The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"See what I told you before?"

Lucas grinned widely as he saw Hikaru still frozen in place after he failed to receive Yuki's serve twice in a row.

"You weren't on the team when we played against him, so of course, you don't understand our pain. Let's switch positions, and let me deal with that."

Hikaru scowled upon hearing his Brazilian senpai's words. However, he couldn't refute them since he was indeed responsible for the consecutive points lost. If this were an official game, it would have been enough for the coach to bench him and make him watch from the sidelines.

Moreover, unlike Shimada, who – from Hikaru's perspective – was just a sidekick and could be replaced by anyone on the bench at any time, Lucas was different. The Brazilian boy was the ace of the team, and with another monstrous talent like Matsumoto here, being able to hold that position told Hikaru a lot about Lucas's capabilities.

Questioning Lucas would be the quickest and most foolish way to get himself kicked out of the team.

"Okay, enough playing around!" Harada, the setter, finally interrupted. "Come on, we need to continue the game. Hikaru, try to keep your temper in check, and don't provoke Shimada all the time. I know you two are not getting along well, but we are in front of Sato-sensei and his staff right now, so don't embarrass our school, okay?"

Even though the tone was flat and it was said with an expressionless face, Hikaru still shivered at the hidden threat from Harada. He knew that, even though the captain was Matsumoto, Harada held the position of the one who disciplined the others. Although he didn't know what would happen if he didn't follow Harada's orders, he didn't want to push his luck too much.

After a quick communication with all the players, Harada finally nodded at Sato, signaling that they were ready. Yuki, who saw this, raised one of his eyebrows, finding the situation on the opposite side of the court intriguing.

'That barbarian blocker is calmer now, and Lucas Silva is shifting his position slightly into the blocker's spot. They want to switch positions and let Lucas Silva handle it. Well, I can use this to my advantage.'

While his serve arsenal was Yuki's biggest weapon, he would argue that his observation skills were the second most valuable, replacing his defensive ability, which he had relied upon for the first two or three months of playing the game. Even though the observation he just made was pretty basic, it was still enough for him to make the best of it.

The moment Sato blew the whistle, Yuki tossed the ball into the air, ready to serve. As he jumped, his eyes caught Hikaru moving to the middle immediately while Lucas stepped forward from the bottom left to cover the blocker's position. Seeing that, Yuki couldn't help but smirk, knowing that everything was going according to his prediction.

'Well, let's see if you can stop this!'

Thud!

Hikaru, who was running to the middle, was caught off guard when he saw the ball still coming in his direction. Yuki had aimed his serve into the area between the left and middle, cutting off Hikaru's escape route.

'SHI – !'

Seeing the ball come his way while he was in the middle of running, Hikaru cursed his luck. Lucas also didn't expect Yuki to send the ball there. However, no matter how quick his reaction was, the tanned-skinned boy couldn't do anything, since if he moved to pick up the ball, he would crash into his kouhai, and that wasn't a risk he was willing to take for a friendly game like this.

As a result, while Hikaru was able to make contact with the ball, it didn't go up in the air; instead, it bounced into the net before falling to the floor. Just like Lucas, the other Konan players also didn't want to dive for an attempt to save it, allowing Yuki to score three straight aces in a row.

"Oh, you got them again!"

"Three times in a row?! Are you kidding me?!"

"Damn, Kobayashi! How can someone be this good?!"

"Oi, don't mess with my hair!"

While all the players on the opposite side celebrated the point by ruffling Yuki's hair, some of the Konan players approached Hikaru, not to reassure him or ask if he was okay, but to tease him.

"Well, it seems you are disliked here, Hikaru. Who would have thought that a rookie from a no-name school like that four-eyes would target you?" Shimada asked playfully.

Upon hearing that, a thick vein popped on Hikaru's forehead. He was about to snap before Harada – thank God for his timely reaction – interrupted, "Okay, enough, Shimada-kun. I can understand if this is coming from Hikaru, but from you, his senpai? Please, be a bit more mature."

Shimada could only rub the back of his neck sheepishly, yet no apology was offered. Of course, Harada didn't expect one, knowing the nature of their relationship. It would be strange if either Shimada or Hikaru suddenly apologized to each other.

"And the last serve was also mainly Lucas's fault, though."

Harada suddenly switched to English, making sure that the Brazilian boy could understand.

"Me?"

Lucas pointed at himself, surprised.

"Yes, you."

Harada nodded in confirmation.

"You somehow forgot the basic skills needed to face a trickster like that four-eyes. Don't move until you can see for sure what kind of ball he throws. What did you do in the last play?"

"I switched positions with Hikaru-kun before I knew what kind of ball he threw,"

Lucas mumbled guiltily.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Good, you realize your mistake. Don't do it again, okay?"

If anyone who didn't know the dynamic within Konan's team saw this interaction, they would be surprised to see probably the best player in the national tournament getting berated by his teammate like this.

"Okay, we need to put more focus on the game! It is embarrassing enough for a freshman to toy with us like this, but to do it in front of Sato-sensei and his staff? I think we all agree that we cannot let that happen again, right?" Harada asked challengingly.

All the Konan players exchanged glances filled with new determination. It seemed Harada's words were enough to reignite their spirit after it had waned since they won the national tournament.

As for Hikaru, the main victim of Yuki's serve, he turned his head, glaring fiercely at the bespectacled boy on the other side of the court. "Just you wait, bastard! I will pay you back for this humiliation tenfold!"