The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"So, this is Tsunemori High, huh?" One of the Sumida High players with a yellow jersey stared at the building with a complicated gaze.

"Yes, and just like in the past, this is going to be another one of our graveyards from this curse." The other player, a tall and thin boy with sports glasses on his face added wryly. As a result, some of his teammates came to smack his head like it was their normal routine.

"Oi, don't joke around like that, Homura!"

"Yes, Senpai! It is still not clear that we are going to lose! Don't be pessimistic!"

It was a nice motivation from one of the freshmen who still believed that they could win this game. However, most of them didn't believe it, knowing full well what Tsunemori was capable of. Hell, even their new ace, the bodybuilder guy, Naomichi Tachi also had this dreadful feeling that today was going to be a disaster, and it was all courtesy of the two freshmen monster on the other side of the team.

Yuki Kobayashi and Riku Agostini.

Those two guys… Tachi didn't know how they could be so good at what they were doing. Even during the camp, when he himself was struggling to keep up with the pace, those two did everything seamlessly, even challenging the staff to push them harder. It was an arrogant remark, but nobody said anything about it since they both really excelled at every session during the camp.

And it wasn't just during the training session. Their skill could also be translated into the game, and Tachi who received the end of it several times knew very well what a troublesome opponent those two were.

As he was lost in his thoughts, the other Sumida players noticed his state. Their captain, a middle blocker with the jersey number 5 stepped up and patted his shoulder. "Are you still worrying about their monster duo?"

Tachi just gave him a weak smile as he answered, "I am sorry, Hitoshi-senpai, I cannot help it."

"Eh, don't be. That only means you treat this seriously." The captain – Hitoshi – shrugged, reassuring him. "But you don't need to think of this alone. Remember, we are a team here! Share your stress with us, and who knows? Maybe, we will find an unexpected solution later."

His smile was still pretty wanly, but Tachi appreciated his captain's optimism.

As they entered the gymnasium, though, they suddenly felt their stomachs fall. They weren't greeted by the opponent's coach like they were on their usual away day, but by the crowd of almost 300 students gathered to support Tsunemori. Some of the Sumida players who had never played under such a crowd were about to faint when they saw this.

"Goddamnit! I know the curse is real!" The blocker – Homura cursed lowly.

Honestly, Tachi himself didn't believe in the curse, thinking it was just a joke about their misfortune. However, after four times at the end of bad drawing, he started to believe that there was some sort of deity above who enjoyed watching their demise.

"Oh, Tachi-san, you are here too!" A voice suddenly snapped him from his thought. When Tachi turned around, he saw the blonde setter from the opponent team greet him cheerfully. "I am so excited when I know that I am going to face another member of the camp! I cannot wait!"

"Good for you. Unfortunately, I cannot share the sentiment here." Tachi said it wryly.

"Well, good to know! Maybe, we can win this game easily, you know?"

Tachi couldn't help but twitch his lips a little in annoyance. For all the talent the blonde boy had, Tachi forgot that the boy's best attribute was his trash-talk ability which somehow managed to poke right into the sore spot. He shook his head, deciding to change the topic. "Anyway, what is this with the crowd here? Don't they have any class or what?"

"Oh, them? Our headmaster decided to cancel all the classes this morning so that they can cheer for us! Isn't he the best headmaster in the world?" Riku grinned goofily.

While from the outside, Tachi just offered a stiff smile, he was cursing out loud inwardly at this injustice. When they had to fight to get enough funds to enter the competition, here he saw a school that was at the same level as his school and received full support from their headmaster. It would be a lie if he said he wasn't jealous.

After chatting for a while, someone from the Tsunemori side suddenly called the blonde boy, and when the boy asked to go back first, Tachi finally let out a sigh he didn't know he held back before. Hitoshi – the captain – patted his shoulder, giving him a thumb-up for keeping his calm in front of the blonde boy.

"So, how was it? Did you get any intelligence there?" Homura asked.

"Oh, yeah. Apparently, their headmaster canceled all the morning classes so that the students here could support their team. So, yeah, here we are." Tachi said wryly.

Amidst the deafening cheers toward the home team, silence suddenly dropped on Sumida's side as everyone stared at their ace in disbelief. "You mean to tell me that all those people," Homura pointed his finger subtly to the students outside of the court. "Are here because their headmaster wants to give his best support to his team?" When Tachi nodded in confirmation, he moaned instantly. "Oh, come on! This is so unfair! We are a cursed team, right?!"

"Well, I don't care whether our team is cursed or not, but you better get your mind straight before entering the court!" An old man with his back bent forward barked at them. "As long as the referee is fair, nobody cares about their advantage here! The only thing that matters is who will win the game, so the longer you whine, the worse it will be for us!"

Everyone straightened their back, nodding quickly to avoid the scolding. The old man in front of them was their coach, Michi Botan. Although he wasn't as legendary as any other old head in the circle, he had his own achievement during his 20 years of coaching career. No one knew why he decided to coach such a small school in the twilight of his career, but everyone respected him enough to let him do what he wanted.

Seeing the expression change on his players' faces, the old man nodded in satisfaction. Even though he knew all of them did this because of their fear of him, it was still better than entering the court with a depressing thought that cursed their misfortune.

Now that everyone regained their focus, he said the last words before sending them to the battlefield. "Well, you know what to do here. Just don't forget to support your teammates and never fight alone, okay?!"

"Yes, Sir!"