The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Just like Tsukiji High and Kikugawa High, Shirayuki High was also a traditional powerhouse school in Tokyo that had been in a difficult time for the last couple of years. Up until five or even ten years ago, they were the teams who were always competing fiercely with Konan High and Matsuyama Kita High. However, unlike those two who soared to the sky, Shirayuki plunged into a dark era, couldn't produce a competitive team anymore for the last couple of years. The presence of the new strong schools like Kyoei Gakuen and Shimoyawata High also didn't help, making them fall into a third-tier team in Tokyo. However, their pride as a former powerhouse team was still there, and that was something that they always held as a motivation until now, to regain their dignity.

As for their opinion about a new strong team who surged in the last couple of years like Shimoyawata High… Well, honestly, they secretly looked down on them, thinking that Shimoyawata High was only able to achieve this result just because they burned so much money for the team. As a pretty old team, Shirayuki High thought that the kind of teams who used the money to get stronger wasn't as pure as them.

Unfortunately, they couldn't deny the fact that Shimoyawata High was a stronger team than them. Even after their next-to-be opponent had just come back after being prohibited to join any official tournament, Shimoyawata High was still a top team who everyone was optimistic that they could challenge Konan High and Matsuyama Kita High. Compared to Shirayuki High… Well, it was a bit embarrassing that people seemed to forget that they were also a top team in the past.

That was why, when all the Shirayuki High players entered the court, they all looked excited, determination burning in their eyes. They all were men with missions here, determined to regain their dignity and announced themselves as a powerhouse school again in this scene. Coming with a strong momentum, all the six players with the dark blue jerseys entered the court with a fierce glare toward their opponent.

"Man, they sure are scary, huh?" Ueno asked nonchalantly. There was not a single hint of fear in his tone as the question itself was his way of mocking his opponent. To his surprise, though, one of Shirayuki's players heard that and reacted violently.

"Ha?! What did you just say, Bastard?!" He growled angrily, making Ueno yelp instantly.

"Ah, please, don't mind him. His mouth is indeed a bit loose." Hideo, Shimoyawata's captain stepped forward quickly before things got escalated. "Anyway, I am Hideo, the captain of this team. Let's have a good game." He offered a handshake to the boy on the other side of the court.

The boy himself paused for a moment, staring at Hideo's hand in disgust before finally sighing, accepting it while saying, "Takumi, Shirayuki's captain. Let's have a good game too."

Hideo could only scratch the back of his head awkwardly after the handshake, not knowing whether the boy – Takumi – had a bad feeling toward them or he was just not a sociable person. In the end, Hideo just turned his eyes at his kouhai, glaring at the boy for provoking the opponent unnecessarily like this.

"H-Hey, hey, don't look at me like that, Senpai!" Ueno stepped back immediately, hiding behind his two friends' bodies. "Who would've thought that they would have someone who could hear our conversation so sharply like this?!" His two friends – Senki and Ezaki – looked at each other hesitantly before nodding their heads quickly, deciding to support his friend this time.

In the end, Hideo just sighed, somehow feeling worried about the fate of this team after he retired in the future and let those three take over the team. Well, fortunately, after the incident a year ago, Ezaki was somehow maturing a lot, and Senki himself was a reliable guy. It was Ueno who always joked around like this that didn't give him a good feeling about the team's future.

"Whatever. Let's just go back and start our warmup. The game is going to start in the next few seconds."

Today, Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium held two quarter-final games for this winter tournament. First, it was the game earlier between Tsunemori High and Kikugawa High, and after about two and a half hours of the game and another hour for a break, the second game between Shimoyawata High and Shirayuki High would be started next. As for Matsuyama Kita and Konan's game, they would be held tomorrow, taking advantage of the weekend to absorb most of the people who lived around to watch those games.

Honestly, since the main attraction was tomorrow, there shouldn't be a lot of people who watched the game today. However, being driven by the enthusiastic atmosphere after the heated battle between Tsunemori High and Shimoyawata High, all the people here were eager to watch more fun, so while most of the supporters who watched the first game had already been gone, there were still quite much who were still sitting on their seat with popcorn and another snack they bought outside, ready to watch this game.

After letting the two teams warming up for about fifteen minutes, the referee finally called the captains from both teams, starting the game with a coin toss. In the end, Shirayuki High won this mini game and decided to serve the ball first.

"Come on, Kubota! You can do this!"

"Don't hold back, just go all out from the start!"

"Don't embarrass your ancestors, Kubota-chan!"

With the cheers from the supporters stand, the boy, Kubota, took a deep breath before finally launching a powerful topspin serve. The ball pierced through the air like a missile, and right after it crossed the net, it dropped instantly, catching all the Shimoyawata High players off guard.

BAM!

"SHIT!" Wakamatsu – the team's defensive specialist – cursed as he leaned his body forward, he was almost parallel with the floor. In the end, he managed to get the ball, yet his positioning was too awkward, preventing him from aiming the ball perfectly. As a result…

Brugh!

"Ouch!"

The ball collided Ueno's body out of nowhere, catching the setter off guard. Unfortunately, as they had already touched the ball twice in this sequence, in the end, Ezaki had to give up the privilege to attack back to the opponent.

"Oh! Nice serve, Kubota!"

"Don't waste this chance! Counterattack!"

It didn't take a long time for Shirayuki High players before the ball were flying back in the air again. This time, their setter, a short, charismatic boy named Masaki Yuya got it, launched a blitz attack toward the front line.

BAM!

"Fuck!" Shirayuki's hitter, Yuya, cursed when he saw his attack was blocked. Meanwhile, Genta – Shimoyawata's middle blocker – shouted when he felt that his hand managed to deflect the ball, "One touch! Get it!"

"Okay, don't worry, don't worry!" Ueno spread his arms wide, ready to receive the attack. This time, since the attack coming was too easy to anticipate, the chance to counterattack was pretty high, and the setter didn't even flinch at the choice that he made instantly after that. "Ezaki!"

As the ball was flying – no, even before the ball flew – Shimoyawata High's player with the number 4 jersey on his back, Ezaki, had already rushed on the left side with his top speed. This sudden charge startled Shirayuki High players for a moment, yet they were able to react quickly before the attack was delivered as two blockers were coming at him.

"Come on, Kojiro! Move with me! One! Two! Jump!"

However, they miscalculated their timing right there. With how quickly Ezaki rushed toward them, those two blockers were too anxious to jump, and Ezaki took advantage of that by slowing down a little before crossing the line on his side. As those two had already reached their peak height, that was when the boy took action, taking off to get the ball first. As a result, even the best defensive team in Japan wouldn't be able to stop this perfect attack so easily.

BAM!

-0-

"OH! What a powerful spike! As expected from Ezaki!"

"Hey, don't you see the opponent's reaction when they saw the delayed attack for the first time, they looked so dumb!"

"Hey, don't mock your opponent like that!"

"Pfft! Hahaha! That is so fucking funny!":

Cheers erupted as most of the people inside the building shouted Ezaki's name. The boy himself didn't waver even for a split second, just shrugged it off and kept communicating with each other calmly. Miura – the team's head coach – just shook his head in exasperation when he saw this scene.

'After all the hardship that you suffered last year, it is good for you to gain public's approval like this.' He smiled, somehow remembering the dark days when the team was prohibited from participating in any official tournament due to Ezaki's clean punch toward the opponent's players at that time. He could still remember that Ezaki himself volunteered to resign from the team. Fortunately, looking at the scene in front of him, where all the Shimo players were celebrating with each other like this, Miura was glad that he fought for the boy at that time. 'Come on, Ezaki-kun. You deserve all the cheers here. Cherish it carefully as your motivation to win this game, come on!'