The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Yuki wasn't the smartest student in the school. In fact, even among his friends, he was still the second best behind Kato, a fact he had no shame in admitting. While it was clear that he was smart enough to be among the top three in the class, he never put much effort into his studies, and he was fine with that; after all, it wasn't his passion.

Nevertheless, Yuki was still proud of his intellect. Although he had never applied himself too much to studying, everything came easily to him. He excelled in mathematics, was slightly above average in physics, and thanks to his participation in the chemistry club, that subject felt like a walk in the park for him.

So, yes, he was proud of his achievements as a student.

However, he started to doubt his intelligence, and it was all because of the blonde boy in front of him.

"Come on, Yuki! I don't even know who Thomson, Dalton, or Bohr are, so why should I learn about whatever nonsense they talked about a hundred years ago? They're dead, for God's sake!" Riku whined childishly.

Yuki sighed, rubbing his forehead tiredly. The muffled giggle from Kato didn't help at all; if anything, it just infuriated him more.

"What?" Kato asked innocently.

"Nothing." Yuki sighed again. Then he turned around and glared at Riku. "I don't care who Thomson, Dalton, and Bohr are, and honestly, I don't give a damn. But I swear to God, Riku, if you keep whining and don't start reciting all of this, I will leave you alone in your misery. And when you fail your exam, I will gloat over your misfortune every morning while I'm at training camp. Is that what you want?"

Fortunately, the threat worked, and Riku immediately returned to studying. The thought of having to endure supplementary classes while Yuki chatted with him every morning about how fun training camp was provided enough motivation for Riku.

Days passed quickly, and Yuki and Kato discovered that without Riku's childish whining, he was actually quite intelligent. While he might not be as quick as them when learning something new, the blonde boy managed to catch up on all the material he had missed while dozing off in class. It wasn't perfect, but who seeks perfection when time is limited like this?

Still, there was one significant problem that continually tested their patience: Riku's short attention span.

This was something they discovered on the first day they studied together. He couldn't focus on one thing for too long, and if his eyes caught any movement from random objects, it would be enough to distract him. Yuki sometimes thought he should lock his friend in a blank room without any furniture so he could focus on studying, but aside from being cruel, he was sure Riku would still get distracted by something incredibly silly.

In the end, they both decided to give up trying to fix this problem and let Riku do whatever he wanted when he got distracted.

"How are you guys doing?" Aiko's voice suddenly snapped him from his thoughts. When he turned around, he saw the matron smiling while bringing a tray full of snacks. "Here's something to fill your stomach. I hope it's enough for you three," she said.

"We are doing well, Obaasan," Riku said, shamelessly picking snacks from the tray. "I'm sure we will pass the exam easily."

Yuki rolled his eyes sarcastically at his friend. Here he was, worrying about Riku, while the blonde boy seemed completely unconcerned. Sometimes, he wondered where his friend got his confidence from.

"Good! That's the spirit you should have!" Aiko praised. "We'll leave you three to study. I'll do my best to keep the children busy with something else. But if you're bothered by the noise, just let me know, okay?"

"Yes, Obaasan," the three of them nodded simultaneously.

After Aiko left the room, Riku suddenly let out a deep sigh before saying, "Aiko-obaasan sure is awesome."

"Yeah," Yuki and Kato nodded in agreement.

Not only was Aiko kind, but she also had the patience of a saint. After all, it wasn't easy to care for ten orphaned children who had experienced a disaster. Even with some of them having physical disabilities, she managed everything without complaint. It seemed that whoever God was above had taken pity on their unfortunate fate and sent an angel to look after them all.

"Okay, let's get back to the book!" Riku exclaimed, his mouth still full of food.

Yuki rolled his eyes at him—he didn't know how many times he had done so just that day—and started explaining some problems to his friend once again.

Days passed, and without anyone realizing it, exam day finally arrived. Yuki faced the exam paper without any problems, thanks to Kato's guidance during their study sessions. Still, he was more concerned about Riku's performance, knowing how hard his blonde friend had worked the previous week.

Unfortunately, Yuki was sitting in the front row, so he couldn't see how well Riku was faring during the exam.

'Come on, this shouldn't be too hard. We've already learned this twice last week. If you fail this exam, I swear I will smack you on the back of your head.'

After the bell rang and the teacher collected all the papers, the first thing Yuki did was ask his friend, "So, how did it go? Do you feel confident about your answers?" he asked quickly. Kato, who was sitting in front of him, also turned around, looking at Riku curiously.

"Don't worry, it was a piece of cake!" Riku gave him a thumbs-up.

Honestly, Yuki wasn't reassured at all. After studying with Riku for a week non-stop, he realized that no matter whether Riku understood what he taught the boy or not, he would always have a degree of confidence that suggested both Riku and Kato that he was fine. Yuki learned that he shouldn't believe Riku's "It's okay" response at all.

Unfortunately, that was all he got from Riku in the next few days, driving him batty. Although he would never admit it, Yuki also worried that Riku might have to attend supplementary classes since he didn't want to go to training camp alone.

Fortunately, all his worries vanished the week after the exam when the results were posted on the announcement board, and he saw a big red mark next to Riku's name.

Riku Agostini – 1-B – Pass