The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Ogawa would never be a flashy player. No matter how much he hoped he could be like Riku, after two years of playing with this team, it was a fact that he had acknowledged with peace. If anything, he was more of a player who could bring calm to his teammates. He was one who came to stabilize everything, and he embraced the role perfectly, just like him embracing his new nickname, Jimmy, the ordinary one.

However, that didn't mean Ogawa would give up just like that. No, if anything, he worked harder to train for something flashy so that he could also put pressure on the opponent's side, not just reassure his teammates. One of the practices he had was a jump serve, trained personally by Hisashi and the other alumni during the summer training camp.

Of course, his level was still not good enough. Out of 10 attempts, four still couldn't cross the net, and while he got the power, Ogawa still had a hard time aiming it to any spots he wanted. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't use it, though. Especially, in a time like this, a stable, powerful serve was like a good blessing for either team.

'This might not be able to score a direct point, but at least I hope it can break their defense formation.'

BAM!

Ogawa felt smug when he saw Yuki and Riku stared at him in awe. He knew based on what the alumni said that his service form was one of the most perfect forms they had ever seen, and to have the two talented boys on the team admiring it was a boost to his confidence. However, the end product of his service was a completely different story.

Thud!

'Ouch!' Ogawa winced when he saw the ball stuck in the net. Fortunately, it rolled slowly over the net before falling through Tsukiji's area. 'Nice!' And since it fell to the front side, Reiki had to be the one to pick it up as he was the closest to the ball.

"Damn! Kiyotake, follow it up!"

"I got this!"@@novelbin@@

The situation was a bit chaotic since two of Tsukiji's front-line players fought so hard to keep the ball floating. Kiyotake managed to save the ball, but his action only made it fly backward. The wild ball caught everyone off guard, but Ishida managed to react quickly as he turned around and dove, one arm extended far to reach the ball before he flicked it with all of his strength to return the ball to Tsunemori's side.

"Oh! Nice recovery, Ishida!"

"No, it is not over yet! Keep your eyes on the ball!" Ishida shouted, trying to get up and recover from his position as soon as possible.

Yeah, even though he managed to save the ball, Ishida couldn't let his guard down yet. After all, the ball he returned was weak and easy, giving Tsunemori a chance to attack them once again.

Of course, Riku would never let this chance slide. When he saw the libero was still down on the floor, the blonde boy made a quick decision to capitalize on this chance by handling the first touch by himself to set up a quick attack. Yuki who had been playing together with him knew his intention even before the ball came as the glasses boy followed his movement by rushing forward while waiting for the ball to come.

BAM!

In the end, Yuki slammed the ball straight to the spot where Ishida just gotten up from the last play, knocking down the libero which resulted in the ball flying far outside of the court.

"YOSSHAAA!" Yuki roared, followed by the cheers coming from Tsunemori's supporters. His eyes then caught Kiyotake and Reiki who failed to react to his quick attack and he couldn't help but shout, "This is the payback for Rano-senpai earlier, Bastard!"

Everyone – even Tsunemori players – was stunned at that to react properly. After all, Yuki was probably the calmest dude on the team, so it was a sight to see him provoking the opponent directly like that. It seemed he was caught by the heat of this game and somehow slipped from that.

However, this ignited the tension one more time. Tsukiji players didn't expect Yuki to be so bold like this, and it made them uncomfortable. .If they didn't retaliate, their own supporters would go for their throat for their cowardness. Of coure, Tsunemori wouldn't stay silent like that. They tried their best to protect Yuki from getting targeted by the opponent to the point that they asked Akira to replace him and calm his emotion first.

However, while Okamura had a similar capability in defense as Yuki, Akira didn't want to waste the rotation here, especially when one rotation later, Hirano had to play from the backside. The other player on the bench was also not reliable enough since Kaede was still getting eaten by his nerves right now. In the end, Akira crossed his arms and made an 'X' signal that told all of his players that there was no substitution here.

As a result, the game succumbed to chaos in the next moment.

-0-

"NEITO, GIVE IT TO ME! LET ME KILL THAT BASTARD NOW!"

"Jimmy, cover the left! Don't let him go straight!"

BAM!

"Oh, nice block, Jimmy!"

"No, don't take our eyes away from the ball! It is coming again!"

BAM!

"Oh! Nice receive, Yuki!"

"Riku, right side! Right side!"

BAM!

"YOSSHAAAA!"

Toru Oniki felt his hair would turn greyer as he watched how the game went. He was the head coach of Tsukiji High, and to say he was unhappy with this development was an understatement. Not only his players were dragged into Tsunemori's rhythm and did not realize it, but they even lost control of their emotions, charging blindly like a bunch of mad dogs.

This was probably the worst-case scenario for his team right now.

'Should I call a timeout to kill Tsunemori's momentum? No, that would only slow them down, but the momentum would still be them. Also, the supporters wouldn't be too happy if I did that.' Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire

In a time like this, he really showed his vulnerability as a rookie coach by not wanting to call a timeout. After all, he forgot a short pause would be able to let him calm his players down and make them realize their sloppiness on the court.

Still, that didn't mean he was an amateur who didn't know what to do. He kept racking his brain for a moment before the corner of his eyes caught someone on the bench stiffening a big yawn, a sign of someone who had just woken up from his sleep. Oniki frowned for a moment at the boy before his eyes widened in realization.

'How could I be so stupid like this?! I still have him here!' He slapped his forehead stupidly. However, after that, his excitement rose astronomically as he shouted, "Wang, get up! It is your turn to play! Go there and change the game for us!"

The boy called Wang who just yawned in his seat suddenly had a massive grin on his face, a feral grin formed there. "So, you are finally going to let me play, huh? Good choice, Sensei."

-0-

"Substitution for Tsukiji High! Number 12 was replaced by number 34!" The referee suddenly announced.

All the Tsunemori players furrowed their brows at the sudden announcement. Tsukiji's number 12 was an outside hitter who spent almost the entire game doing nothing and just running around blindly, not someone they should be worried about. However, the new player with the number 34 was a completely different breed here.

"Holy shit, he is so tall!" Ogawa widened his eyes in shock. "How could there be a player as tall as him without anyone knowing about him?" The question was echoed by the other Tsunemori players.

The boy they mentioned was probably the tallest person in the building. Even from afar, Yuki tried to measure the boy's height and compared it with him, and to his surprise, he was just as tall as the boy's shoulder.

"He should be over 200 cm, right?" Yuki whispered to Riku, uncertain.

"Yes, and he has muscles too." The blonde boy nodded with the same solemnity. Yuki flinched when he saw the board shoulder and jacked forearms the new boy had, which could be translated as another heavy hitter for Tsukiji High. He wondered how a player with such a perfect athletic body like this went under everyone's radar. 'Is this what Ishida meant when he talked about their secret weapon?' He mused.

Yeah, even with his huge presence, not a single being in the building knew anything about the new boy. Everyone – even Tsukiji's supporters were confused at the boy's identity. Hell based on Akira's confusion, all the Tsunemori players knew this was the boy's first appearance in the volleyball circle in Japan. It seemed Tsukiji High did a good job keeping things under the wrap until they really needed it.

As the boy noticed the silent awe he saw from his opponents, he suddenly smiled ferally and introduced himself in English. "My name is Michael Wang, and I am an American-Chinese student transferred from Dallas. Let's have a good game, okay?"