The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Damn, how could we lose so badly against those runts?!"

"I know, right?! How could we let those fucking trash be arrogant in our home?!"

"Oi, Reiki! What the hell are you doing there?! Waku up!"

"Have a spine, boys! You are here to represent Tsukiji High, not some fucking third-rate school!"

"Yeah!"@@novelbin@@

Tsukiji's supporters seemed restless as they witnessed how their team couldn't do much as they were dominated by their opponent. The cheers and support they showed before slowly became criticism, and without anyone knowing who started it, things changed into mocks and insults. Things seemed to spiral down quickly for Tsukiji High as now they were the ones who received the pressure from the crowd.

"Damn, that is harsh," Asahi commented. "If I don't know anything about it, I will never guess they are the same group as the one who sang 'You'll Never Walk Alone' together to raise their team's morale in the last game."

"The circumstance is different, though." Riku chimed in. "In the last game, they still played well before they got overwhelmed by their opponent. But now, they haven't even shown anything worth seeing yet as we whoop their asses since the beginning, and no matter how loyal their supporters were, they still had the right to be dissatisfied when they saw a disappointing performance like this."

Everyone turned their head to the blonde boy, surprised by the insightful opinion. "What?! I grew up in Italy a country that is so crazy passionate about football. Even though it is not a volleyball, the supporter's behavior is always the same everywhere, full of crazy lunatics like them." Riku shrugged.

Well, that explained a lot. With how Riku perfectly mixed up with everyone in the school, sometimes it was easy to forget that he didn't grow up in the same country as them. Hell, he didn't even have a foreign accent or any habit of saying foreign words at all in his daily life!

"Oi, Tsunemori!" The referee suddenly called them out, snapping everyone from their discussion. "Go back to your position and start the game again quickly! Don't waste everyone's time here!"

"Yes, Sensei!" All the Tsunemori players walked back to their positions sheepishly, clearly forgetting that they were in the middle of the game.

With the pressure on Tsukiji High, at least Tsunemori's players could take a breath here, especially Kaede. While he would never say he enjoyed being the object of insults, being the spectator was definitely a different thing. He somehow enjoyed how Tsukiji players squirmed under their own supporters' scolds, forgetting that it was him who suffered the same a few moments ago.

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Riku himself was glad that the attention wasn't on him anymore. While the noises didn't bother him too much, getting called out suddenly was enough to break his concentration. With this situation, at least he could put his full concentration on the serve.

FWEEE!

As the referee blew the whistle, Riku tossed the ball slightly before taking a huge leap through the air. Even in the air, he could still have his eyes wandering around to find a hole in Tsukiji's defense. However, as he swung his arm, the sound of the drum was heard again at the last second.

DRUM! DRUM! DRUM! DRUM!

BAM!

"Tch!" Riku clicked his tongue in annoyance. While the serve was still powerful enough to break any subpar player's defense, the drum broke his concentration, and as a result, he accidentally sent the ball straight to Ishida's hand.

"Oh! Nice receive, Ishida!"

"As expected from our guardian deity, our genius rookie, ISHIDA!"

A time like this reminded Riku – and Yuki – that Ishida was here as a libero first before he was the second setter of Tsukiji High. His defensive ability was close to the best even in the summer camp they joined last summer.

"Neito, quick!"

Reiki rushed from the right back, asking for a pass. He was eyed by Asahi, Hirano, and Yuki who were ready to knock down any attack coming in their direction. Those three also tried their best to hide Kaede subtly to protect the defensive specialist while also diver the attention from him.

However, Hirano suddenly widened his eyes and jumped straight away, ignoring the two teammates next to him. Asahi and Yuki were surprised by the sudden act, but when they saw Kiyotake snuck from their blind spot through the area between Neito and Reiki, they cursed simultaneously.

"FUCK!"

BAM!

"OH, YEAH!" Kiyotake clenched his fist tightly as he saw the ball fall behind Tsunemori's blockers. Even though Asahi and Yuki also reacted, they two were one or two seconds late to cover the area in front of them, and with only Hirano trying to stop him, it was easy for Kiyotake to avoid the wall. "Ha! Eat that, you po-faced bastard!"

Some of the Tsunemori players winced at the insult thrown at Hirano. It wasn't because of the insult, per se, but what was implied behind it. Usually, the game Tsunemori played would be a quiet one with both teams trying to let their skill talk. All the provocations were delivered indirectly with roars from the successful play and something similar to that, but they had never faced a direct provocation in the middle of the game like this.

Well… Maybe one when they played against Kyoei Gakuen. But other than that, this direct mind game by Tsukiji High was definitely unfamiliar territory for Tsunemori.

"Sorry, that was my fault," Hirano admitted quietly. "I should've said anything rather than acting alone like that."

"Eh, don't fret over it, Rano!" Asahi patted the blocker's back reassuringly. "You did a good job before! It is our fault that we cannot see him sneaking around before it is too late." The others also nodded in agreement. They all knew Hirano had trouble in communication, so no one blamed him for this point.

After talking with each other for a moment, all the players went back immediately to their positions and didn't want to get scolded by the referee again. The privilege to serve was back to Tsukiji once again with Kiyotake walking to the service line. However, unlike in the past when he or any Tsukiji players could just relax and serve the ball, this time, there was a lingering fear that he would face what his opponents usually faced, and looking at the small group of Tsunemori's supporters who were waiting eagerly to toss the ball, Kiyotake knew what was going to happen next.

'Well, no need to take a risk here. Better be steady when everything is still unstable.'

With that thought in mind, Kiyotake sent a regular, weak serve that elicited disappointed groans from Tsunemori's supporters. They all were hoping that Kiyotake would be stubborn enough to challenge them, but it seemed Tsukiji's opposite hitter had more brains than they believed.

"I got this! Move!"

Thud!

As the weak ball was coming, Kaede moved immediately to get the ball. Even though it was Yuki who was the closest, the glasses boy still let his senpai handle it, letting the defensive specialist regain his confidence.

Yuki didn't just stand there and do nothing, though. He glanced sideways and met Riku's eyes for a split second before they both moved in unison. Tsukiji's blockers who saw the interaction flinched unconsciously, especially after Yuki and Riku approached each other. Now, with those two doing this, all the Tsukiji players were forced to play a game of 'Guess who will set the ball' with the answer that could only be known after everything was over, and it wasn't exaggerating at all.

Just like this time, after they both got close to each other, Yuki suddenly stopped and took a sharp turn to the left wing, letting Riku handle the ball. However, instead of passing it to Yuki or any other Tsunemori players, the blonde boy took his chance to jump directly and execute the ball as quickly as possible.

BAM!

"Oh, yeah!"

"Nice spike dump, Riku!"

"Damn, that is a nasty one!"

"Good run, Yuki!" Amidst the praises from his teammates, Riku didn't forget to give Yuki the flowers the boy deserved. "Show them that you are not just a monster service!"

"I am sure by now everyone knows that I am not just a one-pony trick." Yuki rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Anyway, good job for the spike! Not a single one knows about what you are going to do until the last second. Maybe, you can hone this subtlety for the future?"

"Bah! Subtlety is overrated and for a mediocre one!" Riku scoffed. "Instead of doing something useless like that, you should just learn about bluffing and intimidating. Far more useful in my opinion." Yeah, Yuki could see where his friend came from. Riku's playing style was basically built revolving around his big mouth too, so of course, he would find the mind game to be appealing.

"Anyway, let's go back to our position! I don't want the ref to scold me one more time!"

After that, it was Kaede's turn to serve. However, bless Akira and his thoughtfulness, because the coach decided to put Ogawa as the pinch hitter in a situation like this. While the game was still far from over and anything could happen, putting a more stable player was definitely a good thing if they wanted to prolong their momentum.

"Okay, Jimmy! Stay calm and don't forget to take a deep breath!"

"Don't worry about messing this up, everyone makes a mistake!"

"Yeah, Dude! Just show your best here!"

With that kind of encouragement, of course, Ogawa's spirit was at its peak, and it was reflected by his sunny appearance. Hell, he even dared to wave his hand to Tsukiji's players, making everyone freeze for a second before some of them thought how many pieces were left for them to bring the boy back home.

However, as Ogawa was in the service zone, everything seemed to die instantly. He had his full concentration on this confrontation, and no matter what kind of insult was thrown outside, there was no way he would let this affect him.

'If I can do good here, who knows? Maybe, I will get back my spot in the main roster.'

With that thought in mind, Ogawa didn't hesitate to toss the ball in the air after the referee blew the whistle. Some players – Yuki and Riku who didn't join their summer camp – had their eyes widened in shock when they saw Ogawa do a jump serve. They still didn't know how it would go, however, just by Ogawa's stance when he was in the air alone, both freshmen could only think of one thing.

'Damn, that is so badass!'

BAM!