The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Jun Amano was a genius player. This was a fact that everyone on the Fukushima Phoenix – and maybe more – agreed without hesitation. However, he attracted so much attention from several big names in the industry, and as a result, his career climbed pretty quickly. It was of course a good thing in theory. However, since Amano was still young, his coach – or coaches in this case – would always put him on the bench, emphasizing that this was his opportunity to learn and he had to observe how the higher competition played.

Still, after sitting on the bench for most of his career, one good skill developed during that time: his observational skill.

After spending more time watching than playing, he had a knack for picking up on details that most people would ignore. For example, in today's game, he saw Yuki's habit of taking a deep breath first before doing a serve, which told him that the glasses boy was somehow nervous before doing it, or Riku's willingness to step down and give the spotlight to Yuki even with his love for showing off, which showed the blonde boy's underrated intelligence.

Of course, if he could see a tiny detail like that, picking up something big like Uehara's anxiety after failing to score a few times in a row was a child play for Amano. When he saw the ball was flying to the opponent's ace, the handsome boy didn't even have to think twice as he knew already what Uehara was going to do.

'Ah, he wants to re-establish his position as an ace with this point, so he will probably try to brute-force his way to our side with raw power. Naka wouldn't be able to handle that. But if I am trying to be quick…'
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Just with that thought, he left his spot immediately, running with a quick speed as if he were weightless. Before Uehara could even blink, he was already in the front with both arms raised in the air.

BAM!

"Ha! Gotcha!" Amano smirked a little when he saw his support block was successful. He then turned around and said to his teammates, "Good job! You did well to attract his attention so that I could sneak from behind!"

Nakamura and Teruya who were praised grinned bashfully, knowing full well that this was bullshit. Amano would always be able to pick up any positivity on the court even when there was none and used it to praise his teammates. He was never stingy with his praise, and that made people comfortable around him.

Meanwhile, the situation on the Thunder's side was getting worse with every plat. If before, it was Tondo who didn't show his best performance, now Uehara was definitely the second one who fell into the same pit. However, unlike the middle blocker who had a simple mind and won't be affected by it, Uehara who carried the ace role on his shoulder was definitely bothered by his own performance. Doubts also started running amok inside his head, whispering toxic thoughts that were forced to be injected into his brain.

'The first set is about to be over, and you haven't even scored more than five points! Are you sure you are the ace?'

'Out of the opponent's 18 points, 4 come from your failed attack. It is one-fifth of their points that you are responsible for! Are you sure you are not the spy?'

'Even the two rookies are better than you. Maybe, it is time to finally put the ball down and let the others lead the team?'

'Come on, doing that would be easy!'

The self-doubt started to eat him alive, and while his teammates were worried, they didn't know what he was thinking right now. All they could do was just to be there for him and wait until he came back to his usual self. "Don't worry, Uehara! This is just one of those bad days! You will be back soon, and we will be relying on you!" Shou patted his back.

"Yes, Ue! Now, just sit tight and watch us your teammates do the job!" Kojima grinned reassuringly.

Words seemed to stick on Uehara's throat as he was about to say something. In the end, he could only nod silently, trying to give them a smile although it came out pretty weak.

A moment later, the game was resumed once again. This time, Hachimura was still on the service line, and after winning two points in a row, Phoenix shortened the score gap to 22 – 19. Thunder was still the favorite since it only took 3 points for them to win the set and it was two rotations left until Yuki's turn to serve.

They were eager to win this set as quickly as possible. However, to do that, they needed to find a way to pass Amano's defense first.

"Come on, Hachimura! Give us a good serve!"

Thud!

Just like before, Hachimura sent a pretty weak serve straight to Riku. This time though, Yuki decided to protect his friend from having to get the first touch so that the blonde boy could set up an attack. However, he didn't stop at that. Right after he received the ball and let it fly on the spot so that Riku could pick it up, the glasses boy recovered quickly before rushing to the front line.

This quick counterattack after receiving the opponent's serve was the usual attacking pattern for the two rookies. Riku didn't even need to see as he just sent the ball to the front line before anyone could realize what happened. Yuki who was already in the air didn't hesitate to swing his arm, trying to send the ball to the far corner of the court.

BAM!

"Oh! Received!"

"Damn, Amano is amazing!"

"Come on, Teru! Pick it up!"

Yuki himself was still surprised that the blitz attack that had a high percentage rate of success was stopped by Amano. He didn't know that the handsome boy on the other side of the court had already found a weakness in his game.

'While he always spikes to the far corner, he always aims his attack to the back. That means he doesn't know or is still not used to the kind of 'slamming the ball down to the front' attack. We need to take advantage of it before he can fix it.' Amano thought before.

However, that thought was forgotten for a moment as right now, he had to move to join the attack. Mirai and Nakamura had already done so, and he could see from the corner of his eyes that the libero also moved forward to take cover if the attack was blocked.

'Okay, everyone is prepared. I need to do my job right now.'

He took a deep breath, starting his run-up as quickly as possible, and before he crossed the front line, he leaped forward already, following his two teammates on the wing.

'Shit! A synchronization attack! Where will the ball go… Left!' Tondo moved quickly when he noticed Teruya's eye movement went to Nakamura. He tried his best to shut the area down, but he was one step behind as the short, blonde man had already swung his arm to hit the ball.

BAM!