The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

As the game went by, Tsunemori's situation kept getting worse. Even though there was a moment when their morale spiked up, it was just a momentary boost from the crowd's cheers. But when they allowed the opponent to score one or two more points, the mood went back to rock bottom.

Yuki growled lowly, showing frustration for the first time today. He also saw Riku had a similar expression, knowing his blonde friend also felt the same.

Honestly, if this situation was because they were outclassed by the opponent, even though he would be frustrated, Yuki would be able to accept the result. After all, that would only mean they were still far below Konan's level. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case this time.

The last few points they suffered were all because of the basic mistakes Tsunemori players made that shouldn't happen in a high-stakes game like this.

For example, in the last play, Kaede who usually showed a solid display of defense suddenly failed to receive Akihiro's ordinary service. Before it happened, Koji also made a mistake by spiking from outside of the antenna in an attempt to avoid Konan's blockers. The mistakes made were so basic and stupid that it was so frustrating for Yuki to watch.

He couldn't help but think that if only the team was in their top form just like in the beginning of the second set, the score would be closer and the situation wouldn't be this bad for Tsunemori.

What happened on Tsunemori's side wasn't just because of physical exhaustion. It was also because of the mental pressure coming from getting dominated by the best team in the country that made them sloppy and panicked easily. After all, except for Yuki and Riku who were completely new to Japanese volleyball, everyone knew the weight of Konan's name and what it meant to beat them.

The other Tsunemori players had already set their minds that it was impossible for them to win this game, and after a while, that thought was finally manifested in reality.

"Oi, Yuki, any idea how to get out of this shitty situation?" Riku whispered.

"Why are you asking me?" Yuki whispered back.

"Because you are the one with a better brain here!" Riku answered.

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If this conversation happened in a better situation, Yuki would tease Riku to death for admitting that he was smarter than the blonde boy. However, he was not in the mood to do that right now. Together with Riku, he racked his brain hard to think of the best solution they could have done at this moment.

However, after a while, they exchanged glances for a second and realized that there was no good solution to their current problem.

"This is the same situation as when we played against Matsukita, right?" Yuki smiled dryly. "We cannot count on our senpai and could only depend on ourselves. Man, having a bunch of unreliable senpai sucks."

"Yeah." Riku groaned. "Well, let's do the same as we did back then, cover as many areas as possible and try to provoke those scaredy cats that we can do this alone. If they still have any dignity left inside them, they would be offended by our action."

Yuki could only nod, knowing that while it wasn't the best solution, that was the best they could come up with right now.

"Oi, number 19! Number 7!" Suddenly, the referee's voice snapped them from their small discussion. "Don't delay the game for too long! Get ready!"

"Ah, yes, Sir! Sorry!" Both Yuki and Riku nodded before running back to their position. They forgot that they were still in the middle of the game and couldn't just do anything they wanted. Their teammates looked at them for a moment with a concerned gaze, yet both freshmen ignored them completely.

The game continued with the score 17 – 8 for Konan's lead. There was still one point left for Tsunemori to lose before they were allowed to give up by Akira. However, based on their expression, it seemed almost all the Tsunemori players wanted to make it easy for the opponent to get it.

The one who served the ball this time was Akihiro. While he was an amazing blocker, his ability on the service line was below the standard. However, he gained a morale boost after Kaede failed to receive his last serve.

*Thud!*

Akihiro aimed the ball at Kaede once again, wanting to take advantage of Kaede's shaken state to score another serve. However, to everyone – even Kaede's surprise, Yuki suddenly rushed forward and took over the ball without communicating with each other.

However, even though their position overlapped, Yuki managed to get the ball first, and then he moved again while leaving Kaede with his mouth gaping wide in confusion.

"Riku!"

"I got it! Move to the left!"

Following Riku's command, Yuki didn't hesitate to rush to the left side. Koji who was there was taken aback, not knowing why Yuki suddenly went crazy like this. Before he could question his kouhai though, the glasses boy had already taken off from the ground right in front of his face.

"Ha! Don't think you can do that!"

Akihiro rushed from his spot on the service line just to try to block his attempt. He wasn't alone there. Lucas also moved from his spot, forming a two-man block with Akihiro. Facing the duo that could make everyone tremble in fear, Yuki was calm, his eyes moved quickly to scan the entire court.

He didn't give any hint where the ball would go until the last second, wanting to confuse the two blockers in front of him. After a while, he finally decided,

*BAM!*

Spike straight to Lucas's hand! It wasn't aimed for a rebound, because no matter how many chances Yuki could get for Tsunemori, the others wouldn't be able to take advantage of it. Instead, he aimed for a block out, wanting to kill the play directly. Unfortunately for him, Shimada reacted quickly to save the ball right before it could fall to the ground.

"Oh! Nice save, Shimada!"

"Matsumoto-senpai, move!"

Knowing that the only players on the other side who were still willing to fight were Yuki and Riku, Sawada moved the ball to the spot far from their position. With only Hirano and Ogawa guarding that spot half-heartedly, it was easy for the captain to get through the wall in front of him.

*BAM!*

"YOSSHAAAAA!" Matsumoto roared, celebrating the point.

Meanwhile, all of the Tsunemori players suddenly kneeled and fell to the floor as if all the strengths that kept them moving in this game suddenly evaporated in the air. Their face paled, sweat rolled down their face. No one spoke anything to each other, yet everyone knew one thing that popped inside everyone's head.

'So, is everything over?'