Tomoyo Osaka

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Tomoyo Osaka is a second-year student at Benino High School and plays the position of setter (formerly opposite, and later captain) on the girls' volleyball team. She wears jersey number 3, but switches to number 1 after becoming the captain. She is a former member of the All-Japan Junior Youth Girls' Volleyball Team.

Appearance
Tomoyo is considered beautiful by many of her peers. She has long black hair (sometimes depicted as very dark brown), brown eyes, and wears glasses. During volleyball matches, she takes off her glasses, but it has not been revealed if she wears contacts instead during matches or not. She is relatively tall, standing at 5 feet 7 inches. Outside of matches, she wears her hair loose, but when playing volleyball, she wears it in either two braids or in a ponytail.

Personality
Tomoyo was, at first, arrogant and prideful, not wanting to be associated with such low-level players as the rest of the Benino team members, and she struggled with understanding her self-worth. After Nobara Sumiyoshi helped her overcome that, her true personality shone through: responsible, dedicated, attentive to details, well-mannered and elegant, and a leader who pushes herself and her teammates to achieve more than they think they are capable of. She is also very competitive, as seen when she tells her then-boyfriend Keisuke Haibuki that she won't lose to Nobara and when she tells her teammates that she came to win during their match against Yabesho High.

Background
Tomoyo played on the Keisei Junior High School Girls' Volleyball Team when she was in middle school, and was famous for being a "star setter." She was also chosen for the All-Japan Junior Youth Girls' Volleyball Team, but was unable to continue practices with the other chosen players after an accident during a match with her school team, injuring her knee and rendering her unable to play. She was replaced by Hayashida on the starting lineup. She quit volleyball after that, not wanting to be replaced again.

Plot
Tomoyo attended the match between the three original members of the Benino High Girls' Team and three members of the boys' team and provided commentary, revealing her high-level knowledge of volleyball. She was found in the gym later, practicing jump topspin serves, which impressed Nobara and Rena. Nobara asked her to join the team, but Tomoyo refused and ran off. Nobara continued to ask her to join, and when the girls ran into members of the Yabesho High School Girls' Volleyball Team at the subway station who insulted Tomoyo for quitting volleyball, she ran away and began crying because she felt like she had no worth if she didn't play volleyball. Nobara told her to decide for herself where her worth came from, and soon after, Tomoyo submitted an application for the volleyball team.

Tomoyo worked hard to get herself back into ideal shape for playing volleyball, as well as training the other girls more. She proved to be a very skilled setter, her skills having not slipped since her departure from officially playing the sport. During their first match against Yabesho, she snapped at her teammates, saying she came to win and that she didn't want to lose because everyone else wasn't focusing, but after her outburst, they all worked together much better and put up a good fight, although they ultimately lost to Yabesho. Tomoyo stuck with the team, though, even after her breakup with Haibuki.

Nobara Sumiyoshi
Tomoyo and Nobara's relationship started off pretty rocky, but after Tomoyo joined the volleyball team, the two girls began to get along much better. Although they are teammates on the court, Tomoyo saw Nobara as a rival when it came to romance, seeing her as a threat to her relationship with Haibuki and declaring that she would not lose to her. After breaking up with him, though, she was able to get along with Nobara much better and put all her concentration into volleyball.

Keisuke Haibuki
Tomoyo and Keisuke were in a romantic relationship, but Haibuki broke up with Tomoyo because he didn't want her to rely on him so much and he wanted her to become more independent. Tomoyo still harbored feelings for him, though, and they rekindled their relationship later, after Tomoyo developed her independence and self-esteem.

Hayashida
Hayashida replaced Tomoyo as starting setter on the Keisei Junior High Girls' Volleyball Team, causing a rivalry to form. Hayashida used to look up to Tomoyo, but after Tomoyo quit volleyball, all admiration disappeared and Hayashida developed feelings of arrogance and pride. The two girls continued to clash, even after attending different high schools, and tried to out-set each other during matches.