The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Well, you got me here," Riku admitted shamelessly. "But you cannot deny that it is a good bonding activity, right?"

Yuki\'s expression softened when he heard that. Yeah, he had to admit that he enjoyed this activity. In a warm atmosphere, everyone got along with each other really well, chatting and laughing while some even fought for the food. The situation somehow reminded him of dinner time in an orphanage.

Still…

"You eat too much, Riku." The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. "In total, you finished four portions by yourself, one coming from Megumi-senpai who couldn\'t finish her portion. Even Hirano-senpai who is the biggest one out of everyone only ate two portions. Are you not afraid of getting a stomachache?"

"Well, I am a grown boy, so I need to eat a lot." Then, the blonde boy patted his stomach proudly. "And don\'t worry about stomachache. I have a bottomless pit here, so nothing bad will happen."

Yuki was speechless, inwardly applauding Riku\'s ability to throw any random excuse to justify his exaggerated action. And the last comment about his stomach…

\'A bottomless pit? Really?\' Yuki muttered. \'Not something someone should be proud of, usually.\'

They walked in silence for a while, only the sound of the people walking in the background accompanying them. At the far end, the red sun hung above the tall building, covering everything with a layer of orange-red scaly light. Even though they were in the crowded part of Tokyo, they could still enjoy the beauty of natural scenery like this since the area around them was free from pollutants.

That was why it was still comfortable to walk even though the temperature seemed to rise a few degrees in the last couple of days.

Then, Yuki suddenly realized something. "Anyway, what are you doing following me? Do you need to go home?" He asked his friend.

"I am going to see everyone, of course," Riku answered as a matter of fact. "Aiko-obaasan invites me to go there. See?" He showed the message on his phone to Yuki. The glasses boy could only stare speechlessly, didn\'t know since when did Riku exchange messages with Aiko.

"Why is she inviting you?" He frowned.

"I don\'t know." Riku shrugged. "But since someone invites me, I cannot be rude and reject it, right?"

Yuki nodded, but still wondering about Aiko\'s intention to invite Riku to come over. After five minutes of walking, they finally arrived at the orphanage. However, it was so quiet there, with the light inside still off. Yuki furrowed his brows, knowing this situation was strange.

\'Are they going out?\' Yuki muttered. \'No, it shouldn\'t be. They would say it first before they go outside.\' He rejected the idea quickly.

However, when he was about to open the door, someone suddenly called his name from behind.

"Yuki-nii! You are back!"

When he turned around, Yuki was surprised to see the children running in his direction, with Aiko watching them fondly from behind. They hugged him tightly and started babbling excitedly, asking about how the game went.

"Did you win the game?"

"Idiot! Kato-nee has already told us that he won the game! Have you forgotten about it already?!"

"Hey, no need to smack my head!"

"Well, I need to stop your idiocy!"

"That\'s so rude!"

"Your face is rude!"

Yuki was overwhelmed by the sudden greeting and couldn\'t help but let out a small chuckle when he heard their bickering. After such a long day, it was nice to know that someone was waiting for his arrival.

"Hey, hey, don\'t you want to ask me too?" Riku suddenly chimed in with a playful smile.

"No!" The children shouted in unison, giggling when Riku cried comically. "Kato-nee said Riku-nii is so full of himself and we will never hear the end of it if we asked you a question." One of them explained innocently.

Yuki snorted, couldn\'t deny the child\'s words. Riku himself turned his head to Kato, looking hurtful at the sudden stab in the back. Kato also turned her head around, trying to avoid his gaze.

"So, where have you been?" Yuki asked, picking up Mai who was the smallest child there, and opened the door to let everyone come inside.

"We are from Obaasan\'s workplace!" The little girl exclaimed. "It is so awesome! There are so many books there and I read a lot about animals! And Sachi-baasan is nice too!"

"Oh?" Yuki raised his eyebrows slightly at the matron.

"Sorry for not telling you." Aiko suddenly apologized, feeling guilty. "It was an impulsive decision. The children suddenly felt bored and wanted to take a walk. So, I asked Sachi-san if they could come, and she allowed."

Yuki nodded while his expression softened. He didn\'t know why Aiko felt guilty, but he appreciated the gesture here. "So, why do you invite him too?" He asked, pointing his finger at Riku who was joking around with the children.

"Hey, that\'s rude!" Riku sniffed.

Yuki just rolled his eyes and turned back at Aiko. The matron giggled before answering, "Well, I heard from Kato-chan that you won the game, so we want to celebrate it together! We also bought many cakes here, so let\'s enjoy it together!"

Yuki\'s mouth twitched when he saw Riku perked up at the mention of cakes. It seemed what the blonde boy said before was true, that he had a bottomless pit.

"What cake did you buy?" He tried to peek inside the bag Aiko carried.

Aiko smiled as she opened the bag. "I let the children pick it up for today, and they want to have a brownie cake. So, here we are."

The flagrant sweet aroma suddenly hit everyone\'s noses, triggering their hunger once again. Their mouths were watery when they saw the shining cake in front of them, and the moment Aiko cut the cake and gave a nod, all the children rushed forward and fought for the food.

"Hey, don\'t push around!"

"This is mine!"

"I got it!"

"The chocolate is melting! Be careful!"

"Ew! Don\'t lick my arms, Hina!"

"But the chocolate looks delicious there!"

Yuki smiled fondly when he saw the children enjoying the cake. When he saw his blonde friend gobbling up his portion though, he was speechless. It seemed his friend noticed his gaze and raised his eyebrows slightly.

"What?" He asked with a mouth full of food.

"It is rude to talk while eating." Yuki smacked his back. "Don\'t give the children a bad example."

Riku chewed and swallowed the food in his mouth before saying, "Well, you won\'t have any share if you are not quick enough, so less talking and more eating!" Yuki\'s mouth twitched when Riku took another piece of cake from its bag. Curious, he also took one, and the first time he bit it, his expression lightened up immediately.

"This is good!" He exclaimed. The other children nodded in agreement while still focusing on themselves. "The chocolate here is a bit too much though, so don\'t eat too much, and don\'t forget to brush your teeth after this!"

"HAI!"

Yuki just shook his head fondly, yet didn\'t say anything again as he sat next to Aiko. He smiled gratefully at the matron for this gesture, which the woman replied with the same fond smile he had for the children.

He dozed off for a moment, exhaustion he felt after a very long day finally kicked in once again. Even though compared to the sukiyaki party he had with the team before, this was way simpler, he felt happy, surrounded by the laughter of the children around him.