Backstory

His story starts not with him, but rather, his parents. His mother is a florist, and his father helps with the business with what he could, whether it’s taking care of their finances or stuff of that sort. They were just married a few months ago, and had thought long about having a child. Though, as they’ve been informed that their unborn child had underwent a miscarriage a few weeks ago, their spirits were dampened. It was that day that they were taking a walk in the nearby park across in the city of Shenzhen. And near a bridge, they saw a box, with what seemed to be the cries of a baby. There seemed to be no one else that batted an eye to the box. And, when they opened it, they were surprised to see what’s inside nevertheless. It was a baby boy, with a handwritten note on top that was a heartfelt plea from the parents of the child to take care of him. It wasn’t long before the boy was taken into the house of his family, his new family. And, he was given a name by his parents that reflected where they were first united with him. The Treasure under The Great Bridge, Jasper Leung Li-Wei, as he was taken back to his parent’s residence in Hong Kong.

In his early days, he was often mistaken for a girl. His chubby cheeks, and his beaming smile on his face was one of them. Though, the main reason was that Jasper was dressed up in the clothes of a girl, as his parents initially anticipated the birth of a baby girl. His clothes were often violet, which explains why he now has an affinity for the color. It didn’t take his parents long though, to buy him proper clothes for boys. And as Jasper grew up in his parent’s care, he was given the love and care that was above and beyond. His parents spared a lot of their time to care for a baby Jasper and to fill his needs as an infant. And, as he grew up slowly but surely, he became a bit familiar with his parent’s greenhouse. It was small, but he and his parents lived comfortably, and that’s all that mattered to the small family. And in the small greenhouse, it was there that Jasper spent a lot of his early days, whether it was him bathing in the sun while his mother watered the flowers. Or just a matter of running in between the pots and plants as he and his parents played chase.

And, as Jasper started to be in the age of reading, and writing, a small quirk developed as he learned to hone his motor skills. He started to use both of his hands. His father is a right handed person, and his mother left handed. So, Jasper started to pick tendencies from both parents, being able to write well in both hands as a result. This part of him started out as a bit of a footnote, though. As he starts to get enrolled in the nearby kindergartens and such to learn to learn. It was there that Jasper started to develop the traits he’s well known for now. Cheery, exuberant, yet a bit stubborn and headstrong. He was reprimanded when he overstepped his boundaries, but, for the most of the time, he was a well mannered kid. Well, as well mannered as any kindergartener was. His learning then transitioned to grade school, and it was there that he was introduced to sports. Football, Basketball, and most importantly, Volleyball. He first picked up volleyball in 2nd grade during a PE class. And it was there that he started to show glimpses of promise. As after he got done with serving, and receiving drills, he was shown to use both hands. Which caught the attention of his PE teacher.

Through the compliments he gave, Jasper brought them home to his parents where he raved about volleyball. And, through that, they figured that Jasper could use some extra learning about the sport. Jasper, obviously agreed, eager to see how much he could improve from his initial start. And it was from there that Jasper was first enrolled in a volleyball club near his house, where he first got his proper start in the sport. Jasper’s immediate talent in using both hands didn’t go unnoticed by the supervisor of the club. Who further developed him and gave him tips to refine his skills in the sport with his ambidexterity. Which paid dividends as his skills started to be more noticeable. It was in this early stage too that Jasper developed his flexibility. Often playing middle blocker, then outside or opposite hitter, and even libero at one point. Though he quickly abandoned that role as he felt he was a bit too tall for the role. He focused on both middle blocker and the hitter roles throughout, which distinguished him more from the other players as a flexible team player. Though, his initial stubbornness also started to show. As it wasn’t uncommon to see him rob a ball from another spiker because he felt he could spike better.

Of course, this didn’t go well with the other players and the coach. Which made him get reprimanded more times than he’s willing to admit. That stubborn personality acted as a bit of a crutch for him for the rest of his volleyball journey. Though, the more he progresses, the more he learns to respect other people’s judgements and choices rather than go by his own intuition. Though, that was in the future. And the current Jasper was still, quite struggling with trying to not intervene with others’ wishes. Despite this, he gained his respect that had gradually fizzled from his stubbornness back in a match between the club and another club in the area. Where, in a 5 point gap, Jasper helped to bring the team up from their slump and to get back to their rhythm. His optimism helped the team quite a lot in getting them back to their original pace. And after some ballsy, yet rewarding moves from Jasper, they managed to close the gap to 1 point before the match point. And though they lost the set eventually with a 30-28. He gradually gained back his teammate’s respect after that move.

As his elementary years passed, he progressed to his junior secondary school. He continues to develop his skills in volleyball, only that he brought it to his school instead of an off school volleyball club. The school he joined happened to be a bit of a powerhouse, and as a result, Jasper was able to further his skills in volleyball by playing in the team. And it was at this point that his parents were starting to treat volleyball more than just a gimmick. Perhaps, something that Jas could do in the future. So, they started to be more supportive of that part of him that he’s partaking in. Though, as he grew more and more older, they felt like they needed to start opening up more about Jasper’s past. So, on a sunny weekend in the outskirts of Hong Kong, sitting on the back of their house near the greenhouse that they have. They talked to him about his past. He always had an irrational fear about being abandoned, or forgotten by people. But, it was at that point that his fear was realized as he dawned on the thought of him abandoned by his parents at birth. He didn’t lash out, he didn’t become angry because his parents told him that he was adopted. He just fell into his mother’s embrace, crying his heart out about how much he appreciated them, and just got a new appreciation for them.

Though, besides the sunshines and roses his parents’ confession was, it also affected him academically and sports-wise. He's got a noticeable slump as he was told about it in his first few months at the secondary. Of course, it’s not a good look for him to get that slump as fast as he did in school after a promising grade school stint in Volleyball. He was told about it, though it took him the whole year to rebound back. With a lasting result being him being quite touchy about the subject of his past. Even until now with Inarizaki. But, as the second year rolled in and Jasper had a new chance to actually get a start in the team. He seized as much of it as he could, and tried to make himself an integral member of the team as it’s middle blocker. It was here that Jasper also learned his particular read blocking technique. He first learned about read blocking from the coach in this school. Since Jasper personally found it difficult to read people’s movements normally, he asked the coach whether predicting what a person could do based on their previous movements would work… Though his coach had his own reservations, he told him to try it out and it got similar success rates as his normal read blocking. Which was enough confirmation for Jasper to adopt it to his moveset, and to develop it further as he plays.

His new progress in volleyball was tested in the country’s nationals. Where he, and his team competed against the others in competition. As he’s playing for a powerhouse school, Jasper was immediately put to his paces as switched between positions. Trying to observe each player’s movements as they went for spikes, and trying to make his own movements less predictable when he does spike or block himself. It was honestly a bit to take in for the junior secondary student back then. And it showed him choking a block and misreading one of the player’s movements as he went in for a read block. Though he made amends with that mistake in the next set as he stood on the front row again, as Jasper managed to tackle the ball of the other team’s Ace. That was impressive in on itself, but it was made even more impressive once it was taken into account that the Ace he blocked was regarded as the No #1. Ace of Hong Kong in the junior secondary scene. He couldn’t even believe it himself as he looked at his hands, trying to process what just happened… It was clear to say that Jas made up for his shortcomings in that match from that move alone, and that he caught the eyes of schools national, and international.

As his third year came and went, he continued to play as he does with his brash, but effective playstyle. Helping the team place high in the nationals as he does so. Though he never won with his team, the team’s constant placement on the top four or so was nothing to scoff at. And, his academic grades were also quite decent nevertheless, as he managed to get a nice A in his final report after he graduated secondary. Of course, he could go and further his education here, but his parents felt like there could be more found abroad. And, seeing that Inarizaki had opened its doors to transfer students as Jasper graduated, his parents thought that it was the right moment to seize the opportunity for him. Using his placement in his volleyball team to help him be favored in the selection of new students. He managed to score a lucky spot in the foreign student selection for the school. And though at first, the task of learning another language and adjusting himself to the customs of the country seemed daunting for him. He managed as best as he could as he made his mind up and parted ways with his parents for his next 3 years in high school. And, because of his track record in Volleyball in Hong Kong, it wasn’t a wonder that he managed to score a spot in the renowned Inarizaki High volleyball team early on in his time there.

Though he had a bit of a hard time trying to adjust to the customs there, he made an effort to try and get along with the team. Showing his spirited and upbeat personality that helped him a bit in assimilating to the team. His flexibility and strength that lied in his ambidexterity and blocking also helped him in establishing a place in the team. Acting early on as a super sub that’s capable of playing multiple roles relatively well. As months passed, and he continued his studies there, he started to get along more with the people in his team. With him being able to communicate better gradually, as is with a lot of transfer students. He also proved his worth in a match, too. In the first tournament he played as a starting player, he managed to switch to different positions on the fly and help the team try out new strategies as his ambidexterity opened up a lot of potential. Though Jasper wasn’t a single changing point for Inarizaki, he was certainly a welcome addition to the already strong team. As he helped the team to a strong placement of second in the nationals with his abilities. And now, Jasper’s more than optimistic for his third year in Japan. Who knows what bigger horizons he could reach with his third year of tenure in the country?