The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Hey, you guys are back!" Kaito exclaimed in his usual annoying and obnoxious tone as he saw all the Tsunemori players were back on the court. "So, are you guys ready to be kicked in the ass?"

A thick vein popped on some players' foreheads as they all glared at the boy fiercely. "What makes you think that we will let you do anything you want just like that?!" Ogawa retorted harshly.

"Oh, puh-leeze!" Kaito waved his hand nonchalantly. "You can only fight back with your cheap and dirty tricks. Without that, you guys are just a bunch of second-rated players."

"Ha?!" Koji scowled, rolling his sleeves up as if he was ready to fight. "Care to say that again?!" Out of all the players here, the ace was probably the only one who inherited Yoshi's hot temperament, and in case you forgot about him, Yoshi was the first one who triggered the fight between the freshmen and the senior members of the team at the beginning of the story.

However, it was clear that Kaito himself didn't notice the rage rising from the other side of the court. "Well, it is clear that you guys are below us. What is there to explain?" He shrugged as if what he said was the most obvious thing in the world.

All the other Tsunemori players held back Koji immediately, preventing him from throwing a fist toward the boy. "Come on, Koji! Keep calm! You don't need to respond to the nonsense he is talking about!" Asahi gritted his teeth, struggling to hold his friend back.

"Yeah, Koji! He is not worth it!" Kaede added.

Of course, the same situation also happened on the other side of the court, with all the Kikugawa players dragging Kaito to stop him from provoking too far. In the end, Koji just snorted and said, "Give the next ball to me! I will just kill him!"

However, just like pouring cold water into his head, Riku snorted and said, "Senpai, don't tell me that you forget how shitty your performance is today. There is no way you would change out of a sudden, so forget about your idea to confront him head-on and cooperate more with the team!"

For that, Koji's face flushed, somehow forgetting that he had a shit game today. If what Riku said didn't work to calm the boy down, all their teammates would have a sweat dropped on their faces at his blunt response. They were so afraid that Koji would explode in rage, making things difficult for the team. Fortunately, Koji was still calm and mature enough to process everything with a clear head.

Seeing that the atmosphere was calmer, Riku nodded, satisfied. "Good. You know how to calm down and put aside your personal vendetta for the team. This calmness will be a good asset when we are entering a clutch time. So, just get ready, and I will ensure that you get the revenge you want."

For that, Koji grinned ferally, eyeing Kaito on the other side of the court as if he were some sort of a predator.

"As for the others who get offended by his remark but are not confident with your own offense, don't worry. Just remember Akira-sensei's instructions. It is time for us to drag him to hell!"

"Hell, yeah!"

Right after that, the referee called both captains and warned them to not escalate things more than necessary. Of course, Suzuki and Asahi knew that the referee was talking about Kaito's earlier provocation, and with how crazy the supporters were today, the referee didn't know how to hold them back if chaos erupted. After receiving the reassurance from both captains that their teammates wouldn't go overboard with their banter, the referee was finally ready to start the game again.

FWEEE!

"BOOOOOOOO!"

"YOU SUCK!"

"JUST GO HOME AND CRY TO YOUR MAMA!"

As the referee blew the whistle, all the Tsunemori supporters got up and started scolding Tachibana on the service line. However, they were surprised when Kikugawa High supporters reacted, hissing so loudly to silence them on the spot. If things weren't that intense, a lot of people would laugh at how comical the Tsunemori supporters went quiet after being hissed by Kikugawa High's supporters.

In the end, Tachibana just did a normal serve, and since there was no pressure from the supporter, he managed to land it perfectly on the spot right in front of Kaede.

"Urgh!" Kaede grunted, having to lean forward to get the ball. "Sorry, Riku! A bit too short!"

"Don't worry!" Riku kneeled forward, his head turning around for a split second before he tossed the ball to Yuki who was running behind him. "Yuki!" He shouted, calling out for his friend.

"Ha! You think the same trick could work twice against me?!" Kaito who coincidentally enough was in front of Yuki reacted instantly, ambushing the glasses boy in the air. "Don't think you can get away from my defense!"

For a moment, both players were flying in the air, fighting for the ball on the front line. Even though from the outside perspective, Yuki was at a disadvantage, the glasses boy himself was calm. He knew that Kaito was far superior in the air, either with his crazy vertical jump, reaction time, or even just from his strength. The only thing Yuki was confident in fighting against the boy was his speed, and that alone wouldn't be a big help for him right now. So, he chose to go back to the playing style he and Riku had been honing for a long time, something that the two friends were very familiar with.

Trickery.

Yeah, instead of spiking the ball with power, Yuki decided to use a soft approach, not to tip, but to wipe the ball away from Kaito's hand. He pushed the ball gently to the tight area between Kaito and the antenna at the edge of the net, and since he didn't use raw power, Yuki could control the ball better, preventing it from touching the antenna.

Thud!

Of course, even though Kaito didn't know about Yuki's intention, his body reacted instantly to the glasses boy's action. However, since Yuki didn't use raw power, the glasses boy didn't need to take time to exert power from his body, and he could just push the ball straight away to mess up Kaito's timing. In the end, Kaito could only barely touch the ball, and Yusuke who was behind him couldn't react quickly enough, resulting in the ball falling on Kikugawa's side and adding one point for Tsunemori High.

As he saw the attack was successful, Yuki couldn't help but snort, looking at Kaito who was still dumbfounded with bored eyes. "Sorry, I can only use trickery and dirty play against you. But maybe, this dirty play style will be the one who kicks you out of the tournament. Get ready, okay?"

Tsunemori High 12 (1) – (1) 11 Kikugawa High