The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

'Wait, the ball is straight in my direction?!' Yuki widened his eyes in shock as he saw the ball zoomed into his face with an incredible speed. 'All the Phoenix players should've known by now that I am the defensive specialist of the team. If they still want to target me, that means they want to attack our psychology by targeting the best defender. Returning a favor, huh?'

Yuki couldn't blame Mirai for doing that, since what he did before to Nakamura was exactly the same. However, right now, he didn't have too much time to think about it. The first thing he realized when he saw the ball coming at him was how high it was.

'Should I avoid it?' Yuki thought. It was a valid concern, considering there was a huge chance the ball would go out. However, if he miscalculated and the ball went in, the momentum would shift immediately to the Phoenix, and them feeling motivated with their crazy supporters behind would be hard to deal with in the future. 'No, I cannot take a chance here.'

Without hesitation, Yuki planted both feet on the ground, bending his knee slightly before preparing his forearms to receive the end of the blow. Of course, all the monologue here happened in a millisecond, as the ball itself traveled at a high speed. In the end, Yuki had to wince when he felt a sharp pain on his forearms as he tried to cushion the ball with it.

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"SHIT! Sorry, my bad!" Yuki shouted when he felt the ball was out of control. "Kojima-senpai, pick it up!"

Kojima who was on the top right didn't have to move as the ball was going in his direction. However, he was not a setter and he didn't have any basic training to set up an attack. In the end, he could only pass the ball to Uehara, knowing that the ace would be able to do something.

"Oh! Good pass, Kojima!"

Facing the two blockers who stopped his attack before, Uehara was determined to succeed this time. He waited patiently before the ball was at the ideal height, his eyes keeping track of the opponent's blockers. Seeing that the third Phoenix player in the front was about to join the fun though, Uehara decided to jump immediately, not wanting to put himself under the pressure of three blockers. Just as he did, Shigeo and Hachimura also leaped forward, both hands extending in the air to form a wall.

BAM!

"Damn!" Uehara cursed as the perfect cross-spike he just pulled and got through the blockers was received perfectly by Nakamura. "He should be in the middle, right? How could he move so fast?!" He wondered.

Indeed, Nakamura whose current position in this rotation was in the middle back moved to the right side immediately when he realized that Uehara was about to spike there. His effort proved to be right as the ball indeed came in his direction.

"Oh! Good save, Naka!"

"Teru, left!"

Tondo was about to move to the left when he saw Mirai, the team's ace rush from the back left to do a quick attack. However, he stopped immediately and then turned around as quickly as possible when he realized the ball was sent to the other wing.

"Damn it, Tondo! Don't get fooled so easily like that!" Shou cursed the fellow blocker as he moved to the right-wing too. They arrived too late though, as Koizumi there spiked the ball already without any blocker in front of him.

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"YEAH!" Koizumi, a tall, thin boy whose appearance was like any ordinary office worker unexpectedly roared wildly when he saw the ball he hit was unstoppable.

"Good job, Koizumi!"

"Damn, you are really our silent assassin!"

While the opponent celebrated the point, Shou who failed to form a wall quickly enough scolded Tondo mercilessly. "What the hell, Tondo! I know you always rely on your instinct, but you need to improve your game-reading and decision-making too! Think before you move! And don't forget, we are relying on you to lead us in forming a wall! Once you make a mistake, you will also drag us down!"

In theory, it was never good to scold your teammates in the middle of the game before taking a timeout first. Everyone could hear that, and the teammates themselves could see that as a form of humiliation, which would definitely affect the team's cohesion. Having been the team's captain for a year, Shou knew it pretty well. However, he couldn't help it, and it seemed his other teammates also understood his reasoning.

The current score was 6 – 7, and although they were still in the lead, three out of six points the opponent received came from toying with Tondo. The blocker's performance was terrible today, and he dragged the team down together. By the guilty look on his face, it was clear that Tondo also realized that. The blocker knew that it was only a matter of time before he was subbed off by Kawaki.

"Okay, okay, no need to get riled up by something like this." Uehara tried to appease the captain. "It is just one point, and we can return it later. Tondo also regrets his action, right?" He glanced at Tondo knowingly which was returned by the blocker with a rapid nod of agreement. "See? Now, calm yourself and get ready for the next play."

Shou huffed heavily before turning back to his position, but not before giving Tondo one last glare. The tension among the players suddenly got heavier, with some of them standing there awkwardly, not knowing what to say. Yuki and Riku themselves glanced at each other knowingly. This wasn't the first time they faced a situation that threatened to tear the team apart, after all, and they knew very well how to mend this situation.

'Just like any old quotes said, winning is always the best medicine for a cracked team.'

With that thought in mind, they were determined to score the next point. Yuki took a deep breath, staring at Mirai who grabbed the ball on the other side of the net. He knew the root of the failure for the last play lay in his failure to receive the serve perfectly, so he didn't want to repeat the same mistake twice.

'Come on… Bring it to me… Come on… Here!'

BAM!

As the ball went straight in his direction, Yuki now came prepared. He didn't even move his body to receive the ball, letting it fall onto his forearms while trying his best to aim it at Riku. The tingling sharp pain that he felt from the serve was ignorable as he recovered from his position and was ready to attack again.

"He is running! Get ready!" Shigeo commanded, tracking Yuki's movement carefully.

For a moment, time seemed to freeze, as all the attention was on Yuki. Hell, even his teammates also stopped moving, waiting to see what he would do. Only one player didn't care about it. He kept scanning the entire court, not affected by Yuki's sequence of movements. When he realized that all of the attention was on his friend though, he touched the ball gently to redirect it to the other side of the net, stunning everyone there.

Thud!