The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Nakamura scowled when he saw Yuki walk through the service line with the calmness that no rookie should possess. His body was tensed unconsciously as if sensing the incoming danger. The boy furrowed his brows a little when he saw the lax atmosphere around his teammates.

"Oi, be more serious! Don't get caught in their bait!" Scolded the boy.

Some of them raised their eyebrows questioningly before Mirai, the team's captain asked, "What do you mean by bait?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Nakamura huffed, showing his dissatisfaction when all he received was a blank gaze. "They want us to underestimate this boy's serve by putting him on the second turn. We know by watching his video that he is an amazing pinch server, but by doing this, their coach wants to make us think that his threat is lesser than Uehara-san before. That way, we will unconsciously think that he would pose a lesser threat, and in the next second… Boom! He scores."

All the players there had sweat drop on their faces, not only because of how Nakamura built the explanation with full tension just to blow it up flatly but also because of how the boy's overthinking nature took over once again.

"Don't worry, Naka." Mirai patted his shoulder. "Even though it looks like we lower our guard, we would never dare to do that. Remember our motto?"

"Act tough and domineering in front of your opponent, but be paranoid behind them." Nakamura – and most of the players around – recited the motto word by word as if they had done it a million times.

"Well, you got it!" Mirai grinned. "That's why you don't need to worry about us underestimating our opponent. Anyone who would do so will be kicked out instantly by the coach without mercy." Everyone shuddered in fear when they remembered how furious their coach was whenever someone dared to forget about their motto.

In the end, Nakamura was reassured by the captain and went back to his spot.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of things that, no matter how much you overestimated them and how tight you kept your guard on, wouldn't change anything, and Yuki's serve probably reached that level already.

When Yuki saw the tension grow on the opponent's side yet most of them focused on the middle back, he couldn't help but smirk. 'Sekine-sensei said he wants to promote my service to the traffic to more teams outside of the Thunder, right? Well, fortunately, it seems that the Phoenix hasn't caught a win on it.'

With that thought in mind, Yuki didn't hesitate to serve the ball straight into the setter's route to go to the front. Of course, he would target Nakamura too. While it was foolish to aim the serve to the opponent's best defender, once a player reached a level where he was confident enough to score from there, the player wouldn't be satisfied with just scoring, but also wanting to inflict psychological pressure on the opponent. After all, if even the best defender on the team couldn't pick up the ball, what chance the other players could do that?

Thud!

Continue your saga on empire

Just like any other player who faced Yuki's trick for the first time, Nakamura froze on the spot, letting the easy serve pass through his eyes, and fell behind his spot. The boy himself just stood still, not knowing what just happened and how to proceed. The only thing that came out of his mouth was the common response any player had after receiving the end of this trick.

'Eh?'

"YOSSHAAAAA!" Before he knew what was wrong, the roar of celebration from Yuki on the other side of the court snapped Nakamura from his thought. "Good job, Kobayashi!"

The excited celebration from the Thunder's players echoed through the building as a deafening silence fell there. The crowd who a few moments ago was still excited to show their support for the phoenix now looked at each other in confusion. No one knew what just happened and why wouldn't their best player react for an easy serve like that.

"What is wrong with Nakamura-kun?"

"I don't know. Maybe, something is wrong with his body."

"Don't be an idiot! He did so well to open this game, there is no way there is a hidden injury here!"

"I know! That must be some sort of witchcraft from that four-eyes!"

"Oh, please! Which century are we in, 17th?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

People on the stand kept debating what was wrong, while on the court, several players approached Nakamura concernedly. "What is going on, Naka-senpai? Is there any trick that you are unaware of?" Kodai Hachimura, the opposite hitter asked.

"I… Don't know." Nakamura finally replied, his tone was hesitant. He tried his best to recall every detail of the service to see what was wrong there, yet he couldn't answer the question. "I know the serve is easy, and I know I should react to it, but I don't know why my body couldn't move at all. It seems as if my brain stops working for a second, and right after that, the sound of the ball hitting the floor rang in my ears."

All the Fukushima Phoenix's players looked at each other confusedly and concernedly. This was the first time they saw Nakamura so lost like this, and it wouldn't be a lie if that didn't affect the team's mentality. Just with one serve alone, Yuki successfully destabilizes this opponent's morale.

"Let's not try to think too much about this." Mirai clapped his hand, snapping his teammates from their thoughts. "No matter how hard we rack our brain, everything happened so fast that our brain couldn't catch up with it. What if this was just a coincidence?" Even though it was tempting, no one would believe this was a coincidence. "My point is, no need to overthink it. Just be careful if something similar happens and keep your eyes carefully, okay?" Said the captain.

Even though no one was satisfied with this, they could only follow it for now considering the next play was about to begin. Still, Mirai didn't forget to signal the coach on the bench to watch it carefully and be prepared to ask for a timeout in case something drastic like this happened.

Unfortunately, Yuki didn't intend to stop just like that.

The glasses boy knew that not everyone was convinced of his service, so he did exactly the same as before. Unlike the last time though, Nakamura managed to react, but it was too late as he had to dive to the ground just to save an ordinary serve. It would be good if he managed to do it, but the ball seemed to go faster than what it looked like, and as a result, it slipped through Nakamura's defense once again.

"Hell yeah! Two in a row!" Yuki raised his hand high, showing a 'V' gesture for his second ace.

And when everyone on the Phoenix's side started to believe his witchcraft and be prepared to reveal its secret, Yuki with his wicked mind changed the trick instantly, going with his sidespin serve to the spot far opposite of where Nakamura stood.

'Shit! He got us!'

BAM!

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