The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Chapter 287 Self Blame

"damn, what a thriller!"

"we are fortunate that amano is here! if not, the team is screwed!"

"yeah! the other players need to step up their game! we have to be better without amano on the court!"

"well, everyone has a bad day, you know?"

"of course, i know! but we still need to be better!"

kato bit her lips nervously as she listened to the heated debate between the phoenix's supporters. being out of place like this somehow made her uncomfortable. when yuki and riku did a fine play, she couldn't celebrate openly, and while their opponent was celebrating, she couldn't sympathize with the supporters around her.

however, that discomfort was forgotten when she saw the dejected look on her two friends. while she might never speak about it out loud, yuki and riku were her first friends, and she cherished her time with them inside her heart. that was why she was willing to do a lot of things that were out of her comfort zone, and coming to fukushima to be yuki's support morale and the two teenagers' supporters was just one of so many examples here.

she was quite happy when the game was under the thunder's control, especially when yuki and riku shone together to suppress the opponent. however, right now, kato is back to being stressed due to the bad result of the team. unfortunately, she was just a supporter here – probably the only thunder supporter who came today. no matter how much she wanted to shout and show them her support, her voice would be drowned by the sea of phoenix's fans around her.

so, yeah, even though she hated it, she had to accept the fact that she couldn't do anything except pray for them. while her eyes landed on the thunder's bench, she unconsciously prayed to whatever god was up there. "kami-sama, the last three days have been pretty hard for us. please, don't give those two a bad day right now...'

-0-

all the players straightened their backs immediately. although the mood was at rock bottom, they all were players who yearned to be a pro. they had to go out no matter how bad their day was since this was what they were paid for.

"okay, listen to me carefully," kawaki spoke, taking a small tactical board out of nowhere. he drew something there before showing it to his players. "even though you failed to complete the objective of helping uehara score a point, the second one to force amano to his limit is good enough. now, at least i have a better idea of his activity range."

this was the information they all were waiting for. they knew that technical-wise, the two teams were at the same level. however, amano really made the difference here, what with him being anywhere and putting pressure on all the thunder's players.

"well, as you have already expected, he covered the entire side of their court, looking from one edge to another. however, there is a pattern here. the moment the serve was hit, he would always move to the middle back immediately. this position gives him the space to move and support all of his teammates timely. but he would always draw an exception. he would only support the front line when their number 11," he pointed his finger at nakamura, "are on the front line too. i don't know why, but at least when it happens, it would leave their back wide open."

almost all of the players nodded, understanding where it came from. discover stories at empire

"he also keeps more eyes on agostini and uehara, so, kobayashi, shou, we will count on you both more in the second set." he glanced sideways at the two players.

"yes, sir!" yuki and shou replied in unison.

"also, he has an insane straight and cross spike, so blockers!" he glared at tondo. "if you want to shut him down, make sure you do that entirely. don't give him any space to get through your wall, okay?!"

"yes, sir!"

they talked for a while about the necessary adjustment to face the second set. although this was just a mere thought, at least the coach's instruction managed to give a glimpse of hope for the thunder's players. even though they didn't know what would happen, they were just hopeful that things would be better in the next set.