The Birth of A Volleyball Legend-Chapter 385: The Final Set Begins! (II)

A moment before…

BAM!

"Oh! Nice rebound, Matsumoto!"

Haruo scowled a little as he saw the ball bounce back to Konan’s side. Honestly, if possible, he wanted the first play where he acted as the commander from the back to be successful. That would be able to boost the team’s morale and show them that his decision to stay on the back was not a mistake. However, there was no way in hell Konan High would allow him to do that so easily.

’I need to get ready! The second attack is coming!’ Haruo could feel his body tense for a moment as he watched the ball flying back to Sawada. He racked his brain, using his wide court vision to read where the ball would go before telling his senpai to move. Unfortunately, this time, when he saw the deliberate dump move from afar, Haruo was one second too late to inform his captain.

"Cap, move for– "

Thud!

He could only see helplessly as the ball moved in slow motion, getting through Ito’s head before it fell down mockingly behind Kyoei’s line of blockers. Before he or any other Kyoei players could react, their opponent had already jumped crazily as the dump their setter did was successful.

"OH! That’s it, Nobu! That is what we are asking for!"

"Holy shit! Are you sure you are the real Nobu?! He is not as bold as you are right now, right?!"

"Yeah! Who are you and where did you hide the real Nobu?!"

While the laughter broke on the other side of the court, all the Kyoei Gakuen players gathered, looking frustrated by the last point.

"Sorry, Senpai. That is my bad. I saw it beforehand, yet I couldn’t tell you quickly enough for that." Haruo took the initiative to apologize. However, Ito waved it quickly as the captain replied, "No, that should be me who has to apologize. I rely too much on your command that as the player on the front line, I fail to recognize when a back attack is coming. That is my fault."

Yeah, from the outsider’s perspective, this was indeed the captain’s fault. Haruo who was far from the front court had no business with that kind of ball, so he shouldn’t even apologize at first glance. He just did it so that none of his teammates started blaming each other like before.

"Don’t worry, Haruo." Nitta suddenly patted the blonde boy on the shoulder. "You don’t need to be so tense all the time and feel responsible for our wrongdoing. We are not that fragile to not be able to recognize our mistakes without having to fight first. I know you are still nervous since this is your first time playing at the back, so loosen up a little and trust us a little bit more, will you?!"

The sudden pep-talk startled Haruo for a second. He knew that Nitta was not the best at encouraging his teammates, so for him to do that, the ace must see his tensed state before.

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’Am I really that nervous? Man, when was the last time I was so nervous like this?’

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

Even though Haruo still couldn’t believe he was nervous – hell, his self-esteem would never allow it – he could at least admit that he was so tensed in the last play. Even though he knew the theory of how to take control and could read the game perfectly, this was the first time in a long time that he could only watch the attack unveiled before his eyes without being able to make an attempt to stop it. That was a strange feeling that he himself wasn’t used to it yet.

Also, he had to acknowledge that Nitta was right. His senpai – well, most of it – were adults already, and they knew when they were wrong. They all were the most talented players in the school, so he didn’t have to protect their self-esteem by apologizing like that. He also needed to trust his teammates more in the future as not everything could be within his control.

Well… It seemed that there was a lot he could learn to be a good commander here.

"Huh… When did you become so wise like that, Nitta-senpai?" Haruo cracked a joke to loosen the tension. Some of them coughed instantly as Nitta’s face turned red. "WHAT THE HELL?! Why would you say that?!"

"Well, the Nitta-senpai I know is brash, rude, and doesn’t know how to reassure his teammates. I have never seen your side before." The blonde blocker smiled mischievously.

"Oh, yeah! I can see your point here." Ito also had a wide grin on his face. "Come on, since when did you become so inspirational like that?"

"OH, SHUT UP, WILL YOU?!"

As the laughter broke there, Haruo heaved a sigh, knowing the tension between the teammates was gone already. Even though they lost the first point of the set, he didn’t feel pity about it, knowing it was a good sacrifice to repair the harmony on the team. However, the team couldn’t afford to lose two points in a row, so he had to prepare himself for the next play.

’Come on… Let’s see what they are going to throw next….’

-0-

BANG!

"OH! Another ace serve!"

"Holy shit, Lucas! You are on fire today!"

"Come on, Baby! Bring back the win to our home!"

It turned out that everything didn’t go so well for Kyoei Gakuen. Having a wide vision in the middle back didn’t make it easier for Haruo at all. If anything, the fact that the area he had to protect just became wider made it tough for the blonde boy to predict where the ball would land. Just in the last three players, Lucas exposed this as the Brazilian boy knew he wasn’t used to this position yet.

"Sorry, Senpai! I will make it up later!"

"Don’t worry, Haruo! Just get used to your position as quickly as possible! We will fight back later, okay?!"

"Sure!"

Yeah, Haruo’s placement in the middle back wasn’t just a provocation that Konan players initially thought. Kyoei’s coach put Haruo there from the beginning to let the blonde boy adapt to that position when the stake wasn’t too high. After all, it would be bad if this situation happened later when one of the teams was so close to 25 points.

"Haruo, move back a little. Let me handle this one." Aki signaled his kouhai quietly. Not having to be targeted again, of course, Haruo complied. He stepped back a little so that the team’s defensive specialist could cover more area here. As a result, the next time Lucas served the ball, Aki showed why he was the DS of the team, not even blinking as he received the ball perfectly.

BAM!

"Oh! Nice save, Aki!"

"Yamada! Send it quickly to me!" Nitta shouted, eager to rush forward to return the favor.

Right now, he knew the team needed to score here or the morale would plummet in a second, and as the ace, it was his responsibility to bear. When he saw Matsumoto and Akihiro move together to block his way, the ace gritted his teeth tightly, recoiling his arm back to generate more power from inside of his body.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY, FUCKERS!"

BAM!