The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"It seems that bastard improves again." A boy with the Konan High jacket on the stand scowled, unhappy with what he saw. "He has already been a troublesome guy before, but now he is improving to the point it is annoying even for us."

"Oh, are you saying that because you are jealous there is a player in your generation who is better than you and your rival from Kyoei Gakuen?" another boy with the same jacket who was shorter but had more muscles than the first boy commented nonchalantly.

"Psst.. Matsumoto—senpai, that is not something you should've said out loud…" another boy hissed immediately. However, he was too late, as the first boy turned gloomy at the words he had just heard.

Yeah, for those who were wondering, they were the players from Konan High School. Even though they would only play last in today's schedule – which should be about six hours from now – they all still gathered together to watch their future competitor.

"Eh, don't worry about him, Take! Kobayashi might be an amazing player, but you are not a slouch either! Your role is different compared to him, so don't think too much about it!" Lucas – the team's ace and the only tanned-skinned boy on the team tried to reassure his kouhai. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done here.

"Shut up, Lucas-senpai!" The boy – Akihiro – snapped a bit rudely. "If he is that amazing, why wouldn't he be able to enter the national tournament in the middle school?"

The other players there just rolled their eyes in exasperation. They all knew Akihiro's problem with Yuki and Riku was that those two Tsunemori players didn't have the same route as him, so for him who was hailed as one of the best talents in his generation to see them both skyrocketing into the height he couldn't see, Akihiro was a bit unwilling about it.

Meanwhile, as for another freshman on the team, Sawada was not bothered by it. He knew that Yuki was a monster on a different level compared to him. Hell, he had already been numb to Yuki's amazing performance behind the service line, all the awes were gone already. Now, it was replaced by this eager feeling to figure out how to stop Yuki from taking over the game like this.

"What's wrong, Nobu?" Matsumoto couldn't help but ask.

"No, it is nothing. Just thinking about him, Senpai." Sawada let out a deep sigh. Matsumoto didn't need to be told explicitly to know who his kouhai referred to. "He is so amazing that he could even break our defense so many times from behind the service line, and that was four months ago. He is getting better by now, and I don't know how we could top him at all the next time we meet." There was a hint of frustration on his note.

What he didn't expect, though, was for Matsumoto to look at him strangely. "W-What?!" He asked, flushed a little.

"Nobu… I know his serve always looks good from the outsider's perspective, and I know why his opponent should be worried about it too. However, as the best team in the country, don't you think it is a bit strange that we haven't found his weakness yet?"

Sawada widened his eyes in shock before he stuttered, "Y-You mean…."

"Yes, we have already figured out how to stop his serve." Matsumoto nodded, confirming Sawada's suspicion. "Even though his serve skill is troublesome, he is also a player who relies a lot on his momentum."

"His momentum?" Sawada asked, parroting his captain's words.

"Yeah, once he starts to get into his rhythm, he would be like a bulldozer, forcing his way through everything until the end. However, once his rhythm is disturbed, he would have a hard time entering that state again."

Sawada furrowed his brows deeply. "I don't understand." He finally said. "Even though you've said so, it is not easy to disturb his rhythm, right?"

That was when on the court, Kikugawa High's head coach called for a timeout. "That!" Matsumoto pointed his finger at the court. "Is how you disturb his rhythm." Facing Sawada's questioning gaze, he added, "This is something Sensei noticed and asked some students to investigate. In the end, we learn that out of five scenarios where he was in the middle of his momentum and the opponent called a timeout, four of them resulted in Kobayashi pulling up a weak serve in the next turn."

Sawada didn't have to be told twice before realizing what his captain's words implied. "You mean…"

"Yes." Matsumoto nodded, a smile formed on his face. "After this, he would fail to continue his momentum. Trust me."

-0-

Of course, Yuki who was on the court didn't notice that his style had been analyzed by the best team in the country. Right now, he was still putting his focus on the court, trying to continue the momentum he created before.

"Come on, Yuki! Give us another one!"

"Make it sixth in a row!"

Unfortunately, just like what Matsumoto said, Yuki made a mistake in his next turn to serve. While the power was still there, the ball entangled in between his fingers, making it go down too quickly and hit the net, cutting off Tsunemori's momentum and giving away Kikugawa their first point of the game.

"Oh! What a pity!"

"Hey, it's okay! It is good that we can get four points lead this early!"

"Yes! Don't worry, Yuki! Just play your usual game!"

Of course, Yuki wasn't weak enough to be bothered by one failure. After apologizing to his teammates, he took a deep breath, regaining his focus as he was ready for the next play. He saw that Riku also glanced at him, telling him to get ready to move forward whenever they had a chance to counterattack.

As for the one who served the next, it was Kaito from Kikugawa High. The boy with the undercut hairstyle went into the service line with a huge grin on his face, waving at the people on the stand as if they were there to support him. Of course, this action triggered the boos from the Tsunemori's stand. However, this only made Kaito more excited than his normal state.

'Okay, this is my chance! I need to play my role perfectly!'

Just right after the referee blew the whistle, he threw the ball high in the air, leaping forward before slamming it as hard as he could. Koji was taken aback when he saw the ball zoomed into his face. He took a step back quickly, trying to plant his foot so that he wouldn't be blasted away by the ball.

BAM!

"Oh, shit! Someone, cover!" Koji shouted when he realized the ball flew way too far to the left side.

"Don't worry, I got this!" Yuki rushed to get the second ball. He scanned the entire court for a second to see his teammates' movement before deciding to go for his usual routine. "RIKU!" He shouted.

"Oh! Nice pass!" Riku grinned.

This was their usual blitz attack that they both had been training for a long time. Usually, the opponent would find it hard to deal with it considering how quickly it was. However, this time, Yuki and Riku were bound to be surprised when Riku saw two pairs of hands appear in front of his face, blocking his sight to aim for the next shot. As a result…

BAM!