The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Honestly, this wasn't Yuki's first time visiting Sumida District. A few months ago, he was here with Riku and Kato, hanging out together after they helped him buy a phone. At that time, the situation was just like now, streets full of people walking around and noises all over the place.

That didn't mean he enjoyed it, though.

He felt so awkward navigating his way to find the location he wanted. Fortunately, the boy had Megumi right now, and the girl showed what it meant to be a native Tokyo by guiding him toward the crowd seamlessly.

In the end, after passing through three dark alleys in a row, they arrived at a pretty decent-sized school with an old 'SUMIDA HIGH SCHOOL'' put on the front. Honestly, if Yuki didn't see it by himself, he wouldn't believe there was a school in the middle of nowhere like this.

"What are you waiting for? Come on!" Megumi grabbed his hand and dragged him inside.

Somehow, Yuki felt awkward when he entered the school. Not only because he wasn't a student here, but he didn't even change his clothes into a neutral one, still wearing the dark Tsunemori uniform beneath his jacket. It was clear this was an attempt to spy on Sumida High. However, since Megumi walked through the corridor confidently as if she owned the place, he could only follow her example and did the same. Stay updated via empire

"How could you know where should we go?" He couldn't help but ask. "Is this not your first time here?"

He could see Megumi's cheek reddened and was ready to change the topic, not wanting to embarrass the girl. Fortunately, even with a slight embarrassment, she still answered his question. "There is a cosplay event being held annually here and I never missed that in the past. The place is in their gymnasium, and that is why I am familiar with this school."

'Ah, so that is the case…' Yuki smiled wryly.

As they arrived at the gymnasium, they could see the first set was already over. Even with no spectator here, the home team, Sumida High, managed to snatch the win with a close score, 25 – 22. This showed that the two teams were at a similar level.

"Wait a second, Yuki." Megumi suddenly said. She pulled out her phone, turned it into recorder mode, and put it in his pocket, leaving only the camera part shown outside. Yuki just snorted at that. "Really?"

"Yeah, even though there are no rules that forbid outsiders to take a record of this game, this is still Sumida High's homecourt, and they have the right to chase us away if they deem it necessary. So, better not provoke them before we get what we want."

Yuki nodded in understanding at her reasoning. Then, he turned his attention to the court, just to find out a familiar player there. "That is Tachi-san." He exclaimed.

"Who?"

"Naomichi Tachi, the guy who is like a bodybuilder." He pointed his finger at one muscular boy with a yellow jersey on the court. "He is also a participant in the summer camp with me and Riku."

Hearing the new information, Megumi's expression turned solemn. "So, does that mean he is good?"

"Technically, no." Yuki shook his head. "However, physically, he is a beast. His attacking preference is brute forcing his way to get through the blockers, and he is good at it."

"Hmm…" Megumi pondered, writing something over a small notebook that Yuki didn't know where she got it from. "Compared to Nitta from Kyoei Gakuen or Lucas Silva from Konan, who do you think is the strongest?"

This time, it was Yuki who pondered over the question, his eyes watching as the game went by. "Honestly, I don't know who is the strongest. Lucas-san is strong, but he has a lot of techniques that make him the hardest to deal with. If anything, Tachi-san is more like Nitta from Kyoei Gakuen, always using raw power to deal with everything, which makes the opponent focus more on his power and somehow gives the impression that his strength is comparable to the two players you named it before."

"So, a muscle man, huh? Got it. This should be easy to handle." She hummed.

However, as if fate wanted to slap them straight in the face, in the next play, Tachi suddenly pulled up something unexpected.

"Iguchi!" He raised his hand, asking for the ball.

When it flew right in front of him, Tachi moved like a cheetah, ready to pounce the ball with his full strength. Two blockers from the opponent's side jumped and were ready to block the shoot. However, when everyone was expecting a straight spike to destroy the wall in front of him, Tachi suddenly adjusted his body, angling it slightly before spiking the ball to the other side of the wing.

BAM!

Yuki who watched the play intently was so dumbfounded at this. Hell, even Kato had her jaws dropped before asking a question hesitantly. "Yuki, are you sure he is just a muscle man? I mean, that cross spike is clean, right?" The boy could only nod, not knowing what to say.

However, as all the Sumida High players celebrated, their coach suddenly called a timeout, and before they even gathered on the bench, he had already made a move, scolding Tachi mercilessly.

"You fucking idiot! How many times do I have to tell you to hide your skill?! Don't you see those two people are scouting for our game here?!" He pointed his finger at Yuki and Megumi. Those two just stared at the old man confusedly, inwardly asking, 'Can he say that out loud?'

However, the coach wasn't done yet. "Now everyone will know that you have a brain here! Wait, no, you don't have any brain! You are stupid enough to reveal your secret the second you have a chance! No, everyone will know that you have a new technique under your sleeves! You idiot!"

The more the old man scolded Tachi, the more the muscular boy shrunk under his feet. Honestly, Yuki had half of his mind to take pity and save him from his misery. However, the other half of his mind was still rational enough to tell him that he was here as a spectator, and any attempt to communicate with the players could be judged as interference. And the fact that the old man revealed more as he scolded his boy convinced Yuki more to let them be like this.

Inwardly though, Yuki just gave his last tribute to the boy. "Rest in peace, Tachi. You will be remembered forever."