The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"YOSSHAAAA!"

Even only watching from the screen, all of the members of the Tsunemori teams could feel shiver down their spine from Sawada's passionate roar. Not only that, this first point was indeed really shocking for all of them who had the experience of playing against Konan High.

For one, they all knew Sawada was a meek player who only dared to do a bold play like a dump or something like that occasionally. For him to do that in the first play of the set was definitely unexpected. But what made everyone have a hard time processing was the method the boy used to score the point.

"Am I dreaming or is he really using his left hand?" Yuki asked, dumbfounded. "In the game against us, Sawada has never used his left hand, not even once, right?" He turned around to Riku who also paid attention to Sawada the most during their game.

"Yes, and even during the training camp, he had never shown anything like that." The blonde boy nodded solemnly. "That means he just developed this new ability just in two months before this winter tournament, right?"

For that, everyone turned somber, putting Sawada and Konan High which initially was in a very high place to a higher place in their evaluation. After all, for the best team in the country to have the motivation to keep improving themselves even after they won the national tournament meant they didn't have any intention to give the other teams any chance to beat them.

"Now, we will see how Kyoei Gakuen will react and how they beat them in the first set."

-0-

"Come on, Nobu! That's what Genzo always talked about! Be bolder and more confident!" Matsumoto ruffled his kouhai's hair fondly.

"Yes, Nobu! Can you see how ridiculous that blonde bastard's face is when you surprised him with your dump spike?" Akihiro, the team's middle blocker grinned widely. "Man, it would be good if you could do that again. I will pay you a good amount of money to make that blonde bastard look stupid and humiliate him once again like that."

"Don't dump your personal issue to Nobu, Take!" Shimada, the team's defensive specialist slapped his kouhai straight on the back of his head. "Also, good job, Nobu! Genzo will be so proud of you right now!" He sent a thumb-up to his other kouhai who now looked like a tomato, embarrassed.

"Come on, everyone. Don't embarrass him like that." Matsumoto chuckled when he noticed the state his kouhai was in. "You can kill him from embarrassment after the game is over. But for now, we still need him." The others chuckled immediately while Sawada himself just pouted indignantly at that.

Even though they were one set behind, the atmosphere around the Konan High team was still as cheerful as ever. While they were stunned by the defeat, all of the players there knew what they were capable of, so even though they turned more serious, the atmosphere was still pretty light over there.

"Come on, Lucas! Give us another good serve!"

"Yeah! Kill them again!"

As the referee blew the whistle, Lucas served the ball once again, and for the second time in a row, he targeted Haruo who was on the front line. Unfortunately – or fortunately depending on what perspective people saw it – the ball was too low as it stuck in the net, and within a second, without giving everyone any chance to react, it rolled over the net to fall to Kyoei's side slowly.

"Shit! A let serve?! Are you kidding me?!" Haruo gritted his teeth, rushing forward to get the ball. He was one step too late, though, as Ito, the team's captain reacted first, extending one leg to kick the ball high in the air.

"Oh! What a save, Captain!"

"Shut up and cover the ball for me!"

"I got it!"

Yamada, Kyoei's setter tracked the ball in the air before passing it toward the left side where Nitta was standing. The team's ace only needed two steps to do his run-up before leaping forward, ready to execute the attack. Unfortunately, as he swung his arms, Akihiro from Konan High also reacted in time, jumping in front of him with both hands extended in the air.

BAM!

"One touch!" Akihiro shouted as he felt the soft block he set was successful. As for Nitta, he just clicked his tongue in annoyance before adjusting his state and went back to recover to his original position. "Sorry, everyone! My bad!" Shouted the ace.

"Don't worry! Go back and get ready to defend!"

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All the Kyoei players moved like a machine, quick and precise. Before the ball was flying back to Sawada, everyone was ready for the incoming attack from Konan High. They really showed another level of defense by not only trying to anticipate the attack but also getting into a position that would make them ready to counterattack immediately once they managed to stop the opponent's attack.

BAM!

"One touch!" This time, it was Haruo who shouted that. As if he wanted to retaliate against Akihiro who stopped Nitta's attack, this time, he managed to soften the blow coming from Matsumoto, allowing his teammates to handle the ball easily.

Or… That was what he thought.

Unfortunately, Nitta made a mistake. Instead of sending the ball to Yamada in the front row, he used too much power, and as a result, the ball flew close to the net right in front of Haruo. Seeing that, chaos erupted as the two best middle blockers of their generation suddenly jumped together with hands extending in the air, wanting to reach the ball first to get the advantage of this joust situation.

"KILL IT, TAKE!"

"DON'T YOU DARE TO LOSE THE CONTEST, HARUO!"

For a second, time seemed to freeze as they both stayed in the air, the hands of both players were on the ball as they tried their best to push it to the other side of the court. In the end, as Haruo had the advantage in height and weight, the blonde boy managed to get the upper hand, knocking the ball straight down to Konan's side.

"Shit!" Akihiro cursed at his defeat.

Haruo himself was ready to celebrate, knowing that it was impossible for Akihiro to recover. However, someone on Konan's side suddenly rushed to the front line with a speed that no ordinary eyes could catch, extending both hands to the front while diving forward to save the ball.

BAM!

Everything happened so fast. From Haruo thinking that he managed to win the joust situation and knock the ball down to Konan's side just for the ball to fly again in the next second to Matsuyama's spot, everyone couldn't even proceed with what just happened there. The last thing they saw, though, was the spike from Konan's captain that fell onto the back of Kyoei's side, overturning the desperate situation to add one more point for Konan High.

When all the players there finally regained their consciousness, though, they snapped their heads around to see the preparator of this amazing blitz play, just to find Lucas lying on the floor with a huge grin on his face, showing a set of white teeth that shone brightly on the court.

Konan High 2 – 0 Kyoei Gakuen