The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"I heard if they couldn\'t get through the top 4 in the prefecture tournament, the team would be abolished."

"Really? That is horrible!"

"Still, they are lucky. Don\'t you know the football and basketball team didn\'t even have the chance to prove their worth? Their team was disbanded by the school even before the term began."

"That is horrible! Why, though?"

"I heard it is because the school wants to save money."

"Are we really that poor that we must disband clubs to save the money right now?"

"I don\'t know."

By the time the golden week was over and everyone returned to their daily routine as a student, the rumor of the volleyball team\'s condition to survive had already spread among the others. However, unlike the last time the rumor spread about the team, this time, the reaction was different. Everyone felt sympathetic for them, thinking the condition was unfair and something like that.

Unexpectedly, they got unwavering support from the residents of the school, especially from those members of the team that was disbanded first by the school. And like usual, the moment the volleyball players arrived at the school, they were pushed into the limelight immediately by the others.

"Man, they are crazy," Yuki commented, fixing his rumpled hair after escaping from the crowds. "Why would I be surrounded too if, in the end, they just going to flock around Agostini?" He shook his head wryly while looking at his blonde friend gloatingly.

"Maybe because this time, you are not in a bad light anymore?" Kato commented casually without even raising her head to look at him "I mean, the last time your team made such a big commotion, you are still under a nasty rumor, right? At that time, they probably were afraid to approach you, didn\'t want to get the backslash of it.

But now, you are one of the justice warriors that would fight against tyranny, so of course, everyone would be on your side too."

"Hmm… That makes sense…" Yuki nodded his head, putting his school bag on the floor before taking a seat, glancing at what the girl was doing. "Anyway, a justice warrior that would fight against tyranny? Really?" He arched his eyebrows slightly.

"What?" Kato asked back. "It is quite fitting, right?"

"Yeah. Just didn\'t expect it would be that epic. You sure have your way with words, Kato-san." He muttered.

After a while, Riku finally was able to get away from the crowds. His usual tidy and handsome appearance was gone, replaced by the mess he was right now. His face was pale as he panted heavily, taking his time to enjoy the free air after getting pushed around by his fangirls. Yuki and Kato just stared at him amusedly before the blonde boy noticed their stare and pointed his finger comically at them.

"You two are horrible friends!" He shrieked.

"Why, thank you!" Yuki smiled innocently while Kato snorted unladylike. "So, are you enjoying your time with them, Mr. Lothario?" He asked teasingly.

"Stop calling me that horrible nickname!" Riku pouted childishly. "Just wait, in no time, it will be you who will be in my position, and it will be my pleasure to watch you suffer from that." He took a seat next to Yuki, smiling charmingly at the girl who sat there to make that girl blush and scampered away immediately.

Yuki snorted at the short interaction between Riku and the girl before saying, "There is no way I will be in your position. And you bring the problem by yourself. If only you can be less flirty toward the girls, you will have a more peaceful life."

"No way!" Riku gasped dramatically. "Are you saying that it is all my fault?!"

"Yes! You have this annoying pretentious personality that always brings trouble!"

"You take that back!"

"Anyway!" Kato raised her voice the moment she saw the boys were about to shove each other. "Have you already heard the bad rumor about you?" She asked, trying to divert the topic.

"What bad rumor?" Yuki asked.

"Well, even though it is not as intense and not a lot of people support it, someone basically said that your team deserved to be abolished and the only reason the school hasn\'t done that yet is because of favoritism and nepotism, especially from you, Agostini."

"Me?!" Riku was startled, pointing his finger at himself confusedly. "What did I do?!" He shrieked.

"It is not what did you do, but what the rumor believes you have done," Kato explained patiently. "Someone basically spread a bad rumor about your relationship with Akira-sensei as the only reason the team is still surviving until now."

Riku scowled immediately when he heard that. "That is a bullshit!"

"I know." Kato patted his shoulder reassuringly. "But people would believe it no matter what you said, so I tell you now so that if someone mentioned it to you, you have already prepared to breach the topic."

"Thank you, Kato-san." Riku nodded at the girl gratefully.

Yuki himself fell silent, pondering about the information he just received from the girl. Honestly, he was surprised to see this topic finally getting mentioned, expecting someone to do that way back then rather than now considering how obvious the relationship between Akira and Riku was.

Hell, even he himself was reluctant to join the team at first after seeing Riku only needed Akira\'s words to enter the team without even taking any test or challenge from the team.

Still, for someone to bring it up right now… There must be someone who wanted to stir up trouble for the team…

"It should be those cowards!" Riku scowled. "We haven\'t heard anything about them for a while. This should be their retaliation against us!"

Even without Riku explaining who those cowards were, Yuki and Kato could guess who were the culprits. It should be the third-year players who walked away from the team after their last conflict, and honestly, Yuki couldn\'t blame Riku for blaming them. This was their exact modus operandi, didn\'t dare to confront directly yet hid behind the crowds while spreading nasty rumors about the team.

Still…

"You cannot just point your finger without any evidence, you know?" Kato commented casually, flipping her book without even looking at the boys. "Not only it would be baseless, but you would also get a lot of trouble for accusing the other students like that."

"Well, they didn\'t get into trouble after spreading rumors about Kobayashi, right?" The blonde boy was still unwilling to let go of his suspicion.

"Well, yeah." Kato nodded, admitting his point. "But you are just a freshman here. Your words against them, who do you think anyone will believe more?"

"This…"

Even without saying it out loud, Riku knew what was the answer to his question. The third-year students were already in the school for more than two years and everyone knew their character well. Compared to him who was still new here, if he accused them of something, it would be a suicidal decision for him. Still, he was reluctant to let this matter go so easily.

"And, is the rumor and who spread it really that matter?" Kato added another question.

"Eh?" Not only Riku, but Yuki also turned their head to the girl. "What do you mean, Kato-san?"

"Well… I mean…" Kato pondered for a moment, trying to think of how to say it. "Just like the rumor before, it doesn\'t matter who spread it, right? The most important thing is how to prove the rumor wrong. And you both should know what to do, right?"

Riku\'s eyes lightened up when he heard about that. Yuki also nodded his head, understanding what Kato wanted to say. Yeah, it didn\'t matter who spread the rumor. The fact was the rumor was there, and they couldn\'t change it all. So, there was only one thing they could do right now…

"Be the top 4 teams like what the school expects us to be and prove the rumor wrong!"