The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Man, he is so crazy!"

"As expected, he is the best player on the team! No wonder we suck on the first set!"

"Yeah! Even though he is just a freshman, he conquers us with his ability!"

"No wonder Akira-sensei picks him over the third-year players!" Your next read is at m v|l-e'm,p| y- r

"Idiot, all of them!"

"What is his name again, by the way?"

"It is Yuki Kobayashi from the class 1-B!"

"Yeah! Come on, Yuki!"

Even with all the crowds supporting the opponent team, all the Kyoei players couldn't care less. They just sat on the bench with their head down, not daring to meet Saito's bore gaze that promised pain for them all. Hell, even Nitta who was the most carefree player out of all of them also felt nervous, knowing the rage inside the coach was already on the edge, ready to explode at any time.

"I have one question for you all." Saito finally spoke, his expression still flat. "We are a team that is aiming for Konan and Matsukita. For them, we have trained our asses off, even asking a professional team nearby to help us prepare ourselves for this tournament. You all have seen a lot of amazing players with incredible serves too.

So, my question is, can his serve be compared with them?" He pointed his finger at Yuki.

All the players there looked at each other awkwardly. They all knew that Yuki's serve – aside from his floater wasn't that amazing. They have also seen a lot of powerful serves in the past. Hell, even their ace could probably do a serve way more powerful and incredible than what Yuki did.

However, they would rather face a player with a powerful serve rather than someone like Yuki who had a lot of tricks on his sleeves.

Unfortunately, Saito didn't care about that.

"Anyone want to answer my question?" Seeing the hesitant gaze from his players, Saito couldn't help but sigh before he roared, "ANSWER MY QUESTION, GODDAMNIT!"

His roar attracted everyone's attention to the building. The students who were behind them flinched unconsciously, stepping back from their spot immediately. Some even turned around quickly, didn't want to get near Kyoei's bench. Saito sighed one more time, trying to calm down his ire.

"Okay, I know a part of it is my fault for the missing intelligence about that glasses boy, so I will take the blame for it too. But for now, let's move on and not quarreling over something that couldn't be changed. Now, we need to talk about what should we do next."

All of the Kyoei players straightened their backs, knowing that this pep talk would be crucial.

-0-

'Oh? They will do that?' Yuki arched his eyebrows slightly.

It was after the timeout, and the enthusiasm on Tsunemori's side was reaching its peak. It wasn't just because of Yuki's four consecutive aces, but also for the fact that the support from the crowd started to get louder once again. It seemed his appearance was able to spark the school's spirit to support the team till the end.

Still, he had no time to care for that. Currently, he bounced the ball on the floor while staring at Kyoei's players on the other side of the net, or to be more exact, their formation. All of their players were pushed forward except for two, and those were their libero and captain who stared at them with scary eyes.

It seemed Kyoei gave the task to stop his serve to those two and hid all the players that could be targeted on the front.

'Hmm… This would be interesting.'

Of course, Yuki still had another trick he could pull out of his sleeves. However, he decided to go with his most ordinary one, wanting to save the rest for when they were in a critical time. He still added a twist on his serve though, sending it straight in the middle of the two players to confuse them.

"SHINYA!"

"I GOT THIS, CAPTAIN!"

This time though, Kyoei came prepared. With only two players on the back, it was harder for them to get fooled by such a cheap trick. The libero managed to pick up the ball, sending it to the middle where the setter was running in that direction, ready to follow it up. The other players on the wing side also started their movement, ready to receive the pass.

"YAMADA! RIGHT!"

Nitta on the right also started his run-up, ready to attack. However, Riku who had already seen through the setter's habit was able to predict where the ball would go next.

"Asa! Right! Cover for the straight!"

*BAM!*

"Chance ball!"

The two-man wall he formed with Asahi was able to deflect the opponent's attack perfectly, slowing it down for the others to pick it up on the back. Kaede rushed forward, tracking the ball in the air before extending his arms far, letting the ball fall gently onto his forearms.

"Oh! Nice receive, Kai!"

"Sorry! It is a bit short!"

"Don't worry!" Riku who just jumped with Asahi to stop the opponent's attack was already back on his spot, recovering quickly from the last play. Now, he was ready to attack once again. "Koji!"

Receiving the comfortable high pass in front of him, the ace of the team who hadn't taken any action yet in this set grinned, knowing it was his time. He eyed the opponent's position first, trying to think of where was the best spot to spike the ball. Seeing Haruo rush toward his direction though, he hesitated for a second.

*BAM!*

In the end, with only one Haruo covering the area in front of him, it was easy for Koji to avoid the block. However, his spike went straight to the libero who rushed to the spot one step behind the front line to guard the uncovered area.

"Oh! Nice dig, Shinya!"

"Yamada! Right!"

This time, there was no deception. The setter was definitely going to pass the ball to Nitta. Hirano and Riku were also ready to stop Kyoei's ace from attacking them. However, when all three jumped, Yuki suddenly saw Nitta glancing at a particular spot, and even if there was a chance it was a fake to fool him, his hunch told him that the ball would go there.

"OGAWA-SENPAI!"

*BAM!*

Nitta spiked the ball through the tight area between Hirano and the antenna, sending an incredible straight parallel to the sideline. However, Ogawa who was there managed to react quickly, saving the ball with a more spectacular play, jumping acrobatically to reach the ball before it could bounce to the floor.

"Oh! Nice receive, Ogawa-senpai!"

"Yuki!"

Since Riku was on the front line, Yuki took over the role of the emergency setter quickly. This movement shocked all the Kyoei players since they didn't expect him to be more versatile than before. This brief moment of shock was the only thing Yuki needed to take advantage of as he tossed the ball immediately to Asahi who was behind him, killing the ball perfectly to the left back of Kyoei's side.

"YEAH!"

"Nice pass, Yuki!"

"Nice save too, Ogawa-senpai!"

Ogawa who heard Yuki's praise clicked his tongue, and to everyone's surprise, he shook his finger at the glasses boy. "No, don't call me Ogawa again. Call me Jimmy!"

Yuki was dumbfounded for a second, then laughed merrily at him.

"Sure! Good job, Jimmy!"