The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Yuki grunted a little when he noticed dawn broke fully, shining brightly on his bed. He woke slowly, feeling something heavy that didn't belong to his body latched onto his chest. When he took a peek, Yuki couldn't help but smile at the sight of a little girl squeezing onto his bed.

'I still got invaded again, huh?' He muttered wryly.

The little girl was Higawa Mai, the youngest child in the orphanage. After he decided to get more serious in volleyball, Yuki seemed to have less time to spare for the children there. They didn't mind, of course, since the glasses boy would always try his best to spare his time for the residents of the orphanage.

The fact that he won his first game also made everyone proud and encouraged him to do better.

However, Mai who was the youngest one out of the 11 children here didn't think so. It seemed she was unhappy with the less time spent with Yuki and decided to invade his bed almost every night. Not that Yuki minded, though, since it was a cute invasion and he secretly enjoyed every moment of it.

Still, Yuki had to wake up earlier than the girl, considering he had to help Aiko prepare the children for the day and go to the morning training if Akira asked the team to do that. He maneuvered the little girl to sleep on his bed before scrabbling on the desk next to him, searching for his glasses.

After finding it and stretching his body for the last time, he finally got down from his bed, found his way to the kitchen where Aiko was busy already in that room.

His nostrils were immediately greeted by the savory aroma of Aiko's expertly frying egg, wafting up from the sizzling pan on the stovetop. Even though every day was filled with simple dishes like this, the matron had the uncanny ability to make ordinary things look special just like the frying eggs in front of him.

"Good morning, Yuki-kun." Aiko greeted without even turning around her head. "Are you still being invaded by Mai-chan?" She held back a giggle.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Baasan." Yuki smiled wryly.

"Oh, don't worry, I will." She laughed merrily. "Still, even though I know she would always go to your room, I don't have the heart to stop her. And I know you enjoy the invasion more than you would admit."

"You would never hear that from me." He sniffed, making the woman giggle more.

There was a peaceful silence for a moment as Yuki sat on the stool. His bright, blue eyes locked on Aiko's swift movement that left him in awe. He couldn't help but wonder, how could the matron move so proficiently in such a small space without clashing into so much stuff that was forced to fit there?

"What is in your mind, Yuki-kun?" Aiko asked, snapping him from his thoughts.

"Nothing." The glasses boy shook his head, feeling a bit silly. "Just letting my mind wander far."

"Hmmm…" The matron hummed for a while. "Well, if you have nothing to do, why don't you help me wake up your siblings?"

"Sure." Yuki rose from the stool immediately, having nothing better to do.

It was strange how normal this kind of routine was for him now. If Yuki asked himself two months ago whether he was willing to wake up early without any resistance, his past self would have laughed at him. Before the disaster, he was the only child his parent had, and he was not embarrassed to say he was spoiled by them.

From being woken up in the morning, preparing his breakfast, school uniform, bento, and everything, he had never done it by himself. That showed how much his parents loved him, and while it wasn't good for his adulthood, Yuki enjoyed that attention much back then.

That was probably why the first week in the orphanage was hard for him, and that was also probably why the loss of his parents didn't quite sink in for a while as he had to adapt to his new life.

And right now, even though his routine was different, he had to act more mature as the oldest child here while having to help Aiko with domestic chores, Yuki surprisingly didn't find himself doing everything reluctantly. He enjoyed his new role as everyone's big brother here. It didn't help that everyone here also accepted him pretty quickly, willing to treat the others as their new family.

Even though they all were a bunch of broken children after losing their families, at least they could hold hands together and stay strong together for now.

After waking up the children from one room to another, Yuki took a shower quickly before going down to the kitchen once again to enjoy his breakfast. Only Aiko was there as everyone was busy preparing for their day too. Squabbles and laughter could be heard echoing through the building, making him and Aiko shake their head in exasperation.

After a while, Yuki decided to go first, knowing he had to go for a meeting with the team.

"Do you have a morning practice today?" Aiko asked.

"No, Baasan." Yuki shook his head while putting on his shoes. "This morning, we will gather together to see the drawing of the tournament. I cannot wait to see which opponent would we have to face in the future."

"Oh, I see…" Privately, Aiko couldn't understand what he said.

"Okay, I am ready." Yuki tapped his shoes on the ground for a moment before giving the matron a final hug. "I have to go first. Wish us luck!"

"Okay! Be careful on the road!"

-0-

The moment Yuki arrived at the school, the atmosphere was still quiet. There were not a lot of students who had arrived there even though the sun was already high. The atmosphere of a long holiday could be felt by everyone as all the talks around were where they would go.

Yeah, even though it was still a spring season, they had the luxury of enjoying a full holiday from the last week of April to the first week of May. That was what Japanese people celebrated as the Golden Week.

However, that kind of atmosphere wouldn't be found in the sports team. Instead of thinking about the holiday, all they had in mind was to use that week to train their asses off, knowing their rival would also do the same. And unfortunately, the volleyball team was included in that list.

"So, we are at this time again, huh?" Kaede stretched his body, yawned big as he waited for the coach to arrive.

"At what time?" Riku asked curiously.

"A golden week time," Okamura answered. "This is the two time when Akira-sensei would go all out to either kill us or make us stronger, so be ready."

Yuki and Riku stared at each other, couldn't help but gulp. "So, when is the second time he does that?" The blonde boy asked.

"It is the summer holiday." The atmosphere suddenly turned gloomy as all the faces of the senior members showed depression, frightening their kouhai more. "If you think the training up to now is hellish, you are in a rude awakening. Akira-sensei would make you stronger in the golden week, just to kill you one more time during the summer.

And if you were able to survive all of the stages, that was when he would recognize you as a true volleyball player."

Yuki and Riku swallowed their saliva nervously after hearing Okamura's story. It didn't help that the libero was a good storyteller, had a way to tell a story with such a dramatic tone, enhancing the legend of it. Yuki asked Riku silently whether it was a true story since the blonde boy was the coach's nephew, just for his friend to shake his head frantically.

Fortunately, before their mind could go too far, Megumi appeared to save the day.

*BONK!*

"Ouch!" Okamura winced as he felt a book hit his head. "What's wrong, Megumi-senpai?" He asked, smiling innocently at the girl.

Megumi just snorted unladylike before saying, "Don't scare your kouhai like that, okay?" Then, she turned to reassure the two freshmen with her best innocent smile. "Don't worry, the training is not that bad. You will enjoy it."

Somehow, it only scared Yuki and Riku more.

"Okay, everyone!" Akira arrived at the gymnasium, taking out a small laptop from his bag. "Before we start our meeting, let's witness together how difficult our journey in this tournament would be!"

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