The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

It took one more day of observation for the doctor to finally dismiss Yuki from the hospital. As he walked outside of his room, he stretched his body, enjoying the sensation of the fresh air, a welcome change from the smell of the various medicinal alcohols that lingered inside the building, reminiscent of the pharmacy factory he had visited a few days ago.

Honestly, Yuki was glad he could leave the hospital so quickly. He was sure his condition had been good enough for discharge two days prior, and he had frequently questioned the nurses about why he hadn't been released yet. It wasn't until one of the residents explained the situation that he finally understood the reason behind his delayed discharge.

It was related to the policies regarding insurance use in this country. Regardless of the type of illness or accident a patient suffered, if it took more than one day for them to recover, they would be required to stay inpatient for at least three days to be covered by their health insurance. If they stayed for less than that, they would have to pay the bill themselves. While the costs weren't as extreme as in the States—at least that was what Yuki had been led to believe—hospital bills still amounted to a significant expense.

"It's good to see you back, Yuki," Riku, who had accompanied him the most, aside from Aiko, smiled, genuinely happy to see his friend healthy again.

"Yes. One more day here, and I'm sure I would have gone crazy," Yuki replied, amused. "Where are Obaasan and Kato-san, by the way?" he asked. Although the children were at the orphanage, Aiko and Kato had promised to pick him up, yet he hadn't seen either of them at all that day.

Riku rolled his eyes exasperatedly, as if Yuki's question were foolish. "I thought you were recovered already, but if you're still asking questions like this, I think it would be best for you to stay another night."

Yuki frowned, considering what his friend had just said. He wasn't angry with Riku; he knew it was just banter. However, based on Riku's reaction, Yuki sensed he had overlooked something important. Unfortunately, he couldn't figure it out, so he just stared silently at his friend with a questioning gaze.

"She's handling the administrative matters before you can leave the hospital. Honestly, how could you forget about that?" Riku huffed.

Hearing that, Yuki's eyes widened, and he felt the urge to slap his forehead. "So that's why everything seemed so simple! I forgot to take care of the administrative part," he muttered, facepalming.

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"As for Kato-san, she wanted to come here too, but she couldn't get away from Hiko, and I bet they're still playing together at the orphanage," Riku snickered. Yuki's face softened at the thought.

Hiko was the poor boy who had lost his lower body mobility in the earthquake a few months ago and had to use a wheelchair to get around. Before this, Yuki had noticed nothing unusual about the boy—he was just a bit too quiet for his age and was often overshadowed by Hina, his twin sister. However, Yuki had always thought that was either part of his personality or a result of dealing with the aftermath of the disaster. Yuki didn't blame him; he was still healing from that incident himself.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

However, when Hiko saw Kato with her wheelchair, Yuki noticed the boy's eyes shining brightly. Hiko enthusiastically showed Kato many wheelchair tricks he had seen on YouTube, and that was when Yuki realized that Hiko wasn't a quiet boy; he simply lacked confidence due to his physical condition.

When he made that realization, Yuki couldn't help but feel ashamed of himself for previously neglecting to notice. Fortunately, thanks to Kato and her kind heart, she was willing to engage with Hiko's enthusiasm without disappointing him too much in the process.

'Her favorite drink must be strawberry milk, right? I'll buy her one when I'm back at school again,' Yuki thought inwardly.

Ten minutes later, Aiko finally appeared after finishing the administrative matters. After that, they went back to the orphanage together, eager to leave the hospital behind. Fortunately, it was only a five-minute walk to their home, so they didn't need to call a taxi or anything like that.

"Yuki-nii, welcome back!" As he entered the building, Yuki was greeted by the enthusiastic children inside. "Come here! We prepared a lot of food for you!"

"Yeah! Kato-nee helped us too, so it should be good!"

"Come on! Sit here!"

Yuki could only smile helplessly as the children dragged him along. However, if anyone had looked closely, they would have seen a subtle, genuine smile forming on his face as the bespectacled boy muttered to himself, "It's good to be back."

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"Man, I'm full," Yuki said, rubbing his stomach lazily.

The last thirty minutes had been quite chaotic in the orphanage. Everyone had tried their best to grab their favorite food, and some of the children had even fought with each other before Riku had to separate them. After Aiko scolded them, they weren't as wild as before, but the large round table in the middle of the kitchen was still a battlefield.

"Kato-san, what did you bring here? This food is delicious!" Riku exclaimed, his condition no better than Yuki's.

"You've never eaten this?" Kato blinked up at him in confusion. "Ah, it must be because you spent your childhood in Italy. This is Kansai-style Unagi, cut from the stomach side and baked after being dipped in a special sauce. My mom made this for everyone when she heard you would be discharged from the hospital today," she stated matter-of-factly.

This time, however, it was Yuki and Riku who blinked at her in surprise. If it had come from a restaurant, they wouldn't have thought much of it. But the fact that Mitsuki had cooked everything herself was something the boys never expected from Kato's mother.

"Anyway, where are the children? Is it okay for them to be out in weather like this? What if they suffer from the summer heatwave?" Kato asked worriedly, pulling them all from their food.

"Eh, don't worry about them," Riku waved his hand nonchalantly. Seeing Yuki's curious gaze, he explained, "When you were still in the hospital, the children found a small river nearby, and they asked me to accompany them. I've already seen it, and it's not dangerous at all. Plus, Aiko-baasan is also there, and she would never let anything happen to the children."

Yuki sighed in relief when he heard that. For a moment, silence filled the room as the three friends sat there, enjoying the cool breeze that offered some respite from the hot weather. After a few months full of high-paced activities such as volleyball, gossiping, the purge, and the pharmacy factory incident, this was probably the first time they all felt at peace—and it would be a lie to say they weren't enjoying it.

With full and warm stomachs, they closed their eyes gently, letting the silence be their lullaby. Inwardly, they all thought the same: 'This is how we should enjoy life, right?'