The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

"Damn, he's awesome!"

"It seems we're underestimating him!"

"I know, right? Which school did he come from?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Tsunemori High."

"Which one? I've never heard of that school before!"

While the other players whispered excitedly, discussing how Yuki was dominating the game, Hasebe furrowed his brows deeply as he observed the flow of the game. And no, it wasn't criticism of Yuki; in his book, the glasses-wearing boy had passed all the tests he had set with flying colors. While he had seen records of Yuki's playing style when Tsunemori played against Konan, this was the first time he had seen it in action, and it would be a lie if Hasebe hadn't considered how he would develop the team around the boy.

Still, what made him frown at that moment was the player on the opposite team, specifically the shorter one.

'If he's just an ordinary player with slightly quicker reactions, why would the Miami Storm take an interest in him?' he wondered, bewildered. 'Is it because he hasn't been playing competitively for almost a year? Incompatibility with his partner? Or something else I couldn't figure out without asking him directly?'

Yes, the player who had captured his scrutiny was Shina Aizawa, the boy hailed by many local sports media as the brightest talent of his generation. It would be a lie to say he hadn't looked forward to seeing the boy in action before. However, up until now, Aizawa hadn't demonstrated any special talent that warranted all the hype, and Hasebe couldn't help but feel disappointed.

'Well, a lesson for myself: never believe what the media says again,' he murmured.

"Come on, Akihiro! You're getting slower!" Aizawa's shout snapped Hasebe from his thoughts. When his gaze returned to the game, particularly to Akihiro, he narrowed his eyes and blew his whistle.

FWEEEET!

"Eh?" Not just the players on the court, but everyone in the building turned their eyes on him in confusion. "What happened?" someone asked.

However, Hasebe ignored the commotion, turning around to find the lady he was searching for. "Hata-san, can you check on Akihiro-kun for a moment? Especially his shoulder, please."

Minase Hata, the medic responsible for the training camp, was taken aback. However, it wasn't her place to question that. Since Hasebe had sensed something was wrong, it was her duty to confirm whether his suspicion was correct or not.

"Ah, I'm okay, Hata-san," Akihiro quickly shook his head, trying to refuse the examination. Unfortunately, he couldn't hide his wince when he inadvertently rolled his shoulder.

"It hurts, right?" Hata sighed, recognizing the issue even from afar. "Don't move, and don't be stubborn. Hiding the pain won't help you at all, and it might even ruin your career in the long run."

"Really?" Akihiro gulped nervously. Not just him; all the players who had gathered around were also startled by the woman's sudden declaration.

"Yeah. Lying to the doctor is one of the worst ways to end your career. I can't even count how many times I've seen a player end their career prematurely because they lied about their pain and insisted on playing, only for the injury to worsen to the point where it was impossible to treat. While grit is admirable, it's not recommended. Do you hear me?" The woman narrowed her eyes threateningly, prompting them all to nod frantically.

Hasebe nodded in satisfaction at their response. This should serve as the content for the third day's lesson on how to have a successful career, taught by Minase Hata. While it might seem strange to have a medic handle that topic, she had been following Sato for a long time and had witnessed many different careers in her life, making her one of the best to speak on the subject.

After examining Akihiro for a while—during which the boy had to wince frequently from the pain—Hata finally let out a relieved sigh and said, "While we can't clearly see how severe his injury is, he didn't suffer any dislocation, which is a good thing. However, for safety reasons, we must take him to the hospital to avoid any mistakes."

Hasebe nodded, pulling out his phone and making a quick call. After a moment, he turned back to the woman and said, "The car will arrive in two minutes. Please accompany him to the hospital, and I will follow later."

"Okay," Hata nodded.

Yuki sighed as he watched the doctor accompany Akihiro outside. It seemed that when the boy dived to save his serve earlier, he hadn't landed properly and had hurt himself without anyone noticing. Fortunately, Hasebe detected Akihiro's discomfort immediately; had the injury been prolonged, no one would have known what would happen to the boy.

"Okay, I know it's depressing to see one of your friends injured, but we must move on for now!" Hasebe took control of the situation when he noticed the atmosphere had turned somber. "Akihiro-kun will be back later, so we have to continue the game! Aizawa-kun, since you've lost a partner, I'll place you on one of the teams. So whoever is lucky enough will have one more member, making the game 3v2."

"Wait, that's unfair!" someone from the crowd shouted.

"Yeah! Aizawa-san is a formidable opponent! For him to be on a team with a numbers advantage would be too much!" others agreed.

Hasebe remained silent, allowing the players to complain for a while. After everyone had expressed their grievances and things calmed down, he finally spoke, "I know it's unfair, but we have no other options here. With only 17 members left, someone will always be left out. This is the best solution I could think of. But just as you pointed out, it wouldn't be fair to let him join a team like that, so I will handicap the team that receives him so that a win for them will only count as half a point. Is that fair?"

The players murmured for a moment before all nodded—albeit begrudgingly—in agreement. Hasebe felt relieved when he saw that the situation had returned to normal and turned his attention back to Aizawa, who was unusually silent. "Come here, boy. Let's decide where you will go. Oh, and Kobayashi-kun and Tanaka-kun, get ready. The next game is still yours to play."