The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

It turned out that assembling a professional telescope was not something that was easy to do. Even after watching the demonstration from a close distance and reading the manual instruction given by the staff, Yuki couldn't still grasp the concept of it. Fortunately, he was in the same group as an astronomy nerd and a boy with a professional astronomer as a mother who had been there since the camp was established.

"Let's begin with the base," Kato said. "That's the part that will hold everything steady."

They laid out all the pieces on a big table. The base was the heaviest part and needed to be assembled first. Kato showed Yuki how to connect the different sections using screws and bolts, explaining, "Always make sure the base is stable. If it wobbles, your telescope will shake when you try to look through it."

Next, they took the long tube, which is called the optical tube. "It helps you see the stars," Amagi said, holding the tube while Yuki attached it to the base. "Make sure it's pointing straight up," The older boy instructed. "If it tilts, you won't be able to find planets easily."

After they secured the tube, they moved on to attaching the finder scope. This is a small telescope that helps them locate stars and planets more easily. "It's like using a flashlight to find things in the dark," Kato explained. "You aim this smaller scope first, then look through the bigger one."

As they built the telescope, Yuki was grateful for those two. It was clear since the beginning that Kato and Amagi had the experience building a telescope and he was the only one who was a novice here. At first, he was satisfied with being the muscle of the team. However, with each step, they made sure to include him so that he could understand what they were doing.

"Now let's talk about the eyepieces," said Amagi. "These are like glasses for your telescope. They come in different sizes. A smaller number means more magnification but less light, while a larger number means a wider view but less zoom."

Once they attached the eyepiece, Yuki's excitement grew. "It's finally coming together!" he exclaimed.

"Absolutely!" Amagi said, tightening a few last screws. "Now, let's connect it to the electricity so that we can control it remotely." Finally, they finished assembling the telescope and aimed it at the bright evening sky. Jamie could hardly hide his grin as he saw the telescope was ready to use. Even though he wasn't onto this subject too much like his friend, at least he could appreciate the hard work after building something like that from scratch. "That was fun." He finally said.

"Good job, you three!" Chikako's voice suddenly snapped Yuki from his thoughts. "Well done, kids! Also, thank you for befriending Hiro-kun." She smiled genuinely. Find exclusive stories on empire

"Ah, don't worry, Ma'am. Amagi-san is a huge help here." Yuki said quickly.

"Oh, don't be too nervous! Just call me Chikako!" The woman laughed. "It is rare for Hiro-kun to enjoy his time here. Can you imagine that last year, he and Gondo made a fuss by bringing a volleyball here, which forced me to ban that?" She laughed.

"Mom, can you stop embarrassing me for a second?" Amagi groaned in exasperation.

Yuki had a sweat drop at their interaction, suddenly remembering how Kato and Riku's mothers acted when they saw their children were around. 'It seems it is a maternal instinct to tease their kids.' He muttered.

Still… "Did you really bring Gondo-san here?" Yuki raised one of his eyebrows. For as long as Yuki could remember, Matsukita's captain was a tough guy with a muscular build and sharp features that would make everyone in the vicinity tremble in fright. He couldn't imagine how such a guy would do something so delicate like assembling a telescope or something like that.

"Oh, don't underestimate him, Kobayashi." Amagi snorted. "Although he has the strength of a gorilla, his brain is as developed as us normal human being. You will be surprised at how smart he is – Ouch! What the hell, Mom?!" He turned around and glared at his mother when a playful smack landed on his back.

"Don't insult your senpai like that! He is kind enough to help me and your father watching you when we cannot be around, so be a little bit more grateful!" Chikako chided her son. "Also, I don't know that you know about my son and Tondo like that. Are you also a volleyball player like him?" She asked Yuki.

"Yes, Ma'am. I – I mean, yes, Chikako-san!" Yuki gulped when for a second, he felt the murderous intent of the older woman. "I am a volleyball player from Tsunemori High, and my school faced Matsukita High before the tournament began." He said matter of fact.

"Ah, no wonder he can enjoy this camp." Chikako smiled wryly at her son.

They chatted for a while before they realized that the sky started to turn dark above. Even though not all of the parts of the sun had moved below the horizon yet, other astronomical objects could already be seen, just like the shining moon they had spotted above.

"Let's take a look!" Kato suddenly took over the telescope as she adjusted the focus knob. After a while, she waved her hand excitedly at her friend. "Yuki, come here! You have to see it!" When the glasses boy leaned forward and finally looked through the eyepiece, he was amazed. He could see the craters and valleys on the moon's surface clearly.

"That is beautiful." He whispered in awe.

"I know, right?" Kato's soft voice registered through his ears. "That is why I love doing this."

As he and Kato enjoyed the moment, the pair of mother-and-son smiled from their spot, looking at them fondly. After a while, Chikako finally had to interrupt them. She said, "I am sorry, you two, but I have to check the other groups first to see whether they managed to assemble it as perfectly as you did. Don't worry, though. I will bring Hiro-kun with me. Enjoy your moment, and don't do anything overboard, okay?!"

For a moment, Yuki and Kato couldn't proceed with her words at all. However, as their brain worked one more time, something clicked inside their head and they couldn't help but turn away their face immediately, trying their best to hide their blush. They both glanced at each other and for a moment, everything felt still. When their eyes met, they couldn't help it—laughter burst out of them like a balloon popping.

"It's so awkward, isn't it?" Kato giggled, wiping a tear of laughter from her eye.

Yuki chuckled, running his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, but it's kind of nice too," he said, feeling a warm glow inside.

As the laughter faded, Yuki suddenly thought of something and said, "Hey, thank you." Kato turned around, trying to see his face. "I just remembered that I haven't said anything after you were kind enough to be my moral support for the Fukushima trip. I might not say anything, but don't think that I am not grateful, okay? I really appreciate your presence in my life."

Kato was startled at the sudden change of topic. However, when her brain finally proceeded everything, she felt her heart flutter a little. She sneaked a glance at him, just to find out that his gaze wandered far. With her heart beating fast, she suddenly felt brave and leaned her head toward his shoulder. They spent a moment in silence before Kato replied with a mutter, "Thank you for being here too. I am glad that you are here in my life too."

And that was definitely the highlight of their first day in the astronomy camp.