The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Ogawa, fall back a little and always cover Kaede. Don't let him receive the end of their spike twice in a row." Akira instructed quickly. "Asahi, Hirano, work together to close down any path of their attack. You don't need to block them directly, just deflect it so the others can pick the ball up easily."
Discover more content at m,v l'e|m-p| y r

"Yes, Sir!"

Akira couldn't help but stare at his players worriedly. The moment he saw Nitta playing actively again, he knew he had to take the timeout to cut off their momentum. Fortunately, the tournament rule allowed each team to get two timeouts per set, so even though he had already asked one before when Yuki got hurt, he still had another one which he used right now.

Still, that alone wasn't enough to ease his worry. By the look of Asahi kept rubbing the spot he got hit by Nitta's spike, Akira could figure out how painful it was to receive the end of it.

Even players like Gondo from Matsukita and Ezaki from Shimoyawata couldn't trigger such a reaction, which made Akira wonder once again about how a terrifying hitter like Nitta could go undetected for such a long time.

He didn't show any concerned expression, though. Akira knew that as the coach of the team, his role was to stay calm at any time and not be swayed by how the game went. Once he lost his calm, his team would follow through, and only disaster would wait for them in the end.

After pondering for a moment, Akira added one more thing. "Riku, when we have an opportunity to attack, make sure to use it well. You don't need to always score, but don't let them think we will wait passively like before and gain the initiative. Also, use the wing more to spread their blockers. Your task is to force them running to follow your lead."

"Yes, Sir." The blonde boy nodded.

Akira sighed once again as he stared at his players. Inwardly, he cursed at how quickly the momentum went away from their grasp, especially after their offense was unlocked. Still, the team wasn't without hope. By now, he still waited for the presence of his player who still went out of the building to come back and help him change the direction of the game one more time.

'Let's hope that the team can hold their ground until he comes back later.'

-0-

Thirty seconds passed quickly, and the referee blew his whistle and asked the players from both teams to come back to the court again. However, the moment the players from Kyoei stepped inside the court, the building erupted into a thunderous chorus of boos, echoing off the rafters and drowning out the sound of the game.

All of those boos and curses were directed to one particular player as a retaliation for the provocation before.

"Die, you bastard!"

"Don't think you can walk away that easily!"

"Oi, Koji! Kill him!"

"We'll wait for your presence outside of the school after the game! Don't you dare to run away!"

"Wow, they really hate you, Senpai," Haruo commented casually.

"Yeah." Some players nodded in agreement. "Aren't you afraid of their threat, Nitta?"

"Afraid? Are you kidding me?" The one under scrutinization of the entire building scoffed. "This is just music in my ears! The more they spew that nonsense, the more excited I become! And for threat, they wouldn't dare to do that. Not if they want to be the second Shimoyawata."

Everyone nodded in agreement, seeing the truth behind his words. After the scandal involving Shimoyawata last year, Shimoyawata's reputation plummeted instantly, and not even the weakest school in Tokyo dared to show their friendship toward them. This was the worst situation any school could ever dream of, being isolated from the outside world.

There would definitely be no school that dared to follow their step.

"And it is not like I will face them alone," Nitta added. "Right, Captain-san?" He smirked while glancing sideways at the captain who was already on the court.

"Right, this is also time for me to take action." Ito nodded. "Let's do this like usual, Nitta!"

The smirk on Nitta's face spread widely as he nodded excitedly. "Sure!"

-0-

After the commotion died down a little, the referee finally restarted the game. One of Kyoei's players went for the serve, and he managed to send it to the other side of the net safely. It was a weak serve though, and Ogawa on the front line was able to receive the ball easily.

Riku glanced a little to see the movement from the other side, and when he noticed Haruo was still sticking to him, the blonde boy passed the ball toward Koji on the left side.

"Senpai!"

"Oh! Nice pass, Riku!"

Even though at this point, sending the ball toward Koji was predictable, Riku still didn't hesitate to choose that path. Not only because Koji just gained momentum earlier, but also because the second-year hitter was also the most versatile player on the team right now.

Even with a blocker in front of him, as long as it wasn't Haruo, Koji would be able to think of a way to gain advantage of his opponent.

And right now, with Haruo one step behind to close down the area in front of him, there was a huge chance for Koji to score a point for Tsunemori.

Or… That was what they thought.

However, the moment Koji swung his arms, he suddenly saw someone flash with a quick speed, taking off the ground on the other side with both arms in the air to block his spike. Koji panicked a little since it was unexpected and he couldn't adjust his spike at all.

*BAM!*

The ball he spiked flew as it hit the wall in front of him. Fortunately, it was still within the court, so the score didn't change for Kyoei. However, the crowds were unhappy that Koji's spike was blocked, especially when they saw the culprit's smug smile.

"Damn, Koji! Be more serious!"

"Kill him! Attack him! Do what you want, but don't let him smile like that!"

Yeah, it was Nitta who just appeared on the front side to block his spike. However, Koji couldn't care less, especially when he saw Kyoei's ace was ready to attack once again. He glanced a little to his side, asking silently for Hirano's help to stop Nitta. The middle blocker nodded silently, starting to move toward his direction to form a two-man block.

However, when they and Kyoei's ace jumped in unison, they knew something went wrong when they saw the smug smirk on Nitta's face.

'Oh, shi – !'

*BAM!*

Instead of going to Nitta, Kyoei's setter sent the ball a little bit higher to the middle, where Ito suddenly rushed from behind to execute the back attack. Since Hirano and Koji were focused on Nitta, it was easy for Kyoei's captain to kill the ball, adding one more point for his team.

Tsunemori High 12 – 19 Kyoei Gakuen