The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

On Tsunemori's bench, Akira couldn't help but furrow his brows deeply. Even though the team was still in the lead, he didn't like how the last couple of plays went. Oh, he knew that it was impossible for his players to avoid the opponent's block. Just like in the last play, Kikugawa's third blocker really came from Koji's blind spot, not allowing the ace to notice his presence until the end. He also knew that it was impossible for Riku to change his target in the air during the blitz attack a couple of plays ago, allowing the opponent's blockers to stop him completely. So, yeah, he didn't blame his players at all.

However, that left a huge problem for his team. The way Kikugawa High gained their last two points was suspiciously similar, always coming for an unexpected block that blindsided his players.

Oh, don't get him wrong, Akira knew that an accidental amazing play could happen here and there in a volleyball game. It was not something strange for a player to have a sudden breakout and pull something anyone didn't expect to lead his team. However, that only worked for just a player. If three different players suddenly had similar enlightenment, there was no way it was just a coincidence. No, Akira knew better than this, and he could guess what happened here.

'Arisawa-kun has already had a grasp of our playing style.' He murmured solemnly.

If anyone heard this, they all would just roll their eyes in exasperation, thinking Akira was just overthinking and being paranoid. However, Akira was Arisawa Junya's old teacher, and he taught Kikugawa head coach a lot of tricks, including the importance of mastering the opponent's intelligence. That was why the two teams' playing style was similar, always exposing the opponent's weakness.

However, Akira's eyes turned grim as he suddenly thought of something. 'Well, you might think that you have me here. But don't forget, Arisawa-kun, that I taught you everything you know, not everything I know.'

With that thought in mind, he glanced sideways to the joker of the team and called, "Jimmy, get ready. The next rotation will be your turn to play."

Ogawa was a bit surprised by this instruction. After all, the game was still early, and there was nothing big happening on the court that made him think it was necessary to make a change this quickly. However, being a player himself, he nodded quickly, taking off his jacket, and said, "Yes, Sensei!"

-0-

Back to the court, even though the atmosphere shifted subtly, it wasn't as bad as Akira thought. All the Tsunemori players were still quite calm, not worrying over the point they lost a moment ago. After all, they still had a three-point lead here, and as long as they stopped being careless, they would be able to maintain this lead for a long time.

"Come on, Kai! Concentrate!"

"Riku, move a bit forward! Give me and Kai more space to react!"

"Asa, Koji, get ready! Always keep your eyes on the sideline!"

Just like usual, when it was the opponent's turn to serve, Yuki would always be the busiest player on Tsunemori's side. His mouth kept running rampant, instructing his teammates to move accordingly so that their defense would be able to stop the next serve.

Then, he turned his attention to the other side of the court where Suzuki was ready to launch the ball, and his mind recalled the intelligence the team had about him.

'The team's former ace before he was replaced by Kaito this year. He is mature enough to accept that a kouhai would receive more passes in the future and adjusts his role as the second attacker and the support player quite well. However, he is still a quite dangerous player with a nasty cross-spike and powerful serve with a deep angle due to his height. So, basically, he is just a weakened version of Michael Wang from Tsukiji High.'

Of course, that didn't mean Yuki would underestimate the opponent in front of him. If anything, the gaze intensified as he didn't want to miss when he knew the opponent was not stronger than him.

'Come on… Send it here… Don't be a coward, just send it here… Ha!'

BAM!

Right a second after the ball was launched, Yuki's body moved instinctively, leaning forward to anticipate the ball. He also planted his feet on the ground firmly, trying to not get blasted away from the impact of the collision. As a result, even though the serve was quite troublesome for most of the players, Yuki managed to receive it perfectly, letting it fly in the middle and giving Riku an easy ball to handle.

"Yosh! Nice receive, Yuki!"

"Riku! Give it to me!" Koji raised his hand, eager to take revenge after his last failure.

Of course, Riku didn't mind. Koji was probably the best hitter on the team, and when he was in the right mindset, Riku believed that the ace was a formidable spiker. As he gave a high toss, Koji grinned, knowing that a good chance like this would not come so easily later. He leaped forward, getting ready to slam the ball.

"Tachibana-senpai!"

"I got it!"

Kikugawa High's third blocker who also was the player who stopped Koji's last attack earlier also jumped with both hands extended in the air. Koji took a glance for a moment before he snorted, affronted.

'Ha! You think you can fool me that easily?!'

What Koji meant by that was of course the fact that Kikugawa's middle blocker lurking from the shadows, getting ready to support the blocker in front of him. This was also the exact same strategy as Kikugawa High did before, trying to lurk from Koji's blind spot and catching him off guard.

However, since Koji saw this coming, of course, he didn't have to worry about avoiding it.

BAM!

"Shit!" Suzuki cursed as he just anticipated the straight spike sent by Koji. "Ayane, get the second ball!"

"I got it, I got it!"

The setter – Ayane – who was probably the shortest player in Kikugawa's side rushed toward the ball immediately. He also tried his best to keep his eyes on his teammates' movements on the court. In the end, since the ball was far outside of the court, he could only give the most basic high pass toward Kaito who unfortunately failed to send it back perfectly to Tsunemori's side.

Splash!

"Oh! That bastard misses!"

"Damn, finally! Come on! Nice spike, Koji!"

"Just kill them all! Don't hesitate and give them a chance to get up!"

"Show them what it means to face Tsunemori High!"

As the crowd was getting excited, the good news was not over for Tsunemori High. There, outside of the sideline, everyone could see Ogawa preparing himself to enter the court, which indicated one thing. They were going to increase their aggressiveness next and tried their best to leave their opponent to the dust.