The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"HA! I GOT YOU!" Kaito grinned while pointing his finger toward Riku provocatively. "Don't think that you are the only one who can do this kind of dirty trick!" Riku scowled, yet not answering the provocation verbally. He just turned back to his teammates, yet inwardly thinking about how he should retaliate against that obnoxious boy.

Yeah, even though he looked calm, the blonde boy was embarrassed since he didn't see the dump attack was coming. In hindsight, he should've seen it, since Kaito made it so obvious. It was clear to him that Kaito was not used to doing this kind of attack, what with his awkward stance shift in the air and the expression that was not hidden properly. It was just that Riku didn't expect the boy who kept associating trick play with dirty play would do something like that.

"Riku… You are not angry, right?" Yuki asked cautiously. All the Tsunemori players around him also looked at the boy worriedly, knowing that if Riku lost his calm right now, the rest of the game would be a disaster.

"Angry? No, I am not." Riku just shook his head, smiling at his friend with the calmness that gave everyone creep. "But we cannot just let the provocation slide that easily, right? I mean, what would our opponent think later? That we have no backbone?"

Some players who were hot-blooded like Ogawa and Koji grinned, knowing what would come next. "Yeah, we have to retaliate." The former said.

"So, we are on the same page? Good." Riku nodded, satisfied. "Everyone, get ready. If he wants to see a dirty trick, let's show them how to do a proper one."

Right after that, the game continued again, and this time, killer intent spiked from Tsunemori's area and directed toward Kaito's position. The boy who was the target himself just grinned widely, feeling the thrill of battling against the hostile opponents. For him, it would be less interesting if the opponent was not as fired up as him.

"Just die, you gay bastard!"

"Why are you still here?!"

"Just go home and cry to your mama, Motherfucker!"

"This is not a place a gay person like you can enter!"

Just like before, the wave of insults directed at Kaito was crazy. However, the boy was accustomed to this scene already, and he didn't even feel any fluctuation in his heart. Right now, all of his attention was on the other side of the court, thinking of where to deliver the serve next.

'Maybe, I should go there.' He murmured, staring at the spot between Yuki and Riku on the right side. Even though aiming it straight to the opponent's direction was a risky move, if things went well, this would boost the team's morale which would benefit them in a long run.

FWEEEEE!

BAM!

Kaito didn't even hesitate as the moment the referee blew the whistle, he delivered the most powerful serve he could muster toward Tsunemori's right side. He also rushed forward quickly to prepare for the opponent's counterattack, knowing full well that even though he threw a pretty powerful serve, there was no way such a serve would slip through Yuki and Riku's area.

However, to his surprise, instead of picking up the ball, Riku just stood at the sideline, letting the ball slide before shouting, "OUT!" The blonde boy did that while snapping his head toward the linesman outside of the court.

For a moment, there was an awkward silence in the building. Everyone stared at Riku confusedly, still not being able to comprehend the situation. It took a few seconds for the linesman who observed that side to finally raised one hand above his head, signalling that the ball was indeed out, before Riku roared, clenching his fist tightly.

"YOSSHA!"

As for Kaito himself, he scowled, not happy with the final decision. However, he could still acknowledge that Riku's trick worked perfectly in this situation. 'Not bad… I didn't expect that you would pull up this classic trick. You deserve to be the master of the dirty strategy.'

What he meant by the classic trick was of course Riku's attempt to affect the linesman's judgement. In hindsight, it looked like there was only one trick here, which was to shout loudly to affect the referee's judgment in a split second. However, what made this trick work was the fact that Riku stood right on the sideline, giving the linesman the illusion that if the ball went through him, it must be out of bounds. It didn't help that with all the provocative remarks Kaito kept throwing during the game, he had already had a bad reputation among the refs. So, it was not difficult that in a battle between Kaito and any other Tsunemori players, as long as it was not too obvious, the referee would be slightly partial toward Tsunemori's side.

'Me and my big mouth… Someone finally figures out the cons of doing this, huh?' Kaito murmured lowly. However, if anything, this experience only made him get excited more, knowing that the opponent's vast method of offense managed to boil his blood instantly.

"Come on, Riku! This is your turn right now!"

"Don't mess this up!!"

"Just stay calm and steady! It doesn't matter that you cannot score, maintaining the lead is the more important thing to do right now!"

Riku who was on the service line gave the supporters behind him a thumbs-up before throwing the ball in the air, delivering a powerful serve straight to Kaito. He didn't expect to score directly, knowing full well that the boy would always get protection from his friend. No, he was aiming exactly for that scenario, knowing that Yusuke always had a slow recovery time, which if the boy fell in front of Kaito, this would prevent those two from joining the counterattack.

BAM!

"Oh! Nice save, Yusuke!"

"Yusuke! You are on my way!"

The two different reactions from Kikugawa High's side stunned all the Kikugawa players. For a second, they stopped running and chasing for the ball, staring at Kaito in disbelief. Kaito himself flushed, realizing that he said the wrong thing here. However, the play was still on, so he shouted, "GET THE BALL FIRST! WE WILL DEAL WITH IT LATER!"

That was when the other five Kikugawa players on the court reacted. Suzuki who was the closest to the ball rushed immediately, trying to keep it alive. He managed to punch the ball back into the air before it fell on the floor. Fortunately, Ao managed to get the third ball, sending it back to Tsunemori's side safely.

"Come on! Recover quickly!"

"Ao, Tachibana, get ready on the front! Another attack is coming!"

As the situation on their side was pretty chaotic, Riku knew that he had to be quick to take advantage of it. He didn't even wait for his teammates to get the first ball, picking it up instantly while signaling Yuki silently to rush forward for a blitz attack. Within a second, before Kikugawa High players could recover to their original position. Seeing them scrambling back in panic, Yuki suddenly thought of Riku wanting to retaliate and couldn't help but want to do something outrageous, and right after that, instead of a powerful spike the opponent was waiting for, he pushed the ball gently, letting it fall into the spot right in front of Kaito's position.

Thud!