The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Days passed quickly, and without anyone noticing, two weeks passed since their training camp was over. The weather also started to change, from the warm temperature full of Sakura flowers blooming all around the road, things started to get hotter, followed by the rains that started to come and go quickly, indicating that summer was about to come.

Nothing changed in Tsunemori players' daily routine, though. They still worked their asses off days and nights, preparing for the game against Tokamiyama High. Even though the opponent wasn't famous for its volleyball team, they didn't dare to lower their guard, especially when the stake of losing was too big for them to carry on.

And finally, when it was in the middle of May, the second round of the tournament finally began. All the Tsunemori players went to the Tokomiyama High in South Tokyo, using the subway for about ten minutes followed by walking for another five minutes before they arrived at the location where the game would be held.

Compared to Shimoyawata whose building looked elite, the school in front of them looked old, even older than their own school. The creaking of the rusty gates and the screeching of the wind through the broken panes made them all jump on the spot, giving them a heart attack for a second. This gave them the vibe of a haunted building, and they didn't like this at all.

"Why do we have to play here?! I thought we would be able to play in our school in the second round!" Kaede moaned lowly.

"Well, the drawing result of the tournament told us otherwise," Koji answered that rhetorical question, yet he also had the same fright when he saw the old building in front of him. "Should we go in?"

"Yes." Akira nodded. However, after pondering for a second, he added, "Wait here for a second, I will ask for anyone here to show us where would the game be."

"Quick, Jiisan! This school crept me out!" Riku exclaimed, hiding behind Yuki's body.

After waiting for a while, Akira finally was back, followed by a man slightly smaller than him with white hair that made his appearance look older too, giving the vibe of an old man in the middle of his fifty. He was the head coach of Tokomiyama High that would be their opponent today.

It didn't take a long time before they were brought to the school's gymnasium. There, they were surprised to see it wasn't as bad as they thought it would be. The painting was pretty new, and while the floor looked a bit old, at least it was clean and comfortable enough for them to play.

It seemed the haunted abandoned vibe the school gave was just due to its exterior building, yet in the end, it was still a decent, functional school.

The most surprising thing though, was the appearance of the audience in the sideline. There were not many, only five people there. However, it was still better than nothing like when they played against Shimoyawata in the first round. This time, those five audiences were ready to watch the game with a recorder in their hand.

"Megumi-senpai, who are they?" Yuki whispered, asked the manager.

"Oh, them? Don't worry, you can ignore them." Megumi waved her hand nonchalantly. However, it only made Yuki curious. Being subjected to his gaze, the girl sighed, explaining, "Those are the people sent by the team that would play against whoever won this game in the next round. Let's just say they are here to scout us."

Yuki arched one of his eyebrows slightly. "Really?"

"Yup." Megumi nodded in confirmation. "To use Akira-sensei's description, the first few rounds of the tournament are always like entering the war zone blindly. We don't know whether our opponent will be good or not, since not all the no-name teams would be weak. In every year, there would always be one team or two that emerged from nowhere as the underdog team.

That is why the intelligence battle would be the most deciding factor most of the time."

Yuki nodded in understanding, clearly seeing her point. Still, he suddenly grew concerned. "Then, should I save all of my serves for later?"

"Yes." Megumi nodded. Then, her expression turned serious as she whispered, "This is Akira-sensei's order, so listen carefully. Just use the trick you play against Shimoyawata, but don't reveal anything else if we are not in a bad condition. Your service arsenal would be a huge X factor in the later stage."

Once again, Yuki nodded his head, accepting the order silently.

Fifteen minutes later, the game finally started. However, it was clear that Tokomiyama High was not on the same level as Tsunemori. They had solid basic skills, yes, but their line of communication was chaotic. There were so many occasions where an easy ball came and should have been received perfectly, just for them to muck it up due to the clash of positioning and something like that.

It was clear that Tokomiyama hadn't played together for too long.

Knowing that they had an easy game, Tsunemori's players started to get excited. Slowly but surely, they took over control of the game, not giving the opponent any chance to fight. They won the first set with a convincing score of 25 – 6, and it was no different in the second set.

"Hirano-senpai! Stay there! Ogawa-senpai! Close the wall!"

"Got it!"

*BAM!*

"YOSSHAAA!"

"WE GOT THIS! A GAME POINT!"

"Come on! One more time!"

With only one point more to score, Koji took a deep breath, trying to contain his excitement for a while until he got the job done. When the referee blew his whistle, the outside hitter tossed the ball slightly in the air before hitting it hard to cross the net powerfully.

*BAM!*

It wasn't as powerful as Riku's jump service, but it was enough to make it difficult for the opponent. The serve itself was able to be received by the opponent, just for the ball to come back to Tsunemori's side once again.

"Chance ball!"

"Riku! Right!"

"I got this!"

*BAM!*

"YOSSSHAAAAA!"

As Ogawa spiked the ball straight to the sideline without anyone who could save the ball, the referee blew his whistle before announcing the end of the game. Tsunemori won in a very convincing way against Tokomiyama High and advanced through the third round of the tournament.

-0-

Meanwhile, on the sideline…

"So, that is Tsunemori, huh?" One of the boys who held a recorder mused. "They don't look that strong. How come Ezaki and Shimoyawata lost against them?"