The Birth of A Volleyball Legend-Chapter 358: Reiki’s Determination! (II)
"So, he develops his game-reading ability and defensive versatility to this extent, huh? Not bad…" Hasebe murmured on his seat, scribbling something in his small notebook.
The assistant who overheard his words couldn’t help but ask, "Do you know about him?"
"Oh, yeah, he was one of the biggest rising stars two years ago. I even invited him to my own camp to see his playing style from a close distance." Hasebe laughed as he admitted it. The assistant tilted his head curiously, wanting to know what was so funny about it. "Oh, sorry, sorry. It is just… You will never believe what kind of player he was at that time compared to how he plays today."
"Oh?"
"Yes, he was a completely different player two years ago." Hasebe smiled, reminiscing the past. "At that time, he was just a hyperactive boy who only knew how to run and jump, not even knowing how to time his jump and how to coordinate with his teammates. He gave me a severe headache, you know? He was so lucky he had a good setter as his senpai at that time, or no one would bat their eyes on him at all."
"Really?!" His assistant widened his eyes in disbelief. In his mind, he could never see the boy Hasebe just described as Tsukiji’s captain who just made two consecutive defensive plays that could only be done by the best defensive players in the tournament. "But if it was two years ago, how come his name wasn’t heard by everyone last year?" He asked once again.
"Because they lost against Matsukita twice in a row that year." Hasebe snorted. "To make it worse, Matsukita also exposed his weakness as a one-dimensional player by targeting him at every chance, whether when attacking, blocking, serving, or everything. Twice they played that year, and all the games ended up brutally for that boy.
The assistant could only twitch the corner of his lips silently at that. He knew Honda – Matsukita’s old coach – liked to expose his opponent’s weakness. But to do so to that extent… "No wonder he improved that much." He commented lightly. In his mind, there were only two outcomes possible for a player who just got destroyed brutally; either they stayed on the ground and gave up or they came back stronger than ever. It seemed Reiki was the second one here.
"Oh, you still don’t know half of it," Hasebe smirked, gaining his assistant’s attention. "You might be impressed by his improvement compared to the story of the boy that I told you, but you haven’t seen why he was dubbed as the rookie of the year back then even with his limited ability. Just wait, the beast has just been awoken by now."
– Back to the court –
"Sorry, Riku, everyone. That was my fault. I couldn’t read his timing correctly before he jumped." Asahi apologized to his teammates.
"Eh, don’t fret over it, Senpai." Riku waved it off nonchalantly. "I mean, we know that he is fast. It would be impossible to track his movement all the time without missing one or two like this." The other Tsunemori players also nodded in agreement.
There was no worry that could be seen on their faces at all. After all, this was still within their expectation. No matter how good they the intelligence about their opponent that they possessed, there was no way they couldn’t stop their opponent completely. Also, the fact that they managed to steal 5 points just from Yuki’s serve also helped boost their mood and confidence, making it easier to diminish the loss of points in the last play.
"We have to stay alert, though." Yuki suddenly chimed in. "From all the videos we have seen about him, he has never shown a strong versatility as a defender, and now he suddenly plays like a beast. We don’t know whether he is still hiding another ability or not."
Even though some of them were skeptical, they all still respected Yuki’s opinion. The glasses boy had already proven that he had a knack for a tactical game, and not to mention that he was also the one who gave the team this advantage over their opponent, the last thing they could do as his teammates was to listen to his words.
On the other side of the net, Reiki took a deep breath as he tried to regain his composure. The ball was in his hand as he walked through the service line. He closed his eyes slightly, trying to enjoy every second of this game. The surged adrenaline… The cheers from the supporters, the strong opponent he faced… The boy tried to use everything to fuel himself right now. Then, he exchanged glances with Michael Wang accidentally and couldn’t help but show a wry smile.
’No wonder I always feel envious of him. He reminded me a lot about that stuck-up bastard.’
Yeah, after the memory that suddenly flashed in Reiki’s head during the last play, he finally realized that Michael Wang had a lot of similarities with Matsumoto from Konan High. Both were blessed with the best athletic body and an unparalleled talent that allowed them to master any technique faster than the other. Everyone would be envious of such kind of talent, but Reiki took it personally since he always saw Matsumoto as a rival.
Still, he knew that he couldn’t put those two in the same shoes. One was his rival, and the other was his kouhai. There was no way Reiki would treat them the same.
’Also, it is good for once to have such a monster player in my team.’ He smirked.
As the referee signaled him to get ready, Reiki shook his head slightly, trying to regain his concentration back to the game. He saw that no one from the opponent team looked worried about his presence here and couldn’t help but mutter, ’Wow, they really underestimate me.’
Reiki knew he wasn’t the strongest player behind the service line. That title was reserved for the glasses boy on the opponent team. Still, this wasn’t the disrespect that he would let it slide so easily.
BAM!
"Oh! What a good serve, Reiki!"
"It breaks their formation! Let’s go!"
Even though he did the serve under the boos and distractions from the opponent’s supporters, Reiki still managed to land a powerful serve straight to the left side of Tsunemori’s side. Their captain was able to pick up the ball, yet the impact of his serve was hard enough to throw the opponent off guard.
"Damn! Sorry, that’s my bad!"
"Don’t worry, Asa! Keep going! Everyone, move!"
Reiki could see his teammates gulping nervously when they saw four of Tsunemori’s players rush forward to initiate a synchronization attack. He himself tried to stay still, observing two kouhai of his who were standing in front of the net.
’Wang, Juzo, come on! Why don’t you move?!’
Even though Reiki could just move by himself, it would break the team’s formation. Of course, everything would be forgivable if he managed to knock down the attack directly. However, the chance to do that was pretty slim, and he knew the two blockers in front of him could do a better job than if he tried to do it alone.
However, when he saw the blonde boy on the other side of the net extend one arm to reach the ball while glancing sideways at the spot behind the blockers, Reiki reacted instantly. He didn’t even realize that his body just moved, yet when he saw the opponent’s setter flick the ball gently through his kouhai’s head, he was already in the best position to save it.
Thud!
"OH! Nice dig, Reiki!"
"NEITO! MAKE IT QUICK!" Reiki shouted, recovering quickly after saving the blonde boy’s dink.
Neito didn’t even blink twice as he rushed forward to get the ball. This was the standard operation between those two. Even though Reiki had just received the ball on the front line and didn’t have enough time and space to do his run-up at the fullest, Neito still believed that his captain would be able to execute the attack here.
Unfortunately, Tsunemori proved to be a difficult opponent as their middle blocker was already in front of him, showing his reaction time and game-reading ability by jumping at the same time as when Reiki did so. They both were hanging in the air for one second or so, and when Reiki didn’t find any spot to allow him to kill the ball, he did the second-best thing he could think of there.
BAM!
"Rebound!" He shouted, stepping back immediately for another attack. He had to give a hat off to Tsunemori’s middle blocker, though. The stoic boy recovered as quickly as he was and now was ready for another aerial duel with him once again.
All the people inside the building held their breath immediately when they saw those two were up in the air for the second time in the last ten seconds. Some even closed their eyes as they didn’t want to see Reiki’s attempt get blocked. However, as both Reiki and his opponent reached their highest spot, he couldn’t help but grin as a memory from his past suddenly came once again inside his head. Read new chapters at novelbuddy
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’Listen, Reiki. With your speed, you can attract your opponent’s attention so easily, and when all the attention is on you, then, BANG! I will be there to save the day! Together, we can dominate the entire Tokyo with our combination!’
Then….
BAM!
