The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

The second set had already run for about fifteen minutes and added to how the first set went, honestly, this was the best performance Akira had seen from his players this year. Everyone did their role perfectly, only making a few small mistakes like Riku's reckless tendency to show off or Koji who seemed to forget he could avoid the opponent's blockers rather than trying to break through them with a brute force several times that could be ignored in the grand scheme at the end of the day.

BAM!

"Oh! Nice save, Kai!"

Akira nodded satisfactorily as once again, Kaede was able to save the opponent's attack. Kaede might not participate in the offense as much as Akira's liking, but the boy knew full well how to do his role as Tsunemori's gatekeeper. The boy's stability on the back side was probably what made Akira feel assured the most.

"Asa, cover it up for me!" Riku asked when he saw the ball was far from his direction.

"Don't worry, I got this!"

Asahi was also the one Akira felt improving the most after the summer. The boy not only took the captain role like it was his second nature, but he also worked hard enough to cover all the major weaknesses he had to become an all-around player like Yuki. Now, he also acted as Tsunemori's emergency setter once Riku and Yuki were out of the question, which helped the team's offense to run flawlessly.

"Koji! Finish it off!" Asahi shouted.

As for Koji… Akira felt a bit more complicated toward his new ace. Although the boy hadn't met the ace standard that he wanted him to be, Akira could see that Koji was still trying his best and learned how to overcome his weakness too. The delayed attack and block-out strategy he added to his arsenal was a nice addition to the team's offense. And although Akira was disappointed to not see the talent to raise the team's morale like any other ace usually had, he still put the boy as one of the most improved players during the summer.

BAM!

"Oh! Another rebound! Nice, Koji!" Okamura shouted, spreading his arm wide while also tracking the ball carefully.

Okamura… Well, Akira didn't have a lot to say about the libero. Training a defensive specialist was never his strength, after all. However, he still taught the boy what to do step by step during the game so that he could help the team in both ways even when he himself could only defend. Even Sekine acknowledged what he was doing for the boy, which Akira took as a success for himself.

"Yuki, Riku, finish it off!"

As for the two freshmen… Where should he start? The rapid improvement they experienced was an eye-opener for Akira. For almost twenty-five years he coached a team, this was his first time seeing such a transformation happen only in six months. They both went from being rookies who didn't even know the rules and had no experience playing as a team to becoming mature forces to be reckoned with now and while Akira knew half of the credit was for Tokyo Thunder U-19 and the summer camp held by Daiki Sato, he still allowed himself to be proud of them.

BAM!

"HELL YEAH!" Yuki roared, chest-bumping Riku who just sent a quick pass in his direction. "Good job, Riku! That is your best pass today!"

A thick vein popped on Riku's temple as he shoved his friend's shoulder playfully. "Ha?! You mean that before this, my pass is terrible?!"

"Hell yeah! You should be ashamed of calling yourself a setter!"

"Bastard, do you want to fight?!"

Akira could only shake his head in exasperation when he saw their antic. Besides his players' willingness to work hard to achieve their target, this was the thing Akira enjoyed the most this year. Even if in the other team such a player would be called a jokester and be treated like a fool, he at least could appreciate their presence. They were the ones who set up the mood on the bench here; from speaking up some sort of cheap motivation they could find in YouTube when the team was too depressed or even calming them down when the players were too excited to continue the game.

Overall, their role was probably the most important one in the team and added their outstanding ability to the complexity, Akira was sure that those two were his two best players of the year.

As Akira pondered about his future, especially the drawing advantage his team had, Akira started to be brave enough to dream further. His eyes then captured the Silvestri family – his former protegees – cheering over Riku and Yuki's names, and he tugged his hat off to cover his expression as he couldn't help but smirk.

'So, how is it, Mattheo? Feeling that all your investments for him are finally worth it?'

-0-

"Good job, Yuki! That is a terrifying speed!" Riku high-fived his friend after the last play. Read the latest on empire

"Yeah, Yuki! Is it just my feeling or did you suddenly get faster out of nowhere?" Kaede asked.

Yuki just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, not wanting to reveal that it was because of the appearance of the Silvestri family among the crowd that made him feel pumped up. "Eh, that is just your feeling, Senpai. Maybe, it is because the opponent is also starting to get slower."

Indeed, true to Yuki's words, all the Sumida High players were exhausted already by now. The game went south from the way they hoped it would be. Yuki's presence behind the service line really destroyed their preparation, and even if they tried their best to get back into the game, all the Tsunemori players also worked hard to ensure they were buried under six feet.

"Come on, it is one more point! Let's end this game as quickly as possible!" Asahi clapped, encouraging his teammates to put their focus back on the game.

"Oh, yeah! Oi, Yuki! If you can do it alone, just end it! I don't mind having to do nothing here!" Kaede gave a thumb-up.

Yuki just snorted, walking through the service line to get ready for the next play. The referee blew the whistle, signaling him to serve the ball. He didn't need to be told twice, throwing the ball lightly in the air. His eyes kept scanning around, searching for a weak spot that he could aim for. When he found it, the glasses boy didn't even hesitate to slam the ball toward the direction.

BAM!

The ball moved pretty fast, going straight to the middle. Inoe who was closer to that spot reacted quickly, leaning his body forward to save the ball. However, as the ball passed through the net, it curved slightly toward the left side, and while it wasn't enough to go outside of Inoe's reach, the change of direction itself was enough to let the ball slip through his defense.

"Shit!"

He didn't need to see where the ball landed after it slipped through his hand. Just by looking at the referee who raised his right hand and pointed it to Tsunemori's side, Inoe knew what it meant.

Sumida High lost, and their tournament was over.