The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"So, how did it go?" Sato asked, sitting relaxed on the sofa, enjoying the coffee in front of him. It was night, and he was there with Hasebe to discuss the players' performance that day.

"Honestly? It was as exhausting as I expected it to be," Hasebe answered grumpily. "While I appreciate their determination, times like this remind me that they are just a bunch of hot-headed teenagers who might recklessly hurt themselves without supervision."

"Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad," Sato chuckled.

For that, Hasebe rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "Yes, Sensei, it is that bad."

-A Little Flashback-

"So, where do you think we'll sleep?" One of the players asked.

"W-Well, we have a dormitory here, so I think we will be staying there," replied a shy boy whom Hasebe identified as Nobuhiro Sawada, one of the two players from the host school.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Oh, dormitory? Is that any good, Sawada-kun?" The blonde boy from Tsunemori perked up. From their interaction, it seemed those two knew each other outside the court.

"W-Well, I don't know. It isn't mandatory to live in the dormitory, but I can't think of a place where 18 players could sleep other than our dorm," Sawada explained.

The conversation was aimlessly wandering, and Hasebe, overhearing, intended to leave them alone. However, one of the boys' next remarks stopped him in his tracks.

"Hey, let's play one more game before we go!" one of them suggested. Find your next read at empire

"That's a good idea! Should we ask Kobayashi-kun?" the others responded.

"Yeah! I want revenge!"

"But Hasebe-sensei said we should go back and rest, right?"

"Well, he doesn't need to know about it."

Hasebe, hiding behind the gymnasium door, was fuming as he overheard their conversation. One thing he hated most was when his players broke the rules and ignored his instructions, and this was exactly what they were planning to do. Honestly, he didn't understand why they still wanted to play after three hours of tournament play. They might still be in an adrenaline rush or, as one of them mentioned, they just wanted revenge for the humiliation Yuki inflicted on them earlier.

Still, that didn't justify their intent to disregard his words. There was a reason why Hasebe instructed them to rest immediately. After playing in high-intensity games for more than two hours, their minds might say they weren't tired, but their bodies were on edge, and one wrong move could land them in the hospital.

It was bad enough that one player had to visit the hospital on the first day, and Hasebe wanted to avoid making it worse. So, the only course of action he could take was to intervene before they could do something foolish behind his back.

"Go to your dorm, and if I see any of you returning to play, I won't hesitate to ground you for the rest of the week. Do you understand?"

-End of the Flashback-

"Oh, you really are not wasting any time intimidating those poor boys," Sato chuckled, amused by Hasebe's story.

"Oh, sure, you'll find that funny," Hasebe grumbled. "Let's see how you feel when you're in the midst of it."

"Well, it's definitely something I look forward to. Being around teenagers keeps me feeling young," Sato waved his hand nonchalantly. "Anyway, back to the topic—has anyone caught your interest?" he asked curiously.

"Plenty, if you ask me." Hasebe straightened his posture and placed a stack of files in front of Sato. "First, regarding Aizawa-kun, his identity is quite sensitive, but unfortunately, he is not as good as the media hypes him to be."

"Oh, really?" Sato arched his eyebrows, picking up the file in front of them. It contained Hasebe's initial report after the 2v2 competition, and while it might not be complete, the information within and Hasebe's story would be enough for Sato to understand the situation.

"Well, for starters, he lacks experience. His instinct and reaction speed are as good as the report says, but he gets easily fooled by smarter players. He also tends to get involved in every play. I swear, in a normal 6v6 game, he would insist on receiving serves if he could," Hasebe grumbled, clearly dissatisfied with Aizawa's performance that day.

"He also got into a fight?"

"Oh, not a fight per se. He got into a heated argument with Akihiro-kun, who was his first partner, as they both struggled to handle Kobayashi-kun's serves. This is something to work on this week."

Sato grumbled a little about that. It was always troublesome to work with someone under a big-name reputation like Aizawa. Fortunately, other than being hot-headed, the boy didn't possess any problematic traits that could jeopardize the entire camp, like arrogance toward the other players or anything of the sort. That would be a headache for Sato and the entire staff if it were the case.

"So, what about the others?" Sato asked again.

"Well, there's Yuki Kobayashi from Tsunemori High. He's the winner of today's tournament. As for how to describe him…" Hasebe pondered. "He's a menace."

"A menace?" Sato chuckled, intrigued.

"Yeah, the kind of menace that the old man Sekine would like," Hasebe clarified. "His playing style revolves around trickery, and his serving arsenal is something only a few professional players I know possess. But the most important factor is his mentality. His creativity is extraordinary, and I'm sure that old geezer would drool observing Kobayashi-kun play."

"Oh, he doesn't have to," Sato said, amused. "After all, this boy is Sekine's protégé."

"Really?!" Hasebe widened his eyes in surprise. "That explains the menacing style of play he displayed. Poor the others. They won't know what hit them," he mumbled, not questioning how Sato knew that information.

"What about his partner?"

"Well, Yuuji Tanaka has solid fundamentals and is always accurate in his decision-making. He lacks the confidence to make independent choices, but once he has a strong leader directing him, he becomes a force to be reckoned with. That's why the pairing of him and Kobayashi-kun has thrived this far."

"Interesting," Sato mused, flipping through the file about Tanaka. "I'm sure I'll have fun with both of them. What about this Miyauchi-kun and Ichiro-kun? They are the only ones who managed to beat those two twice, right?" he asked.

"Well…" Hasebe took a deep breath, "this is a bit complicated."