The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Since the last play… No, since the game just started, Akihiro had already noticed one thing from Riku. The Blonde boy always loved to show off. No matter which kind of play he would pull, he would somehow grin provocatively as if screaming 'Here is another trick from me!'.

At first, Akihiro thought the blonde boy did that deliberately to provoke some sort of reaction from the opponent. However, after observing for a while, he knew by now that Riku's trademark smirk before trying to catch them off guard was like a natural reaction. He doubted the blonde boy knew he showed such an infuriating smirk a lot during the game.

Unfortunately for Tsunemori, Riku's unconscious habit made it easier for Akihiro to read his game. He somehow realized that whenever it was Yuki who would be the setter, Riku would show his trademark smirk as if saying he wanted to pull their leg. He confirmed his theory for a few times while sacrificing two or three points for the Tsunemori before he was sure of it.

And finally, when the doubt was unveiled, he was ready to take action.

The moment Shimada served the ball, Akihiro kept his eyes intently on those two. Or to be more exact, he observed Riku's expression carefully. True to his thought, after a quick exchanging glance between those two, Akihiro noticed a subtle smirk on Riku's face. It was so subtle that he doubted if he wasn't trying to see it, he would miss it.

However, that was enough for him to make a decision as he turned his attention to Yuki, and within a second, he moved to the right side to block the attack.

*BAM!*

"OH! Block by Akihiro!"

"Damn! As expected from one of the best blockers in the country! He is also a monster!"

"Nice block, Take!"

"Takeshita-kun, you did a good job!"

As all the Konan players celebrated with each other, they left their opponent with jaws dropped in shock and confusion. This was the first time in this game Konan was able to block Yuki and Riku's new combination attack, and honestly, they had no idea how Akihiro did that.

"What a monster," Koji muttered depressingly.

"Hey, what are you saying about, Senpai?!" Riku scowled, unconvinced by the last play. "It should be a coincidence, you know? There is no way they can read our combination attack, I tell you that!" Inwardly though, Riku wasn't so sure about what he was saying.

"Yeah, as expected. Even though their new combination attack is troublesome, there is no way Konan wouldn't be able to solve it." Amagi on the stand nodded, satisfied. Yeah, even though Konan High was his rival, he still supported them in this game. His pride would never accept it if a team other than his managed to beat Konan in a fair game.

The next few sequences really showed that Konan had already grasped the essence of Tsunemori's essence. It wasn't just Akihiro this time, but Lucas and Arizawa also managed to block a spike or two to contribute points for the team. The momentum Tsunemori snatched so hard before went back to Konan High easily once again.

"Oi, Riku, we need more variations here," Yuki whispered. "You heard what Sekine-jiisan told me in the past, never get predictable. We need to be more creative in our offense."

"Of course, I know that." Riku scowled. "The question is, how could we do that?"

Both freshmen pondered for a moment without any answer crossed their mind. Right before they were about to give up though, someone suddenly patted their shoulder. When they both turned around, they could see Kaede and Hirano were in front of them.

"Kai? Rano? What are you doing here?" Riku asked, confused.

"Sorry, but we overheard your conversation before." Kaede rubbed his neck sheepishly. Then, he coughed before continuing, "So, you need more variations, huh? Why not include us?" He asked, pointing his finger at himself and Hirano.

Riku blinked a few times, trying to process what his senpai just said. "You two? Really?"

"Yeah! Even though we are not the best attackers, we could still pull one or two good spikes to surprise the opponent. We have already at this point, so why not try it?" Kaede shrugged nonchalantly.

Riku was skeptical about it. However, Yuki was the first one who agreed to Kaede's suggestion. "Yeah, it is rare for you both to participate in offense, so it would be a good bluff to pull their leg. You both are perfect for a surprise attack!"

After discussing it for a while, they finally reached a consensus about what kind of signal they should observe and where should they move. Unfortunately, it was still in the middle of the game, so they could only discuss it roughly. The referee had already signaled for them to get ready as Shimada was about to serve the ball.

*Thud!*

Just like before, Shimada's serve was still quite ordinary, which was easy for Koji to receive. Yuki and Riku moved immediately, synchronizing their movement with each other to make it harder for the opponent to read. However, they both had a hunch that Akihiro was able to read their combination attack so easily. Not that it was hard to guess, considering how he stared intently at them both.

'Well, let's see how would he handle it.'

Yuki made a quick signal for Kaede to attack from behind. However, it wasn't him who set up the ball. No, his task was just to give the signal to make the opponent think it would be him who acted as a setter. However, the one who would execute the ball was Riku who already had the ball in his hand.

Kaede and Hirano themselves also moved when they saw the signal. Even though there was no instruction for Hirano to move, the middle blocker still rushed forward to add confusion to the opponent. With Koji and Asahi also attacked from the wing, it was an all-out attack with full members of the team joining the fun.

'Shit! There is no way they would be able to stop us this time!' Riku thought as he grinned widely. He didn't wait for the ball to fall onto his hand, but jumped and picked it up quickly to give the opponent less time to think.

His choice of passing? Of course, it was Asahi.

Riku used Kaede and Asahi's presence as a distraction to pass the ball to the handsome senpai of his on the right side. Unfortunately for him and Tsunemori, his thought was already read like an open book by the opponent, as this time, it was Lucas who appeared in front of Asahi.

*BAM!*

Riku had his jaws dropped when he saw another one of the team's attacks was blocked so easily by the opponent. Then, he turned his head to Lucas who grinned at him widely as the Brazilian boy said, "No matter how many tricks you have, it would be useless against us, you know?"