Chapter Text
In front of me, a tall, tall wall looms.
What’s the view on the other side?
What does it look like?
The view from the top… is a view I could never see on my own.
But if I’m not doing it alone…
but·ter·fly ef·fect
noun
the phenomenon whereby a minute localized change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere.
When Hinata Shouyou was thirteen months old, a woman watched her husband enter the home after work.
She greeted the man along with their child. The orange-haired toddler reached out for his father. The equally bright-haired man put down his bags and took the child out of the woman's arms.
“How was your day Shouyou?” the man asked as he bounced the toddler on his hip.
“It was great,” the woman smiled. “Shouyou watched some TV, did some colouring, walked around the house.”
“Did you now?” the man asked, making a silly face at the toddler and the child laughed.
“You called earlier and said you had something to discuss after work?” The woman said, to her husband. The man walked over to a corner in the living room with a blanket on the ground and a few scattered toys. He placed the toddler whine after being let go but the man handed him a toy car.
“Go play Shouyou,” the man said. “The adults have some grown-up stuff they need to discuss.” The man turned back to his wife who looked back at him expectantly.
“Remember how you always said you wanted to see more of the world?” The man said, he seemed excited but also cautious. Like he wasn’t sure how the woman would react to the news.
“Yes?” the woman said hesitantly.
“Well, the company offered me a promotion.”
The woman smiled. “That’s amazing! After all the hard work you put in you were the obvious choice.” She tilted her head. “And what does this have to do with travelling exactly?”
The man looked out the window, then looked at their child before meeting his wife's eyes.
“They want us to move to their branch in Brazil.
In a twist of fate, the Hinata family moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Hinata Shouyou was four years old when he saw his first match.
It was a nice day out and Hinata’s parents decided a day at the beach would be the best way to spend it. Once they arrived, however, it was busier than normal. There seemed to be an event happening as tourists and locals alike were gathered in a huge crowd.
Shouyou just barely caught sight of a ball appearing in the air a few times before reaching a point where it seemed to slow down. In almost slow motion, Shouyou watched as a person soared above the crowd and met the ball high in the air. He hit it with a loud SMACK! The crowd went wild.
Shouyou let go of his mother’s hand and dove into the crowd. He used his small stature to his advantage as he weaved through the people’s legs until he got a perfect front seat view of what was going on.
“And another point for Isaías and Diego! That brings us to match point!” The announcer's voice boomed over the speakers.
Shouyou watched the pair high five before preparing for the next serve.
Mesmerized by the ball, Shouyou watched as it zipped over the net. It looked like it was about to hit the sand when suddenly, another player was there and the ball was in the air and returned. The rally went on and Shouyou couldn’t look away.
“Shouyou!” someone grabbed his shoulder. He was pulled back into a tight embrace by his mom. “You can’t just run away like that.”
“But look, mom, the man is flying!” Hinata pointed to the men on the court.
“Looks like there's a volleyball tournament going on,” his mom hums.
“Voll-ey-ball?” Shouyou says each syllable slowly as he tests it out. “I’m going to play volleyball!” he exclaimed.
“Well,” his mom laughed. “Most volleyball players are tall,” she said as she ruffled his hair.
“I’m still growing!” Shouyou shouted. “I’m going to beat them and become the best volleyball player in the world!"
When Hinata Shouyou turned five years old, he got his first volleyball.
“Now you can practice to your heart's content.” His father told him as Shouyou tackled him with a hug.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” both of his parents felt their hearts warm.
Hinata Shouyou was six years old when he played his first match.
It was an unofficial match of course and he would barely remember it when he was older. But at the time it meant everything.
It was just a small game as part of a beach volleyball camp mainly to keep kids entertained as their parents went off to do something else.
Shouyou was paired with a random tourist boy from America and they lost straight sets.
It was also the day Shouyou declared he would do whatever he could to get back onto the court.
When Hinata Shouyou was seven years old he gained a new family member.
“Shouyou come meet your sister,” his mom told him from the hospital bed. Hinata climbed onto the bed gently beside his mother. He looked at the infant who was staring wide-eyed around the room.
“Do you want to hold her?” his mother asked. Shouyou nodded. His mother gently placed his sister in his arms and showed him how to hold her.
“We named her Natsu,” his dad said softly.
Shouyou smiled at his sister. “Welcome to our family Natsu.”
When Hinata Shouyou was eight years old, they lost a family member.
“A drunk driver ran into the car. He didn’t make it.”
Shouyou turned from where he was playing with Natsu when he heard the phone crash to the ground.
“Mom?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
When Heitor Santana was nine years old, he met an energetic orange-haired boy.
Heitor felt something against his leg. He looked down to see a volleyball. He barely had time to pick it up when he saw a small orange-haired boy running towards him.
“Hey!” the boy called out. “Pass it!” Heitor tossed the boy the ball which the boy caught easily.
“Thanks,” the boy said. “You play?”
“Um,” Heitor paused, and he felt guilt overwhelm him. At the moment he was currently ditching his own practice (which his parents did not know). Both of Heitors parents were pro volleyball players and thus he had been surrounded by volleyball his whole life. And it’s not that he didn’t enjoy the sport, it’s just he’s found himself in a hard place at the moment where he lacked the motivation to continue. His current relationship with volleyball was complicated. “Yeah I play,” Heitor finally decided to say.
The boy didn’t even seem fazed by the long pause from Heitor.
“Really! That’s awesome!” the boy shouted. Heitor tried not to wince at the volume. “Hey, my partner had to leave early today would you mind maybe subbing in?”
Heitor was tempted to decline then leave, he was trying to get a break after all. However, something about this boy was magnetic, it drew you in.
“Sure,” Heitor replied, “Why not?”
“Oh my god! Thank you so much!” the boy yelled. Heitor wondered if the boy only had one volume. “My name is Shouyou Hinata.” Shouyou held out his hand.
“Heitor,” Heitor said as he took the hand.
“Let’s go win this thing Heitor!”
When Heitor was nine years old he found he wanted to improve.
“Shouyou! That was amazing!” Heitor shouted as Shouyou landed a spike in a particularly nasty spot on the other side of the court. The point won them the game, straight sets.
“You’re like crazy good too!” Shouyou yelled, jumping up and down. “I mean your jumps were like ‘whoosh’ and all your spikes when ‘BAM’! And you’re so tall! I would give anything to be that tall!”
“But your jumps were crazy! I think they were higher than mine” Heitor praised back. “And your digs were also great! Every time I thought we were done for you, we were right there! You were like a ninja!”
“You think so!” Shouyou asked.
“Yes!” Heitor said, without hesitation. They both walked off the court and downed their water bottles. They were both covered in sand and sweat from the beating sun and were breathing heavily.
“Hey, Heitor?” Shouyou asked between breaths.
“Yeah?” Heitor said.
“Do you want to be my partner from now on?”
Heitor thought for a moment. For the first time in a month, he experienced nothing but pure joy for the sport. The same love that his parents felt and in a way he felt like he understood them more. In the end, it wasn’t a hard decision to make.
“Yes!” he said and Shouyou’s smile widened if possible.
“We’re going to make the best team!” Shouyou yelled as he threw an arm around Heitor who had to bend down awkwardly to make that possible.
Heitor laughed. Shouyou Hinata was good. Very good. And though not all his technique was there, Heitor could tell that if he wanted to stay partners with Shouyou, he’d have to be able to keep up with him. Which meant he would have to train, and hard.
Heitor smiled to himself.
When Hinata Shouyou was ten years old, he participated in his first tournament.
It was a youth tournament for ages ten to fourteen.
They placed third.
The medal hung in his room proudly.
When Nicholas Romero was nineteen, he signed his first autograph.
“You’re Nicholas Romero!” an orange-haired boy exclaimed. “You were on the national Brazil youth team and soon to represent Brazil globally in the upcoming years! What are you doing here?”
Nicholas rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s not every day I get recognized,” he let out a nervous laugh. “I’m not exactly a household name yet am I?”
“But you’re so cool!” Shouyou waved his arms around like crazy. “You’re going to be super-duper famous soon I just know it! And one day I will beat you!”
“Beat me?” At this Nicholas smirked. “Don’t you have to be taller to make that happen?”
The boy got a sour look about him and Nicholas suddenly felt guilty, maybe that was the wrong thing to say. But the boy didn’t seem to take it to heart and sent back a retort with even more determination.
“Just you wait! Maybe I can’t beat you today! Or tomorrow! Or in five years! But one day when you least expect it I will beat you! Make sure to remember the name Shouyou Hinata!”
Nicholas found himself admiring the kids' determination. “Well Shouyou Hinata,” he held out his hand and the kid stared at it in amazement. “I look forward to that day.”
Shouyou took Nicolas' hand and gave it a firm shake. Nicholas turned to leave but the boy cried out.
“Wait!” he yelled.
Nicholas turned around to see the boy frantically padding around his pockets for something. He eventually pulled out a black sharpie. And looked very pleased with himself.
He ran up to Nicholas and handed him the sharpie.
“You’re going to be big one day so,” The boy bowed his head. “Would you please sign my shirt!” he yelled.
Nicholas was caught off guard. Sure sometimes big volleyball fans would recognize him, but that was very rare. No one has ever asked him for his autograph before. He felt a sense of warmth spread through him that this boy believed in him that much.
Nicholas uncapped the pen and the boy’s eyes lit up as he turned around. Nicholas signed the shirt on the left shoulder, though it was hard since the Shouyou was practically vibrating with excitement.
“Thank you so much!” Shouyou shouted, jumping up and down.
“No problem.” Nicholas laughed. The boy had no idea how much this interaction meant to them either.
Instead of leaving, as he had previously planned, he said instead. “Do you maybe want to toss a ball for a bit?”
Shouyou looked like he was about to faint. “R-really?” he stuttered.
Nicholas smiled. “Maybe I could even show you a thing or two.”
Shouyou’s eyes were so wide Nicholas thought they were going to explode.
Hinata Shouyou was thirteen when he and his partner won his first tournament.
When Hinata Shouyou was thirteen years old, he started hearing a name being whispered on the beach he called home.
Ninja Shouyou.
After years of practice. Help from coaches. Asking for advice from people he’d played against. Even getting advice from some pro beach volleyball players he managed to run into by chance on the beach. And more practice against all types of players (old, young, experienced, new, locals, tourists, etc). People started to take notice.
“I hear this kid is crazy talented.”
“Can jump nearly four meters in the air.”
“He’s only thirteen years old.”
“He and his partner won the last junior tournament this summer, didn't you hear?”
Shouyou couldn’t help but smile.
When Hinata Shouyou was fourteen, his mother asked him his thoughts on moving back to Japan.
When Hinata Shouyou was fifteen, he said goodbye to the beach, his friends, and Brazil.
When Hinata Shouyou was fifteen, he walked through the doors of Karasuno High School for the first time.