The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Damn, what is he, a robot?" Riku cursed when he saw Genzo's flat expression in the middle of Konan's celebration.

It was after Hirano's spike blocked by Akihiro, and while Riku was fumed that his attack was predicted once again, he was more infuriated by the fact that the culprit behind it didn't show any reaction at all as if it wasn't worth mentioning at all.

"Well, we know for sure he is not a robot," Yuki said bitterly.

Yeah, even though Genzo acted so robotic, his playing style didn't match his personality. Unlike Sawada who always seeks stability, he was more daring, always willing to go for an inconvenient path that no normal player would ever think of.

However, that wasn't what made Tsunemori players frustrated the most. No, it was how good his game-reading ability was and how everyone was willing to listen to his words. In terms of game-reading ability, Genzo was probably on par with Lucas and Yuki who were the best at it on the court right now.

However, Lucas wasn't a good leader, and other than asking for a ball from the setter, he never asked for anything in the middle of the game.

But Genzo was different. He observed everything that happened on the court, proceeded with it in his head, and within a second, formulated the most probable scenario that could happen before formulating the best plan for Konan's advantage.

That was the same process as what Yuki did when he took command of the team, yet all the Konan players were used to it already, making everything far better compared to when it was Tsunemori who did that.

"Well, come on! No need to dwell on it for too long. Get up, the referee has already looked at you." Yuki patted his friend's shoulder.

Riku nodded, taking a deep breath while trying to calm his nerves. The next few minutes were probably going to be the last time he played with this team, and while he would never stop playing volleyball, Riku somehow felt melancholy when he thought about it.

All the memories from when he first joined the team, the hellish training, the conflict, the loss, the win, everything flashed in his head, making him feel emotional.

'Man, even though I've only been here for two months, this is probably the place I enjoy volleyball the most.' He thought. 'But if this is going to be over, I better make sure I leave with no regret here!'

With the determination that was still high even on the verge of defeat, Riku put all of his concentration back to the court. The game was continued again with Matsumoto's serve. By now, everyone knew Konan's captain liked to aim his serve to the spot close to the baseline to confuse the opponent about whether the ball would go out or not.

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However, this time was different. No one knew whether Matsumoto did it deliberately or it was just an incident, but his spike went too short, hitting the net before bouncing at the Tsunemori's front line.

"SHIT! RANO, COVER!"

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Hirano who was closest to the ball was taken aback, yet still managed to react by leaning his body forward and picking up the ball. However, he could only save it and failed to aim the ball. As a result, it flew straight in front of the net, and Lucas was already there to knock down the ball.

"Shit! Don't think you can do that! I am still here!"

Riku gritted his teeth, jumping at the same time to get the ball first. Unfortunately, Lucas was taller and jumped a bit higher, allowing the Brazilian boy to touch the ball first in the air.

"Shit!"

Riku shut his eyes unconsciously, thinking it was unsavable. However, he didn't notice Yuki who rushed and dived forward to save the second ball that threatened to fall in their area again.

*Thud!*

"Oh! Nice save, Yuki!"

"Come on! Wake up, Riku!" Yuki roared when he saw Riku was in a daze. The blonde boy shook his head quickly, especially when he saw his friend on the floor. He knew it wasn't the time for him to be at the pity party, so he gritted his teeth and picked up the ball once again.

"Koji!"

Since everything revolved around the middle, Riku tossed the ball to the wing to avoid the blocker. However, one person moved from everyone's blind spot, and when Koji took off from the ground to kill the ball, that person also did the same, extending both arms to shut down the spike.

*BAM!*

"OH! A CLEAN BLOCK!"

"One more point! Come on, Konan High! Kill the game!"

As the cheers exploded from the crowd, Koji had his jaws dropped as he saw the ball roll on the floor. Then, his gaze went back and forth from the ball to the player who killed it, still couldn't believe that the thin, ordinary boy in front of him managed to block his spike.

Yeah, the one who killed his spike a few seconds ago was Genzo. The setter knew all of his teammates were entangled with the play in the middle and somehow forgot about the other players on the wing, so when he noticed Riku was about to send a pass there, he moved quickly to block the spike, and his attempt was proven to be fruitful.

"Good job, Genzo!"

"Damn, Harada-senpai! Don't force yourself too much!"

"Yeah, Harada-senpai. You can only play for fifteen minutes moderately, right? Don't do anything stupid!"

"Well, if you are worrying about me, how about you help the team get the last point as quickly as possible? By then, I can finally take a rest peacefully."

All the Tsunemori players turned solemn as they saw their opponents celebrate with each other. It wasn't the solemn gaze caused by the wary of the opponent, but from the unwillingness at the thought that the next one was probably going to be their last play as a team.

Even though they knew about it and had been anticipating this moment since a long time ago, they still felt complicated when the moment arrived, didn't know what to say.

Nobody said anything about it, leaving the heavy atmosphere hanging on the Tsunemori's side. After a while, the referee restarted the game once again, and Matsumoto served the ball with his usual technique.

The ball went straight in Kaede's direction, and while usually, it wouldn't be difficult for the defensive specialist to pick up the ball, since his concentration wasn't on the court anymore by now, Kaede couldn't save it, and the ball just bruised his hand before it flew outside of the court.

*BAM!*

For a moment, silence descended on the court with no one able to react to it. However, after a while, the referee finally broke it, announcing the final result of the game. "GAME SET! KONAN HIGH 2 – 0 TSUNEMORI HIGH!"

After hearing that, all the Tsunemori players slumped in desperation, knowing what it meant.

'It is finally over.'