The Birth of A Volleyball Legend
Chapter 77: Getting Targeted!

'What is this?' Akira furrowed his brows deeply. 'Are they planning for something?'

Even though his team took a quick two-point lead, he still felt uneasy. This was just like the situation against Shimoyawata when they took a quick lead, just for them to put Ezaki on the court to mess with them. What he was most afraid of right now was for Kyoei to have someone like Ezaki who could change the entire game by himself.

However, when he looked at all the bench players started warming up, he suddenly let out a relieved sigh, knowing the situation was far from his fear.

'So, that is what happened…'

The other Tsunemori players who also saw that also realized something, feeling déjà vu by the sight of Kyoei's bench. They tried to remember when was the last time they felt the same, and when they all turned their attention to Kyoei players whose expressions turned serious, they finally got it.

'So, this is like when we played against Matsukita, huh?'

Yeah, they remembered their game against the second-best team in Japan a month ago, when they took a quick lead before Matsukita's coach made his move, and the game all of sudden, their opponent became better as time went by. If today's game was the same, they had to brace themselves for Kyoei to get serious and hit the accelerator.

"Come on, Riku! Give us a good serve!"

"Riku-sama! Beat them all!"

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"Riku-sama!"

Amidst the cheers from his fangirls, Riku did his serve once again, and just like this time, the opponent received the ball perfectly, sending it straight to the setter. Then, one of Kyoei's players from the back line suddenly flashed forward and jumped without hesitation, and as if it was a normal operation for them, the ball suddenly appeared in front of him.

'Holy shi – !'

*BAM!*

Yuki dived acrobatically to save the ball aimed into the backline. Unfortunately, since he was also surprised by the quick attack, his receive wasn't perfect, and the ball flew once again into Kyoei's side.

"Sorry! My bad!"

"Don't worry! Keep your eyes on the ball!"

"The second wave is coming!"

Yuki was glad that his teammates recovered quickly from the shock. At least his save before was enough to wake them up from their daydreaming and also gave them enough time to refocus their mind on the game.

On Kyoei's side, all of the players there were surprised, not expecting Yuki would be able to save the ball. Nitta who saw that suddenly got excited, walking back a few steps before starting his run-up quickly.

"YAMADA! LEFT!"

"Hirano-senpai! Ogawa-senpai! Cover the straight!" Yuki shouted to the two players in front of Nitta.

Yuki had a hunch about Kyoei's strategy and decided to use this opportunity to confirm his guess. And true to his thought, Nitta suddenly twisted his body in his direction before jumping to spike the ball.

'I am getting targeted, huh?'

If the serve from Nitta and the quick attack from Ito before wasn't the indication, this time, Nitta's attempt to aim at him even before the blockers erected the wall was like saying straight into Yuki's face that they were targeting him. Still, Yuki was calm, bracing himself from receiving a powerful spike. And when the ball finally came…

*BAM!*

Even though Yuki was thrown away several meters from the ball's impact, he was able to send it to Riku's direction on the right side.

"Oh! Damn! Nice receive, Kobayashi!"

"Riku! Left side!"

"Right side!"

Seeing a chance to attack finally came, four players ran at the same time. Even Hirano also did the same, recovering from the failed block before and ready to do a middle attack. Kyoei's players were tensed for a second when they saw the sporadic attack the opponent was about to do, starting to lock in each player one by one.

Riku himself grinned unconsciously. Having so many options to attack like this was always a pleasure. But the thing he was most satisfied with was the fact that the opponent was so ready to receive the spike, that they didn't notice his movement. Without taking a glance at the other side of the court, he tapped the ball slightly to cross the net, surprising all the Kyoei players.

"SHIT! DUMP!"

"COVER!"

"I GOT THIS!"

*Thud!*

Before it could even go down the floor though, an imposing pair of hands suddenly appeared in front of Riku, forming a huge wall to stop his dump. Riku was stunned to see someone managed to read his intention like that, and when he turned to see who was it, he saw the taller blonde boy on Kyoei's side wiggling his finger playfully at him.

"No, no, no. We cannot do that. We only need one handsome blonde today, and it would be me."

-0-

"What the hell is that?" Megumi widened her eyes in shock when she saw the block from Haruo. Unlike the players who couldn't focus on everything on the court, she was on the sideline and had a better point of view to see the entire thing. "He jumped even before Riku-kun touched the ball!"

"That is a national-caliber blocker for you," Akira said solemnly. "He didn't need to wait for the ball to be passed. Every information revealed from Riku's body language before setting the ball was enough for him to take the decision."

"That is insane…" Megumi stared at Haruo speechlessly.

While Akira was also surprised by the play though, he was more worried about his players on the court, especially the one who got targeted by the enemy. Even though Yuki hadn't shown it, Akira knew this situation was bad for the glasses boy. He just hoped that Kyoei would give up on their targeting strategy soon before Yuki could break on the spot.

-0-

*BAM!*

"OH! HE SAVES THE BALL AGAIN!"

"Man, he is crazy!"

"What is his name again?!"

"He is Kobayashi from the class 1-B!"

The next few minutes turned into a bullying session for Yuki. The ball kept coming in his direction, and the most frustrating part was that it always came from the same player, and that was Nitta. It seemed Kyoei's ace had a sadistic side and wanted to see him break. Still, he defended his area stubbornly, not giving away the opponent any point so easily.

What Yuki was most frustrated about, however, was the lack of points added to Tsunemori's side. Even though he defended his area to death, the team wasn't able to take advantage of it with almost all the attacks coming from them being anticipated by Kyoei's defense.

The three players from the opponent's side they all thought of as cannon fodders since they didn't contribute so much in offense turned into defensive beasts, always saving the spike from Tsunemori players all the time. This also exposed Tsunemori's biggest problem, which was the lack of heavy hitter on their team.

For a moment, the game went stagnant with both teams couldn't pierce their opponent's defense at all.

The direction of the game finally changed when once again, Nitta received another high pass from the setter. Even with Ogawa and Hirano jumping at the same time to form a wall in front of him, Kyoei's ace managed to ignore it all, spiking the ball without hesitation straight to Yuki's face.

*BAM!*

Unfortunately, unlike before, this time, Yuki couldn't receive the ball perfectly. The moment the ball hit his forearms, he suddenly felt a tingling pain there, as if thousands of ants suddenly bit him there. The pain distracted him from redirecting the ball, and as a result, it bounced far behind, went straight into the crowds.

However, Yuki couldn't care less about where the ball landed. What was in his mind right now was the burning sensation on his forearms that suddenly came. Coupled with the sight of his forearms that turned into a bright red, one word suddenly came into his head, describing perfectly his situation right now.

'Shit.'