The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Yuki was never a person who liked to take a risk. Whenever his head was overwhelmed by the creativity and unique ideas that flowed into it, he would always wait for the situation to be stable and safe enough to do experiments. So, yeah, basically, he was a dull and conservative person.

However, this time was different. Yuki couldn't even hide the grin that cracked on his face as he waited for the referee to blow the whistle. Even though it would be the first time he would do what he was going to do, all he could feel right at that moment was excitement. Inwardly, he thought of the pep talk before, especially one part that stuck inside his mind.

'I believe in you.'

Even though it wasn't the first time he heard that words from the coach, it still rang nicely in his ears. And while the other people like Aiko – the matron of the orphanage – or his deceased parents also trusted him in so many things, they had never said it out loud, so to hear the words directly was enough to make him happy.

'Well, I better not betray that trust…'

The moment the referee blew the whistle, he tossed the ball immediately. However, unlike before, the toss this time contained a spin on it, surprising all the Kyoei players. They never thought that Yuki would still have something under his sleeve and would be brave enough to do it in a crucial time like this. However, Yuki didn't care about their reaction.

What was inside his mind right now was the ball in front of him, as he kept repeating the instruction he remembered like a chant.

'Hit it with the side of your hand, angling your wrist and forearm to generate spin, and never let your pinky hit the ball… Come on… Here!'

*BAM!*

The ball traveled through the air with a high speed, piercing the air as it crossed the net and went straight into Kyoei's area. For a moment, the player who was closest to the ball, Aki, didn't know how to react. When he saw the ball was close to the sideline, he wanted to wait and see whether it would fall outside of the court or not.

Aki sighed in relief when he predicted the ball would land next to the sideline, thinking that Yuki made a mistake. However, when he was about to let it fall, the ball suddenly curved sharply with an incredible spin, going back to the court again.

'Eh?'

*Thud!*

Aki froze on the spot, not expecting the ball to move so sharply like that. It was as if an invisible hand suddenly guided how the ball should move and decided to make a fool of him, resulting in the ball falling straight in front of his face.

Yuki of course didn't know his complicated and dramatic thought. However, when the glasses boy saw the ball landed on Kyoei's area successfully, he clenched his fist and hit his chest excitedly.

"COME ON!"

His roar was followed by cheers exploded from the crowds as everyone also celebrated the point.

"Yeah!"

"Nice serve, Kobayashi!"

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"Two more points! Come on!"

"You can do it! Kill them all!"

Meanwhile, all the Kyoei players gathered around Aki, looking at the defensive specialist with a concerned gaze.

"You okay, Senpai?" Haruo asked.

Aki himself didn't look like he was in the right state to even nod or shake his head. His face was pale as if the consequence of his failure to save the ball a few seconds ago suddenly fell onto his shoulder.

'Aki…'

'Aki…'

'Aki…'

"AKI!" Ito's shout straight to his ear finally woke him up from his thoughts. When Aki raised his head, he could see everyone was looking at him with concern. "You have been dozing off for a moment. Are you sure nothing is wrong with you?" Ito asked once again.

Aki shook his head slightly, then chuckled bitterly. "If we lose because of the last serve, I will resign from the team immediately." He stated, shocking everyone.

However, some of them could understand his thoughts. The guilty feeling after failing the team and cost them the game… Let alone Aki, even the best player in the world wouldn't be able to escape from depression.

"Don't worry, Aki." Ito patted his shoulder, looking at his eyes intently. "You saved our asses so many times in the past that we owe you a lot. There is no way anyone would blame you after this. Just concentrate on the game and let's finish it quickly. Everything is not over yet."

Aki could only nod silently, yet he couldn't let the guilty feeling go away from his heart. If Yuki knew or could hear the conversation there, he would smile widely, knowing his strategy worked really well.

Yeah, Yuki copied Kyoei's strategy when they targeted him before, and now, he did the same by always aiming the ball at their best defensive player. When such a player couldn't handle the serve and fell into depression, the others would follow unknowingly, resulting in the team falling into the pitfall together.

Seeing the bad situation on Kyoei's side, Yuki aimed the ball once again at Aki, sending another one of his new services to the defensive specialist. He knew that Aki was dead already, and this time, he wanted to make sure that Aki would stay under six feet and couldn't recover anymore.

*Thud!*

"YEAAAAAH!" Yuki roared when he saw Aki failed to receive the ball. "ONE MORE!"

His words were echoed by all the people in the building who shouted the same.

"ONE MORE!"

"ONE MORE!"

"COME ON, KOBAYASHI! ONE MORE!"

With Tsunemori only needing one more point to win the game, almost all the players on Kyoei's side had already given up. However, Yuki didn't want to give them any chance. He wanted to kill the game directly with this serve. So, when he saw Aki was under tight protection from his teammates, he changed his target directly, going to the other wing.

'Well, let's see if you could stop this!'

*BAM!*

Ito was taken aback when he saw the serve coming in his direction. Honestly, he was familiar with this kind of ball, as he himself had the same thing in his arsenal. However, familiarity was one thing, and whether he could receive it or not was another.

Even though his mind was telling him to wait until the ball broke, his body reacted unconsciously, leaning forward as if he wanted to pick it up directly. As a result, the ball broke, curving sharply toward the other side, bruising his forearms slightly before it bounced far behind.

*Thud!*

Suddenly, silence descended on the building as all the eyes were on the ball. No one said anything as if time froze there. Even though all the supporters in the building believed the team could win, when what they hoped was realized, for a moment, they didn't know how to react.

Finally, it was the referee who broke the silence, as he announced the final result loudly.

"GAME SET! TSUNEMORI HIGH 2 – 1 KYOEI GAKUEN!"