The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"So, that is what you mean by faith, huh?" Sekine nodded in approval. "Ont bad, Brat."

A small, genuine smile suddenly formed on Akira's face, not because he heard his old mentor's praise, but at the sight of his players celebrating on the court for the successful play before. Gone was the tense atmosphere around his players, as they started to have a smile on their faces.

That sight had never appeared again since Yuki was out of the game, so he was glad that the team could smile once again during the game, showing they started to regain their confidence again, and that was because of one player's stubborn effort to break the opponent's brick wall.

"Koji has never been a team's ace in his volleyball career." Akira finally spoke. "He is always the second-best attacker, and while he is capable of being the ace, he has never been in those shoes. He always reaped the benefit of having an ace beside him. Now, the last play would finally open his eyes to the ace's other role besides scoring the ball."

The other role that Akira mentioned of course referred to the role as the team's biggest bait. Not only did he have to score, but he had to keep attacking no matter what happened so that the opponent would think that he was the toughest player on the team and wanted to break him as soon as possible to break the other players' morale.

If he could give that image to the opponent, he would be able to attract at most two or three opponent players toward his direction, giving his teammates more space to attack.

"Still, it is not enough, though." Sekine furrowed his brows. "This is just a temporary solution. You need more than that to stay alive and have a chance to win this game."

"Oh, I know." A bright smile suddenly curled in his mouth. "Fortunately, I still have another trick on my sleeves, and it involves my best player who is still out of the game."

-0-

"Nice job, Senpai." Riku high-fived Koji after the play.

"No need to butter me up." Koji snorted. "I didn't do anything special."

"Oh, but you did." Riku's smile was bright. "Even though you didn't score, your stubborn effort managed to attract the opponent's attention. If not for you, Asahi-senpai won't be able to score that easily."

Koji suddenly froze as if he had just been struck by lightning. Even though he said before that Riku should use him as bait, he had never thought about it too deeply, just wanted to carry the offense when his teammates were down. That was what his senpai did in the past whenever the team's offense wasn't in a good state, and that was what he was trying to do before.

Never even in his dream that Koji thought by doing that, he could also be a good bait for the team.

'But at least, this would make the game easier for us, right?'

And true to his thought, everything suddenly got easier for Tsunemori. It seemed as if something was unlocked, and now, they could attack more easily rather than before. Riku also started to get relaxed. While he was still uneasy under Haruo's stare, since his setup finally managed to produce some points for the team, the pressure on his shoulder disappeared and he played far better than before.

*BAM!*

"Nice receive, Kaede!"

Kaede also filled up the role of Tsunemori's last guardian perfectly, making them all forget about Yuki's presence for a moment. The second-year defensive specialist was able to cover up any holes his teammates made during the play and kept the ball alive on their side.

"Riku! High to the left!" Koji shouted, asking for the ball.

Riku glanced sideways at Haruo for a moment to see the blocker's movement. When he saw that Kyoei's blocker didn't get attracted by Koji's movement and kept staring at him intently, the blonde boy knew it was a chance for the new ace to take action.

"Nice pass!"

*BAM!*

"HELL YEAH!" Koji roared as his spike landed on the back side of Kyoei's court.

"Nice pass, Riku!"

"Good job!"

The crowds that went silent for a moment also started to get heated once again as the team scored two points in a row. Even though they were still behind, at least this showed that they could catch up with the score.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the court, Haruo sighed tiredly, wiping the sweat that rolled down his face. Then, he turned around, glaring at his two seniors who weren't doing anything to help him on the front side.

"Can you be more serious, Senpai?" He whined. "You know I cannot do it alone, right?"

Ito and Nitta who were called by their kouhai couldn't help but throw away their face immediately, trying their best to look innocent while avoiding Haruo's annoyed gaze. This was another problem that had been plaguing their team for a long time. Or… Rather than saying it plagued the team, it would be more correct to say this problem had been plaguing Ito and Nitta as the pillars of the team.
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Whenever they saw Haruo take over the game and start to bully the opponent's hitters, they fell into laziness and didn't want to help him form a wall. In their defense, they reserved their energy for the offense, knowing that Haruo alone sometimes was enough to deter their opponent.

However, this time was different.

"Don't worry, my cute little kouhai." Nitta patted Haruo's shoulders playfully. "If you cannot hold yourself against the opponent's attack, your awesome senpai will help you do it."

Haruo pouted slightly at his words, unhappy that Nitta thought he couldn't handle it alone. Ito himself just rolled his eyes, having gotten used to their banter by now.

"Okay, be more serious, you two!" He smacked them both on their back. "And Nitta, is it time for us to be more active?"

"You are right, Captain." A feral grin suddenly formed on Nitta's face. "We cannot let our kouhai get bullied like this."

-0-

*BAM!*

"Nice receive, Aki!"

As another serve came from Asahi, Kyoei's defense managed to pick that up easily. All the Tsunemori players on the front side were tensed for a moment, observing Kyoei players' movement on the other side of the net. Even though the flow of the game was currently in their grasp, they didn't dare to slack off on this game.

They all knew that one careless moment was enough for their opponent to snatch the momentum again from their hand.

"YAMADA! HERE!"

All the Tsunemori players were taken aback by the sudden movement coming from one particular player who had gone silent for a while. Yeah, it was Nitta who hadn't been involved in the game for a while that suddenly asked for a ball. Tsunemori knew pretty well how dangerous this player was, especially after their best player was sent out by him alone.

Three players – Hirano, Koji, and Asahi jumped together at the same time when they saw Kyoei's ace take off from the ground. Unfortunately, even with three blockers formed in front of the net, it wasn't enough to block Nitta's explosiveness.

*BAM!*

"SHIT!"

Asahi managed to touch the ball, yet he couldn't withstand the impact of it. As a result, the ball bounced far to the stand where the crowds kept voicing their support for Tsunemori. For a moment, there was silence in the building, as everyone stared in awe at Nitta. The sound of his spike this time was far louder than anything they could've imagined from a normal spike.

They didn't want to imagine how hurt it was for them to receive the end of it while silently giving Asahi a hat off for his bravery in standing still after getting hit by the block.

As for Nitta, his grin widened more to the point it sent shivers down people's spine. Then, he suddenly laughed out loud, startling everyone in the building.

"Oi, oi, oi! Where are all your voices before?! Come on! Get louder!"