Hinata was the first to react.
"Please! I'm Hinata Shoyo!" The orange-haired boy dashed forward.
He bowed deep to Kei, bending almost at a ninety-degree angle.
His voice was full of urgent pleading. "Please join us! We really... really need a teammate right now!"
Kei looked at the orange head almost pressed to the ground in front of him.
He felt a bit amused.
'What a simple guy,' he thought.
All his feelings were written right on his face, just like an open comic book.
Right after, Kageyama Tobio walked over. He didn't make a big show like Hinata, but his heavy presence was even stronger. His eyes swept over Kei's skinny body from head to toe.
He frowned, not bothering to hide his doubts.
"But," he asked, "can you actually play volleyball?"
Kei looked up and met his eyes.
He shook his head and put on a worried look. "No... I don't have much experience. I just... like watching."
"Just like watching?" Kageyama's voice dropped three degrees colder. "Then can you receive? Someone who can't even handle a ball is just dead weight on the court."
The words were sharp and harsh.
Even Hinata couldn't listen to it. He stood up straight and snapped back, "Kageyama, you jerk! How can you say that! Kitagawa is here to join the club!"
"I'm just stating facts," Kageyama shot back. "We have to win this match. A total beginner who knows nothing will only make us lose even worse."
"You..."
"Alright, everyone quiet down."
Sawamura Daichi's steady voice stepped in again, stopping the fight. He patted Hinata's shoulder to calm him down, then turned to Kei.
He spoke in a soft voice, "Kitagawa, right? Here is the deal. Those two have to form a team for a three-on-three match. They can only join the club if they win. They're short one teammate right now. Would you be willing... to help them?"
Daichi's choice of words was smart.
He used "help" instead of "join."
This gave Kei a way out while making him feel needed. It was a great trick to use on a shy freshman.
Kei's mind was clear.
He knew he had to play this part.
He paused for a moment, shifting his eyes between Hinata's hopeful face and Kageyama's dark glare that seemed to say, 'don't drag us down.'
Finally, acting like he was making a huge choice, he gave a small nod.
"I... I'm willing to try."
"Great!" Hinata nearly jumped for joy.
Kageyama let out a quiet "tch" and turned his head away.
He clearly didn't like this at all.
"Then it's settled," Daichi said, ending the matter.
He checked his watch and told everyone, "That's all for today. Kageyama, Hinata, and Kitagawa, starting tomorrow, you can come to the gym for morning practice. Remember, until Saturday's match, you aren't official members of the club. You aren't allowed to come to after-school practice."
After speaking, he looked at the vice principal.
The man was leaning on Tanaka and still rubbing his face. Daichi walked over with a serious look to clean up the mess.
Sugawara gave the three freshmen a kind smile and followed him.
As Tanaka walked past them, he stopped and made a face at Kageyama and Hinata.
He spoke in a cocky tone, "Hmph, the problem child duo plus a frail little weakling. Your team really has no future! Hahaha!"
With that, he let out a loud laugh and walked away.
The big gym was left to this awkward, forced-together trio.
The air grew heavy and quiet for a moment.
Kageyama broke the silence again. He picked up a volleyball, pointed his chin to the other side of the court, and told Kei.
"You, stand over there."
"Huh?"
"I want to see what level you're really at," Kageyama said flatly. "If you can't even touch the ball, quit now while you can."
Kei didn't say anything. He walked quietly to the opposite baseline.
He could feel it—this body was just too weak.
Kageyama stood at the net. Without a running start, he gave the ball a light toss and hit it with a normal overhand swing. It was just a basic overhand serve.
The ball traced a curve through the air, drifting slow toward Kei's right side.
'Here it comes,' Kei thought.
In Kei's eyes, the ball's flight path broke down into endless frames.
The small shifts in the air, the messy spin of the ball, and its final landing spot... All the information rushed into his mind.
'Right front, three steps, dropping.'
He stumbled forward to the right.
His steps were clumsy and messy. His body lost its balance, unable to keep up with his mind's plan.
To Hinata and Kageyama, he looked like a scared beginner swinging his arms around, about to fall over.
A flash of letdown passed through Kageyama's eyes.
'Just as I thought, he can't do it.'
But right as Kei's body was about to hit the floor, his arms seemed to move on their own.
They formed a standard, rock-solid receiving platform in front of him.
His wrists pressed down and his arms tensed up, creating a perfect angled surface.
Thump!
The ball hit right on that small area on his arms known as the sweet spot.
The next moment, a miracle happened.
The ball, which should have bounced away wild, rose soft and steady.
It traced a high, perfect curve through the air and landed right in a setter's most comfortable passing spot.
It was a receive that would make any setter happy.
Hinata's mouth hung open in an "O" shape, his eyes as wide as saucers.
For the first time, a look of pure shock showed up on Kageyama's icy face.
He stared hard at Kei, who had lost his balance and was now sitting on the floor, rubbing his arm.
"How... did you do that?" Kageyama asked, his voice a bit rough.
The shock of what just happened was too much.
Clumsy, funny footwork and a messy pose—yet it made a perfect receive. It was a total mismatch that Kageyama couldn't understand.
Sitting on the floor, Kei felt the slight numb sting in his arm and the heavy pounding of his heart.
He looked up with a sorry look on his face.
"I... I don't know either... I just thought the ball would probably fly over there, so I reached out to block it... It was... luck, right?"
'Luck?' Kageyama's frown deepened.
In the world of volleyball, there might be lucky shots, but there was no such thing as a lucky receive.
In that split second of receiving—the angle of the arms, the timing of the hit, the trick to absorbing the shock...
Without thousands of hours of practice, it was impossible to build up that kind of muscle memory.
But this guy in front of him looked like he'd be out of breath after just two steps.
This huge clash of facts caused Kageyama to feel his brain short-circuit for the first time.
"I don't believe it," he said.
He picked up the ball and served again.
This time, it was a short ball to the left.
Kei moved just as clumsy as before, but his reading of the ball was right on the mark, and his receiving platform stayed rock solid.
Thump!
The ball was perfectly received once again.
But this time, Kei didn't fall. He just stumbled a few steps, grabbed his knees, and gasped for air.
Fine drops of sweat were already forming on his forehead.
"Again!" Kageyama's voice carried a hint of stubborn drive.
Thump!
"Again!" A jump serve.
Thump...
After who knows how many balls, Kei bent over.
His hands rested on his knees, and his chest heaved hard as a burning sting spread through his lungs. His weak body was already sounding the alarm after just a short workout.
Hinata had gone from his first shock to full-blown awe.
In his eyes, Kei was nothing short of a hidden master at receiving!
As for Kageyama, he fell dead silent.
He didn't serve again.
He watched Kei leaning on his knees, drenched in sweat, with his legs shaking. Kageyama's gaze shifted. His early doubts gave way to a deep, burning curiosity.
He could tell the other boy's tired state was real.
It was a normal reaction for someone who was out of shape trying to do hard exercise. But that magic-like receiving skill was just as real.
He couldn't make sense of it.
This Kitagawa Kei guy was a total mystery.
Leaning against the wall, Kei fought to steady his breathing.
He knew his acting had been spot on. He'd planted a seed of curiosity in Kageyama's mind, and that was enough.
He glanced at Kageyama and Hinata, who were still glaring at each other, and let out a mental sigh.
One was a lonely king who didn't know how to trust anyone.
The other was a sunny idiot with nothing but jumping power and high spirits.
To mold these two into a team, just receiving balls wouldn't cut it.
"We... have to win the match," Kei said in a soft voice.
Kageyama and Hinata both looked at him.
"With just me receiving, we can't win." Kei's voice was weak but clear.
"Your sets," he looked at Kageyama, "and his spikes," he turned to Hinata.
"If you two can't work together, we don't stand a chance."
This was his first time giving advice to the other two as a real teammate.
Kageyama curled his lip, while Hinata nodded hard.