The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

It was a week since the summer break was over, and the training had been intense. Even though the menu itself wasn't as difficult as his time in the Thunder, with all the Tsunemori players trying so hard in every single session, it forced him to do the same, which always left fatigue in the aftermath.

Just like today, Yuki had to drag his feet across the street after about one hour of a leg day in the physical training session. Usually, he would suffer together with Riku. However, the blonde boy took absence from the training, saying that there was a family matter back home. Yuki was sure that this was just one of his so many excuses to avoid physical training.

"Urgh… Why is it still so hot today? This is the end of August, should the weather be more friendly?' He groaned. His walk was staggered like a drunkard, holding the ache all over his body. He didn't even see a car parked outside of the orphanage as the only thing he wanted to do right now was to take a cold shower and sleep as quickly as possible. "I am home…" Greeted the boy as he walked through the door.

"Ah, welcome back, Yuki-kun! Come here!" Aiko's voice greeted back, asking Yuki to join her in the kitchen.

Yuki raised one of his eyebrows slightly. Normally, Aiko would give him a chance to take a rest first before calling for dinner, so he couldn't help but feel intrigued. His eyebrow went higher to the point it disappeared beneath his hair as he saw the three people that he didn't expect to come today; Kato, Misaki – her mother, and Sacchi – her grandmother.

"Good evening, Misaki-obaasan, Sacchi-baasan, nice to meet you again. Evening, Kato-san." He bowed politely, greeting the three women who sat at the dinner table. "Good evening to you too, Aiko-baasan." He didn't forget to mention the matron."

"Good morning, Yuki-chan, it has been a long time, right?" Sacchi smiled fondly, to which Yuki replied with the same genuine gesture.

Even though it had been a long time since he met her, Yuki would never forget the older woman's kindness toward him. Not only did she give him a flexible job with more than decent payment, but she was also willing to let Aiko replace his position once she knew he got the sponsorship from the Silvestri family. It didn't help that she also had so much wisdom to be learned, making him enjoy his interaction with the old woman.

"So, what brings you three here today? Oh, let me help you, Aiko-Baasan!" He rose from his seat and grabbed a tray with five cups of tea and served it to the guest. "Please, enjoy. Pardon me for the unpleasant smell, by the way. The training is a bit rough today."

"Oh, don't worry, I understand. Kato-chan has already told us how hard you work." Misaki spilled the tea without even batting her eyes, ignoring the panic squeak from her daughter. Yuki could only smile wryly at the mother, terrified of how easy it was for her to tease her daughter. "Anyway, we are here to ask for your help." She stated.

"Oh? Please, do tell." Yuki straightened his back, listening carefully.

"It is like this…"

-0-

After five minutes of explanation, Yuki pondered about it while his eyes were set on a flyer Misaki had given before. "Okay, let me get this straight." He paused for a moment. "Kato-san wants to join an astronomical camp for three days from Friday evening to Sunday morning, and it is in Gunma University. You both don't trust her to take care of herself during that time, so you want me to accompany her to join the camp too. Is that right?"

"Basically, that is the gist." Sachi nodded as she sipped the tea calmly. Kato herself just bowed so deeply to hide her face that its color changed to resemble a tomato.

"While I am flattered that you think so highly about me, do you think I will be able to enter this camp? I mean, look at this requirement." He pointed out what was written on the flyer. "We should include our mid-term report, in which the minimum requirement is 85 percent for physics and mathematics. And that doesn't include a basic knowledge of astronomy, which I am sure Kato-san knows I don't have it, right?"

"Oh, don't think too much about it." Sachi waved her hand nonchalantly. "I know from Kato-chan's non-stop babbling about you that your grade is good enough to reach the requirement. She even told me that if not for your Japanese and Social studies, your grade would be in the top two just below her, and that is not something you can achieve easily."

"O-Obaasan!" Kato shrieked, trying to cover her grandmother's mouth. However, the oldest woman in the room didn't even flinch as she glanced sideways at Kato, which shut her up immediately. That was the finest example of power play if Yuki had ever seen one.

"As for basic knowledge in astronomy, I know you always listened to her when she started talking about her beloved subject, and while you might think it is too casual, I assure you that the knowledge she shares is higher than basic. You just need to read one or two more books to ensure you can differentiate which was the basic and which was the advanced one, and I am sure you can do that in one night."

While he still put on a thoughtful face, Yuki groaned inwardly. He knew this kind of operation, and it would be a lie if he didn't say he hated it. First, flatter the target to make them happy, and if it fails, blackmail the target emotionally. He wasn't foreign to this concept since he had used this method a few times in the past, but to be the target of it was definitely new for him.

Not that he would reject the request, of course. He still owed Kato one for being his moral support for the trip to Fukushima a while ago, and he himself was also curious about what kind of camp she wanted to attend. Also, the time was coincidentally the same as his day off from the volleyball training, so it didn't conflict with his schedule at all.

After pondering for a moment, he decided to ask one last thing. "Why would you want to join a camp that happens a week after the summer break, by the way? Isn't there any camp that was held during that time?"

"Oh, there are a lot, of course." Sachi snorted. "Unfortunately, most of them are for university students, and this is the only one who is for a high school one. And you know how Kato-chan is with astronomy. The moment she knew there was a camp she could enter, she was so excited and couldn't stop talking about it for a full week. You don't want to disappoint her, right?"

'Ah, here it is, the emotional blackmail.' Yuki smiled wryly.

Honestly, he still couldn't understand what was there from Kato that couldn't be trusted to go for a trip alone. During the trip to Fukushima, he didn't find the girl having any trouble at all and he believed this was her family being overprotective. Nevertheless, looking at the hopeful gaze of the girl, he finally nodded. "Okay, I am in."