The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Yuki, where have you been?!" Riku greeted him when the glasses boy came back from his business. "Everyone is looking for you, you know?!"

Yuki just raised one of his eyebrows slightly at that. "What do you mean everyone is looking for me? I told you before leaving that I was going to the restroom, right?" He asked. Koji and Kaede were startled, then looked at each other sheepishly as they forgot about that.

"Anyway!" Asahi coughed, trying to get everyone's focus back on the game. "Let's start doing our warmup first, Akira-sensei has been waiting for us."

"Sure!"

Yuki pulled off the jacket he wore, shivering a little at the cold air that just pierced through his bone. Even though the building was filled with about 500 people, that didn't change the fact that it was November, and the temperature outside started to drop drastically to the point it was about to reach one digit. Having to warm up with the short-sleeve jersey was a nightmare not just for him but also for everyone.

"Come on, you all! Don't be such a baby!"

"Yeah, this is just a winter! You know what they say, right?! We are all the children of the wind!"

"Oh, shut up!" Koji groaned, glaring sharply at the team's own supporters who started mocking him and his teammates. "You don't have the right to say that! You are here with a complete set of hiking clothes, for God's sake! Where do you want to go, Fuji-san?!"

Yuki sighed in exasperation at the sight of Koji and his other senpai started bickering with the crowd. A small part of his mind thought that this was a mistake, but when he saw how everyone forgot about the pressure coming from Tsukiji's supporters, Yuki knew the crowd brought by Arina Sugawara was here to help the team.

"Come on, don't stand here like a stupid. Let's start warming up." Riku patted Yuki's back. The glasses boy nodded before following his friend to the court, starting to pass around the ball while he also kept moving his body to warm it up. Still, he couldn't put his concentration to the fullest, especially when he remembered what Ishida said before.

'Don't be surprised when I see it in the court? Do they have something dangerous they haven't shown yet before? If so, is that a new strategy or a new player?'

The thought kept spinning over his head without any answer came out of his mind. After a while, Yuki finally gave up thinking about it, knowing that there was no way he could prepare for the surprise if the opponent managed to hide it until now.

'Let's deal with that when the surprise really comes. For now, I need to focus on the game first and not let the crowd distract me. Come on, I can do this!'

-0-

Thirty minutes passed quickly, and without anyone noticing it, everyone was ready to start the game. Some of the players were still chatting around in a relaxed manner while the others were doing their ritual thing in an attempt to lock into the game as quickly as possible. Overall, though, twelve players from both teams were on the court already, and they couldn't wait to start the war.

Yuki himself was currently standing on the top left of Tsunemori's side, waiting for the result of the coin toss between two captains. If Asahi won, he would go back to the service line to open the game.

However, that wasn't what he was thinking right now. No, what invaded Yuki's mind was Tsukiji's current roster. 'They put their middle blocker on the bench and use Ishida from the start of the game? It seems they want to deal with my service as quickly as possible.'

Yeah, while it was allowed, using the libero from the start of the game wasn't that common. By doing so, Tsukiji High was basically telling Tsunemori that they knew how dangerous Yuki's serve was. Still, while this adjustment was uncommon, it wasn't that impressive for Ishida to put it as their secret weapon. So, Yuki was still wondering what gave Ishida the confidence to challenge him earlier.

'Well, it doesn't matter. If it is really that dangerous, I am sure I will see it soon.'

A moment later, Asahi went back to Tsunemori's side and asked for his teammates to gather around. "I lose the coin toss." Informed the captain.

"Damn, it's a pity that we cannot take initiative from the beginning." Koji groaned.

However, based on the solemn gaze on Asahi's face, the other players knew there was something else that the captain hadn't said yet. "Okay, spill it, Asa. Why are you so gloomy just from losing that stupid coin toss?" Hirano growled. Honestly, if not for the tense atmosphere around, everyone would have been surprised by this since it was probably the longest sentence they heard coming from Hirano for a long time. Unfortunately, they had no luxury for that right now.

"They choose to serve later." Asahi sighed, finally dropping the bomb.

A pin-drop silence befell among the Tsunemori players as they were trying to make sure they heard it correctly. "Are you sure about that? I mean, why the hell would they give us the initiative here?" Koji asked in disbelief.

"Except… They want to shoot our psychological state since the beginning." Riku widened his eyes in realization. "By taking care of Yuki's serve straight away, they want to show us that our best weapon is nothing in front of them, and that would definitely kill some of us here. They are confident they could take whatever Yuki is about to throw here."

All the eyes suddenly turned to Yuki, looking at the glasses boy worryingly. In return, Yuki just pushed his glasses upward, letting them hide his cerulean eyes as he replied, "Well, let's see if they are really ready for me or if it is just a bluff."

-0-

A minute later, the game was finally about to start with Yuki on the service line. All the Tsukiji players tensed, worrying about whether the gamble would pay off or not.

Yes, this was a gambling strategy they chose after analyzing Yuki's service style for hours. They knew by now that Yuki would always start his routine with a weak yet accurate into a tricky spot one and used it to build momentum before the glasses boy would reveal more of his powerful serve in his arsenal. Tsukiji High didn't want to allow Still, knowing that fact didn't mean they could underestimate Yuki.

'Never lower your guard when he is in the service line. He is always full of tricks, and underestimating him will be our downfall.'

Even though it was Ishida, a freshman libero who said that, all the Tsukiji players still took it seriously. After all, they knew about Yuki's rising reputation and how he dragged a no-name team like Tsunemori into the limelight. Still, they put their focus too much on Yuki, somehow forgetting about the other Tsunemori players, which of course, Yuki would notice.

''Oh, look at that. They put their focus too much on receiving my service. It seems they underestimate my senpai, which would be their mistake.'

As the referee blew the whistle, Yuki threw the ball immediately, catching the crowd off guard. While the opponent had already known about his serve straight after the blow trick, the crowd was still unfamiliar with him, making them late to do any distraction like what they usually did.

Thud!

"Oh! Nice receive, Kiyotake!"

"Shit! Cover it up!"

The serve itself came close to the sideline, which managed to trouble Kiyotake as the opposite hitter thought for a second that the ball was about to go out. Of course, Yuki would never aim it straight at Ishida. He knew how capable the libero was, so to take a risk and target him when the game just started would be a stupid decision.

"I got this!" Neito shouted, eyes on the ball. "Reiki, move!" He tossed a quick pass to the front line where the captain had already been in the air. Hirano himself managed to jump in time as he knew full well that the blitz attack was coming. This was the result of the intelligence brought in the last game.

Honestly, for Reiki, one blocker was easy to deal with. Even though he didn't pack a lot of power, he made it up with his creativity. A one-on-one battle like this was never a problem for him. However, when he just tilted his body and was about to spike the ball, someone from Tsunemori's side suddenly charged into the front side like lightning, leaping forward to help Hirano form a two-man wall to stop the attack.

'SHIT!'

Unfortunately, he couldn't change his stance anymore in the air, and in the end, Reiki had to try spiking the ball forcefully, which was easy for the blockers to stop.

BAM!

For a moment, all the eyes turned into Tsunemori's blockers, watching the two boys landing on the floor with their jaws slacked. What surprised them the most was the fact that Yuki was already there even after doing the serve on the back side, which showed that his speed was not inferior to Tsukiji's captain.

Amidst the silence, it was Yuki who finally broke it with an infuriating smirk on his face. "So, you want to shut me up as quickly as possible, huh? Let me see whether you can do it or not. Come on, Tsukiji High!"