As the ga continued, the smirk on Sato's face couldn't be hidden anymore. He knew that Yuki was damn good at serving, and while the receive training the camp had a few days ago showed he was a decent defender, he had never thought that when the boy was put into the ga, the result would be this significant.
Oh, yeah, while Yuki's result in the receive training was good, it wasn't enough to put him in the top five of the list. At first, Sato thought it was because defense was not one of Yuki's strong points. Oh, how wrong he was.
In just twenty minutes of gaplay, Yuki had already shown defensive capabilities that couldn't be reflected in the receive training. First, it was his ability to read the ga and command the others to take action. While it was Aizawa who took on the mantle of leader for the team, Yuki was the anchor that kept the team from falling apart. He kept moving and communicating with his teammates to ensure they were in the best position for the next play.
The ability to do that constantly was, in Sato's opinion, far more valuable than Yuki's serving arsenal.
"His presence alone is enough to influence the entire team. He is like Genzo from Konan, the spiritual leader of the team."
"Genzo! Give the usual!" Matsumoto's shout snapped Sato from his thoughts. He watched with interest as the next play was about to unfold, with Matsumoto already flying in the air. However, his attention wasn't on Konan's captain. No, he knew what Matsumoto was capable of, and even with his eyes shut, he could see a high-quality attack coming from him.
What caught Sato's attention instead was the two players on Team A's side who were ready to stop the attack. It was Ono and Yuki, the two best blockers on their team.
"Co on, Ono! Stay patient! Follow my lead! One! Two! Now!"
BAM!
Matsumoto tried to send a cross-spike to the right, yet the ball only t Ono's hand before falling behind him, resulting in a point for Team A while also cutting off the montum brought by Lucas's serve.
"OH! I blocked Matsumoto-san's spike!"
"Goddamn it, Ono! You are aweso!"
"You did it! Ono, you fucking did it!"
As all the players from Team A celebrated wildly, Sato's eyes t Hasebe's, who acted as the lineman, and he muttered to the younger man, "Keep your eyes on Kobayashi. He would be a valuable asset for your team."
-0-
"Left! Left! Blocker, keep your eyes on the left!"
BAM!
"Shit! Again?!"
"Oh! Nice receive, Kobayashi!"
Half an hour had already passed, and the two teams hadn't even reached 15 points yet. The ga had already prolonged for longer than necessary, and honestly, everyone had started to get tired of watching it. Still, they couldn't do anything about it, especially when Team A held their own ground against the Konan team far better than anyone had expected them to.
"Man, what is wrong with Konan High?" So of them complained. "They are supposed to be the best team in the country! How co they couldn't even beat a bunch of rookies like them?!"
Riku, who overheard that, snorted in amusent. Not to ntion how ironic it was for the boy to call Team A a bunch of rookies while he himself was one, the fact that he didn't realize this ga had turned into a high-stakes competition was enough for Riku to realize that whoever had said that was not that knowledgeable about the ga itself.
Several players also seed to agree with his assessnt as they all distanced themselves from the boy.
"So, how long do you think the ga will be prolonged?" One of the boys, Miyauchi if Riku rembered correctly, asked.
At first, Riku was confused as to why Miyauchi was asking him that question. However, when he rembered that the one who led Team A to survive right now was his friend, he just let out a small snort. "Well, if there is one thing I know about Yuki, it is his unmatched stubbornness. He would never let his opponent win without trying his hardest, and as you can see, he is sort of like a cockroach—so hard to kill. So, yeah, this is going to be a long ga."
Miyauchi humd slightly before he said casually, "What I don't expect is for him to sohow elevate his teammates too. I don't know if it's just my illusion or not, but I know for sure Takeda and Subaru are not that good defensively."
Riku snorted once again, knowing what Miyauchi ant by that. "Yeah, he's always good at this. That's why everyone listens to his instructions without hesitation. His volleyball IQ is no joke."
Hearing that, Miyauchi just tapped his chin with a thoughtful expression, muttering inwardly, "Interesting…"
-0-
"Co on, Takeda! Move your ass!" Yuki barked when he saw the tall, lanky boy in front of him slacking off.
"Shut up, Bastard!" Takeda gritted his teeth, trying his best to move.
Even though the ga had only been running for thirty minutes, it was far more exhausting than two hours of physical training that they had done every morning in the gym. After all, the adrenaline rush they felt right now couldn't be compared to any training they had ever experienced in the past.
Still, if there was one thing teenage boys were good at, it was their determination not to give up.
BAM!
"One touch!" Takeda shouted after he absorbed the impact of the spike from Matsumoto and let it fly behind him.
"I got this!" Subaru ran imdiately to pick up the ball and gave it to Hiromitsu.
After such a long ga, the desire to do combination plays, synchronization, or any fancy attacks had dissipated. Except for Aizawa, no one was starting their run-up, thinking that it would be better to wait for Konan's attack rather than waste their energy for an attack that would inevitably et another brick wall in front of them.
BAM!
"One touch!" This ti, it was Hikaru's turn to shout after his attempt to block Aizawa's spike was successful.
"Lucas! Run!"
Harada shouted even before the ball ca in his direction.
Yuki felt his body tense for a mont before his eyes went to the Brazilian boy. The others also focused on Lucas, knowing that the next attack was going to co from him. With Takeda and Aizawa out of the equation, only Subaru and Yuki were left to stop Lucas.
But when they anticipated the attack and jumped, that was when they felt as if ti had frozen and everything seed to slow down, as they started to land just as Lucas leaped in the air, spiking the ball over their wall.
BAM!
As they watched the ball fall, there was only one thought in their minds: "What the hell is happening?!"
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