Drift Fleet: Application

[lightweight]

IN-CHARACTER:
Character name: Hinata Shouyou
Character journal: lightweight
Series name: Haikyuu!!
Canon notes: taken from post-s1! (that’s e25!)

Species: human!!! very… jumpy human.

History: yaaay anime play-by-play

Personality:

Hinata Shouyou has been described as a kid with limitless energy, a ball of athletic talent, and (my favorite) intense. They’re easy assumptions to make; and they’re all correct. Hinata is a very straight-forward guy, incredibly easy to read, and although that may be seen as a fault to some, it’s actually not at all. In fact, the bulk of his tactical worth to his team on the court is just that: his genuine, straightforward spark.

Hinata’s position is that of a decoy; on the court, he plays with sheer determination, and draws the attention of the other players so that their setter, Kageyama, can psych them out and create an opening to score. He does it well, constantly forcing teams to split their defensive lines in order to accommodate for the possibility of the most devastating attack their team has to offer: a freak quick attack, where Hinata closes his eyes and spikes the ball as hard as he can--the ball that Kageyama literally pinpoints his set to deliver right into his palm. The technique alone is something that defines Hinata as a person. It requires him to be 100% trusting, doing so on a level most would expect impossible; after all, why would anyone ever trust someone that much? But that’s the shock value of Hinata’s personality. He’s honest and earnest, and easy to read, but no one can believe he’s as intense as he is.

Hinata has more sheer determination than anyone he’s ever met. Most people, when faced with dire straits like being the only one who wants to be on a sports team in their school, would probably give in. Hinata told his middle school counselor that he’d be the only player, and trained by himself and, on occasion, with his friends. When it came to training for high school, he trained with the girls’ team, with mothers who played, and with the few first-years he’d managed to get to sign up near the end of the year. He did anything it took to be ready; even when he lost his first tournament, during which he frightened his teammates by saying they hadn’t lost yet when it was clear that they were going to get injured if they got any more desperate to close the 10-point+ gap between their team and the opponents, he didn’t give in. He turned it into fuel to move forward. This pattern repeats itself later in his first high school tournament, when Karasuno lost to Aoba Johsai; he fought through the pain, and decided that he was never going to lose again.

Hinata’s radiance doesn’t ever really quit, and there have been times it’s nearly been dangerous to himself! He didn’t have enough players on his team, even with the three first-years, to play a tournament in middle school. His friends cared so much about him and the goals he’d worked so hard for that they joined his team after their respective sports teams’ seasons ended so that he could enter just one tournament. He’s consistently inspiring his teammates at Karasuno, not by giving speeches, but by shining so brightly in his earnestness that they can’t help but feed off of it. In one match, Kageyama actually noted that Hinata’s intensity was what made him the perfect decoy: he had needed to set the ball to another player and nearly didn’t, just because he was so focused on what Hinata was doing that he was about to toss to him instead. And that feeding goes both ways! In the face of heavy circumstances, Hinata picks himself up. In the face of inspiring words, or any slight instance of team spirit, his energy reserves seem to recharge to full. He’s a positive person who both draws in and radiates that positivity.

While he is “a ball of raw athletic ability,” though, Hinata is not exactly the genius Kageyama is. Kageyama’s schoolwork doesn’t usually turn out the best, but on the court, he’s constantly thinking and calculating. Hinata doesn’t really get to do much of either. His schoolwork suffers a lot at times, even though he tries his best, and it’s taken him months of training to start thinking about the consequences of his attacks in the middle of matches. Their captain, Daichi, actually encourages Kageyama to use Hinata as a tool near the beginning of the series, and the two of them are referred to as “an oni and his iron club”. It’s not until later that particular match that Hinata finally does something that requires some strategizing on his own, and he starts breaking away from Kageyama as the two of them being a set.

All in all, Hinata is a great kid. He’s respectful of his elders, grateful for anything he’s giving, hard-working, determined, and honest. He’s a great teammate, and a wonderful and playful friend, even if he’s not always the smartest. He’s bright in another sense: a literal sunshine child, as the fandom tends to call him, and I’d have to agree. He’s just as intense, and shines just as brightly. He brought the wings back to the “flightless crows of Karasuno,” alongside the team he’s proud to be a part of, and will continue to spread that light of his to everyone he encounters.

Abilities: Really all he has going for him is that he can jump like fifteen feet in the air and he is a literal ball of sunshine.

Augment Skillset: Civilian - Maintenance
Sample:

Huuoooaaaah!! It’s a spaceship! A real spaceship!! Are you telling me I get to help fly one of these?!

[Hinata’s face is bright and shining, the intense orange hair really giving some sort of solidness to that beam. He looks like the sun.]

Are we really in space?! I tried pinching myself, but I didn’t wake up! Are we going to battle aliens, and shoot down their ships like “KABOOM!!”? [There are hand gestures happening, but he’s also holding the camera. This feed is jumbled as all hell as a result.]

Is there space food? Do we get uniforms? [Suddenly, he gasps.]

Is there a gymnasium anywhere?! [The way he yells, you’d think the answer to this question would determine the course of his entire life.

[... and you’d be right.]