The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Even though due to the date was only five days before Christmas, the traffic was pretty slow, fortunately, the journey to the Tokyo Gymnasium Metropolitan went quite smoothly. By this time, the bus that carried the team had already been known by almost all the residents of the Edogawa-ku, so whenever the players peeked from the curtain, they would be able to see people waving their hands while cheering for them, which was good for their morale right now.

However, that didn't mean the tension was gone. No, if anything, the more they got closer to the gymnasium, the greater the pressure that they felt. Currently, the expectation from all the supporters and the residents of the school was at its peak, as everyone was eager to watch more history created by the team. Before this, everyone only enjoyed the happiness of getting praised to the sky, but now, whenever they saw people walked to the gymnasium while wearing the attributes to support the team and with the expectation that couldn't be hidden in their eyes, that was when all the Tsunemori players realized how heavy the pressure on their shoulder right now.

The journey to the gymnasium only took about 25 minutes, and as the bus got closer, the heavier the atmosphere turned into. The only sound that could be heard was Akira, Megumi, Arina Sugawara, and Yori who were chatting casually, wanting to catch up with each other. As for the other players, they couldn't even sit leisurely, their posture was so stiff right now. Seeing this, Akira clicked his tongue, showing his dissatisfaction.

"Why are you all so awkward like this?! It is not your first time playing in this arena, and it is also not your first time playing against Matsuyama Kita High, so why are you all like this? You shouldn't feel pressured today! If anything, you should play more freely! You have already created history for the school, why would you feel bothered by the voices from the outside?"

Hearing this, some of the players couldn't help but scratch the back of their heads sheepishly.

"We cannot help it, Sensei. I mean, don't you see the expectation from the others?" Asahi explained awkwardly. "Things would be so bad if we somehow lost this game…" The others also nodded in agreement, shuddering at the thought of their fate if they disappointed the supporters.

Unexpectedly, though, it was Yuki who answered that. "Hey, Asa-senpai, don't overestimate ourselves too much, okay?" The glasses boy rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Um?!" All the eyes turned to the boy instantly. "What do you mean by overestimating ourselves too much?" Kaede couldn't help but ask, confused. There was no hint of anger or something like that for Yuki's blunt comment that basically said they were not as good as they thought, but he and the other players indeed wanted to hear about Yuki's opinion.

This time, though, it was Riku, who sat next to his best friend, who answered the question.

"Well, it is like this, Senpai… Even though I know that we have been growing far stronger this year, we cannot forget that just a few months ago, we were still a no-name team that nobody batted their eye at us. Hell, even some of the students in our school also felt the same, and the only reason they came to our game was because the headmaster promoted us crazily. Now, you all talk about people rioting if we cannot beat the second-best team in the country? The only team that could challenge Konan High's hegemony? The team that even the newspaper said they would win everything if there were no Konan High in this country? Even though it is good to dream high, we also need to stay realistic, eh?"

While the words that came out of the blonde boy were a bit harsh, but it was enough to wake everyone up from their daydreaming. They couldn't help but blush a little, realizing how harsh their expectation of themselves were. However, the mood also plummeted a little bit when they heard Riku talking about how good Matsuyama Kita was, for the first time realizing that comparing Tsunemori High and them would be like heaven and hell.

"So, does that mean we don't have to work hard since we are going to lose anyway?" Okamura couldn't help but ask, feeling anxious.

"Huh?! When the hell did I say something ridiculous like that?!" Even Riku himself was surprised by the question. "What I mean before is for all of us to not add more pressure unnecessarily on ourselves. While we have been playing brilliantly in this tournament, on paper, we are just another underdog, and people had even put our name in the trash when they heard that our opponent would be Matsuyama Kita High. So, instead of being burdened by the insanely high expectations, it would be better to go all out and have fun! Show the people outside that we are not a team that could be trampled so easily! Make sure we make our opponent remember our names! Then, if Gods or miracles really exist, maybe we will have a chance to steal one set or even two."

Fortunately, these words somehow managed to appease the other players. The emotion stabilized once again, and everyone was back chatting with each other as if the conversation before had never happened. They knew that Riku was right. They had never been the favorite before, not when they played against Tsukiji High, not when they played against Kikugawa High, and definitely will not be one when they played against Matsuyama Kita High. So, why would they need to be pressured to win here? If anything, it should be their opponent who was worried, right? If they somehow slipped here and Tsunemori managed to win, did that mean they became another stepping stone for Tsunemori High?

Thinking about that, all the players inside the bus somehow got excited out of nowhere.

Seeing the scene unveiled in front of him, Yori couldn't help but let out a deep sigh. He knew that Yuki and Riku were important members of this team, but he didn't know that they were this important, to the point that everyone listened to their words and trusted them unconditionally.

Of course, before agreeing to have the coach join the team again, Yori also had some reservations and talked to Noriyuki, the team's former captain, about this. In this case, the former ace had a firm stance, not wanting to get involved with the team again as long as Yuki and Riku were out first, thinking that those two were a toxic influence on the team and would only drag everyone down. Even though Yori's opinion wasn't that extreme, the boy also had a concern about those two. However, after witnessing this interaction with his own eyes and seeing how the other players respected those two boys, he knew that his concern was unnecessary here.

'It seems, we, the old generation, were really in the wrong here…'