The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

In the physical department, Reiki wasn't an excellent player. His body was too small to do that, and no matter what kind of training he had, the strength generated from inside his body would still be far from those monsters like Yamamoto or Lucas from Konan High. So, instead of forcing his way to do something he knew he would never be the best, Reiki changed his approach. He trained himself into the other direction a lot of hitters often overlooked, and that was speed.

Yeah, during the first few years he trained volleyball, Reiki put all of his efforts into honing his speed. It wasn't easy, what with him having to master the other basic things in the sports too. However, Reiki managed to survive with all the harsh training he put himself on, and in the end, he gained the best result out of it.

During his first year with Tsukiji, his speed alone took the tournament by storm. Not a single player could match it, and he earned the nickname 'The Lightning Flash' because of his playing style. Gondo from Matsukita in his first year.

As time went by and he gained more experience, he also started developing a strong observational skill, and added to the speed that he had in his bag, Reiki became a more fearsome presence for the opponent in the court.

The last play was definitely one of the finest examples of his capability.

When the ball was flying in front of Bato, Reiki had already set his eyes on the opponent's genius player, ready to cover his teammates if necessary. When he saw Bato glance subtly for a second toward the left area, Reiki knew instantly where Bato wanted to strike, and even though he could just stay still in the back and wait for the attack from there, he decided to do the exact opposite thing and rushed forward to aid the blockers.

Yeah, Reiki wasn't conservative enough to just use his ability to attack, attack, and attack. The boy managed to utilize everything he had to improve himself, and now, even with his small body, he would never be afraid of meeting everyone as a middle blocker on the front line.

His decision was proven to be successful though, as the ball went straight to his hand before he forced it to go back to the opponent's side.

BAM!

"Oh! A clean block!"

"That is what we are waiting for! Come on, Reiki!"

"Reiki, our Lightning Flash!"

As the crowd cheered and chanted his name, Reiki grinned excitedly, then turned his head just to find Bato staring at him with a dumbfounded expression. Couldn't resist the urge to brag, the boy smirked provocatively, making a small '1 – 1' gesture while mouthing, 'This is the payback from earlier, Bastard! Now, we are even!'

-0-

Honestly, the more Yuki observed this game, the more he found that the two teams were very similar with each other's play style. They both used one player as a core and used him as the center of their strategy. For Keihin, they wanted to play passively while using Bato as the main blocker to kill their opponent. On the other hand, Tsukiji put everything on Reiki's shoulder, letting their captain confront their opponent while also supporting him from behind.

Unfortunately for Keihin, after a while, it was clear that Tsukiji was on the lead here. They played like a machine, slow, steady, and accurate, and once Keihin players made a mistake, they capitalized it quickly to put more pressure on their opponent. Unlike Reiki who had decent players surrounding him, it wouldn't be harsh to say that Baato played with five useless sticks around him. Besides the boy, not a single one of them managed to break through the crowd's intimidation here.

All the Tsunemori players also took note of this. After all, if luck wasn't on their side and they faced Tsukiji High here, they would need to find a way to deal with the hostile crowd, and they knew it wouldn't be easy.

"So, Yuki, is there anything useful you find in this game?" Ogawa asked, trying to sound nonchalant. Yuki was taken aback at first, wondering why one senpai who he communicated the least would strike conversation first. However, when he saw curiosity not just in Ogawa, but also in the other players' faces, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, don't be like that! You usually can see something that we normal people cannot find so easily, so I've got to ask you here." Ogawa replied, which was followed by the nods of agreement from the other.

After pondering for a moment, Yuki finally let out a deep sigh before answering, "Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but I cannot see anything special from Tsukiji High. I mean, sure they dominated this game, but not in a way that they could overwhelm their opponent completely. I still find it difficult to see them as a juggernaut team, what with how 'unflashy' their style is."

"Aw…"

While most of them had already predicted it, they still found it was disappointing that their best observatory couldn't give a new insight toward the game. It would be good if they could find a weakness on Tsukiji High that they could exploit in the next game.

Little did they know though, that they had already believed that this game was over. Not that anyone would blame them, of course. Basically, almost all the Keihin players were either bowing their heads deep or staring at each other helplessly, not knowing what to do.

Well, almost everyone from Keihin, except Sero Bato.

'Goddamnit!' The genius boy cursed. 'I should've expected something like this to happen soon! I am so naïve to think I can carry the team alone!'

What Bato was trying to say was of course the fact that Tsukiji managed to gain an advantage by targeting the players other than Bato. While the other Keihin players were decent enough, there was a reason why they had never gotten through the third-round phase. It came down to the players' mentality that couldn't bear the thought of facing a difficult opponent, and it was because they spent too much time being in the weaker side so that once they faced against the team stronger against them, they crumbled first before even putting a fight.

The current situation inside the team was starting to get better, especially when the team managed to win against the stronger opponent and snatched the ticket to this game in the third round. While most of them still thought the win was a miracle, at least it was enough to boost everyone's confidence.

However, the confidence gained was temporary, as everything crumbled once again the moment the stronger opponents were in front of them.

'I should've expected something like this to happen, shit. Still, whatever. I need to do something to lift the morale here. Cannot do anything if my teammates are too depressed to be functional enough to help me.' He thought.

Yeah, unlike the others who had already given up on Keihin, Bato himself still didn't give up in this situation. He racked his brain hard, trying to find a way to get through this situation without losing too many points. After pondering for a moment, Bato finally came up with a plan. 'First, let's wake up the captain from his sleep. Try to make him get involved in the play and show that he can still participate in this game. Once he is back to his normal state, the others would be easier to deal with.'

Not the best plan in the world, but for an emergency plan that was developed in just a minute, it was still solid and doable. Bato glanced a little at Morita who was lifeless and vowed inwardly, 'Wait for a moment, Cap. I will wake you up from your slumber soon.'

-0-

A minute later, the game was restarted with the ball still in Tsukiji's hand. The home team was still in the lead with the current score being 17 – 6. Since Tsukiji's setter, Neito figured out that Keihin players besides Bato were useless, the momentum shifted immediately toward Tsukiji's side.

This time, the right to serve was still in Tsukiji's hand, and the one who was about to do that was their middle blocker, Enji. When the referee blew the whistle, Enji threw an ordinary serve that was pretty easy to handle, but with quick discipline, the middle blocker found his way through the front side just in two seconds.

"Taiyo! Give it to me!" Bato shouted.

While his offense was terrible today, the boy knew the other players were not in their right mind to do that. So, he decided to take the burden and shoulder the offense part too until his teammates managed to wake up from their slump.

BAM!

"Oh, nice block, Reiki! Enji!"
Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

Bato scowled when he saw the two pests who kept pestering him blocked his shot once again. However, this time, he managed to spike the ball in a way that it would bounce wildly outside of the court. Koji who watched this had to hold back the urge to rise from his seat when he saw a similar technique as what he learned during the summer camp.

"Shit, genius is a really different beast, huh?"

Of course, Bato couldn't hear Koji's thoughts at all. Right now, he was putting all his concentration on the game as he watched Neito, Tsukiji's setter, get the first ball to save it.

"Sorry, Senpai! I got this!"

"Don't worry, Neito! Leave it to me!"

Bato was ready to move when he saw Reiki recoiled his arm back to get ready for an explosive attack. However, when he noticed Reiki's exaggerated movement, Bato's eyes went wide as he knew what to expect next.

"CAPTAIN! HORI! MOVE! GET READY FOR THE LEFT SIDE!"