The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

When people talked about sports, Fukushima would definitely be far from the conversation among the best. Hell, it was worse. It would be okay if they were just like Miyagi or Nigata, two of their neighbor prefectures that, while not among the best, at least was still good enough to compete at the national level. Unfortunately, Fukushima was among the three worst prefectures for a sports fan to live in, and the reason was simple. The teams they had sucked, with the capital 'S' in it.

In football, Fukushima United was struggling even to enter the top 5 of the J.3 League, the bottom tier league in Japan. In Basketball, Fukushima Sniper had to face bankruptcy considering they couldn't find anyone who was rich enough and interested in investing their money in their club. As for volleyball, for almost 20 years the league had already been running, and never for once did Fukushima Fireball manage to achieve a higher position than 15 on the table. They would always be in the bottom three every year, and if only the league had a second-tier and third-tier competition for the lower level teams, Fukushima Fireball would be there already since the establishment of the league.

That was why while it was hurt, no one would miss the presence of the sports teams in Fukushima.

Still, aside from the misfortune that put most of the professional teams in Fukushima out of the league – either because their players couldn't survive or had a career-ending injury from the disaster – there was one small comfort for them. On that fateful day, the U-19 team of Fukushima Fireball had to go for a trip to play against Tokyo Giant Bear, saving their lives from getting swept by the disaster in their hometown.

They came back home battered and wounded, not knowing how they could go forward from the disaster. After all, they were just a junior team. As for the main team, out of 18 players they had, 6 players were missing, 2 had a career-ending injury, 4 were declared dead while the rest of them survived with heavy trauma ensuring to follow them for the rest of their lives.

There was even a conversation at that time about disbanding the team. However, when they were already at rock bottom and half a step away from snapping, several local businessmen suddenly stepped up and helped with the team's financial problem. All they wanted was for the team to become the spirit of the Fukushima people, to encourage them to get out of their slump, and to be a ray of sunshine that people would look up to when they were still in the darkness.

And oh, God, they did that role so well.

They – the management who still chose to stay on the team – decided to rebrand the team, changing the name to Fukushima Phoenix to represent their rebirth after the disastrous event at the beginning of the year. They also decided to not put the remaining U-19 team to the regular competition, feeling that they were not ready to fill that spot yet. Instead, the team decided to let the U-19 team continue their journey in the U-19 league to gain experience before next year they would step up into the big league.

And they didn't disappoint.

Fukushima Phoenix's players fought resiliently like they had just been injected with steroids. Even though their skill was still rough, the unshakable spirit and the desperation to run until the game was over was enough to make up for it. Honestly, if Yuki or any Tsunemori players saw how Fukushima Phoenix played, they would feel some sort of comradery because of how familiar their playing style was.

And just like Tsunemori, this playing style also brought positive results for the Fukushima Phoenix.

Out of 11 games they played since the disaster stroke, they managed to win 7 of them while losing only 4. Adding to their statistic before the disaster, now they were in the seventh of the table with 8 wins and 7 losses, almost securing one spot for a playoff.

People also started to notice them. At first, it was just the workers around who wanted to relax after the arduous task of rebuilding the Fukushima Gymnasium. Slowly after that, families who wanted to enjoy their weekend together, young people who wanted to recover from the traumatic experience, and old people who just wanted to feel nostalgic, one by one started to fill the arena with their presence.

Now, even if they just competed in the junior league, all the matches Fukushima Phoenix played at home would always attract local residents to come, and more often than not, the arena would always be full of people even thirty minutes before the game, and today was no different.

"Hey, hey, hey! I have been waiting for today!" Someone exclaimed excitedly.

"Hell yeah, me too!" His friend replied. "Man, this week's job is rough. It would be good if Phoenix could win the game." He said while enjoying the burger on his hand.

"What the hell?! Where do you get that?!"

"On the stall outside, of course! Don't you know that they have new menus?"

"Really?! Damn, I have to see it by myself!"

The players from both teams had just entered the building, yet the sound coming from the people on the stand had already been buzzing there. All the Thunder's players were in awe as this was the first time they saw a gymnasium full of people watching a volleyball game. Hell, even when their main team played, their arena was never full. At most, only 70 percent was filled, and it was just occasionally when they played a big game against rivals like the Giant Bear or Kyoto Castle as the league's leader.

"Shit, is this for real?" Tondo blinked in awe. "We were here last year too, and I swear the arena is almost empty. Damn, Fukushima rocks!" Yuki couldn't help but smile a little, feeling proud when he heard his hometown was praised by his senpai.

"Don't be distracted. Remember, you are here to win the game, not sightseeing." Shou reminded. Explore more stories with empire

"Yeah, yeah, I got you, captain." Tondo waved his hand nonchalantly.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Before they started their warmup though, Kawaki suddenly asked them to gather around. The players looked around confusedly before shrugging, knowing they wouldn't know what happened until the coach announced it. After all the 11 players were already in front of him, the coach finally spoke, "The good news is Fukuoka Steel lost against Sapporo Snow Hawks, and now their statistic is 7 wins and 9 losses. We move up one spot since we have the least loss, so this is our opportunity to grab the eighth place on the table. Win, and we will be one step closer to the playoff, and lose, we will have to rely on the other team to beat Fukuoka Steel again for us. So, what do you think?"

This piece of information caught them off guard. After all, Sapporo Snow Hawks was the worst team in the league right now, only winning two games – three if what the coach said was true – out of their fifteen games. For Fukuoka Steel to lose against them, it must be stink.

However, after everyone was calm enough to think about it, excitement rose, realizing that this was their chance to strike. Before this, Tokyo Thunder and Fukuoka both had the same record, 7 wins and 8 losses. However, since they – the Thunder – lost against Fukuoka Steel a few months ago, if their final record was the same, it would be Fukuoka Steel who sat in the higher place based on the head-to-head. That was why the Thunder always hoped to see the rival slip.

And now that it happened, this was like a help sent by heaven itself to give them a chance to slip through the playoff stage. So, facing such a scenario, Shou expressed the only appropriate response to Kawaki's rhetorical question.

"Do you even need to ask, Sensei? Of course, we will win this damn game!"