#YunoAsuWeek Day 7: The Wall, the Ball, and the Greatest of All
And now, with one dayâs delay due to the Leipzig Book Fair, the last day of the @yunoasuweek â. Enjoy!
A tall, tall wall looms up in front of me.
Some people can look over it. Some people can see its other side when they jump. Some people just need to stand on their tip-toes. But not me. Iâm not as tall as them. I canât jump high enough to reach over its edge yet.
I canât wait to see whatâs waiting for me on the other side.
Iâm too short for volleyball. Yeah, they all say that.
Some people also say Iâm not just too short for volleyball. Iâm also too short for my age, or just plain short, or whatever. But guess what, short players can make it too. Thereâs been one. You know him. Heâs called the Small Giant, and he was barely taller than me.
How he made it? Well, he could just jump super high!
So I can do that too. If I work really really hard, Iâm gonna jump that high too. And then Iâm gonna become the next Small Giant. Screw height! You tall jerks think youâre better than me, but Iâm gonna beat all of you and show you!
Thatâs why I practiced. Every day, every day, ever since grade school. Even though my middle school didnât have a boysâ volleyball club. Sometimes I practiced with the girls. Sometimes with the neighborhood ladies. Sometimes even by myself. So what if was no club! I wasnât gonna give up till I could form one and enter a tournament!
And then, in my third year of middle school, I finally did.
We were finally enough people. We were finally at a tournament. We could finally make some memories and show what we were made of! Maybe weâd make it into the second round. Maybe even further. You know, if we worked really really hard, maybe weâd even make it to the nationals!
But in the very first round we faced off against the powerhouse of the prefecture.
I donât remember their name anymore. I donât remember their faces. All I remember is one guy. Their strongest guy. The guy I lost to.
Their setter. Yuno. His name was Yuno.
I have to admit, heâs scary good. And tall. And also a huge jerk, even to his teammates. He doesnât even yell at them or anything. He just tells them off with this blank face and tries to make them do whatever he wants! Like, who does he think he is? I know they call him the King of the Court âcause heâs so good, but thatâs just too much!
So Iâm gonna defeat him. Iâm gonna get into the same school as the Small Giant and defeat him. Heâs my rival now.
Thatâs what I think when I finally, finally come running into the gym of the high school of my dreams. The same place where the Small Giant used to play. I canât wait to be the first at practice today andâ
Hold on. Iâm not the first. Somebodyâs already there.
And someone really good, too. I can tell just from the way heâs playing. Man, I hope I get to play together with him sometime andâ
Then I spot his face and stop short.
Wait. Waitwaitwaitwaitwait. Are you kidding me?
The guy stops playing and turns. I canât believe it. It actually is him! What the hell is he doing here?
âYuno!â I yell at him, running into the gym. âWhat are you doing here? Get outta my high school, you jerk!â
He doesnât even get mad at me or anything. He just blinks, like heâs confused. âNot a chance,â he says. âThis is my high school too.â
âIt canât be your high school, itâs my high school!â I shoot back. âShouldnât you be playing for some fancy powerhouse or something?â
Yuno says nothing. I canât tell what heâs thinking. His stupid, handsome face stays blank.
Wait. Does he even remember me?
âIn case youâre wondering,â I declare. âIâm Asta! And Iâm your rival, Yuno!â
Yuno still doesnât bat an eye. âYouâre that loud guy from the first round, right?â
Now Iâm the one whoâs confused. âYou remember me?â
âYouâre pretty easy to remember.â Yuno doesnât blink. âYou totally sucked.â
âExcuse you! That doesnât mean Iâm not gonna beat you!â
âOh yeah? Iâm gonna prove it! Play against me! Play me right now!â
Iâm not expecting him to actually say yes, because itâs obvious that he thinks heâs too good for me, but Yuno actually shrugs and nods. âSure,â he says. âShow me what youâre made of.â
How can this guy be so calm? Itâs irritating!
âOkay!â I shout, taking on a fighting stance. âBring it on, Yuno!â
Ten minutes later weâre both kicked out the door.
âAnd youâre not coming back in,â Captain Yami says as he shoves our club signup forms at our faces, âtill you get along. Youâve fucked up enough already.â
Then the door shuts with a clang, and weâre left outside.
âHey!â I shout and bang on it. âCaptain Yami, Iâm sorry! Please let us back in! I promise weâre not gonna pick any fights anymore! Or blow the wig off the vice-principalâs head! It was just one time, okay?â
Silence. If Captain Yami and the other upperclassmen can hear us, theyâre ignoring us.
âJerk,â I say to Yuno. âThis is your fault.â
Yuno stares back, and finally he shows some irritation in his blank face. âYou started it.â
âYeah, and who slammed that stupid ball so hard it bounced and hit the vice-principal? You go back in and apologize!â
âHey! I dunno âbout you, but Iâd like to stay in this club and not get kicked out! Theyâre not gonna listen to us till we get along, soââ
Wait a sec. I think I just had an idea.
âHold up,â I say. âI have a plan.â
A moment later we knock on the door together. It opens a crack, and Captain Yamiâs eye peers out at us. Yuno and I exchange a look.
âOne, two, three,â I whisper.
âWeâre very sorry for fighting!â we both say in sync⊠okay, more in sync-ish, but itâs the thought that counts, right? âWe promise we wonât fight anymore so please let us back in!â
âI heard them counting,â Magna remarks from behind Yamiâs back.
âAnd they were still out of sync,â Luck pipes in.
âAnd glaring daggers at each other,â says Finral.
Captain Yami just gives us a dark look. âYouâre not making a fool outta me,â he says. âI can see through your bullshit. Come back when you can do better.â
Yunoâs foot stops the door before it closes. âWeâll play together,â he says. âAgainst any of you guys. And if we win, you let us back on the team.â
And thatâs how we ended up at the gym at five in the morning, racing each other to the door and both trying to be the first one in.
âJust move already,â Yuno says as he tries to push me aside. âI won the race anyway.â
âLike hell you did! It was a draw!â I push back. âI wouldâve won if you hadnât grabbed my shirt and pulled me back, anyway!â
âI didnât do that.â
âLiar, liar, pants on fire!â
âGuys,â Finralâs voice pops up from behind us. âIs it really that important when the doorâs big enough for both of you?â
So we start practice. Our match will be three on three, we agreed with Captain Yami. Magnaâs on our team officially. Finralâs helping us not so officially. Thatâs all good. Thereâs just one itty, bitty, tiny problem.
âWhat the hell are those tosses?â I shout after missing the millionth one in a row. âNobody can hit âem that fast! Toss normally, dammit!â
âYou couldnât even hit a normal toss at the tournament,â Yuno replies.
âThat was back then, now is now! Are you trying to win this or not?â
âIâm trying. Youâre not trying.â
âAt least Iâm trying to cooperate with my teammates!â
âDoesnât look like it to me.â
âOh yeah? Just you watch me!â I pick up the ball and shove it against Yunoâs chest. âIâm not gonna give up till I can hit your spikes!â
Something in Yunoâs expression changes, but I canât put my finger on it.
âIâve been thinking.â
I look up with my meat bun still in my mouth. âHm?â
âAbout how to win,â Yuno says, staring up at the night sky. Weâve been practicing at the park until now and are about to head home. âYou can run fast and jump high, but your timing with spikes sucks.â
I choke on my food. âHeyââ
âSo I want to try something,â Yuno goes on. âJust jump and hit how it fits you. Iâll get the ball to your hand.â
I open my eyes. For a moment Iâm still floating in midair, the net stretched out below me, the other side of the court beyond. The ball bounces off the floor and rolls across the gym. My hand tingles.
âI hit it!â I shout. âI hit it, Yuno!â
âOf course you did,â Yuno answers. âI made sure you would.â
But he looks pretty impressed himself, and thereâs a small smile on his face. I grin back.
âOne more! One more!â
Iâm out of breath. My arms and legs hurt. Itâs been going so well until now, but Luck is scary. Heâs not even that tall, but he can reach anything. Everything.
âOne more,â I say, but Iâm losing energy. Dammit. We were leading just a minute ago. Now weâre about to fall behind.
Yuno sends me the next toss, and the next, and the next. Blocked. Blocked. Blocked. Luck is everywhere I am. I canât match up against him.
I run and jump again, but this time Yuno doesnât toss to me. He tosses to Magna instead, and he scores at once. Luckâs still been marking me.
The next tosses go to Magna too. I wonder if I should even still jump. Sometimes Yuno looks at me like he wonders that too. So I keep jumping and jumping anyway. Out of spite.
Then, suddenly, Yuno looks at me as he jumps for the ball. Really looks at me. And I just know.
I run. I jump. Then I close my eyes.
The ball against my hand. Luckâs hands are still in front of me. Heâs bigger than me, taller. Faster too, probably.
But Iâm not alone. Iâve got Yuno.
With all my strength I send the ball over the net.
I wait for the slam as itâs blocked yet again, but this time the sound is different. It hits against Luckâs hands. But when it lands on the ground, the sound comes from the other side of the net.
The ball has bounced straight through Luckâs block and hit the floor. I scored. No, we scored. Luckâs taller than me, but that didnât stop me this time.
The other side of the wall⊠is that what it looks like?
When I land on the ground Yuno and I are both grinning. Then we both get tackled by Magna and almost knocked into the net.
This guy is still my rival, but I guess heâs not half bad. Not just as a player⊠as a teammate too.
I tap a fist against his chest. âOne more like that, Yuno!â I say. âLetâs win this!â
Yuno smiles and returns the gesture. âYou donât have to tell me.â
A tall, tall wall looms in front of me.
But with my new teammate, I think Iâm still a bit taller.