Together, Always. [Kageyama Tobio]

Pre-story. You and I

Year 2001

Hiromi was running around the beach while her parents were relaxing under an umbrella and her sister was drinking lemonade. She loved running and the feeling of the wind blowing her hair away from her face. It made her feel like she was flying, leaving everything behind her. Running had no limit, it could go on forever like a never-ending journey and that's what she loved about it the most. She aspired to become one of the best marathoners.

Somewhere else on the beach, Tobio was playing with his volleyball, tossing it continuously while his family was sitting on a huge blanket, eating and chatting away. He loved volleyball and dreamed to become a star setter one day. He loved the feeling of the ball in his hands, handling it and deciding its path. It gave him the feeling of being in complete control. Every time he successfully tossed the ball to his target, it was very satisfying.

This time, he wanted to toss the ball towards a stone some distance away from him. But it wasn't a success for the ball promptly went and hit a girl's head, who seemed to have materialized out of nowhere. The impact of the ball caused the girl to fall on her butt and the ball fell on her lap.

Tobio quickly made his way toward the small girl and helped her up. "Are you ok?" he asked, soothingly patting her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you."

The girl, now holding onto his volleyball, smiled. "It's ok, I'm fine." She looked at him properly this time. For some reason, she thought that he looked like a blueberry. That thought and the worried look that he still had on his face made her smile even more and giggle. "Here is your ball, blueberry."

He tilted his head in confusion. "Blueberry?"

"Yes, you look like a pretty blueberry."

He no longer looked worried. "Then you are a hero because you saved my volleyball with your head."

This caused her to giggle again, "Not hero. I am Nakai Hiromi. What's your name?"

"Kageyama Tobio. Can I call you Hiro, it sounds just like 'hero'?" he asked.

"Mhm, I think it's cute. And can I call you Tobio?"

He nodded in response. "Hiro-chan, do you want to play with me?"

"YES, TOBIO-CHAN!" she squealed, glad to have found someone her age to play with. They both took hold of each other's hands and ran off to enjoy the rest of their time at the beach together. The two four-year-olds were already best friends.

After playing volleyball, racing each other across the beach and playing all sorts of other games, Tobio won three of the games and Hiromi won two of them. They both were very competitive and turned every single thing, even making sandcastles into a competition. Quite exhausted, they decided to head over to their families.

When the two kids walked back to where they were, they saw that their families were together. When the kids asked their parents if they knew each other, their parents informed them that they were in fact, next-door neighbours. This made the two extremely happy because this meant that their time together was far from over.

They all head home together since they lived in the same place anyway. The long bus ride home was fun for Tobio and Hiromi as they sat together and argued about who would win more times in all the competitions that they would have. Once they reached the bus stop, they decided to race each other to their houses.

"I am going to win!" Hiromi boasted confidently.

"No, I won more games at the beach, so I'll win," Tobio shot back.

"We'll see."

And with that they were off, leaving their families behind, running like there was no tomorrow. They didn't stop even when their parents told them to wait. They ran until they finally reached their destination, Hiromi reaching there first, winning the competition.