The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

FWEEEEE!

"STOP!" Akira shouted, stopping the training section. "Rano, you need to watch the opponent carefully! Besides his speed and power, Gondo-san from Matsuyama Kita High has an insane ability to mess up with your timing! Don't just jump blindly even though you know that the ball is coming in his direction, but wait patiently until he jumps first before you do it!"

"Then, what if I couldn't reach the ball?" Hirano asked, wiping the sweat on his forehead with the corner of his shirt.

"Well, you don't need to aim for a clean block. As long as you can deflect the ball, it is your win. The others will pick up the mess and continue to play. As long as you can soften the blow, you can consider it as a win. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Good! Continue!"

FWEEEEE!

"Okay, stop, stop, stop! What the hell is that?!" Not even a minute had passed, but Akira had already shouted once again. "Koji, I know defensive is not your strength, but I need you to show more effort here! Don't be a cone, getting passed by the opponent so easily! Strengthen your arms, and clench your fist! Don't let your wall get blown straight away like that!"

FWEEEEE!

"Jimmy, try to switch positions with Kai! Kai is too good to only be the cover for Koji's full-of-hole defense all the time. I need him to be on the back with Yuki, but I still need someone to cover for Koji's defense. Can you get it done?"

"Yes, Sir!"

The training had only been running for thirty minutes, yet the whistle kept ringing inside of the building, and Akira's shout could be heard echoed throughout the gymnasium constantly during that time. Even all the Kikugawa High players were surprised by the intensity and the attention to detail that Akira showed today.

"Is this how they usually train?" Suzuki murmured to himself, staring at the other side of the court with a complicated gaze. "No wonder that they could win against us…"

"I heard that their coach was the former national team member when he was young before he got injured and had to retire pretty early." Tachibana also added, sighing heavily. "It seems that the team's future would be difficult. Not just Konan High and Matsuyama Kita High, but even a small team like Tsunemori High could pose such a threat for us."

Those two exchanged glances for a moment before sighing heavily, thinking about the team's future. Although at this point, they should've been retired from the team already, they still decided to join this escapade, wanting to make sure that the players would be alright. They also wanted to see how Tsunemori High usually trained so that they could win against them.

The two boys were still in denial here, not wanting to accept reality that they were beaten by a no-name team like Tsunemori High. However, after witnessing Akira's way of coaching, and coupled with the fact that Tsunemori High still had some amazing players like Yuki and Riku, they were finally convinced about their defeat.

As for Akira himself, he couldn't help but furrow his brows. Before this, he had made a timeline about how the team would spend the next few days to prepare for the next game. Since only four days left before the game began, the team needed to be quick here, and he thought the plan that he formulated was good enough.

In his mind, the first day should've been used to fix all the holes in their defensive strategy. After all, even though their team now had the reputation as the most resilient team in the tournament, Akira could still see some holes that would've been exploited if only the opponents were better or more decisive against them. Those holes might not have been exposed before, but Akira was sure that Konan High or Matsuyama Kita High would be able to see and exploit those easily.

After that, the second day would be used to drill the offensive strategy. The team really needed it, since offense was definitely the team's biggest weakness right now. They lacked the heavy hitter that could put pressure on the opponent's side, and most of the time, the team relied on Yuki and Riku's combination attack to create a chance. This might've been worked before, but Akira was sure he had already exhausted the combination since the tournament began. There was no way the other teams wouldn't study the pattern of their offensive style and find a way to slow them down.

Fortunately, Ogawa's presence on the team really helped him a lot in this regard, especially since the boy revealed his talent for attacking. This opened up a lot of different paths for Akira to explore for the team's future, and for now, he really wanted to integrate him into the duo of Yuki and Riku as soon as possible.

As for the third day, besides maintaining the players' condition so that they could stay in their best shape, Akira also wanted to analyze Matsuyama Kita High together. Although he had done this a thousand times – that was exaggerated, by the way – the coach wasn't arrogant enough to think that he would be able to figure out everything by himself. No, if anything, he believed that the players would have a unique insight that Akira hadn't thought of before. After all, they were going to be the ones who played on the court, not him.

Then, in the last day before the game, he would let the players have a day off, letting them cool down and spent their time with their family. In a tight schedule like this, it was important to maintain the work-life balance for the players that they wouldn't be too stressed and kept their motivation high.

It was such a nice plan, and on paper, if the team could do everything perfectly, they would be able to face Matsuyama Kita High with more confidence.

Unfortunately, the reality was far harsher than Akira thought it would be. Hell, just on the first day alone, he could see that the players were still in their sweet dreams after being the center of attention in the school for creating history, and they were not ready for high-intensity training yet. Some even lost their focus several times during the training, forcing Akira to pause everything constantly to reprimand them all. Still, at least this gave Akira an insight into the team's condition right now.

'They are far from being ready to play against Matsuyama Kita High.'