The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Yeah! I heard he did amazing before!"

"His name is even in Tokyo Shimbun this morning!"

"Really?!"

"Yeah!"

"Hey, that is Kaede-kun!"

"Do you think he is a little bit cute?"

All the members of the volleyball team had a big grin on their faces today, their facial muscles hurt from smiling all day. Whenever someone praised them or even took a glance at them, they would feel their ears hot, starving from acknowledgment. It was a bit exaggerated, but for them, this was the moment of their life.

Take the example of Koji and Kaede. Those two were infamous for being slackers, always sleeping on the last row of the class and never listening to the lesson from the teacher. They were used to being ignored and even being looked down on in disdain by the others.

However, when everything changed and everyone saw them in a different light, no matter how hard they tried, it was impossible to hide the ecstatic expressions on their face.

"Wipe the grin in your face, Koji." Asahi suddenly appeared, sitting in front of Koji\'s seat. His eyes couldn\'t hide his disgust as he looked at his friend who suddenly became pompous. "That is creepy."

Koji snapped his head at his friend, then his eyes narrowed slightly as he retorted, "Of course, you cannot understand me, Asahi! You who are tall, a little bit handsome, and so normal in everything, are the prince of the school! You are always surrounded by girls here, so you won\'t understand the feeling of us, a peasant!"

Asahi had his mouth twitched a little when he heard his friend\'s rant. Indeed, he was a little bit popular among the girls. However, it was exaggerated for Koji to say he was the prince of the school. There was a far more handsome and popular guy here. Hell, even in this class, he was just the second most popular guy, as there was one person whose every movement could seduce girls to death.

And speaking of a popular guy…

"What happened to Uehara?" Asahi asked, looking at the handsome boy who was sulking in the front row.

"Him?" Koji also turned his eyes to the front side. Then, he lowered his tone to a bare whisper and explained, "You know he is Kendo team\'s ace, right? I heard the team performed badly this year, and he was the last one to survive in the tournament."

"Was?" Asahi asked, catching the past tense his friend used to explain the situation.

"Yeah, was. He lost pretty badly against the number one kendoka in the country. Now with him eliminated from the tournament before he could reach the top four, the kendo club is officially disbanded by the school." Koji explained.

"Wait, the purge is not over?" Asahi asked, surprised.

"It is still far from over, Asahi," Koji said solemnly. "While there are several clubs that are disbanded cruelly, the school still gives some a chance to prove their worth, and we are one of those clubs.

For the others, there are still the swimming club who still have two boys and one girl in the top eight, the athletic club with one guy, the choir club, and maybe two or three more that I don\'t know about. However, the situation is pessimistic for all of us to reach the top four.

Not just us, almost all the clubs who still survive until now have to fight against the best in Tokyo to reach the top four, and it is like a mission impossible. It seems the universe is working hard to make the students here miserable."

Asahi slumped in his seat dejectedly when he heard about the news.

Even though the rumor said that this purge was to save more money from the school, no one believed that bullshit at this point. If so, then, there would be one or two normal clubs that didn\'t spend too much money that the school would let them exist. However, all the clubs in the school received the same trial, enter the top four of the prefecture tournament or they could say goodbye forever.

And considering Tsunemori\'s history in any competition – which was none, honestly, it looked more like the higher-ups wanted to remove the existence of any clubs in the school. As for the reason? Only God and they knew about it.

"Man, this sucks!" Asahi groaned.

"Our condition is still better, you know?" Koji chuckled dryly. "At least, we still have a tournament to prove our worth. Think about a hobby club like the anime club or the outdoor club. They didn\'t know anything, then out of a sudden, they were killed cruelly as the first victim of this purge. Poor them."

"That doesn\'t help to make me feel better, though." Asahi frowned.

"Well, it is a sarcastic remark, and the purpose is not to make you feel better. Deal with it." Koji retorted back.

For a moment, a heavy silence fell around them as their mood plummeted instantly after the conversation was over. Even though the attention drawn from the short article in Tokyo Shimbun was still there and there were students who still tried to steal a glance at them, they didn\'t have the mood to be cheerful again.

And it wasn\'t just for those two.

Even the other sophomore students also felt the same after hearing the news about the Kendo team. It was as if they were brought to fly so high in the sky with the article, just to be released and hit the ground with the news. Well, at least it kept them sober, brought them back to earth.

They all remembered that no matter how nice the article about them was, they would still be reduced to the ashes if they could win the next game.

*Bzzzt…. Bzzzt…*

Suddenly, the sound of a phone vibrating could be heard, breaking the silence among those two. Koji and Asahi reacted quickly by checking their phone in their schoolbag. After a moment, it seemed the sound was coming from Koji, and he took it from his bag and hid it below his table quickly.

Even though students were allowed to use the phone outside of the class, if the teacher caught him playing it, he could still get into trouble. So, it was better to be careful and prevent any unnecessary trouble in the future.

Koji opened his phone quickly to check what happened. It seemed there was a mail inside. However, the sender was unanimous. Normally, he would delete it quickly, thinking it was spam or a scam from an irresponsible person. However, he was stunned when his eyes caught the content and the name of the sender that was attached to the last part of the mail.

Good morning, Koji-kun.

I found your contact information from Yori-kun. I am sorry for my rudeness, but I have something important to talk to you and your team. Can we have a meeting after the school is over?

Thank you.

Arina Sugawara.