The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"The game seems to turn out to be more chaotic than we are expecting, huh?" A middle-aged guy who was blending with the crowd leaned his body back against the seat as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "But I have to give a hat-off to your boy, Hasebe-san. He knows how to handle the crowd and his serve is as good as you have talked about. He would be a good addition to the team."

The man called Hasebe nodded in agreement as he said, "Kobayashi-kun has already proved that he is a capable player. The only thing left untested is his adaptability when playing at a higher level, something Tsunemori High or even Tokyo Thunder U-19 couldn't provide for him. It is a pity since he would never consider moving to a better team."

Those two men were Ida Hasebe and his assistant, the main guys who were responsible for the national team U-17. They both came here to observe mainly three players; Yuki and Riku from Tsunemori and Ishida from Tsukiji High. This was just to check the boys' progress since Hasebe himself had already known those three's qualities from the training camp held in Konan High last summer.

"Still, isn't this a bit too much?" Asked the assistant. "I mean, this is just the fourth round and we have a full-house game like this, and that is not to mention how crazy the supporters from both teams are. I don't know that volleyball is that popular."

"Oh, trust me, it is not because of the sport's popularity." Hasebe snorted. "I don't know about Tsunemori, but this is just how Tsukiji High is. It doesn't matter what kind of sports tournament is playing. It can be football, basketball, hell even archery. Their headmaster will go all out in order to support his students when they have a tournament like this."

"So, a fanatic, huh?" The assistant hummed. "Well, with that kind of support, do you think they can overcome this situation before it is too late?" He asked, pointing his finger at the glaring '4 – 0' written on the scoreboard.

For that, Hasebe just smirked and replied, "Oh, don't worry. They are playing in front of their crowd, and they are the type of team who will get better the louder the supports are." As he said the last part, his voice was drowned immediately by the cheers as most of the people around them rose. "You will see it soon, I am sure."

-0-

"TSUKIJI HIGH! TSUKIJI HIGH! TSUKIJI HIGH SCHOOL!"

The sound of the supporters chanting accompanied by the drum to make it seem louder echoed all over the building. The referee glared at Reiki for this, to which Tsukiji's captain just replied with an innocent shrug. Everyone knew that while the noise was disturbing, it wasn't a good enough reason to warrant the game to be delayed again. So, after the staring contest between Tsukiji's captain and the referee, the latter finally sighed in defeat.

'Go on, continue the game.' The referee signaled Yuki to get ready on his spot.

Yuki just gave the man a small nod before taking a deep breath, trying to put his concentration back on the game. While the short break was enough to break his momentum, the glasses boy tried his best to gain it back soon. He waited for the referee to blow the whistle before tossing the ball immediately for a quick serve.

DRUM! DRUM! DRUM! DRUM!

'Tch!' Yuki scowled as he somehow forgot about the distraction from the crowd. Fortunately, he managed to adjust his body while in the air to change from almost doing a floater into an ordinary serve, not wanting the ball to stick into the net.

Thud!

"Oh! An easy serve! I got it!" Neito shouted as he was the closest to the ball.

This action alone was enough to catch Yuki's attention as the memory of the intelligence meeting with the team suddenly flashed in his head. 'Remember, if it is the libero who sets up an attack, you don't need to keep your eyes on their captain, but join the front line and help Hirano and Asahi to build a wide wall. Do you understand?'

Now that Neito was forced to receive the first ball, Yuki was sure the only one who could set up an attack on Tsukiji's side was Ishida. As the libero stepped forward while also taking a glance at the separating line repeatedly, Yuki joined the front side immediately as Akira instructed a few days ago.

"Senpai, get ready! Keep your eyes on the far side – No! A back attack! Jump!"

BAM!

'Ouch, that must be hurt.' Yuki winced. Even though Yuki couldn't see it, he could feel Asahi flinched a little at the impact of the spike. While it was far from the most powerful one Tsunemori's captain had ever faced, it seemed the boy messed up the timing, and as a result, the ball itself hit straight to his finger.

Unfortunately, Asahi's sacrifice meant nothing as the ball slipped through the narrow gap between him and the net, and while he tried to move his leg to kick the ball and let it fly, it was clear he wasn't used to doing that, which resulted in the ball to bounce far away from Asahi's spot.

"OH! Nice spike, Banjo!"

"Banjo! Banjo! You got it, Banjo!"

While the opposite hitter – Banjo – was basked under the crowd's praise, Asahi apologized to his teammates immediately. "Rano, Yuki, sorry, I mess up the timing. It is on me." Admitted the captain.

"Eh, don't fret over it, Captain. The game is still early, no need to dwell over something that will be forgotten soon." Yuki waved his concern nonchalantly.

"Hn." Even though it was only a grunt, by the shine of his eyes, Asahi knew Hirano also agreed with Yuki's statement.

After a while, the situation finally got under the ref's control, and after that, it was Reiki's turn to serve. The golden boy grinned widely as he walked through the service line with such confidence, even waving his hands cheerfully – either that or mockingly – to Tsunemori's supporters.
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'Oh, yeah, even if he is an amazing player, his arrogance knows no bond.' Yuki smiled wryly. While he knew – or guessed – that Reiki would never do something like that, the confident air surrounding him was enough to get all the Tsunemori players under the skin. Now, everyone was determined to knock Reiki down even if it was the last thing they could and would do in the world.

"Reiki! Give us a good serve!"

"Come on, Captain! Show us why you are here!"

Yuki took a deep breath while he watched Reiki, which was about to take action. Reiki moved almost in slow motion in Yuki's perspective, which made it easier to predict. Fortunately, Yuki came prepared for this. With quick eye contact between him and Kaede, he told his senpai to move one step back, getting ready for a powerful serve.

BAM!

Unfortunately, while Reiki had the speed, he was still a bit worse in power development. Yuki didn't need to do something fancy here, just put his forearms in the air while waiting for the ball to fall on it.

"Oh, yeah! Nice receive, Yuki!"

"Riku, give me the ball!"

Koji and Asahi moved in unison, trying to spread Tsukiji's line of blockers thin. With them attracting the opponent's attention, Hirano also tried to sneak forward for a middle attack. The tri-pronged attack was a deadly weapon the Tsunemori team had, especially with Yuki as the initiator. Anything could happen here, which made the Tsukiji players on the other side of the court tense in anticipation.

BAM!

Unexpectedly, Riku decided to come up with an unconventional attack, which was a middle quick to Hirano. Unfortunately, Ishida had already read that which made it easy for the libero to react. He didn't even move his body, just leaning it to his left side while extending his left arm to reach the ball.

"Oh! Nice save, Ishida!"

"I get this! Move!" Neito waved his hand, commanding his other teammates to get ready for a counterattack.

As if wanting to imitate Tsunemori's attack, Kiyotake, Banjo, and Reiki moved simultaneously in the exact same manner as how Asahi, Koji, and Hirano did a moment ago. Hirano himself moved back immediately, recovering from the latest attack. He joined Asahi to track Banjo and Kiyotake's movement, ignoring Reiko who they knew the ball would never come to in a synchronization attack like this.

"Rano, get ready! One! Jump!"

BAM!

It was a perfect blockade from those two, covering the route for Banjo to do a cross spike. They managed to force the opponent's opposite hitter to go for a straight spike. With Kaede waiting there, in theory, it was a perfect defense to stop any attack from the opponent. However, what they didn't count was the mental state of their teammate.

Yeah, the antagonistic noises from the crowd managed to get on Kaede's nerves and made his movement sloppy. As a result, facing an attack that should've been easy for him to handle, the team's defensive specialist messed up his timing and jumped too quickly to get the ball, which made it hit the area below his shoulder awkwardly before bouncing far outside of the court, giving the second point for Tsukiji High in this game.

Tsunemori High 4 – 2 Tsukiji High