The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Meanwhile, on Kyoei's side, all the players gathered around the middle blocker, trying to check his condition.

"You okay, Haruo?" Ito asked, worried. After all, he heard the loud sound of the collision, and he himself flinched unconsciously at that moment. He didn't dare to imagine what would have happened if it had been him who was in that position.

"Don't worry, Senpai!" Haruo grinned widely, flexing the muscles on his arms proudly. "My body has been tempered through hardship for this specific situation! There is no way I would get hurt for something so small like this!"

Ito didn't know whether it was a fake bravado to reassure him that everything was okay while Haruo was hiding his pain or it was indeed true, Haruo was alright and nothing bad happened. After another round of observing his expression, only to find out that Haruo was still as bright as ever, he finally let out a relieved sigh.

"Good. I am glad that you are okay." He patted his kouhai's shoulder. "Thank you for saving our asses."

Haruo was stunned by the sincere tone from the captain, then grinning once again. "Does that mean you will trust me more that I wouldn't lose motivation that easily?"

Ito – and Nitta who overheard the conversation – blushed immediately at his words, embarrassed that he was caught offhandedly by his kouhai. "Well, you cannot blame us here! You have never shown any extreme emotion in the game like excitement when we are on the lead or anxiety when we are in a bad position.

All we could see from you was either that stupid, bright grin or flirtatious words that always came from your mouth to make the girls blush! It is as if you don't take the game seriously!" Nitta chimed in with a defensive yet accusing tone.

Haruo was stunned at Nitta's sudden rant, then his expression turned serious. "Senpai, it seems you misunderstand me here. It is not like I don't take the game seriously, but I have already experienced the highest stage of the tournament last year. Compared to them, there are not many things that could make me excited or anxious that easily. But that doesn't mean I don't care.

Please, don't insult my professionalism here."

The two senpai couldn't help but feel guilty. They were probably the two who were the most concerned about Haruo's state, thinking he lacked the drive and motivation to win the game. However, when they remembered how their kouhai hustled for the ball before and how he took the initiative to propose a new way to attack, they knew motivation was never a problem for Haruo.

The boy had the same or even more hunger to win compared to them, yet he hid it well enough from everyone else.

"Well, let's not dwell on this issue anymore!" Haruo suddenly raised his voice, snapping his senpai from their thought. "We still have six more points to grab. Come on! We need to score in the next play, or our position would be unfavorable."

Ito was taken aback, but then nodded solemnly. Just like any other player on the court, he knew that the next point was so crucial for both teams. Whoever got it first would be one step closer to the next stage.

"You are right, Haruo." He said. "Let's not dwell on this issue anymore. For now, we have a game to win. Let's put our best and go home with a win!"

"YES, SIR!"

-0-

Five minutes had passed since the last play when Haruo scored earlier. The tension was rising on the court, with everyone waiting patiently for the referee to start the game. The referee himself stopped it for a moment, letting the crowd who just had a collision with Haruo recover and calming them down first, making sure that the situation was still under his control.

After the situation was better, the game was resumed once again. This time, it was Kyoei's turn to serve. The ball flew smoothly toward the other side of the court, yet Koji was able to pick it up easily.

"Nice, Koji!"

Riku rushed toward the ball immediately, preparing to set up another attack. He glanced sideways through the other side of the net, trying to figure out where Haruo was. Even though he didn't want to admit it, Riku knew that Haruo was an amazing blocker. An ordinary setup wouldn't work against him as Haruo's reaction sometimes was even quicker than the speed of his pass.

Seeing his friend was in a dilemma, Yuki also rushed forward, ready to join the attack. Together with Ogawa, they both started their run-up on the right side.

"RIKU!"

Having so many choices to attack, Riku suddenly forgot his thoughts before, then decided to do something foolish. He didn't even confirm the opponent's position and decided to go for a dump, wanting to retaliate against Haruo's last attack. However, Haruo could see the impatient in his eyes and waited patiently until the ball came before he jumped too.

*Thud!*

"SHIT!" Riku cursed when he saw Haruo return his dump easily. Fortunately, Kaede followed his movement carefully and managed to save the ball before it could fall to the floor. "Thanks, Kai! Sorry about that one!"

"Concentrate, Riku!"

"Left!"

Didn't want to repeat his mistake twice, Riku chose a safer option this time, sending it far to Yuki who was on the flank. However, Kyoei was prepared for this attack too, as Nitta suddenly jumped, blocking Yuki's route for cross-spike.

'Tch!' Yuki clicked his tongue in annoyance. 'It is too close to the antenna, I cannot spike it straight. I need to do the other thing.'

As he swung his arms quickly, the moment it was about to hit the ball, he reduced the momentum, and instead of a spike, he tapped the ball with the pad of his fingers gently, making it roll over Nitta's hands.

"FUCK!" Nitta cursed out loud.

However, it seemed Aki didn't was also on fire too. After seeing how Kaede managed to see the ball that got blocked by Haruo before, he didn't want to lose against his fellow defensive specialist. He kept his eyes constantly on Yuki, and when he saw Yuki's arms slowed down, he rushed forward and sprawled.

*Thud!*

"Goddamnit!" This time, it was Yuki who cursed.

"Oh! Nice dig, Aki!"

"Yamada!"

For a moment, the game entered another long and exhausting rally. Even though Kyoei was offensively better, Tsunemori defended their area stubbornly, not willing to give a free point to the opponent. The crowds held their breath unconsciously, their head kept turning from left to right to left over and over again to follow the ball.

A minute passed quickly with the rally far from over yet. However, by the look of the players' faces on the court, it was clear they all were exhausted and couldn't keep going for too long.

And then…

"YAMADA!"

Seeing Nitta go for the ball again, Yuki gritted his teeth, ready to jump. At this point, he had already forgotten the pain he felt in his hand. Adrenaline was the best painkiller at that moment. Unfortunately, even though in his mind, he felt everything was alright, that didn't mean his body thought the same.

*BANG!*

Yuki winced when he felt the blow of the spike. The pain that he hadn't felt since he returned in the first set came back again like someone just hit it with a hammer. However, that wasn't what he cared about the most right now. Instead, it was the ball that flew back to Kyoei's side.

"FREE BALL!"

"YAMADA! AGAIN!"

Seeing another attack from Nitta come in his direction, Yuki knew he wouldn't be able to save it. If anything, he should try to protect his body as the spike would hurt a lot. Unfortunately, when he wanted to move, his feet suddenly rebelled against his will.

"SHIT!"

That was when Yuki realized that exhaustion finally hit him hard. With the ball going in his direction and he couldn't move his body at all, the only thing the glasses boy could do was to protect his body from the ball, and…

*BANG!*