The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Just as Yuki predicted before, the game became a complete nightmare for Tsunemori High, and it was all because of one presence, Lucas Silva Morais. At first, all the Tsunemori players thought their coach overestimated the Brazilian boy. However, it was clear by now that it was them who still underestimated the opponent's ace.

Lucas's ability to score was at a level they couldn't comprehend anymore. It didn't matter who they threw to stop him, whether it was Hirano, Koji, Ogawa, or even Yuki, but Lucas would always find a way. If Hirano was able to follow his speed, he would dink the ball. If there were two blockers in front of him, he would go for a block out.

If it was against another player, he would just smash it with all of his power.

His creativity really knew no bounds.

However, it wasn't just Lucas who gave Tsunemori a headache, but almost all the players there. By now, not a single player from their side managed to get through Akihiro's wall. Matsumoto also sometimes contributed one point or two from the back attack while pressuring them from the service line.

And Sawada… Although he hadn't shown anything special yet, his setup was always accurate and easy for his teammates to hit.

This was the time when Tsunemori players realized why their opponent deserved to be the number one team in the country.

"Should we take a timeout?" Megumi asked while her eyes were on the scoreboard. "8 – 0 is not a score that is easy for us to chase, especially against a team that the level is way above us. If we cannot score as soon as possible, it will affect the overall mood of the players."

Her concern was valid. However, instead of Akira, it was Sekine who replied to her question. "Don't worry about it, Megumi-chan. They would be alright."

"Eh?" Megumi tilted her head in confusion. She didn't know how Akira and Sekine could still be calm in this situation.

"Although yes, the momentum is on the opponent's side, we finally started to get used to their rhythm. Just look at Rano and Jimmy over there." Sekine pointed at the middle blocker and the outside hitter who whispered at each other on the left side. "Even though they still couldn't stop that Brazilian boy completely, they were so close to shutting him down.

When they managed to do that, our spirit would be improved immediately. But before that, taking a timeout would mean we have to start over from null again, and the 8 points we sacrificed at the beginning of the game would be a waste."

"So, instead of us, it should be them who need to take a timeout?" Megumi summarized Sekine's explanation.

"Exactly." The old man nodded. "However, they are the best team in Japan, and we are just a no-name team. They have their arrogance here and would never call a timeout no matter what happened. So, sooner or later, we would be able to snatch the momentum away from them."

Meanwhile, back at the court, Ogawa and Hirano who were bullied all the time by Lucas whispered to each other. "So, what do you think? Any habit you notice from his attack?" Ogawa asked.

"Not really," Hirano answered. "But we need to cooperate with the players on the back. If we cannot stop the attack, at least we can force him to spike it to our teammates."

Ogawa nodded in agreement. "You are right. Should we tell Kai?"

"No, he cannot do it." Then, without even waiting for Ogawa to say anything, Hirano waved his hand at Yuki. The glasses boy was surprised and confused when his senpai called him, yet he still came in their direction. "Yuki, can you stay behind and cover our back?" He asked directly.

Yuki was confused for a second, then realized why his senpai asked him to do that. Since Akira asked Kaede to take over the defense on the back, Yuki would usually go to the frontline to help Hirano form a wall. Their connection was strong enough so that they didn't even need to communicate with each other before moving in unison, and it was usually enough to stop the opponent.

However, today was different. There were too many Konan players who they needed to be on guard. That was why it was hard for Yuki and Hirano to coordinate with each other when all the Konan's attackers moved in unison to scatter the wall. But it would be different if he was on the back. At least, Yuki's perspective would be wider and it would be easier for him to save the ball.

"Okay, I will do it." Yuki nodded firmly.

A moment later, the referee blew the whistle again to start the game. It was still Matsumoto who served the ball, still the same since the beginning of the game. This time, Konan's captain aimed the ball straight to Kaede, which even though the defensive specialist could stop it, he couldn't receive the ball perfectly as it flew back to Konan's area.

*BAM!*

"Oh! Nice serve, Matsumoto!"

"Free ball!"

Both Hirano and Ogawa stared intently at Lucas, thinking that the ball would come in his direction. They weren't wrong for thinking like that. Usually, a setter would follow the old rule; if a player is on fire, keep feeding him. Don't change something that worked perfectly.

However, Yuki thought differently. Even though it was still in the early first set, Yuki had already known that Sawada didn't like to use the same play over and over again. In fact, he recognized a pattern which he wanted to confirm. Sawada would send the ball twice to Lucas, then once to the other players, and twice again to Lucas, and it would be repeated for the rest of the game.

Since the last two attacks came from Lucas, Yuki guessed this time, it would be a different player who received the ball.

And it was a perfect guess, as Sawada sent the ball to the middle. Hirano and Ogawa were caught off guard, couldn't react quickly enough. Seeing the ball come in his direction, Akihiro grinned and swung his arms immediately, using his long arm span to hit the ball at its highest to prevent any opponent players from blocking it.

However, before he could even spike the ball, Yuki had already seen his intention and moved.

*BAM!*

"Oh! Nice save, Yuki!"

"No, it is not over! Riku! Cover it up!"

"I got this!"

Seeing the ball fly close to the net, Riku glanced at the other side of the net. There was a high probability that he had to duel with the opponent's player in front of him for this overhead ball, so he wanted to make sure he knew who he had to face before jumping. Then, a grin cracked on his face as the blonde boy saw Sawada also rushed over to get the ball first.

He knew this was the moment he had been waiting for.

'Come on, Sawada! Let's have a head-on duel here!'

They both jumped at the same time, and coincidentally, their hand also reached the ball in unison. For a moment, time seemed to freeze as they both tried to push the ball over their opponent's side. However, after a while, Riku finally gained his advantage, as Sawada's tiny body couldn't stand a chance against the blonde boy.

'Ha! I got this!'

With a gentle push, Riku changed the direction of the ball straight to the floor. Two of Konan's players rushed to cover the ball. Unfortunately, they were too late, as it fell and bounced on the floor first before anyone could save it.

*Thud!*

There was a silence for a moment in the court as all eyes turned to the ball. All the Tsunemori players looked in disbelief, thinking that they were dreaming. For more than five minutes they were bullied and couldn't put up a fight, finally, this time, they successfully gained their first point of the game.

Konan High 8

Tsunemori High 1