The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

A few seconds ago…

'Wait, he leaves me alone here?' Yuki widened his eyes in surprise when he saw Kaito moving back to join the blocker line in the middle. 'What is wrong with him?!'

If it was anyone else, Yuki wouldn't be so dumbfounded like that. After all, it was easy for a player to forget the opponent who just did a block earlier, thinking that he would never be able to recover quickly enough to join the counterattack. However, Kaito was the one who always insisted on facing him and Riku head-on, and he knew that the boy was always waiting for the opportunity to humiliate him again. So, why would the boy leave him alone again here?

Of course, being confused was one thing, and wasting this golden opportunity was a completely different matter.

Even though Yuki was still a bit confused, he reacted quickly, letting his presence disappear first to prepare himself before sending a subtle signal toward Riku, asking for a quick attack close to the net. Fortunately, Riku saw his position and smirked, and in the next second, the ball was already in front of Yuki.

"FUCK!"

BAM!

Even if Kaito cursed so loudly like that, the boy still failed to stop the attack, and the ball that Yuki just spiked pierced through the joint area without Suzuki and Yusuke being able to receive it. This was also the second point that Yuki scored consecutively, giving Tsunemori High another wind in this set.

"OH! It is Yuki again! He is on fire today!"

"Come on, Yuki! This is your chance to shine!"

"Show them that you are not just a service specialist!"

Yuki felt the corner of his lips twitched when he heard the last part. While his being on the service line was deadly, he never announced himself as a service specialist. Even though he knew why he was called that, it was insulting for them to not see his effort in any other aspect of this sport. Still, he knew that the supporters didn't mean it as an insult, so he just brushed it off nonchalantly.

Meanwhile, on the bench, Akira could only shake his head in amusement. Even though his plan to stale the game as long as possible to make it an endurance battle was ruined, he wasn't going to complain. After all, what was there to complain about when Yuki himself was able to show to all the people in this entire building that he deserved to carry the burden of Tsunemori's offense in this situation? Things would be different if he failed to show that, and Akira would never hesitate to put him on the bench if a mistake happened.

Fortunately, things went in the best direction, and he didn't have to worry about the team's momentum anymore.

"Come on, Asahi! Follow it up!"

"Don't you dare to make a mistake here! You are the captain, start acting like one!"

"Go, go, Asahi! Come on!"

Unfortunately, all the cheers from the crowd couldn't change the fact that Asahi's serve was far from being an excellent one. In the end, he just sent a pretty easy ball that Yusuke managed to receive, and in the next second, the ball was flying back in his direction already.

BAM!

"YOSSHAAAA!" Kaito roared, venting out his emotion after his double failure in the last play. After doing that, he still took his time to turn around and pointed his finger toward Yuki provocatively. "That is a payback from the earlier play!" Yuki just snorted, losing all his energy to banter with the boy.

Unfortunately, Yuki didn't have a chance to return the favor in the next play since he was guarded tightly by Kaito. Hell, not just the boy, even his friend – Yusuke – also helped keep his eyes on Yuki, afraid that he would be so slippery for them to catch. Fortunately, with them guarding him, this opened up the way for the other Tsunemori players to fight against the opponent's blockers.

"Riku, here!"

"Come on, Riku! Give it to me!"

"Riku!"

Three players rushed forward, initiating the synchronization attack that hadn't been seen from Tsunemori High in this game. Just like usual, Koji was running straight following the sideline on the left side of the court, Asahi was on the opposite wing, while Hirano was also waiting in the middle. However, not just them, but Kaede even gearing up to join the fun, getting ready to jump from behind the line.

Seeing their teammates being ambushed like this, Kaito fell into hesitation, wondering whether he should go and help or not. However, as he was going to reinforce the middle, Yuki suddenly made a move that stopped him from doing this idea. Of course, Yuki just did that to lock the boy down to this side. Even though the other Kikugawa High players were capable, he knew by now that Kaito was the heart of the team.

However, as everyone had their eyes on all of Tsunemori players, one player was forgotten, and when Suzuki realized that, he somehow cursed at himself for being too naïve.

'Shit! I need to move forward!'

True enough, in the next second, as all the attention was anywhere but him, Riku flicked the ball gently toward the other side of the net, letting it fall slowly behind Kikugawa High's line of blockers. Fortunately, Suzuki reacted quickly enough that even though he had to dive to the floor, he managed to get the ball and send it back into the air.

Brugh!

"Ouch!" Suzuki groaned when he finally landed awkwardly. However, before his teammates could help him, the captain shouted, "Don't worry about me, get the ball first!"

Of course, hearing what their captain said, all the Kikugawa players finally realized that the ball was still alive. Unfortunately, they were a bit too late as it was about to fall on the floor. Using everything he had, Ayane gritted his teeth, extending his left foot so that it could cushion the ball from falling to the floor. His attempt was successful, but he kicked it straight to Yusuke's body, and the defensive specialist sent the ball back to the Tsunemori's side awkwardly, extending their life in this play.

"Oh! What a save!"

"Damn, that is our captain, Suzuki!"

"Ayane-senpai is so damn cool!"

This time, it was Kikugawa's supporters who cheered for their players. However, they didn't expect to be silenced immediately, when after seeing an easy ball crossing the net, Yuki didn't even hesitate to jump, and before anyone could realize let alone react to it, the glasses boy just patted the ball gently, sending it back to Kikugawa's area straight in the middle of their chaotic formation.

Thud!