The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Damn, he is awesome!" Akihiro grinned. Instead of getting infuriated or frustrated by Yuki's comeback line, all he felt was excitement for a strong opponent in front of him. "I wish I would have a chance to say something cool like that in the future."

"You wish, Brat." Matsumoto snorted. "It takes talent to be awesome like that."

Yeah, no one was angry about Yuki's provocation. They all knew it was justified, and more importantly, they guessed this made everything more interesting. It had been a long time since they played against a team that wouldn't just crumble in the second set after knowing the sheer difference between the two teams.

However, there was one person who didn't share the same excitement. No, his eyes were dead serious as he stared at Yuki with a mixture of awe and competitiveness.

'Even though you both are not from Matsukita, you still show that you can hold your ground against us. You both are amazing, Riku-san, Yuki-san.'

Yeah, it was Sawada who kept staring at both Tsunemori's freshmen as if they owed him money or something like that. Sawada could still remember their first meeting in Riku's house and their bold declaration to ask him to go all out when they met each other. It took gut for someone to say that after knowing he was a Konan player.

When Sawada knew that both Yuki and Riku were from a no-name school like Tsunemori, he couldn't help but feel disappointed, thinking that they were the usual bigmouth who didn't know the sky at all. However, it seemed they had the capital to ask him to do the best here.

'Still, I won't lose to you both!' He clenched his fist, his eyes full of determination.

A moment later, the game restarted again with the ball in Koji's hand. Just like in the first set, the second-year hitter didn't have the big heart to risk it all with a jump serve and resorted to his ordinary one. Matsumoto picked it up easily, sending the ball to Sawada.

"Nobu, left!"Lucas shouted from the wing.

Normally, it would be logical to pass the ball to the Brazilian boy, since even if he were under Hirano and Ogawa's eyes, the ace wouldn't have a problem dealing with them. However, this time, Sawada thought differently. He wanted to answer the challenge from Yuki's play before, so he decided to do something that was so not him.

Just when all the attention was on Lucas, Sawada executed a deceptive flick of his wrist, sending the ball sailing in a soft arc to the unguarded Matsumoto, who had quietly drifted into position on the opposite side of the court after receiving the serve before.

With the opponents momentarily paralyzed by confusion, the captain leaped into action, delivering a powerful spike that left both the defenders and their fans in stunned silence.

"Damn, Nobu! What the hell is that?!" Matsumoto broke the silence, his eyes widened in surprise. "You fooled everyone for good in the last play! If I don't see your little eye contact, I bet I wouldn't be able to react to your pass too!" Even though his voice rose, there was no heat in the captain's tone. It was all awe and excitement there.

"Yeah, Nobu! What the hell is that?!" The others followed.

"You used me as a bait?!"Lucas also chimed in.

Honestly, the reason why they were so surprised wasn't that Sawada could pull something so bold like fooling the entire court like that, but more because he was willing to do that. For all the talents he had, Sawada was always strict to the rule. He would always follow Konan's playbook sign and never crossed that line.

So, when they all saw Sawada send a signal for Lucas to attack just for him to give the final pass to Matsumoto, it was a big surprise to his teammates.

Sawada himself had his face reddened, embarrassment. Still, he glanced at Yuki and Riku on the other side of the court with the eyes that he perceived as a provocation look, wanting to convey the message that they weren't the only great freshmen in the court here. Matsumoto noticed this and nodded in approval. It seemed his kouhai was stimulated by the two freshmen from Tsunemori High.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the net, Yuki could only smile wryly when he saw the opponent celebrate the point. "Damn, he even fooled his own teammates." He mumbled lowly.

Riku who was closest to him overheard it and nodded in agreement. He also saw how all the Konan players were surprised by Sawada's choice as if it wasn't something that the Konan's setter had never used before.

"Well, to fool your opponent, you have to fool your teammates first. It seems he understands this quote better than anyone else here." Riku said sagely.

"I would be impressed if only he didn't do it against us." Yuki chuckled bitterly. "Still, no need to cry over the spilled milk. Let's focus on the next play, okay?"

"Sure!"

The possession moved back to Konan High again, with the privilege to serve in Arizawa's hand. All the Tsunemori players tensed for a second when they saw the seemingly ordinary boy walk to the service line.

While his floater serve wasn't as good as Yuki's and they all could handle it, his last turn in the service line resulted in the score gap between the two teams widened up to 12 points and it left a psychological shadow inside their heart.

"Okay, don't worry, everyone! Focus!" Kai shouted, taking over the command.

"Yeah, focus! His serve is nothing!" Riku added, trying to encourage the others.

Arizawa arched his eyebrows a little at the blatant disrespect, but couldn't say anything since he knew he couldn't score directly from his floater. Still, he could make things difficult by aiming the ball straight at the setter. All the Tsunemori players were taken aback when they saw the ball come in Riku's direction.

It had been a long time since someone targeted their setter that they forgot they had to protect him from getting the first touch.

However, Riku wasn't that worried about it. Even without uttering a single word, he could see Yuki had already moved, ready to cover his role as a setter. This was also the advantage of having an all-around player like Yuki. Tsunemori didn't have to worry when their setter was incapable of getting the second touch.

With that in mind, Riku received the ball with an overhead pass, sending it to his friend before rushing forward to attack. Akihiro watched him intently, knowing by now that the most common thing in their combination attack was a quick between those two. However, it was different this time. Yuki knew Akihiro would follow Riku's movement closely, so he chose the least obvious option here.

"Rano!"

Yeah, Hirano who hadn't done a lot since the second set began finally had a chance to show off his skill. While he wasn't that good in offense, at least facing Konan's defense which only had one blocker one step behind to stop him, Hirano had the confidence he could kill the ball.

Or… So that was what he thought before Hirano widened his eyes when he saw a pair of hands coming from the most unexpected player to do so in the court.

"WHAT?!"