Tatsuki Hirai

* Pre-timeskip
* Post-timeskip

## Image gallery

**Tatsuki Hirai** (平井 辰生 *Hirai Tatsuki*) is a first-year student from Inarizaki High and the ace of its volleyball team.

## Appearance

Tatsuki is a tall young man with sharp eyes, broad shoulders and a large wing span. He has a muscular yet lean physique along with tanned skin and mid-length, slicked back dark brown hair. He most notably has incredibly flexible arms and legs. He is often seen with a wide smile on his face.

## Personality

Tatsuki is a stubborn but reliable teammate, often filling in Atsumu's spot as a morale booster if needed. He acts supportive to all, including his opponents, and calls Atsumu out for his childish antics. He often resorts to violence with Atsumu whenever he teases or provokes him, but this does not change the fact that he cares immensely for him; as shown when he makes an effort to stop his team from either working too hard or losing confidence.

Tatsuki's firm-yet-caring attitude has led some members of the Inarizaki team to look up to and respect him. His underclassmen often gravitate towards him and he is seen giving calm and light-hearted advice, which can contrast to how he treats Atsumu. He is also very respectful and does not treat his rivals coldly, as Durand still treats him respectfully and has acknowledged his skills.

It is also been noted that while Tatsuki can be strong and intimidating, he also has quite the goofy side where he loves pranking and gets excited when he finds new ways to poke fun at his teammates.

## Background

Tatsuki was born in Ine, Kyoto and came from a long line of fisherman. He first got introduced to volleyball by his older brother, Shūgo, when he was 5 years old and immediately fell in love. Over the years he would stay out late to practice spiking with his brother, who was a setter and constantly worked hard to improve his technique. Growing up, he would assist his uncles and grandfather with the family business and helped carry the fishing coolers to and from the boat. Years of working and constantly moving around and on the fishing boat helped him develop a strong muscular build and superior balance.

Hirai often struggled to deal with incredible amount of fitness that was needed and struggled to improve on his stamina. One day, he was watching the 2013 Spring High National Tournament as his brother was representing Inubushi Higashi High . Whilst watching the tournament, he became a big supporter of Inarizaki High for their incredible team play and volleyball might. He was fascinated by the intense energy and play that occurred during the Karasuno vs Inarizaki match, and particularly admired Rintarō Suna and the Miya brothers; hoping to play alongside them one day. Coming out of Junior High, he was regarded as one of the nation's top wing spikers and praised for his excellent spiking skills. He turned down a scholarship offer from Inubushi Higashi High in favour of joining the Inarizaki High School Volleyball Club who had also offered him a scholarship.

Tatsuki became the lead wing spiker in his first year, filling the void left by Gojiro Aran. The captain, Atsumu Miya, would go on to assign Rintaro Suna to teach him his signature wide-range spike and receive specialised training on performing serves by the captain. Inarizaki would eventually go on to win the 2014 Spring High National Tournament with Tatsuki as a starter. By the beginning of his second year in high school, he became the ace of the volleyball club and was regarded by volleyball monthly as being one of the top aces in the nation. He came into the 2015 Spring High as the prefecture's top hitter but developed bronchitis just before he was supposed to play in the quarter-finals. Inarizaki then went on to lose in the quarter-finals.

## Statistics

* High School 1st Year
* High School 2nd Year
* High School 3rd Year

 Stamina
 Game Sense
 Technique
 Speed

 Stamina
 Game Sense
 Technique
 Speed

 Stamina
 Game Sense
 Technique
 Speed

Hirai is one of the top talents in the nation, considered one of the top 5 aces in Japan even as a first-year. He is an incredible all-rounder with remarkable skills in both offense and defense; excelling at serving, receiving and spiking. He is shown to have a large arsenal of attacks, consisting of feints, wipes, straights, and crosses. While he possesses great power behind his spikes, Hirawa's defining ability is his spin; where he makes use of unconventional spikes and serves to overwhelm opponents. His technique, consistency, accuracy make one unique shot, allowing him to hit razor sharp line and cut shots through the smallest gap or hitting in between blockers with a good enough spin to force the ball through. Even if one can get under the spike the strength behind the hit makes it hard to dig. Hirai's left-handed allows him to put a different spin on his spikes, enhancing his firepower to the highest caliber. Since most teams are only accustomed to spikes from right-handed players, most have a tough time dealing with his spikes, in addition to his unconventional spikes. By the 2021 Olympics, Hirai is regarded as one of the fastest volleyball players in history and is narrowly bested by his national teammate, Shōyō Hinata.

**Jumping Reach**:

* 1st Year: 340 cm
* 2nd Year: 347 cm

**Blocking Reach**:

* 1st Year: 318 cm
* 2nd Year: 324 cm

**Post-Timeskip**:

* Jumping Reach: 360 cm
* Blocking Reach: 335 cm

### Skills

* **Hypermobility**: Hirai's unique and most outstanding quirk is his abnormally flexible wrists, which can bend until his palms are touching his forearms. This allows him to add a particularly nasty spin to his spikes and serves, making them difficult to block and receive, even if one is positioned correctly, the ball will still ricochet wildly leading to wipes. Hirawa incorporates this spin with his southpaw spin to further amplify his offensive powers, and it is considered the hardest spike to deal with. The spin is such that when he first started using this skill, he could ricochet a ball between 2 walls in a corner because of the immense spin.

* **Spiking**: Hirai used to specialise in the cross spike, but has now perfected his straight spike instead and eventually improved it to a level where it cannot even be touched by his opponents. The straight shot became so accurate it often hit the edge line itself. He also kept improving his cut shot till it reached the same level as his straight, being able to hit the inside attack line on the court. This means Hirawa would always have a weapon and way to score be it straight or cut shot, or any of his other offensive abilities. He is also talented at performing wipes and has a good ball sense to pick which hit will lead to an easy score.

* **Stamina and Speed**: Hirai is known as the fastest player on his team and has incredible reflexes and mobility. He also has seemingly unlimited stamina. Hirai can easily go from the left to the right side of the court before his opponents can even react. He is also not just extremely fast but his acceleration and deceleration is masterful, being able to break his speed in an moment's notice.

* **Receiving**: Hirai is a highly skilled receiver, being considered one of Inarizaki's three best defenders. His specialty is serve defense, and is able to smoothly transition from a receive to a run-up for a spike.

* **Jump Serve**: Hirai has a powerful jump serve enhanced by his wrist flexibility, giving it a unique spin and making it difficult to receive. It is powerful enough to easily score a service ace on defensive specialists. He is able to accurately target places such as the seam between player and often scores service aces since the spin of the ball makes it difficult for defenders to receive.

* **Feints**: Another of Hirai's most well-known attacks is the feint shot. While he does not use this method much, he has demonstrated that he is able to perform it at a moments notice and has a high success rate when using it. As he is an ace that uses unique spin, he is able to catch his opponents off-guard when he uses the feint.

* **Post-Timeskip Skill Parameter:**

 Setting
 Spike
 Technique
 Block

## Relationships

### Inarizaki High

* **Rintarō Suna**: His mentor and friend.

* **Atsumu Miya**: His mentor and friend. Hirai admires the incredible ability of his former captain and thinks very highly of him.

### Kumazawa Academy

* **Alexandre Durand**: Durand and Hirai are known as the ying & yang of the high school volleyball world, due to their contrasting nature despite being hailed as the next top aces of Japan. Hirai is known for his impressive technique, precision and speed, while, Durand possesses extraordinary physical ability with his height, power and jumping ability. After meeting in the Spring Tournament in their first year, they became sworn rivals and since then have faced off numerous times with varying results. Despite their heated rivalry, off-court they are on very friendly terms and call each other by their first names.

## Trivia

* Favorite Food: Chicken Katsu curry.
* He won the 2014 Spring High National Tournament.
* Current Concern: His spikes aren't powerful enough.
* His father owns a construction company.
* His parents met while they were both on holiday in Okinawa.
* He has stated that his dream team includes:
	+ **Setter =** Atsumu Miya
	+ **Middle Blockers =** Rintarō Suna & Hideki Ishida
	+ **Wing Spikers =** Himself, Wakatsu Kiryū, Alexandre Durand
	+ **Libero =** Motoya Komori

* **Nomenclature:**
	+ Tatsuki (辰生) - Living Dragon
	+ Hirai (平井) – Flat well