The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Arisawa Junya furrowed his brows at the sudden substitution from Tsunemori High. He knew Ogawa was a stable player who could do almost everything decently, which was a good spare tire when someone played terribly. However, the one who got replaced was the team's captain, Asahi, and the boy's performance wasn't even that bad.

Sure, Asahi hadn't contributed any points to Tsunemori High. However, that was because the last couple of plays were dominated by either Yuki's serve or Kikugawa High's blockers. As the team's second blocker, Asahi didn't even have a chance to showcase his ability, yet he was replaced already, which only meant one thing.

'They want to add more fire to their front line.' He muttered solemnly. He glanced sideways toward Tsunemori's bench, and coincidentally enough, Akira also did the same. The former master and disciple exchanged glances for a second before Arisawa Junya snorted and turned his head away immediately. 'That stinky old man. Does he think that he could win just by catching me off guard? Don't be naïve, old man. Let me show you why this is useless.'

Then, he rose from the bench, signaling Suzuki to come over and whispered, "They try to be more aggressive, but don't worry too much about the new player. Remember, he is a defensive-minded player. As long as you can stay aggressive and keep their defensive end busy, he wouldn't dare to join the attack. Tell this to Kaito-kun and Ayane-kun."

Suzuki just nodded shortly before he went back to the court and relied on the coach's message to the others. Ogawa's playing style was also another thing Arisawa Junya figured out a few days ago. He noticed that facing against a strong opponent, the boy didn't go forward as much compared to his usual number. After investigating, he realized that while Ogawa sometimes joined the synchronization attack, it was pretty rare for him to receive the end of it, and the boy would also be the first one to recover and get ready to defend if the play failed. This gave Arisawa Junya the illusion that Ogawa was a defensive-type player.

Unfortunately, he hadn't seen Tsunemori's game against Keihin High the last turn when Ogawa took over the role as the emergency setter, and Ogawa himself was also ready to surprise everyone here.

"Come on, Jimmy! Give us a good serve!"

As the team's new pinch serve, Ogawa was still trying to get used to his new role to bring difference on the court. While he was confident with all the training that he did for his topspin serve, he knew that his accuracy was far worse compared to Yuki. That was why he approached this chance cautiously.

'Keep your mind empty, don't overthink it, and right when you feel the ball on your palm, twist it a little to add a spin to it!'

BAM!

The ball dropped sharply just right after it crossed the net. Yusuke who was the closest to the ball was caught off guard due to its wild movement. Although he managed to save the ball, since he was a bit out of position, the save he made only made it worse as the ball bounced far behind to the area close to the baseline.

"Shit! Sorry, that is a terrible receive from me!"

"Captain!"

"I got it! I got it!"

Suzuki kept his eyes on the ball, tracking it while it was still in the air. However, as he got closer to the baseline, he realized that even if he managed to save the ball, the result wouldn't be too good as he was not a natural setter like Ayane. So, he did what he thought the best, giving it to the best player on the team.

"Kaito!" He shouted.

"I got it!"

The ball sent by Suzuki was a bit short, and since Kaito was on the back line, he couldn't cross the front line, making it harder to send a powerful spike without it hitting the net or getting blocked by the opponent. However, when Kaito saw Hirano's hands in the air, an idea popped inside his mind before he let a powerful spike straight to Hirano's fingers.

BAM!

Hirano scowled when he realized the ball slipped through his hand. He didn't even bat his eyes at the slight pain he felt on his fingers, his attention was still on the ball. Fortunately, even though it bounced outside of the court, Ogawa still reacted quickly enough diving acrobatically to save it before landing on the floor.

"It hasn't touched the floor yet! Keep it up!" Ogawa shouted.

Unfortunately, just like how it went on the other side of the court earlier, the ball Ogawa saved didn't go to the best place, resulting in Kaede and Riku having to send the ball back to their opponent without having a chance to attack.

"Oh! A chance ball! It is time to counterattack!"

"Ayane-senpai, give it to me!"

All the Tsunemori players tensed when they saw Kaito moving from the back. They all were accustomed to Kaito executing the attack in this game already and this time, they even forgot the other players could do so. As a result, they didn't realize Tachibana – the opponent's opposite hitter lurking from the shadow, and when the ball was sent to his side, everyone was caught off guard.

BAM!

"Shit!" Yuki cursed as he was blasted by the spike. Even though it wasn't that powerful, his stance was far from perfect, and it reflected on the sloppy save he did. "Cover it up!"

For a moment, there was chaos descended on Tsunemori's side. Their formation scrambled as everyone was confused about what they should do. However, in that chaotic moment, a glimpse of light suddenly appeared for Tsunemori when Ogawa rushed and got the ball first. Without even communicating with each other, he just tossed the ball to his back as if he had another pair of eyes there. Before anyone could realize it, Riku was already hanging in the air, and in the next second, a powerful spike fell on Kikugawa's side without anyone could stop it.

BAM!