When he woke up, he was in the world of volleyball. High schooler Kota Kurose suddenly finds himself transported into the world of 'Haikyuu'. Unknown ceiling, unknown bed, and in front of him stands a giant of a man.
"You're going to be our temporary manager starting today."
He was told this at Shiratorizawa Academy. The strongest volleyball team, feared as the absolute champions. While searching for a way home, Kota ends up working as a makeshift manager. He has zero volleyball experience. Bu
Black Wings and the White Net - Qualifications of an Observer, and a Confession Under the Starry Sky
The evening air flowed into the first gymnasium. Outside the windows, the city lights were beginning to flicker on, one by one. Kouta knelt in the corner of the court, picking up a ball that had rolled over. The ball's surface was damp with sweat. As he placed it in the basket, another ball came rolling toward him. The work of an assistant manager was, as always, just this kind of repetition.
"Kou-chan, over here."
When he looked up at the voice, Tendou was beckoning him over from across the net. His red and black hair looked eerily vivid under the lights. As Kouta approached, Tendou pointed toward the far side of the court with a long finger.
"Ohira-san seems a bit off today. Take a look with those eyes of yours."
Tendou's tone was light. But his narrow eyes were serious. Following Tendou's words, Kouta shifted his gaze to Ohira Shion, who was continuing to hit spikes at the far end of the court.
Ohira's body, standing over 190 centimeters tall, coiled like a spring as he jumped. But his movements were clearly different from yesterday. His approach was shallow. The swing of his right arm was just slightly delayed. The point where the ball dropped had lost its usual sharpness.
"...It's his shoulder."
Kouta murmured quietly.
"Fatigue is building up in his right shoulder. When he plants his foot, the timing of raising his right arm is delayed by a fraction of a second. Because he's forcing the swing, he can't get the right angle anymore."
Tendou grinned.
"You really do have interesting eyes. I can't see that much."
With that, Tendou picked up a ball and tossed it across the court. It landed right at the moment Ohira was about to pick up a ball himself—Kouta could only see it as intentional. Tendou walked toward Ohira. Kouta hurried after him.
"Ohira-saaan, got a sec?"
Ohira turned around, wiping off sweat. When he crossed his arms, his thick arms looked even larger.
"What is it, Tendou. Don't interrupt practice."
"It's not interrupting, it's a suggestion. Our Kou-chan here is worried about your shoulder."
Ohira's gaze pierced through Kouta. His eyes were as sharp as ever. Kouta felt his breath stop for a moment. But he couldn't back down here.
"Ohira-senpai, your right shoulder has accumulated a considerable amount of fatigue. If this continues, not only will your performance decline, but your risk of injury will also increase. Please incorporate stretching and shoulder care, even just a little."
"An assistant manager has no business commenting on a player's body."
Ohira's voice was low and cold.
"What could you possibly understand about me? Someone who's never even played volleyball has no right to act so high and mighty."
Those words pierced through Kouta's chest like a blade.
(Right. I've never played volleyball. So Ohira-san is right.)
Kouta bit his lip. His fingertips trembled faintly. He wanted to argue back. But the words wouldn't come.
"Ohira-san, that's not quite fair, is it?"
Tendou stepped in front of Kouta.
"Kou-chan doesn't know volleyball. That's true. But his eyes are sharp. Before, he perfectly identified something off in another player's movements. I think you could afford to trust him a little."
Tendou's voice was as light as ever. But beneath that lightness, something like a sharp needle was hidden.
Ohira looked back and forth between Tendou and Kouta. Silence continued for several seconds.
"...So, is this fatigue of yours real?"
Ohira, arms still crossed, looked down at Kouta.
"It's real. Today, after your spikes, you rotated your right shoulder several times. That's an unconscious SOS. Your body is trying to release the pain. Your contact point has dropped about five centimeters from your highest."
Ohira's eyebrow twitched.
"...Five centimeters?"
"Yes. So please stretch. Fifteen minutes is enough. Rotate your shoulder blades and loosen your trapezius muscles. Right now, it's just fatigue. If you leave it alone, the risk of rotator cuff damage increases. Ohira-senpai's play style involves gathering power before hitting, so the load on your shoulder is heavy. Especially after serves, care is essential."
Kouta said it all in one breath. His heart felt like it was about to leap out of his mouth.
Ohira was silent for a while. About ten seconds. Those ten seconds felt like an eternity to Kouta.
"...Fine. Fifteen minutes. Come with me."
With that, Ohira walked off the court.
Kouta stood there, stunned.
"Come on, Kou-chan, go, go."
Pushed by Tendou from behind, Kouta followed after Ohira. In the covered walkway leading to the training room, a cold wind wrapped around the two of them.
"Tell me the correct way to stretch, just like you said."
"...Yes."
Kouta turned on the training room lights and instructed Ohira to extend his arms by the wall.
"Pull both elbows back, imagining your shoulder blades coming together toward your spine. Then slowly rotate upward."
Ohira silently moved his body according to Kouta's instructions. His sharp gaze hadn't changed, but his movements were obedient.
"...Where did you learn all this?"
The sudden question made Kouta's heart skip.
"I read it in books. And from videos. I've always liked watching how people's bodies move."
This wasn't a lie. In his original world, Kouta had spent a lot of time alone. He had used that time to repeatedly watch volleyball match footage and player training videos. That knowledge from back then was now proving useful like this.
"Hmph. Then keep putting that knowledge to use from now on. But don't get in the players' way. I won't tolerate unnecessary meddling."
"...Yes."
In the end, the fifteen-minute stretch extended to nearly thirty minutes. Ohira asked several times, "Is this right?" Kouta answered each question with everything he knew.
The presence of night was dyeing the gymnasium windows a deep indigo.
After finishing Ohira's stretching, Kouta began cleaning the training room. He picked up scraps of taping from the floor and straightened the mats. Ohira was silently rotating his arm.
"...Kurose."
Ohira suddenly spoke.
"Yes."
"That observation today—my shoulder does feel lighter."
Kouta stopped the hand holding the broom. Ohira wasn't looking at him. He was staring intently at his own shoulder reflected in the wall mirror.
"Your observational eye might be useful to this team."
With just that, Ohira left the training room. His heavy footsteps faded down the hallway.
Kouta stood rooted to the spot.
(Might be useful.)
Ohira's words repeated in his head. The area around his chest grew warm. He'd been acknowledged. It's okay for me to be here. Those words made him feel that way.
When he returned to the gymnasium, Tendou was waiting. He was leaning against the wall, spinning a ball on his fingertip.
"What did Ohira-san say?"
"...He said I might be useful."
"Haha, coming from Ohira-san, that's the highest praise possible. Good for you, Kou-chan."
Tendou was smiling cheerfully. But his eyes were looking somewhere far away.
"Hey, Kou-chan. Do you have time after this?"
Tendou's voice became slightly more serious.
"I do, but—"
"Let's go to the rooftop. The stars are really beautiful."
With that, Tendou was already walking. Kouta followed after him.
The door to the rooftop was heavy and rusted. Tendou opened it with practiced hands and invited Kouta through.
The air was cold.
Looking up, stars were scattered across the entire sky. Countless points of light, as if someone had spilled ink. It wasn't so much breathtaking as it was a strange sensation—as if the starlight was seeping deep into his lungs.
"Beautiful, right? This is my favorite spot."
Tendou leaned his elbows on the railing and looked up at the sky.
"Kou-chan, do you want to go back to your original world?"
The question was far too sudden. For a moment, Kouta thought all the starlight had vanished.
"Why... so suddenly?"
His voice trembled.
"No deep meaning. It's just that sometimes, you look at something really far away. Like you're seeing something that doesn't belong to this world. Your eyes look like that."
Kouta couldn't respond to Tendou's words.
Silence dissolved into the starlight. Wind passed between the two of them.
"...I want to go back."
Kouta forced the words out.
"I want to go back. Of course I do. In my original world, I had my room, my games, my school. But that's all. That's all it was."
The words spilled out on their own. He couldn't stop them. He didn't want to stop them.
"I don't have parents around. Both of them are posted overseas, so I've always been alone. At school, I have friends, I guess, but no one I could really talk to. There were plenty of people who loved volleyball, but I never played. I just watched. Always, just watched."
Tears spilled from the corners of his eyes. The wind was cold. But the depths of his heart were colder.
"That Small Giant I saw on TV. I knew I could never become someone like him. But I admired him. Sweating, running, jumping, laughing with teammates. I thought about how fun it would be if I could be like that. ...But I never did anything. My body's small, and my athletic ability is average. I was just a weak person who only dreamed."
His sobs were muffled in the back of his throat.
"When I came to this world and saw Ushijima-san's spikes, I thought—this is insane. I got goosebumps. I thought my heart would stop. I seriously thought, I want to be like that. But in the end, it's impossible for me. I'm just an assistant manager, but I'm sticking my nose into players' physical conditions. Even though I can't even play volleyball."
His words mixed with tears and became a mess. Kouta covered his face with both hands. His shoulders trembled. Breathing was painful.
Tendou listened silently. He said nothing. He just stood beside him, looking up at the same stars.
After a while, Tendou slowly spoke.
"...Kou-chan, you can just stay here."
His voice was light, yet it resonated strangely deep.
"If you want to go back, you can look for a way. But until you find one, you can stay here. There's volleyball here. The thing that makes your eyes shine—it's right here."
Kouta raised his face. The stars before him blurred with tears, swaying faintly.
"Your eyes are useful. Today, Ohira-san acknowledged that. The other players are starting to notice too. That has nothing to do with being bad at volleyball or having a small body. You're fighting in your own way, just like the ones standing on the court."
Tendou's words were like a single ray of light falling into a dark sea.
"...Tendou-senpai."
His voice was still trembling.
"What's with the formality? You don't need to call me senpai right now. Just Tendou is fine. Here, let me show you the stars better."
With that, Tendou leaned his body against the railing and positioned Kouta beside him.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing what you'll find in this world."
Those words lit a small but certain flame in Kouta's chest.
The next day at practice.
Ohira silently went through his stretches. And after practice, he came over to Kouta and said just one thing: "My shoulder moves better than yesterday."
Hearing this, several players approached Kouta with curious expressions.
"Hey, Kurose. My lower back's been stiff lately. Can you take a look?"
"My knee hurts sometimes. What kind of stretches should I do?"
"My calves keep almost cramping up. Is there anything good for that?"
Kouta listened to each person's concerns and gave as much advice as he could. His knowledge was helping someone. He was needed. That alone made his chest burn with emotion.
Tendou slapped Kouta on the back.
"Good for you, Kou-chan. You're popular now."
"...It's thanks to you, Tendou-senpai."
"No, no, it's your own ability. Besides, Ushijima-san said about you—'He has good eyes.' That man rarely praises anyone, you know."
Kouta felt his breath stop.
Ushijima Wakatoshi. That absolute ace, said that about me.
Kouta looked across
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.