The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"So, you are Kobayashi-kun from Tsunemori High," a boy slightly shorter than Yuki suddenly greeted him. The boy extended his hand, introducing himself: "I am Yuuji Tanaka, an opposite hitter from Kodokan High. We will be partners for the rest of the day, so

yoroshiku onegaishimasu

."

Yuki blinked for a moment before accepting the handshake politely. "

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu

, Tanaka-san."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Inwardly, however, he was pleased with his partner. He knew what was coming next, and honestly, Tanaka was probably one of the best options for him.

-A little flashback-

"A test?" all the players asked in unison.

"Yes, a test," Sato nodded. "Although I have the necessary data about all of you, it would be better for me to judge directly by watching you play. This will allow me to see more clearly your strengths, weaknesses, and playing styles. Trust me, this will be important in the future."

Everyone nodded, accepting the reasoning. "So, how will we conduct the test?" Haruo—bless him and his talkative personality—asked the question everyone had in mind.

To that, Sato just grinned widely and said, "Why, of course, it will be the traditional 2v2 game!"

-End of the flashback-

Yes, it was another 2v2 game. Honestly, Yuki didn't know if this was standard protocol, but every time he had met a new coach, they all used the same method to test players' abilities. Akira did this in the beginning, Kawaki also followed suit when he was about to join the Tokyo Thunder, and now Sato was the third one. Only Sekine didn't do that, which Yuki was grateful for since 2v2 games took a very long time.

Still, he could see the usefulness of the test. Just as Akira had said when he joined the team for the first time, a 2v2 game exposed all the player's capabilities, as they had to cover the entire court with just two people. Unlike when they had five other teammates covering the court, in a 2v2, each player had to do everything alone—receiving, blocking, setting, and spiking.

Fortunately, Yuki was paired with another opposite hitter, someone who should ideally be an all-around player on their team. This was probably the second-best scenario, since it was impossible for him to be paired with Riku, who came from the same school. This was for fairness, as Sato had stated.

'Fortunately, I am not paired with a libero or a middle blocker.' Yuki shuddered at that thought. 'That would be a disaster.' Not that he looked down on those positions, but in a 2v2 game, a specialist position like that would suffer the most.

"So, let's discuss our playing style first," Tanaka said. "I am primarily a support player. I can act as the second blocker in emergencies, maybe be a decent receiver in the back row, and I can spike if necessary. However, I cannot spike from the right side as well as I can from the left, so please keep that in mind."

Yuki nodded, starting to formulate a plan based on that information. 'While he is essentially an all-around player, he doesn't have any special skills to make him lethal, just like me. He also didn't mention being a setter, so he probably can't do that. This will be troublesome, but I think I can manage it.'

"So, what about you?" Tanaka asked, snapping Yuki from his thoughts.

After pondering for a moment, Yuki finally answered, "Well, based on the reactions of others when we just arrived, you should've figured out that I'm pretty good behind the service line, right?" Tanaka nodded in response. "Other than that… how should I put it? My playing style would be… a survivor, I guess?" He said the last part a bit uncertainly.

The boy next to him blinked, confused. "A survivor?"

"Yes, a survivor." This time, Yuki nodded with conviction. "As long as the ball hasn't touched the ground, I will do my best to keep it in the air."

A moment of silence passed between them before Tanaka grinned and gave Yuki a hard pat on the shoulder. "Good one! With you, we might have a chance to win it all!"

-0-

After giving all the players fifteen minutes to discuss their strategy with their new and completely unfamiliar partners, Sato finally called them to gather.

"First, let me explain how we will proceed," the old man said. "This will be a survival test. Two teams will face each other, and whoever scores 10 points first will win. The losers will be replaced by the next team. Any questions? Yes, you?" He pointed to a muscular boy who seemed out of place with his build.

"Naomichi Tachi from Sumida High. So, what happens if one team keeps winning all the games?" the boy asked.

"Well, it's simple. That means they will get a chance to play more, and just to inform you, the referee for today is Hasebe-kun, so you can connect the dots."

Oh, yes, that piece of information was enough to make all the players restless. The more games they won, the more they would shine, increasing their chances of impressing Hasebe and maybe, if luck was on their side, getting recruited to the national team for the World Cup next year.

"Also, to make this interesting, the top two teams will receive a special prize at the end of the day, and the bottom four teams will have to clean everything up after the day is over for the rest of the week. Any more questions?" he grinned.

If the earlier information about Hasebe supervising the games made everyone excited, this time, all the players looked at the old man in horror. After all, they all knew the training would be hard, so adding another task at the end of the day seemed overwhelming. However, no one complained, believing they would never find themselves among the bottom four teams.

"Good! Now, to make it fair, I have ten pieces of paper with different numbers on them. The teams that draw numbers one and two will play first, and the losers will be replaced by the teams with numbers three, four, and so on. Do you understand?!"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Good! Now, come up here and pick your number!"

Without being asked twice, all the players rushed toward the old man immediately. While everyone wanted the lowest possible number so they could play as soon as possible, Yuki inwardly hoped that Tanaka would draw a high number like 7 or 8. That way, they could observe the abilities of others without breaking a sweat.

Unfortunately, it seemed Tanaka's luck was pretty good that day. After drawing his number, he came over to Yuki, and together they opened the piece of paper.

'3'

"So, we won't have to wait too long, huh? Sweet!" Tanaka grinned, unaware of Yuki's thoughts. "Well, good! That means we'll have more chances to impress Hasebe-sensei quickly!"

Yuki could only chuckle wryly at his new friend's naive optimism. Still, as this was what they had, and they couldn't change it, he had to adapt. Fortunately, they wouldn't play first, allowing him to still observe the two teams that would compete next.

"So, who got the lucky numbers one and two?" Sato asked.

To Yuki's surprise, Riku suddenly stepped forward with a big grin on his face, followed by a boy slightly taller than the blonde as he announced, "We got number 2, Sensei!"