The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

For a moment, the silence was palpable inside of the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. All the eyes there stared at Kaito in disbelief, still couldn't comprehend how he pulled the last attack. Even the most amateur person who didn't know anything about volleyball could see how amazing the play was. After all, it wasn't often for everyone to see a player win a duel against three blockers in a sequence, so what Kaito did was beyond their imagination.

They even thought that even though Tsunemori High was still on the lead in this set, this play would be the turning point for both teams which would allow Kikugawa High to overtake the score and win this set just like in the first set before.

The silence was finally broken when Kaito called out Yuki. "Oi, Kobayashi!"

Yuki turned around instinctively, wondering why the boy suddenly called him out. "Ha! No matter what kind of a dirty trick you have, you still cannot stop me at all, right?!" Kaito grinned provocatively.

A thick vein popped not only in Yuki's forehead but also in Hirano who overheard this. For Yuki, this was referring to when the boy and Yusuke invaded the school a few days ago just to leave while whining that Yuki was cheating for always targeting Yusuke, and for Hirano, he somehow felt insulted for getting ignored so blatantly like that.

After they saw Kaito go back to gather with his teammates, Hirano said, "Yuki, can you let me deal with him?"

Yuki was surprised when he heard that. This was probably the first time he heard Hirano show any emotion other than a short grunt. However, when he stared at his senpai's eyes, he saw determination burned in it, blazing so brightly with a hint of ambition in it. That was when Yuki realized that Hirano was in for a business, and he wouldn't stop until either he died or he managed to reach the goal.

"Well, if that is what you are hoping for, I will let you do that. Let me know if you need a hand, okay?" He finally said.

Hirano looked at him gratefully before nodding shortly, putting his focus back on the court.

Right after that, the game was about to be restarted once again, and Ao, Kikugawa's middle blocker was replaced by the pinch hitter who caused a bit of commotion in the first set, Akito. All the Tsunemori players moved forward immediately, knowing that the opponent had a quite nasty floater serve. Not as good as what Yuki had, but the control was there, and it would be troublesome if they weren't ready when facing it.

Thud!

In the end, even facing the boos from the crowd, Akito still managed to send a decent floater straight to Tsunemori's side. Unfortunately, he sent it straight to Yuki, the master of the service itself. So, it was pretty easy for the glasses boy to pick that up, sending the ball straight to Riku.

"Oh! A good save!"

"Nice, Yuki!"

When he saw the opponent's players were still staring at him intently, Riku didn't think for too long before moving the ball far to the middle front. There, Hirano was standing, ready to execute the attack.

BAM!

Kaito who was the target of the attack was caught off guard when he saw the ball was coming to his direction. Even though the strength was not that good, he was still one step too late as the ball fell straight in front of him before he could even react, adding one more point for Tsunemori High.

"YEAH!" Hirano clenched his fist, glaring fiercely at Kaito. 'This is the beginning of my revenge!' He thought inwardly.

As for the other Tsunemori players, they all were surprised and felt complicated about Hirano. This was the second time the middle blocker managed to score a point this set, and somehow, they envied the boy for his success in grasping the opportunity when the time came. They knew that Riku only started paying more attention to Hirano when he heard Akira mention the potential inside the middle blocker that was still untapped by him. So, for Hirano to adapt to the new attention being put in his head by the coach and thrive on it successfully, it was pretty enviable.

However, they were still happy for their friend. They could talk about their difference later, but right now, Hirano finally broke out and helped the team gained advantage from the opponent, and that was something worth to celebrate for.

"Good job, Rano! That is your second attack in this set!"

"Man, you did a good job targeting him! You know that our crowd has some sort of grievance against him, right?"

"Don't listen to him too much, Rano! Just stay cool and do your best, don't get provoked easily like someone else."

"What do you mean, Bastard?!"

While all the Tsunemori players were celebrating with each other, Kaito stared at Hirano with his eyes shining brightly. 'Interesting. It seems like he is the same type of player as me, despising a cheap trick and always yearning for a direct confrontation. Let's test that later.'

Unfortunately, the confrontation between those two had to be delayed since Hirano had to go out and get replaced by Okamura.While the libero was another force to be reckoned with in the back line, Hirano was on fire currently, so it was such a loss for the team right now.

This time, it was Asahi's turn to serve. The captain didn't have any unique serve that could pose trouble for the opponent, so he just went for an ordinary one straight to the joint area between the middle back and the left back. Suzuki didn't have any trouble picking it up, and right after that, Ayane rushed immediately before sending a quick pass toward the right side.

"Riku! Together with me!" Yuki shouted, asking for reinforcement.

"I got it!" Riku also reacted quickly, standing together with his friend to stop the opponent's next attack.

"One… Two… Now!"

Those two jumped simultaneously, blocking all the possible area that Kaito could attack to. This was such a good defense, and although Kaito managed to force his way through the wall, it would still soften the blow and gave Tsunemori High a chance to counterattack.

Or… So, that was what everyone thought.

However, to everyone's shock, Kaito jumped probably an inch higher than those two, outmatching them in the air. With him being higher than the wall, he could just ignore Yuki and Riku like they weren't even there. As a result, in front of the absolute power, no matter how hard those two tried to stop it, they couldn't do anything as the attack came from above them.

"FUCK IT!"

BAM!