The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

An awkward silence befell as the three representatives of the Thunder team stood in front of the stand. Those three could see the people there were furious with them, yet those people also tried their best to hold back their anger. Tondo whimpered in fright when all the furious gazes were on him, while Yuki himself tried to be subtle when he looked around to see his friend.

There was a stalemate for a moment since no one wanted to be the first to initiate conversation. However, Kawaki had enough of it. He nudged Tondo's hips slightly, signaling him to start talking. The boy gulped, walking forward hesitantly. He could feel cold sweat drenched on the back of his jersey while his hand had a slight tremor.

He was a jokester by nature, so to speak formally and seriously in front of thousands of people like this was enough to send butterflies in his stomach. Still, things needed to be done, so Tondo took a deep breath before bowing his head deeply. "People of Fukushima, I apologize for my uncalled provocation! I know it is unacceptable, but my emotions were running high at that time, and I let my mouth run faster than my brain could proceed. I hope you all can have the heart to forgive me!"

Although the words he chose weren't the strongest, at least Tondo conveyed his emotion clearly. He also explained his reason and asked for forgiveness, and even though the people on the stand were still insulted by his provocation before, they couldn't stay mad forever, especially when the culprit himself came and did what they demanded sincerely. In the end, one of the old men in the front seat who seemed to be the supporter's representative said, "Okay, boy, we will let this slide. But learn more on how to be tactful and don't let your mouth run loose again! You will land in more troublesome situations sooner or later, you know?!"

Some of the people around also nodded in agreement. Tondo could only rub the back of his neck sheepishly, accepting the wisdom of the people older than him. He – together with Kawaki and the referee – was glad that things didn't escalate badly because of this.

"What's wrong, Lad?" An old man suddenly noticed Yuki was dozing off, his eyes wandering around the stand. All the eyes suddenly turned to Yuki. However, the glasses boy's attention was not there at that time. He kept his eyes wandering around for a moment before the same old man asked again, "Lad?"

"Ah!" Yuki shook his head, finally remembered his surroundings again. "I am sorry, Ojiisan! I didn't notice you before! What did you ask again?"

Kawaki could only sigh and looked at the boy worriedly. It wasn't often to see Yuki being an airhead, after all. However, the old man there picked up something interesting and asked, "Are you from Fukushima too, Boy?"

Yuki was taken aback by the sudden question, not expecting the old man to take a shot like this. People around them also looked at the old man questioningly, to which the old man just replied with a shrug. "You think you can hide that accent? Even though it is subtle, I can still hear a bit of Aizu dialect from you. Where do you come from, Boy?"

"Ah… I am a native here, Ojiisan. I was a student in Hokushin Middle School last year." Yuki replied.

"The school behind the market? Really?!" The other man chimed in with surprise. "Wait, does that mean you are still a freshman in high school?!" He widened his eyes in shock. Not just him, a lot of people there also had the same reaction.

"Oh, yeah, I am still a freshman at Tsunemori High in Tokyo now," Yuki said proudly.

"Why did you decide to move there?" The old man asked curiously.

The smile on Yuki's face dimmed a little, and the old man knew he asked the wrong question here. "Well, after the disaster six months ago, I lost my family and my neighbor helped me move to one of the orphanages there that is built for the victims of the disaster like me. So, here I am." He smiled wanly.

People gave a sympathetic gaze, knowing how it felt. Most of them here were also the victims of the disaster a few months ago, and they all also lost family members and friends from that. However, to lose his family at such a young age… They didn't want to imagine that.

For a moment, the atmosphere around became quiet since everyone went silent, expression full of melancholy. It was Kawaki who finally broke it with a cough, snapping Yuki from his thoughts. "Oh, Sorry, Sensei. I just want to search for my friend."

"Your friend?" The same old man asked.

"Yeah, she is kind enough to come here with me to be my moral support, but when things get heated, I kinda worried about her. Can you help me find a small girl with medium-length hair and pink-framed glasses? She also wears a white hoodie even though I said to her that it wasn't the best choice to come to a sports game in the summer. She is also a bit shy, but if you greet her, she will try her best to smile at you. And she is…"

For a moment, Yuki turned into a babbling mess, trying to describe Kato in detail. He was stooped by a chuckle from a woman of Kawaki's age. She was there with a younger boy with a Phoenix jersey and the girl Yuki was familiar with. "I found her wanting to go forward when she saw you coming in, so I brought her over here too. Ah, young love… It's been a long since I saw that, and I still think of how cute it is…" The woman smiled playfully.

"W-What?! Young love?!" Yuki – and Kato next to the woman – shrieked at the same time, their face flushed red.

"Ah, I get it!" The old man clapped his hand in realization. "That is why you are so worried about her! And it is so kind of her to accompany you here. She must like you so much, eh?" He smirked knowingly.

Yuki and Kato were so speechless, trying to hide their tomato face as the teasing kept getting worse. Hell, some of the people even let out a small whistle, and everyone suddenly followed it up by doing the same. For a moment, the building was filled with whistles and those who weren't close enough to know what happened just looked at each other confusedly.

"Okay, since the apology is accepted, can we continue the game?" The referee finally asked, his face was impatient. "It has been delayed for twenty-five minutes, so we need to continue it soon if we don't want to spend all of our days here."

Yuki was glad when he saw all of the people there nodded in agreement. He couldn't hear the discussion between the referee and his coach next as his mind was wandering far. When his eyes met Kato's though, even though they both were still embarrassed, the little smile from the girl was enough to tell him that everything was okay.

"Come on, Kobayashi! We need to go back!" The coach shouted.
Enjoy exclusive adventures from empire

"Yes, Sensei!"

Without even noticing the playful smile on Tondo's face, he went back to the bench immediately while also trying his best to ignore the teasing whistles that were still echoing throughout the building.