The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Okay, here we go again."

Yuki took a deep breath before stepping into the court for the second set. He was followed by his teammates who somehow had a similar expression, weighted by the fact that this was probably the last set they played together as a team. Even Riku who usually was the first one to encourage the others didn't speak anything this time, couldn't shake off the heavy atmosphere on the team.

A moment like this made them all realize the importance of a great leader among them. Even though after the third-year players retired, Koji stepped forward as the official captain of the team, he was so fragile and easily pressured by the opponent to the point he always became the first one to crumble in the middle of the game.

The other sophomore students also couldn't fill the shoes, didn't have the leadership ability Tsunemori needed to become a great team.

As for Yuki and Riku, while they showed potential and sometimes even did a far better job than the others on several occasions, at the end of the day, they were still freshmen, new to the team. The older players would only listen to their words when it was convenient, but to lead the entire team who most of them were older than those two, it would be too hard for both Yuki and Riku.

In the end, this was the reality that Tsunemori had to accept. They had no capable leader in the team that could raise the morale in such a difficult situation like this.

'Well, if words couldn't work anymore, only real action would be able to wake them up.' Yuki thought inwardly. 'We need to gain a foothold and grab the initiative as soon as possible before the others fall deeper into their depression pit.'

He shared a glance with Riku who gave him a nod. It seemed the blonde boy had a similar thought as him. Then, Riku walked to the service line, ready to start the second set. He took a deep breath, racking his brain to think of how to use his serve to create an opening for his team. He knew his usual jump serve didn't work anymore, so he had to be creative here.

After waiting for a while, the referee finally gave a nod, and Riku tossed the ball slightly. Even though he knew the flaw revealed to the opponent in the first set came from him, he still didn't change it, grinning widely as if he was going to do the trick. He remembered what Yuki said about this before the timeout was over.

'Rather than showing our opponent that we have figured out our flaw, why don't we trick them? Riku, remember what you were doing when we played against Kyoei Gakuen?'

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Of course, Riku would remember that. This was the trick Riku learned so well from Sekine. By deliberately using his expression to show what kind of ball he wanted to throw, this basically will pull the opponent's leg, making it impossible for them to guess what he wanted to do. It was like in a Janken game where one player suddenly said deliberately that he would go for a paper.

The opponent would never know whether he would lie or not, and as a result, the opponent would be entangled in what they should do.

'Bah! Why would I need to remember such a complicated explanation? What I need to do right now is to show my biggest grin and slow down a bit before hitting the ball as hard as possible. Easy!'

True to his thought, when Riku showed a big grin on his face, all the players on the other side of the net were taken aback before moving forward unconsciously. In their mind, Riku was always a readable player. So, when the blonde boy showed a big grin like this, they thought he would try to do something different to catch them off guard.

However, they didn't expect that Riku who seemed to slow down a bit in the air and looked like he wanted to aim the front line suddenly swung his arms as quickly as possible, hitting the ball with all of the power inside him.

*BAM!*

"Shit! On the back!"

"I got this!"

Even though a bit awkward, Shimada was able to receive the serve from Riku. He who already stepped forward to anticipate a short serve saved the ball with his chest, which made everyone wince unconsciously knowing how hurt it would be. However, as a result, the ball was still alive, flying outside of the court.

"Follow it through! Lucas!"

"I got it!"

Since he was the closest to the ball, Lucas had to get the second ball to keep it alive. If Konan was a normal team, they would feel pity when they saw their ace was forced to get the second touch. However, Konan was far from ordinary. They still had Matsumoto, one of the best youngsters Japan has right now.

"Oh! Nice pass, Lucas!"

"Rano! Follow my lead! Don't let him get a cross!"

Yuki and Hirano moved in sync, trying to force Matsumoto to send a straight spike where Kaede had already waited for the ball there. However, as one of the best spikers in the tournament, Matsumoto had his own pride. Facing such a wall, he would never back down and do what his opponent wanted. Seeing the block, Matsumoto swung his arm quickly, unleashing a powerful spike straight into Hirano's hands.

*BAM!*

"Shit!" Hirano gritted his teeth, feeling like something just stung his hand. If this was a normal situation, Yuki would be dumbfounded as this was the first time he heard his cold senpai curse this loud. However, he had no time to do that.

Yuki turned his head quickly, trying to search for the ball's whereabouts. When he found it was still within reach, he shouted immediately, "JIMMY! RUN! COVER IT UP!"

"I GOT THIS!"

Unfortunately, Ogawa wasn't the best passer in the world. Even though he managed to save the ball, he couldn't send it to an ideal spot, and Riku had to move a bit too far and sent an awkward underhand pass to save Ogawa's pass that was a bit too short. As a result, the final pass to Koji wasn't a good one, and with Akihiro waiting in front of him, Koji could only do one thing.

*BAM!*

"Oh! Rebound! Nice thinking, Koji!"

"One more time! Come on!"

This time, everyone had already gone back to their original position after getting scattered by the chaotic play before. Koji's rebound attack gave them enough time to recover and ready for another attack. And just like in the first set, Yuki and Riku exchanged glances for a moment, and in the next second, the ball flew to the other side of the net already.

*BAM!*