Kotaro Wakatsuki

**Kotaro Wakatsuki** is a second-year at Johnan Public High School and plays the position of **outside hitter** on the boys' volleyball team. He wears jersey number 5.

## Appearance

Kotaro is considered short, with a height of 172 cm. He has green eyes and short, spiky orange hair. He is not as muscular as the other boys on his team, but he is fast and can jump relatively well. He is often seen with a cocky or confident expression on his face. He considers himself attractive, and this opinion is shared by a couple girls at Johnan, but not many.

## Personality

Kotaro is usually very confident and considers himself an amazing player. He is always coming up with new nicknames and logos for himself, usually based on his speed, and is also prideful, since he considers himself to be very attractive. However, this confident front hides his real insecurities - he's shorter than most hitters, and setters, especially Akira, tend to use him as a decoy instead of giving him sets he can actually use to score. He thinks this is because he's short, and it annoys him. His mood can change really easily, so his teammates, especially Katta, are quick to compliment him on something if he shows signs of getting angry or irritated, since he is quite simple-minded. He really likes attention.

## Plot

### Johnan Volleyball Team Transformation Arc

Kotaro got a chance to show off his high-speed spikes during the practice match against Akira and Katta, and worked on his skills as a decoy as part of Akira's "Transformation Plan." He was annoyed that Akira wasn't paying enough attention to him, though, and was dismissing him, so that made it hard for the two boys to work together. He did improve on his own, though, and was noted to have gotten better by some members of the girls' basketball team, who were observing their practice.

### Kanto Preliminaries Arc

During Johnan's matches against Nanyou, Kotaro proved to be not very skilled in receiving, and his bad passes caused Johnan's opponents to score. Nanyou started aiming their serves at him, but he didn't get discouraged. He kept trying, and even when hard serves hit him in the face, he kept smiling confidently and declaring that he wouldn't lose. His optimism and persistence inspired the rest of the team, and they continued to try their best. Finally, he was able to receive one of the serves, and Akira was able to make a good set. Kotaro then showed that he did have *some* skill in digging, because he was able to save a blocked ball and keep the rally going. This dedication led to Johnan winning against Nanyou.

During a practice before their match against Seiryoh, Kotaro tells Akira that he wants *all* the hitters to be used to win in their coming game, not just Katta. He reminded the setter that all the hitters had skill and that they could all be useful. Akira considered this. During the actual match, Kotaro was used as a decoy lots of times, and this started to eat away at his self-confidence. He felt that his short height was a burden to the team and that Akira didn't trust him enough to let him spike, since he was setting to Katta and Yagibashi more than him. He felt overshadowed by Yagibashi, and told him so during one of their time-outs, but Yagibashi grabbed his shoulders and revealed that he actually looked up to and admired Kotaro. Kotaro was surprised by this, but it helped him mend his opinion of his teammate and later, even when Yagibashi got to hit more and Kotaro was used as a decoy again, he was able to smile and support Yagibashi. He did get to attack a few times, too, and that made him happy - as did Johnan's tremendous victory at the end of the match.

## Relationships

### Suguru Yagibashi

Kotaro and Suguru usually get along during practices, but during matches, Kotaro feels overshadowed by Suguru because he is often used as a decoy to distract from his teammate's attacks and isn't set to as much as him. Suguru actually really admires Kotaro, though, and deeply appreciates his work as a decoy, which helps Kotaro change his opinion of him. They are both second-years, but Suguru is in a higher class than Kotaro.

### Katta Oosawa

Katta often compliments Kotaro on his high-speed spikes, which makes Kotaro happy and proud. He tries to be the coolest senpai he can be so he can show off to Katta. His new nickname, "The Bumblebee," was also inspired by a comment Katta made about how his fast spikes remind him of the sting of a bee.

### Johnan Boys' Volleyball Team

Kotaro gets along decently with the rest of his team, but he can be difficult to deal with if he isn't getting the attention he wants. He also gets yelled at by Akira and Moriguchi sometimes, but he is usually able to take constructive feedback well and uses it to improve his spikes.

## Trivia

* He is in second year class B, one class lower than Yagibashi.
* He wants to grow 5 cm taller.
* He believes that "all a man needs is Yazawa (a Japanese rock band), a leather jacket, a bike, and a silver accessory."
* Before he joined the volleyball club, he was a member of the track and field team. He didn't like how serious and strict it was, though, and he started to disobey everything he was told. Once he saw the volleyball team, though, he decided to join, since he would be allowed to play with his own style and be free to do things, like spike, however he wanted.