained in those next three years was something precious that he would hold for the rest of his life.
The reliable third-years, the supportive second-years, the annoying yet talented first-years, one of which Tobio would never forget.
Shoyo Hinata.
Every time Tobio would hear those words a warmth would fill him, even after his days at Karasuno were gone and done. Shoyo Hinata, the one boy who always had believed in him.
His fluffy hair, his intimidating presence, his impressive agility, his smile, his damn smile.
The way he would endlessly defend his teammates, even the ones he disliked, and even though no one else thought much of it, his silent support, as if the boy were saying “I’m here!” as loud and clear as he did that first time. The time where he jumped into into Tobio heart his black crows wings and his blinding energy and changed his life in the best way possible.
Tobio was never able to confess how he truly felt about Hinata, he had never really sorted out those feelings himself, but he knew that the short middle blocker was dear to him.
Now, 4 years after being on the same team, that same boy is on the opposite side of the net as him. While he may have a different setter, a different team, Hinata’s trust and loyalty stayed with Tobio. And as Hinata looks through the net and confidently says “I’m here now”, Tobio can’t help but smile.
You idiot, he thinks fondly, you’ve been here all along