::HQK:: Sakai Takayuki

Ooh the pressure of applications and volleyball and aPPLICATIONS /prays

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Name: Sakai, Takayuki

Nicknames: Takoyaki, Taka-chan, Sekai-kun 

Gender: Male

Age: 17

Nationality: Japanese

Height:  5’8 ( 173.5 cm )

Weight: 144 lbs.

School: Yamakiri Danshi Gakuen, 2nd Year

Likes:

- Volleyball

- Chinese and English Language

- People that work hard

- Cold Weather

- Pizza

- Baking

- Video Games ( Nintendo Games, especially )

-  Rice Balls ( Onigiri )

- High heights

- Doing Receiving and Jump Serves

Dislikes:

- Talking about his knee

- When people lick their fingers after eating chips

- Deep Pools /  Non shallow part of the Ocean ( Drowning Trauma )

- Mosquitoes

- Milk

- Tomatoes

- Sour Gummi Worms

Personality:

Takayuki is very optimistic, always seeing a bright side to the lowest of situations. He’s down-to-earth, and still likes to be bright and cheerful, and easily learns how to accept trial issues, always wanting to find ways to solve them. He’s also very easy to impress, due to the fact he can’t do a lot of things- or so he believes.

Though he’s optimistic about most things, he’s very insecure about himself and his own abilities, and is easily anxious when the topic is about his own talents and skills. He’s very serious about volleyball, and is always observant of what he needs to take note. He also can’t handle being the centre of attention or being on stage, and he tends to end up wanting to cry because of it.

He likes being background support.Takayuki always remembers details and likes to jot them down in a pocket notebook or a clipboard he has around with him for volleyball use. He can be pushy in terms of making someone do their best and pushing themselves to new heights, which some people tend to dislike about him. He can’t help it though, he just wants them to achieve things that he can’t. He also won’t mention it, but though he loves volleyball, he’s also afraid of playing the sport himself after his injury.

Bio:

Sakai Takayuki was born into a family of Bakers. His father focusing on breads, while his mother focused on pastry. Growing up with his older sister they always loved to play around outside, and at elementary, while in the park they saw a group of teenagers playing volleyball. Of course, being a kid that Takayuki is, he wouldn’t really care, but his sister was already in Middle school, and she was easily swayed to try. Being her only sibling, Takayuki was dragged into playing with her. Of course, at first he didn’t want to, he would say that game was just for girls.

That was until she brought him to one of the games of her middle school boy’s volleyball team. It seemed much more powerful when he watched them play, and it made him want to start playing with his sister more often. It was the last year of elementary when it happened, and he started to enjoy volleyball as much as his sister did. He even watched all the games of his sister’s middle school. His sister was already a second year middle schooler at the time too.

The next year, he wanted to be a part of the team when he got to the middle school his sister was in, but he didn’t make it the first time he tried out. It broke his heart and it made him become less courageous to try doing it a second time, but his sister pushed him and told him that being sad will never change the situation, so he should still do it because she knows that he likes volleyball— so he tried again.

The second year, he actually made it in as a libero. He was so excited and he worked hard to play in games, and he was doing great. At the time his sister already moved to High school, and she was a still a player herself. Everything was going so smoothly until 3rd year in middle school  came, and in one game in their league, went too far to save a ball from getting caught in, that he jumped  to reach for the ball and landed straight wrong on his knee. He got a severe ACL injury after that, and couldn’t continue the match.

He learned that he’d need surgery because of what happened to him, and that he’d need to go through a lot to be able to walk again properly- for about a year, and it made him so unhappy for that whole extent. At the time, it was already time to move to another school. By his parents’s choice, he was chosen to go to an all boy’s private school, Yamakiri Danshi Gakuen, because they thought it’d be good to not have any girls as a distraction in his high school life. That time he was still rehabilitating from his knee injury, and they asked him about if he still wanted to pursue volleyball. After all the struggle he went through his leg, he’d become afraid of the sport he loved so much, so he didn’t want to partake in the sport as a player. 

He can’t lie to himself though that he doesn’t love the sport anymore, and by the time he was a second year, he could walk properly and jog sometimes again. He can’t do any intense running yet, and he’d probably get fully well by his third year. He still thought about volleyball a lot. He didn’t know what he wanted to do. His sister suggested an answer for him though when he consoled her. She told him to at least be the manager, so he can help the team without fully playing and moving around too much at least. He thought it was a great idea- well, since his sister said so, and took the spot for being the Snow Leopard’s manager.

Additional info:

- To motivate himself to walk more as he goes on his journey to fully heal his leg, he walks around with his pet huskies Blue and Sky.

-  He does tend to cry when he’s embarrassed, because he’s a baby brother like that.

- He has high respects for anyone older than him because of his older sister being such a model for him.

- He’s protective over his sister though he’s the younger one.

- He copes with his lack of playing volleyball by reading volleyball magazines and books.

- He absolutely admires people taller than him since he’ll never get taller- or that’s what he believes anyway.

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Sakai, Takayuki © Hourglass34