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Hitoka Yachi (Japanese: 谷地 仁花 Yachi Hitoka) is a first year student at Karasuno High. She is one of boys' volleyball team's managers.
Appearance
Yachi is a petite, young girl with blonde hair that goes slightly past her chin and light brown eyes. She usually wears colourful star hairclips or hairbands on the left side of her head in a side ponytail. She is normally wearing a cheerful expression. She has been noted by some guys (Yahaba, Kindaichi, Yamamoto and Yamaguchi) to be cute.
Personality
She is shown to be paranoid with an overactive imagination, causing her to be intimidated by others a lot, and then having to apologize for being judgmental based on appearances and first impressions. She had to apologize to Hinata for thinking he was a manager because he was short, then to Coach Ukai when she thought he was a fanboy of Kiyoko that may be trying to kill her. She is also very timid and innocent which is shown when she blushes and covers her eyes when the volleyball team changes into their uniforms in front of her. She later has become better at overcoming it by voicing the fact that she is nervous, something she told Yamaguchi when he became nervous about facing Seijoh again.
She seems to underestimate her own importance and deems herself incapable even though she has a lot of good qualities as Hinata points out later. She is quite clumsy and gets nervous easily but always takes care of others and tries to cheer them up if they are in a bad mood.
She is seen as a very curious and tidy character who jots everything down immediately and has clean, organized notes–also because of her mother being a graphic designer. Due to this, she involuntarily becomes Hinata and Kageyama's tutor when they failed their exams.
Background
Her mother is part of a design company, which may leave her at home alone a lot, or sometimes (depending on her schedule).
Yachi had been recruited by Kiyoko as her replacement for when she graduates. Initially, she only agreed because she didn't join any other club activities. Despite being intimidated by them at first though, she quickly grew to like the volleyball team.
Plot
Tokyo Expedition Arc
After being recruited by Kiyoko, Yachi accompanies her to training and is welcomed quite loudly by the Karasuno High boys volleyball team. She is intimidated at first but warms up to them eventually, especially to Hinata.
Kiyoko telling Yachi about the volleyball club's dream
Still, she feels like she is not fit to be Karasuno's manager as she states she has no idea what volleyball is about anyway and is uncertain if she would be able to be of any support to the team. Kiyoko explains the club's past as the 'Flightless Crows' and says how they're going to make nationals, to which Yachi remarks how it's completely different from her.
As she's going to leave the school, she happens to overhear Takeda and Ukai discussing how the club lacks money for the bus to the trip to Tokyo for their summer camp. Brooding over how she would be able to help the team out with that problem, she asks her mother and tells her about her participation in the volleyball club. Her mother tells her that if she doesn't dedicate herself to it, she shouldn't pursue it further or else it would be rude to the team putting real effort.
Yachi feels discouraged but when she joins further training sessions of the team, she becomes more certain that she wants to be their manager. Kiyoko encourages her and tells her of her experience in her years within the club, saying that even if she doesn't have a strong motivation it'll become naturally important.
Yachi confronts her mother about her wishes to become the volleyball club's manager
Afterwards, she talks to Hinata about her problem and he manages to convince her that even if she feels unimportant, she is, no matter how small her role might seem to her. They go to Yachi's mother and Yachi takes all her courage to tell her mother that she is definitely absolutely going to be Karasuno's manager. Her mother seems to be proud of her definite decision as she apparently never decided something for herself so clearly.
To help out, Yachi asks for Hinata and Kageyama's assistance without telling them exactly why since she wanted it to be a surprise. Her idea was successful: she took some photos of Hinata making the Oddball Quick Strike and made, with her mother's help, a poster to advertise donations for the Tokyo trip.
Before the actual trip, she helps tutor Kageyama and Hinata as she is in one of the university prep classes in their year. She does her best to teach them but they both fail anyway because of their own mistakes.
She is present when Kageyama and Hinata started to fight about the Oddball Quick Strike. After failing to calm down the two, she goes looking for help. Luckily, she finds Tanaka, and they both stop the two from further injuring each other. She appears distressed over their argument yet tries everything she can to fix their relationship again.
She is often seen training tosses with Kageyama and is helping out however she can during the summer training camp. During the BBQ party, she gets flustered over the abundance of tall players. Others comment that she looks like she's being harassed by scary men, when in fact they are merely offering her better choices of food.
Spring High Preliminary Arc
Since there can only be one manager allowed on the court, she usually watches the team on the viewing balconies. She is often accompanied by Makoto Shimada, Yūsuke Takinoue, and Saeko Tanaka. When Daichi got injured, she, along with Coach Ukai, was responsible for tending to his injuries.
Right before the Aobajōsai High match, Yamaguchi approaches her to ask for some stomach medicine. Seeing him rather pale and sickly, she asks if she could offer him any help. When Yamaguchi tells her about the pressure he was under during their last match against Aobajōsai when he missed a serve and that he is currently under tremendous anxiety, she, out of nowhere, starts to panic also. She even threatens to throw up and claims her heart is about to leap from her chest. This, of course, removes the anxiety from the other players.
While the teams are doing their warm-ups, Yahaba and Kindaichi notice her as an addition to the team. The former is about to approach her when a stray ball starts heading to her direction. Luckily, Kiyoko stops the ball with her left hand, preventing her from getting injured.
During the actual match, she, along with her regular companions, watches in the balconies. When the team won, she joined in the celebration, ecstatic that Karasuno was able to overcome such a huge opponent. Despite being a constant presence on the balcony she has never recognized Ikkei Ukai until the final against Shiratorizawa when prompted by Saeko Tanaka.
Statistics
| High School Statistics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Power | 1/5 | ||
| Jumping | 2/5 | ||
| Stamina | 2/5 | ||
| Game Sense | 4/5 | ||
| Technique | 1/5 | ||
| Speed | 2/5 | ||
As the show continues, Yachi gets progressively better at understanding the complexities of the sport, although she lacks the skill set required to pull off anything she learns. As Yachi was not in any club beforehand, nor does she show any physical prowess, it is safe to assume that she is not an athlete in any sense of the word. Therefore, it is only natural that her statistics are low.
In her ad break segment, Yachi is shown accidentally striking Hinata in the head when she attempts to serve the ball underhand, much to her horror (and Kiyoko's amusement).
Relationships
Kiyoko Shimizu
Kiyoko was the one who recruited Yachi. Stunned by Kiyoko's beauty (even calling her sexy), Yachi unthinkingly agrees to attend one of the volleyball club's practices as a way to introduce her to the team. After Yachi joins, Kiyoko is seen to be more open, even making jokes to make her feel more comfortable.
They get along very well, although Yachi was intimidated by Kiyoko's beauty (and her potentially murderous fans) at first. As time goes on, Kiyoko becomes more of Yachi's bodyguard; she protects Yachi from a stray ball about to hit her in the face and defends her from rowdy boys on another team.
At one point, Kiyoko remarks that the third years won't be there next year, Yachi becomes emotional but claims it's a mosquito in her eye when Kiyoko tries to console her.
Madoka Yachi
Hitoka with her mother
She is Hitoka's mother, she works at a design company, and though she works a lot she seems to be there usually for meals and to provide guidance. Yachi's school notes are modelled after what her Mom has taught her of layouts in design.
When Hitoka tells her mother about the volleyball club, she responds saying if she isn't going to be fully dedicated that it would be rude to the people who are. It's said in the spirit of tough love, which is her way of encouraging her daughter to do what she thinks is best. Later on, when Hitoka shouts her own resolution to be the club manager, she's shown to be very proud and tears up in response.
Shōyō Hinata
Hinata running alongside Hitoka
It's possible Hinata recommended Yachi, along with other first years not in a club yet, in a list to help Kiyoko scout a new student manager.
Yachi and Hinata got along well from the very beginning. Hinata encourages Yachi to become the manager. He helps her out with her uncertainty about that and convinces her eventually so that she sets her goal of becoming a good manager for Karasuno.
When Yachi was feeling down due to her mother's harsh words, it was Hinata that took her to her mother and told her to speak her mind, encouraging Yachi to finally stand up for herself and convey her true feelings.
She is seen to be very worried and began to cry for Hinata after his and Kageyama's fight and she tries everything to rebuild their friendship again, for both Hinata's and Kageyama's sake.
Tobio Kageyama
Yachi speaks with Kageyama
Despite being intimidated at first by Kageyama's overwhelming height, Yachi soon befriended him. During the training camp, she stayed with him and threw balls to him so that he could practice his new toss, and was visibly excited whenever he managed to hit a bottle (but also got scared by the face he pulled when he missed).
When Kageyama tried to sneak off in disguise to Aobajōsai to check out the competition, he was spotted by Yachi, who immediately recognized him. Shyly, she told him that plain training gear was a more appropriate disguise as he would fit in easily.
Yachi is not afraid to cheer for Kageyama and Hinata despite her introverted, shy nature, and will often get mad whenever someone speaks badly about the team (although she would never say anything).
Trivia
- Favorite Food: Fugashi[1]
- Current Concern: What she would do if she ended up in a situation where she died or was about to die.[1]
- Her zodiac sign is Virgo.
- Best subject: None in particular, but her English grades are far better than Hinata and Kageyama as she is in an advanced class. As such, she is tasked to help Kageyama and Hinata to get 90 points in their supplementary exams in one go in the second season OVA.
- Furudate gave her this name because: “I gave her the image of earth and plants because Kiyoko-san is ‘water’ (水)."[2]
- Her father was never seen or mentioned, suggesting that Hitoka's parents are divorced or that he had passed away.
- Nomenclature:
- Hitoka (仁花) - Compassion Flower
- Yachi (谷地) - Marshland
Quotes
- "I ended up standing next to such a beautiful girl for nearly two minutes...! What should I do if her fans try to kill me?!" (To herself about Kiyoko, Season 2, Episode 2)
- I've never tried to do something on my own, or had someone need me for anything...So when Shimizu-senpai worked so hard to recruit a Townsperson B, like me, who has no experience or knowledge of volleyball, I was really happy." (To Karasuno team about Kiyoko and herself, Season 2, Episode 3)
- "Townsperson B can fight too!" (To Madoka Yachi, her mother, Season 2, Episode 3)
- "I feel like I'm in some shoujo manga!" (to herself, Season 2, Episode 3)
- "I'm in a jungle of titans!" (to herself, Season 2, Episode 11)