The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

As the sun started to go down below the horizon and darkness seemed to envelop the sky, Yuki yawned, stretching his stiff body after such a long day. While today's training was not as physical, the amount of technical knowledge Sekine thought today was insane, making the exhaustion more to his brain than to his body.

There were so many things in the game that Yuki thought it was natural but he could make it better by changing his approach, like how to use his hips to generate more power when spiking the ball or something like that. This knowledge was new to him, that the explanation kept spinning around his head.

It frustrated him more when the glasses boy noticed he knew what he should do, but his body couldn't keep up with the knowledge he just received. It would take time for his muscles to remember what to do naturally in a game.

Still, Yuki was satisfied with the camp. He gained a lot in one day just by following Sekine's instructions obediently. And it wasn't just him, but everyone also felt the same. The old man fixed so many technical problems that everyone possessed but was unaware of, helping them get better quickly.

As he was about to walk away from the court after cleaning the gym though, Akira suddenly called his name.

"Kobayashi, stay here for a while." The coach said.

Yuki blinked a few times before pointing his finger at himself. "Me?" He asked for the confirmation.

"Yeah, you." Akira nodded. "Don't worry, you are not in trouble. Riku will also be here too."

For a moment, Yuki sighed in relief when he heard his words. Still, he was curious about what the coach wanted to talk about. The fact that he would be with his blonde friend made it harder for him to guess. Unfortunately, Akira went out of the gym first before he could ask anything about it.

After a while, Riku finally came. Just like him, the blonde boy was still wearing his training attire, hadn't taken a shower yet after the training.

"Yo!" Yuki greeted, raising his hand.

"You are here too?" Riku raised his eyebrows slightly before taking one ball from its rack and playing with it. "Any guess on what Jiisan wants to talk about?"

"Not really." Yuki shook his head. "What about you?"

"Same here." Riku also shrugged. Then, he scowled before adding, "It should be that old geezer who called us here. I know it, I can smell it from afar."

Yuki snored. "Aren't you a bit paranoid about him? Even though a bit cranky, Sekine-sensei is a good coach, you know?"

"Oh, I don't deny it. After all, he was the one who taught me how to do the jump serve. But man, the old man is so annoying!" Riku complained casually about Sekine while bouncing the ball on the floor. This bit of information was something Yuki didn't expect.

While he knew how familiar Riku and Sekine were with each other that he could guess they should have known each other in the past, the thought that their relationship was teacher and student had never crossed his mind.

However, much to Yuki's annoyance, once again, he couldn't ask the question in his mind as someone suddenly came inside the gym too.

"Oh, so you both are already here? Good." It was Sekine, the old man who trained the team for this day who just came in.

Yuki could hear the whisper of 'I know it!' from his friends, yet he tried his best to ignore it before asking, "So, why are we here, Sekine-sensei?"

"Well, I don't have business with that brat." Sekine chuckled as he pointed his finger at Riku who huffed slightly. "But I guess it would be more comfortable for you if he is here too. No, my business here is with you."

"Me?" Yuki was startled.

"Yes, you." Sekine nodded in confirmation. "Shinji had already shown me the record of your last game, and color me surprised when I saw you have that kind of trick in your sleeves." He praised.

Yuki blushed. "It is not that impressive." He said, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

"It is that impressive." Sekine praised once again. "While it is good to be modest, you have to be more confident. If what you did is impressive and you deserved to get the praise, accept it proudly." The old man advised.

Yuki blushed once again, yet he only nodded his head without saying anything to answer that. Riku who was ignored in the conversation scowled before asking, "Is it about the serve that you put a spell on it so the opponent couldn't move in time?"

"For the last time, Agostini, I don't put any spell on it. It is just an ordinary service." Yuki rolled his eyes tiredly as he lost count of how many times the blonde boy asked the question.

"Well, you don't have any evidence to say that! You are not even telling us how you did it!" Riku huffed.

"I did!" Yuki defended himself. "It is not my fault that all of you couldn't understand what I said and call it bullshit!"

"So, you call us stupid?"

"No, just you!"

"Why, you?!"

Sekine smiled as he saw Yuki and Riku pushing and shoving each other about. "Well, it is good that you still have the energy to squabble like this. That means we can start our personal training!"

"Eh?!" Yuki was stunned, not expecting that at all. "What do you mean personal training?"
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"It is just as I said." Sekine nodded, confirming his words. "Every day after training, you will stay longer than the others for at least one hour, doing some personal training with me. There, I will teach you a lot, from the most basic things like how to hold the ball to the most advanced ones like the mechanics behind your movement. What do you think?"

Yuki had his jaws dropped, still too stunned to respond. It was Riku who spoke first, shaking his body excitedly. "That is good, Kobayashi! Trust me, even though this old geezer is annoying, he knows his stuff! You won't regret this!"

"I don't know…" Yuki was still hesitant. He was a person who needed time to think before deciding about something, couldn't decide in a rush. "I mean, why me? And would it be considered as favoritism?" He asked.

"Bah! If anyone said it is favoritism, they can complain to me directly." Sekine waved his hand nonchalantly. "And why you? Because Shinji thinks you have so much potential inside your body, and honestly, I am curious about it. This is the first time I heard my boy talking so highly about his player, and I want to see it by myself. And it is not a life-changing decision.

You just need to stay longer than anyone else every day, nothing more and nothing less. So, what do you think?"

Honestly, Yuki didn't really care about favoritism. He knew that while it would draw jealousy from the others, they all would put that aside because right now, any improvement on the team would be welcomed. He was also convinced by Sekine's words that this was indeed not a life-changing decision.

After pondering about that while under the old man's smug smile and his friend's excited gaze, the glasses boy could only sigh and smile wryly.

"I don't have a choice but to do this, right?"