𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐄 ⇒ sugawara koushi

⇒ prologue

THE KAWAMOTO SISTERS
always had a strange type of relationship. From the start, the contrast between the two was evident to just about anybody. Although two years younger, Kawamoto Shiori had always felt a duty to protect her older sister from the evil of the world. She was bold and outspoken, never filtering her words or caring what others- specifically adults- thought of her. The girl, although young, was quite clever and found it easy to get her way. She made friends easily and people seemed to want to be in her presence. She was affectionate and likable. Everything seemed to go so easily for her. Unlike her elder sister, Kawamoto Hanae, who was everything on the contrary. Although older, she was quieter and had difficulties making friends and relating to those around her. She was gentle and kind, too pure for the world and the manipulation held in it. She held respect for her elders, and always followed the rules. Her teachers would describe her as a bright and intelligent girl, but naive.

The first time Shiori herself took notice of the difference between them went way back to when she was around four. In a park, near a small group of kids all around Hanae's age, the pair of sisters were peacefully practicing one on one apart from the group until three girls came up to them.

"Hanae, we want your ball," the middle girl of the trio stated, crossing her arms.

"W-why, whats wrong with your ball?" Asked Hanae, looking behind the girls to see their ball left behind on the ground in perfect condition.

"Nothing, but we want that ball," she answered, pointing at the ball in Hanae's small hands. "So give it to us or you can't hang out with us anymore! We'll leave!"

Hanae instantly went to hand her the ball, eager to keep the 'friends' she had made, only for her younger sister to jump in front of her.

"Then leave," Shiori demanded, glaring up at the older girls with a shrug. "Why do we care?"

The girl, enraged with the younger sister's interference, pushed her down and went back to Hanae.

"So what do you say?"

Hanae, without a single look at her younger sister, handed the ball over to the girls who only smirked. Shiori, with watered eyes, jumped back up and tried to snatch the ball back from them.

"Leave us alone! You have your own ball to play with!"

"S-Shiori, stop," Hanae quivered, scared of the girls in front of them, who only rolled their eyes and replied,

"Fine. We don't want your stupid ball anyways. Tsk."

One of the girls threw the ball at Hanae, hitting her in the head and causing her to fall to the ground. As the group walked away, the main girl suddenly fell to the ground thanks to the strong impact of the volleyball that had been spiked her way by a certain troublemaker.

"You can hurt me, but you can't hurt nee-chan! Now go away!"

And before the situation could escalate any further, their parents stepped in and the rest was a blur to Shiori, but she would never forget what she had remembered. It was soon after that event, that she came to realize that her sister was not as reliable as she thought.

Hanae was enrolled in volleyball lessons not too long after the small incident. There, her true talent and love for the sport was unrolled for everyone to see. She practiced every day after school, and often times little Shiori tagged along to watch, despite the fact that she had accidentally been hit in the head with multiple balls, several different times. She even found herself acquainted with two boys who tagged along to watch on their free time, a boy with blonde hair and the other with freckles, at least that's what she remembered. What she also remembered, was that when they did go to watch, they also practiced by themselves separately (with the supervision of their parents, of course). This was when Mr. and Mrs. Kawamoto soon realized that their other daughter was also, quite into the sport, and something told them that this would become a problem in the near future.

Years later, they found that they had been correct. Kawamoto Hanae was the best volleyball player on her team. She was brilliant and everyone knew it, but... Kawamoto Shiori was a volleyball prodigy, especially for her age. She was only 8 and she could easily beat half of the players on her elder sister's team. This worried Hanae a significant amount. For her whole life, she had shared everything with her younger sister. Was it so wrong to have wanted something to herself? And so she went to her parents to beg for them not to send them both to the same middle school. She couldn't bear it. This was because then, they would have no choice but to be on the same team and she didn't want to share the spotlight with her any longer. Shiori overheard this conversation and was devastated. It was true that she loved volleyball but, she would rather be with her sister and not play than be apart from her sister and play. So that's how she finally arrived to a conclusion.

Soon after, she quit playing volleyball to attend the same middle school as her sister. Even so, by no means did that mean that her adoration for the sport had ended. No, no, no, in fact, it only grew more. So every summer while her sister would be off at training camps, she would go to the beach with her parents and practice volleyball all summer with random folk who passed by.

And now, Shiori was entering her first year at Karasuno High School, and Hanae into her third year. Little do they know, another competition would soon arise between the pair.

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unedited