The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Oh! That's it, Jimmy! Show them how you do it!"

"Come on, Jimmy! We are counting on you!"

"Jimmy! Jimmy! Jimmy!"

Ogawa grinned widely as he was bathed in the cheers coming from all over the building. Well, only from one section of the building, technically, but when that section was filled by almost 500 people, that was enough to satisfy him.

The boy also felt funny after realizing that he was more known as Jimmy rather than his original name. Ogawa could still remember the day when Sekine, the old man who during the Inter-high often helped the team as the assistant coach, gave him that name. Even though the old man gave him this nickname because it was the homonym of Jimi – 地味– which meant simple, plain, or some sort of ordinary, which also represented his playing style at that time, the boy liked this name and was determined to change its connotation into a good one. Now that he had witnessed this scene, Ogawa couldn't help but let out his widest grin.

"Good job, Jimmy!" Asahi slapped his back hard, joining the celebration. "You show them what you are made for!"

"Hell, yeah!" Kaede also offered a high-five, his face flushed in excitement. "Show them that we are not afraid here!"

Seeing the scene on the other side of the court, all the Matsuyama Kita players could only sigh helplessly. While they scoffed at their opponent for celebrating over just one point, even though Matsuyama Kita still led the game, they were also annoyed to get fooled by Ogawa twice. The first one was okay, since it was the first time they saw how Ogawa joined the devil duo. That was the nickname they gave to Yuki and Riku, by the way. However, the second one was unforgivable. After all, how could Ogawa slip from everyone's eyes and exchange positions with Riku?

"Damn, this is embarrassing!" Amagi groaned weakly, stomping the floor angrily.

"Yeah, how could we forget about him after the last play?" Gondo also scowled, unhappy about this. When he turned his head around to see the bench, he shuddered in fear before turning it back as quickly as possible to the court. "Okay, don't turn around, but I think the old man is mad right now. He has this creepy smile on his face, so we'd better stay away from there."

Everyone couldn't help but shiver at the silent threat hanging above their heads right now. Saburo Honda was always a calm coach, but the man had a reputation for his terrible punishment of the players who didn't meet his expectations. Right now, they were so close to that line, so they better step up their game before the old man finally called a timeout and addressed this matter.

"Okay, everyone! Let's lock into the game! Don't let them think that they have a chance just because they have a good tournament! We are Matsuyama Kita High, not a mere school that could be trampled by an underdog like them! Let's show our dignity here!" Gondo shouted.

"Hai!"

Right after the commotion died down, the game was about to be continued again, and Riku was still on the service line to do his job. However, right when he glanced at the other side of the court, the blonde boy shivered instantly at the heavy pressure directed at him, and after realizing that six pairs of eyes were looking at him hungrily, the setter couldn't help but chuckle nervously.

'So, they are finally going to get serious, huh?'

Yeah, even after about seven minutes or so since the game began, Riku didn't have the illusion that Matsuyama Kita had already given their best effort in this game. Oh, that didn't mean they were underestimating Tsunemori, but they knew that they were way too strong, making the players unconsciously hold back just so that they could enjoy the game. Now that Matsuyama Kita players were ready to go all out, Riku knew that the real game was finally about to start.

BAM!

After the referee blew the whistle, Riku launched another powerful serve to the other side of the court. Just like before, he still aimed the ball at Gondo, trying to break the opponent's formation. Tono, Matsuyama Kita's defensive specialist, reacted quickly, picking up the ball before stepping aside, giving Gondo space to join the attack. This time, Amagi didn't play any trick, sending the ball straight to the captain. Seeing this, Hirano and Asahi, who were on the front, also reacted.

"Yuki, cover for the lane attack! Rano, follow my lead! One! Two! Now!"

Those two jumped together to stop Gondo's attack, while Yuki also covered the sideline in case Matsuyama Kita's captain tried to pull a straight spike. Just from the outside perspective, this was probably the best defense that Tsunemori High – or any other team, to be honest – could pull against Gondo. It was as if a huge wall had suddenly been erected in the middle of the court, preventing Matsuyama Kita High's captain from scoring.

However, this time, Gondo showed why he was one of the best attackers in the country.

The boy didn't even flinch, changing his stance in the middle of the air. Seeing that the opponent's wall was so tight, he shifted into a left-handed spike, and before either Hirano or Asahi realized this, Gondo had already swung his left hand so quickly like a whip, unleashing a powerful spike into a tricky spot.

BAM!

The area that both Asahi and Hirano had already covered before was breached, and Kaede couldn't even touch the ball before it slammed the floor. For a moment, a long silence fell on the court before it was broken by all the Matsuyama Kita players who roared wildly to celebrate the point.

"YEAH!"

"Good job, Captain!"

"Show them your gorilla power!"

While all the Matsuyama Kita players celebrated with each other, this time, it was the Tsunemori players who fell into frustration. As they gathered in a circle, Asahi didn't hesitate to take the initiative to apologize. "Sorry, I miscalculated. I thought Hirano and I alone could stop his cross-spike."

"No, this is not your fault." Riku shook his head helplessly. "After all, we don't even know that he is capable of using his left hand like that, so it is understandable to get blindsided like this."

"Still, we need to be careful, though." Yuki couldn't help but frown. "We have never found that Gondo-san is a leftie or could attack with his left hand, right? That means it has only been developed recently, and it should be for their game against Konan High in the future. The fact that he showed this right now meant that this information didn't matter anymore, and Gondo-san could go all out against us, too. So, I am afraid that the rest of the game would be difficult for us."