The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Chapter 9: A 2v2 Practice, First Partnership with Riku!

"Urgh..."

As the bright sunlight streamed through the window, Yuki groggily opened his eyes to find himself tangled in a mess of sheets and blankets. He rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off the lingering exhaustion that had been plaguing him all week.

The first week of school had been a whirlwind of new classes, unfamiliar faces, endless homework, volleyball club, and a part-time job, and it seemed like his body was still trying to recover from the marathon. Yuki yawned, feeling the dryness of his mouth and the weight of his eyelids, which seemed to be anchored to the pillow.

He stretched out his arms, feeling the stiffness in his shoulders and the ache in his head, and slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed.

As he sat there, rubbing his temples, he couldn't help but wonder if this was what they meant by 'adjusting to school life' Aiko had told him about before the term began.

As his gaze drifted across the room, Yuki's eyes landed on the familiar frame on his desk, a cherished reminder of his childhood, and Yuki suddenly chuckled, full of bitterness. "Damn, can time really make me forget all the wounds?" He mumbled to himself.

The photo showed him sitting on his parents' lap, beaming with joy, surrounded by the warm glow of a sunny afternoon. His eyes lingered on the smiling faces, his heart skipping a beat as he felt a pang of nostalgia wash over him. It was a moment frozen in time, one that he cherished deeply, but lately, it had been easy to forget.

The first week of school had been overwhelming, and amidst the chaos of everything, he had started to neglect the memories of his parents. The guilt and shame crept in like a thief in the night, stealing away the joy and warmth he once felt when looking at the photo. Yuki's eyes began to sting as he felt a lump form in his throat.

"Yuki-nii! Are you awake?!" Suddenly, a small, cute voice came knocking on his door excitedly.

Yuki wiped all the traces of tears on his face quickly before shouting. "Come in!" To the little girl outside.

He hated the shakiness he couldn't hide in his voice right now. Fortunately, the girl didn't notice that, jumped excitedly to his bed for a cuddle. She giggled merrily the moment she was under his arms, snuggling closer to his chest.

"You haven't taken a bath, Mei-chan?" Yuki smiled, asking with faux disgust as he pinched his nose playfully.

"No!" The girl, Mei giggled more, shaking her head to make her messy hair wave around. "Aiko-baasan is still preparing for breakfast. The others haven't woken up yet, so I come here!"

Yuki shook his head in exasperation, smiling fondly at the girl. For a moment, gone was all the sadness and the negative feelings inside, replaced by a sense of peace settled over him as the boy kept listening to his little sister babbling about anything.

"Well, since Aiko-obaasan is preparing for the breakfast, what about we give her a hand?"

The girl's doe eyes lightened up as she jumped from his arms and dashed outside quickly. "Sure! Come on, Yuki-nii! Quick!"

The boy chuckled fondly, staring at the girl who was giggling all over the corridor. For a moment, he stared at the picture on his desk once again, and after praying for a moment for his parents, he mumbled, "Sorry, Dad, Mom, I have to go first. But I promise I will bring your favorite later. Bye!"

-0-

"Come on, everyone! Keep moving!"

"Noriyuki, don't stop!"

"Okumura, where is your voice?!"

"Yoshi, one more turn!"

Yuki blinked his eyes in astonishment when he entered the school's gymnasium. Although it was Saturday, all the volleyball team members were there, no one was absent from the morning practice. Under Akira's devilish torture, he saw his senpai keep running and diving forward to save the ball their coach threw in any random direction.

"Oh, Yuki-kun, you are here!" Megumi suddenly noticed his presence and greeted him with a bright smile.

"Good morning to you too, Senpai." Yuki greeted back, yet his eyes were still locked on the court. "Am I late or what?"

"Don't worry, you are on time. Riku-kun hasn't even arrived yet." She reassured him. "This is just Akira-sensei's punishment for their bad performance in the sparring game before. And don't worry, you will be included in this kind of training too in the future if you decide to join the team." She said the last part with a giggle, sending a shiver down his spine.

Yeah, even though Yuki came to the training session, he hasn't joined the team yet. The boy promised to the coach that he would consider it after the first week doing his part-time job and he felt he could adapt to the tight schedule. For now, his status was just a helper and an unofficial member, always ready to fill up the blanks when the team needed it.

"By the way, are you going to Obaasan's house after this?" Megumi suddenly asked.

"Yeah. I promised her I would be there in the evening for at least three hours before going home." Yuki answered casually. Looking at Megumi's meaningful gaze though, he grew suspicious immediately. "Why?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Nothing." The older girl replied immediately, schooling her features to look innocent.

"Don't give me that, Senpai. You are too easy to read." Yuki snorted.

Megumi pouted slightly, slapping his arms playfully. "You are so rude, Yuki-kun." She sniffed. After a while, a smile formed on her face as she explained, "Well, Kato-chan would be here, so I hope you both can have some fun together!"

Yuki groaned immediately after he heard that, and Megumi giggled harder at his reaction. Kato was the name of her little sister who coincidentally also sat behind him in the classroom. She was super shy though, and she would always avoid his gaze even in her grandmother's house. It was super awkward for Yuki whenever he met the girl.

"Oh, Kobayashi-kun, you are already here?" Another voice suddenly greeted him from behind, and when Yuki turned around, he saw Riku yawned widely, wearing a casual attire that enhanced his appearance more.

"You are going to play volleyball or go on a date?" Yuki asked sarcastically.

"What is wrong with my clothes?" Riku asked confusedly when he realized Yuki was talking about what he wore. "It is good and comfortable! It is not my fault that my handsomeness increased ten-fold with just a simple modification like this!"

Yuki rolled his eyes while Megumi giggled once again at Riku's narcissistic comment.

"Oh, you both are here!" Akira finally noticed their presence and greeted them warmly. He furrowed his brows immediately when he saw his nephew's attire. "Are you going for training or a date?"

Kaede winced the moment he saw the ball zoomed into his direction with an incredible speed. That was when he remembered how Yuki did it for the first time a few days ago. He bent his knees a little to find his balance, then relaxed his forearms to absorb the impact of the serve. Unfortunately, he forgot to aim where the ball would go, letting it go back to the other side once again.

"Sorry for this one, Ogawa!"

"Don't worry! Prepare yourself!"

"Chance ball!"

Honestly, everyone was surprised at how Kaede adapted so quickly and learned how to stop such a strong serve just after watching it twice. However, since the ball flew high to Riku and Yuki's side, all the players there were waiting for what their kouhai would do.

"Kobayashi, here!"

Riku was already running to the spot close to the net, ready to set a ball for him. Yuki himself was calm, observing his opponent's move while waiting for the ball to come down. When he noticed they took a step back and were ready to receive the attack, he suddenly let out a small smirk as a devious idea suddenly popped inside his mind.

'Well, let's see...'

Without hesitation, he jumped immediately, shocking everyone who thought he would pass the ball first to Riku. Not giving the opponent time to react, Yuki wiped the ball gently over the net, letting it fall into the front side of the other court.

The moment Yuki jumped, Kaede and Ogawa reacted, yet it wasn't quick enough to cover their front side as Yuki executed the ball easily without any blocker bothering him.

Silence dropped on the gym as all eyes were looking at him in disbelief. Yuki himself just smirked, turning at his coach, and asked, "It is not an illegal shot, right?"

-0-

*BAM!*

"Shit! Sorry for that one, Kobayashi!"

"Don't mind! Keep running!"

*BAM!*

"Damn!" Riku cursed out loud as he went back to his position, ready to receive another attack as his spike a second ago was blocked perfectly by Hirano.

This was the fourth game he played today after beating the pairing of Kaede-Ogawa, Yori-Asahi, and Koji-Okumura. In total, he and Yuki had been playing for more than one hour non-stop, and their movement started to get sloppy.

And to make it worse, currently, they were playing against Hirano-Ren, the two tough middle blockers who could run their money up against even the best hitters in the prefecture right now.

However, no matter how exhausted he was, Riku had the time of his life right now. Partnering with Yuki was proven to be enjoyable, especially the moment something clicked between those two, making it easier for them to understand each other.

Yuki himself was probably not the best hitter he had ever met. In fact, his strength was just average, couldn't generate enough power to break down the easiest wall the middle blocker set in front of him. However, Riku was convinced Yuki was probably the smartest player he had ever met.

The glasses boy covered up his lack of strength with his dynamic movement, always running around to confuse the opponent about where he would go. And to make it better, he could understand where Riku wanted him to be just with a single glance as if he could read the blonde boy's mind.

He was also very creative with his spike; from a dump, a good cross, hitting on the ugly spot, to deliberately hitting straight to the opponent's middle blocker to give him another chance to set a better offense play.

This was the type of hitter that Riku enjoyed the most playing together with.

"Agostini, jump! They are going for a quick attack!"

Hearing Yuki's shout, Riku didn't hesitate to jump and extend his arms high to cover the sky. This was also something he admired from Kobayashi, the ability to read the game and take command to decide what would be the best action to take just in a split second.

*BAM!*

"Chance ball!" Riku shouted the moment the ball flew behind after he deflected it with his hand.

"Shit! Hirano, be ready!" Ren, the third-year middle blocker cursed when he saw another one of his attacks was blocked.

Yuki ran to the back side of the court to pick up the ball and send the ball high to give Riku time to recover first. After that, he started to run forward, ready to jump and attack. Unfortunately, Riku was too exhausted to set the ball perfectly as it went too low for Yuki's liking.

"Shit! Sorry, Kobayashi-kun!"

"Hirano, get ready! He won't be able to hit it perfectly!"

Seeing Hirano in front of him, Yuki still jumped, gritted his teeth as he used every last ounce of energy to spike the ball. And then, in a flash of brilliance, Yuki adjusted his trajectory mid-air and hit the ball straight into Hirano's waiting hands. Everyone gasped in shock as the ball deflected off Hirano's fingers and sailed far outside the court, out of bounds.

All the players who watched the game were so stunned that they couldn't even react. They stood there, mouths agape, staring at the ball as it bounced away from the court. While they knew Yuki was capable of doing a lot of things, they didn't know he could pull something like that out of nothing.

And by the look of the boy himself, it seemed he also didn't have any slight idea of what he had done a second ago.

The players on both teams were equally stunned, frozen in place as they watched the ball roll away from the court. The silence was palpable, broken only by the sound of the alarm ringing, signaling that another twenty minutes had gone.

And after that, claps of appreciation suddenly echoed all over the gym, as Akira nodded in appreciation at Yuki.

"You really are one hell of a player, Kobayashi-kun. Damn, with you on the team, Tokyo preliminaries would be a hell lot easier for us."