The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Finally!"

"Good job, Riku!"

"Damn, you are awesome!"

"No, no, no! This is all because of Yuki's awesome cover in the back!" Riku grinned as he was surrounded by his teammates. "Good save, Yuki!" He didn't forget to share the credit with his friends.

For a moment, the atmosphere was lively on their side as everyone had a big grin on their face. It was as if they just won a set or two when in reality, it was just their first point of the game. All the Konan players had sweat dropped on their faces, thinking Tsunemori's celebration was a bit exaggerated.

"Why are they so happy?" Akihiro mumbled lowly. "It is clear that they only won the point by bullying Sawada-kun. If it is against me, there is no way the blonde boy would be able to kill the ball."

"Be more considerate to Sawada-kun, will you?" Matsumoto rolled his eyes. Then, he turned into his other kouhai who was still dazed. "Don't worry, Sawada-kun. We know a contest of strength like that is not your best point. No one will blame you for it, so don't be too harsh on yourself."

"Ah… I don't think about it anymore, Senpai." Sawada shook his head quickly. "No, I am just surprised they weren't fooled by Lucas-senpai's movement before."

"Oh, yeah!"Being mentioned like that, Lucas also spoke his thoughts. "He suddenly moved to the back and ignored me completely as if he knew you weren't going to pass the ball to me. Have they been able to see the pattern in your attack, Sawada-kun?"

"It shouldn't be," Sawada replied quickly. Then, he pondered for a while before adding weakly, "Well, I guess."

Honestly, Sawada had never thought that someone would be able to figure out his pattern. Or, to be more exact, he tried his best to make a change here and there so it wouldn't create a fixed pattern that could be recognized by the opponent. And up to this point, it worked perfectly well.

Since he was just a freshman, no one knew about him and his playing style, so he was basically unstoppable before they played this game. Little did he know that Yuki was able to crack his pattern even before the first set was over.

"Well, don't think too much about it." The defensive specialist of the team, Shimada, patted Sawada's back. "I think, it is just a coincidence. Look at how happy they are." He pointed at the Tsunemori players on the other side.

"Yeah…" Everyone nodded in agreement.

The excitement shown by their opponent made them think the last play was just a coincidence. Little did they know that it wasn't just because of the point that made the Tsunemori players excited. No, beyond that, they shared the excitement because the next one in line would be Yuki.

Yeah, even though he was in the second turn, everyone in Tsunemori recognized that Yuki's serve was far more troublesome than Riku's. If against the blonde boy, they only had to watch the ball carefully since there wouldn't be many tricks on it, facing Yuki, they had to think of anything since he had so many tricks in his arsenal.

Now, they couldn't wait to see whether it would be effective or not against the best team in the country.

'Well, if I send a floater or a spin serve, even though it could catch them off guard, I bet they would be able to handle it easily.' Yuki mused. 'Then, how about messing up their mind a little?'

The moment the referee blew the whistle, Yuki had already tossed the ball in the air. He wanted to catch the opponent off guard by serving the ball as soon as possible and not giving them time to react. However, it seemed Konan's players weren't swayed by this trick as they had this focused look in their eyes.

'Well, how about the second trick?'

*Thud!*

It was just a normal serve. However, Yuki aimed it straight at the crowd, to the route that Sawada had to take to get into his usual position. Yuki was confident with this trick since the more quickly the opponent could react, the more likely their peripheral vision would catch their teammate's movement and create an awkward situation on the other side of the net.

And true to Yuki's thought, even though Shimada didn't see Sawada's movement, his reaction kicked in, as his brain thought Sawada would get the ball. As a result, the ball slipped mockingly through his defense and bounced gently behind him.

*Thud!*

"YOSSHAAAAAA!" Yuki roared, punching the air when he saw his serve was able to do the trick. His teammates didn't need to be told to as all of them rushed directly into his direction.

"Damn! I've never thought it would be successful!"

"Good job, Yuki! You did a fucking good job!"

Meanwhile, all the Konan players gathered around Shimada in confusion. Shimada was the best defensive player on the team and everyone never doubted his capability. So, to see him froze against such a weak serve was something they had never thought before.

"You okay, Shimada?" Matsumoto asked.

"Yeah." Shimada nodded. Yet, there was still confusion on his face. "I don't know what happened, but something suddenly felt wrong when the ball crossed the net."

"Hmm…" All the Konan players pondered at the same time, trying to think about it. However, when the referee blew the whistle and asked them to get ready, they gave up thinking about it and decided to observe the serve once again. "Be careful, Shimada. If you notice something, tell us directly." Lucas said.

"Sure." Shimada nodded.

Seeing the confusion on the opponent's face, Yuki knew his serve was able to get through their head. However, if it was just one time, they would think it was just a coincidence. So, Yuki had to do the same to make them think he had the ability to score with the same technique. This would force them to be on guard all the time, which would make it easier for Tsunemori to score later.

So, without hesitation, he served another ball straight to the Sawada's route. This time, Shimada was able to react, yet was too slow as the ball just bruised his hand and bounced to the back of the court.

*Thud!*

"YEAAAAH!"

And when he managed to score twice in a row and convinced the opponent that his bizarre serve was lethal, that was when Yuki started to switch to his best weapon, a floater serve.

"SHI – !"

*Thud!*

"OH! THREE TIMES IN A ROW! TSUNEMORI SCORES THREE TIMES IN A ROW FROM THE SERVICE LINE AGAINST KONAN HIGH!"