The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Riku was always a smart boy. Beneath his loud and obnoxious attitude, he was observant of his surroundings—even though more often than not, he chose to ignore them. Still, that didn't diminish his observational skills.

He knew that Haruo kept a close eye on him—not that it was difficult to see—with the opponent's opposite hitter doing the same. That was a reasonable approach. Even though Riku hadn't played well, he was still the team's setter, the one who controlled the game. Moreover, Haruo knew what he was capable of, so keeping an eye on him was definitely necessary.

That was why, against his nature, Riku decided to patiently stay back in the shadows while letting Yuki steal the limelight.

'No, not yet. That blonde bastard still has his eyes on me. I need to be more patient.' He kept murmuring that to himself.

Honestly, it was impressive for an attention seeker like Riku to remain patient in the dark for this long. However, he knew that Haruo would never let him go unsupervised, so he needed an opening to take action. Fortunately, the chance he had been waiting for finally arrived when all the Giant Bears' players were confident after they sent Yuki off the court.

'Okay, that blonde bastard finally forgot about me! Nice! Now, I can do this!'

Thud!

With a little flick, Riku managed to send the ball behind the Giant Bears' blockers without anyone noticing his intention. Haruo himself had his mouth gaping wide, somehow cursing himself inwardly for his failure. Tomoaki, the opponent's opposite hitter, managed to react the quickest out of his teammates, yet still not quick enough to pick up the ball. As a result, even with three Giant Bears' players around, the ball found the floor, resulting in a point for the Thunder.

"Hell yeah! Nice dump, Agostini!" Tondo high-fived the setter for the successful play.

"Yeah, that was a nasty one! Nobody saw that coming!" Uehara grinned at the dumbfounded look on the opponent's players. "Keep it up, Brat one!" He ruffled the blonde boy's hair fondly.

Riku just grinned sheepishly, trying his best to hide his excitement. However, even from afar, Yuki, who knew him well enough, could see the tension disappear from the setter, and the blonde boy himself started to interact with the others more relaxedly. Seeing that, a small, genuine smile formed on Yuki's face as he murmured, 'Good for you, Riku.'

-0-

After that, the game continued with Shou taking the serve. Now, two Giant Bears' players were tasked with keeping their eyes on Riku. Not that it would make any difference compared to before, but this time, it was an official order from the coach. That meant the entire team would support that decision, and it would definitely be enough to pressure Riku into making a mistake.

Unfortunately for them, the last play was like a trigger that activated Riku's ability. It was like with any great player in the world. It didn't matter how poorly they started the game; once they got their momentum, they became unstoppable.

On the court, Riku suddenly turned into a magician. He distributed the ball craftily, toying with the opponent's blockers as if they were idiots. Even Haruo, who always caused him trouble, was dealt with easily today, and Riku was ecstatic about it.

As for the cause of all this? Well, it came down to the trust Riku had in his teammates that they wouldn't mess up.

Yeah, unlike in Tsunemori, all the hitters here were incredible. They didn't need a wide-open space to score. Even with two blockers in front of them, as long as they could time it perfectly, they would still be able to score. This was the source of Riku's newfound confidence. Experience tales at empire

After all, it didn't matter how quickly Haruo managed to react, as long as he was able to slow the blocker down by even half a step—hell, even a full step was enough—his teammates would be able to kill it.

So, yes, that was the beginning of the torture session for the Giant Bears' players.

BAM!

"Oh! Nice rebound, Shou!"

"Miyahara-senpai, give it to me!" Riku shouted, raising his hand.

Haruo tensed for a second when the ball flew to the setter. He had to admit that Riku played far better than he had seen in the game between Tsunemori and Kyoei Gakuen or even during the training camp with the other talented players. He didn't know what had changed drastically in the blonde boy, but he sure as hell didn't want to be fooled by Riku again.

Unfortunately, Haruo stared at Riku for too long, and Riku noticed that. So, Riku decided to send the ball to the left corner, where Uehara had already jumped, far from Haruo's reach.

"SHIT!" The blocker cursed, running to cover the space.

If it had been any hitter from Tsunemori, Riku wouldn't have felt confident leaving them alone while Haruo rushed like a madman in their direction. However, Uehara was different. The outside hitter noticed that there was only one and a half blockers in front of him, so he slammed the ball as hard as possible before Haruo could form the second wall completely.

BAM!

"Hell yeah!" Uehara clenched his fist as he landed on the floor, celebrating the successful attack. "Damn, Agostini! That was an amazing pass!" he praised the boy.

"You too, senpai! That was one hell of a spike!" Riku grinned, returning the praise.

Amidst the celebration, he glanced for a moment and caught Haruo staring at him. Feeling a bit bold since everything had started to go in his favor, Riku smirked provocatively, which only resulted in a scowl from the middle blocker.

'Oh, fine, you win this round, stupid blondie. Just wait until I kill you later,' Haruo thought.

Or… That was what he hoped would happen next. Unfortunately, it seemed that Lady Luck was on the Thunder's side today, as once again, Ojiro Senta's attack wasn't enough to break Tondo's wall, as the Thunder's middle blocker finally started to get used to the ace's timing.

BAM!

"One touch!" Tondo shouted.

"Nice block, Tondo!" Shou, who had just served the ball, picked it up since it came in his direction. "Agostini!"

Haruo straightened his back immediately, getting ready to react. However, while he was still trying to figure out what Riku would do, the setter had already made his move, and Haruo was taken aback by the sudden quick attack.

'Shit! They've never done this before, and I forgot about a quick! I need to move—'

BAM!Nôv(el)B\\jnn

In the end, Haruo could only watch as once again, Uehara managed to score without meeting any blockers from the Giant Bears' team. Riku himself smirked, his eyes finding Haruo's as the setter mouthed silently, 'Now, we're even, Bastard!'

Tokyo Thunder 17 – 13 Tokyo Giant Bear