The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Chapter 16: Trouble from All Directions!

Yuki's appearance was a mess. His usually neat and tidy hair was now messy and unkempt, sticking up in every direction as if he had been running his hands through it in frustration. Hell, he still even wore the volleyball jersey he used earlier even though it wasn't his in the first place.

However, Yuki didn't care about that.

He kept walking fast in panic, his eyes were scanning the crowded waiting room, trying to see the sign of any kids from the orphanage.

It was the evening after the game, and never crossed his mind for Yuki to come back to the orphanage just to find out there was no sign of life there. He had a bad feeling when he found out the usually crowded and lively kitchen was quiet, and even the light was off there. His heart skipped for a second when he noticed a small note placed on the table.

'Aiko-obaasan passed out. Toshima Hospital, quick!'

There were just two simple sentences there, yet it was enough to let everything crumble inside him. His heart suddenly beat violently, his palm was sweaty. For a moment, Yuki lost himself as his breath was frantic and a massive headache suddenly hit his head. His mind was chaos, filled with every worst scenario possible to happen that he could think of.

The panic attack happened for a while before he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

'Don't panic, Yuki. Come on! Take a deep breath... Again...'

He tried to repeat those words like a charm, trying to loosen the tension inside his head. Once he was calm enough to re-process what happened, Yuki jumped from his spot immediately and rushed toward the Toshima Hospital.

The hospital was pretty close, only ten minutes away from the orphanage if Yuki ran at his full speed. However, the journey there was more exhausting for him than two hours of playing the volleyball game against Matsuyama Kita earlier. His heart was racing the moment he entered the tall building, his stomach was in turmoil at all the negative thoughts he had right now.

It had been a month since the last time Yuki entered this building, and honestly, if possible, he never wanted to go there again. This place reminded him of so many bad memories, especially when he was toldhis parents were lost in the disaster. There were even times when he associated the hospital with a police station, both were the bearer of bad news.

However, right now, he hoped that the bad news wasn't that bad.

"Excuse me, Nurse-Oneesan, but do you know where is Akimura Aiko's room?" Yuki asked a nurse who was at the reception desk, inwardly cursing how shaky his voice was.

The woman raised her head for a moment to see him before smiling kindly and nodding. "She is in the room 403. Don't worry, kiddo. She is just too exhausted, but nothing bad happened."

The nurse's words of reassurance suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks. His knees buckled beneath him, and he felt his legs give way as he let out a sigh of relief. He slid down the wall, his messy appearance now forgotten in the face of relief. Tears of relief pricked at the corners of his eyes as he tried to process the news.

"Do you want me to show you the room?" The nurse asked kindly, snapping Yuki from his thought.

"Thank you so much, Oneesan!" He bowed deeply, full of gratitude.

Unlike the journey to the hospital, the walk to Aiko's room was light, as if a heavy burden suddenly lifted up from Yuki's shoulder. He kept asking the nurse what happened to his matron, yet unfortunately, the older woman next to him didn't know a lot about it. She just knew that Aiko was okay from her colleague's words.

He took a glance at the book in front of him once again, but his mind flew to the game against Matsukita yesterday, especially to Yuki's mocking retort toward the captain. While he was also dissatisfied with the team, Riku had never thought of antagonizing their senpai, knowing clearly even though he grew up in Italy how deeply rotten the seniority culture was in Japan.

'He sure had the ball of steel here.' He smiled wryly. 'Still, it should be me who said that. Unlike him, I still have Akira-jiisan to back me up. Now, there is no way the senpai would be willing to let him join the team again.'

Riku shook his head quickly, trying to banish the sleepiness that wanted to attack him again. His eyes wandered around the class for another few seconds before they landed on the seat where Yuki was usually there, only to find out it was empty.

'Is he still exhausted and couldn't wake up from his bed? It should be. Yesterday should be his first game ever, right? Maybe that is the case.' He mused, then shaking his head immediately, dismissing that idea far away. 'What the hell am I thinking? It is Kobayashi I am talking about, the volleyball genius who can learn anything in a night.

There is no way exhaustion would hold him down like this. There must be something happening in his place. Should I check it later?'

-0-

"So, where are those two little bastards?" Yoshi asked, his expression was ugly. "They didn't even dare to come here after all that insults and mockeries they threw at us yesterday! Goddamnit!"

"Calm down, Yoshi." Yori tried to appease his friend's fiery temper. "I am sure there is a reason why they both didn't come today. And what we did would definitely make a huge commotion. Should we try to use... Milder method?"

It was after school, and other than Yuki and Riku, all the volleyball team members had already gathered there. Their eyes were full of hostility, ready to confront their kouhai. As expected, they didn't forget the offense they received yesterday and wanted to settle the score right now.

"Shut up, Yori!" Yoshi snarked indignantly. "Don't you forget their disrespect yesterday? Those brats need to be reminded who is in charge of the team! I will not let this slide without any consequence!"

Yori sighed, asking Noriyuki for help silently. However, the captain seemed to ignore him since after the game yesterday. It seemed Noriyuki also remembered suddenly that he was told Yori was more suitable as the captain of the team than him and he took offense at it somehow.

Honestly, in a normal condition, they wouldn't be so offended by this little thing. They would probably just call their kouhai privately and tell them to be more respectful. However, this time, they snapped. After receiving the worst scolding they had ever heard from Akira, their temper boiled silently, and it finally erupted, triggered by their kouhai.

Now, the only thing that could appease them was retribution, or maybe for Akira to come and calm them down.

'Speaking of which...' Yori mused. 'Where is Akira-sensei? It is not often he would come late for the after-the-game evaluation. Is there any trouble outside?'

-0-

True to Yori's thought, the one person he thought could appease the players was still in the middle of trouble. Currently, Akira was sitting in the headmaster's office, surrounded by six higher-ups of the school. The atmosphere there was tense as everyone was waiting for the headmaster to decide something.

"I am sorry, Akira-sensei." The headmaster sighed.

"So, what is the verdict?" Akira asked, trying to sound nonchalant even though a pang of sadness popped up in his heart.

"Due to the lack of achievements in the last five years you are here, we can only give you one more chance. If you couldn't bring the team to advance to the top four of the Tokyo Preliminary Tournament, we have no choice but to give up on you, and maybe on the volleyball team too."