The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"YOSSHAAAA!" Haruo roared, clenching his fist in the air as he celebrated the block he had just made.

"Good block, Haruo-kun!"

"Damn, you finally did it!"

Amidst the celebration on the other side of the net, Haruo's reaction took Riku by surprise, as this was probably the first time the setter had seen Haruo express his emotions so freely. Although they came from different schools and their only interactions were either in games against each other or the training camp a few weeks ago, Riku had only ever seen Haruo in a playful mood, as if he knew something that no one else knew.

Honestly, this was why Riku got irritated easily by Haruo. The infuriating know-it-all smile from the taller blonde boy always managed to get under his skin. And no, he would never admit that another reason was that Haruo was taller and more popular than he was.

So, he was surprised when Riku saw Haruo venting out his emotions like this.

"What prompts him to do this? He didn't even react this strongly when we beat Kyoei Gakuen," he muttered. After thinking for a moment, he widened his eyes in realization. "He didn't show any reaction when his team lost because he still played well. But today, his block is like wet paper—it got broken too easily by Uehara-senpai or Shou-senpai. That last play should be the first clean block he's delivered today. No wonder he's suddenly so expressive. This game must be frustrating for him."

Out of nowhere, Haruo, still in the middle of his celebration, noticed the pitying gaze from Riku. At first, he was confused, not understanding why Riku suddenly gave him that stare. However, he shrugged it off, not wanting to be distracted by that gesture.

Inwardly, he thought to himself, "The game is not over yet!"

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The celebration lasted for about a minute before the referee had to stop it to continue the game. Honestly, it was embarrassing that a powerhouse team like Giant Bear would celebrate so crazily over a single point at the beginning of the set. If any fanatic supporters who left the game early saw this, they would roll their eyes exasperatedly, thinking it was unbecoming behavior for the players representing Giant Bear.

However, no one cared about that at this point. For now, all the Giant Bear players were happy that for once they had finally managed to grab the momentum from their opponents. With that on their side and a bunch of new players just coming off the bench, this was probably the best opening they could hope for.

"Come on, Kuniyoshi! Give us a good serve!"

"Don't waste this opportunity! Come on, hit them hard!"

When the referee finally blew the whistle, the player named Kuniyoshi served the ball. Even though it was a jump serve, its power was far below what Uehara had done before. As a result, Kojima—Thunder's outside hitter—picked up the ball easily.

"Nice receive, Kojima-senpai!"

Riku rotated quickly so he could get closer to the ball. Shou, whose spot he had just replaced, turned around immediately, starting his run-up in a second. Haruo noticed it but recognized it was just a deception. When he glanced for a millisecond at the setter, he instantly realized where the ball would go and reacted accordingly.

BAM!

"Yeah!" Haruo clenched his fist when he saw the ball fall onto the other side of the court. It was his second clean block in a row, and this time, Tondo ended up as his victim.

"Good job, Haruo!"

"Nice block, Boy! Keep it up, and maybe we'll have a chance!"

Haruo grinned as he was surrounded by his teammates. However, his ecstatic feeling disappeared instantly when he saw Uehara, Shou, and Riku gathered in a small circle, whispering to each other furiously as if they were plotting against him. It wasn't a bad guess since if Riku decided to pass the ball to Uehara, there was a high chance the Thunder's ace would score against him.

"Shit, so he's finally coming again, huh?" he muttered. Then, he turned to Kuniyoshi and asked, "Senpai, could you aim your next serve at their ace?"

Kuniyoshi raised an eyebrow slightly but decided not to ask why. "So, aim at Uehara-san, right? Sure, I can do that."

Haruo sighed in relief when he received the verbal agreement from his senpai. Although he didn't know whether it could stop Uehara completely, at least it would slow him down for a second. And if they were lucky, this would render the ace useless in the next offense. Call him a coward, but he wasn't a head-on battle maniac. As long as the team won fairly, Haruo was willing to do anything to achieve that, including isolating the opponent's best player for as long as possible.

"Come on!"

"Give us a good serve, Kuniyoshi!"

The boy took a deep breath, waiting for the referee to blow the whistle. When he finally heard it, Kuniyoshi didn't hesitate to throw the ball straight at Uehara, just as Haruo had asked.

"Nice receive, Uehara-senpai!"

Haruo had to hold back a sigh of frustration when he saw the ace pick up the ball and recover from his initial position to prepare for an attack so easily. Even though he wished for luck, Haruo knew that luck wasn't on his side today.

"Genta-senpai, get ready! The ace is coming!" he shouted, warning the opposite hitter on the right side.

However, as Haruo saw Uehara take off from the ground, he widened his eyes, realizing that Riku was up to no good. "Shit! He's using the ace as bait! That means the ball will be there!"

The moment that registered in his brain, Haruo charged like lightning, moving from one side of the net to the other in a second. His teammate who happened to be there was taken aback when he saw Haruo approaching, but before he could even question it, he heard Haruo shout, "JUMP! COVER YOUR FRONT!"

BAM!

Fortunately, the player there didn't question him at all and did what Haruo asked without hesitation. As a result, even though the block was one second late, it was still enough to send the ball that Kojima had just spiked back to the Thunder's side.

"Oh! Nice block, Wakaba!"

"Don't celebrate yet! This is not over!" Haruo shouted, his body tense as he constantly observed the entire court to predict where the ball would go next. When he saw Uehara approaching again, and Riku finally sent the ball to the ace, Haruo muttered to himself, "Now, let's see if I can stop this."

And in a second, the collision between the strongest spear and the unbreakable wall finally happened again.

BAM!