The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Miura furrowed his brows deeply, not liking how the game developed to this point. At first, he thought that it would take a while for Ezaki to receive a pass. However, Ueno did something beyond his expectations, keep feeding Ezaki passes to attack the opponent. It was what the other players did that made him unhappy.

The moment Ueno passed the ball, it seemed they had the same thought to boycott everything by letting them fight alone. No help to distract the opponent, no bait to spread the opponent's blocker, no initiative to do the cover for if something went wrong, it was like watching a 2 vs 6 game, and it would be a lie if he said he wasn't frustrated.

Oh, don't get him wrong, Miura knew the animosity directed at Ezaki, and he saw it as a reasonable response to Ezaki's stupidity last year. However, Miura didn't know it would last this long and even the players from the other generation also shared the same sentiment.

Hell, if Hideo, the calmest out of everyone and also the captain of the team did the same, Miura should have known that the hatred toward Ezaki went beyond his simple mind.

Still, Miura knew Ezaki was needed. If it wasn't for this game, he would definitely be needed for the game against Konan or Matsukita.

In his mind, he wanted to integrate Ezaki into the team slowly, using the weak opponents in the early stage to let Ezaki regain the trust of his teammates. Who would have thought that the first game, the first round of the tournament would be this troublesome?

"Hideo!" Miura finally moved from his spot and called his captain. "Tell everyone that if they don't want to win the game, I will be happy to replace them on the spot right now." Hideo widened his eyes before nodding frantically, relaying his words to the others.

It was not without a reason why Miura called his captain and not anyone else. Out of all the players he currently had, Hideo was the most motivated one to win everything this year, thinking that he owed his senpai a trophy for the failure last year. Miura knew Hideo would do anything just to ensure the win, even if he had to be the best buddy with Ezaki.

And if the captain was willing to do that, everyone would follow him no matter whether they liked it or not.

And it was proven to be the right decision in the next play.

"UENO! LEFT!"

"RIGHT!"

The moment the ball crossed over Shimoyawata's side after Kaede's serve, both Hideo and Senki as the wing spikers started to run even before Ezaki could do that. Their movement caught all of Tsunemori's players off guard.

This was the first time they witnessed the opposite team do a synchronization attack, and it was shown by how erratic their run-up was that they had second to no experience doing this.

*BAM!*

In the end, the ball flew to Senki who was on the right. However, it was clear that the sophomore hitter was not used to spiking the ball from that spot as he couldn't aim it away from the block. His attack was easily stopped by Koji who jumped at the same time as him.

"SHIT!"

"I GOT THIS!"

Senki widened his eyes when he saw Ezaki covering his spike that was blocked by the opponent. His feeling was complicated right now. On one hand, he was glad that Ezaki was here since the boy with the jersey number 11 was always reliable.

On the other hand, he didn't want to forgive Ezaki that easily, thinking that if he did that, it would be disrespectful toward the 8 former senpai of his whose dreams were buried by Ezaki's stupidity last year.

In the end, Senki scowled, not even saying a thank you before stepping back a few to do his run-up again.

"UENO! SECOND BALL!" He raised his hand, asking for the ball again.

While Senki knew it was impossible for the ball to come at him again, he still had to ask to attract Koji's attention. What he didn't expect though, was for Ueno to pass the ball in his direction.

"Eh?"

Senki was confused. He had been playing together with Ueno for about a year, and he knew the setter had a habit of not using the same hitter who failed to score twice in the same sequence. Still, it was a welcomed surprise as he jumped, ready to spike the ball again.

However, a second later, the scene that would be repeated in his nightmare happened. As Senki jumped, two Tsunemori players read his move perfectly and jumped at the exact same moment, their arms outstretched like giant claws, ready to crush his spike.

Senki's eyes widened as he realized he was staring down the barrel of a block, the pressure radiating from those two blockers like a palpable force. His usually steady hands began to tremble, and his eyes darted wildly around the court, searching for a way out of this precarious situation.

'SHI-!'

*BAM!*

Senki who was helpless already and had accepted his fate was shocked, not expecting someone to kill the ball first. When he turned around, he saw Ezaki landed at the same time as him, the frozen hatred inside his heart melted immediately.

While yes, he still had a grudge for Ezaki, at least Senki noticed the boy's effort to make it up. Since he entered the court in the second set, Ezaki had been the player on their set who ran the most, which could only be compared to Yuki on the other side of the net.

Still, it was not the best time to think about it. The play wasn't over as Ezaki hit the spike deliberately to the blocker to get a second chance to attack. And now, all the Shimoyawata players had to move together to break Tsunemori's defense.

"UENO! HERE!"

Those shouts echoed all over the court as five players with white jerseys were moving in synch. This time, no matter how Tsunemori prepared for the attack, they couldn't stop it all as Hideo killed the play with a powerful straight spike near the sideline.

*BAM!*

"YOSSHAAAAAA!"

-0-

On the sideline, Miura nodded in approval as he watched his players celebrate with each other, Ezaki included. This was the interaction he wanted to see in his team. They didn't have to be the best buddies and forgive each other for their past mistakes, but they had to be united to face the opponent in front of them. And it was clear that his players passed the test.

'With this, everything would be easier next.'