At the Spring High Volleyball finals, Karasuno High falls to Inarizaki in a full-set battle. Hinata Shoyo suffers a torn ligament in his knee, and the doctor tells him he may never jump again.
When Hinata is discharged from the hospital, Kageyama Tobio is there to meet him. "Without you, no one can hit my tosses," Kageyama murmurs, embracing Hinata. From that day on, Kageyama visits Hinata's house every day to support his rehabilitation. Hinata notices Kageyama's abnormal attachment but cannot
Haikyu!! Court of Afterimages - The Sky You Can't Jump ―― The King's Hands, the Possessed Hands
The early summer light bleached the Hinata family's entryway white.
Sunlight filtered through the window glass, throwing the grain of the hallway floor into sharp relief and casting a long, thin shadow across it. The shadow belonged to three locks bolted to the door, and a chain lock that ran from top to bottom.
Hinata Shouyou leaned his weight on his crutches and stared at that door.
Three months since he'd left the hospital.
The range of motion in his knee was still stuck at seventy degrees. It hadn't budged a single millimeter since he'd started rehabilitation. At his last examination, the doctor had spoken quietly. "A return to competition is, medically speaking, close to impossible."
(I can't jump...)
Those words sat heavy in the depths of Shouyou's chest, like a stone.
Shouyou reached his left hand behind the bed railing. His fingertips searched for the cold touch of iron. After a moment, they found a small slip of paper, folded in four. A memo with contact information, handed to him by Tsukishima Kei. A cell phone number and a single scrawled line.
"Call me anytime, if anything happens."
He gripped the paper. Its corner bit into his palm.
(If anything happens... huh.)
Shouyou smiled bitterly.
Something had happened.
Right now, in this very moment, something was happening. He was locked inside his own house. By Kageyama Tobio.
(Laughable, right?)
Shouyou stared at the entryway locks.
At first there had been two. Locks Kageyama had installed to keep Shouyou from going outside. Then, after that night—the night Oikawa Tooru appeared, the night Tsukishima called—the locks had increased to three. And on top of that, a chain lock.
Kageyama was serious about locking Shouyou in.
(Kageyama thinks he's protecting me.)
That was what Shouyou believed.
So that Shouyou, with his ruined knee, wouldn't push himself too hard. So that Shouyou, who could no longer play volleyball, wouldn't get hurt. Kageyama was protecting Shouyou in his own way.
(But that's not protection.)
Shouyou bit his lip.
This was control.
A cage to bind Shouyou to Kageyama's side.
"...I want to go outside."
Shouyou muttered it to no one.
His voice was swallowed by the silence of the entryway.
Just then, a sound came from the second floor.
(Mom and Natsumi went out shopping.)
Shouyou looked up toward the noise.
(Then the only one upstairs is—)
Kageyama.
Shouyou held his breath.
Kageyama was in the bath right now. Shouyou had insisted he take one, saying he'd worked up a sweat. Kageyama had shaken his head at first. But when Shouyou pinched his nose and said "You stink," he'd headed to the changing room with a sour look on his face.
(It has to be now.)
Shouyou reached for the entryway locks.
His fingertips touched the first lock. The cold feel of metal.
Click.
The small sound echoed through the quiet house.
Shouyou's heart pounded like a drum.
(It's fine. Kageyama's still in the bath.)
Shouyou moved to the second lock.
Click.
The third.
Click.
His fingers were trembling. From tension, or from the guilt of betraying Kageyama—he couldn't tell which.
(It's not betrayal.)
Shouyou told himself.
(I'm breathing the outside air by my own will.)
He reached for the chain lock.
The sound of metal scraping.
Clank.
The chain came loose.
Shouyou grasped the doorknob.
(I'm going.)
Shouyou pushed the door open.
The early summer wind brushed his cheek.
The smell of earth. The smell of grass. Birdsong in the distance.
Outside air, for the first time in so long.
Shouyou narrowed his eyes.
Sunlight poured down onto his orange hair. His amber eyes looked up at the sky, dazzled.
(The sky is blue.)
Shouyou planted his crutches and took a step forward.
His knee hurt.
But the joy of being outside outweighed the pain.
Shouyou started walking.
His destination was decided.
Not Yoyogi, where Oikawa Tooru had said he'd be waiting.
(Karasuno High School.)
Shouyou headed for his alma mater's gymnasium.
In that gym, I used to jump. I'd hit Kageyama's tosses, clear Tsukishima's blocks, and jump, and jump, and jump again.
(If I go to that place, maybe I'll remember something.)
That was what Shouyou thought.
The feeling of jumping. The joy of volleyball. What kind of person he used to be.
The sunlight was strong, and heat shimmered off the asphalt. Sweat beaded on Shouyou's forehead.
After five minutes of walking, a sharp pain shot through his knee.
(Still okay.)
Shouyou gritted his teeth.
Ten minutes.
The pain spread from his knee to his thigh, to his lower back.
(Still going.)
Fifteen minutes.
His vision wavered slightly.
(...No good.)
Shouyou collapsed onto a bench in a nearby park.
His crutches clattered to the ground.
His knee burned hot.
Shouyou clutched his left knee.
(I can't even walk this far.)
Shouyou bit his lip.
It was pathetic.
It was frustrating.
Back in high school, he'd run all over the court. Now he couldn't walk ten minutes from his own house.
(I've gotten this weak.)
Shouyou hung his head.
He felt like crying.
But he didn't.
(Crying won't heal my knee.)
Shouyou lifted his face.
The trees in the park swayed in the wind.
That was when it happened.
"Hey there, Shouyou-chan."
A voice.
Shouyou raised his head.
Light brown, fluffy hair. Large honey-colored eyes. A tall frame—over six feet.
Oikawa Tooru stood before Shouyou.
"...Oikawa-san."
Shouyou forced the words out.
"Why are you here?"
Oikawa smiled brightly.
"I've been watching your house. I figured you'd come outside soon, Shouyou-chan."
Oikawa's tone was as light as ever.
But his eyes were fixed on Shouyou's knee.
"Watching...?"
Shouyou was at a loss for words.
"Yep. I waited for you to slip past Kageyama-chan and come out on your own."
Oikawa sat down beside Shouyou.
The bench creaked.
"Let me see your knee."
Oikawa reached for Shouyou's left knee.
"Wait. I haven't decided to trust you yet—"
"You don't have to trust me."
Oikawa cut him off.
"I don't trust you either. I'm helping you because you'll become my strongest weapon. That's all."
Oikawa's voice was unfailingly calm.
"But you know, Shouyou-chan. You want to jump, don't you?"
Shouyou couldn't say anything.
"If you want to jump, just take my hand. If you don't, go home right now and stay by Kageyama-chan's side."
Oikawa looked Shouyou straight in the eye.
"Which is it?"
Shouyou bit his lip.
(I want to jump.)
The words welled up from the bottom of his heart.
(I still want to jump.)
Shouyou took Oikawa's hand.
"...Please. Examine it."
Shouyou's voice was trembling.
Oikawa smiled, satisfied.
"Good answer."
Oikawa placed his hand on Shouyou's knee.
Over the black brace, he touched slowly, probing around the kneecap.
"The ligament hasn't healed."
Oikawa spoke quietly.
"I saw the MRI images too. Medically, jumping is close to impossible."
Shouyou hung his head.
He knew.
But hearing it again from someone else's mouth tightened his chest.
"But,"
Oikawa's voice grew slightly stronger.
"If you change the way you jump, you can jump."
Shouyou raised his head.
"Change... the way I jump?"
"Exactly. Up until now, you've been jumping using the spring of your knee. But that knee is no longer usable."
Oikawa removed his hand from Shouyou's knee.
"So just jump without using your knee. Generate propulsion with your core and your arms."
"Can someone actually do that?"
"Whether you can depends on you."
Oikawa looked Shouyou straight in the eye.
"The Oikawa-style jump substitution method. A completely new form of jumping that doesn't rely on the extension and contraction of the knee."
Shouyou swallowed hard.
(Jump without using my knee.)
He couldn't even imagine it.
But if it were really possible—
"...Please teach me."
Shouyou squeezed the words out.
"Teach me that way of jumping."
Oikawa laughed.
"There it is. Those eyes. Much better than when you looked like a dead fish."
That was when Shouyou noticed.
Oikawa's right hand was trembling faintly.
"Oikawa-san, your hand..."
Shouyou looked at Oikawa's right hand.
Oikawa glanced down at his own hand.
"Ah, this?"
Oikawa laughed.
But that smile looked a little lonely.
"My right knee has an old wound too."
Oikawa shifted his right knee brace.
There was an old surgical scar.
"Right after I entered university, I wrecked my knee. Torn ligament. The doctor told me I'd never jump again."
Shouyou stared at Oikawa's knee.
"I did my rehab alone. I couldn't rely on anyone. A genius like Kageyama-chan could never understand my suffering. Everyone around me said I was finished. No one was by my side."
Oikawa's voice was quiet.
"But I didn't give up. I couldn't give up. Because I loved volleyball."
Oikawa looked into Shouyou's eyes.
"You're the same, aren't you? Shouyou-chan."
Shouyou couldn't say anything.
(I don't want to give up either.)
(Because I love volleyball.)
"I want to make you my strongest weapon. That's my ego."
Oikawa stood up.
"But as long as you want to jump, I believe you're worth using. If you don't want to be used, just refuse."
Oikawa extended his hand to Shouyou.
"What will you do?"
Shouyou looked at Oikawa's hand.
The hand that had been trembling had already stopped.
(This person will use me.)
(But this person will teach me how to jump.)
Shouyou took Oikawa's hand.
"...Please."
Shouyou stood up.
His knee hurt.
But his heart felt a little lighter.
"Alright. Then special training starts today."
Oikawa clapped Shouyou on the shoulder.
"Come to Tokyo. I'll make you jump."
Shouyou nodded.
(I'm going to jump again.)
(Not for Kageyama's sake. By my own will.)
That resolve burned quietly in Shouyou's chest.
————
Night.
Kageyama Tobio returned to the Hinata house.
Fresh from the bath, Kageyama headed for Shouyou's room.
"Shouyou."
No answer.
Kageyama opened the door.
The bed was empty.
The sheets were rumpled, and the crutches were gone.
Kageyama went downstairs.
All the entryway locks were undone.
The chain lock too.
The expression drained from Kageyama's face.
"...Shouyou."
Kageyama bolted out the front door.
Outside was dark.
Streetlights illuminated the asphalt.
Kageyama ran.
He knew where Shouyou had gone.
(That idiot's going to Karasuno's gym.)
Kageyama pedaled his bicycle toward Karasuno High School.
But Shouyou wasn't in the gymnasium.
Kageyama searched the nearby parks.
Crutches were propped against a bench.
But Shouyou wasn't there.
Kageyama clenched his fist.
(Where did he go?)
Kageyama checked the GPS on Shouyou's smartphone.
The location data said Tokyo.
(Oikawa...)
Kageyama's eyes burned dark.
————
Late at night.
When Shouyou returned to the Hinata house, Kageyama was standing in front of the entryway.
"...Kageyama."
Shouyou stopped in his tracks.
Kageyama stared at Shouyou with a blank expression.
"Where were you."
Kageyama's voice was low and cold.
"...Tokyo. At Oikawa-san's place."
Shouyou answered honestly.
Kageyama's temple twitched.
"I was tracking you."
Kageyama stepped closer to Shouyou.
"I knew everything from the GPS on your phone."
Shouyou bit his lip.
"I saw Oikawa's notebook too. There were notes on a rehab menu tucked inside."
Kageyama placed his hand on Shouyou's left knee.
"What did you do with this knee."
Shouyou knocked Kageyama's hand away.
"Oikawa-san examined it. He taught me how to jump."
Kageyama's eyes widened.
"How to jump...?"
"A way to jump without using my knee. Oikawa-san devised his own method."
Shouyou looked Kageyama straight in the eye.
"I can still jump. If I train under Oikawa-san, I can stand on the court again."
Kageyama stared at Shouyou for a while.
Then he spoke quietly.
"Aren't you jumping so you can hit my tosses?"
Kageyama's voice was quieter than it had ever been.
Shouyou shook his head.
"No. I jump because I want to jump."
Shouyou's voice wasn't trembling.
"Your tosses are one means to that end. But even without y
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