The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"SHIT!" Hirano cursed when he realized the ball went out of control after hitting his hand. He was about to shout for someone to cover it up, but the impact was too fast, making the ball fly high to the stand. The crowd was too stunned to react. In the end, it was Tachi who broke the silence there with his roar that was piercing the sky.

"HELL YEAAAAAH!"

And right after that, all of the players with the yellow jersey jumped onto the muscular boy.

"Damn, that is what we are waiting for, Tachi!"

"Goddamnit, you gorilla! You scare me a bit here!"

"Hey, don't mock his strength like that! We are depending on it, you know?!"

Cheers and laughter filled Sumida High's side as they finally broke their deadlock, scoring their first point of the game. Even though they were still down by six points – the current score was 7 – 1 for Tsunemori, they didn't think about it for too much, knowing that this was their first step to get out of Tsunemori's shadow.

Meanwhile, on the home team's side, Hirano just bowed his head with a downcast expression on his face. The other players stared at each other awkwardly, not knowing what to say. After all, it wasn't quite often for their quiet blocker to curse out loud like that, making everyone forget how passionate their silent assassin was for this game.

After a while, Asahi finally had enough and decided to act like a proper captain for once. "Don't worry, Rano! That is just one point, we can get them back later!" He patted Hirano's back reassuringly.

Hirano just stared at his own hand with a complicated expression before he finally sighed, saying, "Sorry." Then left to go back to his original position. Even though everyone had already known for a long time how stingy Hirano was with his words, they were still dumbfounded at his short answer even after the captain took his time to reassure him. However, Asahi who knew his friend well just shrugged, mouthing to the other 'Just leave him be.' Silently.
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A moment later, the game was about to be continued, and Sumida High was full of excitement as if they were just resurrected from their death. However, scoring from the last play didn't mean their problem was gone. They still didn't know whether Iguchi's quick instruction before was a one-time thing or if the setter really adapted to Yuki and Riku's rhythm.

"Iguchi, this will be the test for you. Don't lose your eyes on them, okay?" Hitoshi asked.

"Sure, captain."

The game was finally about to begin again, and this time, it was Homura who took the serve. He did a pretty decent job here, sending a jump serve straight to Koji's side. It wasn't as powerful as Yuki's attempt before, but with Koji's defense, the ball still flew out of control after that, reaching what Homura wanted to achieve.

"Sorry, everyone! Cover!"

"Don't worry, I got this!" Yuki reacted.

All the Sumida High players tensed, watching intently at Riku for the possibility of a quick attack. Yuki just rolled his eyes exasperatedly at them. 'As if I am going for the attack they have been waiting for. What a dumbass.'

Instead of going for a quick attack he had done in the last few chances he got, Yuki waited for a while before sending the ball high to Koji. The ace grinned when he saw the ball flying in front of him, starting his run-up before leaping forward through the air.

BAM!

Just like his last attempt, Koji still aimed for a block out too this time. Fortunately, this time, he didn't make a mistake, forcing the ball to bounce wildly after the impact of the hit. As a result, even though Inoe ran forward to get the ball, he wasn't quick enough to do so, which resulted in the ball falling on Sumida High's side again.

"YEAH!" Koji pointed his finger toward his kouhai. "Good job, Yuki! The pass is so easy to hit!" Praised the ace.

"Nah, don't fret over it." Yuki grinned, returning the high-five. "Anyway, I am curious now. What have you been learning during the summer camp, Senpai? You still have the delayed attack, and now this? The block-out spike you did is so nasty!"

"Hey, I know, right?!" Koji was happy that someone appreciated the result of his training. "Even though Hisashi-senpai is a bit of a pain in the ass, I cannot deny that the training is worth it."

They chatted for a while before the referee asked for them to go back. Now, it was Riku's turn to serve, and the setter was ready to snatch the limelight from Koji. Even though he hadn't learned any new technique for his serve, the blonde boy had spent the majority of his time honing his jump serve, trying to generate more power while also fixing his terrible accuracy. Today, he was ready to get the fruit of his labor.

BAM!

"HELL YEAH!" Riku roared, punching his own chest wildly when he saw his serve was untouchable.

"Nice one, Riku!"

"Come on! Give me one more serve!"

"You can do it, Riku!"

"Riku-sama, look at here please!"

The cheers from the crowd were getting crazy with Riku's fangirls also joining the fun. However, with how wide the blonde boy smiled, Yuki was sure his friend was enjoying every second of this moment thoroughly.

The next few minutes turned into a nightmare for Sumida High's players. They were trying their best to fight against the wave of offense coming from the home team, yet anyone could see that it was a futile attempt. While yes, they managed to score here and there, but for one point they got, Tsunemori would always return it twice or three times worse than what they gave. Honestly, by then, everyone who knew a bit about volleyball could see that there was a huge quality difference between the two teams.

BAM!

"Oh, nice save, Kai!"

"Move, move, move! Get ready to attack!"

"Let's seal the first set now!"

It was almost the end of the first set with Tsunemori in the lead at 24 – 7. They just needed one more point to seal the deal, and now, they were determined to do so. Three players were moving at the same time, trying to spread Sumida High's blockers thin. They didn't care about the fierce gaze they received from their opponent, knowing full well that this was the result of them winning this game.

Amidst the chaos in the court though, with almost everyone rushing to the front, they forgot about Riku's presence, and the setter punished them all by stealing the limelight with a simple dump.

Thud!

And right after that, hell broke loose in Tsunemori Gymnasium Hall.