The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"W-W-Who the hell t-think this is a good idea to g-go out at this time?" Yuki clenched his fist, trying his best to hug himself to provide more warmth to his body. "W-What is the t-temperature by the way?"

"I-It should be a-around 10 o-or below," Amagi replied with the same stutter. "D-Damn, this isn't my f-first rodeo, b-but the cold is still a t-torture for me!"

It was around one in the morning when Chikako and the other camp staff woke them up for the stargazing. At first, the only thing they had to fight was the sleepiness after being woken up forcefully like this. The temporary dorm they used provided enough warmth to make them comfortable. However, the moment they stepped outside of the building, they all regretted their decision immediately.

As they were guided by Chikako, Yuki could hear the sound of teeth cackling and gnashing, and he knew it didn't come from him alone. Almost everyone had the same reaction with most of them either hiding their hands inside their pocket or using it to warm their body. It was so strange to see something like this in the middle of summer, but since they were on top of the hill around midnight, this should've been expected already.

"It should be around 10, but the low humidity makes the temperature seem colder than what it actually is." Kato chimed in, her cheeks flushed red. Yuki narrowed his eyes slightly, suspicious of her condition. "Kato-san, how could you stay calm like that? Don't you feel the cold too?"

When all the male participants turned their heads around her while also holding back the cold, some of the female ones stiffened out their giggles. Seeing the confusion there, Kato decided to take pity on them. "Don't you know that outside of the dorm, there are a lot of beverage sachets and a gallon of warm water there provided for us? You can make your own drink, you know? I just finished my hot chocolate five minutes ago."

This information alone was enough to break the male participants. They all had their jaws dropped at the new information while the female participants finally couldn't hold back their laughter.

"A-Are you serious?" Yuki asked in disbelief.

"Of course!" One of the girls exclaimed. "I mean, how could you not know this? You have Chikako's son with you, right?"

For that, Yuki and the other male participants turned their glare to Amagi who suddenly felt the temperature around him drop five more degrees. "Amagi-san, I-Is there anything you should've said to us?" Yuki asked sweetly.

Amagi gulped nervously at the seven pairs of glares directed at him. "How mad would you be if I said I forgot about it?" His voice squeaked at the end.

Yuki tried his best to muster his meanest glare at the older boy, yet he was defeated by the laziness that was intensified by the cold. Inwardly though, he still made a promise to pay Matsukita's setter back for his negligence.

"Okay, everyone! We have arrived at the dome!" Chikako's voice snapped Yuki from his thoughts. When his attention was back on the front again, he was in awe at the majestic dome that was the home of the biggest telescope in this observatory. It wasn't just him, but everyone also had a similar expression. "Okay, wait for a second. Let me unlock the door first."

As Chikako was busy with a bunch of keys she took out of her pocket, Yuki just realized that she still wore the same camp shirt without any jacket. He shook his head in disbelief, not knowing how to react. "Your mom is a different beast, Amagi-san." He murmured.

Amagi, of course, knew what he was talking about. "W-Well, she has been working here for 17 years. If she wasn't used to the cold, I would feel strange."

"You know that being used and being unaffected is a different thing, right?" Yuki said wryly.

When a 'click' sound could be heard from the door, they all knew that the dome was open, and when Chikako said, "Come on!" All the participants didn't need to be told twice before they rushed inside. This time, it wasn't just because of the cold, but also for the excitement offered by the mysterious building here.

"Welcome to the dome!" Chikako greeted them proudly as she stood in front of the giant telescope there. The reaction she received varied from awe, dumbfounded, disbelief, and astonishment, but everything was already within her prediction.

"Damn, that is massive!"

"This is the first time I've seen one!"

"The portable telescope we built yesterday is far too tame compared to this!"

Chikako smiled at the reaction she got here, tapping the giant telescope playfully. "This bad boy is RCT, an abbreviation of Ritchey – Chretien Telescope. That is the type of its optical design, by the way. However, you don't need to remember it. Just call this RCT."

Yuki was surprised when he saw Chikako drag the telescope over to let them see closer. Even though he knew there must be so many gears behind to make it lighter to get dragged over, the fact that Chikako, a middle-aged woman who was far from having an athletic build managed to do that so casually impressed him.

Suddenly, Chikako turned an old, rusty wheel slowly, and the teens watched in awe as the dome above them began to open up like a giant flower. The sound of creaking metal echoed in the quiet room, and their hearts raced with excitement. As the dome opened, the telescope shifted and pointed directly at the starry sky.

With a smirk, she broke the silence there. "Now, let's have some fun!"

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The stargazing session was fun, for that Yuki had to admit. Even though they had to take turns with the other groups to peek from the telescope, the fact that the dome was opened and they could still enjoy the sky full of stars was enough for him.

"See those three bright stars? They're called the Summer Triangle!" Kato leaned her body toward him while her finger traced a triangle shape in the sky. "The brightest one is Vega; the next is Altair, and the last one is Deneb. In the story, Altair is Hikoboshi and Vega is Orihime, and we have the legend of Tanabata." She explained.

Yuki just nodded, secretly enjoying the proximity here. "So, Deneb is the third wheel here?" He smirked playfully.

"Stop messing around with my explanation!" She slapped his chest playfully.

The next fifteen minutes passed with Yuki enthralled by Kato's explanation. No, not her explanation. Her voice, to be exact. He didn't give a damn about the constellation and its ridiculous shape. But the way Kato explained things was enough to charm him to death.

After a while, their turn to peek from the telescope finally came, and after discussing it with Amagi too, they finally decided to ask Chikako to point the telescope at Saturn. Even though it was mainstream and the most chosen object here, Yuki still didn't mind about it. For all his life he would always see the beautiful image of Saturn with its ring, and he wouldn't let the chance to see it slide just like that.

When he saw the real image though, Yuki didn't know how to react. It wasn't the beautiful picture he always saw on the internet. In fact, it didn't even have a color other than black and white, and the only thing that distinguished the planet from any other object was a thin layer that crossed the planet horizontally which Yuki assumed was the ring.

However, Yuki wasn't disappointed. Even though this wasn't his expectation, the planet he saw was real, and just for that alone, he knew that this training camp was worth his every penny.