The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Nagano Eagles… I got this!" Yuki could hear Riku's excitement from the phone as if the blonde boy had just done something incredible. "So, you say that this is Hisashi-senpai's team?" Yuki didn't know what kind of expression Riku had right now, but by the disbelief tone he heard, he could make a pretty good guess here.

It was the night after Yuki's visit to the Tsunemori's team, and the first thing he did after he came back to the orphanage was to grab his phone and call Riku. Hisashi on the U-19 competition was a new, unexpected development, and while it wouldn't change anything, at least he still felt that he needed to keep Riku in the loop.

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"Well, Nagano Eagles is an upper-middle team in the league. They have been sitting in either third or fourth place consistently in the last five years, and two years ago, a local investor was kind enough to help them stay competitive, since then, they managed to be the runner-up of the league last year before being defeated by Kyoto Castle." Riku read the information thoroughly, giving Yuki a clear image of the team.

"What about their U-19 team?" Yuki asked.

"Oh, they are, in fact, better." The wry chuckle from the blonde boy was enough to alarm Yuki that he wouldn't like what the next information was. "Before the new investor came two years ago, they had been a pretty competitive team, and they did that only by relying on their young players. Their U-19 team managed to win the last four trophies before last year, Kyoto Castle – which was the best team in the league – somehow managed to steal the title from them. But in the youth competition, Nagano Eagles is probably the best in the country."

Yuki had his mouth gaped wide, not believing what he just heard. 'If it is true that Nagano Eagles is the best team in terms of youth development, how could Hisashi-san enter the team?'

No offense to Hisashi, but the boy graduated from Tsunemori, a no-name school in the volleyball world before Riku and Yuki managed to drag them up so that people started to hear their name more often. Yuki was sure that he had never heard the team manage to achieve the same feat they had done this year when Hisashi was the team's leader.

"Does it matter, though?" Riku's question made Yuki realize that he just muttered his thoughts out loud. "In the end, Hisashi-senpai is just another player we have to beat in the future, so just don't overthink it, okay?!"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Yuki was stunned, then a wry smile grew on his face. Riku was right. Even though there was some sort of emotional connection between them three, in the end, they were rivals first in the competition, and if they wanted to go further, someone had to lose against each other.

"You are right, in the end, he would just be another one we will beat in the future!"

"Attaboy! That is the spirit!"

-0-

The next few weeks ran pretty quickly, with Yuki and Riku still juggling between Tokyo Thunder and Tsunemori Team consistently. It wasn't an easy thing to do, considering their schedule was pretty tight. A game every week with Tokyo Thunder was enough to drain their stamina, and now, Tsunemori also started their warmup game to maintain the players' competitive spirit.

Fortunately, Akira was kind enough to discuss this matter with Kawaki. The two coaches for Yuki and Riku met and talked about how they would share Yuki and Riku for the team, and in the end, consensus was made. Besides the game day every Saturday, Yuki and Riku would join the Thunder on the physical training every Tuesday and Thursday, and Tsunemori would have those two for the tactical and technical training every Wednesday.

It was though, of course, to have three full days every week devoted to volleyball training, and another one for a competitive game. If not for the Thunder's health department, their tight schedule would be too much and the stress would eventually take its toll.

On a good note, though, Yuki started to have more minutes to play with Tokyo Thunder U-19. Two weeks ago, when they won against Hyogo Delfino 3 – 0, aside from being a pinch server from time to time, Yuki also had a chance to play full for the second set, which he took advantage of to create a strong impression to anyone who watched it. A week later, when they played against Osaka Gunners, the sixth team on the table, Yuki had a chance to play more considering Miyahara had a bad game at that time.

Overall, Yuki gained so much valuable experience in the last three weeks, and his confidence to grab one spot on the main team was at its peak right now.

Unfortunately, all the excitement evaporated instantly when he saw the next opponent. His face got paler gradually and he started to have a hard time breathing. His vision suddenly got darkened and he started to lose consciousness. Fortunately, he was at the orphanage at that time, and Aiko who realized what happened rushed immediately to calm down the hyperventilating boy.

"Take a deep breath, Yuki-kun… Follow my lead, inhale… Exhale… Do it one more time, inhale… Exhale…"

Yuki did as Aiko said and his consciousness finally went back to his body. Then, he noticed how wet his shirt was and realized that it was a cold sweat he just produced at the last minute. "What… Happened?" He asked weakly.

"You have a panic attack," Aiko explained softly, rubbing his back slowly. "It has been a long time since you have one. If I remember correctly, it should be a week after you arrived at the orphanage for the first time, right? If you don't mind me asking, why do you think it happened again now? What is the trigger?"

Yuki bowed his head deeply, somehow feeling ashamed not only because Aiko remembered the last time he showed his weakest moment, but also because he did it again now.

"Hey, don't think about it like that." Aiko's voice snapped him from his thoughts, and before Yuki could realize it, he was engulfed by a bear hug from the woman. "You have been amazing for us since you've been here, and I know the children will also think the same. One or two weakness moments slipped from you will never make us think less about you, so don't worry about it, okay?"

Yuki could only nod silently on her shoulder, not trusting his words to come out without any crack in them. After spending a few minutes in comfortable silence, still hugging the boy, Aiko asked once again, "So, do you want to talk about this?"

Reluctantly, Yuki got out of Aiko's hug with his eyes swollen from the tears he didn't realize coming out of his eyes. He took his phone quickly before his fingers dancing on it while mumbling, "Well, we will have a game three days later…" Aiko nodded, still not finding where was the problem. "And our opponent would be them…" He showed his phone to Aiko, and after she spent a second reading the team's name, words seemed to stick to her throat.

"Oh…" That was what she could say.

Yuki snorted, muttering, "Yeah, oh, indeed…"

The things they left unsaid, though, were that Tokyo Thunder's next opponent would be Fukushima Phoenix, which meant that in the next three days, Yuki would have to return to his hometown for the first time since the earthquake a few months ago.