The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Since last year, our school has been suffering from financial problems, either due to the budget from the government getting cut off more than half of what we usually received or due to the bad management from the higher-ups," Akira explained the background of the agreement he had with the school. "That was what started the purge that has been happening this year."

"The purge?" Everyone looked at each other confusedly.

"Should we really talk about this right now?" Megumi suddenly asked, a bit uneasy. "I mean this is basically talking bad about our school, right? Should we do it… I don't know, more secretly, I guess?"

It wasn't like she was not curious about the situation, but the girl was worried that someone would overhear the conversation and spread another bad rumor about them. One bad rumor three weeks ago was enough for her, she didn't want to repeat that episode once again.

"Don't worry, Megumi-san." Akira waved his hand casually. "Have you not noticed that besides the PE class, the only one who uses the gymnasium is our team?"

"Eh?!"

"Really?!"

All the players there were stunned when they heard the new information, but after pondering for a moment, they realized that it was true. The only time the gymnasium was used by anyone other than the volleyball club was on the second day of the term by the basketball team. But since then, they hadn't seen the other teams use the facility again.

"It is related to the purge that I am talking about." Akira nodded solemnly, confirming their guess. "While we are far from bankrupt, our financial situation is bad. To save the school, the headmaster gathered all the teachers before the term began to discuss what to do, and the best solution provided was to close the club they deemed just a waste of money.

Unfortunately, so many sports clubs were included in that list, and the volleyball team is one of them."

The team was stunned, didn't even know how to react to the revelation. Even the bright sun outside couldn't outshine the gloomy atmosphere there as they couldn't accept the situation.

"Why is it only the sports clubs that are threatened here?" Kaede asked, still trying to process the information.

"Because the sports club always requires a lot of members, and the maintenance cost is too high for the school to afford," Akira answered gloomily. "And it is not just the sports club. We are lucky the school is willing to be more lenient with us and not to close the team directly.

The others such as the football team, basketball team, athletic team, and even a major club for the school like orchestra team and science team were reduced to the ashes, all in the name of saving the money."

The reaction from the players varied from shocked, bewildered, disbelief, and even worry for the future of the team. Yuki himself had eye contact with Riku, both questioning how Kato was doing currently. The girl joined the science team, so she would probably be in the same situation right now.

"So, what is so special about our team that we were able to escape from the purge? I am sure, we didn't do anything special. If anything, the commotion we made a while ago should receive a negative review from the teacher, right?" Ogawa asked.

Yuki couldn't help but wince unconsciously as the incident with the senior members was mentioned again. While he didn't regret playing against the senior team to clear his name and wasn't embarrassed about it, the glasses boy had to admit that the commotion was a bad thing for the volleyball team.

It exposed the disharmony inside the team, which should be enough for the teachers to include the team in the purge instantly.

"Well, I don't know the details, but it seems that our esteemed headmaster is a former member of the team when he was your age, playing as a captain for this school about thirty-seven years ago," Akira answered nonchalantly as if he answered the question about the weather outside.

"So, he is a former player…" All of them nodded in understanding, the words hadn't sunk inside their head yet. A moment later though, they all snapped their head toward the coach, looking at the man with eyes wide in disbelief. "SAY WHAT?! THE HEADMASTER IS A FORMER PLAYER AND PLAYED FOR THIS SCHOOL TOO?!"

"Psst! Keep it down!" Akira hissed immediately. "But, yeah, he is a former captain of the team, and from what I got, he achieved good things too as a player. That is why he is adamant about defending our team even if we are a big mess. He has so many memories here, and most of them are the good ones."

The nine students there nodded comically like a bunch of parrots, still processing the information they just received. Who knew the esteemed headmaster whom everyone respected and some were scared of was also a player in the past, standing in their position too? This somehow got them excited for no reason apart from having a good backer for the team.

However, it was subdued immediately when they remembered the agreement to disband the team still existed, which meant it wasn't enough to only have their headmaster behind their back.

"So, we are still here just out of respect toward the headmaster, eh?" Okamura asked no one, his face darkened.

"Well… Basically, yes." Akira nodded, confirming the question.

The air turned heavy suddenly inside the gymnasium. While they didn't like the fact that they were still here out of pity, they couldn't help but be glad they still had a chance to prove they still deserved to exist in the school.

However, those feelings ebbed away as they remembered they had to face Konan before they went through the semifinal, a mission impossible for any team but Matsukita in the country.

"Well, this makes everything more interesting, right?" Suddenly, a voice snapped them from their depression.

All the eyes turned immediately to the source of the voice, and Yuki had a thick vein popped on his forehead when he saw his blonde friend grinning stupidly.

"What are you talking about, you idiot?!" He slapped Riku's back immediately, then turned to the others and bowed, "I am sorry Senpai. You know something always goes wrong inside his head. Please, don't take his words seriously." As the only one from the same generation, Yuki felt responsible for all Riku's antic.

That was why he slapped Riku's back without hesitation the moment the blonde boy uttered something nonsense again.

"OUCH! What the hell, Kobayashi?!" Riku rubbed the spot Yuki hit sourly. He wilted immediately the moment he received the glasses boy's glare, didn't want to provoke his friend's ire. Still, he said, "Hear me out first, will you?"

All the students here who were essentially older than those two just snickered loudly when they saw their kouhai's antic, lightened up the atmosphere. Noticing that, Yuki sighed, letting it slide while still glaring at the blonde boy. "Well, what do you want to say?"

Riku gulped before finally saying his thoughts. "Well, this is basically all or nothing, right?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Everyone tilted their head confusedly, couldn't understand his words.

"Think about it!" Riku said, getting more excited. "We have to face Konan High if we want to advance through the semifinal. If we lost, that would mean we were disbanded. But imagine if we won the game. It would be a legendary story! Everyone would remember our name!

The one who destroys Konan High's domination! The one who create the miracle! Can you imagine the glory we would receive?!"

They all pondered his words, starting to imagine that scenario. The more they thought about it, the more they liked what they saw. Meanwhile, Yuki also nodded in agreement – to his own surprise. This was basically all or nothing. They lost, and everything was over, but if they won, they would be pushed into the spotlight immediately.

He couldn't help but admire his friend once again. Despite all Riku's flaws, Yuki had to admit there was one thing the blonde boy had that he didn't possess, and that was the ability to motivate the others. Just a few minutes ago they were so depressed with the prospect of the team's disbandment, but now, the air was filled with positivity, smiles and excitement spread inside the gymnasium.

'Let's just hope that our future will be friendlier to us.'

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