Kuroba Hayato

On a bright, breezy Sunday, a handsome black-haired boy stood beneath the midday sun, leaning against the iron gate of a two-story detached house with "Kuroba" on the nameplate as he waited for the moving company to arrive.

In contrast to his delicate features, his bulging muscles and height of over 190 centimeters made him look extremely intimidating. The bandage wrapped around his forehead made him seem even more like a delinquent who had just finished a fight.

The boy idly played with his phone, giving off an unapproachable air. Just then, a girl emerged from the house to his left. She appeared to be around 160 centimeters tall, with beautiful shoulder-length black hair, a small beauty mark below the left corner of her mouth, and pink-framed glasses perched on her petite nose. Yet her lively eyes were not hidden by the glasses at all; instead, they shone with intelligence.

Her clothing, however, was rather plain. A simple tracksuit covered her entire body, wasting such a fine figure.

The boy merely glanced at her before looking away. They did not know each other, and staring would have been quite rude.

The girl had just stepped outside when she was startled by the giant over 190 centimeters tall standing at her doorstep. Then, she involuntarily narrowed her eyes, walked over to him, and stared at his face.

Unable to keep looking at his phone under her gaze, the boy had no choice but to turn and look at her.

"Um? Is something wrong? I'm not suspicious or anything..."

Before he could finish, the girl seemed to suddenly realize something and clenched one hand into a fist, tapping it against her other palm.

"Could it be... are you Hayato?!"

Having his name called out surprised the boy as well. Looking at the girl before him, a name suddenly surfaced in his mind.

"Kiyoko-senpai?"

"Ah, it really is you! It's been so long. Didn't you leave for Tokyo with Uncle Koichi after graduating elementary school?"

The Uncle Koichi Kiyoko-senpai mentioned was the boy's father, Kuroba Koichi. His wife had unfortunately passed away while giving birth to Hayato, so he had raised Hayato alone with great difficulty.

Before Hayato left this place, he and Kiyoko-senpai, the girl next door who was a year older than him, had been childhood friends. After he graduated elementary school, Koichi had taken the still-young Hayato to Tokyo because of a job transfer.

"Yeah, because of another transfer, my old man's heading overseas. I happened to be injured, and I'm not really interested in going abroad, so I talked it over with him and came back to my hometown. I'm planning to continue school at Karasuno High here."

Hayato pointed at the bandage on his forehead as he explained. Perhaps recalling the past, a faint smile appeared on his handsome face.

"Ah, what a coincidence. I go to Karasuno High too."

"Really? Then I look forward to your guidance, se~n~pai."

"Cut it out. Oh, right, I'm the manager of the Volleyball Club now. With your height, do you want to try playing volleyball?"

Kiyoko smiled gently and slapped Hayato, who had drawn out the word "senpai." Then she stood on tiptoe to compare their heights. The gap between them was still enormous.

Caught off guard by the question, Hayato froze for a moment before laughing.

"Sure. Since you're asking, Kiyoko-senpai, I'll come visit the Volleyball Club once I finish my transfer procedures."

At that moment, a moving company truck pulled up and stopped in front of the Kuroba house. The window rolled down, and a middle-aged man wearing a cap looked at Hayato.

"Hello, are you Mr. Kuroba Hayato? I'm Takeshita from Seining Transportation. Sorry to have kept you waiting."

"Ah, that's me. It's fine, I haven't been waiting long. Can you help move the things inside now?"

Hayato waved it off. Then, with help from the movers and Kiyoko, all four or five boxes were brought into the entryway. Since the house had been unoccupied for a long time, a thick layer of dust covered the wooden floor there. Looking at the house that needed a thorough cleaning, Hayato let out a heavy sigh. Could I really finish cleaning all this today?

"Looks like this place needs a major cleanup. Are the water and electricity connected?"

"Yeah, I took care of that before coming back. As long as nothing's broken, they should work. Sorry, Kiyoko-senpai, for making you help."

Hayato scratched his head awkwardly and spoke apologetically.

"What are you apologizing for? Go get some water. I'll help you."

"Huh? Didn't you come out because you had somewhere to go, Kiyoko-senpai? It was already troublesome enough to have you help move the boxes. How can I make you help clean too?"

Hearing that Kiyoko wanted to help, Hayato hurriedly tried to stop her, but Kiyoko simply patted his arm without a care.

"It's fine. I only came out to buy a reference book from the bookstore anyway. I can do that anytime, but if you don't finish cleaning this place today, you won't be able to live here."

"Then I'll be counting on you, Kiyoko-senpai."

After Kiyoko returned home and brought back cleaning supplies, the two of them first removed the dust covers from the furniture. Once they confirmed the water and electricity worked, they filled some water and began cleaning.

"Still, I never expected you to still be living here, Kiyoko-senpai. I thought your family had moved away ages ago."

While cleaning, Hayato knelt on the living room floor and wiped it with a rag as he chatted with Kiyoko.

"No. The nameplate at my front door has never even been changed. You definitely didn't look when you came over, did you?"

"Hehe, I guess I didn't notice. Mainly because it was so hot at noon that I couldn't focus."

"Yeah, yeah. You've always been so careless, ever since you were little."

Kiyoko, wearing an apron as she cleaned the stove, replied without turning around.

Chatting while doing the deep cleaning kept things from becoming too boring, though it did slow them down. Still, before dinner, they successfully cleaned the living room, bathroom, and Hayato's room. After working all afternoon, both of them were starving, so at Kiyoko's invitation, Hayato went to her house and shared a lavish dinner with her family.

Kiyoko's parents, who had not seen Hayato for a long time, were also deeply moved. They had never expected the little tagalong who used to follow Kiyoko around to grow into someone like this.

After saying goodbye to the uncle and aunt who had tried to keep him there, Hayato returned home. Before he left, Kiyoko had reminded him that they would go to school together the next morning, and she would take him to see a teacher to handle his transfer procedures.

Back home, Hayato lay on his bed and silently stared at the ceiling.

"Karasuno High... I should have realized it the moment I learned the name of the school I was transferring to. This is the world of Haikyuu!!"

That was right. The boy named Kuroba Hayato was not truly himself anymore. Su Yun, a descendant of Yanhuang, had already replaced him. Originally the captain of a provincial volleyball team, he had unexpectedly transmigrated into Kuroba Hayato, who had also been in a car accident, during his own accident.

Half a month had passed since his injury. He had thought he would simply live on like this, but he had never expected to end up in the world of Haikyuu!!.

"Kiyoko Shimizu is actually my childhood friend. I wonder how Tanaka and Nishinoya would react if they found out."

At that thought, Hayato laughed happily. Then he raised his arm and clenched his fist toward the ceiling.

"Since I've come to this world, I won't keep drifting through life like this. Karasuno High, this time, we'll definitely spread our wings at the National Championship. The championship will be mine—no, ours."

With a new goal, Hayato's eyes brimmed with fighting spirit. He could not wait to meet the members of the Volleyball Club. This time, they would not fall in the quarterfinals. This time, even if Hinata caught a cold, they would have him. This time, everything would be different.