The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

The huddle might look like it took a long time, but in reality, only one minute passed since Nakamura scored the last point. The referee didn't even have to reprimand them for delaying the game as they went back to their original position already. However, there was a drastic change in their formation.

"Oi, oi, he is their setter, right?"

"Yes! Damn, it seems they are desperate here. They don't even have a good defensive player on the court!"

"Hey, don't underestimate them! Maybe, they would surprise us after this."

Yeah, the new formation set after the huddle a moment ago was enough to make everyone talk about it. Riku who was on the middle front for the rotation now moved back and was responsible for the middle and right area on the back row, while Yuki who was on the top left also moved back to guard the middle and left area there.

They both pushed all the players who should be on the back now. Shou stood awkwardly behind Riku, while Kojima and Uehara were on the sideline of both wings to get ready to counterattack whenever their two rookies managed to turn the table. This left Tondo in the front position, guarding the front row if only Nakamura chose to serve short.

This extreme formation was enough to make Kawaki frown. To put their trust in two rookies, it seemed his players were ready for scolding. However, he decided to not make a move, wanting to see what his players came up with.

Of course, the most excited person to see this was Kato who sat on the stand. Even if she didn't show it verbally, her eyes beamed in delight when she saw both her friends standing side by side to support each other. Her brain suddenly brought her back to the memory of the past, of how those two first met each other.

"Please! Come with us!" Riku pleaded a little. "Just this time! We will have a sparring game, and after I play against you, I will not bother you anymore!"

'Who knows that the boy who was reluctant to play volleyball at that time would be able to stand tall, next to the boy who dragged him into this mess. Fate sure always finds a way to make fun of us.' She stiffened a giggle.

The excitement was shared by Yuki and Riku on the court. Even though they'd been with Tokyo Thunder for a while, this was the first time they both had stood by each other's side, as they do now. Even though they tried their best to show a poker face, of course, they wouldn't be able to hide their enthusiasm completely.

"Oi, Yuki, don't mess this up, okay?" Riku shouted.

"As if," Yuki scoffed. "I should be the one who said that, you know?"

"Ha! I like your spirit!" The blonde boy grinned exhilaratingly. "Well, let's do it just like the usual, okay?"

When the referee finally blew the whistle, those two had their eyes closely on Nakamura. It was a no-brainer for the boy to aim his serve to Riku. Not only because he didn't know how capable Riku was on the back, but also because the blonde boy was the setter. It was the most basic lesson for a volleyball player to aim the serve at the setter to put him out of the equation as soon as possible.

However, Riku proved that he wasn't just talking big. When the ball went straight in his direction, he didn't even need to adjust his stance and pick up the ball easily.

"Damn! The setter has a delicate hand!"

"But it is not over! Now, they don't have a setter! We can – eh?"

As one of the Phoenix's players was still doing his monologue, Riku recovered from his position immediately and charged forward blindly without hesitation. As he took off from the ground though, he grinned widely as he saw the ball was already in front of him.

'Ha! As expected of you, Yuki!'

Taking advantage of the confusion on the court, those two launched a quick attack that no one could predict. This was their usual attacking pattern when the opponent felt complacent for successfully taking the setter out of complacency. And just like how it went in the past, this time was no different.

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Riku swung his arm without hesitation. With no blocker in front of him, it was easy for the blonde boy to aim far to the corner spot, which was too tricky for the player guarding there to receive.

"HELL YEAH!" Riku clenched his fist tightly as he celebrated the point. His face flushed red in excitement as he turned around, looking at the same excited Yuki before they both bumped their chest into each other. "We did it, Bastard! We really did it!"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Yeah!" Yuki replied with a huge grin on his face.

Just right after that, most of the Thunder players jumped straight onto them, joining the celebration.

"Damn, Agostini! What the hell was that?!" Shou shook his head in astonishment.

"Yeah! You have never told us you can attack like that! Look! Even Kawaki-sensei's jaw dropped!" Kojima pointed his finger at the coach on the bench, and everyone stiffened their laughter when they saw the old man was dazed.

"Forget about that! Yuki, how come you never show any of us that you can do that?!" Uehara turned his attention to the glasses boy. Yuki's face flushed red as he was suddenly at the center of attention.

"Eh, I said it before, right?! We have been practicing with each other for a long time, of course, something like that would be easy for someone who learned from me!" Riku chimed in with a smug smile.

"Oi, don't let your head get bigger, Agostini!"

"Yeah! Don't get conceited!"

"Hey, don't use a big word here! Someone's head would smoke!"

The laughter around the Thunder's players was a nice change after the depressing opening they had today. Even though they were still down by 3 points – the current score was 4 – 1 for the Phoenix – the fact that they finally managed to cut off the loss before they bled too much that would be enough to kill them was worth celebrating for. It didn't help the case when the next player standing on the service line was Yuki. Seeing their kouhai walk confidently with the ball in his hand, everyone had the same thought.

'Come on! It is a game on now!'