The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

BAM!

"Shit! Sorry, cover it up!" Shou cursed as he saw the ball he received fly far from the target.

It had been Mirai's fourth serve in a row, and no one knew what happened or how could he do it, but everyone realized that Mirai's strength increased gradually as time went by. The serve that in the first set was able to be neutralized easily now turned into a force to be reckoned with, troubling all the Thunder players all the time. Just like how the other teams were always puzzled about Yuki's trickery, now they also suffered from the same, trying to figure out what happened.

"Doping! I tell you here, it should be a forbidden drug!" Tondo with his conspiracy mind insisted before the play was begun.

"Idiot! If he consumed something illegal in the middle of the game, do you think the referee won't notice it straight away?!" Kojima hissed.

"Well, he could just bribe – OUCH! What the hell, Shou?!" Tondo glared when he felt the captain smacked his head. Though, he wilted instantly at the glare he received from his captain. "Think twice before you say something, you idiot! Don't put your foot on your mouth again and make trouble for Sensei, okay?"

Yeah, so many ridiculous theories suddenly popped up inside everyone's head. Of course, most of them were full of shit that didn't even deserve to be discussed around. However, a theory Riku offered about Mirai saving his energy from the beginning just to unleash it when everyone started to get tired stood out the most. Not a single being on the Thunder side was willing to believe that the opponent's captain would do something like that though, since it would mean the opponent's captain was holding back since the beginning of the game.

But for now, they had no time to think about that since the game was still running.

"Tondo-senpai, pick it up!" Riku shouted.

"Don't worry, I got it!" Tondo rushed toward the ball. Immediately after he moved, the boos from the stand were getting louder as all the people there still remembered Tondo's provocation before. Fortunately, after having to adapt to it for the last few plays, the blocker was finally calm enough to take action without getting distracted by the crowd.

"Uehara-san!" Tondo hit the ball with his forearms, sending it slightly high to the left side where the ace was running.

"Come on, Uehara! Kill it!" Shou shouted when he saw hesitation flash on Uehara's face. He knew that the ace had a hard time today, so what his friend needed the most right now was encouragement from him and the other teammates.

Uehara himself scowled when he saw the ball flying in front of him. The quality was far worse than he usually received from Riku. However, he couldn't blame the blocker for this. Tondo wasn't the most suitable emergency setter in the team, and if the boy was forced to do that, of course, he would play it safe and send the ball to the ace.

'Tch! They move quicker than before. Let's do this all over again.'

BAM!

The ball Uehara spiked went straight to Shigeo's hand. However, that was his intention, and he was happy to see the ball bounce back to the Thunder's area.

"Oh! Nice rebound, Uehara!"

"Free ball!"

"Agostini! Here!" Uehara recovered quickly and asked for the ball once again.

Honestly, Riku didn't want to send the ball to Uehara right now. The ace had already proven so many times that he was unreliable today, so to stick with him would be a stupid decision. However, right now, Uehara's position is the best compared to the others. The ace was already in the air once again while the opponent's blocker was one step behind. So, without a second thought, he sent a quick pass there, hoping that the ace finally managed to get out of his slump.

BAM!

"Shit! Him again?!" Uehara cursed.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Yeah, Uehara sent the ball straight to the corner, but once again, Amano managed to stop his attack with an acrobatic receive. The play didn't stop just like that. Nakamura, the defensive specialist once again showed that he was as versatile as Yuki by taking over the ball and setting up an attack for Mirai. The captain didn't even blink as he delivered a cross spike into Uehara's face, passing through Tondo's block before the ball hit the Thunder ace's shoulder.

BAM!

"YEAAAH!" Mirai roared, followed immediately by the cheers thundered from the stand.

"That's our captain!"

"That's our future!"

"That's our Phoenix!"

The melodious supports chanted by the people on the stand kept echoing the building for a while, letting the Phoenix players enjoy that feeling for a moment. But for the Thunder players, this was torture. They all were so frustrated since they couldn't find their rhythm again after the break. Hell, Uehara was on the verge of lashing out here as he kicked the ball out to vent his emotion. Fortunately, the referee was looking on the other side or he would be scolded immediately for his action.

Seeing this, Kawaki knew he had to take action. He called a timeout immediately to cut off the opponent's momentum and let his players take a breath too. But that wasn't his only purpose here. No, after thinking for a while, he finally took a shocking decision. "Jiro, be prepared. You will replace Uehara after this break." He said it calmly.

The reaction Kawaki received though, was exactly as he expected. Some of them were surprised, but the victim just had his mouth gaped wide as he was dumbfounded by the decision. Uehara was never expecting that he would be replaced by the coach. In hindsight though, he should've thought about that since his performance was trash today.

However, Shou, who was friends with Uehara, didn't want to give up on his friend just like that. "Sensei, can you tell us why you want to replace him?" the captain asked.

"Well, what is there to explain?" Kawaki shrugged. "You see his performance on the court. His offense is locked down, he is useless in either block or defense, he doesn't know how to contribute once his offense is killed, and the most important thing is his attitude. He always takes a long sigh with his head down whenever he fails to score. That was hardly the attitude I wanted as the ace."

Ouch. Some of them winced unconsciously at the harsh critique. Even though everything was true, to say it out loud was another story. However, Kawaki wasn't done with his story. Find your next read at empire

"Remember, an ace is just a title for our best offensive players. Beneath that, the ace is also a normal player, and they aren't exempted from their duty to defense! Just because you are an ace, that doesn't mean you can be lazy, okay?!"

"Yes, Sir!"