Chapter 10: The Little Giant
Despite Aoba Johsai's volleyball club adhering to a weekly Monday rest day, for Kaedehara Taiichi, this day seemed incapable of suppressing his passion and dedication to volleyball.
The joy of leveling up—the transformative process from nothing to something, from clumsy to proficient—drew him in like magic, making it impossible to stop.
So, he chose to head to a nearby park alone that day to practice serving, reveling in the happiness and focus of immersing himself in the world of volleyball.
In the park, Kaedehara Taiichi sweated it out alone, tossing and hitting the ball repeatedly, practicing the basic motions of serving, striving for precision and power with each attempt.
Not far away, a man with medium-length hair wearing a hoodie caught Kaedehara Taiichi's attention. He glanced casually in Taiichi's direction, his eyes seeming to reveal a hint of curiosity and appreciation.
He felt oddly familiar, but Taiichi couldn't place him. Since he seemed familiar, he must be a volleyball player, right? Kaedehara Taiichi silently queried the system in his mind.
"Umenai Tenma, not a high school player, not included in data statistics."
It's him! The former ace spiker of Karasuno's volleyball club, known as the "Little Giant" for his small stature yet immense skill, who led Karasuno to nationals. He was Hinata's idol and the spark that ignited Hinata's volleyball journey. That iconic TV silhouette had lingered in the minds of countless volleyball fans.
His short black hair in high school had a commanding presence, and now his medium-length wavy hair was… well, quite soft and cute.
This was an opportunity not to be missed. Kaedehara Taiichi dashed toward his target.
"Hello, are you Umenai Tenma-senpai?"
Surprised at being recognized, Umenai Tenma replied, "And you are?"
"Nice to meet you, Little Giant-senpai! I'm Kaedehara Taiichi, a middle blocker from Aoba Johsai. I started playing volleyball because I saw your heroic figure on TV!" Kaedehara Taiichi said quickly, without a hint of embarrassment. Sorry, Shoyo, I'm borrowing your reason.
"Eh, really?" Umenai Tenma eyed the high schooler, at least 180 cm tall, with skepticism.
"Absolutely! But senpai, Karasuno has a new Little Giant now, and he's a huge fan of yours."
"Haha, really? I didn't realize I was that amazing back then," Umenai Tenma said, scratching his head sheepishly.
"Senpai, can you teach me volleyball?" Kaedehara Taiichi looked at him hopefully, holding out the volleyball.
"Huh?" Umenai Tenma was caught off guard. Were high schoolers this bold nowadays?
"Is it because I'm from Aoba Johsai?"
"No, it's just that I haven't played volleyball in a long time," Umenai Tenma said, without much regret.
"How come?" Kaedehara Taiichi played along, though as a manga reader, he already knew the reason.
"It feels nostalgic," Umenai Tenma said, taking the volleyball from Taiichi. "I'm studying at a university in Kanto now, and I've found other things I'm more interested in, so I stopped playing after high school."
Kaedehara Taiichi glanced at the sketchbook beside Umenai Tenma. "Senpai, are you planning to draw manga?"
Umenai Tenma was startled. How did he know? He hadn't told anyone. But in Japan, aspiring manga artist wasn't a hard guess.
Umenai Tenma admitted it with a smile, his eyes sparkling with creative passion and anticipation. "You're right. I have a story about a zombie swordsman I want to tell through manga."
Kaedehara Taiichi nodded. "Can you tell me about it, senpai?"
Umenai Tenma felt a bit shy, but seeing his junior's eager eyes…
"Alright, let's head to a nearby family restaurant and talk over food."
---
"That's a skeleton-form swordsman. Knowing only a false death, he doesn't understand true death—"
"His only companion is a mute crow…"
"Oooh, such a cool concept!"
Two people, older than their years but still chuunibyou at heart, eagerly discussed Umenai Tenma's manga ideas in the family restaurant.
Umenai Tenma's tone carried a hint of mystery and bashfulness as he described a world vastly different from the volleyball court—a realm of a zombie swordsman's adventures, life-and-death choices, and courage and conviction transcending mortality.
"Zabish needs to make a super cool entrance to save the heroine from enemy attack. The enemy must be someone Zabish knew before becoming a zombie. The heroine is key to Zabish's path back to humanity, and she's got to be cute, strong-willed, with her own fighting spirit, but still evoke a protective instinct—"
When he got excited, Umenai Tenma became unstoppable.
"Then what?"
"Then, the hero and heroine embark on a journey together." Honestly, Umenai Tenma had been stuck on the opening, with no thought given to the rest of the story.
"You haven't thought about the later plot, have you?" Kaedehara Taiichi looked at him, guessing why Umenai Tenma's future manga, Zombie Swordsman Zabish, serialized in Weekly Shonen BYE, got axed.
"I was just focused on drawing a good short story, so I haven't seriously considered the rest," Umenai Tenma mumbled, wiping sweat from his palms. Why did he feel like he was being scolded?
As a transmigrator, Kaedehara Taiichi had many great works from his past life in mind, but Umenai Tenma surely had his own story to tell. Interfering now wasn't right—better to help him refine his story sooner.
"So, Umenai-senpai, what's the heroine's concept? She's not just a mascot, right?"
"She's the tsukkomi character, kind of like the hero's partner, I guess."
"Speaking of which, what exactly is the hero? And earlier, I meant to say—zombies and skeletons are different concepts, right?"
"Haha, but skeletons are cool…" Umenai Tenma tried to dodge, then gave up. "Fine."
"If the heroine's the tsukkomi, the hero can't just be cool, right?"
"Should he have a goofy side then?"
"That balance seems tricky—won't it turn into a gag manga?"
"Hmm… And the villain's concept, the hero's goal, the story's setting—Umenai-sensei must have thought about those, right?"
Umenai Tenma shrank a little, like a scolded child, looking pitifully at Kaedehara Taiichi. "Taiichi-sensei, please guide me!"
They locked eyes, then burst out laughing.
"It feels like we're actually creating something!"
"I'm serious, you know!" The two continued their discussion in the family restaurant, unaware that time had slipped into evening.