NOVEL NEXT Chapter 287: Self Blame
"Damn, what a thriller!"
"We are fortunate that Amano is here! If not, the team is screwed!"
"Yeah! The other players need to step up their game! We have to be better without Amano on the court!"
"Well, everyone has a bad day, you know?"
"Of course, I know! But we still need to be better!"
Kato bit her lips nervously as she listened to the heated debate between the Phoenix's supporters. Being out of place like this somehow made her uncomfortable. When Yuki and Riku did a fine play, she couldn't celebrate openly, and while their opponent was celebrating, she couldn't sympathize with the supporters around her.
However, that discomfort was forgotten when she saw the dejected look on her two friends. While she might never speak about it out loud, Yuki and Riku were her first friends, and she cherished her time with them inside her heart. That was why she was willing to do a lot of things that were out of her comfort zone, and coming to Fukushima to be Yuki's support morale and the two teenagers' supporters was just one of so many examples here.
She was quite happy when the game was under the Thunder's control, especially when Yuki and Riku shone together to suppress the opponent. However, right now, Kato is back to being stressed due to the bad result of the team. Unfortunately, she was just a supporter here – probably the only Thunder supporter who came today. No matter how much she wanted to shout and show them her support, her voice would be drowned by the sea of Phoenix's fans around her.
So, yeah, even though she hated it, she had to accept the fact that she couldn't do anything except pray for them. While her eyes landed on the Thunder's bench, she unconsciously prayed to whatever God was up there. "Kami-sama, the last three days have been pretty hard for us. Please, don't give those two a bad day right now…'
-0-
Unaware of the genuine prayer sent for him from the bench, Yuki threw his body to the bench with no energy. He could see Riku had a sour expression on his face, clearly affected by the game. After all, from leading four points, the score was overtaken by the Phoenix until the point they were down 3 points at the end of the first set. Having been unable to score for such a long period while he could only watch the opponent run amok was definitely something uncomfortable, and it made the blonde boy frustrated more since he was the one responsible for setting up an attack.
In his book, Riku blamed himself for the team's terrible performance because he failed to lead his teammates out of their slump.
However, he wasn't the only one. Self-blame seemed to be the common theme today since almost everyone was doing the same.
'If only I could score more…' Uehara thought.
'Damn, I failed to do my job as the team's leader! Even the rookie is better than me!' Shou cursed.
'Captain tried to blame me before, right? What if he is right and this is my fault?' Tondo muttered depressingly.
'I should be the team's all-arounder, helping everyone do their job! How could I become useless in every aspect?' Kojima covered his face in embarrassment.
The situation was so depressing that the coach himself didn't know what to do. He was also confused about why his players reacted this strongly. After all, most of them had been with the team for at least one year and this wasn't the first time they played terribly. Hell, top teams on the table like Kyoto Castle or Nagano Eagles always locked Uehara down for the entire game, so this shouldn't be his first experience facing that.
'Maybe, it is because their opponent is the Phoenix.' Kawaki thought.
After all, the Phoenix – or the Fireball before this year – was always fighting to climb their position from the bottom of the table. Even though this year they created a miracle by sitting in the top six, almost all the players in the league still treated them as a bottom-tier team.
'Well, that needs to change here.' Kawaki thought. "So, have you finally realized that we are facing a top team here?" He asked. Some of the players bowed their heads in embarrassment, getting caught off-handedly. "Okay, let's move on and start to think of what we should do next."
All the players straightened their backs immediately. Although the mood was at rock bottom, they all were players who yearned to be a pro. They had to go out no matter how bad their day was since this was what they were paid for.
"Okay, listen to me carefully," Kawaki spoke, taking a small tactical board out of nowhere. He drew something there before showing it to his players. "Even though you failed to complete the objective of helping Uehara score a point, the second one to force Amano to his limit is good enough. Now, at least I have a better idea of his activity range."
This was the information they all were waiting for. They knew that technical-wise, the two teams were at the same level. However, Amano really made the difference here, what with him being anywhere and putting pressure on all the Thunder's players.
"Well, as you have already expected, he covered the entire side of their court, looking from one edge to another. However, there is a pattern here. The moment the serve was hit, he would always move to the middle back immediately. This position gives him the space to move and support all of his teammates timely. But he would always draw an exception. He would only support the front line when their number 11," He pointed his finger at Nakamura, "Are on the front line too. I don't know why, but at least when it happens, it would leave their back wide open."
Almost all of the players nodded, understanding where it came from. Discover stories at empire
"He also keeps more eyes on Agostini and Uehara, so, Kobayashi, Shou, we will count on you both more in the second set." He glanced sideways at the two players.
"Yes, Sir!" Yuki and Shou replied in unison.
"Also, he has an insane straight and cross spike, so blockers!" He glared at Tondo. "If you want to shut him down, make sure you do that entirely. Don't give him any space to get through your wall, okay?!"
"Yes, Sir!"
They talked for a while about the necessary adjustment to face the second set. Although this was just a mere thought, at least the coach's instruction managed to give a glimpse of hope for the Thunder's players. Even though they didn't know what would happen, they were just hopeful that things would be better in the next set.