The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Two days passed quickly, and it was finally the game day again for Tsunemori. Most of the Tsunemori players were still half-alive when they reached the Edogawa Station, considering it was still 6 in the morning. Hell, the station itself was still pretty empty, which showed how early they were right now, especially considering how busy the train station was even in the early morning or late night.

Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do. It took about one hour and a half to reach the Setagaya Station, and from there, they had to walk for at least twenty minutes before they arrived at the school. Added to the fact that the game itself started at 9 in the morning, they had to start their journey early, and that also meant they had to wake up early for that day.

"Man, a time like this makes me envy those rich schools who have their own private transportation," Riku said, yawning.

The other players also nodded, remembering the jealous feeling they had when they saw Kyoei Gakuen arrive at Tsunemori with their personal bus in the last Inter-high. "Come on, no need to be so grumpy like that!" Akira said, guiding them to the school they had to go to. "Also, Kai, what did I tell you about drinking a coffee cup before the game?"

"… Not to?" The defensive specialist replied meekly.

"Exactly! You know how bad it is for your body to consume caffeine before doing a heavy activity, right?!" The coach scolded. "Ayaka-san, do you have something for the substitute?" He turned around and asked the manager.

"I am sure I prepared something yesterday. Wait a second." The only girl there searching for something inside her sports bag. After a while, her face brightened as she found out what she was searching for. "This! I bought this when I saw the discount in the market yesterday! Eat this for a snack and I am sure you will not have any stomach problems during the game."

Yuki felt a drop of sweat on his face when he saw his senpai pick up a bunch of bananas from her bag. He wondered how big the space inside her bag was to fit that and a lot of other essential things for the team.

"Oh, banana! It has been a long time since I enjoy this!" Koji exclaimed, picking up the fruit happily. Yuki didn't know if the feeling his senpai showed came from the fruit itself or the giver.

They enjoyed their snacks while walking, trying their best to go as quickly as possible. While it was impolite and would be frowned upon by a lot of people for them to eat while walking, they didn't want to fret over something so simple as this. Also, they dared to do this since the area around them was pretty quiet. Unlike the other places in Tokyo – or Japan in general – that were always filled with pedestrians, this wealthy district was dominated by people who preferred to use their fancy cars to go anywhere.

It took a few more minutes before they reached their destination. When he saw the building though, he had his mouth gaped wide, bewildered. He wasn't the only one as the other players had a similar reaction. They couldn't be blamed, though. The school itself was gaudy and twice as big as Konan High, which they couldn't imagine what kind of facilities were offered there.

"Do you think they try to compensate something with this massive building?" Ogawa joked weakly, eliciting small laughter from the others.

"Well, what do you expect from a school in a wealthy area? Come on, we have to arrive fifteen minutes before the game, or the referee will disqualify us." Akira walked through the corridor, followed by the players.

The reaction they got here though, surprised everyone. Not a single person here glancing and whispering rudely at them. While most of the students there didn't give a shit about their presence, some were still polite enough to smile or even greet them. Honestly, this was far beyond their expectation.

"What? Do you think that because it is a wealthy school the students will be obnoxious and arrogant? What kind of drama did you watch in your free time?" Akira snorted. "In reality, not a lot of people are comfortable enough to flaunt their wealth. They usually want to keep it for themselves and respect each other's personal space. That is why we are not facing any rudeness like you are imagining." Some of the players there blushed. "Let it be a lesson for you guys, that prejudice exists not just to the poor people, but also to the wealthy ones. While it might not look like that, wealthy people also suffer from that prejudice, so don't make any assumptions about people so easily, okay?"
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The gymnasium building though, looked as ordinary as their own gymnasium. It seemed there was a default design of a gymnasium school in this country though, as Yuki took notice that the building was always split in half with one part used as a basketball court and the other as a volleyball court, no matter which school he played in.

There, Setagaya High's players had already prepared, tossing the ball around each other while also doing a slight warmup to prepare for the game. When the Tsunemori players entered the building, all the heads turned around immediately with a middle-aged man – which Yuki assumed as their head coach – approached them. Akira took over this situation while asking Megumi to lead the others to their bench, which they followed obediently.

"Man, how come they managed to win their first two games? I mean, look at them!" Yuki could hear Riku's bold statement. Well, not that he couldn't blame his friend, since he was also in the same state here. Setagaya team looked so ordinary, with most of them looking thin with thick glasses on their face, looking like they belonged in a classroom. He knew that Akira just taught the team about the importance of not making an assumption, but right now, he couldn't help it.

"That should be because an easy draw, I guess." Asahi shrugged. That was probably the only acceptable excuse here. After all, it would be embarrassing for any serious team to lose against Setagaya High. "In the end, we should be glad that we have another easy game, right?"