The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Idiot! Don\'t pressure him like that!" Hiko smacked his twin sister hard. "And don\'t talk while chewing your food! That is disgusting!"

Yuki could only shake his head in exasperation as he saw the twins\' antic. By now, he was getting used to the twins\' squabble every morning, sometimes because Hina was too slow in the bathroom, or maybe because Hiko took Hina\'s things without saying anything.

He was just glad that those two could still be as cheerful as normal children could be, especially considering the permanent injury craved into their bodies.

"Niichan, I want a princess braid!" Mai Who sat on his lap suddenly spoke. "Can you do it like Kato-nee did?" She asked.

Yuki couldn\'t help but sigh, silently cursing Kato for indulging Mai\'s request to do whatever princess braid was. He wiped the rice stuck on the corner of the girl\'s mouth while silently staring at Aiko, giving the matron a pleading look to help him escape from this situation. Aiko herself just giggled, but decided to take pity on him as she grabbed the little girl to sit on her lap.

"Mai-chan, your Niichan is going to have a big game today, so don\'t bother him, okay?" She rubbed Mai\'s hair gently. "Later, Yuki-nii will be back home bringing some snacks for you, and I will ask Kato-nee to come here and play with you again, what about that?"

The gloom on the little girl\'s face suddenly disappeared as her expression lightened up. "Really?" She asked.

"Yup." Aiku smiled gently.

"Promise?" Mai blinked with her cute, doe eyes, making Yuki want to pinch it straight away. Still, Yuki knew this was the most important stage for him to appease his little sister, so he kneeled so he could see Mai eye-to-eye while giving her his pinkie. "Promise." He nodded.

"Good." Mai nodded too, her smile showed that she was satisfied with the agreement. "Good luck, Yuki-nii."

Yuki shook his head fondly while rubbing her hair, resisting the urge to pinch her cheek. It took him a while to finish his breakfast, especially under the children\'s questions about the game. After a while though, he had finally done his routine, ready to go.

"Wish me luck, okay?" Yuki grinned at them.

"Sure! Good luck, Yuki-nii!"

"Bring us the win!"

"Yeah! Don\'t you dare to lose!"

Yuki took a deep breath, adjusting his shoes several times before started running. Even though summer was about to come, the air was still comfortable for outdoor activity, especially in the morning. He let his face hit by the wind breeze, inwardly smiling when remembering the children\'s enthusiasm for him earlier.

\'With that kind of motivation, how could I lose today?\'

-0-

According to the bracket, today\'s game will be held in Tsunemori High. Yuki was glad that they didn\'t have to go to another school again for a game. No matter how good the opponent\'s court was, it wouldn\'t be able to beat the feeling of familiarity of playing in his own school.

However, it seemed familiarity wasn\'t the only advantage of playing at home.

The moment Yuki arrived at the gymnasium, he had his jaws dropped when he saw the building was filled with more than a hundred enthusiastic students there, all of them showing their support for the team.

He could estimate that the number was far more than when he played against the senior team a few weeks ago, and by the look of the students who still hanging around outside of the building, he could guess that the number would rise again when the game began.

"What is this?" He asked, his eyes still wandering around in awe. "How could there be so many spectators today?"

"Well, it seems this was the good news that Akira-sensei forgot to tell us a week ago," Okamura answered wryly. "He had already negotiated a term with the school, and the headmaster agreed to free the day for the students so that we can have the support live. Now, we can say we have a proper home advantage here."

Yuki nodded numbly, still couldn\'t comprehend how such a thing could happen. It seemed the rumor that the headmaster was a former volleyball player on the team was true as the leader of the school went all out to support the team.

He turned his head around, just to see the other players having some conversations with the students outside of the court. Riku was also there, surrounded by the fangirls that kept bothering the boy. Still, Yuki couldn\'t see the two most important figures on the team, so he asked to Okamura next to him, "Where are Megumi-senpai and Akira-sensei?"

"Akira-sensei is outside, waiting for the opponent in the gate." The libero answered. "As for Megumi-senpai, I don\'t know. She just said she would bring us our second good news here. Ah, speaking of her…" He stopped talking, having his jaws dropped at the sight in front of him.

Curious, Yuki turned around quickly, just to find the manager waving at him cheerfully while accompanying the old man he was familiar with.

"Sekine-jiisan? Why are you here?" Yuki exclaimed.

All the players there turned around too when they heard his words, just to be surprised to see the old man who coached them during the camp to be here too. "Old geezer? Why are you here?" Riku repeated Yuki\'s question more rudely.

"Of course, I am here to watch your game, Brat!" Sekine made a hand gesture that made the players stiffen their laughter. "I was getting dragged into this mess by your bastard coach!"

"Really?" Everyone was taken aback.

"Yes! Just ask your manager here." He grumbled.

Megumi\'s face flushed when all eyes suddenly turned to her. Still, she bowed quickly and apologized, "I apologize for Akira-sensei\'s rudeness, Sekine-sensei. He has never told us about this beforehand."

Sekine\'s expression softened as he patted Megumi\'s head, treating the girl as if she were his granddaughter. "Don\'t worry, Megumi-chan. You are not the one who wronged me here. It should be that boy who kneels in front of me right now."

Their conversation only made the players more curious. Even the students nearby who didn\'t know Sekine\'s identity also leaned forward, trying to see if they could get something to be gossiped for.

Under the curious gaze from all the players here, Sekine finally sighed, revealing, "There are three spots available for the non-players to sit on the bench and get involved directly in the game. Your coach gets the first, and Megumi-chan is the second.

As for the third, he put my name into it and let Megumi-chan speak to me about it, knowing I couldn\'t refuse her request." He gnashed his teeth annoyedly.

All the players were stunned for a second before they realized the implications of it. "So, does that mean you will also be on the bench to give us instruction?" Riku asked once again in disbelief.

"Yes, so you better get used to this old man!" Sekine snarked.

"SEKINE-SENSEI!!!"

Excitement rose to the peak immediately as they all realized how valuable Sekine\'s presence on the team was for them. With his vast knowledge and years of experience either as a player or as a coach, Sekine would be able to figure out what to do whenever they fell into trouble. Not that they didn\'t trust Akira, of course, but the old man\'s presence weighed more here.

Yuki himself also felt the same excitement. In his mind, Sekine\'s presence here increased the probability of them winning the game at least by more than 20 percent. That didn\'t mean they would win, of course. But at least, now they had another brain to help them win the game today.

\'We have already done all the preparations well, even dragging Jiisan to be here for us too. Now, what is left for us is to win the game, and this would be the most troublesome task today. Let\'s hope everything will go well today…\'