The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Oh! A monster block by Lucas!"

"As expected of the best player in this tournament! His speed is unmatchable!"

"Come on, Konan High!"

Yuki's expression turned solemn as he stared at Lucas who celebrated with his teammates. Somehow, he suddenly remembered what Maria said a few days ago about a Brazilian player in this sport.

'They grew up playing volleyball everywhere. It doesn't matter whether it was just four, five, or six players available, but they could always create a game out of nothing. That is why they always come as a good all-around player with insane reactions. They used to play with only a few people, so they had to be good at everything to not let the ball fall on the ground.'

Even though at first, Yuki thought it was a bit exaggerated, now he was sure Maria was serious. He saw it himself, how Lucas who was on the back left before suddenly appeared in the middle top in less than five seconds, showing his insanely good game-reading ability and reaction speed.

If this wasn't his game, Yuki would stand up and give him applause for this amazing play. Unfortunately, he was the victim of the Brazilian boy's amazing ability, so he couldn't help but curse inwardly.

'Man, this is ridiculous. Is there anything we can do to stop him?'

It wasn't just Lucas that made him frustrated, but all the Konan players on the other side of the court. If against Kyoei, he could just focus on one or two players while the others didn't have the strong ability to attack him, this time, all of the opponent's players were good at attacking, making it hard for him to keep his eyes on them all.

Little did he know that all of his teammates also think the same.

When Yuki was still entangled with his thoughts, Akira finally had enough. He stood up from his spot and asked for a timeout from the referee before signaling all the players to gather around him.

"Okay, the first change of the game, Asa, you are in. Jimmy, you take a rest first." Akira said, not beating around the bush.

All the players there were stunned for a second. However, after that, they nodded simultaneously, with Ogawa who was replaced also accepting the decision. This was a no-brainer. Since the beginning of the game, Ogawa didn't do his job really well. As a spiker, his intensity wasn't enough to make Akihiro sweat, and as a blocker, he couldn't even slow down the opponent's attack even for once.

As for Asahi, while he wasn't a strong attacker, he was still a better blocker. By making this replacement, it was clear that Akira wanted to strengthen the front line and score from his blockers.

"Also, Oka, while it is still two more rotations before you come in, I want you to observe and try to figure out their attacking pattern. You have a good head and a different point of view compared to us, so maybe you will find something here." Akira said to the libero.

"Yes, Sir!"

"Now, I know all of you think the same, probably something like 'how could we stop them?' or something like that. Is that right?" He asked. All the players nodded in unison, as indeed, that was what was inside their minds right now. However, what Akira said next stunned them to the core. "Have you ever thought about communicating with each other and sharing your ideas with your teammates?

I mean, come on, guys! You were not the same team two months ago! You have already learned the importance of communication from your predecessor, so no need to follow their path!"

All of the players there looked at each other wryly. Yeah, they somehow fell into the same pit that killed their senpai a month ago without they themselves noticing about it. Even though it wasn't as excessive as in the past, they were close to it, trying to think of how to solve all the problems by themselves. They forgot that this was a team game and they couldn't do it alone.

Seeing the realization on his players' faces, Akira nodded in satisfaction. "Okay, it is good that you realized the problem before it goes too far. As for the next turn, let's do this."

-0-

A minute later, the referee blew the whistle once again, signaling all the players to come back to the court. Asahi still stood on the sideline while there was a plain board with his jersey number in his hand. After getting the nod from the referee, he finally came inside, following his teammates who were already there.

"Asa-senpai, don't try to follow Luca's movement. About him, just listen to my command later. I will be responsible for him." Yuki told his senpai immediately.

"Okay." Asahi gave a thumb-up. "Anyway, you don't need to call me with an honorific, you know? If Sekine-sensei heard you do that, he would scold you."

Yuki couldn't help but sigh helplessly. Of course, he knew Sekine would scold him if he got caught. However, he couldn't help it.

"Okay, no need to bother him with that." Hirano patted Yuki's shoulder. "He has never called us with honorific in the middle of the game. That is what is important, right?"

"Yeah…"

After exchanging words for a moment, they went back to their original position. Yuki turned his eyes onto Lucas immediately, staring at the Brazilian boy intently. Fortunately, after communicating with the others during the timeout, Akira made the most sensible arrangement by putting Kaede to follow Akihiro so that he could put all of his focus on Lucas.

'Come on… Come here… I dare you, come here…'

It seemed Lucas also noticed Yuki's challenging gaze as he suddenly smirked before tossing the ball in the air. Then, within a second, the ball had already traveled in the air with the speed that no normal person would be able to catch it.

However, before Yuki could move, he could hear the referee blow the whistle again, and with his quick reaction, he dodged the ball and turned his eyes to the referee. It seemed all the players also had the same question here, as everyone stared at the referee immediately.

"His left foot touched the line first before he jumped, therefore, it is a fault. Tsunemori will be granted one point for this fault." The referee explained patiently.

Everyone was stunned for a moment before Riku clenched his fist to celebrate the point. "Yosh! Come on!"

The sentiment was shared by the other players immediately as all of them were also excited. Even though it was a free point, they wouldn't deny it if the opponent gave it to them. In fact, the more they got free points the better. Moreover, this also cut off Konan's momentum, which made all the Tsunemori players happy.

"Aaargh! Sorry, everyone!"Lucas cried comically. "I didn't meet your expectations and made this stupid mistake!"

Yuki couldn't help but have a sweat drop on his face when he saw that. And although most of his teammates couldn't understand what Lucas said, they all still had a guess about it and had the same reaction as Yuki. They had never thought Lucas would be so expressive like this.

"Don't worry, Lucas."Matsumoto patted the boy's shoulder. "It is just a point. We could get it back later."

"Yes, Lucas-senpai! Don't worry about it!"The others also nodded in agreement.

After calming down the boy, they all went back to their position quickly. It wouldn't be good if the referee caught them wasting time and punished them for it.

Meanwhile, on Tsunemori's side, Koji stepped up to the service line with his hand trembling slightly. Although this wasn't a do-or-die moment, he couldn't help but feel nervous there. Even though he had never said I, everyone knew Koji was probably the one who always overthought the situation in front of him.

Just like this time, before he served the ball, all the bad scenarios suddenly flashed inside his mind.

'What if I cannot score the ball? What if this is going to be the last time our team serves the all in this game? What if… What if…'

With that thought in mind, he tossed the ball shakily before hitting it in the air. However, due to nervousness, he failed to hit the ball perfectly as it slipped through his hand.

'SHIT!'

However, little did he know that this little mistake would be a masterpiece a few seconds later.

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