The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Yuki, help me walk through the court! I have a headache here!" Riku whined childishly, walking in a staggered manner – albeit a bit too dramatically. "I cannot remember what the coach just said!"

Yuki could only sigh deeply at his theatrical friend. Still, he couldn't blame the blonde boy. The coach really went all out, making sure that they had the best weapon to face the second set. The problem was that the team was in the middle of a slump, and it wasn't easy for them to remember all he said during the intermission. Hell, Yuki even saw Uehara's eyebrows meet under his nose as the ace tried to remember the arrangement the coach had for him.

"Don't worry, you don't need to remember it all," Yuki said, reassuring his friend. "During the play, when the specific scenario that the coach talked about happened, your body will remember it instantly, and you will know what to do."

"Really?" Riku asked skeptically. The reaction was understandable since Yuki himself had a hard time believing this magical concept. However, this was something that he read on the Internet and some professional athletes in a lot of sports also voiced their experiences, so he who was still green in the sports world had no choice but to believe it.

"Anyway, just concentrate on your game and watch for my signal. When that Jun Amano stares at you, just move away subtly and let me handle the rest, okay?"

"Sure!"

The game was about to be continued again, and the quiet supporter who was taking a break during the intermission became restless once again when they saw their favorite team walk onto the court. The shouts and cheers for the Phoenix echoed throughout the building, and it would be a lie if anyone on the Thunder's side said it wasn't intimidating.

"Come on, Phoenix!"

"Come on, Amano!"

"Come on, Phoenix!"

"Come on, Mirai!"

The supporters were now united with one person leading them shouting Phoenix's players one by one. It was an impressive display of support that left the away team in awe. 'No wonder they can climb from the rock bottom to the top six. If this is the kind of support they receive, even being the number one wouldn't be hard to believe.' Yuki thought.

He tried his best to ignore the distraction from the stand as he watched Nakamura, the fake blonde boy on the service line. Memory suddenly brought him back to the beginning of the second set where they were bullied by Nakamura's floater serve. He signaled all the players to step aside, leaving both Yuki and Riku in the middle of the Thunder's court.

"So, ready to steal the 'thunder'?" Riku wiggled his eyebrows at the pun.

"That is a terrible joke, Riku." Yuki groaned slightly. "Just get ready. It would be embarrassing if the ball slipped through your hand again."

"Hey, that was just one time, you know?! No need to bring it back again!" Riku said, affronted. No doubt he was still affected by the last play of the first set when he failed to give Yuki the best pass which resulted in Amano sending the ball back to their own side and sealed the win for the Phoenix.

"Well, if you don't want me to remind you, be more serious!" Yuki retorted.

Riku huffed, but in the end, did what Yuki was asking him for. The two rookies were now standing in the middle, ready to be the one who received the ball.

Thud!
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Riku widened his eyes when the floater came so close to the sideline where Kojima stood. For a moment, he was in a dilemma. He had three options here. One, rushing to take the ball, two, letting Kojima handle it, and three, letting the ball fall since it was so close to the sideline and had the chance it would land outside of the court. Fortunately, he didn't have to make the decision by himself as he heard his friend shout, "RIKU! GET IT!"

His body moved without a command, rushing toward the ball. Kojima was startled, then stepped away to avoid collision. It was a wise decision as Riku was right on Kojima's previous spot when he picked up the ball.

"Nice! Good receive, Riku!" Yuki shouted.

"Kobayashi! Send it high!" Shou raised his hand, asking for the ball.

Even though Yuki was not a pure setter and his ability was worse than Riku's, his game-reading ability wasn't affected at all. His eyes scanned the entire court quickly, searching for Amano's whereabouts while also locking down each player's position.

'Amano is locking into Uehara-senpai's position. It seems he is determined to kill our ace. The blocker also has their eyes on Shou-senpai, and Riku cannot recover quickly enough, so he is out of the equation. That means…'

Embracing the mischievous side from being Riku's friend for a long time, Yuki didn't even blink when he tapped the ball to his back, letting it fly past the Phoenix's blockers. The blockers couldn't even react as this came unexpectedly. After all, who would be bold enough to pull up this kind of stunt at the beginning of the game after their team just lost badly during the last set?

However, Yuki did that, and in the end, the ball fell onto the floor without anyone could stop it.

Thud!

"YOSSHAAA!" Yuki clenched his fist, raising it high in the air. "Come on!"

"Nice dump, Yuki!" Riku jumped immediately, grinning with an excited expression at his friend. "Damn, you really follow my step! Good job! Keep up with the trickery and you will be as good as me!"

"Who wants to be as good as you?!" Yuki shoved his friend playfully.

"Why, you – !" Before Riku could continue the banter though, they were surrounded by their teammates.

"Good job, Kobayashi!"

"Nice! We got the first point!"

"Maybe, something different would happen in this set!"

"Good job! Keep it up!"

Even though it was just one point, almost all the Thunder players were excited. After all, this was their first point since… What? Six or seven plays ago? The last time they scored was in the first set to change their score from 21 to 22. After that, they stuck on that number as the Phoenix overtook the score to win the first set. That was such a high blow to the team that even one mere point that Yuki just scored was far more valuable than its number.

And now, after Yuki finally managed to open up their way, it was time for the team's ace to follow it through.

There, Uehara stood on the service line, under the scrutinization of about 700 or more people in this building, he was ready to redeem himself.