The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Yuki's return to the court seemed to be able to ignite Tsunemori's spirit once again. His presence also became the irreplaceable pillar of the team.

On the front line, his superb game-reading ability managed to guide Hirano and Riku to set a wall to suppress the opponent's attack, and behind, he was able to help Kaede guard the back line, kept saving the spike that slipped from the blockers in front of them. He really showed his versatility here, frustrating the shit of his opponent.

The score gap itself also getting narrowed down by a lot. Currently, even though Kyoei still only needed one point to seal the first set, Tsunemori managed to catch up to the point they were only three points behind. While 21 – 24 seemed to be a safe score for Kyoei to win the set, considering the score before Yuki returned was 16 – 23, they couldn't help but feel anxious.

However, Kyoei finally got used to Yuki's presence, and while they found his versatility to be annoying, they started to push back by targeting the other players.

"Kaede-senpai! Cover the left!"

*BAM!*

"Shit! Sorry!"

It was another attack from Kyoei, and Kaede apologized immediately the moment he knew he reacted a bit late. Even though he was able to save the ball, it flew back to the opponent's side to give them another chance to attack.

"Don't worry! Recover quickly, Kaede-senpai!"

"Got i-"

*BAM!*

Kaede couldn't even finish his words as Nitta suddenly rushed forward, taking advantage of an overhead pass to spike it directly at Tsunemori's area. No one expected something like this to happen, so they could only stare at the ball bouncing far outside of the court.

That was the last play of the first set, as Kyoei finally managed to secure the four-point lead to grab the win from Tsunemori.

-0-

All of the Tsunemori players sat on the bench, they all had some sort of gloomy expression on their faces. It wasn't like they gave up or lost hope or something like that. No, in fact, it was the opposite of that. They managed to take advantage of the excitement from Yuki's return to narrow the gap. However, after all of their efforts, to lose like this was definitely uncomfortable. Your next chapter is on m v|l-e'-NovelBin.net

They couldn't help but feel frustrated, kept thinking of so many 'what-ifs' scenarios inside their head.

"It is pity, right? To lose like this?" Akira said. "But at least this shows that even though they are a better team compared to us, we still have a chance to win this game. If we could show the same performance as how we did before the first set was over, I believe the second set would be in our grasp. So, come on! Be more confident!

This is not over yet!" He tried to encourage his players.

Unfortunately, his words weren't that effective in lifting up the mood around him. This was the kind of situation that the players themselves needed to overcome. Words might encourage them a little, but in the end, they had to accept that the first set was a lost cause and move on to the next part of the game.

"Let me talk a little, Shinji." Sekine suddenly spoke, gaining everyone's attention. Even though Akira was taken aback and didn't know his mentor's intention, he still let the old man add his pep talk, hoping that it would be able to improve their mood.

"First of all, the main reason why you lost the first set was due to Yuki-kun's absence, right?" He asked. All of the players there except for Yuki nodded in agreement, thinking the same. "What if I told you that it doesn't matter whether Yuki was there or not, but you will still lose the first set?" He grinned, asking a provoking question.

Everyone was surprised by his words, couldn't even know why Sekine said that.

"What do you mean, old man?" Riku couldn't help but ask.

"Well, just as I said, even with Yuki-kun there, you won't be able to win the first set, and that is because he didn't do his job well enough." He smiled mysteriously.

However, his words were enough for the others to doubt his credibility, since they all felt that Yuki was the best performer in the first set, probably only second to Riku. As for Yuki, he began to contemplate, recalling his performance before to figure out when did he not do a good job like what Sekine implied him to be.

"You don't believe it, right?" The old man chuckled. "Well, let me bring you back to the last point from your opponent. What is the cause of that overhead pass that their ace managed to take advantage of?" He asked.

"Is it because of my late reaction?" Kaede asked, doubtful. "If only I could react to Kobayashi's command quicker, I would be able to save the ball better."

"And don't you think it is strange?" A smile on Sekine's face kept getting wider. Then, he turned his attention to all the players there and asked a question, "Don't you think that whenever Yuki-kun takes the command, you will always react a bit late?"

Everyone was stunned, realizing that the old man was right. While it wasn't as exaggerating as Sekine implying to be, they were indeed always a second late whenever Yuki ordered them to do something.

"Get straight to the point, old geezer!" Riku scowled, starting to get annoyed.

"Well, if you say so…" Sekine huffed. "Yuki-kun! It is because you are too polite!"

An awkward silence dropped on the bench as everyone couldn't believe what they just heard. No, they couldn't comprehend what Sekine meant by Yuki being too polite and its correlation with their late reaction.

"Don't you remember how you commanded your teammate in the last play that caused an overhead pass? 'Kaede-senpai, cover the left'? Really?! In a fast-tempo game where even one second matters, you should've abandoned all the honorifics you use even though he is your senpai, idiot!"

Yuki was dumbfounded instantly, not expecting to get scolded by the old man like this. However, he couldn't deny the truth behind Sekine's words. He just didn't expect his respect toward the others would cost the team the first set of the game.

Seeing that Yuki finally got his point, Sekine nodded in satisfaction. Still, he felt that his disciple needed one more push, so he turned his attention to all of the players and said, "Stand up, everyone!"

All the eight players were confused, yet still followed his order.

"Riku." He pointed his finger at the blonde boy.

"Kai." Then to Kaede.

"Rano." To Hirano.

"Koji." To Koji.

"Oka." To Okamura.

"Asa." To Asahi.

"Jimmy." To Ogawa.

"And Yuki." He pointed his finger to Yuki. "From now on, I want you all to address each other with the nickname I choose for you."

Once again, it left everyone dumbfounded as to how Sekine could take over the team and do something outrageous like this. Yuki himself couldn't help but feel awkward, since calling them all with nicknames and not using honorifics would be so strange.

"Why am I Jimmy?" Ogawa suddenly asked. While the others were the abbreviation of their name, he was the only one who got a completely random one here.

"Hmm?" Sekine tilted his head at him. "Oh, because you are the most ordinary one out of everyone here."

Everyone snorted immediately, some tried to stiffen their laughter as they saw Ogawa slumped comically at the reason. In Japanese, Jimi – 地味 / じみ – meant simple, plain, or some sort of ordinary. Even though it was a cool Western name, any person who knew Japanese would feel embarrassed to receive that nickname.

"Okay, let's try it." Sekine continued.

"Eh?" Yuki was taken aback, especially when the old man stared at him.

"Yeah, you are the commander of the team, so you need to get used to it soon." Sekine nodded. "Let's simulate a scenario. Kyoei was about to attack to the left, and only Jimmy was close enough to reach the ball. So, how would you command him?"

"Uurrgh…" Yuki couldn't help but groan, glancing at Ogawa awkwardly. Then, under everyone's amused gaze, he finally sighed and said, "Jimmy, cover the left?"

"No! That is still too weak! No one will be able to hear that!" The old man interrupted. "Louder!"

"Jimmy, cover the left!"

"STILL TOO LOW! LOUDER!"

"JIMMY, COVER THE LEFT!"

"GOOD! AGAIN!"

"JIMMY, COVER THE LEFT!"

Laughter finally broke on the bench as everyone saw Ogawa's depressed state. Even Megumi took pity on him and patted his shoulder reassuringly, yet still with her best attempt to hold back her giggle, making Ogawa fall deeper into depression. Akira himself shook his head in amusement. While he didn't expect Sekine's pep talk, he sure was grateful to the old man for raising the morale of the team.

"That is what I want to say." Sekine nodded in satisfaction as he stepped back to his place again. "Shinji, I leave the rest to you."

Akira nodded gratefully at the old man before smiling playfully at them. "So, can anyone check whether Jimmy is okay or not?" His question sent all the players into a fit of uncontrollable chuckles, leaving even Hirano who was the most stoic person on the team to snort with a hint of a smile curled on his face.

"Well, since Sekine-sensei has already said a lot about your problem, let's start discussing what we should do on the second set. Listen carefully, everyone!"

"Yes, Sir!"