Tomoe Oikawa

* Pre-timeskip
* Post-timeskip

## Image gallery

**Tomoe Oikawa** (Japanese: 及川ともえ, *Oikawa Tomoe*) is a first-year student at Karasuno High for majority of the series, and will be a main character in an upcoming fanfiction. Her position in volleyball is a pinch setter, and is Toru Oikawa's younger sister. In her second year, Tomoe joined the Girl's Volleyball Team, continuing as a pinch server and a temporary setter. Her number is 5.

In the final arc, Tomoe retired from volleyball and went to a fashion design college, later graduating and working under the same fashion company as Asahi Azumane by coincidence.

## Appearance

Like her elder brother Toru, Tomoe has dark brown hair that is often let down, with her left side of her sideburns being longer than the other, and her bangs swept outwards while her eyes are the same corresponding color. Tomoe is found to be 'cute' or 'attractive' to many males in her class, and is often asked out by them (to Tomoe promptly rejecting). Noted by her friends, Tomoe has a very slim and athletic build like her brother, and their smiles also match each other's, except Tomoe has more genuine smiles.

The only reason why Tomoe garners a lot of attention from other schools is that she looks almost identical to her elder brother, which irritates her most of the time.

Despite being Toru's sister, Tomoe isn't very tall, she stands at a height of 170 cm (5'5"). She wears the standard Karasuno High girl's uniform, which consists of a white blouse, red ribbon, cream sweater, black blazer, and a grey skirt. When helping out the male's Volleyball Club, she is most commonly seen to wear the Karasuno's volleyball club uniform.

During her second year and in the female's volleyball club, Tomoe wears the standard female's jersey emblazoned with the number 4, which is black and orange in color, with a pair of white sneakers with black details. She also starts wearing black kneepads whenever she is on-court and ties her hair into a ponytail.

## Personality

Unlike her brother, who has a more outgoing and flirtatious personality, Tomoe is quiet, shy, and reserved. In the past, she rarely participated in many school projects because she was too timid and afraid of everyone else. In fact, many people would know Tomoe as Toru Oikawa's younger sister expected her to have similar personalities with him, which sprouted problems for her classmates since Toru is known to be childish and also attractive. This caused Tomoe to have low self-confidence in her abilities, since she is constantly being compared to her elder brother. Tomoe is caring towards anyone who is her friend or not, Reina Naoki notes that "her personality is like wading chest deep in a lake of warm water. It feels sparkling and cool while it’s touching the body, but you know that if you were to dive in, it would feel warm".

Often, Tomoe is easily annoyed and irritated at anyone who relates her to be Toru's carbon copy, and it is shown with a scary but polite smile she wears all the time. When talking to Kotaru Bokuto from Fukurodani Academy during the Tokyo Expedition Arc, Tomoe opens up to him and nearly breaks down crying that she doesn't want to be seen as "Toru's Female Counterpart" and wishes to be acknowledged as her own person. The whole "Toru's Number 2" nicknames since a young age often took a toll on Tomoe's confidence, reducing it to her timid and closed-off personality. However, after talking to Bokuto and showing her skills as a pinch setter during their late-night training, Tomoe starts to have confidence in herself again through the latter's encouragement.

Tomoe is very intelligent and one of the smartest in her class, having high grades whenever there is a test. Her intelligence shines in volleyball too, often analyzing the opponents, noting their strengths and weak points. This skill retains when she joins the Karasuno girl's volleyball team, Tomoe claims even if she is a pinch setter, it doesn't mean she can't be helpful on the team.

During her second-year in Karasuno, her personality had undergone a slight change. She wasn't as shy or timid as before, but still is with it comes to being in the center of attention. Tomoe becomes more confident in her abilities, shown when she made a change mid-game when Haruka Hayase injured herself as a setter, she entered the court as a substitute setter, despite it being the position she hated playing the most.

## Background

During her days at Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High, when Toru Oikawa's volleyball talent began to soar, she was recognized by her classmates and often overheard being called "Toru's Carbon Copy" or similar nicknames, which made Tomoe insecure about her own abilities in volleyball, since she was supposed to be everything Toru was. Tomoe often had conflicting feelings when it came to volleyball back then, always on the edge of quitting because of her team mates bad-mouthing her behind her back, but stayed in the team because her only friends went there.

Tomoe was previously a setter, like her brother, but when she faced pressure of becoming like him, Tomoe instantly dropped her position and opted to be a pinch setter instead, which greatly upset all her team mates in the girl's club, except for her own friends. When Tomoe and her friends graduated from Kitagawa Daiichi, Shineko Tadashi immediately recommended her friends to apply to Karasuno, so they could study together like in Kitagawa Daiichi. Tomoe accepts like her friends, only because she didn't want to leave them and go back to being lonely. This was the reason why Tomoe didn't go to Aoba Johsai, if it weren't for Shineko, Tomoe would have gone to the same school as her brother and probably would've been ostracized from her classmates (noted by Shineko).

## Plot

### Karasuno High Team Formation Arc

Tomoe is first seen along with her friends during the episode and chapter "Five Odd Ones Out", where they appear on the doorstep of the male's volleyball club in Karasuno High asking to join.

### Interhigh Arc

#### Loss and Decisions

Karasuno soon leaves the gym and to Makoto Koharu's family restaurant as a surprise, Tomoe helps out with bringing the dishes to the table while Makoto helps her mother cook the dishes. She and Shineko, Haruka and Reina sit at a neighboring table while Makoto gives a short speech about their loss before telling them to eat and recover their energy. Ukai tells the team to eat up so they can recover and get stronger. The team starts eating and slowly, their emotions overcome them, and started to cry. Tomoe shares a supportive smile with Makoto, giving her a thumbs up.

The next day, Tomoe eats lunch with Reina in Class 4, eavesdropping on a conversation about their third years and how they aren't allowed to continue their clubs because of the upcoming graduation. This greatly shocks Tomoe, who still wants to see the Karasuno team move onto the Nationals with the third years. Later, the second and first years go to the gym, despite there not being any practice, and waits for the third years to come. Just as they are all about to give up hope, the third years arrive and announce, to everyone’s happiness, that they are going to the Spring High.

Ukai soon arrives in the gym as well and holds a meeting. He tells Karasuno that they lost in a match of strength to Aoba Johsai but Shiratorizawa is the overall winner, Tomoe thinks back at how Toru Oikawa returned home last night and broke down crying that he lost to Shiratorizawa again. Daichi announces that Karasuno has only gone to Nationals once, so he intends to get the team back on that court. Tomoe frowns when Daichi announces Spring High will be the third year's last match. However, she acknowledges that the team won’t be able to win in its current state.

Suddenly, Takeda bursts in and immediately announce that they're going to Tokyo, shocking everyone.

### Tokyo Expedition Arc

Hinata excitedly asks Takeda if, by Tokyo, he means Nekoma, and Takeda confirms that they have another practice match against that school, but Nekoma isn’t going to be the only team there. The entire Fukurōdani Academy Group, composed of Nekoma and several other schools in Kanto, often holds joint practice matches; this time, thanks to Nekomata, Karasuno will be able to join the Group. Because Tomoe and her friend group wasn't with them when they went for a practice match with Nekomata, Daichi fills them in on what they did and their members.

However, Takeda isn't sure if they are allowed to come, since they aren't a part of the team, but rather as 'helpers' instead. Tomoe, although disappointed herself, comforts both Shineko and Haruka, but Takeda promises he would talk to the other teams about letting them join as well. That evening, in a team meeting, Takeda announces the training schedule for Karasuno before the summer camp begins. The players are excited until Takeda reminds them of the final exams that are coming up soon. If the players can’t pass, they have to take supplementary lessons and will not be able to go on the Tokyo trip. When Takeda informs that it applies to even Shineko, Tomoe is once again comforting her friend and promising to tutor her.

The next day, during practice, Kiyoko suddenly comes in and introduces Hitoka Yachi as a potential new manager. Tomoe greets her in a friendly manner before welcoming her to the club. After the practice, Hinata and Kageyama approach Tomoe and Reina and asks them to tutor them for the exams. Both girls apologize and tells them that Shineko and Haruka need tutoring, and they need to study as well. However, Tomoe sends them her notes to look over to help. The next day, Yachi's finally convinced to become the manager of the club. The next day, during practice, she's given her team jacket and the entire team poses as they welcome Yachi. Daichi announces to the team that they don’t have a lot of time left before the training camp begins. Shineko starts worrying again, but Reina suggests a study night with Haruka and Makoto, to which Tomoe happily agrees and states it might be a study sleepover. In the end, the five did have a study sleepover.

When Tomoe wakes up and walks back to her house, she is shocked to receive a message from Shineko containing a selfie of her with Hinata and Kageyama with their backs turned, following much taller person. The person was revealed to be Wakatoshi Ushijima, surprising Tomoe greatly as she frantically sent messages to the group chat demanding why Shineko was following him. Shineko replies that it's okay and shortly goes offline, concerning Tomoe.

A few days later, after the exams, the results come out. Tomoe manages to reach top 15 in her class again, conversing with Reina about her results. Takeda calls her and Reina out of class and informs them that they are allowed to go as 'Karasuno's Helpers', to which she and Reina agrees. Tomoe and her companions later arrive at Tokyo, surprised at why Makoto was already there early. Makoto explains that her family restaurant sponsors these training camps and makes their food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then tells them that Makoto didn't need to come with Karasuno since she asked her mother if she could help out here rather than at the restaurant. Feeling exhausted by the amount of surprises she had over the recent weeks, Tomoe lightly punches Makoto and groans that she's going to die because of these surprises.

For the rest of the day, Tomoe gazes in awe and shame that Karasuno has been doing the most penalties out of all the teams, but cheers them on from the sidelines, yelping in fear as a stray ball nearly hit Haruka. Over the next few days, Tomoe and her companions walk around doing their job of being helpers, picking up stray balls and replenishing the team's water and towels. One night, when Tomoe was looking for Shineko's lost water bottle, she stumbled upon Kotaro Bokuto, Tetsuro Kuroo, and Keiji Akaashi practicing together. Before she could leave, Bokuto immediately recognizes her as Toru Oikawa's sister before of their similar appearance. He then requests for her to serve for them while they practice a 2v2. Tomoe, remembering her fear of playing on-court other than being a pinch server, rejects, but is egged on by Kuroo to join. By chance, she was teamed with Kuroo while the opposing team was Bokuto and Akaashi. Tomoe does a jump serve, which takes everyone by surprise, earning both her and Kuroo.

As the practice match continues, Bokuto and Kuroo kept making comments on how Tomoe's playstyle was similar to that of her brother, which irritates her greatly. When it was Tomoe's turn to serve again, Bokuto cheers and tells her to do a 'Oikawa Serve', which in reply, Tomoe sends a powerful serve, albeit missing the court and hitting the wall instead. Out of frustration, Tomoe tells them to continue practicing without her and walks off, arriving at the cafeteria for dinner and angrily eats her food, surprising her friends at her sudden change of demeanor.

The next day, during the practice match with Karasuno and Nekoma, Tomoe and the others see with their own eyes at how good Nekoma was, only to be concerned when Hinata accidentally collides with Asashi because he was distracted. Even when the match resumes, there is still tension about the collision between them. Tomoe agrees when Reina states that Hinata is sometimes formidable, both feared and respected, but he should still watch out for this mistakes. There is a short break in the training camp, Tomoe returns home to rest, but is annoyed by Bokuto, who kept staring at her the past few days before the camp had a break.

On the first day of the break, she and Toru Oikawa are going to return home from *Lil'Tykes Volleyball Classroom* with their nephew, Takeru, when they notice Kageyama approaching them. Kageyama tries to ask Toru for advice, but the latter brushes him off, earning a shocked "eh?!" from Tomoe and tried to convince Toru to help Kageyama. Swallowing his pride, Kageyama bows before Toru and loudly pleads for his help, surprisingly Tomoe as she said that isn't necessary to do. Toru finally accepts after taking a photo of Kageyama bowing to him, much to Tomoe's annoyance, snatching the phone from Takeru before he takes the picture, scolding Toru at his childish behavior. She hears the situation between the two first years, Tomoe is startled by what happened, letting Toru speak, but scolded him to be nicer be he waves her off. Toru remarks that Kageyama’s acting like a dictator by refusing Hinata's request. He adds that Hinata’s the one who has control of the quick attack and not Kageyama; surprising the younger setter with this revelation. As they are returning home, Tomoe slaps Toru upside the head, and when he asked why did she do that for, Tomoe replies was a simple "because you were too rude, nii-chan!".

The second training camp starts at Shinzen High, Tomoe silently remarks at how Hinata and Kageyama had changed slightly, only that night to be irritated by Bokuto when he approaches her and asks her to train with him, Kuroo, and Akaashi again. She rejects firmly, but is surprised when Bokuto apologizes for what he said, thanks to his friends nagging him about his insensitivity. Tomoe responds that was a sigh and tells him it's okay, and she heard a lot of comments like that before and opens up about her confidence issues. She agreed to do practice with him, re-introducing herself to Akaashi and Kuroo to boost her confidence, sprouting her famous line, "I'm not just Toru Oikawa's sister. I'm Tomoe Oikawa!!".

The next day, Bokuto boldly asks Tsukishima to train with him, Tomoe nearly laughs when he was rejected. In the evening, when Tomoe was about to enter the gym to practice with Bokuto and the others, she heard Yamaguchi yelling, which caused her to jump, concerning her friends. Later, when Tsukishima entered the gym, Tomoe scolded both Kuroo and Bokuto many times for their teasing attitude, at one point slapping Bokuto on his arm for questioning Tsukishima's skills.

As the summer passes by, nothing new happens as Karasuno kept getting penalties, but Tomoe agreed with Reina's statement that Karasuno are slowly getting better day by day. Hinata and Lev Haiba joins their training, Kuroo then suggests a match between them, but since there is an odd number of players, Tomoe opts to be the referee, but was stopped by Bokuto saying that if both teams need a pinch server, Tomoe would serve for them. The game begins with both the opposing team consistently scoring points. As Bokuto called in Tomoe to do her winning serve, before she went out on court, she was touched when Bokuto referred to Tomoe's serve as her own. However, before she could serve, Makoto and one of Fukurodani's managers enter the court to stop the match and informs the players that if they want to get dinner before it's too late they need to wrap up their practice. At the fear of not being able to eat, the game is halted and the players begin to leave. The game restarts after dinner, and Tomoe is once again called out by Bokuto, but is cut-off by Kuroo to serve for him instead. She agrees and performs a jump-serve, shocking Hinata as both Bokuto and Akaashi move to intercept the serve, but landed out-of-bounds instead. Tomoe apologizes and states she got too nervous while Hinata praises Tomoe for her serve and irritates her by comparing it to Toru's serve.

The next day, Karasuno goes against Fukurōdani for the last time this summer camp. Before the game starts, Daichi tells his team about the secret BBQ the coaches planned, boosting all of their morale's. Tomoe is in awe that there will be a BBQ, and it was confirmed by Makoto, who knew all along and helped plan it as a surprise. The match between Karasuno and Fukurodani starts, with Tomoe preparing Karasuno's water bottles. Fukurodani wins because of Bokuto's sudden comeback, to which he shows off to Tomoe, but the latter was talking with Shineko, and didn't pay attention, shocking Bokuto.

At the BBQ, Tomoe helps Yachi take some meat from the grilling stations since she's too scared to take some herself and ate a really burnt one by accident. As Karasuno heads home in the bus, Tomoe is awake enough to hear Shineko and Haruka's conversation about the training camp as Shineko asked if they would have one too. Tomoe smiles to herself and falls back asleep.

### Spring High Preliminary Arc

#### Karasuno vs Shiratorizawa

When Karasuno makes it to the finals against Shiratorizawa, Tomoe arrives at the stadium with Shineko, Reina, Haruka, and Makoto, and gather up as many people as they can to cheer for Karasuno. However, Tomoe was intimidated by the much larger audience Shiratorizawa has, which even includes cheerleaders, to which she envies. As her spirits are down, thinking how they could cheer for Karasuno loudly enough, Shineko reveals she and the "Karasuno Helpers" (which refers to them) has been chosen to lead the cheerleading for the volleyball team. Tomoe is shocked and slumps in her seat, sighing that her heart can't take the nervousness anymore. Akiteru Tsukishima then meets the group, surprising Tomoe once again because she had no idea Tsukishima had a brother, noting they shared the same hair color. Reina's mother, Chiaki Naoki, also arrives and places an aura of authority over everyone, making Tomoe nervous again.

When Shiratorizawa stops cheering, Tomoe aids Shineko with cheering for Karasuno, yelling "Fight, fight, Karasuno! Beat them, Karasuno!". When Ushijima spikes. it surprises Tomoe and the others because he spiked with his left hand, since most wing spikers spike with their right. She notes how everyone is nervous about the game and kept making small mistakes, but is soon knocked out of her pessimism when Sugawara starts yelling at the team. She agrees with Haruka when she says that Sugawara is scary sometimes. Tomoe notices Yamaguchi's jump float serve, and thinks how she could replicate that move. Tomoe also notes that despite the imbalance of the scores, Karasuno can still win as long as they keep pushing Ushijima to his limits. However, she and everyone worries about Karasuno's stamina because they have to play five matches, something they've never tried before.

Nearing the end of the match, Karasuno begins to tire out, and Saeko starts a round of cheers for the members along with Shineko. Tomoe eagerly joins in, but they're soon overwhelmed by the louder audience Shiratorizawa has. When Tsukishima dislocates his pinky finger when he blocked Ushijima's spike, Tomoe opted to go, but was stopped by Reina as she volunteered to go and accompany Tsukishima instead. Tomoe attempted to go after her, but Makoto stopped her and shook his head, saying he would be okay.

When Tsukishima returns back on-court, Reina re-appears and says everything is okay, he needs to take it slow. Tomoe returns to cheering for Karasuno, and in the end, they won and Karasuno advances to the Spring Cup. In shock, Tomoe starts to cry and states that she is very happy, agreeing with Haruka about their improvement while Shineko pleads Tomoe not to cry unless she will cry too.

### Final Arc

Tomoe finished her third year in Karasuno before graduating and retiring from volleyball, turning to her newfound passion, fashion designing, instead. She went to a fashion college in Miyagi Prefecture and has become a fashion designer, coincidentally working under the same company as Asashi Azumane. She reunites with several of her former teammates just before the start of the MSBY Black Jackals and Schweiden Adlers game from the male's volleyball club. She and the other soon meet Kiyoko, Tanaka, Makoto, and Reina. Tomoe laughed at the sight of Bokuto doing cartwheels on the court, before shooting him a thumbs up and a smile, to which he waves in reply. Like her former school mates, Tomoe is surprised at seeing Hinata perfectly receive Kageyama's first serve and later openly admires how both team plays.

During the match, Makoto reminds them of another game they have to attend in the same block, but using a different gym. Tomoe and Reina nods in reply. Tomoe thinks back to how much Hinata and Kageyama improved in their playing styles, silently complimenting them for how much they trained for this. Near the end of the third set, Tomoe realizes that Ushijima's spike swing is different than it was back in high school. She states that, while Ushijima has become even stronger physically, his new swing adds power to his spike which makes it even harder for receivers to try to dig. As Bokuto is about to make the winning point of the match, Tomoe remembers the feeling of tossing the ball to the spiker, so that they could win a point. She then joins in the celebration of the Jackals winning the game.

Tomoe, Makoto, and Reina quickly move away from the stadium, only managing to reunite with Hinata, Kageyama, Atsumu, Kiyoomi, and Bokuto briefly before they had to run to the next stadium. They met up with Aoi, who greeted all of them warmly before the match starts. It was revealed the match to be the female team of MSBY Black Jackals against another foreign team, where Tomoe and the others cheered for Shineko and Haruka, who are on the MSBY Black Jackals team. Tomoe cheers for the team, conversing with her friends on how much everyone has improved, which made her feel proud to be their friend. The MSBY Black Jackals win again, and Tomoe celebrates their win alongside everyone else.

As of 2021, Tomoe has become a fairly popular fashion designer in Japan, praised for her designs all over the region. She went to the 2021 Olympics to watch the game, shortly receiving a photo of Asashi and Nishinoya in Egypt as she is seen cheering for both men and women's team for Japan.

## Statistics

 Stamina
 Game Sense
 Technique
 Speed

Being trained by her elder brother since young when she expressed interest in volleyball, Tomoe has nearly the same skillset as Toru, except the only thing she is able to completely learn from him is his accurate and powerful jump serve, which she often practiced from a young age with Toru. Because serving is the only skill she is best at, Tomoe describes herself as 'inferior' to other positions, and only sticks to the position of pinch server.

Tomoe's talent lies in devising strategies from the team, analyzing her opponent's strengths and weaknesses, and also powerful and accurate serves when she is on-court.

### Skill

 Setting
 Spike
 Technique
 Block

* **Jump-Serve:** Like her brother, Tomoe's best skill in volleyball is her serves. Her jump-serve is accurate and powerful, almost on the same level as Toru Oikawa himself. Ever since she saw Toru do his jump-serve, Tomoe worked at the same pace as him to perfect this serve, cheering on her brother at the same time. She serves with pinpoint accuracy, often looking for gaps between members and where opponents can't receive her serves. It is very difficult to return, but several players have managed to get the ball up. When Tomoe becomes a second-year at Karasuno and becomes the official pinch setter for the Karasuno Girl's Volleyball Team, she trains to perfect this jump-serve during matches.

* **Observant Perception:** Both in-game and in daily life, Tomoe has a good sense of his surroundings and can effortlessly read others' moves and emotions. Because of this, she was able to pick up on Kageyama and Hinata's strategy behind their god-like quick attack when they previously used code words. However, Tomoe notes that Reina Naoki is much better at picking up social cues than her.

* **Jump-Float Serve:** After noticing that Tadashi Yamaguchi had been utilizing the jump-float serve whenever he is switched in the game, Tomoe takes it upon herself to learn this serve herself by watching multiple videos on the Internet and train by herself. This move isn't utilized by her until the Second Year Arc, taking her team mates by surprise as she performs a jump-float serve for the first time.

## Relationships

### Family

* **Toru Oikawa:** Toru, often called 'nii-chan/onii-chan' or just 'Toru' by Tomoe, is her older brother. They went to the same schools together and is shown in both the anime and manga to be close. Tomoe looks up to Toru as a 'super cool big brother', but falls short during volleyball matches, Toru notes that Tomoe can never reach his level in volleyball if she keeps up her insecure attitude. As a running gag, whenever Toru does something childish or teases at Kageyama Tobio, Tomoe will slap him upside the head. Despite their differences and shortcomings, the two are shown to be rarely fighting. Tomoe feels the need to cheer on Aoba Johsai during matches just because Toru is there, and also his friends. Toru is Tomoe's inspiration towards volleyball, he was the one who got her interested. Toru feels that Tomoe should have more confidence in herself, but however, by her second year in Karasuno during the national's finals, he states that Tomoe has become a younger sister worthy of being the best sister any elder brother would want, especially to Toru himself Tomoe is seen comforting Toru after he lost against Shiratorizawa in Inter-High, helping her mother make a celebratory dinner for him. Toru returns the favor when the Karasuno girl's team wins their first official match in Inter-High, making Tomoe cry of happiness.

### Karasuno High

* **Shineko Tadashi:** Shineko is one of Tomoe's first true friends during middle school. She approached her when Tomoe was sent to the bench for the first time after missing multiple tosses as a setter, and the two eventually bonded. Tomoe treats Shineko like a sister, almost the same way she treats her brother, Toru. Whenever Shineko does something rude and/or embarrassing, she will slap her upside the head. Tomoe also acts as a dampener whenever Shineko and Haruka Hayase breaks into fights, either restraining Shineko or telling them to stop. She is also highly aware of Shineko's insecurities around her skills and is always the first one to help her when in need.

* **Reina Naoki:** Reina and Tomoe are shown to be close friends, Reina treats Tomoe like a younger sister she needs to protect. Reina is smart and intelligent when it comes to analyzing people, she knows when Tomoe needs help or when she wants to be left alone. Tomoe cherishes her friendship with Reina deeply, and the two are often sharing and comparing strategies with each other in order to look for holes and fix them. Together, Haruka Hayase notes that they are a powerful duo in volleyball, not on court, but off-court. Reina and Tomoe are a formidable duo, Shineko notes that if Tomoe was the Sun, then Reina is the Moon, both girls compliment each other nicely.

* **Haruka Hayase:** Haruka and Tomoe are close friends, Tomoe always notices whenever Haruka has her off-days, and tries her best to cheer her up. Tomoe notes that Haruka would make a good captain, and support her nevertheless. She cares for Haruka unconditionally, she often tries to comfort her the best she can because Tomoe knows that Haruka is a sensitive person when it comes to people's opinions. In return, Haruka protects Tomoe like a little sister. Because Haruka is a setter, Tomoe often shares her brother's tips on setting whenever she can. When Haruka injured herself during a match in their Second Year, Tomoe switched in as a temporary setter for the rest of the match.

* **Makoto Koharu:** Both Makoto and Tomoe understand each other deeply, they both initially bonded over the love for music, and thanks to Shineko, later bonded over the love for volleyball. Makoto took an instant liking to Tomoe when they first met, and Tomoe is surprised that Makoto is the heir to her popular restaurant famous among sports teams. Tomoe often relies on Makoto to receive balls whenever her serves are received by the opposing team, Tomoe considers Makoto to be one of the better receivers in the group.

### Other Schools

* **Kotaru Bokuto:** The two first met during the Tokyo Expedition Arc, Bokuto first recognizing her as 'Female Oikawa', which irritated Tomoe greatly. They got off on the wrong foot until Bokuto calls out to her again when she was making rounds around the academy, looking for Shineko's missing water bottle. He insists for her to practice with him and Tetsuro Kuroo as a pinch server so they could practice their receives and tosses, which intimidates her because they were really tall. Mid-match, during one of Tomoe's many serves, Bokuto offends Tomoe multiple times by comparing her to Toru Oikawa, to the point Tomoe serves a ball strong enough and accidentally goes out of bounds. Bokuto notices how he offended Tomoe and apologizes afterwards, and Tomoe opens up to him about her troubles. He decides to help her practice her volleyball skills. After that, the two are shown to be close friends, even after the training camp. During the end of the training camp, Bokuto asks Tomoe out on a date, but she rejects but gets his phone number so they could talk. It becomes a running gag whenever Bokuto and Tomoe meet, he constantly asks the latter out but she rejects him. Even so, they remain close friends even after Bokuto graduated. She is often seen cheering for Bokuto during his matches, giving him a confidence boost off-court. Interestingly, whenever someone else teases Bokuto about having a girlfriend or a boyfriend, Tomoe grows disappointed and distraught, hint that she also may hold feelings for him. This was confirmed true when Bokuto leaves for a match in Sendai City Gymnasium during the Final Arc, Tomoe gives him a kiss on the cheek before he leaves, surprising the latter.

* **Tetsuro Kuroo:** When Tomoe first met Kuroo, she was instantly intimidated by his height and avoided talking to him because he looked like a gangster. However, over time during the training camp, they became friends and kept in contact even after she graduated from high school, along with Bokuto and Keiji Akaashi. Tomoe notes that Kuroo is probably one of the best captains she has seen, third to Toru Oikawa and Daichi Sawamura. Tomoe calls Kuroo 'Kuroo-senpai' because of his jump serve. In turn, Kuroo calls her 'Tomoe-chan'.

* **Wakatoshi Ushijima:** It was revealed by Tomoe that Ushijima actually knows her house address because he followed Toru Oikawa home at one point to persuade him to join Shiratorizawa Academy. That day, Tomoe got a shock and she describes it as 'nearly having a heart attack' when he showed up. Ever since, Ushijima has become a household guest and comes over at least once in every three weeks to talk and have tea together. Tomoe says that every time Ushijima visits the Oikawa Residence, Toru is either out with his friends or locked in his room, refusing to come out. Because Toru complains to Tomoe a lot about Ushijima, she developed a habit of calling him as 'Ushiwaka-chan' by accident.

## Quotes

* *"Me? Well, I only got into volleyball thanks to my brother, but it was fun. In the end, I still love volleyball, but the amount of expectations set on me because of my brother got too much so I quit my previous position to a pinch server. Even though I might've quit at that point, but my friends helped me get over it, and I still want to play as much as ever!"* To Kei Tsukishima, Volume 10 Chapter 89 / Season 2 Episode 8

* *"You were really cool back at the stadium!! Your serves were amazing and I admired the way you had trust in your team mates. So don't come home looking sad and stuff! Be proud you lost, at least you went down in flames of glory! I'll work twice as hard to be at your level one day, nii-chan!!* To Toru Oikawa.

## Trivia

* Pre-timeskip concern: Always being compared to her elder brother.
* Post-timeskip concern: Not meeting the deadlines for her assignments; getting scolded by her boss; oversleeping
* Favorite food: Melon-flavored bread.
	+ She shares similar favorite food with Ryunosuke Tanaka.
* Her star sign is Cancer.
	+ By coincidence, Tomoe shares the same star sign as Toru, the creator didn't notice until she read his trivia section.
* The one-word description for her character arc is: "Confidence".
* Tomoe's original name was Frisk Lee, but the creator changed it because they thought it didn't sound 'Japanese' enough.
	+ The idea of becoming Toru Oikawa's sister didn't emerge until the creator couldn't decide on a backstory for Tomoe without it being 'boring'.
* She is the only person out of her friend group to not have a regular position in volleyball, being a pinch server.
* During her free time, she helps take care of her nephew Takeru and the other children at *Lil Tykes Volleyball Classroom* with Toru Oikawa.
* Makoto Koharu notes that Tomoe is actually very strong.
* Tomoe's jersey number in the Girl's Volleyball team is after Shineko's number, together they form a duo, since their numbers are 3 and 4.
* Her scores are very high in exams, and she tutors Shineko Tadashi whenever the exams are around the corner.
* Tomoe was the first character the creator had fully fleshed out than all their other Haikyuu!! original characters.
* According to Toru Oikawa during a QnA session in Volleyball Monthly, he mentions Tomoe and says that she always wanted to be an idol.
	+ Truthfully, Tomoe did want to become an idol, but she was scared of the large fanbase she would amass and having to deal with stalkers and creeps.
	+ Even though her childhood dreams of becoming an idol was thrown away, Makoto Koharu has noted that Tomoe has a very good singing voice.
* Kotaru Bokuto keeps asking Tomoe out on various occasions, but the latter always rejects him.
	+ Strangely, whenever someone teases Bokuto about dating another man or woman, Tomoe gets disappointed and visibly distraught, hinting she does have feelings for him but is constantly rejecting his advances.
	+ The creator relates their relationship to that of Aoi Akane and Akane Aoi from Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun.
* **Nomenclature:**
	+ Tomoe (ともえ) - *Blessing in the form of a friend*
	+ Oikawa (及川) - *Reaching the river*