The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

As for the children themselves, they didn\'t care about faces. The moment Misaki took out the gift for them, they squealed excitedly, starting to fight with each other like usual. They didn\'t even care about the journey back or the luxurious car they took anymore, as their focus was on the new things they just received from the Agostini family.

Well, their reaction was understandable, since this was probably the first time since they lived in the orphanage that they got something new here.

"These children…" Aiko huffed helplessly. "I should\'ve thought them about having a face! They cannot accept people\'s gifts that easily!"

"You cannot blame them, Aiko-san." Kato giggled. "Misaki-san has the same \'I am friendly and approachable\' aura just like her son. It is no wonder the children would feel easy around her."

Enjoy more content from mvl

Aiko huffed once again, throwing her body to the chair in the kitchen. They just arrived back at the orphanage, and the children went back to their room immediately to admire their new things. They didn\'t even say hello or thank you to the drivers of the cars, embarrassing the matron completely.

Yuki who saw her expression shook his head amusedly before noticing something they carried that wasn\'t there in the first place. "So, what is it in the bag that Misaki-san gave to both of you?" He asked playfully.

Aiko and Kato blushed, hiding the small bag they carried immediately from Yuki\'s sight. They forgot that they also received some gifts from Misaki, and as a result, they got caught off-handed by the boy.

"Just some dresses and make-up to be used for summer," Aiko answered before poking her tongue at him. "You are a boy, no need to be curious about our things." Kato also nodded in agreement.

Yuki rolled his eyes, knowing those two were just teasing him. "Anyway, Obaasan, you look so natural today, no nervousness at all. It is as if you are used to coming to such a luxurious building like that. Is there anything that you hide secretly from us? Trust me, I wouldn\'t tell anyone about it." He finally asked what he was curious about the most.

It seemed Kato also felt the same, as she leaned her body toward the woman. She also noticed it too, of how calm and collected Kato was even when talking to a wealthy businesswoman like Misaki or a high-status person like her husband. There was also the time when she handled the conversation so elegantly, making Kato believe Aiko was trained to deal with people from high-class society in the past.

However, that didn\'t make sense. If indeed, Aiko was trained to do that, it meant her background shouldn\'t be simple. Then, how come such a person ended up managing a small orphanage alone while working her fingers to the bone to keep the building alive?

Being subjected to two curious gazes, the set of Aiko\'s lips shifted to something faintly wry. "Well, how should I say it? It is… An unexpected aftereffect of something that happened in the past." After a short pause, she added, "But you don\'t need to know about it!

Everything is over now, and I am your matron and obaasan here, that is the only thing you should know, okay?" She flicked her fingers at Yuki\'s nose.

Yuki and Kato stared at each other for a second with eyes full of curiosity. However, they respected Aiko too much to press her to tell the story. Since the woman didn\'t want to share it and said everything was alright, then they didn\'t need to think about it too much.

"Anyway, what about the boy before? Nobuhiro Sawada, right? Is he really a volleyball player like you?" The matron asked, changing the topic of the conversation.

"Oh, yeah!" Yuki nodded. Then, a wry smile formed on his face. "In fact, he should be better than both Riku and I."

"Oh? Why?" Kato asked, curious.

"Well, for one, he is from Konan High, the undisputed number-one team in the country." Both Kato and Aiko were surprised by the information. "Also, he is a regular player, which tells me a lot about his ability. If he could become a regular in the best team in the country when he is still a freshman, there is no way he is worse than us."

"I didn\'t expect it." Kato sighed, leaning her body back against the chair. "With how Sawada-san – his mother, mind you – tell us about him, I thought he would be a meek and unconfident boy. However, to be able to enter the first team in the best team in the country, there is no way he is that easy to be bullied."

"Oh? Why do you think so?" Yuki asked, his desire to gossip suddenly rose. He wanted to know how the girl could reach the same conclusion as him even though their method to gain the information was different.

"Well, it is just…" Kato glanced at Aiko hesitantly. Seeing that the matron didn\'t care, she continued, "She likes to talk bad about her son so much that it makes us uncomfortable."

"Eh?" Yuki was surprised. If it was an embarrassing thing, he could understand, since some parents thought their children were just that cute. However, to talk bad about her own son?

"Yeah, you heard it right." Kato nodded solemnly. "She would always talk about how bad he is in the class, how untalented he is in piano, how shy and quiet he is, and something like that. She even said that the only reason she allowed her son to join the volleyball team was to stimulate his ability to socialize. After he is in his second year next year, she would ask him to stop the club.

That is why, with a dominant and controlling mother like her, the boy would be meek and easy to be bullied."

Yuki sighed, feeling emotional. Although he didn\'t know how Sawada felt under his mother\'s oppression, he knew it should be tough. He was glad that his parents were nothing like that and gave him enough freedom to do what he liked. However, not all parents were willing to trust their children like that.

They gossiped for a while, talking about a wide range of topics, from Riku\'s family, Misaki\'s business, and so many random things. He knew from the conversation that Andrea, the man of the house, was the one who was responsible for all the Italian people in Japan.

He also knew that Misaki had a massive business that produced clothes and distributed them all over Japan, with some reports even saying that it was the biggest in the country. All in all, it confirmed his guess that the Agostini family was not normal.

It wasn\'t until the sky started to go dark that Kato finally asked to go home. Yuki also rose from his spot, went back to his room. When he was finally alone, he checked the gift he received from the Agostini family and couldn\'t help but smile when he saw the message in it.

\'Even though you still have the shoes Mattheo-san gave to you, a player should have more than one for a backup! Here is the latest model of the brand I always use. Hope you like it! Your friend, Riku.\'

Inside the box, he saw a pair of volleyball shoes still shining, looking like a brand new one. It was a different brand from what Mattheo gave to him, yet when he tried it, he felt the same comfort as he had with his old shoes. It seemed the quality of the product was similar.

He shook his head, putting both pairs of shoes next to each other. Then, he threw his tired body to his bed, recalling everything that happened today, and finally reached a conclusion.

\'I will never be able to understand rich people\'s thoughts at all.\'