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If Kindaichi Yutarō would describe Kageyama Tobio now, he would say different.
Different than when they were in junior high, on the same side of the court. He was the tyrant king, the dictator whom everyone had to follow because he was a genius. Nonetheless, a bad leader is a bad leader- genius or not. Kindaichi hated being ordered around here and there like a servant. So, he, along with their other team mates rebelled against the king and rose victorious.
After all, you couldn't have a player who no one listened to.
"A ruler everybody hates," Kindaichi murmured once to no one in particular. At that moment, he despised Kageyama more than anyone else in the world. "A king nobody wants to follow. Kageyama, you are doomed to fall."
And fall he did. Kageyama Tobio's defeat came in the form of a whistle blown and the coach's words. From the high, high throne, he burned out and was put in a position he never imagined. Bench. Kindaichi almost smiled but bit back his happiness. They were in the middle of a match after all. But it did feel good when he didn't have to listen to Kageyama scold them.
It was no surprise that Kageyama didn't go to Aoba Johsai. He would go to his haters' lair, a place where all of the people who was angered by him, which wasn't a wise choice. Kindaichi actually wished that he wouldn't study there. A king taking all the attention from the others, but never their respect. He liked being with his comrades, but the king wasn't on his side. Kageyama was on the side of the winners, and all of them weren't champions to his eyes.
"His tosses were the worst," he recalled to himself. Yet, Kageyama was called a genius setter. Why? Just because he had great control and had pin-point accuracy didn't mean that he could toss to anyone of his team mates. He didn't want to step down, so he pushed others with his loud orders to step up. It wasn't the king's fault that they couldn't spike property, no, it was their fault since they couldn't get their on time at the perfect point of impact. Kindaichi would grit his teeth every time Kageyama would put them responsible for a missed point.
"Do you even know how to spike?!"
One of Kageyama's insult buried itself deep within Kindaichi's mind. Whenever he would miss a toss, the king's words would ring out loud and clear that he thought Kageyama was behind him, insulting him. That made him angry but determined. "I'll show you what's the power of a true spiker, king!"
Yes, Kageyama Tobio was a genius. Great at serving, receiving, spiking and blocking. But he wasn't the setter everyone needed.
So, why did this shrimp say that Kageyama's tosses were the best? Was he blind, perhaps? Hit by the king's tosses too many times that he became delusional? Or just straight-out crazy? Never in a million years would Kageyama's tosses work out for someone in perfect synchronization.
But here was Hinata Shoyo, the living proof of the dictator's attempt at humanity.
Kindaichi never believed in the little boy's statements but there was a lingering feeling in the back of his mind that it was never Kageyama who had problems with tossing, it was them- the spikers who couldn't hit it properly. He shook it off and thought to himself, 'Impossible. A king cannot simply abandon his way of ruling that easily.'
Or could he?
A quick that could overcome blocks. An attack that seemed unstoppable. A spike that wasn't possible. Everything that didn't work out for Kageyama and his team mates worked out for him and Karasuno's #10. Kindaichi could clearly see Kageyama Tobio, the genius with a frown on his face but he couldn't catch a glimpse of the cruel ruler that led Kitagawa Daichi to its many wins and became the face of its losses.
"But his tosses are the best." Hinata was telling the truth, Kindaichi later realized. He was stating a fact that was in their face for three whole years but couldn't fully comprehend. He could say, without one doubt, that Oikawa was an amazing setter but when it came to Kageyama, he wasn't so sure. Everyone said that he was great but Kindaichi never spiked a toss that was flawless for him. Always late or early, high or low, too close or too far. All this time, he blamed Kageyama. Not once did he look at his own skills and questioned it.
I'm able to spike it just fine when others tossed it, anyway. Kindaichi knew that mistake in him, now. Kageyama also had some share of the burden because he was the setter but Kindaichi was the spiker. The ball went up but he didn't jump. The ball waited for a hand to smack it down but none came. Kageyama tossed but they already gave up on him.
Why was Kageyama so in sync with Hinata? Maybe the answer was laid out there, for everyone to see. Maybe because Kageyama changed his style. Maybe Kageyama was luckier than before. Maybe Kageyama was really a monster. Maybe Kageyama found out about the essence of team work. Or maybe, Kageyama simply changed for the better.
And maybe, just maybe, Hinata Shoyo was the absolute spiker for someone as skilled as Kageyama Tobio.
Kindaichi always had Kageyama under the vision of the unfairly gifted brat. But the newly-reformed Kageyama wasn't a ruler, nor was he destroying everyone around him. To Kindaichi, he would still think of the setter as a king but that was his truth, not the actual fact. Kageyama was trying to fit in, like an important jigsaw piece that was looking for its place in the puzzle. Now, he found his place in Karasuno. He was high-fiving and smiling and being a reliable setter that he never was to Kitagawa Daichi. The same person, but a radically different persona.
Kindaichi now- after some mulling over -knew that Kageyama Tobio had long given up on his king title and crown, instead, he gained wings.