The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Meanwhile, the atmosphere on Tsunemori's bench was gloomy. No one spoke anything there as they just bowed their head in a depressed manner. Even Megumi who usually took this time to talk and encourage the players had no words to raise the morale of the team.

It was so gloomy that the only thing Yuki could think to top this situation was when he was in the evacuation camp during the earthquake disaster a few months ago, which told him how bad the problem was.

Akira stood still in silence while waiting for his players to drink the water and cool down their heads. It creeped out everyone how he didn't say anything, as all the players there were expecting him to scold or criticize them after the first set was over.

After a while, Akira finally took a deep sigh and spoke, "You did well in the first set."

His words broke the players completely. Everyone had their jaws dropped, looking at their coach in disbelief. If they didn't know Akira better, they would think he was being sarcastic right now.

"You are doing good, I swear," Akira said once again to convince the others. "You managed to steal more than ten points against them, which was the first time in this tournament Konan High suffered from this. You blow everyone's expectations and you all put yourself on everyone's radar.

No matter how this game would end, you will be remembered as one of the legends who were able to snatch double-digit points in a set."

Even though they heard about it from the crowd before, all the players thought it would mean nothing if they lost the game. However, if the coach praised them for doing so, they would accept it as a consolation prize after getting demolished by the opponent in the last few minutes before the first set was over.

"Honestly, if you are just a normal team, I would praise you to death. You, a bunch of freshmen and sophomore players, managed to push Konan High, the best team in the country to the point that they play seriously, a feat only a strong team like Matsukita could do. The potential inside you that is still untapped could make any coach shiver in excitement.

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Given one more year, I am sure you will achieve further in the future, and maybe, by some miracles, you could beat them in a game or two."

Well… That was nice to hear. However, when they saw Akira's expression turned solemn, they knew their coach still had more to say.

"Unfortunately for you guys…" He took a deep sigh. "You know your time is not that much, right?" The atmosphere which lightened a bit from all the praises before went back into a heavy one from that small reminder. "You know very well that there is a very high chance this would be your last game, right? What, with the purge happened in the school?"

Yeah, this was the reason all the players felt depressed the most. All the people here praised them to death, saying they had such a huge potential to be a great team. However, only the players knew that no matter how huge their potential was, it would be nothing once they were dissolved by the school.

"So, yeah, if you are a normal team, I will just say a good job and encourage you to give your best shot since it is quite rare to play against the best team in the country and try to learn from them. Unfortunately, we cannot do that this time." Akira coughed. "So, first thing first, we will make a replacement. Asahi, sorry, but you are out. Jimmy, you are back to the court again."

"Me?!" Ogawa was taken aback when he heard his name was called. He knew his performance wasn't that good before Asahi replaced him, so he wondered why Akira still wanted to use him in the second set.

"Yes, you." Akira nodded, confirming his words. "Also, Yuki, Riku, I know what flaw you revealed in your combination attack that allowed Konan's players to read you like an open book."

"Really?!" Yuki and Riku widened their eyes, their back straightened as they stared at their coach intently. The others also had the same reaction, knowing it would be a big deal if the problem could be fixed this time.

When Riku heard Akira's explanation about his grin during the combination attack, he wanted to slap himself so hard for his stupidity.

"Oh, God! How could I be so stupid?!" He moaned.

"The same damn question I ask in this game, you blonde idiot!" Sekine suddenly talked for the first time during the pep talk. The old man sent a soft karate chop to Riku's head, not enough to knock him out, yet enough to make the blonde boy wake up from his idiocy. "What did I tell you the first time a setter needs to learn? It is to stay calm no matter what and have a good poker face!

But what did you do? You did exactly the opposite of what I thought you! You revealed your intention with your stupid grin, always wanting to show off to the others! Now, do you see the consequence here?!"

Even though the scolding was pretty harsh, Riku listened and processed everything carefully inside his head. This was probably the best way to reprimand him. If Sekine went softer than this, Riku would just shrug it off and forget about it later. However, after the scolding was over, the situation there was pretty awkward, with Akira didn't know how to continue the pep talk after Sekine's outburst.

"Well…" Akira coughed, trying to break the awkwardness around them. "It is good that we can solve this matter quickly. That means we can still use the combination attack for the second set." Yuki and Riku nodded in acknowledgment. "However, I forbid you to involve Kai and Rano in your shenanigan, is that okay?"

"Eh? Why?!" Riku asked, confused. Yuki also felt the same here. Even though Hirano and Kaede's presence as an attacker wasn't quite effective in the first set, it was before Riku's problem was addressed properly. Now, with the problem resolved, having more attackers would be good for their offense.

"You want to stabilize the game." Hirano suddenly spoke, gaining everyone's attention. "By putting Jimmy on the court and with me and Kaede not involved in the offense, it would ensure we are ready for the opponent's attack because whenever Yuki and Riku did their new combination attack, all the players involved would always come back late to their position."

Akira beamed, happy that he had a smart player on his team. "Rano is right. Even though it is deadly, since everyone is not used to cooperating with the new attack, they would always come back late to defend their area. So, Rano and Kai are off-limits since they are important to maintain the order on the court."

Everyone nodded, could see why the coach wanted to do that.

"Lastly!" Akira raised his voice. All the players straightened their backs, knowing this was probably the most important part of Akira's speech. "Never let the opponent have more than ten points lead. This is the only task I give you for the second set."

All the players – even Hirano who usually had a stoic expression – were shocked by the sudden instruction.

"Do you think it is possible?" Kaede asked skeptically. "I mean, during the first set, we cannot stop them from widening the gap, right?" Yeah, while they put up a decent fight after the opponent managed to grasp the flaw revealed by Riku, they suddenly became unstoppable. For all the Tsunemori players, this task was like a mission impossible for the team.

However, Akira nodded firmly at his question. "I am a teacher. There is no way I would give my students a homework they cannot solve." He said. Then, his expression turned somber before he added, "But in case you failed the task, we can probably say goodbye to the future of our team."