The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Chapter 273 Before the Game Begins

"agostini, give me higher!"

bam!

"nice spike!"

"send it close to the net!"

bam!

"that's out! come on, uehara-senpai! wake up!"

"shut up, will you!"

"it's my turn! agostini, don't be cruel, okay?"

"i got you, senpai!"

bam!

"hell yeah!"

fifteen minutes before the game, all the thunder players spent that time doing a light warmup. currently, they were in the middle of spiking training, with them asking for the ball they usually weren't comfortable with and riku gave them exactly what they asked for. the purpose was simple, to not give any information about their attacking style before the game started. even if the opponent did their homework well, seeing it from a video would be different compared to watching it directly.

yuki wanted to reassure his friend. but in the end, all he gave was a weak smile that even he himself wouldn't believe it.

he couldn't help it, though. this game turned out to be far more important than what he initially thought. not only this would be his first time coming back to fukushima after the disastrous event, but this was also the first time he was in since the start as one of the main players.

yeah, after miyahara's terrible performance against osaka gunners – which yuki managed to make up with his performance – kawaki decided to experiment with the roster by putting yuki on the court from the beginning. of course, he had already asked for yuki's concern first since the coach knew how important coming here was for yuki. he didn't want to add more burden to the glasses boy – and didn't want to take unnecessary risk by putting a player who couldn't put his 100 percent focus on the game on the court. however, since yuki reassured kawaki that he would be okay, and added the fact that the glasses boy never disappointed his expectations, kawaki decided to trust the glasses boy.

so, here yuki was, standing awkwardly on the back row of the court with a stiff posture, trying his best to not look nervous.

"you look like a shit, kobayashi." kojima, the outside hitter next to him snorted. "this is not your first game, so don't overthink the situation too much. just go all out and think of the consequences later!"

"don't pressure kobayashi, kojima!" shou slapped the back of his head before turning his attention to yuki. "hey, take a deep breath. i know you are nervous, but just like kojima said, this is not your first rodeo. you will be able to get through this alive, so just stay calm and pace yourself. and if you are still nervous, just try to distract yourself by thinking of something or someone who makes you happy, okay?"

yuki blinked, staring at his captain for a moment. out of all the advice thrown at him, the last one was probably the most useful for his current situation. his right hand reached the wristband on his left hand unconsciously, and he took a moment to read all the messages written on it.

good luck, yuki-nii!

you can do it, nii-chan!

bring the win back home!

don't be afraid of your opponent!

this was the wristband kato delivered for him when tsunemori was playing against kyoei gakuen in the past. the message there was written by the residents of the orphanage, which explained the sloppiness in it. however, when he thought of their intention at that time, and when he turned around at the stand just to find the girl who always supported him in the last few months, all the nervousness built inside him crumbled instantly.

as yuki took a deep breath, he nodded with a firmer gaze at his captain. "thank you, shou-senpai. i am ready for the game."