The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"So, this is the mighty Tsukiji High, huh?! One of the Keihin players exclaimed in wonder at the crazy atmosphere inside the gymnasium. "They sure deserve their reputation. After all, what kind of school can gather about 500 people in the same building on a weekday like this?"

Even though he tried to sound nonchalant, if anyone noticed the sweat rolling on his arms, they would know the player was nervous. It couldn't be helped, though. For all of them, this was their first time playing under such a crowd, and being on the opposite side sure didn't help at all. The thought of being booed by this many people was enough to make their stomach fall.

"Well, at least there is one player who is excited here." One of them glanced wryly at a tall, combed-haired boy who was eyeing the opponent's eyes hungrily.
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The boy was Sero Bato, the team's middle blocker and Keihin's sophomore student. Despite being in his second year in high school, he was still pretty amateur in this sport, having only been playing this for about four months. However, not a single player from Keihin treated him like a rookie. No, everyone saw him as their beacon of light, their only hope to shine in this tournament, and the boy answered this expectation with a dominant performance in the team's first three rounds.

Forget about the first and second rounds, since it was against two cannon-fodder teams who didn't even have a coach. But in the last third round, Keihin managed to win against Chiyoda High who was a regular participant in the top 16 teams, and Bato was the one who contributed the most in their win. He alone elevated Keihin's front defense and turned them from a no-name team into something to be feared by the opponent, much like what Yuki and Riku did for Tsunemori in the last inter-high.

However, although they had won their first two games and reached their best achievement in their history, Bato was still not satisfied. The reason was that the opponents he faced before were pretty weak. That was why the prospect of meeting a player like Reiki excited him the most.

"Come on, Bato-kun, don't stare at him hungrily like that. At least, hide your bloodlust better." Morita, the outside hitter, and Keihin's captain slapped Bato's back hard, waking the boy up from his daydreaming.

"Ah, sorry about that, Senpai. I cannot help it." Bato rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I mean, look at him! He is so cheerful and innocent! I wonder what kind of face he would show after I break him into pieces, huh?" He licked his lips sadistically.

Morita had a sweat drop on his face, trying his best to hide his discomfort from his kouhai. Although Bato was an amazing player, there was a reason why all the Keihin players were afraid of him. He was too feral, too sadistic to their own liking. Unfortunately, as the team's captain, Morita couldn't run away from the responsibility of taking care of him, so the captain could only say, "Don't go overboard, okay? We don't want to get you into trouble."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I know that if I get into trouble, I will lose a chance to have fun. I will never hinder my fun time by doing something stupid like that." Bato said once again, his eyes still wandering creepily over Reiki.

Being stared with a blatant murderous intent like that though, was definitely enough to gain Reiki's attention. He turned around and saw how Bato was eyeing him as if he were prey, and Tsukiji's outside hitter couldn't help but let out a small smirk.

'To think that someone is brave enough to provoke me in my home court like this… Interesting… Let's see how capable you are…'

-0-

After both teams spent about fifteen minutes warming up, the game was finally about to begin. The captains from both teams, Reiki from Tsukiji High and Morita from Keihin Industrial High gathered around the referee to decide who would get the right to serve first. After a quick coin toss, Keihin won the privilege, and they both offered a handshake.

"Have a good game." Reiki nodded politely.

"Have a good game too." Morita returned the words back.

Right as everyone was in their initial position, a small boy with the green jersey from Keihin High grabbed the ball and walked through the service line. Yuki couldn't help but wince when he saw how nervous the boy was. With how hard the boy's hand was shaking, Yuki was sure there was no way the boy wouldn't mess up this serve.

"Poor him," Riku commented. It seemed he also saw the same thing here. "He shouldn't be the opener here. The crowd will eat him alive."

"Hey, don't diminish him so easily like that! Who knows, maybe he has something special in his arsenal." Koji defended that boy.

Riku just shrugged, turning his attention back to the court. When Keihin's server was about to serve though, the crowd suddenly went quiet, so quiet that Yuki had to check if there was still anyone there. All the people there were holding back the urge to speak out loud, waiting for something while their eyes were on the crowd. As the referee blew the whistle and the boy tossed the ball, someone on the front line of the crowd suddenly shouted, "HA!"

And then, hell broke loose.

"TSUKIJI HIGH!"

DRUM! DRUM! DRUM! DRUM!

"Ouch, that is so devious!" Koji winced unconsciously. "To beat the taiko simultaneously right before the player is going to serve? It is so cruel! He definitely will mess this up!"

True to Koji's words, the boy who served the ball got distracted at the last moment, and instead of the powerful jump the boy was expecting, he missed the ball by miles, making a fool of himself in front of more than 500 people.

"Ahaha! Can you see that?!"

"He misses the serve! What an idiot!"

"What an idiot! What an idiot!"

DRUM! DRUM! DRUM! DRUM!

Yuki could only stare at the poor boy in pity. To make a fool of himself and be called an idiot by so many people like this was surely going to break his mind. He could see the boy looked like he was about to cry on the spot.

"Poor him. He doesn't deserve this." Ogawa sniffed.

"Yeah, the crowd here is the worst." Asahi glared at his surroundings as if they just kicked his puppy. "They forget that the players down there are still high school students. This kind of embarrassment could leave a scar for the rest of their lives."

Honestly, Yuki agreed with what his captain said. Unfortunately, this was the home court advantage for Tsukiji High, and as long as the crowd didn't throw any racial discrimination slurs or something like that, the referee would just let them act like the biggest assholes in the world.

"Man, I just hope Keihin could stand up for their own before it is too late."

-0-

Reiki had never said it out loud, but honestly, he hated how the school's supporters acted. They were just a bunch of assholes who ganged together and target innocent high school players who were unfortunate to be Tsukiji's opponent. They – the supporters – wouldn't hesitate to stoop low enough to resort to a dirty trick like threat, intimidation, and even humiliation to keep the opponent on the ground for as long as possible. That was why the team was the public enemy in the volleyball circle.

However, he didn't have the heart to make a suggestion about changing it. For one, those loyal supporters had already been there for the club even before he joined the school, and two, he got the full advantage of this dirty tactic. More often than not, playing a game as a home team would mean a quick win for Tsukiji since not a lot could withstand the pressure from the crowds. Only a few elite teams could do that, and not a single team was able to steal a win from their home court.

Of course, it didn't count Matsukita and Konan High. Those three always had good enough results to put them as the top-seeded teams, which meant the probability of them meeting before the top eight was little, and the from the top eight to the final, all the games would be held in a neutral ground, which was the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, that made it impossible to gain the crowd advantage. After all, those two schools were bigger than Tsukiji in terms of volleyball, so there was no way Tsukiji could best them in the quantity of their supporters.

But yeah, back to the topic, since the team gained full advantage of this dirty tactic, Riki decided to go with the flow and enjoyed its full benefit.

He took a deep breath, shaking his head slightly to put his focus back on the court. Now, it was Tsukiji's time to serve, and Reiki was ready to be the first one to do that. His eyes caught the one Keihin player who eyed him hungrily, and he couldn't help but smirk.

'Well, let's see if your skill can match your confidence here. Don't disappoint me, Boy!"

Reiki kept his eyes on Bato intently, wanting to test the boy. As he hit the serve though, the sound of the ball piercing the wind was enough to make everyone wince. However, to everyone's surprise, Bato didn't even blink, taking a step back before bending his knee a little, letting his forearms cushion the ball.

BAM!