The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Come on, is this really the Giant Bears' youth team?!"

"Yeah! Losing against Thunder would be embarrassing!"

"Damn, if only Hanzo were still here…"

"Idiot, he was called up to the main team! That is more important for his career than staying in this crappy U-19 team!"

"Why is God so cruel to give us a fucking trash junior team like this?!"

It was the end of the first set, and by the disappointed sounds from the Giant Bears' supporters, it wasn't difficult to guess who had won. The game itself ended with a score of 25–19, a relatively tight game if someone just looked at the scoreboard. However, anyone who watched the game live would be able to notice how completely out of their league the Tokyo Giant Bears were compared to their city rivals.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Not only couldn't they stop Yuki—a rookie pinch server—from wreaking havoc on their defense, but they also didn't know how to deal with Riku, Thunder's other rookie. Imagine: a team in the top four of the league table being destroyed by two rookies from a team in tenth place; that was pretty humiliating.

That was why the supporters were very dissatisfied with the game they saw today.

"Kato-chan, Megumi-chan, are you sure this is safe?" Arina Sugawara, who had never been exposed to this kind of crowd, somehow felt intimidated by the scolding and insults thrown by the supporters. Even though only around 100 people were there—not even one-fifth of the arena's full capacity—their voices echoed throughout the arena as if they wanted to make sure everyone could hear them. "I heard news in the past that sometimes, a sports game like this could end in a huge conflict. Should we leave before that happens?" she asked.

"Don't worry, Arina-chan, you're overthinking this," Megumi immediately answered, reassuring her friend. "Also, the news you heard shouldn't apply here. Japan is recognized as one of the nicest and most family-friendly places for sports fans to watch games."

"Family-friendly? This?!" Arina widened her eyes in disbelief.

"… Well, not like this, but both teams have had a pretty heated rivalry over the last couple of years. Don't worry; there has never been a conflict before, so I doubt it will start today."

Somehow, the explanation didn't reassure Arina at all. Still, she couldn't do anything. Of course, she could just make an excuse to leave, but that would break her promise to chaperone the children, and she didn't want that. Also, even though she would never admit it, Arina kind of enjoyed the competitive atmosphere around the building, so she decided to stay put and watch the rest of the game with her two friends.

'Still, I hope Kobayashi-kun will play more, though…'

-0-

"Good job, everyone! You did so well in the first set today!" Kawaki applauded his players. Everyone beamed with delight, as it wasn't often for the coach to compliment them like this. "Still, there is always room for improvement, though. So, are you ready to listen?"

Even though all the main players were still busy wiping their sweat or chugging water provided by the team, they all nodded eagerly, looking at the coach. After all, who would want to miss the evaluation session after playing so darn well like they did in the first set?

"Okay, first things first: you didn't start the game well enough," Kawaki began. "I know that it was mostly because Agostini-kun was still adapting to the game, which caused our offense not to run well enough, but that's not an excuse for the rest of you! You've all been playing in this league for about ten games this year, so you should know when someone is having a bad day and step up for him!"

Almost all the players winced unconsciously, knowing they were at fault.

"Which brings us to our next player, Kobayashi!" Yuki straightened his back when he heard his name called. "Eight aces, including five in a row that broke the opponent's momentum. You really left a huge impression on everyone in the building today. Keep up your effort, and you will find yourself on the court more often in the future."

Yuki's face lit up at the praise. Even though he wanted so badly to have more minutes to play, this was still better than the silent treatment the coach had given him while he was on the bench during the first set. With this feedback, at least he knew that the coach still took him seriously—not that he had to worry, of course, considering how well he had performed before.

"Next, Tondo!" The middle blocker winced, knowing he would receive harsh comments about his earlier performance. "Why the hell would you need to sacrifice four points before you started to get used to Senta's rhythm?! You have been playing against him for three years in a row; don't tell me you forgot about his style?!" Tondo could only rub the back of his neck sheepishly, hoping the coach would move on to the next player.

"Uehara, you did a good job in the first set. Your presence alone is enough to reassure me that our offense will be alright. Just like usual, you are the most consistent player on the team. My only complaint is that you should stay more aggressive and ask for the ball more often, okay?"

Your next chapter is on empire

"Yes, Sir!"

"Miyahara, you've been playing with Tondo for almost a year. How could you still have a hard time covering for him? If you two cannot complement each other by the end of the game, I will make sure you know how to do that by scrubbing every inch of our toilet for the rest of the month, okay?!"

Tondo and Miyahara's faces gradually paled, knowing that it wasn't an empty threat from the coach. They could still remember players who were foolish enough to challenge such threats, and as a result, those players had to endure additional training with the coach for an extra hour every day. Tondo and Miyahara didn't want to end up like that.

"Shou, you did a good job leading the team, keeping the rookies under your wing. I won't get mad at you for trying to join the offense more, you know?"

"Yes, Sensei!" the captain replied, nodding.

"Overall, you all did pretty well. However, don't think your job is over! We still need to win two more sets, so anyone who dares to slack off should be ready to move their asses to the bench, do you understand?!"

"Yes, Sir!"

As the last shout was heard, the referee finally blew the whistle, asking the players from both teams to return to the court.