The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

KY: Hey!

KY: How are you doing?

KY: I heard the science club is forced to close down. You okay?

Ayaka Kato: I am good.

Ayaka Kato: Yeah, it sucks. But my president managed to negotiate with the school.

Ayaka Kato: Instead of being disbanded directly, we have half a year to achieve something in Tokyo.

Ayaka Kato: Something that would make the school's higher-ups think we are worth investment.

Ayaka Kato: I heard the volleyball team is the same, right?

KY: Yeah. If we cannot be the top 4 teams in the prefecture, we are done.

Ayaka Kato: Wow, that is tough.

Ayaka Kato: I heard Tokyo has the top two teams in the country, right?

KY: Yeah.

Ayaka Kato: Well, good luck with that!

KY: You too.

-0-

"COME ON! RUN FASTER!"

Even though the summer hadn't come to the country yet, today's weather was surprisingly good for any outdoor activity. However, that only meant the torture the Tsunemori team received would be more intense. Under the scorching sun, they kept running and running, increasing and decreasing the tempo constantly following Akira's instructions.

They were not sure for how long did they start running today, but it felt like an eternity.

After a while, Akira finally nodded, blowing his whistle once again to ask everyone to take a rest.

"Good job!" The coach was satisfied. "All of you finished full thirty minutes of interval running just three weeks after I introduced it to you. This is beyond my expectation."

Even though the players were exhausted, their faces lightened up when they heard the praise. "Does that mean we can stop doing this again forever?" Kaede asked, his tone was full of hope.

Akira just snorted before saying, "Unfortunately, no. In fact, I will add one more set the moment you feel more comfortable, so don't get your hopes up." All of them groaned when they heard the information.

"Man, about how many km did we run today?" Kaede asked, wiping the sweat on his face.

"I don't know," Asahi answered, still lying on the floor with his chest moved up and down rapidly. "About 10 km, I guess."

"We also run so much in the game, but why do I feel more tired from this training?" Okamura groaned, he was in a similar pose as Asahi.

Even though they all finished the full training until the end, the exhaustion kept them at bay, restraining them from being overly enthusiastic. The fact that Akira said he would add more sets the moment they adapted kept them humble, knowing the torture wouldn't end as soon as they thought it would. Still, not a single complaint has been raised yet.

Everyone followed the arrangement obediently even with one or two grumbles in the air.

"You can take a break for fifteen minutes. After that, we will start our training again." Akira announced.

All the eyes lightened up, asking immediately, "Is it another game against the university team?" Since they lost against the C team of Tsukumi University, the only thing on their mind was to take revenge. For them, that C team was the parameter they looked up right now, the team they wanted to use as a stepping stone to jump higher.

The moment they beat that C team, that was when they knew they had already improved in everything.

Akira smiled, knowing his players' thoughts and desires. Still, he shook his head. "No, it wasn't a game. You will see it later." He smiled mysteriously before leaving his players curious about what would they do next.

-0-

"Alright, Folks!" Akira clapped his hands to get his players' attention.

Currently, they moved from the football field outside back to the gym, something that everyone was grateful for. The moment they entered the building though, they were greeted by the sight of Akira standing on the small circle on one side of the court. Somehow, they had a bad feeling this wouldn't be good.

"So, what we are going to do right now is called the Lone Defender drill. Each of you will have your turn to be the libero today, and for the others who are not on their turn, they will be on the opposite side of the court as the attackers. Each of you will have fifteen minutes, and you have to defend your side of the court during that time.

Don't let the ball drop to the floor, or I will count it as a miss and we will calculate the total in the end for your punishment. But if you can send the ball in my direction here," Akira mentioned the circle, "Your count will be reduced by one point. Any question? Yes, Koji?"

"Why sending it to your direction would reduce the punishment?" He asked.

"Good question." Akira nodded in a satisfied manner. Then, he turned his head to the others. "Anyone know the answer? Yes, Kobayashi-kun?" He pointed at Yuki who raised his hand immediately.

"Because that spot is where Agostini would be on the game as a setter, right?"

"Correct. Good observation skill." Akira praised him.

At first, no one was bothered by that. Hell, even Riku didn't notice the arrangement, thinking it was just another one of his uncle's strange training methods. However, the more they thought about it, the more it made sense. That small circle was the spot where Riku would operate, so to be able to send the ball there would mean the setter could initiate an attack quickly.

"So, do you all understand?"

"Yes, Coach!"

"Good! Then, let's start the training!"

-0-

Since the training is designed for a libero, it was not a brainer that Okamura offered himself to do it first. He did a good job, showing off why he was the best defender on the team.

While he missed the ball a few times, he made it up by sending it back to Akira's circle spot, and while he also read the setup wrong a few times, the libero kept the ball in the air most of the time, and that was what made Akira satisfied the most.

Asahi also did a very good job. It was slightly worse than Okamura, naturally. But he wasn't the best defender in the first place. His reaction wasn't fast, but he made it up with his receiving ability which he had a knock on it, aiming almost all the ball he saved to Akira's circle spot.

In the end, even though he dropped the ball more than the libero, due to his accurate aim, Asahi managed to keep the count lower than his friend.

Kaede was also the same. As the defensive-oriented player, he did his job well, saving the ball left and right. Unlike the first two players who read the play first before they moved, the opposite hitter used his instinct completely, starting to move even before he knew who would be the one to hit the ball.

It left everyone in awe as all of them couldn't understand how could someone's instinct be so accurate.

The next three players didn't do as well as their friends, though. Koji, Ogawa, and Hirano struggled to keep the ball up in the air. The first two were attacking-minded players, so it was difficult to read the game. As for Hirano, he was the complete opposite of them.

He used his experience as the middle blocker to read everything well, but his ability as a receiver was abysmal, making his count the highest one currently.

The biggest surprise came from Riku. While everyone knew he had a solid basic, they all thought since the blonde boy was a setter, he wouldn't be that good. Who would expect that Riku was so good his count was close to the first three players?

And when it was Yuki's turn…

*BAM!*

"Come again!"

*BAM!*

"Next one!"

*BAM!*

"Come on!"

Everyone was in awe as they witnessed how Yuki moved flawlessly, kept flying all around the court to save the ball. It took almost ten minutes for them all to finally force the glasses boy to let the ball to drop the floor. He really showed his talent to all the players there, making them curse inwardly at how unfair God was when giving a person such a talent like that.

Still, even though there was jealousy, the most dominant feelings they had toward Yuki were admiration and excitement as they were glad he was their teammate.

Akira himself shook his head in wonder at the sight of Yuki saving the ball. Just like what he expected the first time he saw Yuki, Akira knew the glasses boy would be the most talented player he had ever coached up to now. Still, he was satisfied with the overall result, not just him alone.

'As expected, they are more suitable as a defensive team. All of them could work flawlessly to defend against any kind of attack, and with more polishing, those three would be able to improve too to my standard. But this is not enough… We need to have more weapons if we want to win against Konan…'

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