Haikyuu - I Am A Different Hinata!

It was around nine in the morning when the Karasuno bus stopped in front of the school to let all the players off.

"Man, I slept the whole way back, but I'm still tired!" said Sugawara, yawning as he stepped off the bus.

"Yeah, it was really tough in Tokyo. At least we got very few penalties on the last day!" observed Ennoshita.

"Thank goodness! After spending days mostly losing, especially against Nekoma and Fukurodani... it was really fun to have a moment of glory!" said Tanaka, smiling as he got off the bus.

"IT WAS SO MUCH FUN TO PULL OFF MY SETS AND MAKE THE PLAYS WORK, SEEING THE LOOKS ON THOSE PRETTY BOYS' FACES WHEN THEY WERE COMPLETELY SHOCKED!" Nishinoya shouted energetically, jumping from the top step of the bus stairs all the way to the ground, ignoring the other steps.

"Listen up, everyone!" Takeda said, stopping the group as they were heading toward the gym.

"We've arrived in Miyagi at a decent time, and it's still morning. However... Ukai-kun and I decided it wouldn't be good to push you any further today, so you're all free to go home or do whatever you want," Takeda said with a smile.

"But remember, tomorrow we'll train as usual. Just because your skills and new techniques have improved a bit doesn't mean they're at 100% yet. We can't lose focus if our goal is to make it to Nationals!" Ukai said in a serious tone.

After Takeda and Ukai's speeches, all the volleyball club members were dismissed. Hinata went straight home, where he was greeted by Natsu and his mom, who bombarded him with questions about what happened in Tokyo. It took him almost an hour to convince her that nothing bad had happened and that he was fine. After that, they started watching TV together, which coincidentally was showing a volleyball match between the Brazilian national team and the United States national team.

"Wow, son, I don't know much about volleyball, but isn't that attack really complicated?" Hana asked after observing the classic Brazilian team attack, where the players executed a synchronized play that ended with a powerful spike by Nicollas Romero.

"It is complicated, but for a professional team as strong as Brazil, doing that is like breathing. Even Karasuno, our team, has been practicing synchronized attacks, and we're getting a lot better!" Hinata said with a confident smile.

"My son's team can do something that impressive? Then I'd better get ready for when you're famous as the best player in the world!" Hana said, smiling.

"It's not that big of a deal, Mom!" Hinata retorted, his focus still on the game, particularly on Nicollas Romero, who was considered one of the best players in the world. There was no way Hinata could compare to him... everything Romero did was top-tier, from his incredibly fast and powerful serves to his equally strong spikes and his receiving skills. He was definitely a role model for Hinata.

"HEY, SON! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BREAK YOUR HAND, ARE YOU? LOOK AT HOW HARD THEY HIT THE BALL!" his mom said, alarmed by Romero's power.

"Relax, Mom... no one at the high school level comes close to that guy's power!" Hinata said, laughing at his mom's concern.

The next day, after waking up, Hinata went through his usual training routine. After taking a shower, he headed straight to Karasuno for another day of practice as planned.

"Alright! Now that everyone's here, Takeda-sensei has something to tell you," Ukai said after gathering all the players.

"Well, I've managed to get the bracket for the October tournament, which will decide who represents our prefecture at Nationals. As most of you probably already guessed, since we made it to the finals in the previous Interhigh, we won't have to play in the qualifiers. The teams that made it to the quarterfinals are exempt from that, which means we won't be playing in any official tournaments until October!" Takeda declared.

"So we'll have a little over a month to prepare for the next tournament!" Ukai added.

"That's really good. More time to polish our skills before using them in official matches!" Daichi observed.

"I think it's bad! I wanted to use my new spikes in official matches as soon as possible! Besides, it wouldn't make a difference because we'd definitely win. None of them would come close!" Tanaka said with a confident smile.

"Tanaka, don't get too full of yourself. We can't underestimate any opponent. We haven't won anything yet, and we haven't been to Nationals. We have no right to act like that!" Sugawara warned.

"I heard one of the teams has a guy who's two meters tall!" Kinoshita said.

"WHAT? TWO METERS?!" Nishinoya exclaimed, surprised.

"Wait, how did you find out about that?" Kageyama asked, slightly curious.

"Well, I have a friend who goes to Kakugawa, and this guy is kind of a celebrity there. Since they're not a very strong school... having a guy who's two meters tall helps draw attention," Kinoshita said, shrugging.

"Oh my God... I already thought Hinata was tall... but two meters... that guy could probably step on me like an ant..." Yachi said in a scared tone to Kiyoko, who smiled.

"Well, height is important in volleyball, but if you don't have enough skill and practice, you can easily be outplayed by someone shorter..." Kiyoko commented.

"Don't worry about the two-meter rookie. As Kinoshita pointed out, their school isn't very strong, so there's a chance they might not even qualify!" Ukai said.

"Hmph! You'd have to be really bad and incompetent to not be good at volleyball when you're two meters tall!" Tanaka said with disdain and a hint of envy.

"Enough talk! Let's start practice!" Ukai declared.