sawamura daichi

it was always hard to be someone that your friends looked up to - especially as an only child. he hadn't had anyone of his own to look up to, no siblings, no mentors, and relatively involved, but absent parents. sure, they cared, they made sure he was involved with clubs at school and that he had friends and did well in his classes. it was just that they were always busy, they never went to his games or attended his presentations. he loved them, he really did, but some times it felt like he was completely on his own. at least until he met sugawara and asahi.[break][break]the two boys quickly became his best friends, nearly inseparable as they grew up. daichi was the first to get involved with volleyball, it was in middle school when he saw some guys practicing at the park and sat enraptured as they ran across the court and tossed the ball back and forth over the net. the power with which the ball soared and the sound of skin against leather, it was a beautiful masterpiece to the young boy. he quickly ran back towards his friends, a smile on his face as he talked animatedly about what he'd just seen.[break][break]he was certain that they looked at him with confusion on their faces, unsure what he was so excited about. it made sense, asahi had always been gentle and probably wouldn't enjoy the sport. though sugawara was a wild card, there was no predicting what he liked and daichi was always left wondering what was going on in his best friend's mind. so imagine his surprise when he showed up to the middle school try outs the next year and ran into not only sugawara, but also asahi. a grin spread wide across his face as he greeted the two and promised the volleyball club would only bring great things for them. it was their last year in middle school though and they could really only get the basics down, plus volleyball wasn't that big of a thing at their school. at least he had fun during practice and in the games, he couldn't really say the same for his friends, but he hoped they felt the same.[break][break]daichi was more than excited to hear that both asahi and sugawara were going to be joining him at karasuno high school - the place where the little giant used to play, the great crows of japan. he couldn't wait to be on a great team, to play volleyball in a really competitive scenario. except daichi wouldn't get that. the great karasuno had fallen from grace. they weren't even a team to be reckoned with at tournaments, seen as a joke. what a terrible experience for the first year. he'd been so tempted to quit, to give up on the very sport that he'd grown to love and had tried so hard to become excellent at. it'd only been because asahi and sugawara had stuck with it, well, sugawara stuck with it longer.[break][break]if he had thought his second year would be better than the first, he was dead wrong. nearly all of the third years left or stopped showing up, leaving it up to the very few second years and the new first years to try and come together as a team. it was even more difficult than the previous year and daichi just grew even more frustrated. the hardest part, in his opinion, was seeing the potential in all of his friends. in seeing the way that they could grow and how that could lead to karasuno being a great volleyball club again, but that was only a dream, wasn't it? there was no way daichi could turn the team around himself, no matter how hard he tried.[break][break]despite how much effort he put into the volleyball club, he hadn't been expecting to be made captain in his last year. captain. what a joke, he wasn't a leader. he wasn't someone to look up to. but he was going to take this title and be the best he could. he wasn't going to let his team down, he was going to be the best captain he could be, was going to bring karasuno back to the spring tournament, back to success and victory. it seemed impossible, asahi had quit, sugawara was.. well, he's suga. nishinoya wasn't the same without asahi being there and the first years seemed impossible. a shrimp who couldn't hit, the "king of the court", a tall kid with an attitude, and a scaredy cat. how was he supposed to help shape this rag tag team into champions? at least they got coach ukai (the kid, not the old coach ukai) to become a part of the team, that was something, right?[break][break]everything had started to look up though as the team fell into a pattern. daichi felt sorry for sugawara as he was benched in favor of the first year, kageyama. it wasn't fair, he knew it wasn't, but suga was generous and he knew it was for the best of the team. if only everyone on the team could think like that. at least nishinoya and asahi were back on the team after some struggle and overcoming fears it was a struggle the first few games, but they got into a rhythm. a good pace to be successful and that's what they did, they won and won and won. they continued to win until they reached aoba johsai. pesky oikawa and his floating serve was what brought karasuno crashing back down. it was heartbreaking, daichi could feel the sullen mood around his whole team. but honestly, he couldn't be happier. he had seen just how far they could go, just how much they had accomplished in such a short time. he knew that the next tournament would be a different story, that with more practice and more training then karasuno will be one of the great japanese powerhouses again.

honestly there's two sides to daichi, his personal side and his volleyball side. his volleyball side is very competitive and driven. he doesn't back down from things when he's presented with them and he's definitely not in the mood for nonsense - even to the point of berating his teammates when they get up to no good at practice or at games. he has a strong desire to succeed and win and he strives to bring the best out of his friends. he really wants to see them all do well and achieve their true abilities and he thinks this can only happen if they put in the effort. daichi is very much a play hard, work harder type of guy, emphasis on the work harder.[break][break]as for his personal side, daichi is a lot friendlier. he's easily approachable and friendly, often being considered "popular" to other people. though, this is mainly because he's often wearing a smile and always has a hand to lend to help someone out. he's not really a jokester, but he does know a good joke when he hears one (honestly, how can he not when his best friend is a pun master). he's also a really good listener and often considered the 'dad' of his friend group because he's always looking out for and taking care of his friends. he really has their best interest at heart and wants to see them all happy.[break][break]due to his several years of volleyball training and conditioning, daichi is in rather excellent condition. he's a distance runner rather than a sprinter, so his stamina is very high. he's also got a powerful spike and receive, as well as a strong serve. he takes great care to keep in shape, often running and working out outside of the mandatory volleyball practice (often dragging sugawara with him as well). it's said that his greatest aspect is his thighs, they could kill a man. that, or his evil eye when he gets pissed off at something.