The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Akira crossed his arms in front of his chest, trying his best to maintain his poker face. Somehow, even though it had been about a month since the team gathered, this poker face still managed to intimidate all the players in front of him. Inwardly, however, the coach was satisfied when he saw everyone's condition. It seemed that his efforts to instill discipline in them were successful, as their physical condition had not deteriorated too much even after their 'holiday.'

Still, he would save the praise for himself; he didn't want to make their heads grow bigger.

"Okay, since everyone is here, let's start the meeting," Akira said. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Megumi flipped open her notebook, ready to take notes for this meeting. Everyone also straightened their backs, and their eyes were instantly on the coach. "First of all, it is good to see you all back here, and I am happy you are still choosing to be members of our team, even though I already gave you the choice to leave if you wanted to."

"What do you mean by that, Sensei?!" Koji cried, affronted. "We already said in the past that we would go with you until the end! There's no way we will back down like that!"

The other sophomore players nodded in agreement, much to Yuki and Riku's confusion. It seemed there were some incidents in the past that they were not aware of, which cemented the sophomore players' loyalty toward the coach.

"Good." Akira nodded appreciatively. "Then, I will also inform you of our next schedule, so pay attention, okay?" All of them nodded quickly, waiting for Akira to continue. "First, we will have a loose schedule until at least October, when the preliminary stage of the winter tournament starts. Usually, this would be the best time for any team to strengthen their squad, either by adding new players or holding a training camp to improve the overall strength of the team. Unfortunately, we cannot do both right now." The last words poured cold water on the players who were excited about the prospect of a training camp.

"Why?!" some of them cried indignantly.

Akira raised one of his eyebrows slightly before answering, "Well, regarding new players, we are in the middle of the term right now, so anyone who is interested in joining our club should have already asked. It would be hard to find someone decent enough to join us in the current situation." Everyone nodded in understanding. "As for the training camp, well, the reason is simpler: we don't have the money to do that." He shrugged.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

All the players in front of him facepalmed at that.

"What? You think it is a cliché excuse? Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but training camps always require money. Hell, even when we held one at Tsukumi University before, we still had to pay a decent amount of money to get permission, not just from our connection with Sekine-sensei. So wake up and face reality."

Everyone cringed at the harsh words from the teacher, Yuki included. Still, when he thought about it thoroughly, he knew why they were experiencing a financial crisis right now.

"Even though the club is reactivated, the higher-ups will definitely be hesitant to give us money," he murmured. "Moreover, all of their funds should have been allocated to the new clubs, so it would be hard to spare some for us. It's likely the same for the other reactivated old clubs, as this was not something they expected to happen."

"Anyway!" Akira clapped his hands loudly, regaining everyone's attention. "Even though we cannot have a training camp outside, that doesn't mean our training has to be boring and monotonous. I have considered inviting some strong schools nearby for a sparring game, and maybe we could also visit other schools as guests. So don't worry; we won't just stay here all the time."

Sighs of relief echoed throughout the gymnasium as they heard that. However, those feelings evaporated immediately when they saw the creepy smile on the coach's face as he said, "Until then, brace yourselves, as I will increase my training intensity threefold during the summer break."

-0-

After talking for a while, Akira finally closed the first meeting. There was no training at all that day since no one was ready for it. However, the promise from Akira still loomed over them, and everyone shuddered in fear at the thought.

"Man, I'm starting to regret this! I should have stayed away from Akira-sensei!" Koji moaned.

"Don't be a coward, Koji! You're the team's ace; act like it for once!" Kaede slapped his friend's back.

Koji just rolled his eyes sarcastically. "I only have the ace status because I'm the senior. But we all know who the real ace on the team is."

All of the sophomore players turned solemn, their eyes immediately on their kouhai. They all knew that the future of the team rested in Yuki and Riku's hands, and the only reason the two freshmen hadn't taken over the team yet was that they still respected their senpai. However, it was clear on several occasions that the freshmen were starting to grow impatient with their senpai and were doing whatever they wanted. Not that the senior members of the team could complain, since their performance against larger schools had always been abysmal.

Still…

"Even though we don't have any face in front of them, we cannot sink lower than this." Koji clenched his fist. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I refuse to be a burden to them."

"Yeah." Kaede nodded.

Their expressions were mirrored by the others as determination burned in their eyes. Inwardly, they vowed to themselves that they wouldn't be useless and let their kouhai handle everything like they had in the past.

"Before the winter tournament begins, we need to get twice, no, three times better than we are now. Are you all with me?"

"Yes!"