The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Back before the timeout was over…

"Listen, Yuki." Akira suddenly called the boy out while everyone went back to the court. "I know that it is difficult and unfair for me to ask you, but when you are on the front, I want you to do Hirano's role, keeping your eyes intently on Gondo. Can you do that?"

Levin was stunned for a moment before smiling wryly at the coach. This felt like karma here, as he was the one who gave the middle blocker an idea about being the hunter dog to harass any intruders. He just didn't expect that he would be the one who ended up doing that.

"What about his leftie ability?" The glasses boy asked, remembering that they hadn't solved the mystery behind Gondo's ability. "As long as we cannot stop it, I doubt that any arrangement would work against Gondo-senpai." This was just a reminder for the coach to take care of this situation. Unexpectedly, the coach just shrugged nonchalantly.

"Don't worry, I have figured it out already."

"Really?!" Yuki widened his eyes in disbelief.

"Indeed, I can still see that Gondo is not that proficient with his left-handedness yet. The boy had one glaring weakness, which was to turn his body slightly in the direction he aimed to whenever he was going to spike. Don't worry, you will see it with your eyes later, but try your best to restrain Gondo's cross spike ability, okay?"

"Sure!"

This was the conversation between Yuki and Akira during the timeout before. Yeah, when everyone was still in awe because of the opponent's sheer dominance and even starting to diminish Tsunemori High while thinking that there was no way they could stop the second-best team in the country, Akira still hadn't given up on this game, racking his brain to get out of this situation while also restraining Gondo in the next turn. Then, an idea suddenly popped into the old man's mind, recalling all the plays that Gondo pulled, then made a bold strategy to confirm his suspicions. True enough, when the ball finally came to Matsuyama Kita's front line, Yuki didn't even hesitate to jump, following Akira's order to deal with Gondo as quickly as possible.

BAM!

"YOSSHAAA!" Seeing the ball bounce back from his hand to the opponent's side, Yuki punched the air instantly, high-fiving Riku next to him. "Come on! We are still here!"

"Yeah! We are still here!" Riku also grinned, knowing that this was Yuki's way to motivate the others. True enough, after this, everyone also came excitedly to the glasses boy.

"What do you mean we are still here, Brat! Do you think that your senpai has already given up in this game?!" Asahi ruffled Yuki's hair fondly.

"Hey, Senpai! Not the hair, please!" Yuki complained, struggling to get out of Asahi's arms.

"Ha?! You provoke trouble, yet you don't dare to face the consequence by yourself?!" Ogawa scowled, also joining the fun. "Don't think that you can get out of this baptism, Brat!"

"No! Not my glasses!"

While all the Tsunemori players were celebrating with each other happily, on the other side of the court, Gondo scowled, frustrated that he had failed to score again. Even though they were still leading the set with the score 13 – 7, the fact that Tsunemori High somehow managed to score two points in a row, just within half a minute, was enough to ring the alarm inside Gondo's head. The captain turned his head immediately to Saburo Honda, the team's head coach, on the bench, and asked for guidance.

'Don't worry, everything is still within my calculation.' The old man signalled Gondo to stay calm. 'This is our only chance to hone your left-handed attack in a real game against a strong opponent without having to worry about losing. Just go all out and try every method that you can think of, our chance would still be the same.'

Yeah, Gondo suddenly being a left-handed attacker had been planned since the beginning by Saburo Honda. Of course, the old man also foresaw the situation where Gondo met a wall like this, knowing that it was impossible for the captain to dominate the whole game with his new weapon. Hell, Gondo himself also acknowledged that he wasn't proficient in attacking with his left hand yet. So, this was the perfect chance for the boy to perfect this method before he and the team would play against Konan High in the final.

Of course, they had never thought of losing in this game, as Tsunemori High itself was a team far below their level right now.

In the end, Gondo could only sigh helplessly when he saw the coach shake his head, knowing that he still needed to stick with his left-handed attack. Not a single attacker in the world would feel comfortable after getting stopped by the opponent several times, and the thought of him having the right way to solve this situation, yet unable to do it, only added to the discomfort here. Still, Gondo trusted the coach in this regard, knowing that there was no way the old man would lead them into a disastrous situation.

"Okay, everyone! Don't be in a daze like that! It is just two points! We can take it back later! Come on, don't be lazy!" Gondo shouted, trying to act like a true captain.

"Senpai, what do you mean by being lazy?" Amagi just stared at his captain in disgust. "You are the one who made us lose those two points before, don't try to blame it on us!"

"Yes, Captain!" Some of the players there nodded in agreement.

"Why, you?!" A thick vein popped on Gondo's temple when he heard this. Fortunately, he knew that the others were just joking around here and were not serious about their words.Still, it stung for Gondo to think that the last two points that the opponent earned were because of him.

'I need to get better for the next time!' The captain slapped his face hard.

After the commotion was over, the game continued once again, and it was still Hirano who served the ball. The middle blocker still served it shakily, and it was only because of pure luck that the ball managed to cross the net. Seeing this, Nakatani, Matsuyama Kita's middle blocker, rushed forward to get the ball without hesitation.

Thud!

"Oh! Good receive, Nakatani!"

"Amagi! Get it here!" Gondo shouted, raising his hand while getting ready to attack.

Of course, Amagi didn't hesitate to send the ball there. Besides the fact that he trusted his senpai, the setter also knew that Honda wanted the captain to get used to his left-handed attack, so he didn't hesitate to feed the ball to the captain. Seeing the ball come his way, Gondo gritted his teeth, ready to blow it up.

BAM!

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" The boy cursed when he saw Yuki suddenly appear in front of him once again. "What a pest!"

"Yes, Yuki! Good block!"

"Come on, get ready for another attack!"

"Yes! They are going to attack again! Get ready!"

Even though Yuki managed to block the previous spike, his hands were still not firm enough, and as a result, the ball flew back to Matsuyama Kita's side, giving the opponent another chance to attack. The glasses boy didn't really think about it, though, getting ready to jump again. Seeing that the ball was sent back to the captain, and with how determined Gondo was to execute the attack, Yuki took off once again, and the collision between the two players was unavoidable.

However, it seemed that Gondo was a little bit pressured here, since instead of meeting Levin's block head-on, he turned his body subtly, trying to change the direction of his spike. Unfortunately, the boy was unlucky here, as he messed up his own timing, and when he swung at the ball, it was already below the ideal height for him to spike. As a result, it only hit the net hard, not even being able to cross through the other side of the court safely, giving Tsunemori High another point to celebrate.

BAM!