Dorky Child

i really didn't like how furudate handled the whole thing. kindaichi and kunimi should've had more focus in the story since they played such a significant part of kageyama's past, but nooo hinata of all people solves it by saying "friends fight!" it wasnt even a fight 😭 i also don't like how some people make it out like kitagawa was losing out on kageyama, like kitagawa didnt appreciate him and karasuno is righting their "wrong" somehow? insane because it really should've been the other way around

The pretty privilege is real bros ☹️

Like from the few scenes we see from kags and oikawa's povs/chapters, as a first year, he appeared shy, quiet, earnest, and very respectful. And while I'm only assuming that Kazuyo started getting sick around his second year and dying sometimes in his third year, how did no one notice this switch?

Not Kindaichi, Kunimi, teammates, or even the coaches when it's there jobs to watch and take care of the children trusted under their care. How did no one notice or question kags becoming sullen, angry, impatient, and more?

Just thinking abt it messes me up bc it's implied his parents and miwa weren't there (often?) so he was really alone most of that time with silence and grief as his main companions, deciding to throw himself wholeheartedly into the one thing that brought his happiness: volleyball

Ok so. I'm just gonna preface this by saying that we never actually got to see Kindaichi or Kunimi's sides to the story, so this is all just a bunch of context clues and guessing. Also this turned into a little bit of a rant. That's just bc Kindaichi is a very special character to my heart. So. 😭

My personal hc is that they did notice. They just didn't view it as Kageyama being hurt. And this is coming from someone who has been through Kindaichi's situation, also at 14/15 years old.(aka having someone I care about slowly start becoming cold and nasty with no apparent reason). And when something like that happens, let's be honest here, the last thing you think about is how that person might be hurting. I remember bawling my eyes out because my best friend turned on me. I was hurt. I was pissed off. And at the time, their feelings meant absolutely nothing to me. Not because I didn't care, but because I was too focused on my own emotions.

This is exactly what I believe Kindaichi specifically went through. All he knew was that out of nowhere, Kageyama suddenly thought he was less than. Kageyama was yelling at him, even when he scored. Kageyama was bottling everything up, and taking it out on him. Kindaichi was 14-15 at the time. An emotional teenager. And for all he knew, Kageyama was just attacking him for no reason.

(I also headcanon that Kindaichi wanted to civilly confront kageyama, just because of the way that he canonically held his tongue until the end. But Kunimi- who canonically fought back more, albeit gracefully lol- told him basically "fuck that guy. He treats you like shit." Also basing this on how Kunimi very clearly thinks kageyama had it coming. Bro had no remorse)

And we don't know how far Kageyama went, either. Was he only nasty during volleyball? Was he horrible to them out of volleyball? We need to consider this, too. Who's to say that Kindaichi never tried but got shot down because Kageyama canonically bottles stuff up? (Which I wouldn't doubt. Kindaichi is shown over and over again, outside of the practice match with Karasuno vs Seijoh, to be a peacemaker.)There's too many unanswered questions to simply assume Kindaichi simply didn't try. (Kunimi I'm less sure about. He was kinda just. Over it.)

As for the coach? Fuck that guy. I'm not even gonna analyze that fucker.

since their first year they consider kageyama a weirdo, in the end. they never made a bond outside of volleyball (if there ever was one in volleyball). then if we also look at the way oikawa treated him, for me it could have also influenced their way of seeing tobio. they were 12 at the time, and i think they were influenced by the fact that "even oikawa-senpai thinks he's weird, so that must be true!" although we didn't see how they actually reacted to oikawa's treatment of kageyama.

conclusion: kitagawa daiichi coach, where do you want to be buried?

There's a very clear shift in Kageyama's personality. He went from being an wide-eyed, quiet kid who was always excited to play volleyball... To an angry, demanding 14yo who doesn't even look like he's having fun but rather playing with the goal of going pro in the future. He yells at people, is dismissive of their limits and would be at the brink of getting benched if only he wasn't so good at the game. I think the question is less "how did nobody notice?" but rather "why did nobody notice?", and I believe (and this is my assumption) that Kazuyo passed away during Kageyama's second year and the change of attitude happened gradually, rather than immediately. Because that's just not how grief works; it extends forever and it has different stages.

So I would say around his second year he became quieter, more apathetic. Volleyball felt empty now that his grandpa was gone, because that was his coach, his best friend and the only one who understood Kageyama's drive. The change wasn't immediately noticable because he was still playing normally, and maybe he was practicing more and more, but that's just how "geniuses" are right? Maybe he's asking to practice spiking until his teammates are begging to stop and calling him crazy. That's just how intense Kageyama is, right?

When third year rolls around, he's gradually more impatient with -- what he sees as -- the lack of progress on the team. He's more demanding now, sending faster and faster tosses and demanding that the others adjusted to it, because that's how you get away from blockers. You simply don't give them a chance to catch up. But, obviously, that doesn't sit right with the others. They can't keep up, not because they're bad or anything, but because surely no one would be able to? And Kageyama grows angrier because he thinks his teammates aren't trying hard enough, they just need to jump higher and get there faster. Kindaichi and Kunimi just happened to be the most affected because 1) they're the same age and are probably paired together most often, and 2) they're spikers.

So, it's nothing personal. Big deal. They only take it personally because he's being an asshole about it. If only Kageyama was better at translating his thoughts, but at this point in the story, unfortunately he's not. As for the coach... He's just a bad coach! Any person who works with kids should know that you are responsible for them, and your job sometimes goes beyond just teaching. You have to be ready for situations like these, in which a child is CLEARLY going through something at home. I don't know how it is in other places, but whenever someone close to you passes away, your parents inform the school so you're given a a few days to grieve. It's not on the law I believe, but it's common practice, so in my mind he should've know Kageyama was grieving...? Idk

Like from the few scenes we see from kags and oikawa's povs/chapters, as a first year, he appeared shy, quiet, earnest, and very respectful. And while I'm only assuming that Kazuyo started getting sick around his second year and dying sometimes in his third year, how did no one notice this switch?

Not Kindaichi, Kunimi, teammates, or even the coaches when it's there jobs to watch and take care of the children trusted under their care. How did no one notice or question kags becoming sullen, angry, impatient, and more?

Just thinking abt it messes me up bc it's implied his parents and miwa weren't there (often?) so he was really alone most of that time with silence and grief as his main companions, deciding to throw himself wholeheartedly into the one thing that brought his happiness: volleyball

Ok so. I'm just gonna preface this by saying that we never actually got to see Kindaichi or Kunimi's sides to the story, so this is all just a bunch of context clues and guessing. Also this turned into a little bit of a rant. That's just bc Kindaichi is a very special character to my heart. So. 😭

My personal hc is that they did notice. They just didn't view it as Kageyama being hurt. And this is coming from someone who has been through Kindaichi's situation, also at 14/15 years old.(aka having someone I care about slowly start becoming cold and nasty with no apparent reason). And when something like that happens, let's be honest here, the last thing you think about is how that person might be hurting. I remember bawling my eyes out because my best friend turned on me. I was hurt. I was pissed off. And at the time, their feelings meant absolutely nothing to me. Not because I didn't care, but because I was too focused on my own emotions.

This is exactly what I believe Kindaichi specifically went through. All he knew was that out of nowhere, Kageyama suddenly thought he was less than. Kageyama was yelling at him, even when he scored. Kageyama was bottling everything up, and taking it out on him. Kindaichi was 14-15 at the time. An emotional teenager. And for all he knew, Kageyama was just attacking him for no reason.

(I also headcanon that Kindaichi wanted to civilly confront kageyama, just because of the way that he canonically held his tongue until the end. But Kunimi- who canonically fought back more, albeit gracefully lol- told him basically "fuck that guy. He treats you like shit." Also basing this on how Kunimi very clearly thinks kageyama had it coming. Bro had no remorse)

And we don't know how far Kageyama went, either. Was he only nasty during volleyball? Was he horrible to them out of volleyball? We need to consider this, too. Who's to say that Kindaichi never tried but got shot down because Kageyama canonically bottles stuff up? (Which I wouldn't doubt. Kindaichi is shown over and over again, outside of the practice match with Karasuno vs Seijoh, to be a peacemaker.)There's too many unanswered questions to simply assume Kindaichi simply didn't try. (Kunimi I'm less sure about. He was kinda just. Over it.)

As for the coach? Fuck that guy. I'm not even gonna analyze that fucker.